DWMagus wrote:I get what you're saying McDuff, but here's the scenario I'm tossing your way (utilizing your pictures for reference).
Say you spend money equally between all five points. Let's also say you have enough income to be able to spend an exorbitant amount on each of the points. Because the ratio doesn't change, are you saying there won't be any advancements, regardless of money I through at it as long as they're all allocated equally?
No, because X increases. So you'll be "better" overall than someone with a lower X value, but if they've put all their X into one node, they might well be "better" than you at some aspect of it.
You might have missiles that go a little further, a little faster, and do a little more damage, with a little more accuracy than when you started. But they'll have missiles that go no further or faster or do any more damage but hit a lot more accurately, even though their overall tech level might actually be lower than yours.
If they put resources into increasing Def at the same rate you increase Dam, then yes, you've essentially got an arm's race on your hands. Your better lasers are cancelled out by their better shields. But that's how it always is, right?
mcsven wrote:
Perhaps the ratio between Damage and Defence isn't a single number, but a range. This would allow temporary advantages of the sort actually seen in real life (think WWII Axis-Allies fighter planes).
Yeah I apologise if I wasn't quite clear. I'm saying that there would be some maximum ratio, so Def cannot exceed Dam by more than a factor of 2 or 5 or whatever, and vice versa.
When the ratio starts edging towards the upper end of the allowable range, then offensive technologies (guns, missiles, mines etc.) start to slow and defensive (armour, shields, cloaks etc.) technologies are accelerated. At least this seems like the way to do this... not sure how else?
Correct. Less payoff for researching at the bleeding edge. More payoff when you're catching up.
This could easily be displayed as concentric circles for each tech "level". All points on each arm that are averaged to determine the level must exist between the inner and outer circle. This then effectively becomes the "potential" of that tech level.
There are actually concentric circles in the diagrams but you can't see them because it's black against dark grey. D'oh! I may redo the images.
[*]Tech levels could always be limited to an arbitary number (5 or 10 or something like that - let's assume 10). At the start of the game, everyone would be on tech level 1, but with more research the upper levels are unlocked (i.e. larger circles). Once tech level 11 is unlocked, then all levels simply get reduced by one, with 11 now becoming 10 (the top). This means that your Level 10 weapon bought five years ago may now be Level 6, indicating that it's time to trade up. As long as the cost of each level (and the ratios between them!) stay more or less constant (think microchips) then this could be a really nice system.
Something that "scales down" at the bottom, be it obvious or transparent, would be really nice. How you'd do that without telling people "your laser is now doing 500 dam and not 600 dam" is a trickier question. But yes, something like this would be good.
ThymineC wrote:McDuff wrote:I don't see the "dog eat dog" proposals, for example, making it so that people who want an easy coast through the game amassing loads of ships and shiny things can get that easily.
In general, such a feature would be desirable though, for the reasons you gave
here, right? It'd put limits on how large and powerful corporations would get and all the warfare would help maintain a constant demand and supply of goods.
I see "letting people get powerful then stomping on them" as being less intrinsically flexible than building in systemic instabilities that work across the general range of scenarios.
I agree that you can have more than one system at work to try and keep NPCs from having runaway success and shutting out the player.
The question is, for the players who want a lighter game, does that mechanic "switch off" easily to let them be the big bad boss, if they want to be? Perhaps making faction aggression
towards the player independent of aggression towards other NPCs?