Comments on: Thoughts: Sid Meier’s Starships

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 13:26:22 +0000

I didn’t mention plasma cannons because 1) you can get the wonder that eliminates range penalties for lasers and renders them totally pointless and 2) it’s not at all clear at what range the sodding things become active or when they’re firing and 3) there’s really not enough to distinguish them from lasers anyway.

By: Hentzau

Hentzau — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 13:23:01 +0000

The idea could definitely work, and I don’t even think you’d have to make it much more complex. I’m not asking for Master of Orion or anything. There just needs to be the following:

1) Some actual decisions to make on the strategic layer.
2) Missions that aren’t quite so obviously procedurally generated. Sprinkle in some special baddies or something. It could really use something like Sword of the Stars’ galactic menaces, for example.

As it is it lacks the variety or thought required for long-term engagement.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 17:56:32 +0000

I think as a short-form alternative, as a sort of condensed strategy/tactics loop it kind of works. But probably not many times over.

And yes, on tablet it is probably a rather nice one to have around for short session lengths too.

By the by – you mention 3 weapons – lasers, fighters and torpedoes but miss out plasma cannons. Short range, big hitting power (it’s what is mounted on fighters, but you can have your main ships kitted out with them too). I played around a lot with them just because of their one-shot potential…

By: Aleksei Volchok

Aleksei Volchok — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 12:28:58 +0000

I’m suprised by Sid Meier. He always said strategy game doesn’t need tactical combat. And I think it is so: you can’t make both strategy and tactics equally important so make one of them subjugated to other. Total War tries to sit on both chairs and makes a game that only good in theory. Best campaign you can ever get in TW games is Shogun 2 multiplayer conquest and that’s symbolic.

Ahem. So it’s a streamlined strategy with streamlined combat. And it’s boring. Do you think the idea itself could work? Or is the game limited from the very beginning?