On 2009-10-20 06:51, BackSlash wrote:
I'll bring this up next dev meeting.

On 2009-10-20 19:20, Dwarden wrote:
funny i got cruiser running about these 12+ eccm attacking and cloaking like nothing going on ...

not to mention dessies and frigates ...

On 2009-10-20 07:32, MrSparkle wrote:
I would rather go back to the old system where ECM helped hide cloak and ECCM helped reveal it than this....

EDIT: I wouldn't mind more building slots on planets. Seems silly that gigantic planets have the same 32 limit as tiny ones.

[ This Message was edited by: MrSparkle on 2009-10-20 07:35 ]

On 2009-10-21 08:15, Mr Black wrote:
Although this does sound like a good idea, it pushes the defensive edge too far in favor of the human factions; unfairly impacting the effectiveness of K'Luth tactics and strategy. This is an example of a sound theory, however it is unworkable given the current game environment and context.

Faction balance is a very subtle equation. Even altering the build rate of one structure can have a butterfly effect impacting the rest of the game, and completely throwing off the distribution of power between Factions that we wish to achieve.

There a a few area's that I would like to take a longer look at, now that v1.5xx has matured some.

Some examples:

* Combat Range: Weapon ranges were increased dramatically with previous versions. Although some work has been done to reduce and limit this for 1.5xx, we have had to be careful in just how big a change to implement. I would like to bring down maximum cannon ranges further, specifically for UGTO and K'Luth. This should put them more in line with the type of combat that each faction is supposed to excel at.

* Factions Roles: We need to ensure that each faction is keeping true to their intended purpose and play style. For K'Luth it is close ranged hit and run. High damage sneak assaults and guerrilla style warfare. K'Luth operate best in small, mobile groups of 3-4 vessels. UGTO are designed to be the grinding faction with excellent energy systems and little reliance on ammunition. This gives them a lot of staying power in combat, and makes each ship nearly self sufficient. ICC are intended to be the more defensive faction. Fortifying their outposts and moving ahead slowly, individual ICC ships are weaker offensively, with more reliance on support and logistics to achieve their goals.

* Missiles, Lasers, PD and Fighters: This whole systems needs a careful overhaul. You cannot change one aspect without influencing the others. Reducing missile counts makes PD more effective, therefore making lasers stronger. All the while you still have to measure this up against projectile weapons. I would like to make individual missiles more effective, and slow down PD and laser fire rates, while ensuring that they still do comparable damage to the other weapons. This would probably entail beams firing for longer, making for more prettiness. We simply have to cut missiles numbers in DarkSpace to help facilitate larger server populations and more stable game play.

* Drones, Depots and Platforms: Supply platforms have skewed the defensive edge in favor of the UGTO and K'Luth due to their reliance on armor. The problem is that drones have only one value for both gadget and hull repair rates. We had to increase the repair rate for ship hulls, but this then had a knock on effect to armor, making it repair too fast in comparison to shields. The complaints about shield regeneration rates are not being ignored. They are, however, being pointed in the wrong direction is this is the root cause for why things feel so unfair. Shields do recharge hit points faster than in previous versions of DarkSpace, reducing turn around time for combat. Sadly, UGTO and K'Luth can currently turn around faster, and we cannot without certain key code changes that have already been requested.