Dev 10 Combat Screenshots

The combat screenies look awesome. I also was reminded of MoO 2, whose combat model I still find one of the best. Coupled with a cool soundtrack and some upgraded sound effects for beams and missiles this new combat model could be a winner!

And good to know that you are keeping an eye on that AI...make it strooooonggg!!

Dunno about sound effects, but I'm pretty sure you'll find the music cool enough. :D

Actually I worry that the new combat system won't be a good thing.

What makes the game (dev 9) good in my opinion is the simplicity and balance. A more sophisticated combat system is not justified in my opinion unless it brings an interesting set of strategic options. If it looks nice and takes longer, but ultimately does not require any more thought then its a net bad IMHO. My concern that this is a difficult balance to make in practice. Especially if a space battle amounts to fire-move, fire-move and is essentially a simple optimisation for the player to make.

One possible way to avoid this monotony is to break with realism in some way (and become more game like/abstract - but the screenshots indicate the opposite direction). Such as (but this is by no means a suggestion) the introduction of cards.

On the other hand long-shot risks (such as potentially the minefield) may make it more interesting - if it means that there is sometimes a hail mary play in otherwise desperate battles.

With the smaller grid it is beginning to remind me of combat in Master of Orion 2. Being able to maneuver through (or crash through... hehe) asteroids is a new idea I haven't really seen before in a game with turn-based space combat.

-drake3

It is indeed heavily inspired by (read: blatantly copied from) MOO2's combat mode. I adore the game despite its age and obvious flaws, and think the combat works especially well, mostly because it doesn't pretend to be a "realistic" representation of space combat.

This is probably part of the reason why asteroid fields haven't come up in turn-based space combat. Real-life asteroids fields are so thin that you can fling yourself through them with very little chance about hitting anything. However, fictional Star Wars-esque asteroid fields are much more fun from a gameplay perspective. It's admittedly unrealistic, but given we're pretending space is two-dimensional, any other violations are really more minor quibbles. :)

Actually I worry that the new combat system won't be a good thing.

What makes the game (dev 9) good in my opinion is the simplicity and balance. A more sophisticated combat system is not justified in my opinion unless it brings an interesting set of strategic options.

-guest_guest

I totally understand your concern. SE:SS is not supposed to be a space combat game primarily. But me pouring so much effort into the combat feature makes it look like it's going to be a combat game now.

The reason why I'm putting in so much time and effort is that by and large, the previous iteration did not work. In the feedback I received, players described it as boring and frustrating. There is actually quite a bit of strategy involved in dev 9's combat mode,  as can be seen on the videos I posted about shooting down drones, but many people were so turned off by the lackluster initial experience that they never noticed it.

So dev 10's combat mode is a major rehaul. The underlying engine is actually the same one, but planets and asteroids have been added to create "terrain" for the combat to happen in. This has also required an upgraded AI, as the old one was too daft to understand about planets and that you have to go around them.

This new combat mode is intended to be pretty much the final thing. I want to do some alterations and improvements to the other parts of the game - and write a lot more encounters - but I'm not going to do any more major combat work after that. There are always improvements that can be made, but I must be wary of falling into the trap of neverending improvements, never finishing the game. If nothing else, I will eventually run out of money & starve to death, at which point the game will remain unfinished. :P

The reason why I'm putting in so much time and effort is that by and large, the previous iteration did not work. In the feedback I received, players described it as boring and frustrating. There is actually quite a bit of strategy involved in dev 9's combat mode,  as can be seen on the videos I posted about shooting down drones, but many people were so turned off by the lackluster initial experience that they never noticed it.

-zarkonnen

I think the main issue is that they just didn't understand how the system worked. If you don't consider their evasion, you will have more trouble with the encounters without weaponry. I myself don't mind a more complex combat system as long as multiple tactics remain valid and there isn't a single tactic or technique that beats every situation.

It is indeed heavily inspired by (read: blatantly copied from) MOO2's combat mode. I adore the game despite its age and obvious flaws, and think the combat works especially well, mostly because it doesn't pretend to be a "realistic" representation of space combat.

-zarkonnen

I adore the game also. I actually still play it semi-regularly. It is one of my all time favorites.

Holy cow I check back after months, and this is what I get:

Overwhelmed by so much awesomeness.

Great job David, very excited to see Dev 10 in all its full glory :)

Also, kudos to those who mentioned MOO2. Still the  most superior 4X space game, bar none. Not even GalCiv2 comes surpasses its awesomeness.

Glad you like it. :)

I actually played some MOO II yesterday morning. Plasma Titans for breakfast...

As long as you can get through their shields.

As long as you can get through their shields.

-guest_guest

Heh, I forgot to log in again.