New Chassis idea

[Anon Zytose]

Having other needs like feeding a population doesn't make research into boat travel impossible, just (generally) bad strategy.

Regardless, I suppose I can still think of one more reason as to why it'll be important to be able to put a boat in the water... soon. If you wind up on some small island.

During one of my trials of Planetfall, I had access to five tiles that were surrounded by a combination of water and mountain. I basically had to research Doctrine: Initiative and get a transport in the water just so I could reach the rest of the continent and build a second base. I certainly wouldn't want to have to wait until the continent expansion phase of the game is mostly over to do that. It'd be pretty crippling for any AI that this happens to, as well.

My guess is that events like that are why Sailing and Doctrine: Flexibility and Map Making are rarely at a tech level higher than 2, even if it would be more realistic for it to be level 3 or 4.

 

[The_Reckoning]

I'm all for the idea of a cheap, early coast-crawling boat, maybe coming with the rover tech, or the starting yellow sea tech. Like fishing. Transport one unit, move 2 or 3, strength 1. Then you're not stranded by starting on small islands.

Foils sailing through the deep sea, though, I imagine to require a massive amount of effort and technology.

 

[Anon Zytose]

I'm all for the idea of a cheap, early coast-crawling boat, maybe coming with the rover tech, or the starting yellow sea tech. Like fishing. Transport one unit, move 2 or 3, strength 1. Then you're not stranded by starting on small islands.

Foils sailing through the deep sea, though, I imagine to require a massive amount of effort and technology.

That would certainly be a good unit to have (just in case, at least). I probably would place it with that yellow sea tech whose name I can't remember, either.

Maybe around a third of the way down the line, like level four?

 

[The Beard]

sounds good to me

 

[Duneflower]

Big problem with this idea: It cripples the Pirates, or alternatively gives them a huge technological advantage. I'm of the opinion that if you know how to make something float, and how to pack the materials for a beginning colony into a pod, then putting the two together isn't that great a stretch.

 

[Anon Zytose]

Kinda reminds me of the tech tree I proposed in July. Although I don't think I mentioned it then, I'd still have sea colony pods require a level 2 tech (Doctrine: Flexibility) with only one prerequisite, if only so that the Pirates could still start out in the water without a huge tech lead. (I was rather thinking give each faction either either three level 1 advances or one level 1 advance plus a level 2 advance it automatically enables.) I could see the Pirates starting off with coastal colony pods. And if they're too badly in trouble, I could also see them get some crazy bonus like +5xp to all naval units. Or +1 strength to all naval units, including civilians. ...which makes me think further of an idea of an idea of giving civilian units (at least terraformers) either 1 strength (and a defend-only approach) against native life or the chance to run away from native life that suddenly appears in a fungalboom. ...which further gets me to wonder about the event of a fungal boom happening to a tile that a bunch of formers are sitting on.

And now to get back on subject. ^^;

 

[The Beard]

It might be difficult to determine (coding wise) what "away" is from a fungal bloom. You could certainly move them easily to the nearest base, just like in sudden culture swapping with a nation you don't have open borders with.

And I do agree that the Pirates have some balancing issues to deal with most likely. In SMACX, if there was enough land in the game, then almost no one else would try to compete with you, if you were the Pirates, allowing you to build the largest empire on Planet in no time. At least there was a limitation on happiness for city size, but there may be need for something else in the Planetfall version.

 

[Duneflower]

What about having a L1-tech aquatic chassis that moves like 2 and can only carry civilian modules (terraforming units, colony-pods, etc; maybe probe packs) and scouts, and restricting foils from carrying civilian equipment?

Maybe make it something like a "Barge", with the justification that it's just not practical to build a foil large enough to carry that much stuff until a bit down the tech-tree, by which point cruisers (which can be quite large) have shown up and made it pointless to do so.

 

[The Beard]

A barge sounds like an interesting idea--I suppose we could just borrow the code form the Caravel.

The foil restriction is interesting too--I suppose some variety in the sea equipment couldn't hurt.

 

[Duneflower]

IMO this would also allow a nice bit of balancing for the Pirates: It would both brake their expansion somewhat (since it'll take them at least two turns to plant a new base) and allow them to start with only one tech, like most everyone else.