EvilTCell EvilTCell

Orbiting the sun...

▼

Orbiting the sun...

Could change stratagy

from Sins Forums

Hey All,

I was thinking of one major thing that could change the way the game plays out in terms of strategy (due to planet location). I know the game does not have this as an option, but wouldn't it be interesting if the planets orbited about the sun instead of just sat static on the map. I mean, it sure would change the way people plan out strategy because the phase lanes would eventually expire due to distance or other planets blocking the way. This would make fleet movement more interesting because the time between planets would change (or in some cases, a new route would need to be used). It would also make things more interesting from a multiplayer standpoint, no more hording one side of the map... as the map would shift and choke-points would become nullified... too bad an "Enable orbit" can't be checked.

47,021 views 28 replies
Reply #26 from Sins Forums Top
wouldn't it be interesting if the planets orbited about the sun instead of just sat static on the map. I mean, it sure would change the way people plan out strategy because the phase lanes would eventually expire due to distance or other planets blocking the way.
End of quote



realistic distances between planets and realistic orientation (sweet spot for terran/desert, closer to sun volcanic, further from sun ice), etc, etc, etc.
End of quote
idea of adding volcanic planets closer to the sun and icy planets farther away is a good idea.
End of quote



Both tried and discarded for gameplay/fun reasons early in development. And as noted by others, making something an option doesn't make it any easier to add or balance; it actually makes it twice as much work, since the game needs to work well in *both* modes.
Reply #27 from Sins Forums Top
Both tried and discarded for gameplay/fun reasons early in development. And as noted by others, making something an option doesn't make it any easier to add or balance; it actually makes it twice as much work, since the game needs to work well in *both* modes.
End of quote


Are you mentioning the "orbiting planet" and/or the inner orbit = volcanic and outer orbit = ice?

Either way, I see the potential difficulties in creating a truly functioning solar system, of both hardware and game play importance, and I have no illusions of the "simplicity" of adding options.

Options double (or more) the work needed to make sure those modes work of course. Does not mean that you can accuse an option of destroying your play type, which is where the "NO OPTIONS" crowd seem to place some of their more misguided ideals. There is an option to turn off pirates, and I love playing with pirates. Does having the option to turn them off ruin my game play? No, it doesn't affect me at all.

My discussion was based around the feasibility of an option, so I don't see the point of shooting it down as an option and then criticizing those who believe a few other options are cool. To be honest, after thinking about it for a while, and reading DAS123s statement makes more sense, and clearly during development it was considered (which I def. assumed was the case regardless) and found to be not feasible.

Now that I have that off my chest, do you mind me asking what exactly were the factors in not continuing with the mechanic? Just out of curiosity, not for personal vengeance or some other nonsense lol.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #28 from Sins Forums Top
Kryo, I can understand all of those reasons.

Still, what might be interesting is taking vanilla Sins and creating a specific map that is geared toward, in order from the sun, volcanic-->desert/terran-->asteroid-->gas giant-->ice distribution, much like our own solar system is (except not to scale), and then let the 3 races loose and see who wins. :)

-- Retro