[Mechanics] fleets on the move passing through/blockading

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alleryn
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[Mechanics] fleets on the move passing through/blockading

#1 Post by alleryn »

I'm curious about the mechanics of when two fleets are headed towards a system, one looking to stop and blockade while the other is passing through:
FOfleetIntersection.jpg
FOfleetIntersection.jpg (131.09 KiB) Viewed 669 times
Here, the pink ship is a warship that is headed to Posterior, and wishes to blockade the star system, while the green ship is a scout that wishes to pass through Posterior.

In the current mechanics, since the pink ship is still enroute, the green ship may pass through freely on the next turn.

However, it's probable that given the fleet speeds, the pink ship will reach Posterior first.

Is the decision that the pink ship is not able to blockade a design decision, technical limitation, or ?

My understanding is that turns occur 'simultaneously', so i can see how it makes sense either way, but it still feels a bit weird to me; i'd think that whichever fleet reached Posterior first would get 'precedence'. I.e. if the green fleet's speed indicated that it arrived at the system first, it would get to continue unimpeded, while if the (distance remaining on starlane)/speed=time for the pink fleet was smaller, it would get the chance to blockade, and a fight would ensue.

Thoughts?

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Vezzra
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Re: [Mechanics] fleets on the move passing through/blockadin

#2 Post by Vezzra »

alleryn wrote:Is the decision that the pink ship is not able to blockade a design decision, technical limitation, or ?
AFAIK, this is a design decision. Although the code to handle it the way it's done now is probably less complex than doing it differently (that is, taking into consideration which fleet arrives first), I don't think it's impossible to do so.
My understanding is that turns occur 'simultaneously', so i can see how it makes sense either way, but it still feels a bit weird to me; i'd think that whichever fleet reached Posterior first would get 'precedence'. I.e. if the green fleet's speed indicated that it arrived at the system first, it would get to continue unimpeded, while if the (distance remaining on starlane)/speed=time for the pink fleet was smaller, it would get the chance to blockade, and a fight would ensue.
As you point out yourself, you can probably find good reasons for both approaches.

Personally I think we should stick with the current approach, just because it's simpler, and simplicity is what we aim for. If we add/change something that makes things more complicated, there has to be a good reason for it, mainly add/change something that makes the game more interesting and fun. I can't see how changing the blockade mechanic the way you suggest would add much to the game (it would be more "realistic", but we don't aim for realism). It would, however, make determining if you fleet can intercept/avoid being intercepted by an enemy fleet significantly harder (as you'd have to consider distance and speed of both fleets, and estimate based on that if your fleet or the enemy one is going to arrive first - that's certainly non-trivial if the faster fleet is farther away...).

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alleryn
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Re: [Mechanics] fleets on the move passing through/blockadin

#3 Post by alleryn »

Vezzra wrote:It would, however, make determining if you fleet can intercept/avoid being intercepted by an enemy fleet significantly harder (as you'd have to consider distance and speed of both fleets, and estimate based on that if your fleet or the enemy one is going to arrive first - that's certainly non-trivial if the faster fleet is farther away...).
That's a very good point; you've convinced me. The only reason i brought it up is that i felt the current rule is a little unintuitive, but i think the added simplicity of the current approach which you've highlighted here outweighs that consideration.

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