Search found 314 matches

by Ablaze
Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:02 am
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Ship Builds
Replies: 10
Views: 2035

Re: Ship Builds

Interesting.. I think it could work but it sounds like some complexity would have to be added to make it a usable idea. The reason I think this is because if you only had 8 slots total for systems then smaller systems (like EM countermeasures) would never be used. I'm am assuming that EM countermeas...
by Ablaze
Sun Jul 03, 2005 6:50 pm
Forum: Story
Topic: Symbiosis Race Group suggestion
Replies: 13
Views: 6043

That is from The uplift saga by David Brin. One of my favorute series, and the only series on my list of favorites that isn't hard sci-fi.
by Ablaze
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:30 pm
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: XML downside
Replies: 31
Views: 7984

XML can be interpreted by the program any number of different ways and I’m not sure exactly how freeorion does it, but most programs I know of use tinyXML which does a very good job. It converts the entire document into a tree of XML elements and portions of that tree can be passed around. So you ca...
by Ablaze
Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:12 pm
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: The Basics of Ship Combat
Replies: 100
Views: 18656

I really liked that article, I hadn't considered an Electrostatic Defense Field before. I'll be sure to add it to my technology list.

If you come across any simular articles, please don't hesitate to drop another link.
by Ablaze
Wed May 11, 2005 5:30 am
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Balance of Power
Replies: 9
Views: 2235

So it's kind of like poker? I think a poker like element to the spy or diplomacy system could be quite fun. Some action could start a chain reaction that keeps sucking up spies or diplomats until someone decides to back down. You could even make it more like poker giving each player a hand that the ...
by Ablaze
Thu May 05, 2005 7:48 pm
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Flanking and Shield Facings
Replies: 74
Views: 17174

The KISS rule is a great rule of thumb, but if you follow it to its logical conclusion we will end up with a game of one-dimensional tic-tac-toe. Is it just me, or does tic-tac-toe seem needlessly complex for this analogy to anyone else? How about rock-paper-scissors? Or better yet, each player pic...
by Ablaze
Sat Apr 30, 2005 6:21 pm
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: The Basics of Ship Combat
Replies: 100
Views: 18656

In my mind the bare minimum would be a simple equation that took into account three factors: offense, defense, and mass. Your offense would be divided by the other side’s defense to produce damage which would then be distributed to a random ship on the other side after both sides had fired. The amou...
by Ablaze
Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:00 am
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Flanking and Shield Facings
Replies: 74
Views: 17174

I suppose if you just look at the original post this could be a loophole. However, with the system I'm describing that small ship would have to survive for quite some time before it diverted significant power from your shields, it's shields would be unable to focus on anything, so even if it was pac...
by Ablaze
Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:05 pm
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Flanking and Shield Facings
Replies: 74
Views: 17174

No, I would just take into account the size of the ship(s), at least for the initial algorithm. You seem to be forgetting that computers can do billions of calculations a second, and that a calculation about the strength of a shield at a particular point would only have to be made at the instant tha...
by Ablaze
Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:50 am
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Flanking and Shield Facings
Replies: 74
Views: 17174

I still really like the idea of shield focus points. I do think that the level of threat needs to be taken into account as well. If a battleship detects an enemy scout ship in battle and can see no other enemy ships then a focus point will be created like normal but the focus point will only charge ...
by Ablaze
Thu Apr 14, 2005 6:53 am
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Flanking and Shield Facings
Replies: 74
Views: 17174

Sounds neat. You could have shield focuses that automatically track to incoming fire. An unfocused shield would be something like 10% effective everywhere but as soon as enemy fire or ships are detected your ship’s computer would automatically create a shield focus point and any damage would be calc...
by Ablaze
Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:04 pm
Forum: Story
Topic: Hostile lifeform list
Replies: 17
Views: 8093

This is cool stuff, I like it.

Maybe I'll work on adding to what you've got here if I get a free moment.
by Ablaze
Tue Apr 12, 2005 6:24 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Is it something wrong with the domain name?
Replies: 25
Views: 6137

I have a request. I tend to use any number of public terminals here at school to access these forums, so I usually get to them by typing freeorion.org/forum in the address bar. At home I can use bookmarks so not having a domain name doesn’t bother me, but at school I have to do a google search for f...
by Ablaze
Mon Apr 11, 2005 6:19 pm
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Ship Character
Replies: 28
Views: 5050

It would be neat if whenever someone did something that was against the galatic rules (like wiping out another race) the game would put a bounty on that person't head. The bounty would decay over time, but if done correctly it could induce a situation in which one player mercessly wipes out another ...
by Ablaze
Fri Apr 08, 2005 7:03 pm
Forum: Other Game Design
Topic: Ship Character
Replies: 28
Views: 5050

I like it, but I don't really see an elegant way to make it happen. It seems like it would kind of take power away from tech, which is not a bad thing. Technology is overpowered in most conquest games.