A framework for micro-theme proposals:
Name.
Fluff description.
Brief list of functions it could cover. No need yet to specify if it will require a building, a project or whatnot.
Some thoughts on how this theme could combine with others (for the future, when there are more micro-themes suggestions to work with).
Optionally, a full description of each app it could include.
Don't worry if the idea seems too small for a micro-theme, it could be used by others for inspiration or be merged with other too-small micro-themes.
Some ideas.
Smugglers
A virtually inexistent faction, not belonging to any empire (or species) that travels the galaxy... smuggling stuff.
- Boosts (via policy) to max. stockpile extraction.
- Stealth parts.
- Fuel regeneration.
- Fleet repair out of supply.
- System blockade override: targetted influence project to remove or reduce the bad effects on the population of a blockaded system (it's been talked that blockades should reduce happiness, this project would mitigate that), including supply blockade (via a big boost to stockpile extraction). To avoid exploitation, it should not work on planets not blockaded and it should not give any more stockpile extraction bonus than a percentage of the PPs "wasted" in the targetted system.
Most of this effects should come at an influence cost (active influence project or policy with influence upkeep to get the effect) an require few RPs to unlock. It makes sense since you are getting "favours" from a virtual collaborator more than getting technologies.
Regarding that last point, things like stealth parts could be seen as an actual transfer of technology (again, requiring not many RPs). But don't get confused, in the end this is researching apps that unlocks parts and policies, the same than any other tech branch. The rest is fluff.
Psionics
The control of the mind powers (and blabla, I'm not good at this).
- Psionic damage weapons: I see them as direct damage weapons, like beams, that ignore shields
(but not Psionic shields), but with current combat engine only drones can ignore shields, dunno how disruptive would be to code that up.
- Psionic shields:
a different kind of shields (not force-fields) which Psionic weapons can't ignore. Unsupported by combat engine, and a bad idea (more meters to show in the fleets, a lot of code changes). Regular shields with different names and stats?
- Psionic control weapons: ship parts that allow to disable or take control of enemy ships. Unsupported by combat engine.
- Something about planetary defence and planetary shields.
- Psionic influence projects: both Propaganda-like, to keep own population under control (high happiness) and for peaceful conquering of foreign colonies, and Espionage-like (would be more powerful than other kinds of influence projects but have more requirements and greater research cost).
- Something related to technology victory / transcendence.
- Enables Collective-Mind government/social structure (1).
A species with telepathy should be a soft requirement for some of these (if you don't have it, research cost is huge) and a hard requirement for the others.
Computing
...
- Boosts to research (algorithms, processors).
- Targetting computer.
- Stockpile prediction (algorithms).
- Boosts to detection (algorithms to analyse sensor data).
- Social control and counter-espionage (huge databases of citizens).
Artificial Intelligence
...
- Drones.
- Boosts to research (Nacent AI).
- Boosts to production (Adaptive Automation).
- Exobots.
- Boosts to happiness? (virtual companions, therapists, automation of boring processes).
Drones and exobots together? This micro-theme would be a must unless Exobots are nerfed alot.
Robotics and Nanotech
...
- Robotic hulls
- Boosts to production
- Boosts to offensive and defensive troops
- Fleet repair.
Exobots seem to fit here as well. Making Exobots require both themes seems awkward to me. It's annoying to separate certain things to make themes micro.
Maybe we could have two kinds of Exobots, the ones in this theme being less intelligent, more robotic and automatic (i.e. less adaptive) than AI theme's Exobots. The ones here could have NO_RESEARCH. Also, the ones here could be just a boost to production on outposts (no population) instead of an actual species.
Force-fields
...
- Ship weapons (particle rays, but not lasers).
- Shields.
- Boosts to production (high efficiency fusion generators, solar generation...).
- Energy hulls.
- Detection?
Another candidate for a must-have.
Electromagnetism and superconductors
...
- Rail/Coil guns, mass-drivers.
- Supply boost (orbital elevator)
- Production boosts (EM is so basic for many industrial applications that I can't name one that makes sense in a sci-fi context)
- Detection boosts (sensors).
EM and superconductors are probably one of the basic technologies that any spacefaring civilisation should have way before they are travelling the space. The overlapping with many technologies that we can place in other micro-themes is overwhelming. E.g., efficient fusion generation most probably requires superconductors and force-fields. So, if we get enough micro-themes, some of these should be merged to make easier the life of players and designers concerned with realism/preconceptions (I know, I know, realism doesn't matter, but it does not harm to consider it just less relevant than anything else instead of completely neglecting it).
Xenogenetics
Modification of the species characteristics.
- Boosts to population on adequate and poor environments (enough to make such environments colonisable without population boosts from other micro-themes).
- Hybridisation of species to get access to new environments? Or just more boosts to population on hostile.
- Boosts espionage.
- Boosts to defence and offence troops.
- Boosts to research.
- Boosts to influence and/or influence-related projects (espionage).
Bioengineering/Bioevolution
Biological processes, creation of new forms of life
- Living hulls.
- Organic weapons and armour.
- Monster breeding (I would remove current breedable monsters and merge this into living hulls with no pilots, using monster nests as requisites for certain hulls or weapons).
- Life-driven terraforming (slow, automatic, only on inhabited colonies, target environment is the good environment of present species).
- Boosts to production (biological industry)
- Boosts to planetary defence (orbital monsters).
- Boosts to defence and offence troops (biological weapons, monster soldiers)
- Enables Over-Mind government/social structure (1).
Cybernetics
Flesh and machine blending, implants, body enhancement, mind networking.
- Boosts to population on poor and hostile environments.
- Boosts to defence and offence troops.
- Boosts to research.
- Boosts to production.
- Enables Collective-Mind and Hive-Mind government/social structure (1).
I notice that boosts to production or research seem to fit in many micro-themes. Don't worry, once we have a complete set of micro-themes for an overall view we can remove or reallocate apps.
Megastructures
Huge ships, machinery and planetary structures.
- Huge mechanical ship hulls (like self-grav. and titanic).
- Industrial terraforming (expensive building to change environment, can be built in outposts, requires to set the target environment, maybe with 9 versions of the building).
- Boosts to population on good and adequate planets (domes, arcologies, megalith).
- Boosts to supply.
- Boosts to influence (megalith).
- Boosts to planetary defence (megacannons).
- Boosts to defence troops (megabunkers).
- Boosts to offence troops (megatanks).
Crystals
...
- Laser weapons.
- Crystal combat parts.
- Subterranean habitation.
- Boosts to production (energy crystals).
- Crystal-based engines.
This one seems weak, needs more love to not make lasers forgettable.
Microgravity and asteroids
...
- Asteroid hulls.
- Asteroid armour.
- Special asteroid parts (if any).
- Boosts to production (microgravity industry, asteroid mining).
- Boosts to system-wide defence (defensive weaponry camouflaged in the asteroid belts).
- Boosts to population on good and adequate environments (orbital habitation).
- Boosts to population on systems with asteroid belts.
Physics and Materials
...
- Main line of armour parts (not applicable to living hulls).
- Boosts to ship's base structure.
- Base line of engines.
- Detection.
Sociology, Sociobiology, Xenosociology, Psicohistory...
...
- Influence production boosts
- Happiness boosts
- Propaganda projects
- Counter-Espionage policies
- Species integration boosts
Void
...
- Trans-spatial hulls
- Trans-spatial engines
- N-Dim habitation
- Space manipulation
- Star system destruction
- Planetary stealth
- Ship stealth
(1) Government / Social structure.
This is a rather complex subject.
I wanted to consider government stuff when creating these themes. For this I've been reading many threads on the subjects of government, ideology, allegiances, diplomacy, species and empires relationships, etc. Apart from "this is a rather complex subject", the main conclusion is that my brain is going to implode.
I can quote Eleazar:
Eleazar wrote:As much as i love some of these ideas, and have poured countless hours into trying to develop and explain the ideas, i think we missed the mark, and developed something that will be much harder to create, balance and play than it should be. The extreme size of many of the posts, and how easily confusion and misunderstanding thrived, and the difficulty in figuring out the implications should all have been signs that we had passed beyond the realm of KISS.
These kind of experimental and difficult to define mechanics shouldn't be part of a 1.0. As much as it was hard to explain and define these mechanics in a general way, it will should be many times harder --if even possible-- to implement, balance, and make them fun. Save it for post 1.0.
I would really love to play a game with allegiance and alignments, but i'l willing to chuck them to play FreeOrion 1.0.
On the plus side, designing something that's really KISS should be much easier than this thread was.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2075&start=360#p48311
My mentions to (Collective/Hive/Over)-Mind government/social structure comes from
here.