Global Increase to Culture Overthrow Rate for All Factions?

from Sins Forums

I know the developers have boosted the Advent's culture in a number of ways (by allowing it to help them block phase missiles and such), but has any thought been given to the rate at which culture actually takes out a planet?

Here's a common scenario in small or medium random galaxies.

  1. I notice enemy culture creeping down the phase lane towards my outlying planets. Since I haven't spread my own culture yet or moved my capital planet, let's say my allegiance there is around 60%
  2. I finish whatever I'm currently researching in the civilian tech tree
  3. I walk out of the room for a few minutes, to use the bathroom or grab a snack
  4. I sit down and begin researching culture generators
  5. I build a culture generator at the afflicted planet; by this time, its allegiance has dropped to around 30%
  6. Problem solved

If I'm REALLY unlucky and the planet's allegiance is around 30%, I'll move a capital ship into orbit. This solves the problem almost immediately, unless the opposing empire has invested in three or four culture generators. Even then, I still have plenty of time to react and neutralize the threat with a minimum of investment.

The point I'm trying to make here is that, in my experience, culture simply isn't a threat, and there is no incentive to engage in culture wars with opposing empires.

Just for fun, I played a game against a cruel AI. Instead of bombarding their planets, I wiped their systems clean of orbital structures and positioned a starbase in each one to prevent respawns. Then I let culture do its work.

Two hours later, I won.

I feel that culture should be a valid research avenue and a credible threat to an empire. Players should be able to benefit from tech-switching and using culture to pressure an opposing player. Increasing the rate at which culture depletes planetary allegiance and reducing the rate at which culture loses potency after it passes through a gravity well would be an excellent start.

That said, maybe the devs have already done that, and I'm just unaware of it. If so, feel free to correct me.

Discuss?

9,780 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

I've done this in one of my mods buy doubling the maximum culture loss rate to .14% from 0.07% per second. By its very nature culture has an easier time defending your territory than taking out opponents, but it certainly made a difference, and losing planets to culture can happen a few times in a game (even in multiplayer). But whether or not it should be that way is a design decision for the devs, there is no right or wrong way to do it.

That said, the devs did give the Advent loyalists a tech that increases the maximum culture loss rate, so they will find it slightly easier to take over planet with culture. Getting your titan to level 6 will probably still be faster though. ;)

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

OMG, the forums have exploded! Run for your lives. XO

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 1
Getting your titan to level 6 will probably still be faster though.

There's the rub. Maybe I'm just a wide-eyed idealist, but one of the things I like about Sins is that, on the surface at least, you don't have to bombard planets to win. Ideally, culture would reward alternative, civilian-driven playstyles and sudden tech-switches.

In practice, however, military solutions are always faster and culture is simply an impractical way of waging war.

I know it's the devs' decision and I don't fault them for it, but think about how NICE it would be if those creeping lines of color had inertia (i.e. once you build a culture generator, it takes a while to overcome their momentum) and could overthrow a planet in a matter of minutes?

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Something that culture should do if it doesn't already is if you have any sort of allegiance with that player, it should increase your view of them.  They are after all spewing propaganda all over your populace, so it's only natural that your people would like them more.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Volt_Cruelerz, reply 4
Something that culture should do if it doesn't already is if you have any sort of allegiance with that player, it should increase your view of them. They are after all spewing propaganda all over your populace, so it's only natural that your people would like them more.

Actually they did add some sort of culture component to the list of relationship modifiers, but I haven't really looked to see how it works yet.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 5

Quoting Volt_Cruelerz, reply 4Something that culture should do if it doesn't already is if you have any sort of allegiance with that player, it should increase your view of them. They are after all spewing propaganda all over your populace, so it's only natural that your people would like them more.

Actually they did add some sort of culture component to the list of relationship modifiers, but I haven't really looked to see how it works yet.

This brightens my day. =)

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 1
the maximum culture loss rate.... 0.07% per second

I agree with the all of original post.

Like GoaFan, I think the main culprit is the maximum culture loss rate of 0.07% per second. 

This means it takes a minimum of 24 minutes to bring a homeworld down to 0%.  No matter how much culture you throw at them, its the same, and... its too long.  That maximum rate is too restrictive.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Well if culture were to be doubled I don't think it would be a problem it would punish players for not reacting quick enough. 14 minutes sounds like a reasonable time frame to me.