[Suggestion] A map control element I'd like to see, borrowed from Star Trek: Birth of the Federation (Microprose TBS)

from GalCiv3 Forums

Star Trek:  Birth of the Federation was a bit clunky and had some shortcomings, but it also had some good points, one of which was a map control feature that I hope  the GC3 team might consider:  allow a group of ships to engage in missions such as 'interception' which will automatically engage any hostile units that come within their range (range being how far the units can go in one turn).  This differs from, say, 'auto-attack' in that the units won't go across the entire map (as they would in GC2) when a freighter enters the sensor range of another vessel.

This can reduce the tedium of having to keep checking vast stretches of a map to see whether any enemy units are trying to sneak through your front lines.  Of course you'll have to see them (they'll have to be in sensor range, and I dunno if there's a possibility of stealth coming into play).

I'd love it even more if this could also contribute to map control when at war ... when at war, your units should be able to push back the 'border' of the enemy you are at war with if they are unopposed.

23,401 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Wouldnt an 'alert' mode for units be more practical?

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Ah, birth of the federation. Completely forgot about that game. I lost a childhood playing that, Master of Magic, Star Control 1 and 2, Civilization 2-5.

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting satoru1, reply 1

Wouldnt an 'alert' mode for units be more practical?

 

It would be less effective.  A fast unit can zip past your units, waking your units up but you'll have no idea what woke them up because its already past sensor range.  This really drove me nuts in games like Civ IV: Colonization when I'd try to park my Privateers near rival colony shipping lanes and put them on sentry ... they'd wake up, but nothing is in range because the moment they saw my privateer, they ran and if I wasn't actively viewing that part of the map when they did that, I wouldn't even be able to tell what direction they were.  A unit being able to actively respond on its own given a status by the player (like auto-intercept) is more useful and practical.

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Congratulations Chib...

I'm usually the 'devil's advocate' / 'can't be done!' man, but you've come up with an idea I can get behind 100%.  I'm impressed.  The implementation would, of course, be in the details, but...

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I liked BotF too. Auto attack seems like a good idea, not unlike the auto-rebel suppression in EUIV. 

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

My name is Martok, and I support this idea. B)  

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Agreed.BOTF has some great design.Minor races being an actual political entity with A.I personality and lore with each having a special buff if peacefully annexed after long term courting has not been matched since.

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Its a shame it hadn't been made a few years later, when Paramount changed its Star Trek licensing deals.  That's the reason Birth of the Federation, despite the name, only had starships which appeared in Star Trek:  The Next Generation -- it only had a license for that series, so no Constitution class. :(  Paramount changed its licensing, essentially sharing IPs from all Star Trek series.  If only someone would buy the license and make BOTF2 with a newer license deal from Paramount, they could feature everything from the XC (or whatever those Earth ring ships were, apparantly preceding even the NX class), NX and Daedelus (though I don't think any appeared on screen aside from models in ready rooms/offices :/) up through maybe even the Enterprise-J briefly seen in an episode of Enterprise ... could span a lot more of the Federation's other empires' on screen starships.