new idea for ground combat in Galciv II

from GalCiv2 Forums
Please forgive me if this topic has been beaten to death, but I had an idea which could be a solution for ground combat.

So ships are designed. On one side you have Beamers, massdrivers and missiles and on the defending end you have shields, armor and evasion. Then you have special systems which you can develope and add. The more the heavier the ship will be and the more it will cost.

A similar system could be good for ground combat units too. They could have also beamers, massdriver and missile modules to build in. So they are compatible with the existing ship building system. So example a ground combat unit could have 2 beam modules and 3 armor modules and 1 missile module. As special systems maybe one can integrate "exosuits" for combat on planets with biological hazards and "gravitational lifters". So if on GCU meets another in planetary combat - just by moving on it like ship combat or better invading the enemy planet hex- the combat mechanics are the same as in ship combat. Beamers are good for shields etc.

One can consider ground combat units with a lot of modules are as heavy and very big armies, while small ground combat units with a few modules can be considered as divisions or brigades.

A big advantage is that the combat ships and ground combat units can interact with each other without developing a new system.

If this idea is already anywhere on this forum I beg your pardon I didnt read everything due to time shortage.
bye
klaus1416
19,443 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I know surprisingly little about the plans for ground combat so far, in Beta 1 the system appears identical to GC1, with a simple spacebar activated advantage randomiser. This might be a placeholder, but it may be that ground combat isn't a priority for GC2. I dunno!
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ground combat isn't a priority for GC2. They'd like to spiff it up and expand it, but that might have to wait until an expansion or GC3, depending on how things go during GC2 development. Note: This is all AIR, and I may just be completely lost in space.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This is all AIR, and I may just be completely lost in space.


Guess that's why you are te Star pilot
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The problem with detailed ground combat is that it becomes difficult to maintain the pace of the game. It's hard enough to direct your armada of ships... now you want to try and juggle FIFTEEN LAND WARS also? Moving a few units on every planet every turn?

It just becomes a micromanagement nightmare. I understand the desire for interesting land combat... but it really does not fit with the scope of the game.

What I might consider more appropriate is automatic land combat. A game which used this system is 'Stars!', and older 4x type game. You still have designed units that you create and design, but you have no control of them in combat. You just give them general orders, like 'retreat', 'aggressive', 'raze'. They then follow those pre-determined behaviors in combat. You can go back and look at a battle to see WHY you won or lost, and see how to individual units moved... or you can just accept the loss and keep playing.

I am a fan of this method for two reasons. First, it does not interrupt the flow of the game. You cannot AFFECT the outcome, so you're free to skip past the message saying you won or lost. But you can USE the information about how the units fought in the battle to learn more about your opponents, the weapons and defenses they use, and why your units did well or poorly. You can see each movement in a specific tactical manner, see each shot, the unit movements... and thus you can understand why your missile troops lost because the enemies' laser troops were so fast they could just close to short range long before the missile troops could take advantage of their greater range.

So I'm a fan of Automated Tactical Battle Resolution. BUT...

I'm not such a fan that I think it's important to alter the game design significantly. The current system is good enough. You don't get great feedback on WHY you lost, but it's enough, and it fits the scope of the game.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I like the solution they use in the Age of Wonders series. There you can chose for autocombat or tactical combat. That way the player can decide to either let the calculator do the job or do it himself.

It does take a lot of programming to get a good TC AI going though...
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'd also prefer detailed ground combat. Emperor of the Fading Suns
has a system in which you move tiles to hexes several times per turn. So
in effect you manage several ground battles at one time. It's definitely
detailed. What may be more interesting is to simply have a ground
battle where you perform the entire invasion on the planet & complete it
for the turn, instead of having it go on for several turns moving pieces.
But I'd prefer as much flexibility as I can get: none, some, or all.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I don't need (and don't want either) detailed ground combat but there would be a nice feature to put in the game : allowing land assault to last more than one turn (In GC2, 1 turn = 1 week). Even if realism is not a main objective, it would be nice that both the defender and the attacker try to gain access to an attacked planet in order to bring fresh troops and improve their chances of victory.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think the more detail the better. If you could pick out individual t-shirts and types of slacks for each of your 1000 marines and machine pilots, I would be quite happy. NOW CODE IT!
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'd also favour an expanded ground combat system. I agree that battles taking longer than a week would be preferable, both from a strategic and aesthetic points-of-view. I like the idea of being able to fight a delaying action, or sucking an enemy into a meatgrinder, and an epic global battle that takes years is just kind of cool.

However I wouldn't mind if it was essentially automated system where the player plugs in a few broad strategic options, along the lines Tikatt proposed.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hardcore grognards. I'm in. I think the more NASA/Pentagon/
Avalon Hill grade material we can get with this galactic empire
game, the better. These kinds of games only get better with
more processing power in the future too. 10,000 star systems
& 100,000 planets. Couple hundred major races & 1000 minor
races.....That would be fun.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
All I ask for is something that is visually appealing. I don't have to be in control of my forces, but please don't make ground combat that stupid spacebar randomization thing where troops would just disappear. Let me see some shooting, some explosions, something that makes me want to watch and see what happens.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i agree, and perhaps create a short vid on it while the battle is taking place, like a soldier running through a burnt bunker and shooting a powerstation that blows up, i dunno
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You just give them general orders, like 'retreat', 'aggressive', 'raze'. They then follow those pre-determined behaviors in combat. You can go back and look at a battle to see WHY you won or lost, and see how to individual units moved... or you can just accept the loss and keep playing.


wow... all i can say is... if it could be implimented of course... THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!!!