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C# Mechanics / Re: Potential Changes to Shipping Lines
« Last post by Pedroig on Today at 03:32:10 PM »Something ahistorical but should allow the player to have some control over what type of game they want to play.
Have a modifier in the initial game settings which will limit ratio of number and displacement of civilian shipping based upon the player fleet. Maybe a "max number of civvie shipping lines" as well.
Having a ratio will make an inverse relationship on number of ships and size. The higher the number of the ships, the less size they will be and vice versa, regardless of the values chosen. It would be nice to be able to do this on a "per line" basis as an option to replicate large interstellar haulers and intra-system tramp freighters to both exist, though if that isn't doable, having the player choose between taking care of one or the other and the civilians covering the remainder will work.
For an easy example, let's take a "small" force of 100 ships totaling 1,000,000 tons, so if the player chooses 100% number and 100% displacement, the civilian shipping line(s) will default to having 100 ships massing 10,000 each, so a "jack of all, master of none" effect. A 10%/100% choice would result in 10 ships at 100,000 each, so interstellar transport vibe, whilst a 100%/10% would be a small packet courier fleet of 1,000 ton ships. This of course is based on averages, and allowing over 100% on either gives more options, but not necessary.
Just seems easier to mechanically tie it into what the player is doing than other mechanical subsytstems. It will naturally provide a civilian shipping economy which reflects the player's own demands and "actions" in the ship economy and how that would trigger a civilian response.
Have a modifier in the initial game settings which will limit ratio of number and displacement of civilian shipping based upon the player fleet. Maybe a "max number of civvie shipping lines" as well.
Having a ratio will make an inverse relationship on number of ships and size. The higher the number of the ships, the less size they will be and vice versa, regardless of the values chosen. It would be nice to be able to do this on a "per line" basis as an option to replicate large interstellar haulers and intra-system tramp freighters to both exist, though if that isn't doable, having the player choose between taking care of one or the other and the civilians covering the remainder will work.
For an easy example, let's take a "small" force of 100 ships totaling 1,000,000 tons, so if the player chooses 100% number and 100% displacement, the civilian shipping line(s) will default to having 100 ships massing 10,000 each, so a "jack of all, master of none" effect. A 10%/100% choice would result in 10 ships at 100,000 each, so interstellar transport vibe, whilst a 100%/10% would be a small packet courier fleet of 1,000 ton ships. This of course is based on averages, and allowing over 100% on either gives more options, but not necessary.
Just seems easier to mechanically tie it into what the player is doing than other mechanical subsytstems. It will naturally provide a civilian shipping economy which reflects the player's own demands and "actions" in the ship economy and how that would trigger a civilian response.