Sobriquet
Vanguard
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 118
Location: Reno, NV
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 Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:25 pm Post subject: Zaimat says – Military / Ships |
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Snippets of information on military matters and ship design.
limited resources
In regards to number of ships and the economics in Horizon as it is currently... There are several factors but basically the requirements are an upfront cost and enough industrial capacity (potential) and a shipyard (for most designs) to start building.
Battle strategies (quite long post...)
The player will be able to get information from a number of sources and the types of informations will be more varied. Information will come from spies, traders, ships, colonies (ie: listening posts), diplomacy as well as a few other methods which I won't reveal.
As for single big fleets not being a sound strategy... In Horizon leaving your homeworld (your greatest asset by FAR) or other important colonies undefended is a very risky thing to do. Any enemy-AI spies will be looking for such opportunities and enemy governments may take advantage of it. But if you rely on your intelligence services to forwarn you of any attacks you might get away with such a gamble
There are other reasons as well. For example: the larger a fleet is, the easyer it will be to be detected, the alien governments (AI) rely just as you on reports to get the location of your ships so they can bolster their defenses or re-align their fleets to intercept.
Ships are not slow but the galaxy is big, even planetary systems are big. A full-size fleet of 10 ships can't cover more than a few sectors and be able to intercept a ship before they hit a target. And this depends if the target was detected early enough for your ships to catch up to them. So unless your colonies are in adjacent sectors, it won't be possible without accurate intelligence/detection.
As for immobile defenses you are correct that they are not likely to be very effective against a fleet without some support ships.
Outposts/outer colonies
The primary form of defense will be your fleet in most cases.
The idea behind outposts is strategic value. This process is still evolving . . . it's basic form it's meant to get your foot in an area where you think it's important. . . Outposts can benefit all facets of your empire . . .
You will want escorts and your fleet is crucial in all aspects of running your empire safely and securely.
Ship range will not be limited by any artificial factors (ie: fuel). You will be able to explore any part of the galaxy at any time. Limited only by time/distance.
. . .security patrols are up to you, the responsability falls on each empire to secure their own borders . . .
Weapons
All the weapons in the starship archives are race specific.
All the 'special' 'race specific' weapons are the standard weapons they use, these are not the specials.
. . . we have survey ships (ships w/survey instruments) in Horizon. They are primarily for exploration.
You won't need to scrap your ships, certainly not because it's out-dated . . . The design concept is based on auto re-fitting . . . to make it less of a chore and simpler to maintain your fleet . . .
Re-fitting (to the latest version) is automatic when your ships stop by a shipyard. But if you want to change the design of the ship (load different type of weapons or specials) you will have to build a new model.
When you design a ship, you are designing it for a task in mind. The basic modules don't change over time they get improved.
Obviously there are some things that you can't do, such as change a bomber to a colonizer. In these cases you can design and build new ships, these new ships don't make your older ships obsolete though.
Ok, so why not allow re-designs of existing ships? Primarily because of gameplay (and to some extent interface because ships are part of taskforces) issues. It seemed to add too little to gameplay yet it affected it in a number of ways, so we decided not to bother with it at this time but you never know
You are not forced to include escorts/smaller ships when forming your taskforces and certainly they can defend themselves to a degree but you will want to in most cases since fighters play an important tactical role when going against other fleets with fighters both offensively and defensively
Pre-disposition for war
War is serious business. It's not something the AI will enter into at every little incident. Though they will defend their territory from tresspassers. If they are agressive and unfriendly (with your race) they are likely to engage into hostilities.
Space Combat
. . . the game is not on hold while combat happens and the AI is 'thinking' and re-adjusting as it goes along while in combat.
It [the AI] can also manage several wars or engagements at the same time (within their military capability) and re-adjust it's forces (taskforces), defenses accordingly while combat is progressing.
Galaxy layout questions
Your fleet can be between two sectors, a ship can enter or move to a different sector at anytime, you can fire weapons from one sector to the other if you happen to be at the edge, etc
Ship Design
Yes you get to customize and design your own ships in Horizon.
It's divided into 3 areas. Weapon bays, system components and specials. You get to pick from the list of all available technologies.
Ship design and tactical combat
There are 2 ships presented per race in the ship archives (22 total), more will be revealed over time although not likely as part of the ship archives.
Epic Exploration of Space War Game (1rst Post & Long)
. . . ships are expensive, important and a limited resource. . .
A taskforce composed of a mothership and several cruisers with escort ships is the norm and a serious threat.
If you are militarily inclined you can still build more ships and focus more on numbers than others. And technology while very important will not automatically dictate how well your military does. As well as there will be counters to large fleets.
edit. updated info 11/10/04
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