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It's a cool idea and one I'd definitely like to see implemented eventually. Randomly generated star systems with planets, moons, asteroids and comets (the last 2 are just as important!) would add a whole new dimension to the game. But good lord will it make it more complicated! Consider, you'll have to model the entire system as its components move, you'll have to cycle through many maps to complete a turn, and weapons systems in space can become quite varied (rail guns, nukes/EMP of all sizes, bombardment with asteroids, etc) and lethal, to say the least.
The interface we have for Civ/CTP/SMAC is not well suited to one in which space is another combat arena. For starters, we'd need to be able to overlay orbital facilities/satellites/ships over a view of the entire planet. Turn times would have to be dropped below 1 year since by 2020 Delta's lunar shuttle get's you there in 2 days (or your money back!) and what orbit you're in makes a big difference but wouldn't show in a 1 turn = 1 year system. Furthermore, nearly every space-borne weapon is one of mass destruction when inflicted on planets, so auto-counterattack functionality would be a must to enable any kind of Cold War scenarios.
There's also the question of how to implement the difficulty of launching something out of the gravity well. A single 'Rocketry'/'Space Flight' advance wouldn't cut it. You'd need a whole slew of minor advances that cut down launch costs, spaceship propulsion systems, etc. Orbital elevators (very expensive to build, but allow virtually unlimited orbital access) could become a normal improvement, but only for cities on/near the equator. But there's also laser boost systems (cheap all around, but use lots of power), ramjets (expensive to research and build, but cheaper launches), and rockets (expensive in everything except research).
Consider also that everything you can build a city on is going to have different rules on how to get resources and what it takes to keep the place running. Having resource types rather than just shields/food will come in handy here.
I would suggest that some of you check out an old Sierra game called Alien Legacy for a decent beginning on implementing this.
Obviously the tech tree will have to be extended far out beyond the simple 1960 + starship that civ2 went to.
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Jared Lessl
[This message has been edited by jdlessl (edited November 16, 2000).]
The interface we have for Civ/CTP/SMAC is not well suited to one in which space is another combat arena. For starters, we'd need to be able to overlay orbital facilities/satellites/ships over a view of the entire planet. Turn times would have to be dropped below 1 year since by 2020 Delta's lunar shuttle get's you there in 2 days (or your money back!) and what orbit you're in makes a big difference but wouldn't show in a 1 turn = 1 year system. Furthermore, nearly every space-borne weapon is one of mass destruction when inflicted on planets, so auto-counterattack functionality would be a must to enable any kind of Cold War scenarios.
There's also the question of how to implement the difficulty of launching something out of the gravity well. A single 'Rocketry'/'Space Flight' advance wouldn't cut it. You'd need a whole slew of minor advances that cut down launch costs, spaceship propulsion systems, etc. Orbital elevators (very expensive to build, but allow virtually unlimited orbital access) could become a normal improvement, but only for cities on/near the equator. But there's also laser boost systems (cheap all around, but use lots of power), ramjets (expensive to research and build, but cheaper launches), and rockets (expensive in everything except research).
Consider also that everything you can build a city on is going to have different rules on how to get resources and what it takes to keep the place running. Having resource types rather than just shields/food will come in handy here.
I would suggest that some of you check out an old Sierra game called Alien Legacy for a decent beginning on implementing this.
Obviously the tech tree will have to be extended far out beyond the simple 1960 + starship that civ2 went to.
--
Jared Lessl
[This message has been edited by jdlessl (edited November 16, 2000).]
I couldn't agree more with what Andy said. Have you gone out of your mind ?!. Sometimes I feel like wanting to cleanse the Americans of the earth, because from time to time they seem so utterly ignorant, arrogant (or whatever frustrates me) like you do now. But what about us dutch ???
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