Aircraft

[Vic]

Navy & Air are on top of my major work items list. But this is going to take at least some months to implement.

And to be honest I have navy above air, because it will allow much more interesting world maps.

I think seen the diverging opinions I might make it so that those extra theaters can be disabled for players who want to play only with land, or only land+air or land+sea

best wishes,
Vic

[Tchey]

ORIGINAL: Vic
I might make it so that those extra theaters can be disabled for players who want to play only with land, or only land+air or land+sea

Yes please ! Merci

[GodwinW]

ORIGINAL: Vic

Navy & Air are on top of my major work items list. But this is going to take at least some months to implement.

And to be honest I have navy above air, because it will allow much more interesting world maps.

I think seen the diverging opinions I might make it so that those extra theaters can be disabled for players who want to play only with land, or only land+air or land+sea

best wishes,
Vic

Thank you so much!!
And of course if you design it well it may very well be that I'll enable it, but having this option is really great! Really, really great!!

[Frostwave]

Excited for air and navy but I can definitely be patient knowing how deep the mechanics are for military units so I can easily see how much work this is going to entail. 2020 is the year of the wargamer.

[ASHBERY76]

Making navy actually worth building is a issue in 4x.Without trade lanes they tend to be a bit pointless.

[Daza99]

Currently if i am not mistaken the main goal of the game is conquer all. I would like to see in the future another optional goal of reaching a diplomatic score or/and in trading instead, which perhaps might fit well with Cargo ships, Ports, Sea Trading routes and Coast Guard ships for sea rescue and patrolling and of course Navies to protect them.

Air power would be nice, i would be ok if they were added in as Stratagem cards (That are gained from Research and material costs to produce rather than randomly given)you play on a city to send "bombers" before you invade and perhaps Fighters are used primary for Air defense and during ground battles there could be a air superiority check which gives a buff to ground troops/units. Air superiority check could also be calculated based existing AA static or mobile AA in the area and its capabilities vs your aircraft used and also any enemy fighters in the area etc. So these AA installations could be targets for other ground forces before an more full on invasion. Learning where they are (unless there will be Satellites that we need to research and use?) could be done via Spies (they give a general idea where to look) and Recon missions to find them and they will appear on the map when they do (perhaps some are well hidden and even Sat images wont find them).

I would like to see Helicopters as units for transporting troops deep into enemy territory to do extended recon missions (i don't know if we have Special/Elite Forces in the game? but could be added for this), be able to medivac wounded back to HQ (not sure how wounded are simulated in the game?), and drop off limited emergency supplies to cut off units like 100 supply points each time before having to RTB. But can be prone to being shot down (which could have a chance of an event in the game where the enemy has captured the crew and make demands threatening to broadcast their treatment to demoralize your nation or they sometimes do that without any demands and you have to choose how you deal with it- this could happen to Special Forces sent on recon missions.)

Anyway, will be interesting how this will be implemented when it comes.

[Lovenought]

If I can't go in and manually decide altitude (at every stage of the route), airspeed, targets, weapon loadout, time of day, mission tempo, what the pilot has for lunch, and the individual nose art of every single one of my 19,000+ aircraft each turn like I can in War in the West, i'll refund the game.

In fact, don't just make it possible. Make it mandatory to do this if you want to be effective.

[zgrssd]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

Making navy actually worth building is a issue in 4x.Without trade lanes they tend to be a bit pointless.

Just the option to have supply flow over water or attacks go over it, would open a whole new set of maps/planet generation

[ObeseMonkey]

Surely the best solution would be to add air and navy but have an option on planet generation to turn them off. Plus it would lead to more types of planets, and more types of alien creatures. Even if Air is too hard, navy is a must, without it we would never be able to have planets that are close to earth in their amounts of water.

[CreeperDelta]

Thanks God that navy and air units/forces are going to be implemented. That will basically make this the best strategy game for me.
Like the other guys said, making navies and air forces should be limited depending on whatever planet types you're on. Can't wait for amphibious assaults, ship-to-ship and air-to-air combat, and stealth paradrops (by special operations forces with FOB setups) behind enemy lines, etc. Placeables on seas (fueling depots, battle stations, etc.) and land (anti-air platforms, coastal anti-navy batteries, etc), and satellites above would be nice too.
I would gladly pay for these as DLC.

Awesome, Vic.

[CreeperDelta]

quote:

ORIGINAL: Maerchen

You can opt out in the planet generation phase. Arid planets, no ships. Thin or no atmosphere, no aircrafts.

Well said!

[Journier]

All i can say is i hope they are based from cities or forward airstrips, and can be called in as needed for a sortie to help win a fight, and arent standing units on the map.

[oscarius]

I have mixed thoughts on the addition of aircraft. Really wouldn't it serve the same role as artillery/rockets? Metal and ammo for the chance to get some free hits on enemy-held hexes? Maybe it could start out as a simple reconnaissance type asset (akin to the role of WW1 aviation) then evolve into a way to cripple enemy mines and farming assets. I wouldn't be a huge fan of it as a tactical tool so much as it is just another metal-intensive offensive tool that reduces the need for envelopment and encirclement. If it were to be added I'd rather see air superiority giving minor-to-moderate firepower bonuses and reconnaissance (fighters could behave similarly to artillery, coming into play with their own combat phase when rival air assets are deployed offensively against the hex).

Navies on the other hand could open up a lot of strategic possibilities. Primarily, and the main advantage of naval power historically, would be the ability to speedily land and supply expeditionary forces (who should take a huge readiness hit even if they manage to land ashore unopposed). Shore bombardments could also prove useful on certain maps. On the other hand a navy will essentially be a worthless resource sink on 90% of current planets generated. Sea logistics + AI could also prove.. interesting to develop without outright cheating. Water-heavy worlds would probably require the addition of deep sea oil, fishing assets (planet evolution permitting) and other goodies to encourage investment and competition.

On the whole I could see both of these be a struggle to balance and introduce to the AI. If the dev cannot find a way to do this then there is no shame in not adding them at all rather than them proving either useless or overpowered.

[Erdoszb]

Hey Vic,
Anubis bless you for the navy/air-force implementations, sooner than later SE will be the perfect strategy game (or something very close to that)!

[Malevolence]

ORIGINAL: Vic

I think seen the diverging opinions I might make it so that those extra theaters can be disabled for players who want to play only with land, or only land+air or land+sea

You are a very rare breed, indeed. A player's developer.