Poll: First DW2 expansion?

[arvcran2]

@Miletkir: LOL setting up a Poll then ignoring the results tisk! LOL

Clearly you have not seriously attempted to playing as a DWU Pirate.

I played a lot of hours with empires.

I switched to Pirates because they were always a thorn in my side, and I wanted to better understand them.

I never switched back. (lots of I's) The game was now very challenging, and hence interesting!

The game-play was very different from the Pirate perspective. You should give them a serious attempt without any mods in DW1.

[Webbco]

Out of all those amazing options and people choose...orbiting planets?! [:D]

[Miletkir]

ORIGINAL: arvcran2

@Miletkir: LOL setting up a Poll then ignoring the results tisk! LOL

Not sure what you're saying. You have to register the vote yourself at StrawPoll.

[arvcran2]

ORIGINAL: Miletkir

ORIGINAL: arvcran2

@Miletkir: LOL setting up a Poll then ignoring the results tisk! LOL

Not sure what you're saying. You have to register the vote yourself at StrawPoll.

Oh I see, you edited the original post and added 'StrawPoll' - Roger. What we have to re-read threads now?

[Miletkir]

ORIGINAL: arvcran2

ORIGINAL: Miletkir

ORIGINAL: arvcran2

@Miletkir: LOL setting up a Poll then ignoring the results tisk! LOL

Not sure what you're saying. You have to register the vote yourself at StrawPoll.

Oh I see, you edited the original post and added 'StrawPoll' - Roger. What we have to re-read threads now?

No, StrawPoll was set up at the start, but it was perhaps a less obvious link in the middle of it. Anyway, if you voted for Pirates now, all is good [;)]

[ncc1701e]

ORIGINAL: Miletkir

From the FAQ:

Am I crazy or do the planets no longer orbit their stars?
--> I explained this a bit in the stream Q&A, but bottom line is that the the planets still rotate, but they no longer have animated orbits.
Partly this is due to the change in scale, the rest comes down to the difference between having things look ok in 2D where ships and stations moved through each other all the time vs. nice 3D where they need to avoid colliding, enter hangars and docking bays properly, exit construction yards, etc.
Having the orbits match up with the more realistic scale would have meant they would be slow enough that you likely wouldn't notice the movement easily, while at the same time any movement would create a lot more challenges for us in terms of the new 3D mechanism for docking of ships in spaceports and near planets and collision avoidance. We decided ultimately that it wasn't worth adding extremely slow orbits to create a huge amount of extra bugs and work to account for that when we could spend that limited time better elsewhere on other more noticeable features. It's not impossible that orbits may return at some future date, but it's not in the plans right now.

Thanks, well orbiting planets is indeed missing, I definitely agree.

[Handbanana]

IT has also been stated that ORbiting planets will not be supported as it is such a drain on the system and overcomplicates AI with trivial gameplay impact

Edit: I just saw my point had already been made.

[AKicebear]

I voted for resource processing, but really anything that is economics focused would please me most.

Orbits would be great, but I'd hardly say it should be the central feature of an expansion.

[Miskatonic81]

I also voted resource processing, but man it was a tough call between that and orbiting planets

[Galaxy227]

I understand why orbiting planets didn't make it into the release version, however they were still one of my absolute favorite parts about DW1. I'd love to see them make a return to the series more than anything else when it comes to post-launch development. Orbits just added so much when it came to making Distant Worlds really feel like a living, breathing galaxy.

Edit: Also wanted to add I totally get orbits will be a complicated mess to implement (hence their absence at release), so I won't necessarily be disappointed if they remain absent indefinitely. Orbits most likely would eat up too much development time for far too little pay off, unfortunately.

[SilverCitadel]

I will miss orbiting planets if it proves too much work for the team (as erik was quoted in the FAQ as taking vast amount of work) or too cpu intensive. All listed features are nice but I personally would prioritize strengthening what makes Distant worlds "strong" or unique which I think is it's "living" economy, immersion (impression of a "living galaxy) , and logistics. Excluding orbiting planets I would like (again all these features are nice just listing personal priority from highest 1 to lowest 6);

1: Processed and manufactured resources
(or just an expansion on the resource system, heck maybe tack on to that dyson spheres, planet/ star busters to harvest a new exclusive resource found only found at a recent supernova or planet collapsing, option to turn on limited resources, option to turn on planet quality deterioration as you mine it including colonies so environmental tech is more important. Oh and lastly maybe making a multi tiered resource system might even make trading even better and now there are several ways to make a trading empire, instead of being lucky at starting position or blobbing into special resources, NOW if you don't fit into the first two options you can just research tech and facilities that would allow to make / process exclusive or rare resources. or maybe there are resources that prohibitively expensive to gather / process (like blowing up stars or planets))

2: Implementation of jump gates
(idk what that would entail but I hope while adding jump gates they slightly expand on hyper deny options or mechanics and maybe add in bacon's mod gravity well idea, or maybe take some ideas from AI fleet command for this one, just make logistics and travel more interesting and more thought into it on top of what they are doing with "space geography" )

3: playable pirates
(never played pirates in all my time with DW:U but from my impression many people enjoyed playing pirates and you get to play a different sort of "perspective" in the "living" galaxy)

4: more playable factions
(not much more to say, just more variations on playing to your strengths or play styles. maybe while adding new playable races they expand on internal politics or managing like guilds , companies policies, and caste system? There was a mod in DW:U that expanded race character system)

5: development of ground assault mechanics
(I wouldn't consider combat to be something that draws many DW:U (or DW) players from my impressions or a strong aspect of the game and if I really wanted to play a tactical game I would just play a ... tactical combat game like Xcom: enemy unknown or
several RTS games I play or Dota 2. but if you make combat more like an RTS then Sign me up.)

6: multiplayer
(would be nice but I assume it would take a large amount of resources not to mention possible multiplayer bugs patching from a small studio that could go into refining the game's strengths or expanding on some of its weaknesses instead. I have no friends that play PC games so this feature would be nice but isn't a top priority in my opinion.)

Maybe an expansion on exploration system or just more stuff to find to end the galaxy or improve your empire would be nice or even wormhole or gates that send your exploration ship to a different galaxy (AI war fleet command, one of the expansions does this sorta)

[Miletkir]

Results at 65 votes:



Now I can say I voted for jump gates [:D] Silly me.

[Jorgen_CAB]

Depending on what we see in the release of the game the one thing I would like to see in some future expansion is more fleshed out diplomacy. Dilpomacy have always been relatively bare bones in most 4x games and I presume it will be in DW2 as well at launch.

I would like to see empires being able to form unilateral agreements and alliances between multiple races. Races should be able to form coalitions against particular threats even if sometimes temporary through just pragmatic reasons.

In my opinion diplomacy and relations between empires often get a backseat in these types of games when they should be a pretty important part to be more fleshed out.


I saw nothing about this in the poll which is a bit sad, this is way more important than most of the stuff in there in my opinion.

[Hyperion1]

I voted multiplayer, but really for me all things are important.

[Miletkir]

ORIGINAL: Jorgen_CAB

Depending on what we see in the release of the game the one thing I would like to see in some future expansion is more fleshed out diplomacy. Dilpomacy have always been relatively bare bones in most 4x games and I presume it will be in DW2 as well at launch.

I would like to see empires being able to form unilateral agreements and alliances between multiple races. Races should be able to form coalitions against particular threats even if sometimes temporary through just pragmatic reasons.

In my opinion diplomacy and relations between empires often get a backseat in these types of games when they should be a pretty important part to be more fleshed out.


I saw nothing about this in the poll which is a bit sad, this is way more important than most of the stuff in there in my opinion.

I also give a lot of importance to diplomacy and character-mediated gameplay in general but, to be fair, the extent of changes on diplomacy in DW2 is still a bit of an unknown (Erik said things here and there that make me think it is already a lot more fleshed out than in DW1), so what an expansion on this topic would be is still unclear at this point.

[LordMM]

ORIGINAL: Miletkir

ORIGINAL: Jorgen_CAB

Depending on what we see in the release of the game the one thing I would like to see in some future expansion is more fleshed out diplomacy. Dilpomacy have always been relatively bare bones in most 4x games and I presume it will be in DW2 as well at launch.

I would like to see empires being able to form unilateral agreements and alliances between multiple races. Races should be able to form coalitions against particular threats even if sometimes temporary through just pragmatic reasons.

In my opinion diplomacy and relations between empires often get a backseat in these types of games when they should be a pretty important part to be more fleshed out.


I saw nothing about this in the poll which is a bit sad, this is way more important than most of the stuff in there in my opinion.

I also give a lot of importance to diplomacy and character-mediated gameplay in general but, to be fair, the extent of changes on diplomacy in DW2 is still a bit of an unknown (Erik said things here and there that make me think it is already a lot more fleshed out than in DW1), so what an expansion on this topic would be is still unclear at this point.

Erik gave a minor info regarding diplomacy

"Ambassadors in DW2 can help with Empires, Independents and Pirate Factions. In fact, _not_ having an ambassador assigned to a faction can also cause possible diplomatic penalties.

Regards,

- Erik"

[zgrssd]

Jump gates are a problem on two fronts:
1. They are largely unessesary, given the wide access to hyperdrives
2. They are a pathfinding nightmare. Every gateway is connected to all other gateways, meaning the number of paths to take from any gateway increaes exponentially with the number of gateways.
Even real life pathfinding does not have to deal with Teleporters in every major city. And that one at least can calculate a few seconds to a minute for any pathing question.

[Miletkir]

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

Jump gates are a problem on two fronts:
1. They are largely unessesary, given the wide access to hyperdrives
2. They are a pathfinding nightmare. Every gateway is connected to all other gateways, meaning the number of paths to take from any gateway increaes exponentially with the number of gateways.
Even real life pathfinding does not have to deal with Teleporters in every major city. And that one at least can calculate a few seconds to a minute for any pathing question.

But hyperdrives jumps are limited in distance. Especially in a large galaxy, a jump gate technology can be a decisive strategic advantage. Also, they can be a great storytelling element. In a more realistic setting where the galaxy's mass is composed at 90% of dark matter, probe exploration and the building of gateways would actually be the travel method of choice, because the chance of crashing into a dark matter clump would be too high.
Technically, they can be a superseding path to regular travel (like a shortcut), but they could also be just manually used/activated. Apart from what was said in the FAQ, I don't know what it'd take specifically to integrate them to the modified engine Erik and Elliot have built, but considering this system was integrated for instance to Stellaris, Endless Space or the last Master of Orion, surely this isn't out of reach.

[zgrssd]

Also, they can be a great storytelling element. In a more realistic setting where the galaxy's mass is composed at 90% of dark matter, probe exploration and the building of gateways would actually be the travel method of choice, because the chance of crashing into a dark matter clump would be too high.

That is the background story of Galactic Civilisations:
All they had was sublight probes to explore and give others the plans for the Stargates. Wich did block interstellar warfare, as a side effect and also was not conductive for trade.

Humans just had the (somehow!) unique technology fusion and so managed to turn those gates into proper hyperdrives instead, strating the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwYfjMlsuSk

[Whiskiz]

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

Jump gates are a problem on two fronts:
1. They are largely unessesary, given the wide access to hyperdrives
2. They are a pathfinding nightmare. Every gateway is connected to all other gateways, meaning the number of paths to take from any gateway increaes exponentially with the number of gateways.
Even real life pathfinding does not have to deal with Teleporters in every major city. And that one at least can calculate a few seconds to a minute for any pathing question.

You think jump gates would be a pathfinding nightmare try orbital planets in a 3D world