Damn image conventions, why are they rotated?
So, the three images are illustrations of how gate raiding may be conducted in the sequel, depending on the each of the three options on the design doc. Please mix and match as needed depending on your opinions, and raise problems.
In A, the wormholes do not orbit, but the planets do. Here, I think it is easiest to just make the entire system one playing field (kasnavada and many 4X). This is mostly identical to classic, except you replace mineral deposits with orbiting planets, and add in-system jumps. Wormhole generators here serve only to speed up AI jump speeds.
- The player jumps in and arrives at static entry point somewhere in the system. Turrets/defenders can be placed here.
- As longs as shops are not near any planet, they can consume fuel to travel at a very fast speed.
- Repositioning and retreat requires ships to leave the planet well so as to benefit from the above. Running out of fuel will be painfully slow but rarely lethal.
How this is faster than classic:
- fuel-based in-system jumps removes most of the downtime where you are waiting for your fleet to reach the next guard post.
- Although the average system will be larger than a classic planet in term of playing field size, each planet will be less complicated. You don't have to teach specific wormholes in-system, you just have to reach an edge..
- Repositioning within your territory still depends on distance between wormholes, so isn't particularly reliable on the reinforcement side.
In B, the wormholes are tied to the planet. Here, we adopt Stellaris hyperlane mechanics, and complicate hate -raiding to
slow it down (each wormhole connection is independent). We will keep the solar system as in the design doc, but make each planetary playing field much smaller: say smaller than a fortress's range.
- The player jumps through one of the incoming wormholes, and immediately engages local defenders and the AI wormhole generator associated with this wormhole. This prevents the AI from using that wormhole to chase, as they don't control a generator at either side.
- Ships can use fuel to jump from anywhere in the planetary grav well, but require a charge-up time to do so (provided that it isn't disabled). Arrival at the target planet will be at the edge.
- Since each wormhole link will need to be individually disabled. This allows the AI more time to catch up.
- Inter system jumps may or not require ship to be physically present at the wormhole. Not sure, but hyperlane mechanics imply that burning the bridge is the main method to secure a safe retreat.
How this is faster than classic:
- No planetary travel when players are simply jumping from planet to planet, only charge up time, which can be set to, say, 10s without interference+ time to reach next planet. This means your never wait for those speed 44 missile frigates/golems to catch up unless assaulting the enemy.
- This solution strongly encourages technology that traps ships so as to prevent/delay them escaping a planet. Stellaris hyperlanes are super fast in practice - in my experience, it was the most enjoyable warp type in combat across multiple grav wells, but needed more Sins-style grav traps to catch fleeing enemies.
- We can substitute a single wormhole instead of one for each lane. In that case the generator should probably be rather difficult to destroy.
- Lack of fuel will trap you, perhaps to die.
In C, we try to develop a way to keep some reliability while still keeping the "arrive on nearest edge" philosophy. To prevent fleets from regularly scattering themselves across the system (because they aren't in the same place or jump at exactly the same time), travel within friendly territory is generally done by centralised wormhole anchors. So if you control one such anchor in the system, everybody jumps there, and jumps faster.
- When the attacking player first jumps into the system. They emerge at the closest grav well
- In system jumps occur either at the edge of the grav well, OR at the anchor of you control it.
- So the defending player always has a strong travel time advantage, instead of the location advantage of other options. In this setup, the AI will generally be able to reinforce faster from adjacent systems' anchors via galactic network than planets on the same system, shifting the gameplay towards the special forces and roaming threat fleets.
How this is faster than classic:
- The wormhole anchoring network takes the role of old Logistic Command Stations, and will not need knowledge unlocks. It makes repositioning much faster, and consistent, as fleets simply jump in and out.
- This means if the AI death fleet is three systems away, you know exactly how much time you have left to take out the local anchor.
- However, the game can end up being pitched battles around one main planet per system, with mop up. In actual attacks, players should focus on the AI anchor and set up a beachhead to switch the travel time advantage.
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