Return to “Suggestions”

Post

Colonization?

#1
May I first just start out that I recently just found your vids on youtube and instantaneously fell in love with your work. But to get back on point I think Colonization would be a pretty cool aspect of the game. As in you colonize an asteroid or a planet those people eventually grow and when they grow they help out by giving resources or by giving new ships to your fleet to help out your inter-galactic conquest. Maybe there fully dynamic, maybe they start up a mining industry or a weapons facility or like a military academy. Just an idea, hope you take it inconsideration.
Keep up on the good work man.
Post

Re: Colonization?

#2
Hi Lord, and welcome to the forums! :wave:

Unfortunately colonisation has not yet been confirmed as a feature. We'll likely have to wait until Josh begins work on the post-release stretch goal content to know if it will be one, as well.

From the Histories and colonisation thread:
JoshParnell wrote:
Jenga wrote:2. Colonisation - If you found an empty planet/system could you colonise it yourself, install facilities on planets, build stations in orbit. Maybe these could give you income over time and provide you with missions as raiders attack your installations.
Hey Jenga,

2. Colonization is also not confirmed, but if it makes it, that'd come with the "Planetary ownership" post-release update.
Cheers, :thumbup:
- The Snark Knight

"Look upward, and share the wonders I've seen."
Post

Re: Colonization?

#3
I'm not sure I like the idea of 'player colonization' in the "I'm going to plunk a colony down on this planet and have it produce things for me!" type so common in 4x games.

There are two issues with it.

First, it treats a colonist like property. Where did these colonists come from? How am I convincing them to give up their lives and move across the galaxy?

Second, it ignores why people colonize places. They are looking for a new opportunity.


I, the player, should not be able to arbitrarily just plop down a colony. I can build a factory, or mineral extracting operation, but these aren't colonists. Those are workers. The colonists come later, of their own volition. They are chasing that money in my workers pockets. They'll build entertainment venues, houses, hospitals, bars, strip clubs, golf courses, power plants, etc, etc, etc. Everything a society needs to operate. Maybe I'll build some of that for them, out of the goodness of my heart. Maybe I won't. But all I did was build factories.


Or maybe, a group of people will get fed up with the world they are living on, pool their resources, and say 'We need a guy to help us find a planet and build a colony!', and maybe I will answer that ad, and help them for a nice little profit.
Post

Re: Colonization?

#4
Cutter john hit the nail on the head in terms of realism. Colonization can be a messy process - what level of law and government will be established? What industry will workers engage in? What culture will they form and what other faction will they inevitably piss off or get eaten by? In a complex simulation, allowing the player too much control over that will turn it into a full fledged Sid Meier game.

Some level of abstraction that keeps the realism but doesn't require crazy micromanaging would be ideal for gameplay in my opinion. If you want to conquer lots of space, the last thing you want is for needy planets you just conquered to throw all kinds of "help me help me" defensive missions nonstop. Spore was the absolute worst offender I've ever seen in terms of inadequate empire management systems.

I see things going two ways. Way 1: cutter johns vision is implemented and you're basically serving discontented pops by transporting them to new planets. You don't own the planets in question but can be given preferential treatment for establishing industries to earn a nice profit. the option to include the planet in your empire should arise only if the pops can be influenced sufficiently. Way 2: if you build it, they will come? If you find an empty, hospitable planet, you can choose to claim it and set up a government structure with taxes and such to feed your empire. Build a star port, entice pops to move to your new paradise/commune/oppressive dystopian dictatorship and watch the tax revenue flow in.

I'm not opposed to missions to defend your empire or organically arising situations like rival faction attacks. But you ought to be able to successfully defend if you have built sufficient infrastructure to delay the attackers long enough for your allied npcs to arrive and dispatch the invaders without oversight. Having defense missions every 5 minutes that require your presence is simply not fun. Basically I just really wish spore was a better game is what I am trying to say here.
Spacecredentials: looks at stars sometimes, cheated at X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, killed a titan once.
Post

Re: Colonization?

#5
Concerning gameplay, personally I like the planet to be abstracted as much as possible. But still, there are some interesting questions that come with sector or planetary "ownership". Most of them regarding the level of technology and sovereignty of the inhabitants.

Waving away these details and assuming all planets will have 'space travel'-level technology, I'd like to see planets buying luxury goods and providing workforce/NPC. Habitats in orbit or on asteroids can be used to expand the living space should a planet become too small.
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
Post

Re: Colonization?

#6
LORDTOLAND wrote:As in you colonize an asteroid or a planet those people eventually grow and when they grow they help out by giving resources or by giving new ships to your fleet to help out your inter-galactic conquest.
How do you colonize a planet or asteroid? Where did all these people come from? They can't be generated automatically.

Also, how they will give new ships to your fleet? I'm not sure that a colony would grow as fast as the player to see such changes, unless you play for years of real time. That looks like the stuff of the industry, not a colony.

I guess it would not be impossible, but you need a way to make it feel real and have logic with the way in which the game works. Can not be simply an abstraction.
Image
"Playing" is not simply a pastime, it is the primordial basis of imagination and creation. - Hideo Kojima

Online Now

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests

cron