No system shield for you

Nitram Draw · #1 June 6th, 2001, 08:56 PM

The abilities file doesn't exactly provide a detailed description of how the abilities work.
Do the other abilities work, ie stop nebulae creator, stop star destroyer etc?

Droplede · #2 June 7th, 2001, 12:43 AM

Yeah, Baron. I consider the one Planetary Shield per sector a feature, as opposed to a bug. Just thought it worth noting.

I completed a completely unmodded test in 1.35, and came up with the same results: nebula creators and black hole creators both will work in a system with a System Gravitational Shield Facility. Presence of ring or sphereworld in the system makes no difference, either -- not that they logically would, I was just trying to be thorough.

Martin: I haven't tried modding the facility with the "Stop Star Destroyer" ability yet to test it, but that's next on the list. Wouldn't hold out much hope for it, as two of the other system-scope "Stop xxxx" abilities don't seem to.

Haven't heard from Aaron yet. Gee, you don't think he's busy, do ya?

And I'm not sure this is a super vital issue, given Baron's point that these things rarely become useful in the scope of a normal game.

Again: Anybody out there have a system-wide shield facility work?

<edit: Hmmmm. Y'know, I probably should try assigning the "Stop nebula creator" ability to something else in the system, huh? Make sure it's the ability that isn't working as opposed to the facility itself -- not that it's too likely, but still ....

[This message has been edited by Droplede (edited 06 June 2001).]

rdouglass · #3 June 8th, 2001, 01:38 AM

IMO the shield thing is not a big deal, but it may be for others. For game balance, there should be a defence for EVERY offense - that ol' Rock-Paper-Scissors thing.....

Kimball · #4 June 7th, 2001, 02:16 PM

Assuming that the game allows a player to destroy his own system, that would be the ultimate weapon against an unbeatable armada.

"If I can't have this system, no one can have this system. And I am taking you out with me!"

A system of only few planets is well worth destroying a fleet of dreadnaughts, baseships and battleships. You could even lay a trap for nasty empires.

PvK · #5 June 8th, 2001, 12:51 AM

quote:
Originally posted by rdouglass:
IMO the shield thing is not a big deal, but it may be for others. For game balance, there should be a defence for EVERY offense - that ol' Rock-Paper-Scissors thing.....

I bet it will become a bigger deal to you if you ever play a multi-player game to that point. There comes a point where this becomes a very important issue. Of course, you can also do the SE3 methods of mining and defending suns, but still... it's lame to spend heaps of time and resources building a facility that doesn't work due to a bug.

PvK

rdouglass · #6 June 8th, 2001, 03:36 AM

quote:
Originally posted by PvK:
I bet it will become a bigger deal to you if you ever play a multi-player game to that point. There comes a point where this becomes a very important issue. Of course, you can also do the SE3 methods of mining and defending suns, but still... it's lame to spend heaps of time and resources building a facility that doesn't work due to a bug.

PvK

I do agree. That's why I said there needs to be game balance. For every offense, there needs to be a counter. In fact, IMO there should be a component you could put on a space station as an option to the facility, maybe just in a more restrictive capacity. ALthough I personally don't use the system-wide weapons, I would still plan to defend against them in a multi-player game. At this point against the AI, system shields seem useless.

Even more useless if they don't work....this is one that needs to be fixed for multi-player games. However, against the AI, I don't bother....its just my personal preference...

Droplede · #7 June 8th, 2001, 06:57 AM

Hey, all. Was able to duplicate the system shield failure in an unmodded test, and sent the savegame on to Aaron. In his typically professional fashion, he got right back to me and said he'd check it out. Man, I love this company.

An extra for those interested: I also tried assigning the Stop Nebulae Creator, Stop Black Hole Creator and the as-yet unimplemented Stop Star Destroyer ability to other facilities to see if they'd work. They didn't. Bummer. I'd had high hopes for the Stop Star Destroyer ability, which I wanted to tack on to the System Shield facility 'cause it seems a an appropriate addition, especially given the huge cost of the facility.