Infinite combat map

[Raapys]

Check out all the tiny icons in the System View. One of them says 'Switch to sector view' or something. Basically, it's combat view without having a combat, and you can freely move units/ships around, positioning them for battle, setting up satellites, etc.

As it stands, you can actually use this to place your ships right beside enemy ships, if combat ended with both sides still in the sector. This wont be possible with the soon-to-come patch, though. Exploit, obviously, but necessary with the unlimited combat area, which will also be fixed in the patch.

[Shadowstar]

I do like the idea of infinite combat area, but the system just needed some tweaks to prevent gameplay problems.

The retreat option sounds good but I wonder if the AI will use it? It sounds to me like it is optional, not a forced retreat. If it's not optional then it effectively negates infinite combat area. Problem is, if it is optional then it still leaves the system open for exploit.

After all, what's to stop a player from flying past the border and just choosing not to retreat? Without the automatic end of battle, it'd all come down to which player chooses to retreat first.

This wouldn't be an issue if pursuing ships would not follow retreaters too far past the combat border. At some point, they turn back and return to the fleet/planet/etc. Then, if the fleeing player chooses to retreat, it moves him out of the sector normally, but if he chooses not to, it leaves his ships where they were and ends the combat. Either way, the defending ships return to thier original positions. He could then choose to attack again, but would not be able to exploit the tactic in order to pull defenders away from a target.

[Raapys]

I suggested to Aaron that all ships be returned to the positions they had before combat once it ends, if the enemy retreated/was destroyed. This would also make defending warp points and such with ships a whole lot easier. Gets tiresome relocating them after each attack.

[Suicide Junkie]

With an infinite combat map and no exploits being abused, then any ship with fully functional engines deciding to run away results in you being simply screwed.

The map expands to absurd sizes, and you get things such as 100 megs of combat replay with no shots being fired.

Raapys:
That sounds pretty good. Multiselect on the sector view would also remove the hassle. (Grab the whole fleet, move them as one back to the warppoint, then fiddle the individual positions without need of scrolling)

[Raapys]

I think ships crossing a certain border should be transferred to the next hex automatically, not by choice. But that brings up the problem with ships retreating and being moved in the system view map without actually having any movement points left.

[Q]

Good news but only if the retreat is compulsory.
If the ship to retreat has no strategic movement points left you might allow the retreat anyway but give it some form of punishment like the destruction of one engine (It was running for its life so an engine was overcharged).

[Sivran]

And just don't even think about level 20+ repulsor beams

[Suicide Junkie]

Now you really can knock that attack fleet into next week.