New Concept For Troops and Fighters

[PvK]

I don't see a solution that addresses all of the issues - at best there are ways to trade some issues for other issues.

For example, while SJ's clever idea to remove or reduce the repair ability for units prevents unrealistic free repairs, it adds the problem of units which only represent the few survivors of a squadron or division, but which still take up just as much space, creating a new micromanagement problem and one which the AI is unlikely to ever figure out without heavy micromanagement scripting, if it's even possible).

It seems like another case where Malfador added many new features with interesting possibilities in SE5 but the UI and AI haven't yet caught up.

The macro-unit idea is a good one but I don't see that it solves the problem without adding new ones. I think Malfador really needs to address the issues the new features created in the UI at least. In this case, adding the ability to group units and then to select some in and out by criteria such as damage level and design, and adding better automatic functions for controlling their resupply, etc.

PvK

[Atrocities]

I suggested this concept more for use with a mod, not a solution to problems with SE V. It seemed like a cool way to do troops.

[Suicide Junkie]

If troop combat is anything like space combat, you won't have many wounded. It will be lots all dead, lots unharmed, and one or two damaged.

[President_Elect_Shang]

Suicide Junkie said:
If troop combat is anything like space combat, you won't have many wounded. It will be lots all dead, lots unharmed, and one or two damaged.

Unless the troops are wearing some form of VacSuit or EVA suit I think they will all be dead!

[shinigami]

Just thought of another minor issue, let's say you've created an all infantry unit, 50 soldier components. Now you have a unit with 50 weapons. Multiple units makes for hundreds of weapons being fired. Won't that tend to bog down the game engine, especially on an older system?

I really like this idea but it seems that a modder who uses it will be pulling his hair out trying to balance all the issues.

[President_Elect_Shang]

How is one mega unit firing hundreds of weapons going to bog down a system any more than what we have now? Hundreds of individual units firing one weapon each; its still hundreds of shots. With At's mega units you would have the same number of weapons but less individual pieces to move around the screen. We need someone more into the graphical side but I would think it would help combat. Same number of shots but less pieces to move around.

Edited: Speaking of the balance how much is there to balance? The cargo capacities of planets are standard so the individual size hulls could be fractions of them. The movement could be set by size, larger armies move slower. The number of weapon slots could be based on the size of the units once again in fractions there of. Would that work?

[shinigami]

PES, good point about bogging a system down, I was still thinking about hundreds of units... oops!

As for balance, a modder would have to work out what scale he wants for his mod. Is an army 50kt or 100kt or some other number? How many armies does he want a ship to be able to carry? Why can a ship that carries x number of armies carry millions of people (pop) but only one weapons platform?

Those are just some off-the-wall examples, of course.
Working out the cargo equivalences and the amount of damage different types of units can do to each other could be a bit of a headache but it can certainly be done.

That's all I meant.

[President_Elect_Shang]

shinigami said:
...How many armies does he want a ship to be able to carry? Why can a ship that carries x number of armies carry millions of people (pop) but only one weapons platform?...

Good point, once again I was only looking at the armies not the larger picture. I have this habit of wanting to fix the parts of the problem instead of addressing the whole problem in one shot.