Using star system adjacency to provide base protection

[aRottenKomquat]

Here's my take on how to address factions turtling in a single homebase in a single star system. Faction Points do not apply here at all. (This concept ties in with what I anticipate Schine's "Imperialist" role to be.)

I will be taking the current concept of faction homebase protection and extending it to star systems instead of individual space stations. If a system is protected, all of the faction's stations (and allied stations) within become protected and invulnerable, just like our current homebase protection. Ships in the area only gain protection if they are docked with a station, and are otherwise vulnerable.

First off, the faction's home system (whatever system contains their homebase) is always protected. The only way this system can become vulnerable is for the faction to relocate their homebase.

Next, here's how extra systems can gain protection. Star systems are cubes with 6 faces. Other star systems gain protection if all 6 of their cube faces are in contact with faction territory, or with allied faction territory. If any of the faces connects with uncontrolled, neutral, or enemy territory, that system is NOT protected and its stations are vulnerable.

This encourages factions to conquer territory in large, contiguous blobs. All of the stations in the interior are fully protected. Only the outer edges can be taken out. This also focuses the need for defense along the faction borders. The interior does not need much protection, only enough to protect starships before they can dock to a protected station if that's an issue.

This also encourages factions to ally together for protection, since you can gain system protection by being surrounded by ally systems! However, if that ally status goes away...both sides could suddenly be very vulnerable!

Combat will be more predictable (and defensible) since this focuses where you must assault your enemies during a faction war. You will have to "carve" a path into enemy territory to cut them down. You can't just jump into the middle of their territory and be able to take it. (You could, however, take a fleet deep into enemy territory and damage their shipping and fleets. Just not their stations.)

This also encourages players to band into factions. It might be feasible for a resourceful single-man faction to have enough NPC fleets to protect a very large cluster of systems...but obviously it's far easier if you have other players to help you.

Finally, there are two settings which should be server-configurable.

• Number of system faces for protection: Defaults to 6. But if it's set to a lower value, it becomes possible to have "strings" or "fingers" of connected systems instead of one large blob. Drop this to 1 and basically all your systems can be protected, for a more "peaceful" server. Or set it to 7 which is unattainable and the system pretty much becomes what we have now.
  
• System Protection Timer: Defaults to 0. This means if a protected system loses a connected face, it immediately loses protection. But this can be adjusted so that, for example, it takes 5 minutes before the system loses protection. This could be used to give players a chance to counter-attack, scramble defenses, or just make faction wars take longer.

Anyway, the idea behind this is to add some more strategy to the way factions war with each other, while simultaneously allowing factions to expand beyond a single invulnerable homebase in relative safety.

 

[Deserea]

Ive always wanted to ask this but its been a fair bit since a thread on homebase vulnerability came up.


I am assuming that homebases being vulnerable(or allowed to be vulnerable) would be a config setting, for those players who play by themselves?(In either SP mode, or in MP mode for servers that dont want homebases destructible).

 

[Extholious]

i kinda like the idea of limiting homebases in certain ways such as having decreased production compared to a station dedicted to production.

 

[Svaash]

I really like this idea.

 

[Blodge]

I hate to be the party pooper, but that idea with the current AI and game mechanics is not going to work.

If "Homebase protection" depends on to have some systems claimed around the main system, supossing you need the 6 systems, most probably on pvp you are going to lose those systems in less half hour.

If you think I'm wrong just say it and I'll expand the upper sentence.

If you mean a single player can find and destroy the System protection block contained within one of the surrounding systems and then do the same to the one in the main system in less than half an hour, then you're probably right.

Maintaining system protection in at least 6 unprotected systems sounds very challenging even with multiple players in your faction online at the same time. Perhaps only requiring 3 adjoining faces to be protected would be more feasible? Then you can still have your "safe" corridors between faction spaces but they need to be 2x2 Systems in width and height.

---Edit---

Just realized, only requiring 3 adjoining faces would mean it would be possible to expand your territory in a way in which it could never be taken away by another player. This idea sounds good as a whole but needs more thought.

 

[aRottenKomquat]

I specifically said that your home star system is ALWAYS fully protected. You do not need to establish adjacent territory for that one.

 

[Panik Attak]

Real sorry for my lack of english i express my self poorly apparently:



[Sometimes quotes over a word are not enough]



Your "Extra Invulnerable Systems Mechanics" can be put vulnerable again in less half an hour with the current game mechanics.[The explanation is 2 posts above]

Agreed but there is a way to fix it. You could add an invisible resource that accumulates based on how many solar systems you own. This resource could be what fuels invulnerablity of none home base systems. This resource would drain once one of the outside systems were lost. So vulnerability won't be instantaneous. It would require longer more strategic sieges to conquer. The resource would drain more quickly based on how many invulnerable systems lose invulnerablity. So you could essentially slowly "core" to their home system or if you have sufficient manpower, attack from all angles to melt through their systems quicker
[doublepost=1500440107,1500439913][/doublepost]I actually had a similar idea except it involved building a specific type of "mining structure" on a plane that would mine an invisible resource to power base invulnerablity, but but would require multiple system to be able to power 1 systems invul. Forcing expansion to protect the main system.

 

[Tamren Shade]

If Starmade goes this route, you'd really need to borrow the Eve online station mechanics. If you break one puter system, the rest could get a temporary invulnerable for a server configurable multi-hour timer before the temp protection resets. Gives both sides a chance to organize and contact offline players and star marshaling forces. You'd get some much cooler battles that way, and it'd be more fun.

Without a timer of some kind, it'd be really easy for a player in a artillery-titan/doomcube to make a clean sweep of all the assets in multiple systems over the course of an evening.

Another idea along the same lines here is that it would make faction on faction wars more interesting is if there were a patrol mechanic for AI fleets. Or even just a general "defend this system" command.