Brainstorm thread

[tilcir]

I'll use CK2 as an example, in my opinion:
Good DLC - Rajas of India (tons and tons of content just added on top of the game), Sunset Invasion (completely optional and not necessary), music (again, optional)
Bad DLC - Republics (can't play as anything but feudal by default), unit visual packs (they are literally simple models, no need to slap a price tag on them) etc.

That is odd to me, since RoI have been one of the most useless dlcs for me and Sunset invasion is the only expansion I haven't bought (it's silly)

I loved republics.

But that touches on the last point.
Units and portrait packs are not expansions.
I don't feel like sunset invasion was either.

If you have a problem with paradox charging for things that someone have been paid to make...
Not sure what to tell you.
I get the same attitude from people when I spend an hour finding an error in their network and they are suprised they have to pay me for that hour AND that I will charge them to fix it too.

Might I ask what you do for a living?
Or is everything you do free?
(Wait, don't tell me, you are out of work and getting paid or studying and getting paid for that too?)

 

[doomdude1]

That is odd to me, since RoI have been one of the most useless dlcs for me and Sunset invasion is the only expansion I haven't bought (it's silly)

I loved republics.

But that touches on the last point.
Units and portrait packs are not expansions.
I don't feel like sunset invasion was either.

If you have a problem with paradox charging for things that someone have been paid to make...
Not sure what to tell you.
I get the same attitude from people when I spend an hour finding an error in their network and they are suprised they have to pay me for that hour AND that I will charge them to fix it too.

Might I ask what you do for a living?
Or is everything you do free?
(Wait, don't tell me, you are out of work and getting paid or studying and getting paid for that too?)

I'm a university student in a third world country studying on a budget (meaning the state pays for my college). So yes, every DLC and every price tag on a DLC really affects me.

 

[Cannes]

I'd like to see more varied ship equipments, in order to make different fleet tactics viable. Modules for various kinds of ECM and stealth are very much missing from the options.

Also ground combat is too simplified. Someone else mentioned an army builder. It would be very nice to be able to preselct different kinds of armies that you would want to deploy for various conquests. Assault on an oceanic world would require very different troops than those assaulting an Arid desert world. So it would be nice to have option to premake different units much the same way as you can make different shipdesigns now.

 

[doomdude1]

I'd like to see more varied ship equipments, in order to make different fleet tactics viable. Modules for various kinds of ECM and stealth are very much missing from the options.

Also ground combat is too simplified. Someone else mentioned an army builder. It would be very nice to be able to preselct different kinds of armies that you would want to deploy for various conquests. Assault on an oceanic world would require very different troops than those assaulting an Arid desert world. So it would be nice to have option to premake different units much the same way as you can make different shipdesigns now.

I'd love that, but I think that unless the army system is streamlined so managing attachments is easier it would just add a lot of busywork (it would be fine if the game were only about conquest, but it isn't).

It could be interesting to lock some planetary invasions behind tech, so for instance you can only effectively occupy about 5-10% of an ocean world as a non-oceanic species since, obviously, the denizens would just retreat to the depths. Same would go for other extreme types, but I think it would require a slight rework of planetary bombardment.

 

[Fekkit]

Still wanting that Hive-mind government type. At-least be able to reach it as a government type later in the game.

 

[S.C. Watson]

Still wanting that Hive-mind government type. At-least be able to reach it as a government type later in the game.

I think this should be both a racial trait and a government type.

For example, you could have a species naturally be a hivemind. Or, you could have robots adopt a hivemind collective approach. Or, your race could develop a hivemind via tech implants.

 

[tilcir]

Still wanting that Hive-mind government type. At-least be able to reach it as a government type later in the game.

Yes yes...

Plenty of us would like that, buy it simply wouldn't mesh with the current mechanics of the game.

One of the major challenges will be to ensure stability in your empire.
You would take a large part of that away with a hive mind.
(Or a TRUE hive mind)

However, I am very much hoping for several expansions that will introduce other ways of playing, with their own challenges and advantages.

 

[Cannes]

I'd love that, but I think that unless the army system is streamlined so managing attachments is easier it would just add a lot of busywork (it would be fine if the game were only about conquest, but it isn't).

It could be interesting to lock some planetary invasions behind tech, so for instance you can only effectively occupy about 5-10% of an ocean world as a non-oceanic species since, obviously, the denizens would just retreat to the depths. Same would go for other extreme types, but I think it would require a slight rework of planetary bombardment.

Yes exactly. Orbital bombardment is way too easy. It should be very very hard to completely demolish all fortification.
As it is now they only serve as a countdown timer until you launch your ground assault.
Would be much more fun if it served as a strategic element along the lines: Should I spend 2 weeks to bomb his fortifications down to 20% and then launch the ground assault or spend 3 weeks to get it down to 10% to guarantee a succesfull invasion with the risk enemy fleet getting here in time to releave the planet?

 

[LastLeviathan]

An expansion on Federations to make them more politically interesting and not just larger alliances. This thread had some great ideas, so I'll just put some of it here with my own changes. I find it's a good baseline for consideration. Note that the numbers/bonuses are just filler, I wasn't certain what would be appropriate.

Leadership Options
Rotation: The leader rotates every X amount of years.
Limited Election: A small body of members vote much like the HRE, or UN vetoes.
Full Election: Everyone votes for the next leader.
Monocracy: One faction leads until they decide to transfer power to another.
Council: A council of two or more leaders who vote on actions such as declaring war. The leaders may be selected using any of the above methods.

Types of Federations
This would allow Federations to select every x years a type/focus that grants them bonuses for specialization and negative traits to compensate.

Standard (For those who want to remain unspecialized)

• No bonuses

Defensive League (A Federation focused on defense with no imperialist ambitions)

• +10% Bonus to damage in friendly space
• -10% damage outside friendly space
• -10% warscore cost to gain back a planet
• +10% warscore cost on enemy planets

Trade Union (Federation focused on trade)

• +10% bonus to minerals and energy or 10% of current leader's output added as bonus.
• Negative trait

Technocracy (Federation focused on technological development)

• +10% science boost or 10% of current leader's output added as bonus.
• Negative trait

 

[Fekkit]

Yes yes...

Plenty of us would like that, buy it simply wouldn't mesh with the current mechanics of the game.

One of the major challenges will be to ensure stability in your empire.
You would take a large part of that away with a hive mind.
(Or a TRUE hive mind)

However, I am very much hoping for several expansions that will introduce other ways of playing, with their own challenges and advantages.

If you toy with the idea enough there are ways. And you have to admit that even you want it. There isn't a single person in this thread not thinking about Hive-minds.

 

[doomdude1]

If you toy with the idea enough there are ways. And you have to admit that even you want it. There isn't a single person in this thread not thinking about Hive-minds.

One way of creating a drawback with hive-minds is to just slap a large drop in happiness if you have non-hivemind pops in your empire.