Wishlist for the Third Expo

[Greyclouds]

Well, Steam tells me that I've played an additional 50 hours after the release of the Invasions DLC, so I consider it another fantastic success! The Invasions mechanic was a great addition, and I hope to see more end game crises in the future (or in mods!).

It's gotten me to thinking about what would round out the final expansion for Planetfall (or, at least I hope it isn't the final! I would buy a Second Season Pass in a heartbeat!). I've come up with the following list of items I would really like to see:

Content:

• One new faction, one new NPC dwelling race and one new secret tech. Yeah, I'm being greedy, but this would round out everything to eight factions, eight NPCs and eight secret techs. That's a great amount of combinations!
  
  
• Water colonies and unique naval sectors. C'mon Triumph! You try to make the oceans more enticing by buffing navies and improving coastal resources -- why not just stop flirting with water colonies and just add them? Maritime sectors could then be split into two or three unique sectors and, most importantly, orbital stations could be added to the water so that navies could be transported long distances
  
  
• More mods and items. Of course

Tech trees:

• Repeatable society and military techs. Right now, you can fairly easily max out your military and social research by turns 60 or 70 on default settings without trying. It's a huge letdown that there are no other options apart from researching the tech trees of absorbed factions. Why not add repeatable techs to soak up excess research per turn? They could require quite allot of research to "rank up," but might include increases to cosmite production (a bottleneck in the lategame), happiness + production improvement in all colonies or some other bonuses.
  
  
• More society techs items. After the removal of the terrain-based social tech tree items (I'm not complaining about that, though!), the late-game society tree has become a bit threadbare towards the end. Why not add more faction-specific social techs or universal, researchable doctrines?

Fun and convenience:

• Championship ranks for units. After "prime rank," the experience system gets a bit stale. Why not add championship ranks like in AOW3 that add to a unit's hp? Combined with the mod system, it would really reward players for keeping units alive until end-game.
  
  
• Provincial governorship. Similar to the AOW3 system for "vassals," why not allow the player to add a "governor" to a colony that will prioritize building queues and pay "taxes." To ensure that the system works well, the player would still need to select sectors, but he governor would otherwise direct pop units to provide resources and develop militia units. The cost would be the lack of direct player control over the building queue, but the benefit would be the reduction in late-game micromanagement.
  
  
• More diplomatic options. Right now, disreputable players have very few options for interacting with other players outside of covert ops. Why not add more options to encourage conflict like a "rivalry" option similar to that found in EUIV and Stellaris? It doesn't need to be fleshed out substantially, but more options would help to keep tension high among other players.

 

[Ethorin]

if Cosmite stops being a bottleneck T4 spam might resume for at least some races... pls no. Leave Cosmite a bottleneck.

 

[Ericridge]

1) I'd like to see the return of underground.
Its currently bit too easy to cheese the voidbringer's invasion on continents by simply playing normally without having underground for them to group up in.

2) Imperial Buggy, Imperial Behemoth and Imperial Walkers become purchasable unit from a npc faction.
I like my vehicles, and those three I want to add to my collection of vehicles for me to play with.

3) More heroes to choose from.
I see same ones very often.

4) Continued improvements for the AI. <3

 

[Kelben]

1) A mini map in tactical combat.

2) Silmutaneous turns in MP where players, when not observing another player combat, can still go about managing their empires or resolve an automatic fight in parallel (One can dream...).

 

[Ethorin]

More Sniper Hero Weapons.

 

[Greyclouds]

if Cosmite stops being a bottleneck T4 spam might resume for at least some races... pls no. Leave Cosmite a bottleneck.

Fair enough, but I wasn't suggesting huge amounts of cosmite increases to allow for T4 spam. +1 or +2 cosmite per turn for 20,000 research would just barely be significant, yet still give the end-game player something to research. Still, I prefer the current tier balance that is in the game currently.

 

[Greyclouds]

I forgot to mention two more wish list items:

• Faction governance bonuses. Similar to AOW3's racial governance system, another system that gives permanent, but exclusive, bonuses to different factions over time and based on their happiness with the player. The system should have exclusive choices between economic, military or other bonuses at each level, and should allow for faction-specific mods, bonuses or buildings
  
  
• Terraforming!! AOW games are known for allowing the player to modify map tiles to suit their preferred terrain (or to deny those terrains to opponents), but currently, very few factions can do this (specifically the Amazons and Dvar). The ability to terraform terrain to fertile plains should be available to every faction to avoid issues in the early game with volcanic and arctic environments.

 

[Ethorin]

Faction governance bonuses. Similar to AOW3's racial governance system, another system that gives permanent, but exclusive, bonuses to different factions over time and based on their happiness with the player. The system should have exclusive choices between economic, military or other bonuses at each level, and should allow for faction-specific mods, bonuses or buildings

I like dis

Terraforming!! AOW games are known for allowing the player to modify map tiles to suit their preferred terrain (or to deny those terrains to opponents), but currently, very few factions can do this (specifically the Amazons and Dvar). The ability to terraform terrain to fertile plains should be available to every faction to avoid issues in the early game with volcanic and arctic environments.

Dis... not so much.

In prior Age of Wonders games terrain meant +happiness to the town and movement costs, in Planetfall it outright controls what you get from your cities. widespread terraforming in that context is a bad idea IMO.

Dvar and Amazons both have explicit reasons it makes sense for them to terraform, other people not so much.

 

[The Numi]

Definitely feeling the lack of ocean content. It'd be nice if they could add the option for colonizers to create ocean colonies after probably gaining the second water related tech, the only question would be what to do with the siege battles. Ideally you'd have the actual colony under the water and the bit to enter is above sea level which is what you contest over, and if there was a way to combine sea and ground battle that'd be perfect. Turn the map into a bay where ships can still reach land units and even have an advantage.

Ofcourse I doubt that'd be possible, it'd be fine if the ocean colony's siege battles are solely in water as well, it'd just make the siege battles perhaps less interesting with the limitations on unit variety that can ideally defend it.

Otherwise a fun feature I'd love to see (but I doubt will ever be added unless part of the release), which I've suggested in the past here and for AoE3, is the ability to share custom commanders with the community in-game. After playing a while, and particularly having played the campaign, you've eventually seen all the default commanders, and while you can make your own, it's not easy making enough of them for more unique games, nevermind that having made them yourself you know exactly what they are.

I think it'd be more exciting if there was a way to toggle so the game randomly picks from a pool of commanders made and uploaded by other players, which would not just be refreshing but I've always felt that playing against commander's designed by other people (adding them myself) gives the opponents a little more personality, knowing that neither you or Triumph created them. It'd been even more fun if there was an option to write a biography for them too and pick their AI personalities. Only issue ofcourse is the whole moderation of profanity and other negative uncertainties.

Apart from that, all I'd like to see is more landmarks and new perk options for your commander, which can just as well be added outside an xpac.

 

[Kelben]

3 ) Secondary melee weapons such as combat knife, daggers.

4 ) More differentiation between race combination with secret tech units. Right now amazon is ahead of the rest with flying celestian melee and mounted echo walkers.

5 ) More visuals like with the xenoplague mods. Kir'ko heroes with beetle horns are a very nice touch.

 

[BloodyBattleBrain]

5 ) More visuals like with the xenoplague mods. Kir'ko heroes with beetle horns are a very nice touch.

I'm going to be greedy/entitled for a minute here and suggest that this is fairly easy for Triumph to do, based on the amazing work (imho) that they've done already. And therefore, if it is indeed easy, that this be included in patches or, if it ever happens, cosmetic dlc.

For this 3rd dlc, and any others after, I would more happily pay for more "substantial" changes, such as new races, new techs, new independent units, new npc factions (which I think are more interesting than the actual races - I would love to play the Pargon as a race lol,) new game mechanics (which often come packaged with new tech, for example Heritors are secret tech, and entropy was the accompanying new mechanic) new damage channels.

3 ) Secondary melee weapons such as combat knife, daggers.

4 ) More differentiation between race combination with secret tech units. Right now amazon is ahead of the rest with flying celestian melee and mounted echo walkers.

Your points 3 and 4 are good examples of what I mean by more substantial changes.

 

[Ferrus Animus]

I'd like to have more faction/NPC/Secret Tech interactions.

I'd like to add three tech slots to every races tech tree that is filled by elements unique to the Race-ST-combination, like Xenoplague Amazons could get a Destroyer Rider unit, a Plague Queen unit, a fungal forest terraforming OP and such.

Similarly I'd like a tech option in the ST tree that unlocks specific options for each NPC faction.

I'm still a bit disappointed, that you can have Synthesis Kir'Ko with integrated Autonom, so three things that are all about networking their units, and yet there's no single point of interaction.

2) Imperial Buggy, Imperial Behemoth and Imperial Walkers become purchasable unit from a npc faction.
I like my vehicles, and those three I want to add to my collection of vehicles for me to play with.

Like the taverns of AoW3, on-map mercenary camps and weapon dealers that periodically refresh their inventory, with an emphasis on old Star Union stuff would be fun.

Turn the map into a bay where ships can still reach land units and even have an advantage.

Ofcourse I doubt that'd be possible, it'd be fine if the ocean colony's siege battles are solely in water as well, it'd just make the siege battles perhaps less interesting with the limitations on unit variety that can ideally defend it.

I think the last game that had that int he series was AoW 1

 

[Ericridge]

Like the taverns of AoW3, on-map mercenary camps and weapon dealers that periodically refresh their inventory, with an emphasis on old Star Union stuff would be fun.

I like that idea. Approved!

 

[Falkenstein]

As this game is all about scifi and future, water colonies would make sense and fit the lore nicely imho. I loved vassal cities in AoW3 - it reduced micromanagement a lot, regularly provided you with resources or units (somewhat random, so it was pretty cool, too, you never knew what you would get). For Planetfall vassal cities could even annex sectors on their own, it would just be possible for the player to easily claim such sectors for themselves (i.e. vassal sectors would also be considered as free for annex). Just like in AoW3 the player would regularly get a choice on which bonus they want - units, energy, cosmite, research or influence.

 

[Ericridge]

As this game is all about scifi and future, water colonies would make sense and fit the lore nicely imho. I loved vassal cities in AoW3 - it reduced micromanagement a lot, regularly provided you with resources or units (somewhat random, so it was pretty cool, too, you never knew what you would get). For Planetfall vassal cities could even annex sectors on their own, it would just be possible for the player to easily claim such sectors for themselves (i.e. vassal sectors would also be considered as free for annex). Just like in AoW3 the player would regularly get a choice on which bonus they want - units, energy, cosmite, research or influence.

We have to remember that star union literally just left the "dark ages", constructing a water city is kind of a colossal undertaking. I think it might be a thing in Planetfall 2 if it happens.

 

[Greyclouds]

I'd like to have more faction/NPC/Secret Tech interactions.

I'd like to add three tech slots to every races tech tree that is filled by elements unique to the Race-ST-combination, like Xenoplague Amazons could get a Destroyer Rider unit, a Plague Queen unit, a fungal forest terraforming OP and such.

Similarly I'd like a tech option in the ST tree that unlocks specific options for each NPC faction.

I'm still a bit disappointed, that you can have Synthesis Kir'Ko with integrated Autonom, so three things that are all about networking their units, and yet there's no single point of interaction.



Like the taverns of AoW3, on-map mercenary camps and weapon dealers that periodically refresh their inventory, with an emphasis on old Star Union stuff would be fun.



I think the last game that had that int he series was AoW 1

I really like the idea of more strategic map structures. The recent changes to make some of the visit sites more rewarding added so much more life to the game. Having more of these locations would definitely spice things up.

 

[Sandman25DCSSS]

Unfortunately AIs never clear them.
The game has many nice things which I refuse to use because AI can't use them: orbital relays, golden/silver landmarks, special sites, mods on tier 4 units, largest anomaly sites

 

[HousePet]

I rarely use the Gold/Silver Landmarks as well. Even though I'm generally playing a long game.
I never get my troops in quick enough to beat the defenders while they are still weak.
By the time I've got my troops strong enough to clear them, I've already expanded around the Landmarks and I'm ready to just finish the game.
I've never been a fan of difficulty scaling.

 

[Kelben]

6 ) An AI aware of army composition.
Like yesterday against Giorna (syndi heritor), 2 stacks with 7 heritor quintessence arks. Maybe it does the work with army power on auto but as soon as you go manual, the communion webs are pretty but beyond that...

 

[Cainist]

As some others have said, I'd like more uniqueness for each race/ST combo. A unique unit/building/mod/doctrine... something.
I'd also like to see something equivalent to Civ's wonders. One per game buildings/units that have to be unlocked via quest or anomalous site.
I'd like to see more planet types. Perhaps one that groups all the map's cosmite into just a few sectors so you really have something worth fighting over.