Hi, I’m essentially new to this forum but have been playing BotF (and its various mods) on and off since its release in 1999. It would seem that I have recently entered an on phase again and discovered Supremacy. I find it quite promising and would like to help to further develop it. Therefore, I contacted Iceman and he encouraged me to share my thoughts here in this thread. I may update/edit this list at a later point in time, of course, but these are my initial thoughts regarding my favorite civ:
To begin with, the implementation of the Borg that I like the most in Tethys’ Galaxies Mod (of the original game). There the Borg are a fully playable empire too (replacing the Ferengi), but with buildings, ships and upgrades for all tech levels (i.e. 1-15, he extended the original tech range), plus the accompanying artwork. That means you can start with any tech level and play in a way similar to the other empires, but with Borg-like and mostly canon assets. Morale is not frozen either. There are limitations regarding transwarp travel (-1…) and assimilation because there was only so much you can do with a static exe. This would obviously be different for Supremacy.
I believe that Tethys’ Galaxies Mod would be a very good inspiration and starting point for integrating more Borg features and assets into Supremacy to improve the Borg *as a playable civ* – AI may be updated later but that’s trickier. Some years ago, I did some modifications on that mod on my own.
(Eventually, other BotF Mods might be assimilated (sorry for the pun) into Supremacy too in a semi-automated way by enhancing Ultimate Editor and introducing a few features back into Supremacy, but that’s a different topic.)
When it comes to graphics, models, audio and other inspirations beyond other BotF mods, Armada 1/2 (specifically Fleet Operations) and Star Trek New Horizons (Stellaris Mod) may provide an inspiration too over and above the known ST resources online, but my knowledge of all of them is a bit dated.
Beyond integrating (and balancing) more Borg assets into Supremacy, I would like to expand the game mechanics (mostly requiring changes to the C# source code) for (not in order of preference but to make it easier to refer to it):
- Reintroducing (or rather, unfreezing) tech levels 0-11 for the Borg.
- Adapting colonization for the Borg beyond reintroducing Borg colony ships through editing the XMLs. It would have to be balanced in a decent way, making Colony ships expensive, high in maintenance cost, slow and/or very short range in order to discourage the player/AI from founding too many and getting too much of an advantage. Mainly thinking population support but also other resources. This is related to general Borg shipbuilding questions (How many shipyards? All ships or leave Sphere and bigger to Unicomplex(es), e.g. by capping the Shipyard’s tech level in the XMLs).
- Reintroducing population growth, perhaps through assimilation of other worlds and ships (see below, but perhaps only through structures like maturation chambers, as can already be done through editing the XMLs).
- Reintroducing (or rather, unfreezing) morale for the Borg (remember rogue colonies and ships…).
- Assimilation of systems could be more challenging for (i.e. against) specific civs (I take it that it is already impossible for some) and may require some continuous effort or control/mitigation (buildings, …).
- Assimilation of systems should be more dynamic in terms of the structures that you get (i.e., that remain/survive) from the previous civ.
- Specifically, assimilation of technology from systems dynamically into the Borg tech tree, with adaptions where necessary. Would be cool to be able to build special buildings and ships from assimilated civs anywhere, and I’m sure the Collective would be capable of doing that! Perhaps some extra research points too, unless we go for structures that yield extra research (absolute or %) every turn or we even make assimilation the primary (one-time) way to get research points (depending on tech gap ofc, minor vs. major empire etc.).
- Specifically, introducing an additional status for assimilated planets (neither native nor subjugated) that could be used for building requirements (e.g., research). Perhaps even distinguishing between minor system, major empire colony, and major home system.
- Assimilation of starships: Once their shields are down, one Borg ship may assimilate one enemy ship as the result of a battle. The ship would then become a Borg ship (graphics like in Armada would be secondary but definitely cool) but without maintenance cost (pops are already on it). There may or may not be an extra penalty in terms of pops, research or morale for the losing side. There may be additional research points in for the Borg, with the amount subject to the ship size and difference in technology levels. And resources could be gained from scrapping them (especially with the proper bonus building). I see that similar ideas have been discussed before.
- We might revisit the idea of depletable nanoprobes to slow down binge assimilation, and we could tie their quality to biotech research (and perhaps others), e.g., as a factor. Example: It could be something like WorkCapacity * (1+BiotechLevel/10). A number similar to the required WorkCapacity to assimilate a system could be subtracted after assimilation, and regenerated at a specified rate subject to TechFactors and ShipExperience. Then we would not even have to introduce another ship attribute.
- Adaptive Borg shields (a vulnerability at first, perhaps an advantage later) - make shields less effective at the beginning of a battle, perhaps also subject to weapons and energy tech differences. We might develop this further in terms of weapons classes and bonus types.
- Ship experience that is shared globally (universally…) among the Collective, automatically increasing after every battle in a way similar to standard ship experience, perhaps even more so after lost battles if the ship survives. (Ship training facilities might still be assimilated into the Collective but that would have to be capped then.)
- They might have a different victory condition than the other empires (Tech victory – omniscience only – after all, they strive for perfection).
- Territory claims could be a bit wider than for other empires for intercept mechanics etc, considering that the Borg to not regularly colonize (but should be able to).
- Expanding the transwarp implementation. The current hubs are pretty cool already but I would like to explore some ideas of making this more canon: Not only from hub to hub but perhaps from hub to anywhere within a specified range? Perhaps introducing the hub as a sort of megastructure (planet-like, may or may not require a nebula…?) that also yields other bonuses or is the prerequisite for transwarp apertures? Perhaps even interspacial manifolds on transwarp routes that we could introduce? And what about starship short/medium-range transwarp travel without the hubs, as seen in many episodes? Increasing speed only but perhaps at a higher deuterium cost? Creating dynamic wormholes that could be exploited or destroyed by other civs, … – a lot would be possible but it needs to remain playable at a comparatively simple level, it should not lose its BotF character; sometimes less is more.
- Finally, beyond the Borg, and the above stuff will take some time for sure…, I would be intrigued to look a bit more into Galaxy generation (How big can we go? 3D?! More star/planet classes or space phenomena?) and associated performance.
I would be interested in your thoughts, and would volunteer to make and experiment with those changes (perhaps forking a branch for the moment).