Map speed of ships

[bubbasynklayr]

"The game is highly moddable, so you can edit the Resources\Data\TechObjectDatabase.xml file and change whatever you like - including the speed for each individual ship design.
To notice that it might have an impact on balance, and on turn processing too."

I'm terrible at modding. I'm not saying just the UFP have faster ships. All the major superpowers in the game should have incremental increases in warp speed.

[bubbasynklayr]

Do you think you could redo the warp speeds in your next update?

[Iceman]

When I mentioned potential balance issues I didn't mean changing speeds for the Feds only, I meant changing for all ships.
Galactic speed is a critical factor in ship designs. Increasing speeds for all ships might throw off the delicate balance between say Destroyers and Cruisers or between Cruisers and Commands, potentially rendering some ship types all but useless.

As for canon, last time I checked speeds above warp 5 caused damage to subspace and are thus unadvised?
And "most?" ships *generally* travel at speeds around warp 6 or so, including Ent-D?
Not that they cannot reach warp 9.9xxx , but high speeds are generally only used for emergencies. The game does not have such a mechanic - though it could be cool to have ships be able to travel faster and risk structural integrity.

[Deimos]

I think the speeds are fine personally, I like Iceman's explanation about the damage to subspace, I remember that episode.

One idea, at the last level of tech development, have the last propulsion stage of research enable "Transwarp".
If a modifier can be added to every ship when that level is reached, say a +2 tile increase in speed for all ships, either that, or unlock a ship or two that has a faster map speed due to transwarp drives.

[Iceman]

The fact that ST is a very long-lived franchise tends to create a bunch of inconsistencies and non-sense in canon. They even needed to redesign the warp scale at some point...

In game terms, the fact that map speeds are such low values (1~4 mostly) kind of reduces flexibility in fine-tuning those values.
For instance, by adding 1 to the speed of a ship with speed 1, you're effectively doubling its speed; to a speed 3 ship, not really.

The Tactical/Heavy Cruisers are supposed to be somewhat something like that, ships with a higher speed for their class (transwarp).
At some point we will also have Fleet Officers working, which will provide bonuses to ships/fleets they're assigned to - like map speed, tactical speed, evasion, repair, etc.

[thunderchero]

you could also add a warp drive count for each sector, then once a sector reaches X warp passes the sector is limited to 1

[Iceman]

you could also add a warp drive count for each sector, then once a sector reaches X warp passes the sector is limited to 1

I'm not sure what this means.
There is no "warp" value in the game, it's abstracted to galactic speed.
X warp in a sector would be what exactly?

[thunderchero]

X warp in a sector would be what exactly?

if ship is moving though a sector at speed 1 = sector count of 1
if ship is moving though a sector at speed 4 = sector count of 4

once total sector count reaches 2000 (example value), max speed in sector would be limited to 1 speed
ship would stop until next turn when entering that sector if sector is limited to 1

this way your "warp corridors" would were out over time.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

If there is interest one could revisit this idea to utilize the map speed of task forces:

I did some testing with battles of only a few turns ( 4 to 6 mainly ) and I found the results quite interesting.
As most battles do now take several game turns, it is possible to bring in reinforcements into ongoing battles.
It is now also possible to invade a system even with superior hostile forces present.
This way even an inferior opponent can be a threat.

A better option would require more granularity for task-force map-speed within sectors. As simple workaround:
Arrival delay factor for each task force (fleet) = [task force travel distance in sectors] / [task force map speed]
All with equal or lower factors than the lowest enemy factor start at turn 1. Other reinforcements in later turns according to the relative delay factor.
It'd be cool to get reinforcements after turn X of the combat (finished earlier, it would be separate battles).

----

I'm not sure what this means.

A TNG episode established areas where fast warp travel damage the subspace over time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_of_ ... eneration)
It would simulate a variant of the effect, but would be confusing to display on the map.

[Iceman]

X warp in a sector would be what exactly?

if ship is moving though a sector at speed 1 = sector count of 1
if ship is moving though a sector at speed 4 = sector count of 4

once total sector count reaches 2000 (example value), max speed in sector would be limited to 1 speed
ship would stop until next turn when entering that sector if sector is limited to 1

this way your "warp corridors" would were out over time.

Since this is a turn based game, you'd have to account for the target sector of all ships' movements only.
The fact that a ship has speed 4 doesn't mean it used up all its movement in the current turn (moved all 4 sectors); it might not even have moved at all (no warp), or only moved some sectors (not at top speed). Tracking all this data for the entire map would be prohibitive I guess.

Checking if a sector was already "topped off" for every sector travelled by each ship would be impossible, because movement is not truly simultaneous.

[Iceman]

I'm not sure what this means.

A TNG episode established areas where fast warp travel damage the subspace over time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_of_ ... eneration)
It would simulate a variant of the effect, but would be confusing to display on the map.

You do understand that it was me who brought up the warp 5 limitation, correct?
What I said I was not sure about was the warp count thingie, and how it made sense in the context of a/this game.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

You do understand that it was me who brought up the warp 5 limitation, correct?

I suspected just a shameless plagiarism of the old BotF code limit: viewtopic.php?p=36520#p36520

What I said I was not sure about was the warp count thingie, and how it made sense in the context of a/this game.

Since this is a turn based game, you'd have to account for the target sector of all ships' movements only.
The fact that a ship has speed 4 doesn't mean it used up all its movement in the current turn (moved all 4 sectors); it might not even have moved at all (no warp), or only moved some sectors (not at top speed). Tracking all this data for the entire map would be prohibitive I guess.

Checking if a sector was already "topped off" for every sector travelled by each ship would be impossible, because movement is not truly simultaneous.

Au contraire mon capitan. Super Easy, Barely An Inconvenience. Just use the same BotF intercept function of neutral/hostile space stations for subspace damaged sectors. And mark them somehow on the map once the effect was discovered. Determine sensitive sectors during galaxy generation and update the damage count with high speed passings as part of the code checking/updating explored sectors each turn.
Still, not sure whether to endorse such a feature, though.

[Iceman]

You do understand that it was me who brought up the warp 5 limitation, correct?

I suspected just a shameless plagiarism of the old BotF code limit: viewtopic.php?p=36520#p36520

You're confused.

I was talking about the show's *warp* 5 limit, not BotF's *speed* 5 limit (there's no such limit in Supremacy BTW, just to stop another branching argument). Very different things; if they're not *for you*, well, I don't see a point in debating it.

Since this is a turn based game, you'd have to account for the target sector of all ships' movements only.
The fact that a ship has speed 4 doesn't mean it used up all its movement in the current turn (moved all 4 sectors); it might not even have moved at all (no warp), or only moved some sectors (not at top speed). Tracking all this data for the entire map would be prohibitive I guess.

Checking if a sector was already "topped off" for every sector travelled by each ship would be impossible, because movement is not truly simultaneous.

Au contraire mon capitan. Super Easy, Barely An Inconvenience. Just use the same BotF intercept function of neutral/hostile space stations for subspace damaged sectors. And mark them somehow on the map once the effect was discovered. Determine sensitive sectors during galaxy generation and update the damage count with high speed passings as part of the code checking/updating explored sectors each turn.
Still, not sure whether to endorse such a feature, though.

...??? no comment.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

1.) I'm aware. Just a silly, dumb joke. I thought the phrasing and double wink gives it away.
2.) The calculations and codes are on the easy side, but I think the feature will suck gameplay wise. So just ignore.

[bubbasynklayr]

How bout increasing the warp speeds of ships as they progress through the tech tree? Something that was ignored in other forums.