I'm sure we've all been in that situation in which we've beaten a worthy foe, levelled their bases and annihilated their armies. But games often end up in chasing a Commander across the solar system because he has an Orbital Transport. Games can effectively last as long as the adversary wants to waste time, and as Orbital travel takes a while, this can be frustrating. I really liked the rocket from the Kickstarter trailer that dumped the Commander on the Moon. The multi-stage awesomeness really set the tone for interplanetary travel. However the Orbital transport as it stands is acting a bit like an individual Dropship, rather than a rocket. I'd like to suggest that the Orbital Transport launch as an entire rocket with the Commander (or engineer) aboard, travel to another planet, and then split into two parts on landing: The Rocket, which stays in Orbit. The 'Lunar Lander' which lands the Commander on the surface. The Lander sits on the ground, and when you want to go somewhere else your Commander climbs aboard the Lander and it fires off and reconnects with the Rocket . Kind of like the Apollo missions. This would mean that you could still pick where you landed, whilst preventing Orbital behaving in this quasi-Air Dropship manner. It would also mean that players couldnt simply scoop up their Commanders and prolong games as long as they feel like - it would take a little longer to get off-world, and players couldn't simply fly out of range of orbital fighters etc. in the Lander alone. It would be best if the Commander went up with the original rocket launch, as if not then the Lander would need to be sent down for him once you launched >.< Multi-Stage rockets are also, I feel, more in-keeping with the Kickstarter vision for the game. Effectively, all this means is grounding the Orbital Transport and adding a rocket which it needs to attach to before it can leave Orbit.
Well, I actually would like to see commanders planet hopping, but I think orbital makes that a bit unfair to the players who want to move on in their games. If orbital gets fleshed out more, and with the planned speed-up, this may be less of a problem. However, if it remains a valid issue, then this is a good idea for solving it. It looks awesome, and potentially works. But what if I accidentally send my Commander to an occupied planet? There would be no quick way to get it off and then I could easily lose the game due to a simple mistake? I realize that scouting is very important, but it's not reasonable to scout another planet properly early on in game or when trying to make a real (not planet hopping) comeback.
I talked about some similar ideas on over here, I'm hoping the current issues just stem from the incomplete nature of the Astraeus and it's launching/loading process. Mike
One would go into orbit as you do now with the Astraeus, except you'd remain connected to the rocket. The split would only occur automatically and land if you had chosen a landing spot - the same way it works now if you only 'Move' your loaded Commander to a planet, and don't 'Unload' him in a spot. The Rocket would remain in Orbit, the Lander would land. The Commander would be able to get back in the Lander, return to the Rocket and go elsewhere if you wanted to. This isn't a suggestion of making it impossible to planet-hop, it just slows down the launch process and has a rocket for interplanetary travel carrying a heavy Commander, as opposed to the Astraeus Orbital 'Dropship'. It basically looks cool, is more realistic and in-keeping with the Kickstarter, and means we don't end up in stalemates chasing that one guy around the solar system lol.
I do agree. I really want the game to go after the kickstarter vision in full. multi-stage rockets for escaping the gravity of earth/lava/tropical/desert/water planets and smaller craft for traveling between moons(of any type). The lander traveling between the orbital layer and the ground is illogical to me. you should need the 1-time rocket to escape orbit of the bigger planets. You should not be able to land on a bigger planet and be able to go back up to orbit unless you build another rocket.
This is the most elegant solution to me. Allowing the Astreus to lift off of small moons, wherein an "oh snap it's occupied and there's nowhere to hide" scenario is more likely, is a fine concession.
Yeah definitely in full support of one time rocket. Once it's used it's used. I don't think the transport should actually be able to escape even small moons. If you made a wrong choice you made a wrong choice. It would be nice to be able to bring some additional units so you aren't starting from scratch too. Like maybe the commander takes up all the cargo space but a second rocket could bring a number of smaller units? I also think the entire launch animation could be more elegant.
I think the Commander should be better at building. That way it'd be a tactical choice as what you did with him. I don't really feel rockets should transport anything but the Commander (I agree with KNight's thread basically) - where your Commander is should be a big decision early-mid game. As for launch animations, I agree. Orbital needs to be higher up really, and above a cloud layer ideally in my opinion, as at the mo it looks a lot like Air and just gets in the way.
I think orbital is probably too high at the moment. I was thinking the rocket just going up in a straight line and then falling straight back down looked incredibly lame. Would be nice if orbital actually involved orbits, even if they are just basic circular ones.
just casting my vote.. +1 on the 1-way austreus. no quick escape. makes a late on-the-run situation more intense, and increases the importance of that early-mid game decision of where to have your comm, like eroticburrito said. i'd like to see a 3-5 unit capacity, though, to help jumpstart things and give you SOME hope when you land on an occupied planet.
