Moon and asteroid carriers and how to implement them.

I'm 100% on board with the right-click hold ghosting mechanic. Layer that with the SupCom shift-click style ETA timer and I think you have a winning combo of previewing your new orbit and seeing how long it will take to get there - let the game handle the specifics.

When it comes to whether your new satellite (whatever it may be) is geosynchronous or not, I hope that is left for the player to decide with a simple command - and change their mind just as easily. How the satellite faces the planet should be equally simple IMO (all this is given you've built the proper boosters).

I hope asteroids will be a mid and late-game/tier 2-3 sort of resource arranged in belts that stretch across the solar systems (just like the viz video). I hope these will be used not only for bombardment, but to expand your economic and production capabilities.

Metal rich asteroids would be hotly contested expansions once players have a somewhat established presence on their starting planet. If you can bring those metal rich asteroids into your orbit, you'll get a slight boost in resource collection from their proximity. Perhaps you could also build some interplanetary defense guns on them to boot. Or, sap it of resources then send it spiraling toward your enemy.

I imagine the number of bodies orbiting a planet will be a lot like building a base in most RTS games - if you don't have enough room then the new orbit will ghost in red. In the 12 hour games that are mentioned, I want my base planet to be an impenetrable swarm of asteroids and moons - bristling with anti-nuke/asteroid/moon defenses and interplanetary artillery.

The only thing that could bring it down would be a HUGE planet on a collision course
That or an expertly coordinated barrage of interstellar bodies. Or an asteroid outfitted with nuclear cargo so that once it's broken up by defense missiles, it scatters nukes like a shotgun. Hooray for nuke shotguns!

Haha, I'm imagining CPUs around the world are shuddering at the thought of calculating all this. I can imagine the game lasting a while if we were so entrenched that it actually required MOONS to break through the defenses. Frankly it sounds awesome.

if they really implement full physics for all bodies, maybe we could even use a lot of engines to simply let a planet crash into the sun by decelerating it on its orbit?

or stop the planets rotation to let the enemies base burn

That sounds absolutely horrible.

Epic sneaky idea. Hide on one side of the planet, and build all the engines. Then, the enemy doesn't realise until its too late to save his planet

I like a lot of these ideas. I was wondering that if you could control the power of your thrusters, would it be possible to just land your asteroid/moon on the planet? Like a gigantic carrier, then let your hundreds of units waiting on board just swarm off. Obviously you would have to get them on the other side before it hits the other body though, otherwise your going to lose your units :lol:

It would be like bringing your base to another planet, rather than having to build a forward base. Could solve the pain of having to confront an enemy planet purely from space/orbit and only having a few units capable of landing down. Bring your whole base.

bringing the base to orbit of another planet is far better than landing and opening yourself up to attack, its far better to remain in orbit protected and drop units onto the enemy at positions of your own choosing

Perhaps but how many units could you drop? if the enemy has control already, thinking of the Noah unit cannon I can just imagine the enemy just moving his units, possibly only short distances if he has large amounts of the planets map covered in preparation for your assault and mopping up the few forces that come down.

Wheras if you landed the moon you could squash a large number of his forces, if not a base and then pour your units off. Assuming the moon also has its large number of defences you could end up with a fully functional base to take over the planet. If you had more than 1 moon base, well, aggressive colonisation? :twisted:

You can build a base on a moon and then bring it into orbit around a enemy world, if you build and send down units from it you might not need a forward base on the planet. Think "a endless swarm of drop pods decending on the planet" xD, combined missiles/artillery being sent at the planet and moon (from the moon and planet). All you would have to do to return your army to the moon later would be to build a couple of unit cannons on the planet that can transport the units back (Or use transports/teleporation if thats a option).

Atleast thats my vision and everything i have said has been confirmed to be in the game, but if the things mentioned are added in the way im envisioning it is debatable and something we will have to see in the future.

But landing a moon on a planet would look so freaking weird xD.

You would end up with a load of huge lumps with bases on them settling on the planet. Like vast hills bristling with factories. I guess I fear it will turn into a game of spending so much time trying to build your own base and tap the resources of the planet after youve cleared it from orbit that the guy you took it from will come back in force. As you said, you would also need ot muck around trying to get all your units back on the moon through building unit cannons on the planet to shoot them back up.

Wheras if you could land your moon you would have a base already and could start spreading out from a place of strength. Otherwise two players, or three could be bashing at eachothers bases and playing pass the parcel with planets for a long time.

I just like the thought of squashing someones base with your own, then running rampant. Only to have the choice to either lift off again or keep a base on the planet for defence. Rather than having to build from scratch. Or I guess as it currently seems ot be, you could use the moonbase in orbit and use that as your defence but depending on how orbits work I dont know how quick the moon will move, if it can defend the planet by itself in orbit, I dont know.