I think the Sword of the Stars series is a good example of mechanical differentiation between races. In my experience they managed to keep the balance pretty even despite races having different mechanics, strengths and weaknesses.
[quote who="Frogboy" reply="69" id="3424084"] There's still some internal discussion as to what to call the Altarians because they're not really a Republic. Akari rules as a dictator at this point.[/quote] Given the description of the manner of Akari's rule and how she is regarded by the Altarians I'd perhaps call them the Altarian Protectorate (in the sense of Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth).
Paul Boyer touched on the UI in an interview a little while back: [quote who="Paul Boyer"] One of the biggest challenges of mastering Galactic Civilizations II was the user interface; it was done before rich tooltips were popularized. In Galactic Civilizations III we will be able to give players much more feedback without overwhelming them with crazy, complicated scenes.[/quote] Sounds like they're on it.
[quote who="Gaslov" reply="39" id="3412652"] Do you now have your answer? [/quote] I have your answer. I can't say I would make the same decisions.
I can't comment about Conquest of the New World, but in the context of previous GC games you attack the unit where it is because it's not going to move. With queued orders and simultaneous turn processing there is the potential for something not to be where it was by the time you get there. In your scenario: A attacks C, B attacks C. First, some system is needed to determine who moves first. In this case, let's say C moves before A and A moves before B.
If ground combat options are on the table I think I'd go for something like: * add a bit more depth (perhaps some variety in ground force types which includes some soft/hard counters), yet * keep the actual combat fairly abstract, and * it can take more than one turn to resolve (and most likely would unless one side had a tremendous advantage) - few (if any) wars on Earth have been over in a week, let alone a war on a planetary scale. The last point in particular
[quote who="Gaslov" reply="35" id="3412101"] 1) Everyone plays turn at same time. Orders are saved (build this unit, build this upgrade, unit move to X, unit attack Y, etc). No unit actually moves yet or starts combat yet (needless to say, units/upgrades also do not happen yet). 2) Everyone waits for all players to 'end turn' (or timer runs out) 3) Once all have ended their turn, units become built/upgraded, units that attack do so, then units t
I think it would be pretty nice to have integrated support for multiple displays not unlike the way Supreme Commander supported it, however, I think it could be even more fleshed out. If the UI consists of components that are configurable and mobile, almost like widgets, for example, you could have: main galactic map on display one; enhanced minimap, multiple timeline graphs, and diplomatic relations/treaties chart on display two; potentially extensible to more than two displays. Mayb
I wonder if they'll go with some kind of socio-economic compass. Sword of the Stars 2 uses the compass in an interesting way: many things that you do in the game nudge you along an axis and so, over time, you gravitate towards an area of the compass corresponding with one of the nine government types. Different modifiers come into play based on your government type. More in depth description here: <a title="Sword of the Stars 2 Codex: Government" href="http://sots2.r