I like this idea. But a requirement to have to enforce this 'border control' would be good. This could be in the form of fleet patrols or listening stations (starbases with extreme sensor equipment). Cloaking fleets to get past these sorts of things would be cool too.
[quote who="Tridus" reply="11" id="3411488"]So if I want a big ship I have to pick a bunch of different things instead of just picking "big ship"?[/quote] I see it as flexibility, if you want to make a big ship go for it, if you want to make a stupidly large ship then again, just go for it. Quite a few different ways to implement it, having preset values like there are now as well as the ability to go way beyond them (or just in between them). Personally I would prefer to be a
[quote who="Bioecologist" reply="24" id="3411476"]Now I got this mental image of a nice post-industrial civilization (not too different from our own) minding its own business when suddenly this large near nuclear sized explosions rocks one of its nation-state countryside. At first being thought it was a meteorite, they later discover that the object is a near indestructible (by their standard of tech) cylindrical object that impacted into the planet. The tale of what happens w
[quote who="Azmodean77" reply="6" id="3411455"]Hull sizes or mass is a good first guide to ship classification. I remember playing a naval war game that used displacement as a measure of ship class.[/quote] Agreed, perhaps then the idea of bracketing ship mass into something could provide a rule of thumb whilst still allowing the choice to make something stupidly oversized should tech and resources permit. [quote who="Azmodean77" reply="6" id="3411455"]I also agree that with r
[quote who="Tridus" reply="5" id="3411447"]At which point we'll have the same system we have now, only the determining factor will be the powerplant chosen instead of the hull size.[/quote] Not quite, as I said before ship size would be a factor of a few more things than they currently are (and by currently I mean GalCiv2) making things potentially more interesting. It would also allow for construction of one off over-sized ships if you have the resources to do so. T
[quote who="NitroX infinity" reply="3" id="3411420"] Have you ever seen a coastguard ship with those big-ass cannons from a battleship? [/quote] That isn't what I meant in the slightest. And in point of fact the current situation (as of GalCivII) supports this idea anyway. I.E. Tiny hull with a end game beam/missile/driver weapons. [quote who="NitroX infinity" reply="3" id="3411420"] Hullsize is a proper way to determine what and how much you can
There would in theory be more restrictions and thresholds. Size of ships being based on 4 or more technologies rather than just 2 (not counting components taking up less 'mass' in more advanced research versions). Upkeep per unit mass is an easy way to stop size abuse.
Does anyone else feel that removing the arbitrary hull sizes and going with something a bit more fluid would make a change for the better? Miniaturisation tech (or it's equivalent), engineering tech, material tech and structural integrity tech could all play a part in how much 'mass' you design a ship to use. You could also in theory shape manufacturing around increasing mass production capacity per turn and then in turn being able to 'spend' it to build an