I agree that cap ships could be milestones in the research/development. That would make them more valuable and rare.

I don't know about the details though since I'm not a beta player.

10 to 15? cap ships are all i use.

I disagree with only having one type of capitol ship.I mean look at the U.S. navy.Would you consider a carrier or a battleship capitol ships?At one time or another how many of those ships did the navy have.And that's one country not a solar empire.

Nobody is saying there should be one type of capital ships... I don't know where you got that from.

And you shouldn't look at the absolute number of (any) ships US has. You should look at the relative numbers. How many destroyers, frigates and submarines are around one single carrier? And this carrier is the capital ship in Sins.

But in Sins some have groups consisting of capitals only. This does not happen in reality and it takes all the "awe" factor of capital ships in a game.

Perhaps have some benefit to having a fleet composed well, as compared to one of only capital ships?

Perhaps a tactical coordination bonus, that sounds cool

i agree and mostly do the same.

Just tryed a savegame (forgot his name) from one who had proformance issues, and all i saw was a fleet with 20-30 or more capital ships.

The way i see it, it should be 1 or 2 cap ships for each fleet and something like 20-30frigats plus some cruisers for every cap ship.
That way you would see them as the power beasts they are.

I wounder what who would win if you had 1000 command points, one who only built cap ships, and the other only build 2, and the rest was a mix of frigats and cruisers as i said above?

A balanced fleet will most likely spank a group of caps-only any day. Feel free to build all caps, but that strategy won't hold up in multiplayer (or when the AI gets to its final state). Plus I'm pretty sure that capital ship costs/requirements are already something that's going to be addressed in the future anyway.

That would be me

Another Idea.

What if Caps ship were on a parallel command point system than the rest of your fleet. For instance, each planet you control allowed you to build another Cap ship. So you can always build one at the beginning because you control one planet. But with every planet you take over you can build another Cap ship. Maybe Volcanic planets allow you to build two more.

First I rather hate to bring up the ship definition thing, but it is relevant if the terms are to be used we need to use them correctly or simply make up new ones (this IS a space game and does NOT have to follow navy terms.)

Any way [stepping out from lurking]

Personally I rather like the mix of “capital” ships (there term) that are currently provided. A battleship that lasts long and is good at killing other “capital” ships. A Carrier that can project fighters/bombers to offer a fast offensive/defensive cover. 2 Generalists that have very useful support utilities and can fight/survive well but not great. And a Dreadnought which really fits its namesake, not the most powerful but has additional range and siege capabilities (with even area effect)

These “capital” ships make a very good battle group add some smaller ships for scouting, hunting faster ships or utility and it will be complete. And THIS should be the Goal! Miss/loose one of these ships and your group is diminished more then just one ship but with all of the overlapping and extra abilities it offered.

It would seem that SINS did use a more classical warship definition here. Since the Frigates and cruisers can supplement the main battle group but they really shine solo or in “wolf” packs. And also strayed from the definition because Frigate and Cruiser "types" are historically more warship ROLE then "class" of ship (size has never played a role here) and are/can be classified as “capital” ships or not. (historically offen frigets where as large as other capital ships just faster)

I think the problem is how to get them into the game in a meaning full way. I think it should be all resource/support based. As the tech tree tends to limit types of fleets since people may just not go down lines (eventually in multiplayer the most efficient build will be found and some ships will never be made). This tends to force a unit based game rather then a group based game.
If you have all ships at the start (possibly some not fully realized since upgrades and tech items still need to be researched) then you will get full fleets but the abilities of each fleet may be the thing that varies.
You could pump out “smaller” ship after smaller ship with a meaningful but constant dip in resources. But since these ships are not “resilient” and to not “level up” they will end up being the work horse for raiding, defending, exploring. Operating as there namesakes solo or in packs and with enough speed to run when necessary.
The “ships-of-the-line” (possibly a better name since Capital is so general) are the “Hero” ships that should cost quite allot making a big drain on resources and support. Solo these ships are strong but should be able to be taken down by packs of non “ships-of-the-line” class. But make a battle group of them and there true power is realized being more then the sum of its parts. These battle groups (the line) should be the system/planet busters laying siege to planets and destroying defenses. Only another battle group should be able to counter them. Also a battle group is not complete until all of the roles are complete (minimum of one of each “ships-of-the-line” class) all of one or two class groups should not beat a mixture. (a fleet bonus should be added)
Now depending on game you should be able to build 1-3-x of these battle groups (one per star system?, one every X number of colonies?, small-med-large game? etc) resource willing . . .

I also like how it takes a group line this longer to jump from system to system (logistics and all) this makes it powerful but ponderous and possibly easily tracked. This may evoke a kind of chess with fleets moving there and there trying to avoid or clash.

Good stuff if pulled off . . .

I sorta agree, but I also agree that they are way to low on the techtree, maybe at like level 10 they should become available, if not higher, and should probably take more fleet point thingies.

i disagree

Putting them on the tech tree will only drag out length of the game.

So which one should be on the tech tree? Acourding to the story the latest ship the TEC made was the KOL, so does it mean it has to the last one?

And even even leveling them up takes time, so the last one on the tech tree wont see the higher levels before the game is over..

I think the best way is to increase the cost, fleet points or make them have upkeep.

Putting them on the tech tree is a bad idea in my opinion

Forum ate my post this morning

But anyway, don't artificially FORCE players to limit the capitol ships. The devs have the right idea by making combined arms the way to go, rather than simply manipulating game mechanics to make players do it.