Supercapitals is something I wanted from the first time I played Sins, though I agree with -Ue_Carbon, it doesn't fit the theme of this expansion.
That said, if this is indeed the last planned expansion, it needs doing now!
I appreciate it's a lot of work, but it would add another level to the game - my idea was something along the lines of;
- Three different designs for each race, meaning 9 in total (I said it was a lot, but I'm aiming for perfection here!)
- Only one supercapital per player at any one time - this forces the player to choose which would be most useful
- Just as there are different types of capital ships, the supercapitals would come in various flavours. Each race would have one of their three SCs as an all-out-attack ship, but the other two would have different functions based on the race in question, for example the vasari might have a slow moving, high defence but low vs ship attack SC designed to take out planets, or an ultra-fast jump ship that completely ignores gravity wells and excels in hit-and-run attacks, taking out key installations in heavily defended space then jumping away before it gets hit (because it can't take much punishment). The advent might have SCs based around mass control of enemy units, or perhaps an enhanced version of shield regeneration (passive?), while the TEC could have a ship that builds frigates on the fly, or something that enhances trade.
- SCs are late-game ships. The player has to research the appropriate technology for each of the three ships... because the ships are different, these may not be in the same tree. In this way, a player with only a few planets will have to decide to focus on one tree over another if they mean to reach the point where they can get a SC without expanding. This could be a great table-turner in smaller matches, where a player chooses to play defensively, trying to hold off their opponent until they can get a SC. It's the sort of thing that makes games great - the incentive to take a big risk in the hope that it pays off. It also makes opponents less predictable, as there are even more paths to victory. On a small map, a SC would be less limited by being a lot of power in one place. On a larger map the power of the ship itself may be muted by a lack of being able to be everywhere at once, and the more subtle SC designs will come into their own.
- Needless to say, SCs are expensive, and take up lots of fleet capacity, so the player has to decide whether it's really worth it.
- The key to making it work, I think, would be that only 1 can be built (until it is destroyed, which will be difficult if they are used properly) The balance will be in making it so that an inexperienced player may be disadvantaged if they choose to build a SC and they don't know how to properly make use of it, as they have less capability to build other ships which may in total be stronger. Proper application of a SC though will result in an overall advantage... until your opponent gets one. That said, depending on what type they choose, the two may never come head to head.
- A SC obviously becomes the flagship as soon as it is built - and this should have some effect other than just being a title. Destroying an enemy flagship could be the target of a mission, whether it be a standard capital or a SC. To make it work, there would have to be some negative side effect to losing your flagship, perhaps a hit in income for the TEC, a loss of alleigence for the advent and an increase in ship build cost for the vasari? These would be temporary, certainly, but could also be locallised, with the strongest effect closest to where the event occurred?
- Size-wise, the SCs need to be larger than the capitals, but not necessarily enormous. SCs designed for combat will tend to be bigger and meaner, perhaps 3x the length of a standard capital? SCs designed for other purposes will have appropriate sizes - planet destroyers have to be very large indeed, perhaps half the size of a starbase? Fast SCs will be smaller, perhaps only slightly larger than standard capitals.
I'm sure I had some other ideas too, but I can't remember them right now. Still, I thought i'd share these, and this seemed the thread to do it!
Yslen
