How do we make gameplay faster...

Mm, I don't think trying to make the game faster by actually reducing the games... strategical elements is a good idea, I really enjoy building up my empire and expanding - starting from one planet and then colonizing countless worlds.

But you are completetly right multiplayer simply can't work if it takes 6 hours to do, Saving mid-game then trying to find the same person again to play with is almost impossible.

Increasing fleet size wouldn't work iether as it's very easy to build up a sizable force quickly anyway.

I was thinking about victory conditions - You could have a set of things which need to be completed before one could gain victory like for example -

Econmic victory

- Hold 10 planets

- Gain a certain amount of resources

- Hold 2 artifacts

This could be for players who want to build up a mighty empire, and not just battle it out.

Then you could get a Milatery Conquest victory -

- Capture the enemies Home world for 10 minutes

- Destroy the enemies Capitol ship.

All the conditions should be reachable within 1-2 hours or so, but should also come in pairs or more one simple victory condition can turn things nasty and produce cheap tactics, like if it was to simply take the enemies home world Someone could rush them with siege ships in the first 10 minutes and grab it.

Maybe also things like increasing resource gain, or requiring less research stations to get the top research techs.

Master of Orion 2
Sword of the Stars
And many more games like that, all of them took many hours, if you choose to, have alot of planets in the game.

Removing the long term part in a space RTS would ruin, the part of the enjoyment of getting a system going. With hugh fleets in battle. Joining and breaking alliances, to your own benefits.
To my experiance

Though, i do see a problem, for those, who cant use 4 hours infront of a PC.
That is also why i have suggested a shorter version, if ppl just need to blow something up, in short time.
Like in the Total War games, you had an amount of point you could use for an army, and then you meet on the battlefield.
Something like that would be one way, to play a 10-20min game

The reason I stopped playing Supreme commander is because To play the game properly without rushing or using cheap tactics, it takes about 3 - 4 hours to fully kill an enemy on a big map.

It's not fun having to spend that time in multiplayer, and knowing you can't just save and come back later.

I'm going to bet you 100 percent, against a smart enemy the maps we're playing now would take 10 x aslong, it's just as we can easily trample the AI systems can be taken easily but against a real player, they could easily defend from every attack.

This is just not realistic for about 90 percent of people - I can play for 6 hours straight.. then my brain blows up and I can't play for an entire week or so

When you say big map? you mean 80x80km? that would explain why haha
But on a 20x20km map, it takes about an hour, if its a team game. Longest i tryed was 2 hours.

But i agree, a gametime of about an hour should be the avg.

2 Versus 2 can take forever, if everyones at about the same level and managed to get 20 or so shield generators over there base with anti-nook defenses everywhere (=

I remember this one map has a river between , it so I had to use transports to get my troops across - They had killed my ally and I'd nuked his and damaged his base dramaticly. Only problem is they both had FLEETS upon fleets of gunships, they couldn't attack my base due to my massive AA defense and I couldn't get to theres because every attack got shot down!

Think I eventually pulled through by taking them out with two fatboys and a horde of AA units , but it was one annoying battle lasting 3 hours or so.

I'm going to imagine the same situation happening in this game, where people horde capitol ships and such.

I suggest playing on a small solar system with maybe 10 planets. You will expand quickly, meet the other player, start to have a few skirmishes with your scout frigates but never have the time to gain big fleets as you would in huge games.

Anyway... just make a small game. Small games are quicker, you can't get lost and taking over one or two planets will make a huge difference and therefore more fatal.

well making a small game and forgoing the use of bigger fleet engagements would likely be a certain loss, but cant be avoided to a certain degree if you want to make the game playable in an hour or two. however, you should also consider the option that was given in civ 4 where the developpers implemented different gaming speeds with different costs and ergo build times for units, cities, research, etc. so, adjusting some parameters such as production cost and speed, income rates if necessary, ships speed maybe, could make the game more accessible. of course it would also - at least it would seem to me - more hectical, as you have to deal with effectively the same amount of decisions, but less time to take them. but, alas, there is always a trade-off and there would be the longer option for players who can take their time (which I count myself in. gotta love those LAN sessions).

For a MP perhaps. In single player I'd like to see hours and hours long campaigns...

But that all can be adjusted with number of stars/planets in the game IMO.

Exactly! 1 System with 20 or so planets should take an hour , 1 vs 1.

An hour?? BAH! Lightweights...

I've had SupCom games go on past the two and three hour mark.

Although thats not an empire management game, so yeah, around about an hour, an hour and a half should be average time, but tense matches with multiple players should be allowed to continue on past that.

well, an hour for the short end, so far I feel a good game should last 3 hours, lets you get through the tech tree a bit more...