What if culture could play a bigger part in game?

thats a good idea, however I don't like cultural influence anyway. It ruins the enjoyment of the game.... consider how much influence pamphlets and free radio ever had on populations in any war. Populations that were on the enemy side already that is.

I do believe that rather than using culture that negotiations could take place with the planet to see if a surrender, vassal or other arrangements can be made. These negotiations could be influenced only sometimes by the player who currently owns the planet.

e.g.
Planet gets attacked, like Aleraan it has no defences(even hardening) yet and none of its fleet are close by.
So they offer terms to the attacker. However they cannot offer terms until you have researched a new technology "mixed culture"

a) Some of its trade profits can be re-routed in exchanged for u leaving the planet un-molested.
This can be undone by an enemy capital ship arriving in the gravity well or strong culture. And will be a pain for the defenders to un-do.
They offer themselves up as slaves and surrender. Disbanding all orbitting installations and on-planet installations. The planet now comes with a slave\subject population.
c) They offer you control of all orbitting installations
This also allows you to build enemy ships from whatever installations are available at that planet.
d) They offer to allow you to build defences
you may now build planetary defences that will stop enemy ships intervening and slow down
their recapture
e) vassals\protectorate. the planet offers all installations and the population as a protectorate but does not release control of the planet to you. You gain all planetary income. this can be undone by a sizeable enemy force of ships arriving in gravity well or strong culture.

The attacked would accept terms if the odds that the enemy would come back while they were attacking the planet were good. Especially capital class raiders.
Once terms are accepted you cannot change your mind and blow the planet. If you do, no other planet will offer terms for a cool off period to simulate a lack of trust once your word is broken.
Proximity to the enemies capital planet would influence whether the terms were offered at all.
Un-affiliated planets would also be able to offer terms.!! Making it easier for passing fleets to waste less time conquering planets as they move to their main objective.

I don't think there exists neutral planets, as such. Even 'culture killed' planets are actually killed, if I remember correctly. The population becomes so fed up with their culture they perform mass harakiri, apparently. There's no wonder that you need serious culture dominance for that to happen.

Still, culture seems to play a very decent role allready.
1: Solidifes your hold on your own territory (harder for the enemy to colonize worlds in your 'sphere of influence'.
2: Increases income through increasing allegiance.
3: Destruction through cultural supremacy.

But #3 is a bit slow... but then, the investment is fairly low, too. If you wanted bigger advantages, you'd need bigger investments - new researches, possibly?

I like the idea of 'non-aligned' or 'protectorate' planets though, there's plenty that could be done with that.

While interesting, I really don't expect to see something that complex in a RTS even as complex as Sins is. Anything you would have to stop to decide on just wouldn't work, I think.


Yes. Bunnies. A Fox has got to eat, you know.

I well culture could play a role in the actuall bombing. like the more damage you do to a planet under the influence of your culture the more it loses allegiance, vice versa or something. As it is now culture is slightly unnecessary

Yeah, that's a good idea. As a culture man myself, even though I am Vasari, it would be a great idea. Like if some planet had only 35% allegiance, you would only have to deal 35% damage and kill 35% of the population before they surrender. but if it has 110% allegiance, like a home world, you have to deal them 110% damage of their planet health before they kick it. It would make it a lot harder to kill a home world than some planet in the middle of no where.

But you have to balance that with the TEC's Novalith.

But don't you think that's the whole point? If the population was under your influence, you don't have to nuke the whole planet, you just have to prove a point, like park your Cap ship in their gravity well. I think Novalith is fine as it is, then again...I kinda like TEC, lol.

Destraex
I like the suggestions. I think the game should allow for the possibility of converting planets into outposts rather then full colonies, that would make sense with the culture (i.e. negotiated with individual planets). Though one would think that these planets that enter into negotiation would also have to have some military force of there own, i dunno, maybe a planetary defense cannon? Seems like they would be classified as "protectorates" of your empire.

Yommers,
I think, based on the actual (as in non-phase jump) distances between planets, using a planet as an outpost wouldn't be practical, mainly because you have to supply outposts and outposts don't produce income. Mabye on a smaller object, like an asteroid, but planets are too valuble for their raw materials.

Back to the main issue, culture. I don't really notice the culture untill it gets to the point where the people revolt, and this never really happens as I like to play smaller games. I wish that culture did play a more important role, or just be removed altogether. Mabye if culture could affect orbital bombardment, like what Sithpenguinlord said about the allegence corrisponding too a planets health. Also the fighting effectiveness of your ships and resource income havent been an issue for me, so mabye they could make it more pronounced.

Yeah, so those are my suggestions, otherwise just chuck out culture altogether, because its really more of a pain then anything else.

Well, as an Advent player mostly, having 2/3 of my worlds able to be one-shotted by Novaliths even when said worlds are fully upgraded would seriously unbalance the game in my opinion.

Seige units (Marza X-() would also be like sudden death to all but the most heavily fortified of worlds at the edge of your empire. (Who hasn't gotten hit by an AI siege rush?)

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea. Just want to look at it from all the angles.

Dude I totally get you man. But this "game" is special, you know what I'm mean? If this "game" got really play out as it should be in the coming MONTHS, then all of the super weapons should have already being a thing of legends. B/c they are so expensive and require such sacrifices on all aspects of the game, they should no longer be relevant in the coming months.

Right now, the fleets has becoming too important, b/c there are just so many things to do, that we pretty much got "lazy." But, but, if players could realize that losing a specific planet should NOT being such big deal, then and only then, we could truly unlock all there is to offer throughout the fraction's tech trees. And that's why I want to heighten the importance of the culture aspects of the game, so we could open more windows.

I love Marza btw, always wish there could be more anti-matters to go around, lol(TEC cuture bonus

Perhaps not in the economic sense, however outposts could still serve a strategic purpose. Suppose you have an outpost two planets away from the enemy's empire, now suppose you were able to produce ships from this outpost. Even if you couldn't use the outpost for producing ships it would still give you advanced warning of enemy fleets (i.e. numbers) approaching your valuable planets. The point is who cares if you lose an outpost, they're cheap. Also any outpost, almost by definition, is synonymous with trade. That's the whole point of outposts, as supply depo's and trade depo's, not to mention the fact that they often serve as points of cultural exchange.

Well, outposts would be another thing to balance economics vs. military, and the whole culture affecting orbital bombardment would force people to build more defenses. A pure military outpost would never surrender if getting beaten to a pulp, but if you have civilians there...there would be other factors. It would certainly add a new twist to the game.

The real question is, what abilities do outposts have. Just tactical structures, or would you allow certain logistical structures like Military Labs? But I think it would be a good idea if you could develop a planet into something like a dead asteroid,that would have the role of an outpost, like designating a home planet. It would certainly work for the Vasari because it would allow phase gates.

No come on stop this out post talks. I love how this game is right now, I don't want to see people build useless out posts all over the galaxy. Extra Cap ships ARE out posts, think about it. What's next? You can just build Labs or Trade Centers anywhere you want just because you have the extra resources? Forget about asteroids or planets, then.

Guys we're actually talking about the culture game mechanic, if you want to talk outposts, there's another forum for that.

lol. There certainly are other post's for outposts (sorry for bringing that devil in here), I think Nomad and I have gone back and forth on this suggestion a bit  . Back to culture though, would it not be logical for each planet, under control of rebels/trader factions/ to have their own ability to spread culture? Not saying across the system, maybe just a planet or two. Think that would most certainly put a wrench in the early gears of the game. Really like the idea of negotiation with planets though, however might turn the game more into a Civ/RS combo rather then just RS.

Maybe instead of having each planet spread culture (which is, at least in a way, covered by allegiance) each planet could have their own culture, that is associated with its indigenous population. Then if you colonize the planet you would have to deal with its inhabitants and try to assimilate/incorporate them into your empire. There could also be a second population indicator, for your colonists. The planets allegiance could be compiled from your indigenous/colonist population and other factors.

Just to throw it in there, i think you should have the option to adjust taxes and other things to alter the allegiance/income and generally micromanage your colony.

With you %100 on the taxes thing. Could be something like the higher you raise the taxes the planet loses allegiance. That would be a great addition to the game..

That is a very cool idea. I love it, but along with Pirate, Blackmarket, and domestic tabs, and now you are asking for a new culture tab? The game could become a chartfest with no time for space looking time anymore, lol. Then again, the coming patch is going to incorporate the blackmarket chart into the main game screen, right? So who knows what could happen in the coming patches. The chart switching pains to rule a whole universe is going to be the sins of a solar empire, hehe.
Ok, to the main topic: so after all of that discussions, what do you guys think of a relationship between culture alliance and planet health?

I've thought of a way to avoid the chart-fest, first, make the pirate base partially visible, then you can click on the base to set bounties (that way you have to find the pirates, before you can use them). Then you can build a black market yourself, or like you said just have them as a part of your interface. That makes room for the culture tab.

As for the culture-planet health relationship, it would be mostly represented by the allegiance of the planet giving the boost to defenders. However the culture of a planet would provide a special bonus (which may not be combat-related) if you research the culture integration. If you research cultural assimilation instead you receive increased allegiance (due to colonist nationalism). An example of a bonus would be oh, i dunno, maybe a special type of engineering or broadcasting.

Also integration would have a slower population growth rate, because you would be sending more emissaries and fewer colonists.

Wow, i thought up all of that on the spot, and it doesn't sound half bad. Sweet.