Another thought on mines

from Sins Forums

I've read a lot of posts on this and just thought I would throw in my two cents.

1- There needs to be a cap on how many mines can be deployed in a system.  It should be low, like maybe 10 or 15 at most.  If you allow more then that you simply adding too many objects and it's just going to slow the game down too much.  This is a really great game and it would suck to see one item get spammed so much that it becomes unplayable on some computers.

2- There needs to be an automated way to clear the mines.  In real life you probably wouldn't jump a major fleet into a warzone without doing some recon first so give scouts the ability to detect the mines.  This also gives the player a reason to build scouts that travel with the fleet.  In addition you could limit their detection radius so that it doesn't see mines throughout the entire gravity well.  This gives the player a reason to keep a scout or two with your fleet at all times even as your traveling through a gravity well.  To clear the mines you could add a clearing ability to the flak frigates so that the two ships have to work in tandem with each other to clear the mines.  This way the mines still function as an impediment, as they were meant to, but it's not ridiculous either.

3- If the above 2 options were implemented then I think you should also increase the penalty for not scouting in advance by making the mines more deadly.  In my opinion this is only fair.  If you have the ability to send in a scout before your fleet to check the system for mines and you don't, then next time around you'll be certain to do it right.  In addition to this I saw someone else post that mines should not discriminate friend or foe and I would have to agree with that.  Mines should act like a strategic road block that can buy you some time to move fleets around to defend a system or placed on a key choke point but at the same time not be insurmountable.

I think with some minor adjustments mines could be an excellent strategic and realistic part of the game but in their current state they definitely have serious issues.

2,204 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

10 or 15 mines max in a system would make mines essentially useless, so you've just effectively removed the unit from the game.  I had well over 100 mines in a system, and I even put them in the high-traffic phase lane areas where the AI had to jump to to invade me, and the majority of the time the mines still didn't get run over when the AI came in.

In truth, you (and many others) just hate mines.  That's fine, to each his own (personally, I hate mayonnaise).  This is why I thought the developers should have put in the ability to custom add/remove each unit in the game a long time ago, and I stated this a long time ago.  It would have removed most of the flak and controversy about the phase jump inhibitor, the superweapon, defenses in general (some people utterly despise them), and now mines.  The best thing they could do is have a screen while setting up a game where every unit in the game is listed with a checkbox.  Check the box, the unit is available.  Uncheck it, the unit is unavailable.  Presto - no more problems.

Cheers.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

i agree 10 - 15 mines is effectivly removing the mines from the game even in the smallest grav wells it isnt nearly enough to cover the area properly, you need between 70 - 100 to properly cover a grav well from attackers which strikes me as a more realistic cap

i pesonally think the scout should have a researchable mine sweeping ability, no point building two ships to clear a mine field, dosesnt make sense to solve a micromanagement problem by adding a solution that involves micromanagement

as for damaging  alies i think you just plucked that idea outa thin air, imagine your underattack and the AI just happens to come to your aid,,,,oh look my mine field just killed them, theres no point in allies if your going to kill them

Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

i pesonally think the scout should have a researchable mine sweeping ability, no point building two ships to clear a mine field, dosesnt make sense to solve a micromanagement problem by adding a solution that involves micromanagement
End of quote

Aye, the less micro the better!

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Agent, reply 1
10 or 15 mines max in a system would make mines essentially useless, so you've just effectively removed the unit from the game.  I had well over 100 mines in a system, and I even put them in the high-traffic phase lane areas where the AI had to jump to to invade me, and the majority of the time the mines still didn't get run over when the AI came in.

In truth, you (and many others) just hate mines.  That's fine, to each his own (personally, I hate mayonnaise).  This is why I thought the developers should have put in the ability to custom add/remove each unit in the game a long time ago, and I stated this a long time ago.  It would have removed most of the flak and controversy about the phase jump inhibitor, the superweapon, defenses in general (some people utterly despise them), and now mines.  The best thing they could do is have a screen while setting up a game where every unit in the game is listed with a checkbox.  Check the box, the unit is available.  Uncheck it, the unit is unavailable.  Presto - no more problems.

Cheers.
End of Agent's quote

 

Thats a very good suggestion worked great in total annilation

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting sesmet333, reply 2
i agree 10 - 15 mines is effectivly removing the mines from the game even in the smallest grav wells it isnt nearly enough to cover the area properly, you need between 70 - 100 to properly cover a grav well from attackers which strikes me as a more realistic cap

i pesonally think the scout should have a researchable mine sweeping ability, no point building two ships to clear a mine field, dosesnt make sense to solve a micromanagement problem by adding a solution that involves micromanagement

as for damaging  alies i think you just plucked that idea outa thin air, imagine your underattack and the AI just happens to come to your aid,,,,oh look my mine field just killed them, theres no point in allies if your going to kill them
End of sesmet333's quote

well by the time in the future that this is taking place they would have had a Friend or Foe becon built into the ships and mines and any thing else because other wise trading would have been a bit hard over the past 1000 years of peace that came before the long war.

and 10 to 15 mines per grav well hell NO

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

If you can put a friend or foe beacon on your ships, I can destroy your ships and salvage some beacons, so mine look friendly to the mines too.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Tridus, reply 6
If you can put a friend or foe beacon on your ships, I can destroy your ships and salvage some beacons, so mine look friendly to the mines too.
End of Tridus's quote

 

why not? its a clever stratergy and similar stratergies have been used throughout history , though i can see how that would be annoying in the game, for gameplay purposes the ability to salvage beacons will just have to be left out.

 

As a game it doesnt have to stick to every law of the real world, I mean the laws of physics state that faster than light travel is impossible but you can in sins. If you gathered the ships of sins together in real life in the kind of grouped fleets you see in game their own fushion engine output would incinerate anything caught in the engine wake but that doesnt happen. My point is dont be TOO fussy about realism there are always compromises in a game like this