Z axis or 3 battle planes

from Stardock Forums

So ive heard alot of requests for Z axis etc.

Now, i know alot of people will say, oh, just press the Z-axis hotkey and duh

ive never used it, and have never had to, but i had this good idea the last time i opened Entrenchment

at the opening cinematic thing for entrenchment, where you see the commander and the holo screen representation of the battle field, i saw an interesting detail

on the same plane as the SB, as well as above and below, i saw what could be described as the GW graphic we have now, except there were 3 of them, the middle on where we have it now, and 2 smaller ones about halfway between the equator and the poles

so, i was thinking for the people who want a Z-axis if having this sort of thing in game would give you what you want.

you could place a fleet on the northern or southern GW and 'surprise' any incoming fleets, maybe slingshotting around the planet gives a speed boost and slight damage boost as projectiles travel faster, plus the element of 'surprise' by popping out from behind the planet means the enemy fleet reacts slower... but also incoming damage is increased for the same reason that your fleets damage is increased... 

or, alternatively, place extra defenses or logistical structures there, to give extra firing arcs or protect logistics structures better/a little longer from incoming enemy forces.

it definitly needs balancing etc, im not saying the above ideas are perfect, just things off the top of my head...

idn, what do we think?

11,348 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Considering I know how to use the Z-axis, it doesn't give you any "surpise" ability.  It just means you can get around fleets and structures without running into them. 

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

it doesn't give you any "surpise" ability
End of quote

i know this.... i was talking potentially... something that could be implemented...

its part of something else id like to be added to Sins: more tactical advantages such as flanking etc. i mean, a shield could (should) fail faster if it is being assaulted from opposing poles, rather than just the front where more power can be diverted to reinforce the system...

its completely theoretical, and i dont really mind if it doesnt get implemented, that or any surprise ability, but i do think having the three GW's on a Z-Axis would be interesting

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

An interesting idea. Maybe not for slingshot fire, or that type of stuff, but what about being able to hide a fleet behind the plant/roid ?

If you positioned on the opposite side of the planet from the jump point, the enemy wouldn't see you until they had a ship in position. Kind of cool. Might give you surprise in some situations. Kind of a 'fog of war' or 'line of sight' effect.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

i think it might actually help with situational damage, such as flanking etc. hide a fleet behind a planet and when the enemy fleet is drawn into a cross fire, open up...

it could definitly help get rid of the rock-paper-scissors style hard counters

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

i wouldn't say it is rock-paper-scissors.  If you truly feel that way put an experienced player with 20 lrm and a newer player with 20 lrm and see what happens.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

and if you put two experienced players with 20 LRF? or a newer player with 10 HC and an experienced player with 20 LRF? technically, the expereinced player should be able to out manouver the newbie, seeing as he would most likely just send all his ships in and focus fire, while the experienced player might send in 5 ships to attack from the front and 5 to attack from behind (using my recommendation of flanking etc) hell, with 20 LRF for newbie and 10 for exp player (assuming they are both same level etc on an even playing field etc,) an experienced player should be able to out manouver anyone not because he built the right counters, but because he played well, he lured the other player into range of his MB or SB/defenses or he made his opponent leave his fleet to attack a lvl6 marza and then attacked his planet after the fleet is gone, etc etc

as it is. you want to be the last person building a fleet because then you can build the counter to whatever the other guy is building

aside from all that, i think 3 levels of play could add some interesting tactics to the game

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

This would be fun because you could also add a thing that allowed a player to see the entire grav-well that they are on but also on a small portion of the other grav-well(s) meaning that you could hide a fleet on another grav-well after knowing which grav-well the enemy fleet is jumping to.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Does it take ships any longer to travel horizontally and vertically than plain horizontally? Are weapon ranges affected by the Z-axis?

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

i dont think travelling vertically makes a diff, and i dont think weapons ranges are affected, but considering range atm is denoted with a flat circle it makes it hard to tell when you are slightly over or under the target