Integrating Population into General Gameplay

[Kaiba]

Im bored on this Sunday afternoon...


Wouldnt it be nice if the population figure actually had some relevance to the game in general rather than being a pointless figure that affects nothing

Couldnt we make it so population was separated down into segements:

Science/Industry/Military

Science

As you pass certain markers on the tech tree then your Science population increases. This population can then be assigned into specific 'scientific' areas of the game. Assign enough population to a specific area would grant a bonus, im thinking... an extra -1 TT, a further news scan that doesnt have the tick delay, 'insert more ideas here'


Industry

As you pass certain construction thresholds (50, 100, 150, 200, 250) your Industrial population increases. THis population can then be assigned into specific 'industrial' areas of the game. Assigning enough population to a specific area would grant a bonus, im thinking... an extra core (maybe 50k), another 50 construction slots, 'insert more ideas here'


Military


As you pass certain military thresholds (maybe hulls research and total fleet size) your Military population increases. THis population can then be assigned into specific 'military' areas of the game. Assigning enough population to a specific area would grant a bonus, im thinking... +25% salvage, +10% attack bonus (would show up with a 'General Star' on incomming page or maybe on AU scan), 'insert more ideas here'



I also think this would give covops a bit more meaning. Covops could then be used to affect peoples population, instead of what it currently does. It could kill population or 'assimilate' them into the covopers population. It could also be used to 'negate' bonuses given (militaristic ones mainly) or stick a freeze on a bonus for a number of ticks (relating to the number of agents sent) or possibly as a low percentage sucess covop (right at the end of the covop tech tree) completely remove a bonus and set the player back 50% population in that area (again relative to number of agents sent), this could also hurt the covoper tho, like a double edged sword, tho worse for the person covoped ofc.


Maybe shortening the covop tech tree down to make this playable by everyone would add some more mid-tick fun too. Maybe make the covop a 'live event' - giving the target a period of time to produce enough guards to stop the intrusion (the ability of the guards could be linked to the covop tech tree, as you gain access to the covop your guards gain the ability to neutralise it, maybe on a one research delay so their is no way to stop the final covop)

[Paisley]

Not bad idea

[Kaiba]

I know its a completely rough idea (and would never get implemented), my boredom is at an all time high tho currently :/


I just like the idea of making Covops more of a mini game within PA. Something that affects the round but isnt instrumental in doing so, also something people can do in between ticks.

Maybe still using stealth but not allowing people to make themselves immune would stop n00bs covoping top players constantly but allow active players to use it competively.

[TheoDD]

Finally good idea(s) and noone bothers to comment?

Think this could contribute to bring pa to it's next stage, so would love to see more input, and developement here.

[tokath]

I like the idea. I have a hard time seeing how the covops can improve with the current game mechanics. As it is between population/guards/security centers it's easy to 99% of the attempts without being immune or spending too much cash and I can't see how using stealth and not allowing immunity/near immunity would prevent abuse.

-1 tt is probably way too powerful. However bringing back a version of mil scans for one of the top rewards would be fun and not too powerful if only a target could do the mil scan.

So overall, implement the main idea and ignore covops for now and it's solid

[Kaiba]

Cheers guys

Yeah the covops was something that was a completely on the fly idea alongside the original population idea.

In hindsight its something that probably far to incricate for PA in its current standing though may be a good option if PA integrated itself into Facebook in the future, as it keeps the play more constant.

Hopefully some of the more experienced PA forum users will comment on here as well, i would like to hear feedback from everyone.

Tokath: they were just guideline ideas which obviously would be completely rethought if it was implemented. I didnt play PA when their was mil scans so i dont know anything about them. I would like the bonus to be worthwhile achieving though, especially the last one in each section, something that would be achieved by few people but would give a definite advantage, as a reward for their effort in that round.

I would like it to be a main feature of the game you see, not a pointless sideshow that isnt needed to play, like covops currently is.

[tokath]

A more narrow tt bonus would be fun. An across the board tt-1 just feels like fi/co would focus on getting that bonus to be near unstoppable. Things like tt-1 to fr/de/cr/bs or tt-1 to in gal def/def would be less unbalanced i think

Also depending on how late in the game full on mil scans might work fine. Mil scans showed what each fleet contained, but didn't specify which fleet was which or what the destination was.

[Korsan]

I once had a similar idea which I want to share here once again:

Your government type determines what your planet will look like. Will it be a militaristic government? A scientific society? Or a profit maximising society?

Government types need to be reworked and some hard locked limits should be added to every government added.

Chosing a Military society should give you a bigger manpower pool.
Chosing a Science society should give you a research bonus.
Chosing an economic society should maximise your income.

In order to turn this into something that works, the way the population works needs to be changed. Population should be assigned to the branches as we are used to it with the addition of hard locks for each governent type.

Assigning 40% of your population into military should mean that 40% of your population is bound to this branch and cannot be used elsewhere. If you lose your fleet these 40% (minus salvage bonus) are lost and your planet loses population.
Same goes for the other 2 branches.
Of course your ships need to have a defined number of pilotes for this which we need to set before (fi 1/co 2/ fr 5/ de 8/ cr 25/ bs 35 or something that fits better for you). Ship efficiencies need to be corrected as well in accordance with the number of pilotes that is needed for your fleet.
You realize that a fleet of millions of ships is no more possible with this setup.

A 4th branch should be the unassigned populations. Per x unassigned citizens you get x % higher population growth (define the values someone!).

All in one these aren't hard to manage changes. Population growth is done per tick as everything else and values can be altered by trial and error in some beta speed testing rounds.