Ship builder and the (un)importance of ship building

[improff]

I am a giant paradox. To me, grand strategy is always about the strategic view of an entire population, not individuals. (Which coincidentally was why I could never get into CK, not that it isn't a fabulous game which I've still spent 200 hours in.) Agents, like in EUIV and what has so far been released about the science sections, are a perfectly viable way of representing directions for the country so I am very happy with them.

But my personal vice is this: On one hand, I absolutely love space games, on the other, I find ship customization and min/maxing not very ... fun. I know that others love this part, and love seeing the depth included, but I just can't get into it myself and hope that doesn't leave me with a disadvantage. I am curious if there is a way for people like myself to 'automate' this with pre-generated, or on-the-fly generated ships based on the technologies I have. These would then be automatically upgraded as I get better technologies.

I am not opposed to dropping into ship building if I get something revolutionary and need to switch up the upgrading templates, that's fine. Ideally, and no hurt when it doesn't appear, I would love to see a 'fleet composition' screen that could allow me to say "I want this many laser ships, this many missiles, and this many mass drivers, with 3 capital ships." (Almost like HoI4's division planner. i.e. I don't want to put parts on a tank, I just want to put the tank in a division. If that makes sense.)

This then, I can pop in and direct the 'big' picture of the composition of my fleets and the direction of my ships.

 

[Moppy771]

Depends how focused the military aspects will be.

 

[Kaiser Timo]

I for instance, hope that you can auto generate for folks like you!

However I freakin´ love the aspect of building your own class and pattern types of starships.
As a fan of Warhammer 40k universe litteratures, I will definitely by all means design ships alike those in WH40k!

 

[echo2361]

While I understand that others find it to be micro intensive, I really enjoy a good ship building mechanic that allows me to customize my ships. It helps with the immersion for me. Hopefully we'll get an auto builder or enough premade ship sets to make everyone happy whether you like to design your own ships or not.

 

[ashbery76]

There are going for the 3 module system that was in SOTS.It was very deep and did not take much micromanagement to design.

 

[Valvinar]

I hope designs can be saved across games like in Space Empires V(I think) where the design only appears in the ingame list when you have all the parts unlocked. I hate having to remake the same ships every game.

 

[Hans_Schnitzel]

I hope designs can be saved across games like in Space Empires V(I think) where the design only appears in the ingame list when you have all the parts unlocked. I hate having to remake the same ships every game.

Agreed. But in Stellaris that could be a bit tough since we do not choose what to unlock when. We just pick fields and then.. well, hope for the best. So sometimes you will never see the Mk II version of a spaceship that you already designed in another game pop up simply because RNGesus didn't want that you get it.

 

[Valvinar]

Agreed. But in Stellaris that could be a bit tough since we do not choose what to unlock when. We just pick fields and then.. well, hope for the best. So sometimes you will never see the Mk II version of a spaceship that you already designed in another game pop up simply because RNGesus didn't want that you get it.

That's true. Maybe an option to manual save a design that can be used between any game. When a design is pulled into a new game only the technology you have unlocked in that game is used. This way base ship design is still there and you just need to update weapons, shields, engines, etc. The usefulness of this will depend on how deep the customization goes, a 2D grid like SEV makes it pretty easy to remake ships but in a 3D model like GC3 this would could be a useful time saving mechanism.

 

[improff]

I agree with everyone, it is absolutely necessary to have the ability to customize the crap out of my own ships. =P If for no other reason than to make giant floating cathedrals that project power through skull-based cannons. (I'd play a game that was just that coincidentally.)

For me though, my idea of roleplaying in grand strategy has always been just slightly more grand than that. Which is where auto-building actually /helps/ in my role-play. This may seem a little weird, but I like to think that I can only 'guide' but not micro-control the direction of an entire thriving civilization. I can assign scientists to try to discover technologies, and pick what to focus on when they come up with key ideas. (Which coincidentally Stellaris does, ... I bloody love Paradox... >.>) But the details, intricacies I leave to the experts that are actually doing this.

Just like with the way technology advances, type of space travel, give me the 'grand' overarching view of where I want my ships to go, and have the computer create something for me. It doesn't have to be optimized to max, because that takes the fun out of min-maxing, but also because the designers in my empire aren't perfect either, I wouldn't expect them to take the parts they have, and get absolute 110% efficiency out of them. (Again, division, and experience in HOI4 comes to mind.)

 

[Lys91]

Won't unit customisation be closer to HoI4 than gal civ 3? Probably a bit more options than in HoI, but not going towards the insanely micro-management?

 

[BrokenSky]

I am a giant paradox.

i had to take this typo out of context! It was just too mildly amusing.