Syf said:
Hello to all the fans of Star Trek Armada, the game series. I would like to open the topic of talking about them. What makes Star Trek Armada and Armada 2 great games? What would be ideal for a 3rd installment in the series?
So, to start, I would like to ask a few questions, and see what the responses are. This is a discussion thread, so feel free to get involved.
1.) What do you like more, A1 or A2?
2.) Why do you like one over the other?
3.) Of each game, what do you like the most?
4.) Of each, what do you dislike the most?
5.) If you could add one thing to either game, what would it be?
and finally... Star Trek Armada 3 discussion-
What do you think should Armada 3 be like?
What timeline should it be?
How many enemies, and which ones?
Please feel free to add to this list of questions.
My answers... Ok,
A to1.) Armada 2. I got into A1, but when A2 came out, it felt much more trekish. And now days, it's almost impossible to get A1 working on my system (it has been ever since I started using WinXP Pro).
A to 2.) Back on the trekish issue... A2 has more 3D to it. With A1, there was a standard 2D feel to it (like C&C - right, left, forwards, and backwards). When A2 came along, you could change the direction of a ship not just 2D, but in a full 3D... So, you got a full 3D game. Star Trek always has been 3D to me (as in ships or objects could appear above, below, in front, or in the behind).
A to 3.) A1 was so cool at the time, it was trek, and it was moddable! A2 came along and really rocked my gaming world. Of all the things in each specifically: A1- I really liked the Starbases. When you added a base, you crew amount would increase faster, and you could "recruit" more officers. Of A2- The Borg Fusion tech, and the galaxy could seperate.
A to 4.) With Armada and Armada 2, I really don't like the limited view the developers had. What I mean is, Where was the freakin' shuttles??? Why are the planets so small! Oh and the research method bites. Why not have the player research technologies that lead to more research. I much would rather have a game take my dozens of hours to complete each level. Not this six items and suddenly you can build hoards of ships. And the ships... I want to blow parts off the ships, not just blow them up. I want to be able to salvage the rusting hulks and either rebuild them, or "assimulate" their technology.
A to 5.) The one thing I would add to A1 or A2 if possible, the ability to write new coded files (like .H or DLLs) to add or over-write pre-coded functions/abilities/classlabels.
As far as A3 goes... I would like to see it in a new timeline instead of a regular one. Or... Or like Legacy and BoTF, All the timelines covering the formation of the Federation up to the point they make the whole galaxy safe and friendly.
And here's some simple additions to A3 I would like to see.
1.) Realistic sized planets.
2.) Full Sectors with more than one star system in it (hence a real use for warp drive).
3.) Fighter and shuttle launch/recover subsystem.
4.) Space effects. Like Temporal rifts, Asteroid fields, rogue comets and asteroids. Real star systems with real orbits ans paths. etc. I'm talking space dust that can harm a ship, or be used as a tactical feature. Get to close to a planet/ engines fail, and the ship falls toward the planet and burns up. I'm talking real Astrophysics and effects here. A1 & A2 have only limited space effects. ALso a real randomization system, that "events" can happen, like a star exploding and such.
5.) A real Damage/repair/control/experience system. Like on Star Trek, a way you could tweak a ship to get that extra 5% power to the shields or engines. Also like in other Trek games, a real shield system, there the aft grid on the ship can be down, yet the front is still working. I want to see real Damage on a ship from phasers and such, like in other games. I would like to see a experience system that you can actually control the crew. By putting your best people on a ship, it becomes a "god" or "hero" ship, which would out perform and have greater odds of surviving.
6.) A real Client/Server enabled engine. This would allow a player to be the host server, instead of trying to connect to a dedicated server controlled by the software maker.
7.) The most important thing, NO HARD CODING. If a modder wants to completely change a feature, they should be able to.
Well, that's all I can thing of at the moment.