I think this would be a great time to use Blum's idea in conjunction with the "different forces have different expire times" idea.Blum wrote:If you really like it, pull up some numbers(I know you are good at it) and make it presentable:)Travdan! wrote:Actually I kinda like that idea Blum.
Let me elaborate...
Ok, rule #1
1. Scouts laid with no other forces have a different expire times depending on the number of scouts
1 scout = 1 day
2 scouts = 1.5 days
3 scouts = 2 days
4 scouts = 2.5 days
5 scouts = 3 days
x = number of scouts
t = longevity (in days)
t = (1/2)(x+1)
This way there is a tradeoff. You can have lots of scouts that last a short time, or a few scouts that last a long time.
Rule #2
2. Combat Drones in sector and Combat Drones with Scouts function like forces do now
That is, if:
x = total forces
t = longevity (in days)
t = INT[(x-1)/10]+1, where INT rounds down to an integer.
Rule #3
3. If you add any number of mines to any stack, only expiration rules for mines apply. The mine rules will be modeled by logistic growth:
x = total mines
t = longevity (in days)
t = 5/(1+5(e^(-(x-10)/2)))
This is the only semi-continuous function of forces because it is depicting a physical model of the population of mines in a certain sector.
Here, let me provide the graph of expire time vs. total mines because it leads right into Blum's idea.
As you can see, after 20 mines, the force stack's duration is practically constant at the maximum of 5 days. (Vladimir brought up the fact that some ships only have mines, and limited ones. Therefore, if they want to have large force stacks, they will have to do it themselves or *coordinate with ships that do have scouts*. Or they can just decide it's not worth it and have fewer force stacks). This encourages two things:
First, many people use as many mines as possible so that they reach the maximum expire time. If the maximum is reached well before the "41" that usually is associated with the current maximum, then the only reason to add more mines is for added defense. Lacking reason and/or money, larger stacks may become obsolete.
Second, the increased longevity of middle-range stacks of mines is not a bonus. It has two compensations. The first is that singles and smaller stacks last a much shorter time (singles lasting 15 minutes, 2 mines lasting 45 minutes - good for focused purposes). The second compensation is Blum's idea: Mines that are not monitored chaotically experience entropy. They cannot be controlled fully after some time.
This brings us into new territory:
Rule #4
This rule has no bearing on the size of the mine stack or the total number of stacks in the sector, their proximity to a planet, or the number of sandwiches that Lotus has eaten today.
It will follow the wonderful maxim: Keep it simple, stupid.
Force stacks will have a certain probability of "drifting" into different positions than you left them (in game terms: force stacks have a certain probability of becoming neutral after a time t)
There are no extra features for this, nothing fancy, except there will be a column in the forces page that tells you the probability that each stack will drift away (similar to an expire time). You don't need to refresh anything, you just need to go to the sector.
Again, this will only affect mines:
t = days since last ally visited the sector
P = probability that a stack will "drift" (become neutral)
P = 0, if t<3.5 days (this means stacks of 15 mines or fewer will have no chance of drifting)
P = (1/20)(t-3.5)^4, if t>=3.5 days (this will have to be calculated at even intervals of a convenient duration when the random numbers are drawn - I suggest a certain number of hours, like 1,2, or 5)
You may ask why this is different from expiring. Two things:
1. It promotes that you travel through the sectors you mine more frequently. ie. it will be harder to mine every single sector of a 15x15 galaxy, but it will still be very easy to mine a planet or warp 3-sectors deep, mine routes, and mine travelled paths.
2. This timer for "drifting" resets independently of expiration. It just so happens that when you go to refresh mines so they don't expire, you'll also be resetting the "drifting" timer.
EDIT: I understand this has deeper consequences than just affecting forces, but I believe that it is more cohesive with the current game than the current way forces are handled.