Real-Time PA
 

I was thinking about how confused I get with my fleet ETAs. If it's ETA 8 in tick 1034 when does it land? What tick do I need my defenders to launch in at what ETA to catch my attackers? Etc. It's all so confusing.

The game knows how long each tick is, so my proposition is perhaps we could show ETAs in time rather than ticks. So if, in a normal hour/tick round, my hypothetical fleet was ETA8 to it's target, but we were at XX:45 through the hour, my ETA wouldn't just be 8, it would be 7:15.

If the tick speed was, say, less than 5 minutes we could also show seconds in the ETA. So in a 5 minute speed game with an ETA of 4, my ETA might actually display as 3 ticks, 2 minutes and 15 seconds or 17:15.

It could display like this: ETA 17mins 15secs / 3 ticks.

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Then I went on to think about how we could take this real time display further. Perhaps we could make combat take the full hour. We all know about ship combat initiative. Say there were 10 initiatives in a single combat, we could (in an hour tick) show one initiative each 6 minutes so that it appears combat takes the full tick.

This would also open up the opportuinity to bring in tactics per initiative, such as "agression" (whether your ships are all out offensive, primarily trying to defend themselves or a bit of both), "formation" which could affect their agilty and firepower, etc. You could set these tactics for an attack when you launch but if you are online during the combat tick you could change them after each initiative is calculated.

Another bonus to taking this approach to combat is that the intensive combat calculations could be spread across the whole hour (ot at least into 10 chunks across the tick).

I'd like to hear some serious players objective comments on this, but I think it would introduce a really nice extra side to the game without affecting the overall gameplay too much.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

This is a very interesting idea, it adds a new element of strategy and counter-strategy. It rewards activity a great deal aswel, which is both a good a bad thing. Potentially this could widen the gap between the rich and the poor (in PA terms), but it should at least be considered, as its new and innovative. Maybe if it didnt take the whole hour to complete the combat, but around 15mins? Then people wouldnt have to sit around for the whole tick.

On another note, can the server cope with the load?

Re: Real-Time PA
 

It would spread the load, it would be beneficial to do something like this.

And yeah, perhaps taking less than the full tick would be good too. I wouldn't invisage the tactics to affect the outcome of combat so much that it ruins the game for inactive people who can't be around when their fleets land. But two major advantages I perceive are a) disuade the big gamers launching attacks that land when they're asleep and b) decrease the effectiveness of battle calculators which personally I don't think are an overly healthy thing for the game.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Divide all the stats and resource gathering by 6, multiply all the ETAs by 6 (and res/con times)
Make attacks last 6 ticks
Make defence variable from 1-6 ticks
Tick every 10 minutes.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I like that idea A2, but for some reason I don't think it would be popular. But you could take it further.

Divide all the stats and resource gathering by 3600, multiply all the ETAs by 3600 (and res/con times)
Make attacks last 3600 ticks
Make defence variable from 1 to 3600 ticks
Tick every second.

(Anyone want to donate a server?)

Re: Real-Time PA
 

But... But...

This is still a space war simulation game. I wanna land on that far away galaxy in this universe at say eta 10. :(

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I really like this idea Kloopy, especially the idea of 10 6 minute combat sections

Re: Real-Time PA
 

No real-time plz, PA is Tick Based and that's the way i like it, not an hour devided into 6 other mini-ticks (or whatever you want to call them) to give it more a look of "real time".
Spreading battles over 10 initiatives of 6 minutes is something i don't want to see in pa. As i often just come online fast to check my battlereport the tick they are done, i won't wait an hour for it caus it'd be a pretty boring wait. Clicking every 6 minutes to see how another part of your fleet has done... *yaaaawn*
Plz keep it the way it is, there's nothing wrong with the way battles are done now imo.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Its an interesting idea, but I dont really see how this will enhance the gameplay.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

It is a good idea, great infact. It would indeed make combat more interesting and tactical to a degree but as some have said, i'm not sure if this is suitable for PA. Sure you gotta be active but the game is pretty passive, in that you can just pop in from time to time and not worry about having to monitor your attack right through the hour or whatever.

Many players may enjoy such new systems but i feel it would turn away many new players.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Why would it turn them away? You would be able to set your tactics on fleet launch so when you wake up, if it's past the landing tick of your attack, the whole report will still be available to you. It doesn't affect the gameplay for anyone who currently plays and likes the hour based style, but it adds something to those who want to take advantage of more in-depth playing.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I really like the idea, however, 6 different firing "phases" is maybe a tad much. How about dividing up into "firing groups" so you can change tactic i.e. 2 or 3 times.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I have no problem with setting different tactics and stuff on fleetlaunch, I oppose to the splitting up of the tick.
If the battlereports would still come in about 5 minutes after tick (like it is now) it would be good imo

Re: Real-Time PA
 

All you have to do is launch an hour earlier then when u get up you would still have all your battle report. So its not really an issue unless you want to sit their and wait for each tick section to mabey change and enhance ur tactics

Re: Real-Time PA
 

im uncertain of what to make of it.
im not keen on dividing up a combat tick over an hour for each initiative at a specified minute as it would be mindnumbingly boring waiting for the combat tick to finish but i can see why its been suggested - to lessen the load on the server at ticktime.
Still - it just doesnt sit right as an idea with me - the detailed-eta thing would need to take into account that different accounts tick at different parts of the hour dependant on userid so it would need to compensate for that if it wants to be more accurate.

to sum up : if it aint broke, why fix it?

Re: Real-Time PA
 

When things are fixed, you make it better ;) But then again, when you make it better you also get new things to fix ;)

Re: Real-Time PA
 

or worse, depending on how it was fixed.
Im not personally in favour of the splitting of the combat tick because it introduces new problems (boredom waiting for the tick to complete) while fixing another (heavy load on server at tick time) while opening up the possibility of altering tactics mid-tick

in my view, the benefits of a new feature dont outweigh the costs of boredom, and consequently makes the game less fun in my opinion.

(theres another way to do it though, a tactics screen which stores the combat tactical choices for what happens at what init instead of having to do it manually when that timeslice of the combat tick comes around - sort of like the events page in ML - although you lose the interactivity possible from it if the ability for logical choices isnt there. ie "at init 6 - if 30% fighters dead : go defensive"

Of course this increases serverload at tick times as a result, its all swings and roundabouts )

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I agree with the "Launching at tick 234 at eta 7" thing - it confuses me too, especially after waking up at 4am in the morning. I found myself having to check on the overview to ensure I landed at the right ticktime etc.

But the "breaking ticks into 6 stages" isn't a good idea, in my opinion. I like being able to log on quickly and easily at the beginning of a tick to see how I did. I don't want to be sitting at my computer, waiting for each initiative to occur. What's the point of seeing them all anyway - you know once you land what the total outcome will be (by using a bcalc).

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Yay, now I have to take 10 toilet breaks during a lecture :D

"Getting up" isn't really a factor, since nobody lands at 7am. People are ETA 4,3,2,1 at 7am.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Yes, I agree with the origional origional origional idea, of adding a time element to the tick time (and when deciding how long to prelaunch fleets).

to be honest, if the combat is worked out during the tick, does it *have* to be displayed then? it could be optionally displayed then, with as much a break down as you want, but not actually mean anything as it was updated during the next proper tick anyway.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I suppose it would depend on what "tactics" and "formations" were added. If it is just splitting current combat up into 10 pieces, I do not see what it adds. Clearly recalling part way through isn't an option, otherwise a zik would never steal a ship.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

The time-thing, I think most people are getting used to. Besides, like you said, there are places in, for instance, the Missions screen where you can check what tick you land on. The only real problem I see is that 2-4 minutes during update where half your planet is updated, but some info hasn't come thru yet. But, then you can just wait 'till the update finishes.

The Idea of adding tactics and things like that to the combat is a neat Idea, and props for coming up with it, but I don't think It's a very good Idea. First of all, It would slow down a few things, simply because there are now three times the classes of ships involved... Harpy aggresive, Harpy neutral, and Harpy Defensive. Add five different formations to that, and you're looking at Fifteen different posibilities. and we face the problem of playing paper/rock/scissors with the fleets... like say Aggressive beats Neutral, Neutral beats Defensive, and Defensive beats Aggressive. All we'll be doing is reducing PA to that type of game.

A bigger problem is that it isn't in the spirit of PA. In the roleplaying aspect of the game, you're supposed to be the ruler of the planet, not the general/admiral commanding it's fleets. Supposedly, you already have generals and admirals, and so does the other side, and the stats in combat represent the best tactics that can be used, by both sides. The ruler of the planet isn't supposed to be concerned about what tactics are used, the ruler does politics... choosing which planets to attack, moderating with allies, etc.

But my biggest problem is: where does it end? If the tactics Idea happens, what next? Does each ship type have a commanding ship, that, after you destroy it, all the other ships of that type loose a point off thier damage? Can you introduce hit and run tactics, like one class of ship jumps in, fires, and then heads for the hills? While we're at it, why don't we just translate Innitiative for speed, do away with ship targeting, and go to Sierra and liscence the engine from Homeworld?

Before this gets interprited as a flame, allow me to explain. This is a neat and interesting idea, I just don't think it's a good idea. Brainstorming is important, but it's called a storm 'cause it's hit-or-miss. I'm just trying to shoot down an idea that's, IMO, a miss.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I think this is a really good idea, I know I always got confused with the ticks like Kloopy described in the OP.

I'm not a technically minded dev type, but I really like the sound of this :-)

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I like the sound of it but Im not sure how newbies would react to it

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I think the game should remain tick based (it's what PA IS). However, displaying a time version (based on the ticks) of fleet movements as an aesthetic/superficial addition would be worth trying to see how it works.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Preferences =>
Show times in "proper" format
Show times in original format

How about that?

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I dont see how the 10 x 6mins miniticks of combat changes anything, except drag the process out to a whole hour. It doesnt make it harder\easier to attack, you dont have to be more active(log on a tick later than usual), so i really dont see what the major point is.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

depends if you could recall a fleet during the combat or not

Re: Real-Time PA
 

That would just start getting annoying. Very few battles happen anyway and this would just give people the ability to tie up fleets for longer and piss people off at the last minute in an even more annoying fashion by recalling and avoiding a battle.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

if you wanna make the basis of PA something completely different... why still call it PA?

pa is a tickbased game and that's how it should stay... don't see how it would help anyone to change the basis like that...

Re: Real-Time PA
 

I don't see how this would change much. Most of the current attacks, apart from fleetcatches, happen with precisely calculated fleets which either have the purpose to scare the target (so he runs) or targets specific ships that would have targetted the attacker. All in all, you very rarely see a battlereport where 2 fleets actually fight eachother, unless the target is inactive and doesn't run or if the attacker forgets to pull when there was alot of defence.

So I don't see how that would change 90% of the attacks. For massive fleet catching however, this might be interesting.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

It's only like going from PA to PAX. People were saying the same things about XP, 1 tick combat etc etc.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

http://pirate.planetarion.com/showthread.php?t=188965

might be appropriate

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Well in that case everything wuold have to be redone(stats wise etc.), or else a xan(or the ship with lowest init) would just fire, and thenthe player wuold recall before it lost any ships.

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Yeah, like 10 or so planets on 1 unallied planet :)

Re: Real-Time PA
 

Would ships/fleet also get bonuses for experience? Would there be a hero factor or a coward penalty? Could covert-op be used during this time to sabatoge the combat? Whats the total difference between this idea and some form of randomization to the battle results statistically speaking? What about friendly fire? Or hitting the wrong ship type cause a few Fi just happened to be in the way of a BS firing on a DE? How can some things such as targeting be set in stone while others such as initiave change during the tick?