Facility designations that don't make sense...

[DOCa Cola]

posted on October 25th, 2011, 6:15 pm

Last edited by DOCa Cola on November 3rd, 2011, 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

A matter has been rattling around in my head that is not related just to fleet ops but to strategy games in general. I know that some of are going to say that i am OCD-ing or being ridiculous or something but I just can't let it go, because it doesn't make sence to me... 

Anyway, what I noticed strategy games (including FO) keep insistantly calling their research facilities as... well... research facilites in which you conduct research. It may not be called as such directly as i said but they are roughly considering it so.

The problem sits in the fact that since realtime strategies are repetitive, you end up "researching" the same technology over and over again! If we examine that word then we will see that research actually means you are discovering something new over and over again, which doesn't make any sence!

Its a misnomer! What you are doing in FO is technology implementation, those facilites are technology implementation centers not research facilites, because they have pre-existing latent technology that only needs to be implemented.

I know im making a mountain out of a mole hill, but you can't say im wrong!

posted on October 25th, 2011, 6:21 pm

The slippery slope argument - you're producing hundreds of ships as well in tiny amounts of time, and often times the same ship (as evidenced by the same name). You shouldn't call them 'constructing', but rather requisitioning, and thus everything should warp in. Also, you are claiming the same map dozens - if not thousands of times - over the course of playing Fleet Ops 

Remember, it's not a simulation, but a strategy game

posted on October 25th, 2011, 6:21 pm

for a campaign that makes sense, as each mission is chronologically after the previous in most cases.

but for standard online multiplayer every game starts from scratch as if its the first battle. they arent really events just fun.

EDIT:

ninjad by dom, also yeah its not a sim.

posted on October 25th, 2011, 6:22 pm

Indeed, and missions often even have you locked at certain technology tiers, so that in the first one you have only access to the most basic stuff, the second gives you more advanced thingamabobs, and so on 

posted on October 25th, 2011, 6:28 pm

Indeed, and missions often even have you locked at certain technology tiers, so that in the first one you have only access to the most basic stuff, the second gives you more advanced thingamabobs, and so on 

yeah that was annoying in vanilla. an akira often couldnt escape from a turret on hard. so you were left with only 1 strategy, kamikaze fleets.

in total annihilation there was 1 mission where you were locked in lower tier units and the enemy would spam lazor towers on hard which you had no way to defeat as each kill left wreckage that blocked the narrow path. seriously annoying.

posted on October 25th, 2011, 6:33 pm

yeah that was annoying in vanilla. an akira often couldnt escape from a turret on hard. so you were left with only 1 strategy, kamikaze fleets.

in total annihilation there was 1 mission where you were locked in lower tier units and the enemy would spam lazor towers on hard which you had no way to defeat as each kill left wreckage that blocked the narrow path. seriously annoying.

What does this have to do with the topic?
Seriously, 4th reply already?

This is chaos, you should be asimilated!

posted on October 25th, 2011, 6:41 pm

4 is nothing, i think i went off topic in reply 1 once.

[Nutter]

posted on October 25th, 2011, 7:04 pm

Last edited by Nutter on October 25th, 2011, 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I actually wrote it off as the specific abilities needing specific equipment, resources and especially expertise for providing and maintaining the abilities that could only be provided via such facilities.
 So in the end, you don't really research the things, you just set up the proper supply lines to actually bring stuff like proximity torpedoes and all the other various goodies to the frontline.

Of course, it did take the name 'Starfleet Engineering' for me to actually start thinking about it.

posted on October 25th, 2011, 7:38 pm

Starfleet engineering is actually properly named... you get new chassis, shield upgrades and so on... Starfleet science however... back to the research thingy...

Nutter is right... starfleet science should become starfleet equipment dock where isntead of "BLEAsearch" you have tech modules that they build inside facilites. You do something similar to the other races, change the whizzing shuttles to go from the edge of the map to the starbase nearest to those facilities and then you have another shuttle traffic going to the facilities themselves.

I wouldn't be much of a change really... just some technical stuff!

posted on October 25th, 2011, 9:54 pm

...
Its a misnomer! What you are doing in FO is technology implementation, those facilites are technology implementation centers not research facilites, because they have pre-existing latent technology that only needs to be implemented...

If the technology is pre-existent, why does it need to be "implemented" in the first place? Why does the "new" technolgoy just becomes available for every unit on the battlefield?

So, maybe we should call it "starfleet memo center".

Where highly trained monkeys read the manual of specific ships and send out some memos to inform those glorious captains about their own ships and weaponary.
It would even make sense now, with the time and ressource consumption, not?

just my 2 cents 

[Nutter]

posted on October 25th, 2011, 10:25 pm

Last edited by Nutter on October 25th, 2011, 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If the technology is pre-existent, why does it need to be "implemented" in the first place? Why does the "new" technolgoy just becomes available for every unit on the battlefield?

I reckon the technology varies from 'semi-experimental' to 'maintenance's a fucking chore' and don't get started on how they probably can't pull their proximity photon torpedo fuses or tricobalt out of their arses.
I doubt you can just replicate those cloak ignoring torpedoes either.
From what I've gathered, a lot of the stuff that isn't the standard photon brick needs stuff you can't just conjure up with the stuff you find on your everyday ship without an Engineer McSomeone doing stuff that probably really shouldn't be done with the equipment at hand and that of course implies extra dock times next time around.

And don't get me started how fun the extra wiring letting the Akiras and Defiants do their magic has to be.


Don't think of it as research, think of it as logistics. You don't magically create new boomstuffs, you just find a source and get them distributed amongst your fleet.

posted on October 26th, 2011, 12:51 am

Yet you magically create new stations and ships? 

posted on October 26th, 2011, 1:57 am

I do like the attention to detail that you have brought up with this thread, but as Dom has stated this is a RTS game and things are naturally not going to work like they would in the shows. Canon accuracy takes a back seat to balance and gameplay as while it's fun to have accurately it would tern the game into a simulator and not a fun RTS.

However thanks for bring this up it really makes you think how a simple rename of something could bring us closer to what we'd expect in the show.

posted on October 26th, 2011, 2:02 am

Yup, practical Game mechanics > realism time and time again out of necessity I'm afraid

posted on October 26th, 2011, 3:23 am

At least your "research" can't get blown up like in stock.

Campaign wise, perhaps MMM could eventually be used to make it so that researched tech from one mission can carry over to the next, similar to Homeworld.