Re: New testing game

[Lincoln Peters <peters2000 at mindspring dot com>]

On Fri, 2002-08-09 at 03:37, Hans Ronne wrote: 
> >That seems to work in the test game, although I imagine that disabling
> >the supply code in Space Civilization would cripple it.
> 
> Depends on how you want the game to work. If you want ships to refuel at a
> distance (while in space), keep the supply code. If you want them to refuel
> only when in port, disable it.

The problem, as I explained below, was that if the supply code was
disabled, no supplies would ever get to the shipyards, and it would be
impossible to build long-range spacecraft.  I wasn't planning to refuel
ships at a distance. 

> 
> >One thing I am seeing in Space Civilization is that an advanced unit
> >that can share something with nearby units oftentimes will not share as
> >much as it should.  This is most apparent with shipyards, because they
> >depend on an outside supply of ores and solar to be built, and the
> >nearest civilization will not supply as much as it could, even if it's
> >over it's own capacity!
> 
> Yes. This is the problem in the supply code that I have been talking about.
> It never worked that well. I can only suggest that you experiment with the
> tables. But this code certainly needs an overhaul.

Do you mean something like defining short-range spaceships that load
ores or other supplies from a planet, go to the shipyard, and unload? 
That could work, although such a supply system might be a lot more
cumbersome than working supply code.  On the other hand, this would
allow me to control the supply lines simply by the number of ships that
make the trip. 

Maybe if the supply code is re-written, it should be set up so that
players can directly control the supply lines in a game, but fall back
on a generic ruleset if the game doesn't need that level of user
control.