The game produces enough DEs that you could do a planet buyout in most cases and not have overloads - at least any 20k and above game. Part of playing a truce is moving your base just before the truce expires or right after.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

Wow... lost my train of thought completely... Gotta find the quote again.

You know how Tedit turns off some options because of the way others are set (Turn Banking when the game is set to unlimited... Gold Featurs turn off some Ferrengi options... etc.) why not have the same thing here... No new player planets while Truce mode mode is either active... or not avail at all in games that start in truce mode?

The reason I think this is reasonable, is because if everyone gets their home planet placed in a nice Dead End or Bubble... Kind kills the reason to spend time hunting out dead's and bubbles.

I almost like the exploration as the best aspect of the game, this would make 'some' of that exploring unnecessary.

Just my two cents.

Yeah, I agree with that. It seems reasonable to me that you don't start with a planet in truce mode games. A big part of the truce mode is to guarantee that you have a chance to get established, so the MSLs and FedSpace aren't gridlocked, etc. So you shouldn't have a problem working up to a planet, finding your base sector and getting your planet.

It doesn't make any difference. These will be temporary bases while the truce lasts. You pick a dead end close to fed space and build. They can't invade you until the truce ends and by then you have mobile planets and you can move to your perfect spot.

Ok, I think I'm ready to just jump in and start coding this. I'll put this up on the beta site in the sandbox so people can check out the new editor and get a better sense of the kind of options that you'll have. I'll probably wire up the editor first, before I start actually implementing any gameplay, and get that up there for feedback. We'll have plenty of time to modify this and make sure that the final result is flexible enough to satisfy anyone who wants to play or run a truce game.

But just to make sure I'm on the right track, let me repeat the basic design.

1) Provide a long list of restrictions on combat/aggressive play, all of which can be enabled, disabled, and configured.

2) Define a "base planet" as a planet that is flagged as such when its Citadel is initially built.

3) Define a "base sector" as any sector within a given range of a "base planet". The range is a factor of the Citadel level.

4) Define a "defended base sector" as any base sector with > N defensive or toll figs, any offensive figs, or Armid mines.

5) A base planet can only be located in a sector on a dead-end tunnel.

6) A limited number of base planets are available per player/Corp.

7) A base planet cannot be moved while truce mode is active.

8) Players may not enter a defended base sector of another player or team.

9) No truce-mode restrictions are enforced in base sectors. Behind your front lines, you can do whatever you want because this won't effect other players.

I see an issue with this one. What if this is a dead end just off of fed space? Federation space of course can't be considered as a base sector.

I could live with all the items in Truce mode except this one. Sorry just not my cup of tea, will this one be optional under the Truce mode? Or will each individual item you had listed be a option?
I like building in 2, 3, 4 or more gated areas, and bubbles as well as a deadend. If your gonna restrict to a tunnel, what length = tunnel.....2, 3, 4 or more ?

If the idea is to move your bases after the truce ends, why do you need the truce base to be more than one sector? If your truce base is the entrance to a tunnel, other players can't reach the sectors behind it. And as Big D noted, you don't want the restricted base region spilling out of the tunnel. That could easily cause the kinds of problems you were worried about before, in terms of restricting large areas of space.

While I agree with your concern as a permanent base location, I disagree with it as an allowance for bases in truce mode. It will be very hard to define locations that won't restrict access to other areas such as, areas around fed space, MSL's, Class 0 ports, backdoors to fed space, etc.
I think the KISS solution is best in a temporary truce mode. Which brings me back to the number 3 rule. That rule isn't going to be simple to define.

How will another player know what an opponent's base is? An instance would be two DE's off of say sector 1234. Two opposing players build in each dead end using day 1 L4s - whose base is it? I would not give a range - if a planet isn't there, then it isn't a base.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

Just had a funny thought... What happens if you blow a base planet? You have a citadel and a few sectors around your base defended. Then just for the heck of it you go in and blow up your base planet. Now suddenly you don't have a base any more, so all your defenses around where it used to be are in violation of truce rules! One option would be to not allow base planets to be blown or collide before truce is over. Or you could have the feds come after you in their huge ships (think Zyrain on steroids) and squish everything around your base.

You may be right, the option of having a base "bubble" may be too problematic. My goal with that was to allow anyone who wants to actually build up a permanent base to do so, while those who intend to make this a temporary base and move it later won't necessarily want to build up a region of space.

As to the question of who owns a sector if there's overlap in base sectors, the person who makes it a defended base sector will own it. Until it's a defended base sector, it's not off-limits to other players. Of course, that implies that if truce rules are ignored in your base, they're only ignored in defended base sectors where other players can't go.

As to the question of what happens if the base spills over into MSLs, FedSpace, or even alien space, those sectors are off limits for base sectors.

The biggest issue I see is that the possibility of expanding your base would allow you to obstruct larger areas of space than would otherwise be controlled by your base. That issue alone makes me question the rule.

I guess it's sufficient to focus on just the "base planet" and its sector. Since that's limited to a dead-end tunnel, then any sectors behind it are going to be off limits to other players, and would therefore count as your "base". Of course, backdoors would complicate that simple rule.

No, I don't think you should be able to blow up a base planet. But any other planet, as long as it's in your base area, that's fine.

I'm trying to think how expanding a few sectors out of a tunnel would allow players to obstruct the game too much. I actually think that's a highly theoretical situation. And if it does happen, I'd expect it to be rare. And if rare, then why not allow it? If a player manages to find an advantageous base, that's fine. As long as it doesn't lock up the game.