Solving the PJI issue with maps?

Is it possible?

from Sins Forums
SYNOPSIS:

To briefly summarize, there is a group of people who prefer more of a tactical, wide-open game dynamic where chokepoints and an effective PJI play no role. There is another group of people who prefer more of a strategic game dynamic where chokepoints and an effective PJI can play a role.

These two gaming philosophies are at odds. There are a few suggestions out there on how to make the game work for both groups (my best suggestion is to make units such as PJIs and superweapons droppable from the game, so that a buffed, effective PJI can be dropped by a player who hates them).

The devs recently posted that they are looking into the PJI issue.

CONJECTURE:

Can the issue be solved relatively easily with maps?

It would seem that if every planet on a map was connected to either 1) every other planet, or if that isn't possible, 2) many other planets, including planets not in the local geographic area, then this either entirely, or to a large extent does away with strategic chokepoints, thus it also does away with the utility of the PJI on that map.

Is this true? If so, it seems that the PJI could be re-buffed with little to no effect on people who hate them, because maps could easily be created which eliminate chokepoints, thus eliminating the effectiveness of PJIs. People could then play on maps they like, and not play on maps they don't like. The only other modification which the devs would need to consider would be the random map generator, which would need a slider to indicate how "open" or "closed" the map to be generated should be.

Would this work? And would it be easier to pull off for the devs than other ideas? Comments?
3,760 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
There already is a slider, in the in-game map maker, at least.

Phase Lane Length seems to say how far away two planets can be and still be linked by lanes.

Crank it up, and the map becomes a web of interconnecting phase lanes.

Move it down, and you'll get planets connected to each other in straight, simple lines.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

There already is a slider, in the in-game map maker, at least.

Phase Lane Length seems to say how far away two planets can be and still be linked by lanes.

Crank it up, and the map becomes a web of interconnecting phase lanes.

Move it down, and you'll get planets connected to each other in straight, simple lines.
End of quote


Interesting - didn't know this (never played around with it).

The next question would be "is there a hard limit to how many planets a planet can be connected to?" For instance, can every planet be connected to 99 others on a 100 planet map? How many connections is that anyway, 100 squared?

A follow-up question to that one would be whether there is a practical limit that a human's eyes could handle in looking at such a map?

A POSSIBLE "HACK" FOR THE DEVS:

This is assuming it is desirable that we be able to connect every planet to every other planet, but don't want the map obscenely cluttered with phase lanes. Now, the game engine already has the ability to make any unit phase jump to any planet, through the vasari phase gate structure. So, to make a completely "open" map, 1) put a vasari phase gate on every planet, 2) make that phase gate invisible, 3) make that phase gate "intangible" so that units can pass through it and never interact with it, 4) make every player be "vasari" when the game engine checks a unit to see if it is allowed to phase jump using that invisible, intangible vasari structure, and 5) make every player be the owner of that phase gate when the check is made.
Galactic Civilizations IV