Author Topic: Mini empires as it should be  (Read 906 times)

Second gamemode I attempt to fix.

The game:
Mini empires is basically Anno, but with legos.

The problem:
There is no battle system. Battles in Mini Empires can be often compared to children in a playground, in the sense that it's a big clusterforget and people will pull smartbombs out of their ass if they lose.

The fixes:
Smartbombs
A smartbomb, in my Mini empires terms, is basically a "forget everything" weapon, often deployed as a last resort. They are commonly pulled out of people's arses, which is the main problem. A simple fix is possible - It must have a cause. Say, a power core given to another faction as a gift? Said faction turns around on you, and you can just remotley blow it up. That is allowed. A random "lolnuke" when you start getting your arse handed to you is not on.

Arsepulling
Almost everything is pulled out of people's arses. For buildings and some small air/water/landcraft, it will be allowed. For larger warships, sheilding, superweapons and other systems, you must find the materials to make it with the following process. Say, creating a stealth system. A coin will be needed!
1.Send ship to location
2.Scan for elements.
3.Anything there? Yes, GOTO 4. No, GOTO 1. (You flip a coin at these points)
4.Check if it will be useful. Yes, GOTO 5. No, GOTO 1.
5.Allow element to be extracted.
6.Take ship back.
7.Allow time for it to be made.
8.Install it on desired craft, and test it. Does it work? If yes, GOTO 9. If not, start again.
9.Return to base.
10.Begin producing.

If you reach 10, the system you just made works against whatever you just tested it on.

Whew. That's fixed it, I hope.

nobody will follow the rules, mini-empires can't really be fixed.

Or just have a build and not roleplay?

nobody will follow the rules, mini-empires can't really be fixed.
This is where a banhammer comes in handy

Someone needs to create a mini-empire game system

This simply won't work, trust me.

This simply won't work, trust me.
Then explain how DnD manages to work.

Because it's highly illogical for a rocket launcher not to do any damage to a squad.

1-4 hit enemy squad

5-6 NO DAMAGE OMG

when i roleplay i always make sure to at least have my forces visible as if i am massing an attack before i go in
i loosely roleplay, the ones where you do a certain amount of damage and need special resources and all that stuff are really dumb and slow.

Because it's highly illogical for a rocket launcher not to do any damage to a squad.

1-4 hit enemy squad

5-6 NO DAMAGE OMG
This is what we call "missed"
(In warhammer, it can even turn around and hit yourself)

Not everyone pulls a Smart-bomb out of their ass, if they have one in reserve they'll probably launch it as a last resort.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2012, 10:02:44 AM by Providence »

You can't systemize roleplay

You might say OMG BUT D&D - no. D&D works because there's a person in charge making sure stuff is working. If your rockets are just hit or miss, you have a stuffty DM - what the DM should do is take the dice rolls and use them to influence the outcome. So for the rocket example, some possible outcomes:

Your roll was terrible: The rocket hits the wall short of the target, they escape behind the rubble and smokescreen.
Your roll was bad: The rocket flies high and to the left, hits the wall above and behind the target. Roll again to see if some debris hits them.
Your roll was okay: The rocket lands close to the target, close enough to catch them in the blast, but not close enough to harm them in any real way aside from knocking them around - roll again to see if any of them are seriously injured by shrapnel.
Your roll was good: The rocket lands within a few feet of the target, decimating them. Roll again to see if there's any survivors.
Critical: Direct hit, right in the center of the group. There are no survivors and you have a glorious victory shower of your enemy's entrails. Have a cookie.


But what this means when applied to empires is it should be moderated. Not so that people must work within a system, because unless the system is enforced during gameplay (not just bans for disobeying it) a lot of people will ignore or misinterpret it. So work with them. Create world events, get people to go to you to see the outcomes of their actions, write a story with their input. It's a load of fun this way, but also a bit of work - consider getting a close friend to collaborate with you.

M, that's even better.