Hey everyone, I've got lots of good changes and fixes for you all here, including a rework of how the defensive platforms calculate the cost per shot! First, let me go over some of the bug fixes and changes:
- Halved the speed of decay when planets are above the ship cap
- Adjusted AI numbers a bit to make sure they don't get stuck in niche situations where they get stuck trying to take over planets
- Fixed planetary defense not shooting in multiplayer (apparently this was related to them not being able to see how much energy players have, which unfortunately wasn't an easy fix, so while they still shoot, they won't be able to consume any energy for now)
- Fixed some issues with earning/not earning the new achievements
- Several other minor fixes that I forgot to note
Now, let's get to the real fun bit: planetary defense now costing energy per shot. This was met with mixed reactions, and I think fairly so. It certainly makes energy more valuable, however it disproportionately effects smaller empires, making it easier for larger empires to take advantage of that and further snowball. So, to counter this, I've come up with an interesting system that should hopefully address and fix both issues. I've introduced a (currently invisible) system called "empire points".
Basically, each planet and each defense upgrade level is worth 1 empire point. The more empire points you have, the more energy each turret shot costs. Additionally, players/AI with 5 or less empire points don't have any cost for their turret shots. These values are very much subject to change, but for now this is how they look:
10 Empire Points = ~0.5 energy per shot
25 = ~1 energy
50 = ~2 energy
100 = ~3 energy
The cost caps out at about 4 energy no matter how big the empire gets. This seems like quiet a bit, however by that point you will probably control most of the planets in the game, so it really shouldn't be as bad as it seems. Let me know how you all feel about this system! I think I'll need to adjust the numbers some more, but hopefully you all find it much better than before!