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Dev Journal #55 - Ship Classes

Excluding more abstract notions of war (such as dominating the economy, culture flipping planets with Influence and so on), when the protagonists of Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova engage in kinetic warfare, there are two main theatres: planetary invasions and fleet battles, the latter of which we’re going to cover today by examining how we now approach ship design.


The core of the new and improved fleet combat mechanics, added in v2.5, is the introduction of the Ship Class, replacing the older system of thinking of military ships purely in terms of a hull size with a fancy navy name attached to it.

Understanding Ship Classes are key to understanding how a player can influence the outcome of a fleet action beyond just bringing bigger, more technologically advanced fleets than your enemy does.

We’ve discussed what Ship Classes are in last weeks developer journal, but here’s a quick recap: a Ship Class is a Ship Type plus a Doctrine, and a Doctrine is an Operational Ability plus a Targeting Priority.

Let’s say we’re facing an opponent who’s fielding some very dangerous, and numerous, small hull ships like Frigates and Corvettes, and we want something that’s suited to destroying them efficiently.

We could make a Ship Class called the Deathmaster, constituting the medium hull size Ship Type known as a Cruiser, granting a +10 Weapons Range, and then adding a Doctrine to that.


Here, the Operational Ability is Hunter, for a +25% attack and +25% Accuracy against small hull ships, Frigates and Corvettes specifically. To capitalize on this, the Targeting Priority is set to Frontline Combatants and will target Frigates and Corvettes first.


Now onto the ship designer to add some ship components.

Our rather evil-looking Deathmaster Cruiser is kitted out with enough Beam weapons that it can rapidly bypass any targeted ships' shields and armor. It’s shielded itself, and then we’ve added a couple of components that increase its threat against ships fielding high Evasion (whether through Doctrine or component).


First up is the Warlords expansion exclusive Ion Cannon to strip Evasion away from targets.


Next is a Targeting Computer to further increase Accuracy, because our enemy seems to be using Evasion increasing Doctrines like Ghost.

The Deathmaster is now kitted out to aggressively target enemy small ships boasting high Evasion scores in an efficient way.

However, the Deathmaster itself is rather vulnerable to anything that is kitted out to rapidly deplete shielded ships. Our enemy is also fielding a small number of rather powerful, rapid firing Battleships that seem to be set to target Cruisers and Destroyers first. Our Deathmaster is going to be an easy target for these, but we’ve identified that the threat from those Frigates and Corvettes is too high to ignore.

Let’s design a new Ship Class to cover for the Deathmaster and draw the fire of those deadly Battleships.

We’ll pick a Destroyer this time (although another Cruiser would work just as well), remembering that this new medium hull Ship Type is another addition from the Warlords expansion. Since the enemy Battleships field shorter ranged, less accurate but rapid firing Kinetic Attack weapons, deadly for our shielded Deathmaster, we’re going to want to build something that is better suited to dodging or absorbing that particular flavor of punishment.


Here’s the Kingslayer, a Destroyer with a Doctrine designed to complement our Deathmaster’s role of hunting Frigates by directly taking on the enemy Battleships guarding them. Killing them won’t be easy but the intention here is to have a fairly dangerous ship that will rush into range of the Battleship early and draw its fire away from our slower moving Deathmasters, allowing those to complete their mission.

The Kingslayer will need to be fielded in small groups of two or three if they’re to have much hope of surviving an encounter with a Battleship and still be in one piece afterwards.

Let’s pick some components that help this Ship Class perform this supporting role properly.



Despite my silly name, the Kingslayer is more of a tank: we’ve put a massive amount of armor on this thing, some extra hull points, plenty of shielding and some fancy Kinetic weapon protection courtesy of the E-Web component.


It’s got enough firepower to do some damage but it probably won’t be enough to be able to take on a Battleship even in pairs. But our strategy is to rush in, draw as much fire from the Battleships as possible while the Deathmasters in our fleet destroy those large numbers of deadly Frigates, and chip away at the Battleships' defenses until the rest of the fleet is freed up from their own targeting priorities to turn on the Battleships and help bring them down.

Remember, the Battleships were themselves custom designed to take out our Cruisers, and are equipped to kill that specific Ship Class. We’ve now designed a support Ship Class to counter it, and directly assist the others in the fleet.

I hope this demonstrates some of the thought process that goes into designing Ship Classes and their composition within a fleet.

Remember, you can build general purpose Classes, and those that are custom-made to take out specific Classes or roles they encounter in the enemy’s formations too. This kind of gameplay is a lot of fun, and it can be critical if you’re facing overwhelming numbers: smaller well designed fleets with complementary Ship Classes, each with their own dedicated mission within combat, will be able to take down less well specialised fleets that rely purely on numbers.

That’s all for this time! Let us know what you think about the Ship Class system in the comments section below.

Cheers!

NOW OUT: Warlords Expansion & Free v2.5 “Ares” Update

[h2]New Features Include: War Aims, Combat Doctrines, Invasion Tactics, New Ship Components, New Technologies, A New Battle Viewer and much more[/h2]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2671140/Galactic_Civilizations_IV__Warlords/

Stardock has released a major expansion pack for its popular space 4X game, Galactic Civilizations IV. Galactic Civilizations IV: Warlords adds a host of new features including War Aims, Combat Doctrines, Invasion Tactics, New Ship Components, New Technologies, a new Battle Viewer and much more.

Alongside the expansion pack, Stardock has also released version 2.5, a major free update for fans of the series which has a host of new features, user experience improvements, AI updates and an improved trade system.

“We’ve been wanting to revisit how space combat works in the game for a long time,” said Brad Wardell, Creative Director at Stardock. “We know a lot of our players are fans of military history as well as how various naval and aviation systems are developed and wanted to really incorporate some of that thinking into the game.”

[h3]To that end, Warlord Features include: [/h3]
  • Combat Doctrines. Players can now create custom ship classes by assigning a ship type (such as a Destroyer) with a doctrine which determines how that ship type is used in combat including targeting preferences, operational abilities and more.
  • War Aims. Since the original Galactic Civilizations was released – over 30 years ago, declaring war meant the war would go on until one side negotiated a peace. In Warlords players can choose War Aims which allow each side to engage in wars of more limited scope.
  • Invasion Tactics. Previously, players who wanted to invade a planet had only one way to do it: Boots on the ground. Warlords adds a host of additional options such as biological attacks, propaganda, mass driver attacks and more.
  • Lots of New Ship Components. Warlords adds new exotic weapon and defense modules such as cloaking devices as well as weapons that affect the flow of time. The v2.5 update also includes many new components to allow for more interesting ship designs rather than merely a “stat buff”.
  • New Battle Viewer. Players can now get a real-time, per-ship engagement log in the battle viewer. Players can see how their ship designs performed during combat and adjust both future designs as well as adjustments to doctrine after the fact.


These are just a few of the highlights of Galactic Civilizations IV: Warlords.

[h2]Helpful Resources:[/h2]



[h2]Warlords Screenshots:[/h2]








v2.5 & Warlords Expansion Guided Tour

v2.5 and the Warlords Expansion is now available, and we're excited to share the ins and outs. Check out my guided tour below:

Our prior dev journal gave a preview of what to expect from the Warlords Expansion. This week’s dev journal is a guided tour what is new for both the v2.5 ‘Ares’ update and Warlords, including an improved tech tree, QOL improvements to in-game lighting, an upgraded battle viewer, and much, much, more…

[h2]Updated Visuals[/h2]
We have adjusted lighting and added point light effects to things to get them to “pop”. The prettiness is more of a side effect of the desire to make the galaxy more readable.




[h2]Expanded Technology Tree[/h2]
We have greatly expanded the tech tree for both Warlords users who get new technologies like Cloaking Devices and Biological Targeting as well as 2.5 users looking for new ship components instead of merely a stat bump.




[h2]Improved Battle Viewer[/h2]
You can now click on any ship and see how it’s performing in the battle. The log now clearly shows how different weapons and defenses work.




[h2]Resource Clumping[/h2]
We have improved the map generation so that resources will tend to “clump” a bit together. This should result in some areas of space being particularly more valuable than others (relative to previous versions).

In this example, 3 Durantium nodes are found within a single alien system.




[h2]Specialized Defense Systems[/h2]
GalCiv IV gets rid of the rock-paper-scissors way of weapons vs. defenses.

Instead, in GalCiv IV when an enemy attack reaches your ship, it first checks to see if its accuracy is better than your evasion in order to tell if it hits at all. Then, if it hits, the shields will see if they absorb the damage. And then any remaining damage goes to the armor which mitigates a % of it.

However, with v2.5 we have made it so specific ship components can do special things. Some weapons can ignore shields for instance. Some defenses can thwart missiles. And so on. This allows players to counter enemy strategies that have focused too much on a particular area of weaponry or defense.



We plan to do a lot more with this in the future. We also suspect modders will do a lot more in the future.


[h2]Invasion Tactics[/h2]
New to the Warlords expansion are various invasion tactics. Invasion Tactics allow you more control over the nature of Planetary Invasions. They allow the player to make interesting choices at the start of an invasion that affects casualties, planetary destruction, and the duration of the Invasion.



Each tactic has its own pros and cons.



[h2]Doctrines[/h2]
The Doctrines feature completely revolutionizes how players design, build, and utilize their ships in Galactic Civilizations IV. Combat Doctrines are composed of Operational Abilities and Targeting Priorities, which can be combined with Ship Type to create the perfect combat solution for even the most specific of warfare situations.




[h2]New Ship Components[/h2]
We’ve added a host of new ship components into the game for both Warlords users and 2.5 users, many of which have unique capabilities to change the field of battle in your favor.




[h2]War Aims[/h2]
New with the Warlords expansion, the War Aims feature allows for limitations on conflict depending on the War Aim selected, but beware the diplomatic consequences of over aggression and war weariness.




[h2]Capturing Starbases[/h2]
Warlords players can now capture enemy starbases, provided that they have powerful enough fleets to do so.




[h2]Updated Trade Breakdown Screen[/h2]
The trade breakdown screen now allows players to clearly understand at a glance which planets are trading with your civilization and which of your planets is being traded with.




[h2]Updated Fleet Wide Command UI[/h2]
The Fleet Wide Command UI has seen an upgrade as well.

Livestream for the Warlords Expansion and v2.5 Ares Update

Attention all Galactic Civilizations IV fans! We are thrilled to announce an exclusive livestream event that you won't want to miss. Dive deep into the Warlords expansion and the v2.5 "Ares" update.

[h2]When?[/h2]
April 18, 2024 at 1PM ET

[h2]Where?[/h2]
Right here on our Steam page.

[h2]What to Expect?[/h2]
Prepare to be amazed by the depth of new features and enhancements that come with the Warlords expansion and the free "Ares" update. From War Aims, Combat Doctrines, and Invasion Tactics to new Ship Components and Technologies, there's so much to discover. Plus, get a sneak peek at the ability to capture enemy Starbases and the reworked Battle Viewer.

See you there!

Dev Journal #54 - Warlords Preview

[h2]Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova’s v2.5 update drops on April 18th and will be accompanied by the release of our third dlc “Warlords”, an expansion focused on expanding the game's warfare systems.[/h2]


v2.5 brings in a lot of changes to space combat and invasions, and the way warfare is carried out in general, and Warlords opens up a lot more content in each one of these systems, adding many exciting new ship components to wreck your enemies with!

Today we’re going to take a very quick peek at some of the features and tools you’ll get access to when you purchase the Warlords Expansion. This isn’t an exhaustive list as Warlords has a lot of content, but a very general overview to give you an idea of what’s on offer.

First up is the War Aims system, which aims to give a war a little more definition and allowing the player to set its goal and further help decrease the instance of unwanted “forever wars”, a phenomenon that we’ve begun to address in previous updates.

Let’s see how this works. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this picture has words too, check it out!


As we can see here, Warlords adds the ability to declare four different types of war, each lasting a different length of time before consequences start to kick in, and featuring an increasing penalty to diplomacy the more drastic your goal is.

It’s important to note here that this system does not lock the player in or out of wars: you can end them at any time you choose. However, as wars drag on beyond their intended time-span, events will kick off to gradually discourage the player from keeping at the war forever.

This system, in tandem with the changes brought in with v2.3, really helps shape wars a little more, and for those of you less inclined to fighting all the time, keeps them from being the all consuming horror that turns your chilled out, empire building experience into a constant never ending conflict for the rest of the game. If you’re like me, you’ll probably just declare a War of Annihilation on everybody at once, and enjoy the bloodshed, but the choice is yours!

Next is the new Invasion Tactics system, allowing you to pick an invasion type which will affect casualties and collateral damage to assets and the planet itself. Warlords unlocks the eight unique planetary invasion tactics: Orbital Bombardment, Surface Invasions, Propaganda, Biological Attacks, EMP Attacks, Shatter Attacks, Annihilate Targets and Liberate.

Let’s look at one of these now.


Orbital Bombardment reduces the duration of the siege by reducing Planetary Defenses, but at the cost of damaging its Planetary Input, as your devastating spaceborne artillery obliterates both defender and infrastructure alike. This might be a good option if you’re under a strict time limit to conquer the planet before your fleet needs to be somewhere else in the war, or you’re hoping to seize and raze it before a larger enemy fleet turns up to defeat your sieging force.

Next up are the changes to ship classification and targeting priorities in combat.

Firstly, we have Ship Types. These are organized via Hull Size and have a unique Category ability and, with Warlords, a player assignable Operational Ability too. The Category ability (for example, our regular ol' Frigate now gets +25% Accuracy) and Operational Ability go together to differentiate ships of different hull sizes, and along with a new feature to change Targeting Priorities, brings in some much needed player agency into the construction of both individual ships, and fleets.

Players now create ships as Ship Classes, which are a Ship Type (Fighter, Frigate, Cruiser etc.) plus the Operational Ability and Targeting Priority. Then you add your components in the designer and name it as usual.

This allows you to custom build your forces to take advantage of weaknesses in enemy fleets or go wild by building ships and fleets, in tandem with the new ship components, that focus heavily on speed, accuracy, defensive abilities and much more.

We’ll cover these new features in greater detail later in this series but for now, let’s take a quick look at what Warlords adds here. Firstly, grabbing the expansion will add three additional Ship Types over the base game, the Corvette, the Destroyer and the huge Command Ship.

Let’s compare the Cruiser from the base game with the new Destroyer, ships that share a medium sized hull, to see how they differ.

Here’s the old Cruiser we all know and love:


Note Cruisers now have +10% Weapon Range as its Cruiser Category ability, and here it has the Operational Ability Barrage set to it too, for a -25% Weapon Cooldown. Now add your weapon of choice from the many component options and you’ve got a deadly ship that keeps out of the range of other ships longer while firing off rapid barrages of missiles, beams or whatever else you’ve equipped on it. Also notice that by default, the Cruiser is set to kill strike-craft, then Frigates and Corvettes before anything else.

Now let’s look at a the Warlords exclusive Medium Hull addition: the Destroyer.


The Destroyer’s Category ability gives them -10% Weapon Cooldown, so remember that is the ability that’s tied to it’s Ship Type and is immutable, and here has been given the Operational Ability Ghost for a +25% Evasion bonus, and is designed to kill ships with small hulls, then fighters and bombers, before any other larger ships. This deadly shark glides into range of smaller Frigates and Corvettes, evading attacks and rapidly dispatching them, before turning on strike-craft in turn.

Of course, with Warlords you can edit the Class, so if you prefer your Destroyers to go hunt Battleships from long range instead, go for it!


Warlords adds four extra targeting priorities to customize your fleet orders with even finer granularity, and thirteen extra Operational Abilities to supercharge the various Types in your fleet.

Hopefully here you get a taste of how these different Ship Types can be used in combination with other Ships Types of different hull sizes, in tandem with the Targeting Priorities and ship components, to build fleets of warships that complement one another with their various abilities and bonuses, to take on even more varied enemy fleets constructed in the same way.

Speaking of ship components, Warlords adds a lot of new options for players to customize their warships with. Let’s take a quick look at just a couple.


Here’s an Ion Cannon, and as the description says it disables a targeted ship’s Evasion. This could be very useful if your rival is fielding ships that are very difficult to hit: stack some To-Hit bonuses yourself first though!


And for all you grog-swilling pirates out there, here’s a way for you to board and capture enemy vessels for your very own, instead of destroying them outright, adding them to your mighty fleet of ragtag buccaneers!


Not content with adding actual Vampire Citizens to the game, now you’ve got a Vampire Module to suck the blood from your enemy’s ships, dealing them damage while simultaneously repairing yourself.


Finally, owners of Warlords will now be able to capture Starbases instead of just destroying them as usual.

This is one of those singular changes that looks small on paper, but when you think about it and play, you’ll see has a huge impact on gameplay, opening up new strategies for stealing Strategic Resources, capturing Ascension Crystals and vital Military Bases guarding critical areas of the game map.

This was a quick overview of the main features that Warlords adds and enhances along with the v2.5 update coming to Galactic Civilization’s IV: Supernova next week.

Stay tuned for more updates! Cheers!