by icycalm » 15 Sep 2017 23:45
Some comments on my thoughts while designing the system.
After a month and a half of experimentation, I arrived last week at a system design that seems capable of accommodating 15+ players with zero lag for over two hours. So I didn't want to mess with that formula too much, but at the same time I wanted to make something significantly different, so as to feel fresh and exciting. So I kept the same number of base planets -- three -- but changed their sizes. From 3x700 I went to 2x600 + 1x750. Moreover, before all three planets were spawnable, whereas now only the smaller ones are. On top of that, though the spawnable ones have the same amount of metal as before -- three per spawn point, and one spawn point per team -- the big one has about as much as both others combined (depending on how many clans show: my working hypothesis is four).
So you have significantly tighter -- and therefore quicker -- battles in the smaller planets, plus a larger planet with considerably more metal that will be the main battleground, plus the very strategic decision of when to migrate there, and precisely where, that was lacking from the last system.
Finally, the asteroid belt of the last system has been replaced by two barren 250-radius moons that are smashable with three Halleys each, because this system has about 50% more metal than the last one, and I don't want to lose any planets too soon.
And there you have it: similar, but different enough to promise lots of cool stuff we haven't seen before on Clan Wars, if ever. Let's see how things turn out then. I can't wait.