0027027: Ark Empires in AI War II multiplayer would actually work very well without a game over on losing the ark - Arcen Idea Tracker (Bugs and Features)

ID	Project	Category		Date Submitted	Last Update

0027027	AI War 2	Suggestion		Apr 18, 2022 12:30 pm	Jan 23, 2023 5:42 pm

Reporter	Ushgarak	Assigned To	BadgerBadger
Status	resolved	Resolution	fixed
Product Version	4.021 Scourge Of A Beacon
Fixed in Version	5.536 Extended Sidekicks

Summary	0027027: Ark Empires in AI War II multiplayer would actually work very well without a game over on losing the ark
Description	The description for ark empires describes them as being a harder way of playing the game. But in multiplayer, my friends and I have found that they can be surprisingly useful. Human Empire players can focus on defensive play whilst Ark Empires, which can run on a smaller system footprint (very important in MP where combined empires can rapidly overt-bloat) can focus on more aggressive needs. The problem as, as can also be an issue in single player, that as it is game over if an ark is destroyed, it is just too risky for the ark players to do anything other than hide their arks in a corner (generally on a Human Empire world) and use a standard transport flagship for offence. This is a shame, as it renders their headline feature irrelevant. In single player, this is unavoidable, as the game needs a failure state. But in multiplayer, with Human Empires playing, the failure state for losing that Home Command station is always present. I think it would be better for both gameplay and fun if the Ark empire players were actually encouraged to use their ark as much as possible, and that it only gets crippled rather than destroyed, allowing the ark to withdraw and repair. Would it be possible to design a multiplayer only ark faction that does not lose on ark loss and can only be played in a game with at least one Human empire? As an alternative, I am not a Neinzul tester but I see the upcoming Necromancer faction is planned to have a 'sidekick' function to slot into an Empire faction. Could the same be done for Ark empires, again with the Ark getting crippled rather than destroyed? This could work well also.
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Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
Apr 18, 2022 12:30 pm	Ushgarak	New Issue
Aug 21, 2022 3:26 am	BadgerBadger	Relationship added	related to 0027336
Jan 23, 2023 5:42 pm	BadgerBadger	Assigned To	=> BadgerBadger
Jan 23, 2023 5:42 pm	BadgerBadger	Status	new => resolved
Jan 23, 2023 5:42 pm	BadgerBadger	Resolution	open => fixed
Jan 23, 2023 5:42 pm	BadgerBadger	Fixed in Version	=> 5.536 Extended Sidekicks
Jan 23, 2023 5:42 pm	BadgerBadger	Note Added: 0067433