zinfab

this folds directly into my "retreat" thread, as well. having a "respect" for each unit you create is an important way to bond the gamer to his/her game.

excellent suggestions, r2. without retreats, I'd LOVE to ram a tired ISD or VSD into a space station. that'd be cool!

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. Why can't individual ships pull out of a fight to be replaced with a fresh new one? I've found myself willing to let my damaged ships die in the middle of a space battle for the benefit of being able to call in a different "reinforcement." Additionally, since the computer auto-selects the initial ships in a space battle, this requires you to delicately balance the numbers of any particular kind of ship in the fleet, as it's auto-select will vary according to how many of each type of unit you have in your fleet. Why not allow individual ships to retreat (even at the cost of not being able to call it back in)? NOT having this creates an exploit that allows you to decimate an opponent's cap ship, but not destroy it, denying them the chance to bring in reinforcements. In a more "realistic" sense, this is balderdash, as that ship would be replaced if there was a replacement available. BTW, this is NOT a bash. I LOVE the game. I'm just curious about the reasoning behind the decision.

My space units do not die very regularly. I've shifted my strategy to the point that I RARELY lose any ships during space combat. I occasionally lose a Tartan or missile cruiser, but almost NEVER a SD. Since they "heal" between fights, I don't see why the "full squad unit" isn't given XP. Nice, but not necessary.

It has been good but not "great." I'm still playing every day and enjoying it. I hoped it would become one of those special games that I would want to pick up again and again over the years. Civilization and Star Trek: Birth of the Federation represent two games that are "this good" to me. The galactic conquest and development is what originally brought me to this game. I am a huge Homeworld fan and love the space battles. I'll have broader impressions after a month, and even more if I manage to pick the game back up later (which would make it "great" in my mind). z