In my mind I imagine the Thargoid war to be a consistent campaign lasting months if not a year. My money would be on FDev taking the power play system and augmenting it to fill a more vital role here. Here's what I'd do or hope FDev does:
Thargoids enter a system, system is flagged as under siege etc. Power play interface is used to show reported strength of enemy force, current manpower, current losses.
Players can choose to reinforce the system by enlisting to aid it, like signing up for a CG.
Now this is where it gets a little tricky. Initially I imagine we have no real defense against these things as private ships so we're mostly taking a research/recovery role. Players will need to recover black boxes, debris and other materials from destroyed ships for research. War interface shows this system as being lost or in a state of evacuation. Passenger ships are now tasked with mass evacuation efforts, shuttling people off-world. Perhaps into megaships forming a rescue fleet or an effort out of the bubble.
After hitting a turn in requirement for recovered research, X module or weapon is developed. But not before we lose a few systems. Then the war kicks off proper.
Players will be able to contribute more to the war effort in varying ways. Cargo ships will start to meet the commodity demands of ship, weapon, ammo, food needs etc. A certain amount of upkeep will be needed to keep the system defense or major faction going in the system. Combat ships will be flying sorties and reducing enemy presence to stop the system from being overrun.
Pretty soon it'll be apparent that not every system can be saved so priorities will emerge based on economy and resources. Heavy industrial/refinery systems will need to be protected to keep materials flowing, agri systems for food, military systems for ship creation. Military shipyards will be hit hard and need to be defended (a nice use of those newish models/backdrop for combat instances). Hopefully a better implementation of powerplay is used here to illustrate the importance of each and allow players as a whole to choose wisely.
Things will proceed like that for a while until research tiers have geared us with enough to properly counter attack. Explorers/recon ships will be tasked with finding any Thargoid bases or staging areas and flagging them for attack (This portion is most likely done on forums). More research material flows in, hybrid ships start to be developed. Eventually a push is made to find the Thargoid homeworld and we go Ender on them.
Would people be into a persistent war with upkeep and system loss/retaking? Are you more into a guided campaign? Discuss.
Thargoids enter a system, system is flagged as under siege etc. Power play interface is used to show reported strength of enemy force, current manpower, current losses.
Players can choose to reinforce the system by enlisting to aid it, like signing up for a CG.
Now this is where it gets a little tricky. Initially I imagine we have no real defense against these things as private ships so we're mostly taking a research/recovery role. Players will need to recover black boxes, debris and other materials from destroyed ships for research. War interface shows this system as being lost or in a state of evacuation. Passenger ships are now tasked with mass evacuation efforts, shuttling people off-world. Perhaps into megaships forming a rescue fleet or an effort out of the bubble.
After hitting a turn in requirement for recovered research, X module or weapon is developed. But not before we lose a few systems. Then the war kicks off proper.
Players will be able to contribute more to the war effort in varying ways. Cargo ships will start to meet the commodity demands of ship, weapon, ammo, food needs etc. A certain amount of upkeep will be needed to keep the system defense or major faction going in the system. Combat ships will be flying sorties and reducing enemy presence to stop the system from being overrun.
Pretty soon it'll be apparent that not every system can be saved so priorities will emerge based on economy and resources. Heavy industrial/refinery systems will need to be protected to keep materials flowing, agri systems for food, military systems for ship creation. Military shipyards will be hit hard and need to be defended (a nice use of those newish models/backdrop for combat instances). Hopefully a better implementation of powerplay is used here to illustrate the importance of each and allow players as a whole to choose wisely.
Things will proceed like that for a while until research tiers have geared us with enough to properly counter attack. Explorers/recon ships will be tasked with finding any Thargoid bases or staging areas and flagging them for attack (This portion is most likely done on forums). More research material flows in, hybrid ships start to be developed. Eventually a push is made to find the Thargoid homeworld and we go Ender on them.
Would people be into a persistent war with upkeep and system loss/retaking? Are you more into a guided campaign? Discuss.
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Yeah, whatever we see it'll be very much tied to existing mechanics so I don't doubt we could see stuff CG-like or utilizing a PowerPlay style map.
