tired karma
Something that would add more depth and more logical consistency is adding the ability to lose radar/cloaking or deflecting when power goes down, similar to how right now, defenses won't fire or fire sporadically, when the player doesn't have enough power.
While units don't need to shut down since they already have the required power to move and shoot on board, for defenses, radar, cloaking and deflecting, I think this would make a very interesting addition, especially since you then could allocate power to the different subsystems to keep them operating (similar to how constructors now need High or Low Priority).
So I see this as having a few categories:
- Radar (losing vision because you lost power is very intuitive and easy to grasp, and teaches about the need for sustainable power, having it flicker is even scarier, and more obvious)
- Cloaking (similar to above, but more relevant for late game)
- Defenses (having the defenses operational despite any number of constructors in the base is usually very helpful)
- Deflectors (separate due to the large power requirement)
- Constructors
With the player being able to choose, in a global way, where the power gets directed first should there not be enough. So a player could choose to build a bunch of stuff in their base, but not worry that this will tank his or her defenses resulting in a base wipe because the player put too many constructors at work and they drained the resources too fast.
Optionally, the commander's systems could keep nearby units operating longer as the expense of making the commander immobile and shut down for the duration.
gleaming quartz
cosmic marlin