Have any of you guys encountered the ‘Federations’ mechanic yet?
I just read about it here (http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2013/03/stardrive-open-beta-preview/) and it sounds like a nice way to add some challenge/zing/zest/kick to the end game.
From the beta impressions/preview:
Federations
Federations are a new feature that has just recently been implemented. The basic idea is that you can ask your allies to join a federation, which you will lead, essentially combining your forces. These types of arrangements take time however, and in addition to being more powerful than your ally, you will have to solve any outstanding issues they have and prove yourself as a worthy ally for a long period of time. Once formed, your former ally’s troops, planets, technologies, etc, all become yours to command for the remainder of the game. For example, when I asked my ally to join my federation, he informed me that I would have to eliminate another race he was at war with first. I was pretty motivated to do so, as I had already received word that two enemy races had joined together in their own federation. Eventually, I was able to merge him into my empire, but my opponent also formed a federation with not one, but two other races, and this set the stage for a rather intense showdown.
This seems like an interesting twist on the web-of-alliances dynamic that often defines the mid-late game conflicts in many 4x games. I really like the novel diplomatic components, especially the idea that it turns into a bit of an emergent mission/quest system where you might find yourself pursuing side goals that you’d otherwise have ignored. I can also really buy into the lore/roleplaying of this idea because it fits with my perception of the Federation in Star Trek, with Federation leaders/captains frequently working to resolve problems where they have nothing to gain except that they’re always trying to make new friends in the hopes that they’ll voluntarily join the Federation. This also fits with my play style since I almost always try to befriend some factions in my 4x games (partially because I play a White Knight mentality, and partially because I’m almost always better than the AI at waging war and endless slaughters can be tedious).
Of course this reminds me of the vassal system in Civ IV, which I’ve heard many people criticize because it turns the political landscape into just one or two mega hegemonies. The obvious advantage with StarDrive seems to be that you don’t (just?) create federations through brute force. This seems to resolve the question of what should happen with weaker ‘pet’ allies, and I do hate it when games like Civ or the Total War games include erratic and irrational AI opponents that refuse to be my protectorate superfriends just because I get too powerful.
…On the other hand, the thing I love most about 4x games is the feeling of a sandbox geopolitical simulator. (That’s also why AI quality is of upmost importance for me). So, part of me worries that this system will reduce the (interesting?) complexity of the late-game geopolitical landscape because most of the enemy and allied factions will cease to exist. In Civ 2, when I grew to be a superpower many AI players would band together in alliances that were explicitly intended to resist my dominance. I loved that this was an explicit action since it seemed to mirror human history, and I loved that the factions were united but separate because that gave you the idea that you could potentially sow the seeds of distrust to fracture their alliances, as well as waging focused wars to knock various opponents out of the fight (again, in a fashion similar to human history).
It does feel like a missed opportunity when an allied AI faction lacks the communications skills and strategic savvy to be a useful supporter in wartime, but part of me thinks I’ll miss the (extremely rare) instances when my AI ally actually manages to perform an effective coordinated (or more often–coincidentally helpful) attack or defense with me.