I thought I would open a thread for balance issues. Hopefully if enough people say the same things, we should start seeing trends. I also added a section of things that I think are balanced right. I put Crusade 2.31 in the title, because I didn't want to mix balance issues with different patches.
My list:
- Square-rooting population.
- Prototype hyperdrives available at game start, move 5. Not even the final warp tech in the game can touch it. That's crazy.
- That I can build a single, blazing-fast transport, load it down with Prototype hyperdrives, and own the game. They don't destruct when you invade (and win the invasion).
- Improvement upgrades like Xeno Factory and Research Centers severely UP. Factories=useful. Xeno Factories=pointless.
- Planetary invasion completely imbalanced.
- Planetary defenses useless. You don't get invaded. Offense gets too many advantages.
- Money is off-kilter. Early game is completely starved for money with no way to make it (at least, not in any real quantities), followed by mid-game when you have more than you know what to do with. Galciv2 was similar, BTW.
- Antimatter, Promethion, and Arnor Spice mean everything. Everything else...not so much.
- Elerium and Thulium are not even worth the admin point to mine them. I get plenty enough for free already, in my search for Antimatter and Promethion. The remainder I can always trade with AI for cheap.
- Research and Salvage Missions should cost less ship construction. That is your reward for getting Precursor nanites and Xanthium.
- When you extend a starbase's radius, that should apply to mining and relics as well. And if you extend the radius of a Generic Starbase, that should make the Mining Ring become available, if applicable.
- Doom Rays cost only 1 Elerium. Who cares?
- You shouldn't get to choose the most expensive technology whenever you explore a research anomaly. You should not get to choose--it should be random.
- Ideology point-giving buildings don't scale right with galaxy size.
- Fleet Commanders should be given "X" bonuses, and when you promote you should give them X+Y. As it is, Fleet Commanders are better off un-promoted. They lose "X".
- You can only Recruit Scientist and Recruit Diplomat right before you win Tech victory. Needs to be sooner. Make them a legit part of the game (you might need to nerf Epiphany if you do, in case someone has loads of Promethion lying around).
- Split up Beyond Immortality into 3 techs, so that someone can't just immediately Epiphany their way to tech victory. There needs to be more late game, where we actually use Doom Rays and Nightmare Torpedoes.
- Same with Recruit space mission. Make them available earlier. They already require gobs of resources, anyway: that is your limiting factor.
- Jamming and defense-nullifying modules (like shield punch) defeat the point of even having defenses at all.
- Malevolent is still OP. Benevolent is still UP.
- Large map issues:
- Economic starbases are not useful, because administration does not scale with map size.
- Assigning citizens to planets is pointless if you have 100 planets.
Now, for things that I think are right:
- Asteroids!! Do not lose the asteroids!!
- Influence and farm improvement upgrades.
- Monsatium lets me pack more food into fewer tiles? Okay.
- Nightmare torpedoes do loads of damage, but cost loads of antimatter, and antimatter is scarce. Okay.
- Promote administrators to minister, 4 admin for 10 promethion. Okay.
- The whole economic mechanic of "Raw production", "% bonus to raw production", and "% bonus to gross production". That's awesome.
- Ship defenses only work vs. the weapons they are intended for. Fair enough.
- Xytology missions take Promethion and yield Arborus arboretum. Hyper Silicates missions take Arborus Arboretum and give Hyper Silicates. Arnor Spice missions take Hyper Silicates and yield Arnor Spice. That's cool. I think you're onto something there.