For the next installment I'm thinking about adding to the number of trade ships produced by trade ports and make the bonuses for destroying enemy trade ships and the loss of one of your own higher to make attacking trade lanes a valid tactic.
I'll try to make changes to the way fighters and bombers work. It feels too much like homeworld 2 to me.
I also want to slow down the turn rate and firing arcs of all the ships to make flanking maneuvers an effective tactic. It also means you get more shots at retreating fleets and vice versa.
With all the changes this mod has made, you'll have to change your strategies quite a bit.
Attacking a planet with gauss cannons means you'll have to use long range frigates and bombers to take out the gauss cannons before the rest of your fleet can get in close. This increases the need to build more long range frigates and carrier cruisers.
If the system has a good number of hangar bays loaded with fighters and bombers, you'll have to lure their strike craft to your fleet to fight on your terms. The improved targeting on the anti-fighter frigates should make this part much easier.
Now that focus-fire is no longer automatic, player fleets are on a more level playing field with ai fleets. Both sides will lose ships at a faster rate and strategic choices must be made during the battle.
Do I tell my capital ships to focus fire on enemy capital ships or have them start quickly chewing up enemy frigates and cruisers to lessen the enemy fleet's firepower? Which capital ships you place in fleets suddenly plays a bigger role now.
The bigger fleet caps now means you can create enough defense fleets to cover your fronts and still have enough supply left to create specialized fleets like carriers loaded with bombers for hit and run or a diversion
