Planetary Conquest Revamp

[DaloLorn]

This was discussed just over two years ago, but never actually formalized in any of my to-do lists, so... here goes.

The idea is to combine all the different siege systems in the game into a unified whole.

• Replace all user-facing references to "Loyalty" with the more general-purpose "Resistance".
• Siege (refinements to vanilla siege mechanics)
  • Blockade the planet from orbit, preventing traffic on and off the surface and performing various kinds of precision strikes against installations vital to the population's survival. (Destroying garrisons and orbital defenses, sabotaging power grids, etc.)
  • Reduces Resistance over time in exchange for supplies. Basically unmodified.
  • The Blockaded status (for those who don't know, destroying civilian traders adds a temporary status to their destination which reduces civilian production) also reduces Resistance.
  • Maybe increase base Resistance of higher-level planets? Will have to see how it interacts with Blockaded. (Another option may be to find a way to only reduce Resistance for every X stacks of Blockaded.)
• Orbital Bombardment (Carpet Bombs and suchlike; also technically Graviton Condensers, though those are primarily aimed at destroying the underlying planet)
  • Indiscriminately bomb the planet surface until the local population is either unwilling or unable to put up further resistance. Or, you know. Dead.
  • Randomly damages population (also reducing Resistance whenever enough people are killed) or buildings (eventually destroying them outright).
  • If population reaches zero before Resistance does, the planet is abandoned and cannot be colonized for a few budget cycles due to severe fallout from the bombardment.
  • If the planet is shielded, orbital bombardment depletes the shield instead of damaging the population/infrastructure/planet.
  • Atroans have no population, so they don't lose Resistance from orbital bombardment. However, their control cores can be destroyed, immediately abandoning the planet.
  • All forms of orbital bombardment have a wind-up time or equivalent condition before they can start dealing damage.
    • Graviton Condensers literally don't deal damage for the first 30 seconds, IIRC.
    • Carpet Bombs require orbital supremacy (planet must be under siege) in order to prevent planetary and orbital defenses from intercepting the bombs mid-drop. (They can still damage shields, though!)
  • Different buildings have different amounts of HP, which regenerates over time (even in combat). This will usually be proportional to their size, though certain structures may have above-average HP and/or regeneration for their size. (Oko Stalks, Feyh Altars, Forges, Ringworld/Artificial Planetoid infrastructure, all Atroan buildings - especially control cores - and Portal Stabilizers are likely to receive particularly large amounts of hardening.)
• Invasion (Troop Pods)
  • Land a massive contingent of crack troops on the surface, securing key infrastructure, eliminating enemy civilian and military resistance, and garrisoning the planet after the enemy is defeated.
  • Rapidly reduces Resistance for a short while, depending on the planet's population and how many troops were deployed. Sort of like boarding a planet.
  • Expensive.
  • Does not damage population or buildings.
• Planetary Shielding
  • Researchable imperial buildings encase the planet in a powerful shield, temporarily preventing damage from all forms of orbital bombardment.
  • Shield Harmonizers can work with planetary shields, but their effectiveness is halved. (No permanently indestructible defense fleets for you, Mystic! 😠)
  • Mono population innately generates limited planetary shielding.
  • Feyh Altars generate planetary shielding.
  • Alipha start with planetary shield technology at the beginning of the game.