Information from IGN http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/10/15/stardocks-galactic-civilizations-3-revealed
"He compares the new customization system to LEGO, but the pieces you’re connecting have an effect that goes beyond the cosmetic effect." -IGN
If this is true, then we must start with ship component ideas on this forum, I been reading too many post that says do this better or do that better, we need more specific ideas that actually mean something other then saying something needs improvement.
EX. My first idea is that a hanger bay would be a new ship component that can contain 3 classes of fighters.
Laser fighters
Gun fighters
Missile fighters
each fighter has a strength of 1 depending on the class, and they work together as a team. So lets say the smallest hanger holds 5 fighters for example. The maximum potential of this hanger is about 5 damage depending of what fighters the player chooses.
ex. 5 laser fighters would yield lasers (duh), so that has 5 beam weapons strength
You even have the option of mixing it up a bit, for example
ex.2 2 mass driver fighters + 3 Missile fighters
The mass drivers would be effective against ships with no armor while the 3 missiles would pack a punch if the ship doesn't have missile defenses.
Over time the tech tree would unlock better hangers for bigger and bigger ships, and some super hangers for only the largest of ships.
One last feature of a fighter fleet is that if you have a fleet adjacent to a ship with a hanger bay, chances are that the fighters will help the adjacent fleet in battle. This may bring some interesting tactics to the table and ultimately is far superior then anybody who says "make _____ better"
Thank you for your time and consideration.
