This mod would be a simple extension of the ground combat mechanic that would let (force?) the player to have ground combat against enemies besides the AI controlled races. In MoO2 analogies think of it as a a space hydra or crystal on the surface of the planet. In Civ analogies think of them as barbarians. I will use MoO1 mechanics and numbers because that is what I'm more familiar with but the idea can easily be applied to MoO2's (less balanced) combat system as well. "Wlidlife" is a planet modifier similar to rich/artifacts. The wildlife is added to planets during galaxy generation and the player is made aware of wildlife when scouting the system (same as rich). Wildlife does not prevent colonization of the planet. However, as long as the wlildlife is present, the colony will suffer some penalties or not realize full potential. In order to clear the wildlife, the player must send ground combat troops (regular population in MoO1). The over-arching theme of this mod would be to add another angle on the exploration/expansion side of MoO1. Example: Just scouted a new planet! Jungle, max population 80 Wildlife (60) The 60 wildlife present artificially decreases the max population of the planet to 80-60 = 20. After colonization I immediately send 8 more population from nearby planet to help jumpstart the growth. This brings current population up to 10 out of max 20. I wait a few more turns until a ground combat armor is finished researching. The population has grown to 15 at this point. I send another transport shuttle with 10 more colonists. 5 of the colonists immediately join the colony (to max it at 20), the other 5 go in to ground combat. The 60 wlidlife are broken down into 20 'units/bugs' that each have a +0 combat modifier. Another 20 units with a +10 modifier, and another 20 units with a +20 combat modifier. My 5 brave soldiers (with +10 combat) make a long stand against the +0 combat baddes--taking them down at beyond 3:1 rate. At then end of the battle I have killed 17 wildlife and lost 5 combat units (population). Immediately after this battle the new max population is increased from (80-60) = 20 to (80-43) = 37. The 5 combat units have 'cleared the way' for 17 more population to grow at the planet. A dozen turns later I have increased the population up to 35 and I want to send more troops at the bugs. I transport in another 10 colonisits. 2 of them go directly to filling up the remaining population slots and the other 8 go bug squashing. There are still 3 (+0) bugs which we kill easily. However, the soldiers now face bugs with +10combat and we trade numbers equally 8 for 8. The new population cap is increased to 45. I decide that 1:1 trading is no longer worth it and will wait for better ground combat tech before finishing off the +10 baddies. It may be even longer yet before the last 20 (+20) bugs will be removed. Any sources of +terraforming add to +max population as you would expect. Wlidlife do not grow back. Some races could have special ways of interacting with wildlife. Silicoids heavy pollution would slowly kill the wildlife over time meaning they would not have to deploy troops (although troops may be faster). Bulrathi of course are loving this because their +ground combat niche actually helps them in expansion. Sakkra could gain a temporary research bonus while Wildlife are present (but ultimately worthwhile to clear them out). Some other planet bonuses could be gated behind wildlife. The planet may be technically rich, but only after you kill the 15 baddies with +40 ground combat modifiers that are inside the mine.
From example it's a bit unclear when ground combat happens and when transports simply add population. For instance why would 5 soldiers kill 17 critters and die instead of killing 5 or how many there are left alive (let's say 4) and join the colony. If there would be clear cut way of telling when to fight and when to populate, would it be possible to use planet's own population in the process? In MoO 1 you could produce pollution on purpose (before you get waste elimination tech) and cheaply clean it up, bypass whole ground combat in the process. In MoO 2 on the other hand soldiers and population were separate and I can easily imagine marines automatically attempting to clear hostile wildlife as they are trained. An issue of spamming ground combat events remains though. But it would make armour barracks useful for something . In general I like the idea but it needs more time in the oven.
Transports always add population when available. If the transports don't max out the planet, no combat happens. If the pop is already at max then the entire transport numbers are sent to combat. The example above tried to cover the weird case where the transport numbers both add population (up to the max) and the remaining are sent to combat. The initial combat would be 5 vs 60. However, not all of the bugs are equal and the first 20 guys are the weakest. If you wanted a blow by blow it could look like like 5 60 5 59 5 58 5 57 4 57 4 56 4 55 ... 2 44 1 44 1 43 0 43 Combat ends. There are still 43 bugs left after combat but this is a reduction from 60. There are no transports left to add to population because the 5 died fighting bugs. Lets say after many more fights there are only 5 bugs left and I send 15 troops to fight them. At the end of the combat there are 0 bugs left and 7 troops. 5 of the 7 troops would automatically join the colony taking up the space that was made available by clearing the 5 bugs. The 2 remaining population would be lost (this is following regular rules of MoO1 when transports exceed capacity).
interesting idea Reformation, it would be useful to know a bit more about the ground combat mechanics in "Project Space Sector" to see if and how it can be applicable there.
Honestly, I'm hoping for modified dice rolls between citizen transports (MoO1 style). There may be potential for multi-turn battles that allow sides to send reinforcements. However, I hope the tactics side of things stays in space combat only.
