[Suggestion] Elastic Turn Lengths

[MrTimn]

Currently I think that one of the main issues in the game is that there are many turns where all you do is admin and housekeeping with your agents. To help mitigate this, I would like to suggest a way of modulating turn lengths based on the game circumstances.

Have a system that increases the turn length progressively after key events that shake the world and allow rapid changes, similarly to how at the beginning of the game the turn lengths are only a week long and then slow down after things settle down into a new normal. Importantly, 1 or 2 longer turn length steps should be added to what is currently in the game, so that as things solidify more the game speeds up. When something earthshaking takes place (ie: war between nuclear armed countries, a new phase in the alien invasion, the break-up of a major power) the turn frequency increases to allow factions to respond and take advantage of the new circumstances. The turn frequency would then start lengthening again over time after the initial rush of activity to allow the game to progress more quickly.

This could be done in an all-or-nothing fashion, where certain key events reset the turn frequency all the way to one a week before gradually lengthening again. It could also be done in a more granular fashion, where certain less world shaking events increase the turn frequency by 1 or 2 steps to a maximum frequency based on the severity of the event. These could stack, but only to that maximum frequency. Some events like the first alien armies deploying should still kick the frequency all the way back to 1 week turns.

I believe that a system like this would improve the flow of the game and cut back on some of the more tedious aspects. It would also do a better job at responding to some of the truly titanic shifts that are still possible in the mid and late game than simply adding another decrease in turn frequency at some point later in the game. It also makes logical sense and should maintain the fidelity of the “simulation” while improving gameplay.

[KinSeth2]

I do think that there are a lot of admin turns, but they are also a time to level your councilors. The first weeks are much more for a gameplay aspect to get the ball rolling. Given the cost changes, and the functional changes between those weeks, I think what you are suggesting would just add more tedium. It's not going to remove the admin turns. It's going to just... add more turns. Even still, there is the ability to just.. repeat mission and permanent assignment them on certain things. It might not be 100% optimal but 100% optimal is always going to be tedious. I say this as a person that never really uses the permanent assignment feature because I do the tedious.

[MrTimn]

The idea behind my suggestion is not to change what you are doing with the councilors. The same kind of actions would still be carried out which would require some admin, however, it would hopefully have the effect of reducing the number of turns in the game while still allowing for rapid response to major events. Maybe never go back to 1 week turns, but I do think that the game would benefit by expanding to 3 or 4 week turns.

I think this is important as the focus of the game moves more towards space. Things take a long time to get anywhere in space and many projects take a long time to complete. When things are relatively stable back on earth it would be nice for the game to move faster.

However, the suggestion I have heard was to just add another step a bit further into the game that extends the 2 week turn to a 4 week turn.
This would have the problem of limiting the possible response to major events. If those events triggered an increase in turn frequency for a time before going back to turns that last 3 or 4 weeks, said problem would not arise.