Ok, it is Monday morning, i'm at work and bored. So i start thinking weird stuff. Like how a Total War in space could work. Is it ever gonna happen? Nah, but i'm bored, i love TW and i love space combat.
SETTING FEATURES
* The campaign map would be the solar system. So the wars would be limited to interplanetary. Space is vast, VERY vast, and the solar system alone would provide us with enough interesting locations for hundreds of regions.
The playable factions would be a dozen major human nations, colonies or NGO superpowers with private navies. Each having their own unique range of warships and marine forces.
* Mixed in are dozens of little factions such as rebels, pirates and renegade colonies who use a more generic fleet of militia ships or captured/recycled hardware.
* No alien factions. At least...not at first. Late game could introduce several fleets of very powerful alien ships who set out from their home planet centuries ago. Unlike in most fiction, these guys can not be reasoned or communicated with (or slept with, so keep it in your pants, Kirk). They are truly alien and very powerful. They are the Huns and Mongol Hordes of this setting.
* Factions who survived up until this point would scramble to research new tech to defeat the aliens. Tech which can be traded among factions like in Empire. Acquiring this new tech would unlock a set of expensive end-game ships for each major faction.
* Technology level would not be too advanced. Ship would have high powered rail-guns, lasers, nuclear torpedoes, highly armored hulls, powerful engines but no faster-than-light, shields or teleportation devices.
CAMPAIGN FEATURES
* Campaign map would be divided into hundreds of regions, like all TW games. Except every region is a sector of space controlled by a large military space station. Ownership of this sector station determines ownership of everything in the sector due to being the central hub for transport and sector security.
* If a captured sector contains a population center (planet/moon/asteroid colony) it will take time for the local population to accept their new overlords, but this can be sped up through orbital blockades, bombardment or marine deployment.
* Sector stations can be expanded and customized in the same way cities in every TW game can. Shipyards, marine barracks, food storage, patrol docks, munitions factories, refineries, etc. Everything related to military and security.
* Population centers within the sector can also be customized to focus production on food/water/power/taxes, etc. Everything related to civil administration.
* Resources are harvested through small space stations which function in the same manner as Empire/Shogun2 villages.
* Resource stations can be raided but raids can be intercepted by having good local security and sensor upgrades in the sector station. Local security fleets and nearby military fleets can thus take care of raiders before they can do damage. This of course means that outlying sectors with bad security are vulnerable to pirates, rebels and enemy raid fleets and may require you to redirect military assets to fill the gap.
* Campaign is turn-based with 3 month turns. This scale would fit nicely with the concept of having to send fleets across the solar system, which would take several years.
* There should be several government types. Some martial oriented factions have a monarchical type leadership whose family members are expected to lead fleets into battle or govern sectors from their sector stations. Others have a government with presidents, ministers or senators who get elected/replaced every few years and rule from the capital while admirals and governors attempt to bribe and influence them. And there are corporate factions led by a CEO who has to keep his board of directors happy and in line so they do not attempt to bribe admirals or governors for a attempt at a hostile take-over.
BATTLE FEATURES
* To keep the TW tradition, every fleet has a maximum of 20 ships. Fleets are named and led by an admiral, who can transfer his flag to any ship within the fleet.
* Admirals have political power, stats, traits, and a skill tree dedicated to fleet management or politics. Admirals can be re-assigned to different fleets or held in a reserve pool at the capital.
* Ships have individual names and a crew experience rating (unit veterancy). Every ship is led by a captain.
* Every captain has 2-3 traits that make him more effective at commanding certain ship types or give his ship certain boosts. Captains can be re-assigned to other ships or held in a reserve pool at the capital.
* Governors are assigned to each sector where their stats, traits and skills influence sector income, security, production, etc. Like admirals, governors can have political power depending on the government type.
* Ship types range from small patrol craft to huge 'battle-carriers' and everything in between. Plenty of ships are faction specific, with some preferring battleships with huge fixed forward firing cannons, others with several turrets, and some with old-fashioned broadside turrets to engage multiple targets.
* Certain smaller ships can "run cold" and can get close before being detected.
* Missile frigates/destroyers can launch massive long range missile volleys that need to be intercepted by point-defenses and interceptor fighters. Carrier-based bombers can also launch torpedoes that need to be intercepted.
* The battlefield is 3D, so battle-lines of ships can be "stacked" on top of each other.
* Ships have modules that can be damaged, knocked-out or destroyed. On-board repair crews can put knocked-out modules back into action but destroyed ones require post-combat repairs.
* Support ships include engineering ships that can make emergency combat repairs to nearby ship hulls.
Vessels can attempt to send a marine boarding party over to neutralize and capture enemy ships. Marines use small shuttle craft and are vulnerable to point-defenses. Some vessels specialize in crippling and boarding enemy ships to make this easier.
* Sector stations are captured by marines as well. Every ship with a marine boarding party can perform this but the best option is to use dedicated marine troop transports.
Such a TW game will never be made. Ah well, a man can dream, right? Guess i should go back to work.