This only works if the only defense is missles, which I contest that a single form of defense should have a hard counter, just as a single form of attack should.
You can already kind of do that. If you have fighters or scouts escorting bombers that already makes it more likely that the bombers will survive because the AA missiles don't prioritize bombers over fighters.
Because it turns out fitting a Tank's worth of sensors and Optics is really hard in something as small as a missile. Gameplay Over Realism in this case. That depends on how exactly the system would work and there are many ways it could work. It could work similar to the Aeon T2 TMD from SupCom where it affects any number of missiles within a given radius, but you still have lots of ways to tweak how it functions. For example how 'effective' is is would be greatly effected by how it's deploy, if shot 'forward' to some degree it acts as a 'shield' against turrets and units the air unit comes across ahead, but if 'shot' backwards or even just dropped it works much better against unit targeting the Air unit from behind than in front. There is a lot of ways to control exactly how effective it is and isn't random unless you make it so, lots of options out there, just gotta use them effectively. Mike
This is not something you can say instead of responding to criticism just to shoot down any argument whenever you feel like it. You haven't gotten to the point where anyone have shown how this would be good for gameplay yet, so far it just seems like something to add unnecessary complexity to something that is really simple (unit avoidance). Last I checked this game needs less micromanagement not more and putting in unit based abilities that would be completely useless unless handled by the player himself is not something that I would say is a good path to take. Add to that it would be very annoying to have my cheap units get these dispensers and not my expensive ones for no other reason than magic.
If every unit had flares it would be unneeded complexity, but when only certain units have it and are designed with that functionality in mind the end result is more unit variety which is a good thing. Designing a unit to have flares is not magic, randomly assigning it on the other hand isn't magic either, but it is random. I don't recall it being said the the flares require player input? They can basically work on a lot of the same principles as weapons do, have a range to activate, fire at certain intervals, work for X amount of time and such and don't need player input at all. Mike
That won't work for much longer. Target selection as it is right now is rather static and stupid. Don't expect it to stay that way. Expect future versions of the targeting system to snipe your bombers before anything else, at least if they are actually the biggest threat (which they are, if the ACU is nearby!). I don't see though how flares could possibly enhance gameplay. They just act like a type of self recharging shield which just disturbs balance as it means that the unit is immune against minor threats, but still falls like flies against major threats.
You just explained how it would enhance gameplay. It would provide defense against some kinds of attacks and not against others.
Pretty much, for example if AA follows my 3-type setup, where missiles are long range and high damage, a Flare system would be useful on a E-2 Hawkeye type unit. It could loiter at longer ranges provide some basic intel and might not be instantly murdered if you accidentally set the patrol path too close, but would still fall to any concerted effort to take it down. Of course, as I think I said before about this, the Devil is in the details, such a system could be easily OP or UP without changing HOW it functions and just by tweaking the balance numbers, if it fires a constant rate of 10 flares a second yeah no missile will get through, but if it only fires 1 per minute it won't do much at all. Mike
actually 1 per minute would be great, would allow you to get one safe bombing/strafing run off every minute. Or maybe you could have said units start with 5 flares which activate at x second intervals when required but once they run out your units lose that advantage. Maybe even a contstrucable air strip where you can land fleets of planes to restock flares, altough again this adds the unwanted micro which this game is striving not to have.
Well now you're changing the details AND making assumptions, what if 1 Flare only countered a Single missile? Also remember that HOW the flare is fired is just as important and the context of the example given. If we go back to the E-2 Hawkeye example with a unit that primarily operates along the fringe of the enemy defense envelope, even if the flare worked against multiple missiles depending on which direction it was shot it could still be easily shot down by a turret it has yet to enter range of or is just in a better position relative to the flare. It's all in the details. A Flare system could easily use the Ammo system they're planning to use, but frankly I don't think it should, in the case of bombers(or anything that will use it) the point is to give high burst damage and to prevent loitering over the target, but if you apply the same logic to Flares all you really do it make it MORE powerful, especially if you take into account my 3 AA type setup like I mentioned, you negate that long range damage and your force arrives much more intact than it would have otherwise if the Flares were just on a flat 'rate of fire'. Mike
I still don't see how flares could contribute to gameplay in any positive way. They make flare equipped units a lot harder to kill in early gameplay (where air is quite strong anyway since players rarely have deployed sufficient, dedicated counter measures), but they loose their effect in later gameplay when actually the opposite problem is in place: Zero survivability due to overkill by splash damage, which renders any hit&run attempt more into an suicide run. The idea behind flares is probably to grant bombers and alike at least a single shot before they get destroyed, but flares won't fulfill that purpose. That effect can be provided in another way though: Just let destroyed aircraft attack until the wreck hits the ground. Don't turn it into a wreck midair already, but let it continue fighting until a collision occurs. Losses shouldn't be prevented, but rather be eased by ensuring that units still have a legit chance to fight back for a short while, even when up against a superior force.
