are there going to be shields in PA

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by melhem19, November 23, 2013.

?

Will there be shields

  1. Yes

    1 vote(s)
    5.9%
  2. No

    13 vote(s)
    76.5%
  3. Unknown

    3 vote(s)
    17.6%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. melhem19

    melhem19 Active Member

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    I was wondering if there would be shield Generators in PA



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    Attached Files:

  2. GoogleFrog

    GoogleFrog Active Member

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    "No" is a fact. There are a few threads in which this is confirmed.
  3. Quitch

    Quitch Post Master General

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    And all I can say to that is "huzzah!"
  4. brianpurkiss

    brianpurkiss Post Master General

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    Poll is pointless.

    Do a search before posting.

    This has been discussed so many times and asked so many times.

    No. There will not be shields.

    And it is a good thing.
  5. melhem19

    melhem19 Active Member

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    How is it a good thing
  6. Timevans999

    Timevans999 Active Member

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    Don't worry and its not a good thing that there is no shields. But the game is so big you don't feel vulnerable.
  7. brianpurkiss

    brianpurkiss Post Master General

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    I would recommend doing a search and perusing through any of the many large threads on the topic.

    Even so, I'll provide a quick short overview.

    Before I start, let me say that I loved shields in SupCom. I bubble layered them against the AI all the time and had a lot of fun doing so. But it was just fun against the AI stuff, wouldn't work in play against humans.

    First off, shields are OP. The ability to just use energy to boos the HP of dozens of defensive structures and/or units is simply OP. Spend x metal and x energy, give all units a few hundred HP, it's just op. It makes defensive lines extremely extremely strong. And that's just one shield. That doesn't account for multiple layerings of shields. To my understanding, that's the main reason for no shields. The ability to layer a bunch of shields creates so much extra hp for so little cost, it isn't balanced.

    There are a bunch of ideas for making shields balanced, but such an undertaking is too much for pre-launch. Uber has stated they will examine the idea of shields and see if they can come up with something that works, but that'll take too much time for launch. Even if they do come out with shields, they likely won't be like the traditional bubble shields from games like SupCom.

    The other main reason for no shields is that they don't fit into PA gameplay. PA is all about map control and unit movement. If you build a defensive line, I'll just go around it since we're playing on a sphere, not a square flat map. So if you build a defensive line with shields and whatnot, I'll go around it making all of that irrelevant. If you build a defensive line all the way around your base, then one of two things will happen. The defensive line will be too stretched out and too thin and I'll break through. Then, since you invested so much of your economy into your defensive line, and much of the defensive line is completely pointless since it can't shoot at my units because my units are out of range, then I'll destroy you. The other scenario for a defensive line all the way around your base is that your base will be way too small. You'll have no map control so I'll have a vastly superior army and will be able to overwhelm you. no matter how strong your defensive line is.

    I don't know how many people I've played against or watched play that tried this strategy. They wall spammed and put up a ring of walls and turrets around their base. They were so easy to beat it was boring.

    Those are the two main reasons for not having shields in PA. Hope that clears things up.

    TLDR: They are OP and don't fit in with the play style of PA.
  8. melhem19

    melhem19 Active Member

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    I never play Sup Com vs Human player(only AI)
    most RTS games I played I played against AI
  9. dekate

    dekate Member

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    im sure, even though no shields are a confirmed dev answer, that mods will come up which will add something similar to shields into the game ...

    just patience... im sure the modding community wont be letting you down, even though it can take some time ...
  10. Culverin

    Culverin Post Master General

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    This game needs an FAQ run by the community.
    References quotes from the devs.

    And then the mods can just link and lock.
    :cool:


    Is that too mean though?
    o_O
  11. brianpurkiss

    brianpurkiss Post Master General

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    Yes. Mods will add shields.
  12. melhem19

    melhem19 Active Member

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    ok thank you guys
  13. brianpurkiss

    brianpurkiss Post Master General

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    I think I am going to build such a FAQ...
    Quitch and Culverin like this.
  14. thepilot

    thepilot Well-Known Member

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    Do you have any reference of the engine supporting the technology needed to have shields?

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