Yes. Uber has mentioned in passing talking about amphibious tanks. Also, there's several units in the game files that are multi terrain. http://pamatches.com/wiki/not-in-the-game/
In the PA directory, there is a folder called unit's that has all the unit information and spec's for the game.. In there there is a place holder for a "hovertank" of sorts in there. (It could be just for modder to make a hover tank but it could be place holder for an uber made unit too) I'm guessing being a hover tank it would be able to travel over both land and water..
There's also an all terrain spider bot. http://pamatches.com/wiki/not-in-the-game/recluse/ http://pamatches.com/wiki/not-in-the-game/flux/
There has been some discussion about Gunships and how people want them. I think gunships are cool. I definitely like the idea of vertical take off fliers. I think that separating the role of gunships and bombers is important. I like how the bot in your example Culverin can change layers from surface to air layer. I think one thing to consider is low fliers. They could fly several feet above the ground, be target-able by AA and ground fire. They wouldn't be as fast as planes, but they would have the ability to fly over things in a similar fashion. They would probably be faster than bots. They could be one unit from the a factory (air maybe) or they could have their own lab. Programming-wise: Flier: yes height above ground: low Targetable by AA: yes (listed as air) Targetable by ground: yes (listed as ground) They could look like a flying tank, a flying bot or a low flying gunship. Here are some possibilities: The intent would be these things would perform a similar role to the Zipper in TA, but have a slight edge in mobility due to hover capability and be able to engage naval.
I want transports and amphibious units. Right now island maps are just air-navy with no marine action. Being able to surprise somebody by invading them from across the water would be cool.
you reminded me of Red Alert 3 ( Rising Sun ) my faw faction lol bots that can transform ? hell yes.... but I think that never realy gonna happen in this game sadly.
Transforming for the sake of transforming is pretty much just a gimmick. But ground units with limited flight capabilities can have quite significant and very cool gameplay. For example, a light raider bot might have limited-duration, low-altitude flight capabilities. This also potentially creates a distinction for anti-air between low altitude hovering units and actual planes. Activating their temporary flight might make the ground units harder to destroy with slower, heavy-hitting weapons (like tank cannons) but vulnerable to low-altitude anti-air. These bots could automatically use their flight capability when they engage the enemy, and land and start running like normal when it runs out. This also creates quite an interesting advantage for specific light units, where heavier units just have more armor and/or bigger guns. Although I think fixed-wing fast movers should be specialized planes, more helicopter-style aircraft with freedom of movement might be more closely related to ground units. A VTOL aircraft that can land, and walk around while landed, does not seem terrible far-fetched. In fact, skimmer-type hovering vehicles could certainly inhabit both the ground and low-level airspace. But way up in the sky, the noble and powerful fixed wing warbird should rule the skies. And get instantly destroyed by very long-range SAM's if they aren't careful.
I agree, definitely no micro. I was thinking it would be automated, similar to the Reaper infantry unit from Starcraft 2. With both modes available, airborne and ground, you would be able to encircle enemy units better. If they could even leap over each other, that would make it even quicker still. Getting a proper concave for firing is pretty important. (Think of the density of air-fabbers. You can pack them in nice and tight). Realistically speaking, I presume this would require a whole new type of pathfinding, I doubt we'd see this type of anytime soon.
