I feel like the units lack... "soul"

Before I get started, I should probably try to explain what I mean by "soul". It's difficult for me to put into words what I mean by this. I guess I would say its a combination of uniqueness and cool-factor, but that doesn't really feel satisfactory. Its not just the look and feel of the unit, but the purpose of it and the way it is designed to fit within the game. A unit that has a lot of "soul" will stick in your mind long after the match is over.

Maybe if I give some examples it will become more clear... I'm sorry if you didn't play TA as none of these examples will really make sense otherwise.

Lets take the 3 defensive laser turrets in PA. Each one is basically a larger version of the previous with another barrel. The recent model changes are a nice improvement to giving them some... visual "soul", but they don't really have any... functional "soul".

Now lets look at 3 defensive turrets from TA. I will admit the lowest of them is rather lacking in soul, it is a simple but effective weapon, but this is excusable for a low tier unit such as this. Moving on to the next turret you have the Sentinel, which is clearly being mimicked by the T1.5 turret in PA. The thing that really gave the Sentinel "soul" was the sound effect. When you accidentally happened upon one of these, you took notice. You could feel the power behind the weapon when you heard the sound and saw that distinctive green laser streak across the screen.

Moving on, we reach the Annihilator. Though still a defensive laser turret, it really sets itself apart from the T2 turret in PA. Not content to merely add another barrel, the Annihilator goes completely the other direction, extending its single barrel into a long, sniper-like weapon. Capable of killing almost any unit in a single shot and from a very long range, the Annihilator was a nightmare for anybody attempting to assault it from the ground. From a visual standpoint, the Annihilator had "soul" because, not only did it need to unpack itself to fire, it also had blinking lights and a radar dish spinning on top. I know this sounds silly, but it really adds to the feeling that this is an advanced and complex defensive platform.

A similar comparison can be made between the Pelter/Holkins and Guardian/Bertha from TA. The holkins is just a bigger pelter, whereas the Bertha was functionally and visually different from the Guardian.

But its not just defensive structures. Look at units like the Fido, a 4 legged bot with a powerful cannon on top. The lumbering Zeus with his lightning gun, or "The Can", a slow but nearly unstoppable heavy weapon. Each of them is an assault bot, but each one tackles it in a different and unique way. The Fido is fast and hard hitting, lending to blitzkrieg tactics. The Zeus is slower but his lightning gun gives him some AOE, and "The Can" is the ultimate bot for waltzing thru defenses. Not only do they have functional differences, but they are visually quite different as well. Little touches like the Zeus holstering his weapon on his back or the way "The Can" wobbles back and forth when it walks.

PA units are not alone in lacking "soul" however, I would argue that most units in SupCom (other than experimentals) lacked "soul" as well. There were some exceptions, but my post is getting rather long at this point...

I know the game is still in development and you guys plan to add tons more units, but I just felt like giving my feedback on this. I know this isn't a critical problem, but I feel it goes a long way to making units more interesting and fun to use. I'm sure as different weapon types, bot skeletons, explosion effects and other visuals are added in, that this problem will be alleviated somewhat, but even a lot of the base units from TA felt more "soulful" than the ones we have now.

What about you other posters? If you disagree, what units do you feel in PA have a lot of "soul"? I'll admit there are a few, but not near as many as there should be.

Sorry for picking a corny word like "soul" but I really couldn't come up with something better to describe what I mean.

I think it's a bit early to have the final verdict on this stuff.

Visuals, sounds, and balance aren't all finished.

TLDR: I'm well aware of this fact. This is not a final verdict, merely some feedback that bounced around in my skull for awhile and finally found its way out.

Edit: I felt the need to bring this up because Uber has mentioned they are in a "polishing" phase and this is sort of a polish item.

For what it's worth, I agree with you Krakanu; they're too rigid and don't have a not-in-combat animation, as many units did in TA. They're cold, stiff and have no personality. In keeping with the lore perhaps... but it makes the units very approachable from a human perspective.

I think that if you're against using the word soul, substitute "personality" and you'll not go far wrong.

Personality, yes that's probably a better word for what I'm talking about.

Edit: To be fair, I think nanolathe is right about units being approachable from a human perspective. A lot of the units in TA you had to build and experiment with to figure out what they did, but in PA its obvious that a tank is a tank and a bot is a bot. I think a good balance between "human readable" and "high personality" units can be struck though.

One point I will concur on - the conceptual trailer showed a much cooler laser animation for land units than the little yellow bullets we have right now - it was a very Starwars-ish brightly colored blaster bolt. I'm hoping that will be a thing we get later... destruction isn't quite as satisfying with insufficiently colorful pew pew.

Wee need weapons with more bass.

Ty for say the obvius......

I agree with this, as a long time TA fanboy and nostalgic.

I think this joins up nicely with this thread https://forums.uberent.com/threads/energy-generator-is-not-good-enough.54720/#post-838155 about energy types. TA had various energy sources, whereas PA just has generic "Energy Generators". Neutrino did comment in that thread however, saying he was in agreement, so I'm hoping that as the game approaches completion the units will gain more personality.

I don't want this to be a "Uber, you need to recreate TA" thread, but I feel that, in this instance at least, it was a good example of what I was trying to explain. TA isn't the only game. The two videos of the Obelisk/Tesla Coil that igncom1 linked are also perfect examples from other games. Those are units that I will never forget (mostly because they scare the piss out of you the first time you see them).

I agree that the units need a little personality. I would like to actually care about the units and have reason to watch the battle unfold closer to the ground. Plus, I would like to be able to tell similar units apart a little better.

oh finding the right words is really difficult. but I feel you @krakanu ... have you seen the scale megathread?

ahhhh... those tesla coils. I can still hear them charging up and discharging. Right along with the "Shock Trooper Reporting" and "Rubber boots in motion".

oh! and the suicide truck driver; "Don't wait up for me!" & "One way trip!" & "Why don't you drive?!" teeeheeee

I agree with you on some points. The defencive towers for example all just shoot lasers......im not sure how to properly add personality to a unit or structure but ill try anyways;

Single barreled laser tower i think would be cool as a rapid fire (machinegun tower) laser turret since its function is suppose to fend off early bot raids.

Add a charge up sound then rapid fire burst of lasers.

Id change the 2 barreled laser tower to a thrusty twin barrel cannon type tower.(why do they all need to shoot lasers).

Id leave the t2 triple laser tower be, and just make its lasers more menesing and change the sound.

As far as units go, well i like tanks and im not sure how a soul could be added so ill leave units alone lol.

Units can have generic functionality and still have character. Zerglings in Starcraft are just melee units, but they spawned cultural references such as searching "zerg rush" (try it) on google, and the term "zerging" in general.

If you have three identical buildings differing only in strength then I don't know. Zerglings and ultralisks are two melee units for the zerg race in Starcraft, but they differ a lot in concept and have their own individual character. Three different size turrets don't.

Tanks with personality:





When these babies showed up, you knew **** was gonna get done. I just don't feel the same way about the Ant (or whatever its called these days) and the Leveler.

The fact that TA units lasted more than half a second in combat most of the time helps build a connection to them. The popcorn-like nature of the battles isn't helping any when it comes to having any form of attachment to your units.

When two equal groups of units go up against each other, yes. But two big armies fighting it out really isn't that common for me since the goal is to avoid fair fights whenever possible.