[WIP] The Realm Community Balance Mod

You're not the first to have expressed such concerns.

I responded to Brian earlier in this thread on why we're pressing ahead with this - hopefully that should explain why what you propose wouldn't work in practice. We're using a different balance paradigm to that which Uber are using.

it's a thing that happens more or less willing or unwilling: look at what happened to our circle to line mod, spaced out defense mod , hotbuild, icon mods, planet list/info mods ect...

They all got redone by Uber so pretty close to an implementation i'd say.

My bad, didn't readed all the thread this time...
(shame on me, but was a tiny little bit lazy, and as the possibility to mod the server opened only these last days, i jumped to the most recent part directly...).
This mod is then more a "rework" of the units than a balance mod.
Good for me !

Just hope that you folks (The Realm) will still be playing the "unmodded" game in the future, as most of it's members are very invested in the game, and your feedback is invaluable for the game and the community.

True ! But these mods were created to enhance the game, not to change it.
And as is see it now, the goal of this mod is more to change the way the game plays.

the barrel turn rant on the ant is a bit too low and the dox are perhaps a bit too beast.

who's getting the air units underground bug?

same difference really.

you're talking about the difference between what an average server mod can and will do and a client mod is constrained to doing.

the difference is only what we could do not what we intended to do.

I gotta say though, the new grenadier is amazing.

I'm currently successfuly running a PTE game with Realm Balance mod + the following mods

• PTE version of BBB
• Acceptance
• alerts manager
• Alpha energy plant
• auto factory
• autoselect commander (2.0, latest github commit)
• Blueprint info framework
• commander hud
• custom skybox
• fabulous selections
• floating framework
• (galactic war mods)
• highlighted buildings
• hotbuild 2
• instant sandbox
• live economy graphs
• lobby renamer
• missile command
• batchsize
• pa stats online
• pixel icons
• planet pip buttons
• profile pic+
• scale ui
• settings manager
• system sharing
• twitch controls main menu
• include KO defered

no issues

basically the only thing that fudges up is stock BBB.
I think the balance patch is unintrusive for the moment and will not spurr any incompatibilities.

Since most (if not all) the changes are server side, anyone can join and play as long as the host has the Mod installed. Currently myself and MadSci swap between which of us has the most up-to-date testing build and we make changes based on that. GitHub means that either one of us can change whatever we want, almost whenever we want and it all syncs up. In fact, anyone can keep up to date with us, just by downloading the files as they're uploaded. We're pretty good at keeping the Commit Notes fairly concise, so you can tell what we're doing even if you don't read the code itself.

Also, the Devs are free to try our mod out anytime they like, join us on Teamspeak and hash out what's working and what's not. We extend an open invitation to any of them to talk to us about any of the directional changes we're doing at any time

Perhaps you're not considering the idea that we'll both be doing balance work, but with different goals. We have a balance target in mind, and it will be centered around one style. It doesn't make other styles wrong, it just makes them different. This modding capabilities allows the game to support more balance styles than we have time to work on ourselves.

Additionally, you can make silly games like the Boom bot only mode that some people were playing by gentleman's agreement. Obviously that wouldn't be the game we ship.

Finally, this is step one in a whole roadmap of modding we want to enable, so you can make game types like Murder Party, Capture and Hold, Capture the flag, King of the Hill, etc. It lets us constrain the initial space into just balance modding while ironing out any issues with mods being moved to the server and etc. We plan to add scripting access so you can spawn units, keep track of counters, add triggers, and stuff like that.

Id love to make Sim Annihilation, and really make a city building game where the AI does the rts stuff.

Kinda like nexus wars, but with a sorian AI at the wheel.

TBH I don't think server mods will affect UI mods and vice versa.

Playtest this evening:

Twitch
YouTube

So here are my thoughts on the build now that I have cooled down a bit:
The skitters are amazing at raiding, perhaps a little bit too much so. Thought 3-4 single laser towers were going to be enough to deter 6 skitters, but apparently not so. This was the first game I came up against them so I may be wrong, but their harass felt really strong.
I like the Thumpters (Grenadiers). Thy aren't amazing units on their own but they serve exactly their purpose. They provoke engagements and they whittle down stationary defenses. I like them.
Tanks vs Bots is excellent. Bots hold the line and are quite decent at frontal assaults, but slow. They are also excellent DPS wise and even though they are vulnerable against AOE and turrets they are still a force to be reckoned with offensively and defensively. Tanks are the opposite of bots, usage wise. They are still awesome as attacking units and can hold their own against bots, they are few but deadly, they are also the cavalry to lead oyu charge. Also something just came to mind what I haven't though of before: Blitzkrieg.
T2 is good and has usages of it's own. It's an extension to your T1 and it enhances it greatly. I also like it how it can't stand on its own but mixed with T1 it's devastating. Although I still say that T2 mex are a bit costly.
As far as defense go, With the current range of a Double Laser defense turret I feel like pelter range is a bit short. But I like how the turrets actually have different kinds of uses now and all of them are useful. If you can get a couple of double laser towers up and power they, they are good, but as a makeshift defense the Single laser turrets are better and they are awesome when used in mass.
I also like the power dependency. Makes having lost of power important, but reduced metal gain makes mex spots really important early.
I also like the fact that with increased HP you can more carefully choose the engagement and there is a lot more you can do with your units before they die. Games a a lot more back and forth actually give you time to react to what you are seeing.

All in all the mod is awesome and I'm looking forward to air and orbital balance.

So I watched the vid Warner has on youtube. It looks bloody amazing so far. I totally want to join, but I'm never awake during streams, and/or arrive too late for them anyway. Not that I'd put up much of a fight in-game anyway. Maybe. I don't really know. I never fight against players because my early game is was so bad I never lasted long enough to figure out what I'm good at.

I'm tempted to question the skitter, as it seems to either have a tad too much dps, too much health, or a little of both. Maybe it's just because everything has so much health right now, but when a tank can't kill it in several hits, I think something's wrong.

Also, has anyone tried going mass vanguard / sheller as a major long-range harass? I realize that's a lot of resources, but don't know exactly how much. I also know that vanguard can tank an immense amount of damage before dying, and if that's combined with shellers wrecking shop and things like Thumpers / Dox, combined on the inside, I'm not sure what you would counter that with. Just a thought.

So played quite a bit of this last night. Ground units interaction seemed perfect and I can easily see how each would suit different roles in the game.

I'm not sure if you guys want to have this as a general feedback thread so will send a pm.

Their range is their achilles heel. The same cost in Dox will decimate them and they do poorly against anything with more than a modicum of health. However your concern is noted. They feel a lot like the "flash" from TA, so there's always the possibility that they could become a problem if they're massed. We'll keep an eye on them and do some testing to judge it.

Well... that's a mass of 4 different units from 2 completely different factories and combines T1 bots with T2 tanks.

That's an army composition with a purpose and has a very real weakness in maneuverability. I'd say that rather than engaging it head-on, I'd just skirt around you and attack your base from another angle. With that much invested in an army, you can't possibly also have a strong static defence on every front. The shellers (your main offensive tool) are reliant on energy to function, so robbing you of your energy seems like the best way to counter such a force.

If I HAD to engage you, I'd say the equivalent cost in Dox and Levellers would rip such an army to shreds... but the timing of the Leveller strike against the flank, while the Dox soak up damage would be critical... luckily you're not going anywhere fast with that army, so I believe I have time to be able to set up the pincer.

so fun bug...

I hitting "C" in the alliances menu changes who you play ...Litteraly, you can be the AI, or another player but you can't be yourself again unless you reconnect!

try it!

also solar panels super ridiculous speeds XD

Orbital hasn't been touched. Expect it not to play well with the shift in direction that Land/Structures/Air is undergoing.

Also your "bug" isn't anything of the sort. It's part of the cheat mods Uber have supplied.

That's not a sentence.

oh.

well it must have been touched because orbital panels move at lightning speeds and cannot move from planet to planet. whereas in main build they can.

I do try my very best. English isn't my main language.