End-Game Mega Units

Discussion in 'Backers Lounge (Read-only)' started by Tormidal, January 14, 2014.

  1. Tormidal

    Tormidal Active Member

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    Yknow, crashing planets into each other is great fun, dont get me wrong, but id like to see epicly large units that requires a gaint factory to make.
    Like Mr. Toorvis' "Dropped from Space mega submarine carrier", one should be able to build units on a massive scale(like the MegaBot idea), floating carriers, giant multi-targeting tanks, battleships, etc.

    Massive resource use, huge pools of health, talks a long time to build, etc.

    Or pull a Stardock with Galactic Civilizations, and include an in-game unit maker. :p
    blocky22, Olik, toorvis and 1 other person like this.
  2. Arachnis

    Arachnis Well-Known Member

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    I'm actually with you on this. But it should be so that at the same time small units still stand in the spotlight.

    The opposite of what supcom lategame was like.
    I just think "mega-units" would give the additional spice that I feel is necessary for this game.

    Spamming ants won't be fun forever...
    iron420 likes this.
  3. thetrophysystem

    thetrophysystem Post Master General

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    Making units in-game will be fairly template. Everything is in a library. Take a basic dox. Take it's model, insert your own model you made in blender. Take it's configuration, modify it. Take it's perephials, like weapons and projectiles and such, and change or add your own. Those files of yours, sitting alongside the original dox file, with a unique name, can easily be hooked into the game, referenced by a blueprint or a factory, and the game will build it no questions asked.

    All that requires you being the server. The server isn't released yet but will be on official release whenever it comes.

    That being said, players will make lots of units, many will probably make walking cities and stuff, there are a lot of player made assets coming.

    Most people discuss this and don't support the idea of larger units being in the game. They want one type of unit role, not t2 ant>t1 ant, t3 ant>t2 ant, t4 ant>t3 ant, ect. The point of t2 factories is to produce snipers and walking shields, while t1 produces general bulk fighters with basic range and armor and damage that would generally work anywhere without any special abilities, while t2 will not work just as combat units but can do special things like longrange attack and block shots and such.

    That being said, spamming ants wont be fun forever, but at the same time, adding korgoth to the game and spamming korgoth endgame wont be fun forever either.
    JesterOC, Arachnis and Tormidal like this.
  4. Tormidal

    Tormidal Active Member

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    I mean, we're smashing planets on a galactic scale, we should have giant units to go along with it. >:D


    Is there a time-frame for the server release?

    A lot of options for end-game wont be fun forever, but I do like the idea of some kind of mass-transport unit to invade planets with, or giant robots to step on armies to death.
    I personally enjoy seeing hundreds, if not thousands of bots/vehicles swarming each other and slaughtering, but it just doesnt have that epic feel that yo uwould expect to come with such a game.
  5. Arachnis

    Arachnis Well-Known Member

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    You're so awesome Trophy, thanks for that info.
    I'll try to make a megabot today, the way I would expect it to work.

    Or is that impossible right now? I mean testing it.
  6. Tormidal

    Tormidal Active Member

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    It was very helpful information. You should +1 him.
  7. thetrophysystem

    thetrophysystem Post Master General

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    Personally, and it wont happen, but personally, I would not mind a unit costing 10 halleys and being built in the orbital layer but dropping a giant robot on a planet to stomp around destroying enemy stuff.

    Might even be good idea for the game, who knows? It isn't entirely necessary, just build 3 halleys on the available small space debris, and launch it into a planet you can't land on. Simple pros and cons, you don't get the planet either but at least you don't spend any time and effort on that problem.

    I always think of ideas for a mod to make, and mine also doesn't include any mega units honestly. Honestly though, mine always includes a lot more mechanical bulk features. Unit cannons being able to transport units in mass across celestial bodies, halleys being able to move bases around other bases to start invading via unit cannon, and individual rockets being tossable between planets, is already enough to satisfy me. I am one of those satisfied with simple bulk armies and ways to simply make them pour across planet after planet.

    ASK FOR SERVER ASSETS, you can technically make them now, maxpowerz makes some, but testing them isn't possible without running a server. Technically, you used to be able to edit blueprints on your UI and your units would follow them, so if your made your vehicle factory select dox to make then it made dox simple as that, but that was locked server side so the server must think your allowed to make dox.

    The game is in beta, and once the game hits official release, the game will function standalone and the players will have access to servers. One could launch a game in their client, with a unit added, and the game would allow it like it came with the game.
  8. Tormidal

    Tormidal Active Member

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    I thought one of the Uber staff mentioned a while back about using the halleys to insert planets into new orbits around for suns and other, larger planets, in order to invade without needing to take over a moon, you could move your entire base over, like you said.

    Although, personally, I want a mass unit transport. Like the Fenris aircraft carrier thing, but you know, hits land and offloads your minor army to carve out a foothold.
  9. toorvis

    toorvis Member

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    I'm glad you like my idea, I've always liked big units, and preferred them because I love the sheer power they have and the feel that you're "unstoppable". Experimentals in supreme commander and forged alliance was in fact a bit strong, and without having 100+ percivals or bricks you couldn't really cope with a couple of experimentals without building some yourself. In supcom2 they did this was a bit different, because they removed some of the power and put it back into the smaller units, which is pretty much the only thing they did good in that game.

    The idea with having a MegaBot isn't always that it should be a replacement for an army, but I like the look on my friends face when I walk my basilisk up the beach on Shards in FA and take them by surprise, the "oh ****" face is just priceless. The only thing that I think is important to have if you should include "experimental" units is a defense platform to support in dealing with them.

    Thanks to Mike and Burnie I've had countless hours of fun with experimentals without having problems with extreme issues of megabots invading my base. Here's my beach on shards last time I played a couple of days ago:

    [​IMG]

    ¨~ Chris
    Ash3000k likes this.
  10. Tormidal

    Tormidal Active Member

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    I got to say, that screenshot is pretty epic looking. Seriously.

    And I really like your idea because its legitimately pretty cool, and it sounds like it would be something you could find in the final release of the game, if mega-units were to even become a thing.

    And I completely agree, mega-units are more for just freaking out your buddies for, as you put it, that "oh ****" face, rather than a replacement for a whole army(I wouldnt use it as a replacemanet in the first place, but its still a pretty great unit to have in the army itself.)
    toorvis likes this.
  11. thetrophysystem

    thetrophysystem Post Master General

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    Honestly, that wouldn't be a bad idea either. Making a cannon that does a ridiculous amount of damage as a base defence, and it will surely kill individual units with overkill but will not just kill armies but peck at them with low effect, but it mainly hits with decent effect a megabot. With balance, holkins can be this, since they fire so slow and peck at armies, but could do 1/10th the damage to a super-unit.

    I am not saying it is possible to balance, just if it is in fact an easy addition to the game without taking away as much as it contributes. They would have to be heavily limited against travel if they were added, balanced on the safe side in favor against them to start with, and generally it shouldn't be experimental because it is always used as robots are repetitive but as long as the word experimental isn't used its fine.
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  12. Xagar

    Xagar Active Member

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    I actually really like that idea as an addition to any sort of megabot. It's essentially an antinuke for megabots. As long as you gave it a reasonably low health and a low fire rate it would be pretty fair. I'm imagining a something like the classic Obelisk of Light.

    Attached Files:

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  13. leighzer

    leighzer Member

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    The only giant units that I think would be practical in the game would be huge mobile factories with some basic turrets and such to establish beachheads. The problem with these being able to be dropped from the sky is that if you can drop it on the sky, every time you drop it you're going to want to drop it right by the enemy's com to snipe it, which I think is a really rough mechanic, without an easy to think of solution.
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  14. Grazgul

    Grazgul Member

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    I think Titan-fall beat you to it there :p

    I've always liked the experimental type end-game. Mainly because it gives you another option to win apart from nuking or planet hurling. (assuming 21416895612956891 T2 bombers doesn't work)

    I think that expermintals shouldn't be as crazy as they were in SC and as a baseline, should be weaker then the UEF super units. I love the Space-Atlantis that was linked in the thread and that's an awesome direction for experimentals to go in.

    Has anyone though drop ships (stealing shamelessly from Mech Warrior) might be a good addition?
  15. v4skunk84

    v4skunk84 Active Member

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    I take no one here is old enough to have played TA?
    Well TA didn't have a problem with the Krogoth megabot....And that was with only one faction being able to build it...
    I like the idea of a super weapon defense turret, TA had those as well, they were very slow firing and when it did fire it consumed awesome amounts of energy, it wasn't the type of defense you could spam either because it wasn't effective against masses of cheap units.
  16. Grazgul

    Grazgul Member

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    Someone never built the Vulcan :p Those things shredded armies and krogaths without much difficulty. They felt balanced as they had a shorter range then the Artillery units and the power requirement was hilarious.

    I liked roughly where the krogath was at in terms of HP and offensive firepower. If something similar made it's way into PA I'd be pretty happy, maybe it could do without it's missiles and a reduction in the laser's range.
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  17. Gerfand

    Gerfand Active Member

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    I like the idea of have some EXP, but more like the vannila SupCom EXP, than the SupCom mods EXP
  18. CrazyVulcan

    CrazyVulcan Active Member

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    This is just a repost of something I put up in the unit suggestion thread.

    "
    Metal, for quiet some time now we have been trying to think of what these ancient super worlds could be. Are they a halo'esq doomsday device? Are they interstellar travel nodes ala Mass Effects? I think this, what if they contained the one thing that it seams that these machines want? Data, more in point data form before "The Reboot" I cant remember the lore name but this is what comes to mind but I digress. What if this data contained blue prints to factory that allowed for a Tire 3? You bring a Tire 2 fabrication bot with you and on a metal planet you then notice that you have a new building type option. A "Elite Bot Factory" that will then make T3 bots and a t3 fab bot that will allow for some new super super weapons. To the latter definition I do not know but i would think they will be limited to being built on the Metal planet but have system wide affect. Maybe if the devs allow it that is how you get your mega units. the T3 Fab builds a "Goliath Factory" that will build titans that then you can send across the system.
    "

    In short I like the idea of linking any supper units with a mechanic built around having to do something like capture a metal planet.
  19. brianpurkiss

    brianpurkiss Post Master General

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    Personally, I'm against mega units.

    However, most of the community is for such an addition to the game. So we'll probably see it eventually – but not at the game release.

    I just hope the game doesn't become all about being the first to build a mega unit. That'd ruin the game.
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  20. skywalkerpl

    skywalkerpl Member

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    Having "mega units" turns game into nothing else than race for them and than huge battles between many mega units.
    It's precisely a thing that made Supreme Commander inferior to the Total Annihilation - it's depth of strategy was completely obliterated by an introduction of experimentals.

    Thanks, but I prefer deep, strategic gameplay over "rotflstomping mega units".
    Part of the PA lore is that the units used are most optimal of all - I don't see how introduction of megabots fits it. It's already enough we will have Krogoth - which fills one important role: end-game blockade breaker (eg. you send this on a planet that's fully covered with enemy units and it got both: power and armor to create beachhead for your main forces). Introducing any more mega-bots doesn't bring ANY value into the game nor it's gameplay depth.

    We had this discussion dozens of times always ending up with the same final conclusion. Please, refer to earlier posts (you might look through my posting history - I replied in few similar topics).
    brianpurkiss likes this.

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