So... We going to fix reclaiming?

Reclaiming was a brilliant addition to TA that allowed people to acquire bonus economy when it was hard to come by.

Supcom revised this by having it reclaim an area all at once. I distinctly remember a unique Total Annihilation: Core Contingency map that had trees everywhere (except for mex points.) Except in TA, burning a tree wouldn't destroy it, rather turn it into a burnt tree (which gave less energy upon reclaim. I think it was 150 before, and 50 after.)

Can we just follow in the steps of supcom, and do large groups? Yes, Uber cannon and weapon fire is a temporary fix, but it is inefficient and leaves gaps. It makes it hell to build on tropic and Earth Planets, and in reality, The person with the most sand and non-tree areas win, rather than the guy with more mex. You know. because it takes them 2x as long to build a building.

Is this in PTE by chance?

Yes we need reclaiming back indeed. Combined with a few economy tweaks so players actually can use the metal again.

I'm not really addressing its economical applications as much as I am addressing how its ******* impossible to build.

Oh that... yeah having fabbers be a bit faster at that would be cool as well.

At the moment all the tools you need are available. You got combat fabricators, metal storage, energy plants and storage so timing your first combat fabricator might look a little tricky but if your in the forest anyway its not too bad to get a slightly different buildorder that handles trees better.

I've experimented with this. I think it may be a good idea on maps with *very limited metal* however in most games the cost of the combat fabricators (coupled with their ludicrously low health compared to cost) means you virtually never recoup the investment. They're certainly not viable in 1 v 1 against an equal skilled player imo.

Edit: Actually @jables just a thought for a balance change, could we give the combat fabs a decent health buff? I think they could be a superb support unit if they had a bit more longevity both for front line repair or reclaim. The main issue with them in earlier builds was they were too good at factory assisting, however that is no longer an issue...

I wouldn't say need. It can be an interesting mechanic, but honestly the game can be built to incorporate it, or not incorporate it equally well. Having wreckage will change gameplay, we don't know for sure if it will definitively improve gameplay. I could take or leave it personally, and i think a lot of the people saying it's an absolute foregone neccessity are saying that largely because of TA nostalgia.

Health increase is sick because then they will be able to tank while repairing themselves. To give them something extra i would pick for something else.

Army of teh combat fabs.. Running straight into your tank army building turrets, walls and mines and stuff.. Sign me up!

Want to fix combat fabbers temporarily?

Drop their cost by half.

Want to fix them for the long term?

The jury is still out on that one. It mostly involves bringing back wrecks in a stable form, though.

so

how do i deal with trees

I can't see how you could argue against wrecks. Wrecks have massive influences on gameplay if implemented correctly. Positive influences. They basically increase the strategic depth of "should I attack or not" and have very interesting effects on a correctly balanced economy. They have only been removed -after it was promised again and again to have wrecks- because of a) screwed up economy balance b) screwed up pathfinding. But the new voxel pathfinding can deal with them okay. The economy needs a fix anyway.
Really a TA/FA kind of game without wrecks is ... bad Wrecks had a purpose in those games, they made the game look much more awesome and we it's hurting to see PA without them. It's one more reason (together with the borked economy balance) why the current gameplay is flat and boring.

No reclaim is why I'm not playing the game anymore. Attacking foolishly is never punished, it's bad.

That depends on how much of a health increase they get. Currently they die in one hit to just about anything. They should have at least the hp of a standard tank in order to perform their intended function. If that means you can push with hordes of them, great!

Haha, you!!

I never reclaimed anyways, so it doesn't really matter to me

Well wasting a large force of units into a load of defences to kill 1 mex is punishment as its a fast way to get behind. It just doesn't punish you *as much*. That said what I'd love to see is resurrection units that reactivate wrecks. That is such fun in spring- sending a zombie army of your opponents dead units back at them

Someone hasn't played RCBM. Everyone should play RCBM it's the best thing since the Unit Cannon.

Hehe, I agree with you Clopse. Fabs are already pretry dang fast already, them TA fabricators though.