I only care about 1v1. I want a 30 minute game on the average... *EDIT* to include the cool two moon one planet idea from jurgenvonjurgensen Here are 4 varied starting scenarios: Same Planet This seems the most conservative choice with little difference with the way SupCom plays (besides a weird round surface). Other planets would be akin to the far off islands of SupCom. Most games probably wouldn't involve leaving the starting planet as expanding to another planet is likely slowish and difficult with enemy in your face. SupCom was crazy fun and this would be too with the new toys...but seems like we might be missing out on some revolutionary game play possibilities. Two Planet This is roughly equivalent to the few SupCom maps where opponents started on separate islands. Personally, I thumbs-downed all these maps. While naval was fun, the 30 minutes of build up to get it was very lame. (This is probably why in RTS that this sort of map is a rarity.) If two planet is not done right, 1v1 may be ruined by 30 minutes of boring base building. How it might work: start players at tier 2.5 with an economy already in place, maybe even a modest starting army. Then, the attacking could begin immediately. Solar System Imagine a planet or two with several moons--maybe 5-8 planets/moons total. There are no set start positions, but rather the beginning of the game has each player landing a commander's armada and two small armadas at any location he wants, blind to the similar choices of the other player. Each landing site becomes a small pre-built base ready to expand or abandon. The player has to choose how to invest the starting resources. Players could end of right on top of each other in pitched battles. Allowing mobility between planets quickly is important to expedite game resolution. Two Moon, One planet Imagine that each player starts on a tiny moon with limited resource. A move to the planet below is required to win. As the commanders leave the moon behind for the surface, the moon transitions into a staging area or weapons platform. It would be fantastic to have a moon loaded down with artillery or that troop-launcher thing, which regularly orbits into and out of attack position. This would bring a planetary aspect to a 1v1 game, while still keeping us grounded in a familiar 1v1 like map. One planet is likely what we'll get, but maybe something like solar system is possible with creative design, while still maintaining the 30 minute 1v1 game.
I have a few Theories on the Rocket Gantry(the thing that sends the Comm to the moon in the Visualization) and how it could be balanced that it should not come to quickly when spawning on the same planet with an enemy, but allowing you to focus on with then you don't have immediate pressure to allow you to get it much sooner. Starting with a pre built eco and army is ridiculous and removes the important part of the actual game. Mike
Actually I could kind of see this mad dash to get into space. If you can get to another planet a few minutes before someone else you can send unguarded workers around setting up mass extractors. Or just set up an expansion base that you know will be safe for a bit. I have actually seen a couple of games where people set the no rush timer to 30 minutes anyway. I never really pictured TA or SupCom being a very short game. Sure it can be fast and hectic at times, but I don't see people doing the zergling rush as much as other games.
Nikin, you already created a thread about the same topic a couple of days ago. Please see here: http://forums.uberent.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=37287 Just because you didn't get the answer you wanted doesn't mean that asking the question again in a slightly different way will yield different results. Besides that it just clutters up message board with duplicate topics. This should be closed down and merged with your previous discussion about the same thing. More to the point - if people were interested in what you have to say on the matter then your original post wouldn't have died so quickly. It still remains likely that 1v1 on anything more than the same planet will take beyond your desired 30mins of gameplay. As I have already stated, one way to speed this up would be to increase your resource income with some kind of multiplier as could be done in SC. Failing that I am not sure how you could simply short-cut to the space phase without this: EDITED: Because I should learn to use the 'preview' function.
You're missing the more interesting 1v1 setup of two players starting on different small moons orbiting a much larger planet. It allows space expansion and the most likely result of said expansion will be two players fighting over the main planet. It took you thirty minutes to get to naval combat in SC? What were you even doing? It takes a minute to build a naval factory and one minute seven to build a frigate. There, now you're in the sea and have a unit with which to start naval-ing.
Why? I can imagine smaller planets that make it possible to play a 1v1 on multiple planets within 10 minutes. Planets dont need to be like 20x20+ Maps in SupCom. The only important factor is a cheap way to spread engineers in the early game.
For me 1vs1 30 min is boring in general and building up a your own base (Pre-Build is pretty bad) is meaning to be played. With the Pre-Build system i would feel like I´m in the demo of Roller Coaster.You get a Pre-Build lvl to start with but the problem is you dont know nothing about the prices and such things so later visitors shout out that your park is dirty or boring or so. So let´s say Pre-Build IS BAD IDEA.
Maybe if you wanted to specifically use them for a 1v1. However, I think jurgenvonjurgensen has come up with a much better idea. I disagree however, that spreading engineers is the only important factor. I really like the starting on two moons orbiting the same planet idea as opposed to starting on the same planet. It would be a great alternative to the vanilla 1v1 layout and I think this idea really needs to be put forward to the Devs. That way planet size really doesn't matter. In fact you could say the bigger the better as that adds more tactical options. Particularly where you decided to land and set up shop. The idea really appeals to me. It gives you a small slice of pretty much the major parts of the game in a manageable and realistic 1v1 game. It also sets it apart from it's predecessors and defines the game as being firmly rooted in space. EDITED: In a hurry and forgot to add something. EDITED X2: Because I miss words when I hurry. EDITED X3: Because I think this should be a game play option rather than just the only way to do 1v1. I think there are a great many that would just want a same-planet 1v1. So when setting the game up it should be a spawn or map option. Whichever seems more appropriate. I personally would like the option to play he game both ways.
Replies: @ nlspeed911: I am unsure about pre-built stuff too. I cannot remember playing an RTS which had it and that is likely for good reason. I suggested this as a way to kickstart a 1v1 game where the map may be larger and more fragmented than typically seen in SupCom. And toggle options are for people who play custom games--I only ever play the ranked 1v1 games so I only care about the standard start. @OrangeKnight: the rocket gantry is a must in the new 2-moon-1-planet idea. I am not suggesting an entire infrastructure be pre-built, but maybe just enough to remove the first 2 minutes of the game (which we do largely the same over and over) @ zachb: As I got good at SupCom it became possible to beat unskilled players in ~10 minutes. It is not fun playing someone who is a radically different skill level than you, so there needs to be a way to quickly end such games with skill. @wolfdogg: I dub thee the preacher. I've created two topics geez. I do not see this one as a repeat of the other. Also, if I didn't want the other to die, I could *bump* it right? I see you like the 2-moon-1-planet idea though, so we have that in common. @jurgenvonjurgensen: great idea on the 2-moon-1-planet. I edited the post to include it. You are giving me a hard time on the naval thing...it is true the forced naval in SupCom caused games to go very long. Just getting your navy from one side of the map to the other could take 4 minutes. @ Cola_Colin: I like the way you think. @ supremevoid: 30 min 1v1 is just right to me. I played 100s of SupCom games and loved it...best RTS ever. I have to be able to plan my time though to fit games in...and hour games mean I don't play as much. I do like the occasional hour long game, just don't make it the rule.
