Auto Repair for units and structures

Autorepair is mainly needed in the case that units can start feasibly taking small enough amounts of damage that they just have minor healthbar chinks.

(and, I'm nobody?)

If it's implemented, I think the best way would be:

• Kick in after a certain amount of no damage time
• Be slow as hell
• Take the same resources it would normally take to build (or repair by an engineer if it's different, whatever) the unit
• Make time to repair depend on the amount of health to recover, not vice-versa
• Be turned off and on at will, either by building or globally

So, a non-free optional convenience that is disabled when under attack, and not a suitable replacement for a proper repair effort.

I would not call that a slow repair rate; if anything that's a mega fast repair rate for anything but a peewee. When I say slow, think whatever you're thinking and make it 10x slower.

I only read the first page, so don't kill if i repeated something but i support this idea, with a small caveat: at least some of the structures(which i can't really decide, but either factories, walls, or resource gathering) should catch fire from the appropriate types of unit fire.

Any game with Biological races usually had global unit/structure regen, Zerg comes to mind in particular.

Balance is key here - the structure autorepair should be slow (not unlike the Zerg). What we're trying to avoid is the necessity of silly patrol schemes as they do not add depth to the game. In general elegance should be the rule the UberEnt team follows and I trust they will. Elegance meaning "a lot of depth for very little complexity".

Proof? I'm a regular to Balanced Annihilation and I know of no such thing.
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If regeneration is so negligible as is being suggested here(to fix scratches from flying debris), then it's effectively worthless. At which point, why even bother?

If you think that damage is important, then you deny it's negligible.

I think you should just make the factories have little bots that auto repair structures and units around them so long as they're not in combat. (Combat meaning they had enemy units near them or they have taken damage in the last x seconds.)

They'd repair at a much slower rate than the engineers and they'd go one by one starting from (the most damaged?) structures first.

I also think that there should be a getting damaged over time threshold. Like if a building is damaged up to x percent (something between 70-90 maybe?) then they'll take damage because they're on fire (only on planets where air is present of course).

Veteran units doesn't get regen? Ok then.

Edit:Tested BA 7.72.
Peewee got regen at least

Ugh... So do Rockos and Hammers I just tested.

Why is that even put in? It's totally superflous.

The only reason the commander needs it is because you can't repair him normally.

Then you haven't been reading. It takes the effort out of keeping your units healthy and gives you hitpoints for free.

It gives you hitpoints for free.

They are hitpoints.

That are free.

Stylistically it does not fit with the build/repair/reclaim trinity that a flux economy offers. Going against the core theme of the game. If this isn't valid to you because it isn't strictly mechanical then you're just stupid.

Being free isn't a problem, shells are free and that's fine.

It's a problem because health regen negates most raiding attacks unless the raid outright destroyed something.

If you can't wither down an enemy with raiding then raiding units are kinda pointless, so people won't build them, if the game devs put them in at all.

That's another good point.

Shells are free in the same way that energy is free, you still gotta build the thing that fires it (and keep it in good health)

IMO; tickling enemy structures to force a split in your opponent's concentration to repair stuff should be a legitimate and viable tactic.

I see auto-repair as an affront to that.

Yes you can, at least in TA and Supcom2.

FA repair was screwed up because it cost 100% resources and the ACU was crazy expensive. Any unit that so much as thought of repairing the ACU would destroy your economy. It was stupid and it made engi towers a game ender all their own.

Don't forget that destroying something leaves wreckage. The raid may end up GIFTING more resources than it destroys.

That's why raiders should be explosive, and scouts should be reclaimers. It's so the raiders don't give wreckage, and so the scouts can immediately suck up enemy wreckage.

I will give my 2 cents.

1. No to units repairing themselves. I understand why this is desireable but it's not a good game play. It is bad for game play, because there is less units supporting each other. Interaction is game play.

2. Yes to a small trickle regeneration (no cost) on everything. Tanks, buildings, commander, boats, etc all should gain health back over a long period of time.

2b. No to waiting for regeneration. If someone can't do enough damage to get through your regeneration then they don't harm your unit. That's not wierd. What's wierd is how bad a situation that is for the attacker. Bad attack is bad. You are out manned sir. Go home.

3. No to repairs costing metal.
-You already paid metal for the unit.
-Your enemy didn't pay metal to damage you.

4. No to multiple repairs at the same time.
-This causes weird situations where decent units cannot damage structures they were intended to because those structures have too much support.

5. Regeneration and self repair is not an elegant solution to lack of shields and will not be easier for development.
- UEF: Supreme Commander 2

6. I like the idea to improve your unit control of engineers by players being able to set priority for their actions. More on this in another thread.

Tedious is what tedious does....

What I don't see in replies is the understand of the actual game. What I mean is I still think people are in the mind set of previous games (as that is what they have only to go off of) like TA, which in retrospect this game will have enough to track.

From various bases on various planets to various tactics, I want to emphasize my gameplay on tactics and building. Things such as repair could be enhanced as suggested but auto regen on buildings would...

A. Make sense being this is some type of advance AI Mechanical Army with a huge long history of war. I am sure this could be written in as a designed (auto repair) due to the necessity of war.

B. You can cap the regen % based on friendly unit types near by.

C. No regen = tedious game play

I can't say it enough on how I see this being very, very, tedious. We are not dealing with just one war front but many on multiple planetoids. I really don't think many understand how much we will be doing as is and adding more "Depth" where it's not really needed is just silly.

A compromise of regen and bonus regen would be easy to do and make a whole lot of sense while not making it tedious.

How about regeneration that only kicks in when the unit is idle?

When the unit is firing or moving it wouldn't regenerate health.

The regeneration isn't really "free" as you in general want your units to move to counter enemy maneuvers and if the enemy chases you can't really stop to regenerate.

This still nerfs raiding too much. You should be forced to devote attention to making repairs if you want repairs to happen. Engineering towers like what FA had were fine for supporting static defenses because the little repair drones could be shot down.

I think the commander should be the only unit that regenerates by default. For any other unit to regenerate it should require a certain level of veterancy if it is even possible at all.

Wrong on all counts.

In Balanced Annihilation games I regularly build nano towers to shore up defencive positions and create retreat zones, which aren't to do with production.

If laying out patrols is tedious, you fix the user interface - you don't avoid the problem. This is actually a strong case for orders-as-first-class-entities.

Raids, or attacks, can(and often) happen in a succession which lasts an indeterminate amount of time. Later attacks may have the intention of finishing targets the prior wave has damaged.

If you don't think it's worth giving an area repair coverage, it's because you don't value that area enough.

Balanced Annihilation's late game consists of base layouts with dozens of nano towers surrounding a factory, and the player only building more factories to get different types of units, as the benefits of freely being able to channel that much production are so great. The general consensus among this forum is for a move away from assisting-centric gameplay. I for one want to see nano towers useful for more than just padders for factories and construction.

Blanket statement:

How? Please describe one or more scenarios where raiding makes sense where you don't do enough damage to destroy anything.

I think this entire argument is preposterous, but I am willing to listen if you have something to say.