Making the Commander Late Game Viable

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by Culverin, March 16, 2013.

  1. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    Considering it's Alpha that's hardly representative of anything really.

    Mike
  2. kvalheim

    kvalheim Post Master General

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    I've been thinking this since the first stream, but god, does the internet gaming community have no idea how game development actually work.
    People judging the game already by released standards when most of the content is far from complete and many major gameplay systems aren't even remotely implemented.
  3. Causeless

    Causeless Member

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    Guys

    It might just be me, but I think we are talking about PA. Not chess.

    Not sure what I feel about upgrades, but the commander should be a lot more powerful than it is now at the very least. I think that to kill a commander, you'd need to use some real strategy instead of just throwing powerful units at it.
  4. nanolathe

    nanolathe Post Master General

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    Since when has "Tonnes of Units" been stamped with "Not Allowed to Win in PA" been a thing?
  5. omega4

    omega4 Member

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    But wouldn't throwing powerful units at a Commander be a strategy in itself?

    I pulled that strategy many times in TA and SCFA, but not as many times in chess (where pawns can be quite useful in endgames).

  6. cwarner7264

    cwarner7264 Moderator Alumni

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    Reading the comments on our YouTube channel can sometimes be quite bad for my blood pressure.

    Uber are saints for the restraint they've shown in how they respond to things.
  7. Grimseff

    Grimseff Member

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    Indeed. Maybe they have some magical self-restraining technique? Zen? :)
  8. kvalheim

    kvalheim Post Master General

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    I think the best part was when people thought flowfields were a gameplay mechanic they could use.
  9. cwarner7264

    cwarner7264 Moderator Alumni

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    Heh
  10. tatsujb

    tatsujb Post Master General

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    @garatgh & Knight and maybe more people... :

    Noooooooooo.... commonnnn ~_~'

    of course they're not fixed that's why I said "so far" and I know, I played both FA and TA.

    @ causeless :

    in chess the king is a super-usefull unit, if you don't use it on the battlefield you loose.
  11. tatsujb

    tatsujb Post Master General

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    cofee. it's gotta be that delicious looking cofee. I'm sure of it!
  12. tatsujb

    tatsujb Post Master General

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    Guy look how good the commander could be when used ingeniously (if not to say absolutely fn' briliantly) in supcom:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRQZ_yG69oY hit 1080p and go fullscreen otherwise you won't know what I'm talking about.

    I love the fact that some of the best strategies are not something you see copied by every single person on the multiplayer but something you can cook up one odd day that's never been tried before, if you just have that creative brainpower. (I'm sorry but this is not a classic comdrop-firebase, this is something brand new : sera comdrop only t2, gun and missile upgrade + energy storage built and positive eco (important for the capture), no regen or restoration field combined with rambo comsnipe with a second drop, and he gets three guys out of the game! unseen!!!)

    I love the idea that a game could be so intricate that 6 years later you could still invent (winning) strategies and techniques with what was there from the start. I want the same capacity in PA!
    Last edited: July 20, 2013
  13. bongologist

    bongologist Member

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    Commander upgrades were amazing, it added a lot of depth to SC+FA, I totally agree that we need to have a big bag of tricks to be able to pull off all sorts of tactics and strategy's when we have the chance.
  14. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    Then you're out of luck;
    Mike
  15. bongologist

    bongologist Member

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    I knew that already, just having a general moan about it ;)
  16. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    Then it helps so say that, save both of us some time and effort.

    Mike
  17. smallcpu

    smallcpu Active Member

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    And good riddance I say!

    (Constraints leads often to interesting gameplay, something which often is overlooked.)
  18. kalherine

    kalherine Active Member

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    tatsujb lol.
    PA got nothing to do with FA or SC.
    Its impossible compare any rts to the FA quality,FA comes from the future:)
    Acu here only make builds and OC nothing moore.....After the 5/10 min ACU here are useless,only makes the job that any eng t2 make...
    [WILL NOT BE PRESENT] Commander Upgrades #1 #2
    Has you probably now on ACU´s on Fa makes (All t1,t2, t3,and t4, pds t1 t2 t3,raz,shields body,billys, special gun that killing units give veterancy,Special drones in case uef that total epic faction and moore things that not matter here)
    No developer team will ever make a game, has FA is,its just impossible,take too mutch time and need too mutch money..
    FA was and is a perfect game to who nows it (its a game made only to smart players)....
    PA its just a total diferent game with some ideas off TA ,will be a short game with only few units t1 and t2 and some resources T1 t2, nothing moore..
    But will be fun .
    At least its what i have see on posts,that what PA will have and don´t!
    Air units will not have same influence has we are ust,naval and ground will not have the epic battles has we are ust because the view ,that for me, its really confusing when you got large armies to control and attack,actualy i think naval showld be out PA,im not see how we will have good Naval fights here, really ....
    But at the and you will see this will be a good and fun game to play its just diferent....
    Im say this because i see many players try to compare PA to SC FA...

    viewtopic.php?f=61&t=44950
  19. tatsujb

    tatsujb Post Master General

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    guys this was perfactly relevant as to the "Making the Commander Late Game Viable" thread you say yourself that in PA com isn't viable after a couple of minutes and I agree with you, but let's change that.

    AND I DID NOT SAY THROUGH UPGRADES


    I said strategies, plural, there are tenfolds of other examples that could have been used instead. this one was explicit as to breaking the setons ritual, known for it's rigour in execution, but it was only to show an example of creativeness not showcase the upgrades.

    lets start brainstorming as to how this game could become a colourfull one.

    Not one where you log on for more of the same.
  20. mushroomars

    mushroomars Well-Known Member

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    How to make Commander not a complete liability -
    Make fighter assist a wide berth patrol instead of a direct hover.
    Don't put your Commander in a stupid position.

    Your Commander is the objective. No matter how many strategies, circumventations or upgrades are implemented, the Commander will always be the objective. And yes, arguably, it would be a good idea to make him scale with the course of the game, but that doesn't make him *not* the objective. You can put your Commander on an asteroid at the edge of the galaxy, or you can nestle him atop a great armored mountain, surrounded by hundreds and thousands of megabots and several swarms of air superiority drones, ringed by a 3-layered moat patrolled by the most ancient of battleships, your Commander will always be in danger of dying unless you destroy all of the opposition.

    Once AA is working properly the Commander will be as survivable as he needs to be. Make him any more survivable and you're just asking for a neverending stalemate.

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