It's time to talk unit ideas

As the game moves along I want to add a bit more variety to the units. In particular to start filling some more specialized roles.

So this is the thread to throw out your ideas. More basic units and unit ideas, more advanced units and unit ideas. It's unlikely we are going to do units that are extremely complex, I want this more focused on filling out the lower level unit roster. So for example proposing a terraforming bot that fundamentally changes the game isn't going to happen in this round.

You've already seen a few of the things we are poking at including spider bots, crawling bombs, mine layers etc. Possibly torp bombers (although I'm heavily considering having regular bombers fill that role).

I can't promise we'll implement anything in this thread but this is a chance to make your mark on the game. Let's discuss.

Yeah! Spiderbots!
Oh... sorry! I couldn't hold it back.

But I really loved the spider bots from TA with the paralyzing laser.

How about a unit that can switch between shooting at air and shooting at ground targets, but not both at once. Switching would take time and/or energy and would change how the unit looked with a cool animation.

The versatility of the unit would be its strength.

Spider bots are cool! I know your asking about smaller units to fill the ranks but I think it would be cool to see maybe some larger units (Titans or some giant walker type thing), maybe a heavily armored unit with multiple charge weapons that can take on a couple hundred small units, Obviously it would have to be balanced to be very very expensive, the cost of a couple hundred units in fact so that it would actually drain your economy enough so that you had to decide between the many small units or the single large. I don't know, I love the giant units tho.

Some sort of snake or Worm unit with a drill at one end for infiltration and scouting, can burrow through some grounds but not all.

some sort of T1 bot mass transport that could move around 50+ scampers or so quickly

mobile radar truck for frontlines recon (could also just add extended radar to scout buggy)

ramjet bomber - high altitude, very high speed on approach, drops down to deliver payload. Idea is the thing is way tough to kill on the way in, easy to kill on the way out

mobile missile launch truck - comparable to current artillery T2, but launches large slow moving missile instead of artillery

orbital defense platform - basically a box with a few dozen missiles in it that'll swarm out and destroy enemy orbital units

orbital dropship - mass carrier that can drop dozens of t2 tanks from orbit

holo-tank - weak, non-combat unit that camo's itself to appear to be a swarm of tanks. Can be used to misinform enemy, trick them to defending against a non existent threat

EMP nuke option - set nukes to detonate in orbit over enemy base, causing EMP effect to knock out power within very large radius for set amount of time. Powers down units too, collateral damage enabled

tesla tank - lower armor than normal T2 tank, but attacks with lightning bolt that can chain through groups of enemies




that's all the ideas i got for now

some form of multi-rocket (unguided) launch vehicle, tracked or wheeled, like a Russian Katyusha

We definitely need transporters - like the VALKYRIE (air) and ENVOY (sea).
Flamethrowers - like the PYRO
Amphibious Tanks - like the CROC
Gunships - like the RAPIER

I'm gonna go ahead and link to this post by YourLocalMadSci. In particular:

TL;DR - a separate gunship factory.

----

EDIT: Oooh I suppose I'll double-dip. I'd appreciate some counter-intel units. Not original, I suppose, but cloaking stuff and radar jamming stuff would be quite nice.

- Submersible planes
- Underwater buildings/units
- Platform floating on water used to drive/walk on, not sure if it should be a unit or a construction.
- Unit that is capable of permanently destroying/reclaiming a metalspot
- Rocket-like unit that shoots into right the surface of another planet and is a self-building-construction (thinking about radar, AA, laserturret, factory (maybe a bad one because of OP))
- Nanolate tower
- EMP units, maybe even a big blast EMP
- Ultracheap self destructing orbital mini-emp that clamps to an orbital unit and take it down
- Aircraft carrying submarine
- Melee units, maybe with automatic wreckage clearing moves (also maybe a melee submersible unit that shreds boats)
- Multiple way Teleportal
- Repair specialist (a fabricator with more hp and/or speed that can only nanolate units and not buildings) maybe with an autorepair function
- Eco stealing specialist can go to an enemy extractor or reactor and steal the income by reverse nanolathe without actually destroying the building
- Burrowed/Digging units
- Nuclear mine
- Orbital anti-nuke
- Rocket battery (mobile, orbital or just a structure) 1 quick barrage of rockets, and then long reload time.

Units that are "paratroop-drop-capable" from aircraft

Mobile shield generator?

Dummy Commanders

I just can't help but keep coming back to the TA tech 1 line up.
Rocket bots and light tanks like the FLASH are my favourites

Orbital bombers (Boom boom),,
Medic Bot (Fast build time in factory, Medium Armor, Medium unit healing radius/range),
Medic tank (long build time in factory, Heavy Armor, Large unit healing radius/range),
Medic Naval unit (heals surrounding naval units only),
Medical aircraft/drone (medium build time in factory, low/no Armor, Small unit healing radius/range),
Advanced Medic Units (same as T1 medics but these T2 units have a larger healing range/bonus)

Medic units could be good for reinforcing a massive T1 meat shield of units, maybe making T1 units more powerful again late-game, especially if the T1 meat sheild units are backed by a few Advanced medic units (T2)

I would love a T1 mobile missile launcher, mid-ranged, good at sniping down laser turrets so long as you have radar cover or some spam units willing to walk into vision range. Correspondingly, bad at hitting moving targets. No blast, just a single hard kick to building HP, something to bring the turtles out of their shells just a little.

Also, I'd really like a VTOL gunship (maybe also T1), a higher-cost unit very good at chasing down said missile launchers, as a reminder that people should mix in a few AA units. Something that can really shut down people's expansions if they ignore the air game. Ideally something with twin gatling cannons that can cover a target in pew pew pew.

Also also, a radar jammer (T2?) for sneaking groups of units about the map, at least until the advanced radar satellites go up. Nothing too fast-moving, and perhaps only able to mask unit (not building) radar signatures.

Lastly, an ion missile as a T3 offensive structure, which turns off radar/intel structures in a large area when it detonates, maybe dealing damage to orbital units in the process. It might help if the missiles can be shot down by anti-nuke defence.

Oh boy. This is like Christmas. I swear I haven't been naughty since 2002.

A basic unit that counters turrets. Rocket bots or something.

Neutrino, play Total Annihilation... and then add those units.

Multiple (vehicle and k-bot) mortar-launching units for reaching high (and low, ie inside craters) enemy positions

Some form of resurrection unit a la Core