I really feel like we need this. Bots cant win late game matches and if they do its very costly. Why would i build an early game harass factory that wont win me the game unless i'm in a shared army match?
We don't need it. We need bot balance fixed. Having the two factories introduce some very key decisions that increase the strategic depth. This is a strategy game after all.
Bots have been shafted repeatedly by various vehicle buffs and the removal of Basic Bot AA. Bots are perfectly viable as a separate factory, Uber just hasn't done anything recently to ensure that is the case really. I'm curious, have you tried playing any of the Balance Mods yet? Mike
If uber fails to balance them so that they are a viable first factory then I fully support consolidating the two factories into one. I'd much rather that both factories are viable as first factories, however.
My problem is, what are you really gaining from bots? I know they have been shafted, but uber insists they intend to make them fast and mobile which is kool, but not really useful considering the minimal micro approach the game requires. sure they could be re balanced to deal a bit more damage but at the end of the day, they are just a cheaper more expendable vehicle, not much strategic depth there. unless we see something like the cliffs biome mod absorbed (where hills and valleys come into play and require careful maneuvering of forces to approach an enemy force or base) i really don't see a point of all the extra work fom the player or developer for that matter. It just feel like they are forcing it to try and work when it really doesnt belong. Hell, even supcom combined the two factories, not that this game should be like supcom mind you.
The circumstances are entirely different, it's not so much that they combined them as much as they were basically just cosmetic differences, Bots and Tanks were only present as a form of visual/factional variety where as here in PA they should be having functional differences as well. I don't think there is anything "missing" for bots to be capable of standing on thier own, all Uber needs is a clear plan and direction for them and to actually execute it. I'm still curious, have you tried playing any of the Balance Mods yet? Mike
For skirmish all you need is to install the mod via the atomshell PAMM and host a game, as usual. Don't change the planet until the mod has loaded or else you get issues. For GW you need to copy the mod folder to the mods directory (not server mods, just mods), go into the modinfo.json, and look for context: server, or some such thing. Change server to client and save it. Open your PAMM and run the game. It's as simple as that!
Statera and Re-DOX both have their latest version on PAMM. RCBM is on PAMM, but it's an old and apparently slightly bugged version.
Also, supcome bots were not a cosmetic difference, they were fast and cheep scouts that could fight back, but there were a grand total of 2 per faction in the game if memory serves (t-1 t-3).
Aeon Had 3(4 if you count T4s) Bots, UEF had 4, Cybran had 5(7 if you count T4s) and Seraphim had 3(4 if you count T4s) and while in some cases they provide a different role when compared to a tank unit in the same Tier that doesn't really mean anything because there was only one "most" effective unit per role and there is NOTHING stating that the role couldn't have also been carried out by a Tank, or a Tank's Role be carried out by a Bot, For example the LABs might have been more of a "raider" unit the Mantis certainly wasn't as it had to compete against Tanks at T1, in T2 the Mongoose, Hoplight and Ilshavohs were the primary combat units and in T3, the Loyalist, Brick, Titan, Percival and Harbringer were the main combat units as well, in fact, if you break it down in terms of the units to primarily see combat overall there might even be more bots than tanks or at least it'd be mostly even. Mike
You can install RBM through PAMM, but I think that version is dated. You can then manually update it to the latest version which can be found on GitHub: https://github.com/cwarner7264/realm-rebalance/branches
I hope you realize this statement means that bots AREN'T viable and require substantial improvements to work again.