I know that Uber doesn´t want to include experimental units for good reasons. Instead of them I´d like to have BIG Units/ Buildings that can only be powered by inserting the commander into them as a power core. Generally they should get lots of armour and nuke protection, but need vast landscapes to build them (-> easy to destroy while they are building up), cannot be repaired (too complex...) and locking the command in/out takes a hell lot of time, so it´s always risky to enter/ leave them if you are in no good position @that time! It would adress the issue that commanders turn out pretty useless in lategame (as they cannot build advance buildings without the help of a fabber), would give players an option to spend tons of mass and energy and would be a nice alternative to the not yet (will they ever be included?) Tier III-Units. I´ve got scetches for three types of ACHUs: -a very slow Fab-Tank with amphibic abilities, strong Anti-Air and Anti-Ship and Anti-Ground-Cannons, but completly helpless against CelestrialUnits (Anchrors, Fabbers, SSX) -a fast OrbitalFighterArmor (think of something like the Suit of StrikeSuitZero in BIIG!) that can safely transport units between Planets, but causes REALLY heavy EnergyConsumtion to stay in Cel. If Energy is low, Thrusters are shut down and unit drops in MidAir and can be target by literally everything. (all commanderEnergy is used to doesn´t let it crush to ground, so all cannons are inactive, too) -GiantSpiderBot with mega-laser (AntiAll-Weapon) with constant energy drain while in use (maybe 1M or so...) but can target wide areas. Alt-weapon would be a build-in nuke launcher; nukes cannot be build up while laser is in use and in general build up of nukes is ways slower than the stationed nuke launcher What do you think about that idea?
I love this idea - it also means that getting him killed still ends the game. I don't think the orbital layer upgrades will work though - just put the commander into space and he will never die. This adds variety. You can end the game with Halley's (orbital layer --> expansion --> victory), Armored Commander Hulls (ground layer --> dominance, but stalemate --> victory), or Nuke spam. I like the amphibious tank idea and the spiderbot without the nukes.
That's actually the first WYSIWYG-method for limiting super-units I've ever seen on this forum... That's actually a pretty cool Idea.
against this for vanilla ... the commander is ment to be a liability... also these ideas sound like upgrades aswell which i am not keen of either
ACHU? Needs a new acronym, methinks. Something that won't make casters say "bless you" every time you build one. That said, I like it a lot for a mega-unit proposal.
this is not a bad idea. You have to make the decision between risking the death of your comm or staying alive. But i would still prefer experimentals. I think this is more suitable as a mod.It doesn't really feel practical in vanilla.
Hmm, Uber wont do "traditional experimentals" (ironic name...), I think you should burry that hope! The thing is that experimentals are units with two major letdowns: 1. They make "normal" units mostly uninteresting in lategame. Right now MOST Tier I Units are still even valuable in lategame, Experimentals can easily kill that lategame unit-balance. 2. They are "monopoly-style weapons": The player that finishes the first one sends it to the enemy base, raping the Economy while he´s got all time to improve his own eco and build the next one. Maybe the other player can beat it, but what then? Player I has proberbly improved his eco and has the next one ready, while Player II spend all efford on beating the first experimental! With the ACHU-Concept, game is over when first "experimental" is dead---sure, you can build more than one ACHU, but only one can be powered at the same time. And it´s risky to leave one, as your commander isn´t getting out of them fast. (should take at least 30 sek, VERY risky if bombers are nearby) Oh, and on top of that it´s promoting the "AnnihilatingPlanets-Concept", as (of course) such big units cannot be teleported and are bound to one planet, so other players can send a moon to annihilate the planet and can be sure to kill the commander! Exactly! @IdeaOfAMod:In a mod they´ll never become real good-looking/ good-animated units (you don´t wanna have the commander simply wait 30 sek and than---plop!---be inside the ACHU, do you?), would never become popular, would never become balanced, would never... ... so my personal opinion it´s "Vanilla or never"! The "tradition experimentals" are someting for a mod, but this idea isn´t! BTW: I definitivly agree on archmagecarn´s post... ...i just needed an acronym and this was the first idea. Shouldn´t become the final name... Oh, and big thanks to all that likes and nice responses. Hope that this will encourage one of the team to think about the concept and (hopefully) include it in a flashed-out version in the vanilla!
I like this idea I was thinking the code for such a unit might be too complex, but thinking about it functionally it is a single unit transport so hopefully not.
It is a cool Idea, but I don't think the commander is useless late game after the recent update. I also like that he is a liability late game. This sounds like a great idea for a mod / alternate game mode.
This idea was discussed a while ago in the backers forum. A lot of people are against it (if you have access, here is the link), and a lot for it. I personnally was thinking i could be a good trade with the "normal" experimentals/super units, as you could not just rush to them to win a game (only one by commander, not enough to crush your opponent), and loosing it would mean end of the game for you (or almost, maybe an emergency Commander ejection module ?). Your propositions are fun, but extremly hard to balance. I would prefer/see the armor as a special boon, or something different than biggers guns with huge cost (and making powerful thing cost a LOT is not the best balancing that can exist). Maybe transform the Commander in an Super Bot, but consume all his metal/energy production to function and cut the building capacity, or a Super Fabber that loose all his offensif capabilities in exchange of way more production potential etc. Still not perfect, but the tradeoff seems interesting to me
I´ve just read through that thread (huh, never actually thought about it that also non-backers can be in the uber forums ) and I think there are some little differences. In that thread it have been presented as an option to make the commander tougher and less easy to kill. My idea focusses on the complete opposite: It´s a huge risk to send your ACHU to battle, instead of just letting your commander standing in your base and supporting an advanced fab. The unit can be spotted easily and if one planet has been send to annihilate your planet, you are literally chosen your graveyard, as there is no possibility to escape that situation. It´s even a risk to start building an ACHU, as you need so many resources. And yes, high costs are a form of balancing. Just look at the Halleys---the only thing that balances them are their high costs! Or look at the recent patch: The vanguards have been balanced by highering their costs! "Maybe transform the Commander in an Super Bot, but consume all his metal/energy production to function and cut the building capacity, or a Super Fabber that loose all his offensif capabilities in exchange of way more production potential etc. Still not perfect, but the tradeoff seems interesting to me " Hmm, the commander isn´t good at building and isn´t good at fighting and isn´t good at resource production right now (in lategame)---> this cannot cause an interesting tradeoff, if there isn´t something valueable to tradeoff. Something valueable to trade off is security. That´s the core idea---> security vs. firepower. THATS an interesting tradeoff!
