Starting Units

I was thinking along the same lines as the way ZeroK does the start - each player / team gets an area to choose which is determined by the server (keeps it 'fair') but then since you're all sitting around in the lobby anyways why not let the players make some of those first decisions - teams could possibly even see each other's battle plans and land next to another player with a supplementary base layout.

If that's too radical, a simple 'pick a few auto-assembling structure trucks to accompany your ACU' interface works too.

Dont forget an option to choose which commander to spawn with (With Icons beside them, so you know which is which?)

You could also assign commanders a relative cost - do you start with the more expensive but more powerful commander, or go with a cheap lightweight chassis and get a boost to your initial factory complex?

This would nicely neuter the argument that a custom commander with different stats would be 'pay to win' too

As if it'd be that easy and you know it ;p

Mike

Some animals cannibalize their shells. Delicious, nutritioius calcium- I mean metal.

Gameplay begins hen the first interesting choice is available. In TotalA and Supcom, there was some distinction with going factory first or eco first, since the Comm could fill in the blanks with some d-gun magic. In Zero-K, this was your choice of first factory, which came free and with vastly reduced build time.

Your first factory can not be scouted or anticipated. As such, the number of options and opportunities it opens up has to be carefully calculated. For a good example of how it can be screwed up, just look at the Starcraft Reaper.

The Reaper was a unit that destroyed economic units, wrecked early game base defenses, ignored chokepoint base design, and crushed the first standard combat unit. It could only be defeated by the second combat unit, which it could typically outrun. It was also incredibly easy to unlock, coming as a second unit choice that could be rushed out very vast. One unit bested 4 out of the 5 available solutions, leading to a number of nerfs that all but removed it from play.
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TotalA addressed early game issues by locking out advanced factories and gantries. Advanced units with long range or special powers simply weren't available as a first choice. Supcom further condensed factory options, and enforced an upgrade system that made infrastructure a direct factor in unlocking units.

Zero-K addressed early game issues by keeping core roles in every single factory and filling the voids with strong base defense. It dealt with the free factory issue by normalizing factory price across the board.