Static vs Mobile Defenses

And I bet you never posted about thoughts on them in the end did you? Funny how often that happens.

Mike

Played the mod twice because my mate asked me to
I also did post saying they seemed pretty broken, it was only a small post though quickly consumed by the size of the rest of the massive mod balance threads concerning everything BlackOps

So in laymans terms.
Screw you Mike.

Das cool.

Mike

Probably. Like I said; if it can be figured out, I'm all for it. If you can just grab a bunch of selected buildings and hit a "copy this stuff" button and drop it in a new location, and then drop a "reclaim all buildings in this area" command to remove the old stuff, that'd work pretty well.

Worst case it'd take too long in terms of building/reclaiming, but I can live with that, really.

4 or 5 clicks in different locations per turret is way to involved. If you need to move a dozen turrets, you don't want to do this. Hell, if you have to move 3 turrets you probably don't want to do this.

Why move the turrets?

Just build new ones.

Hmmm... Here is a idea that isn't new.

What about allowing units to Fortify, For example. Instead of the Dev's making a Dozen static defense structures. They only make a few really neat, cool ones. Then instead give some units they had already planned on making secondary abilities to be used when 'dug in' or fortified. When 'dug in' the units would unlock secondary weapons if they have them such as rockets/mortars. And accuracy and range would be greatly improved. They would also take less damage and be harder to hit. Make it a substantial increase in ability to justify the long 'dig in' time. And allow the units to be able to provide a heroic defense of your base, or they're positions.

This could add another level of depth to the game-play and introduce player defined 'choke' points and beach-heads. It could allow players to fabricate they're own points of contention in a more meaningful way then just parking some units and moving on. This would be awesome.

For your units to dig-in, They would need to be stationary for a given period of time and either unable to attack/defend for a 'while' like 30 seconds? Or be able to defend and return fire but be unable to be moved from its location for a couple minutes to justify the benefits.

If at any point you break the fortifications the units instantly loose all benefits and become normal.

This could allow a savings in Dev time while introducing a fun element. You could also call this "Bunker" like mentioned below. And perhaps you could increase the amount of deploy-able structures, or have cheap fortifications like barb wire (mentioned above) or dragons teeth, or pill boxes, walls etc.

Because that'd be expensive as hell and you might as well just build tanks instead.

Units that bunker in like mentioned above can also work, that basically brings us back to the Crabe, which is exactly like that (except pretty fast at deploying)

Isn't the idea to secure ground with turrets?

When it comes to attacking and defending, an army is the best.

But when it comes to holding a position, turrets can't be beat.

Why not that?

What's the difference between holding a position and defending?

They could be the same thing for simplicity, Is there already mention of a 'hold' position feature?

I was saying the ability to dig in, could offset some of the issues with static defenses such as whether or not they are ever worth it.

How long you are doing it.

Are you there just to kill the attackers or are you there for the game's length?

This game will most likely not have any kind of fixed front unless you're a turtle. Which means that turrets will either need to be a little fluid like your army, or they'll be completely pointless. By the time a turret is done with regular building, half the time the front will already have shifted further forward, or moved back (in which your turrets won't be done, just dead)

In a real world situation you might expect to hold a place down for a few months. In these games you'd be happy to see a stand-still for more than a minute. Ordinary turrets don't really fit in that situation I would say.

I don't get the problem here, if the front moves away from your turret, then don't build more.

Doesn't make it worth any less because turrets don't apply to the same rules as an army.

In SupCom2 your turrets were base insurance, there not to defeat your enemy, but to prevent your enemy from defeating you in one attack.

Even in the games of FAF that are on you tube players still fortify their bases and use turrets to hold down a location.

Of course Id like a way to better reinforce the use of static positions on the field, possibly some kind of perimeter styled energy system, but other then that turrets should just stay the same.

The problem is that the ones you already have are now basically useless. It would have been a better idea to build tanks instead, because those can move to where they are needed, whereas turrets are often obsolete the moment they are created.

(With the exception of the long range artillery ones, usually)

Tanks are throwaway, and the economy is infinite, I would never consider a turret wasted as it could end up saving your commander from certain doom.

You can't waste units in TA, or SupCom.

and if money really is tight, building tanks is quick, and you can reclaim turrets.

no harm no foul.

If you really need to move, then build mobile units. Big deal.

Defensive structures are for those sweet spots on the map. They might be choke points, they could be ambush spots for an enemy outpost. It could be fortifications for stabilizing an invasion front. It could be just a little insurance against cheese.

Numbers aren't the only way to justify a defense. They can still be effective if given special utility that normal units don't have. Inflating stats is just one option of many.

http://totalannihilation.wikia.com/wiki/Annihilator

When you positively want to fire your economy at the enemy!

Have anyone suggested transportable turrets yet?

You could either use a ground transport or an air transport.
An air transport might be easier to destroy with AA or fighters while a ground transport is slower and sturdier for example.

If it is easy to manage it could work.

Why would you even need to move?

My defences are built at my factory's and extractors.

Giving them the mobility of land or air forces would well, kinda crap on the point of those forces.

More options.