To spice up planetary struggles between player controlled armies - I thought it would be interesting to add some non-player controlled threats into the mix to give certain planets additional character. In keeping with the self replicating robot concept if PA, these encounters could represent the descendants of mining, prospecting, surveying or terraforming machines gone feral. Two examples that come to mind and would add interest to any planetary battle: 1) Kraken - a huge sea-based unit which will attack units in deep water. Capable of dragging a battleship beneath the waves and taking major punishment, it will activate a stealth field and flee when seriously damaged. Will consume submerged wrecks to heal. 2) Termite-like Hive - Each planetary swarm has a single "Queen" unit which will establish a nest over a metal deposit. The queen creates drones which scamper around searching for metal deposits and battle wreckage to reclaim, armoured soldiers to protect the nest and ultimately flying units which can establish new colonies. Starving the hive of resources is essential for players to curb the planetary infestation. These "wildcard" threats would be randomly spawned at the beginning of a game on worlds suitable to that creature. Obviously there are endless other examples. Some particularly powerful creatures may cause "planetary annihilation" if left unchecked. For others, it may be the only method to defeat them. Please give any feedback on the concept - apologies if it's already been mooted (I couldn't find it).
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun Being killed by a player: fun. Being killed by the map: not fun.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun Well, it's ok if it's predictable. I'm fine with having lava and it melting units that go into it. Random hazards doesn't sound like such a good idea in this context though, but could do for an interesting custom game mode. Similar to StarCraft 2 missions where the lower part of the base is periodically flooded with lava.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun This might be fun as a mini-game or scenario or perhaps a very specific type of planet, but I for one wouldn't want this type of thing being very prolific in normal games.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun Yeah, this would be fine in a risk/reward scenario, where the fauna guards some sort of resource (preferably on an entirely separate planet). It might be a huge deposit of metal, it might be an ancient superunit, it might be a portal to hell. It'd kinda be like the giant monster-serpent from LoL and DOTA, I forget what it's called. Baron something.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun Basically you want the NPC creeps that hang out in WarCraft 3. I don't think having aggressive neutral units wondering around the entire map is a good idea, but. I think it would be interesting to have key locations guarded by aggressive neutral units. IE: On some maps in WarCraft 3 you had to kill some NPC monsters to get to a shop or gold mine.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun I honestly don't see the point of adding "NPC" on the map. If they are agressive, they will be a big penality to any player that spawn near them, thus completly unbalancing the match. If not agressive (typically neutral but responding to attacks), better put an other player. And if they give any kind of reward, we face a combinaison of the two previous points : unfair if you're unlunky enough, unbalancing the game, and better to exterminate an other player and consume all he left upon death.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun I'm not so much in favour of NPC's that devour you etc, but a few flocks of weird alien animals as part of a biome would make the worlds feel more 'living'. Obviously core functionality is the priority, but a handful of creatures with some basic flocking behaviour (along with some of the aesthetics discussed like cloud cover etc) would add to the feel of the game.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun civilians as an gameplay element were in supcom, but I didnt like it really, it was just accepter^^ In PA I wish for no neutral units neither robots nor animals. Of course it might be cool as a biome feature, yet Im not sure if the current graphic style would make animals look real...
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun I think it would be fun to have some areas being "dangerous" - and you'd have to spend some resources and secure it.. And hopefully you'll get more back from it than you spent. It would add another element. But it should be predictable (it stays in an area, or moves predictably), and probably not on a starter planet. It could also work as a "soft" wall to a side of your base, knowing that if an enemy player goes through there, it will cost him, and hopefully alert you before he's through. It will give the players more choices, the gameplay more strategic, and games more dynamic.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun I don't know, but I loved stage hazards in SSB. I feel people are too dismissive of things that arn't completely in their control. Its whats known as 'part of the game'. I don't know why people rage so bad over it, meteor showers and hail storms in TA were fine, added some immersion to the biomes. This game seems to be the perfect canvas to flesh out how those things actually work (IE: swampy areas in rain slowing down vehicles due to mud) all adds to the strategic depth of the game. Such as Civs in supcom denying access to parts of the map for the early game with t1/2 pd were interesting things to see in a multiplayer game. I would love to see weather and disasters caused by players, but as it stands the 'I DONTWANANA LOSE TO ANYTHING I DONT UNDERSTAND' loud minority seems to be in control.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun This sort of thing existed in Warcraft III as "creeps". Their purpose is to fluff out the game by providing early game targets for players to work on. This is not always a bad thing, as those targets could be mining clusters or wreckage sites or chokepoints in PA. However I don't think it'll be needed. Players already have plenty of chances to fight each other for stuff.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun I quite like this idea for what it's worth. I'm imagining something similar to the Barbarians in Civilization 5 which keep you on your toes during the early parts of the game but then don't really pose a proper threat once you've advanced.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun I dunno about you, but I usually have my hands full through all stages of the game (besides the first 2 minutes) with scouting, expanding, raiding, defending, rebuilding etc. that I won't have time to also deal with random enemies attacking me or being in my way. It's not like there's not tons of stuff to do in all stages that need all my apm. In games like Civ where the early part can be pretty boring as there's not much interaction with other players (AI or otherwise) barbarians are a good thing to liven things up but in PA? I just don't see the need to add even more stuff happening. :shock:
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun no please not. Barbarians are really annoying in Civ 5, though I never turn them off, as they belong to Civilization like cities and workers But in a RTS like PA with some competitive gameplay I dont like this.
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun Seems like this would better in an RPG mod rather than the main game! :lol:
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun I think for the metal planets there could be an argument that there'd be some form of defensive structures guarding activation points for turning the metal planets into deathstars but it depends on what Uber decide metal planets actually are first....
Re: [Suggestion] - "Wildcard" Encounters (Roaming Super-Faun Gimme some cows to run over with my tank, hehe. As to metal planets, having a player only able to land on a specific spot and then advancing to "The Computer Core" would be interesting...build a base in the LZ and then have to play like a tower defense game to get to the chewy cetre.
