In a game with one faction, it's always nice to provide an amount of variability so that players can feel that their armies are more unique. A possible way to increase variability fairly easily would be the ability for players to be able to select a type of unit from a factory and choose what loadout that unit will be produced with. It would most likely be best to make loadouts for a single unit fairly similar, since there is already the variability produced by having multiple types of loadouts. Examples could possibly be making a unit have longer attack range at the expense of damage output, or smaller initial damage but greater splash damage/area. For units with lasers, perhaps they can be equipped with more powerful lasers that slowly damage the unit firing it over time. If there are units with more than one weapon, perhaps the different weapons equipped can be selected. If a unit has long range missiles and shorter range lasers, perhaps the unit could have two sets of long range missiles, two sets of shorter range lasers, or one of each. The choice could be dependent on the current outlook of the battle or simply just the player's playstyle. This could possibly be selected by factory (or if selecting multiple factories, changes would affect all of them). This way a player could pump out multiple units of the same type but with different loadouts. I feel like it wouldn't be too hard to implement either. From a graphics standpoint, weapons could be turned into unit attachments so that a different unit model doesn't need to be created for each loadout. Units could be given a designated letter at the end of their name to designate their loadout.
Just like you said, it's nice to have variety, but definitely not mandatory. Especially with the different loadouts, that would require quite a bit work. E.g. units will have to look differently based on their load out, otherwise it will be quite confusing. Will you select the load out per contruction unit per planet, or universe-wide? Not to mention the balancing issues. And all that for just variety? Personally, I'm happy with everyone getting different colour units instead.
I'm really against this. I'd rather just have a wide selection of units to start with so that each niche is filled by a dedicated unit. Different loadouts would be a balance and recognition nightmare.
I support this idea for certain unit types only, and only in cases where switching ammunition types would make sense. For land combat units it's a bad idea, as tanks tend to be designed around their guns, so they can't really switch roles by switching ammunition, and having a tank return to base to change its load out is enough of a hassle that you may as well just buy a new tank. Planes, on the other hand, tend to be a lot more adaptable, so it's more plausible for one to change roles by loading up with a different set of missiles/bombs/torpedoes, and they can return to base more easily. Ships tend to mount multiple weapons systems at once anyway, so they don't need the additional complexity of differing loadouts.
Overall I feel it's unnecessary. I'd rather there simply be specialized role-oriented units (like torpedo bombers) instead of worrying about custom load-outs.
I can definitely see units in different environments using different weapons (Like fire weapons being replaced by like a plasma torch in a vacuum). As I can also see units using different methods of locomotion in different environments (Like tracks, hover systems, spider legs and jet-packs.)
My biggest concern is that it needs to be clear to players what's going on. If I have to zoom in all the way and watch each unit fire it's weapons, just to figure out the effect it's having, it's not well implemented. I know, it was an extreme bad example, but how do you show the player that a unit is using a different type of gun or ammo than the standard unit version?
I think it might also have a big effect on balance. You see a group of enemies coming at you and think "Oh, I can handle that". Then suddenly your army gets annihilated, and you zoom in and see that whatever loadout the enemy is using is hard-countering your units. Probably nothing that dramatic, granted, but I'd like to be able to simply glance at an army composition and know what I'm up against.
Unless the player is able to change the unit loadout on the fly, while in the field, then this idea is kind of useless. If it's set in the factory, then how is it different from just building a different unit that has different weaponry? And then, if it's something you can change in the field, it adds more complexity to unit management, since now you're selecting individual units and changing individual settings for those units. Now not all units are uniform. And this brings into question the broader results of a loadout implementation. Now units that look identical can have different attack properties, so the player will have a hard time identifying which units can do what. Similarly, scouting an opponent won't be as effective, as the player will have to be in combat to determine whether their opponent is using a long range loadout or an aoe loadout. And if changing the loadouts will result in different looking models, why not just make it a new unit? I think at this scale, with this quantity of units, unit loadouts are an unnecessary feature.
It would be fun to have this for the main units, like assault bots and tanks, but let most other units have just one type of weaponry
