Will there be additional units?

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by northbehemoth, June 12, 2013.

  1. northbehemoth

    northbehemoth New Member

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    So, I am blindly assuming there will be a great deal of added units as we work out way towards the final release a little bit farther down the line. In the sense that every factory gets a few extra things they can pump out to versify the battle field since to my current knowledge there is only the one faction and then you can vary your command, which maybe leads to commander unique units or something of that case, anyways would love to hear other peoples thoughts and such.

    Cheers~
  2. DeadStretch

    DeadStretch Post Master General

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  3. antillie

    antillie Member

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    Considering that they haven't even touched the orbital layer or gas giants yet, yes there will be a lot more units added between now and release. Modders will also make lots of units. There will be enough units to blot out the sun.
  4. northbehemoth

    northbehemoth New Member

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    I fear you assumed I just posted this without looking first ;)
  5. neutrino

    neutrino low mass particle Uber Employee

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    Yesh. More unitsh.
  6. northbehemoth

    northbehemoth New Member

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    I wanted uber to just have at least 5-6 units per fabricator, not to just leave it up to the modders :D Though, I know almost for certain that they have maybe hinted that once in the orbital layer you need units in the orbital layer to deal with other orbital units and there won't be the space middle ground.

    And all of what I typed is void. Thanks alot neutrino.

    On an irrelevant side note. I wish testers would stay for the entire duration of games instead of just randomly leaving when they are done.

    Cheers everyone and happy testing!
  7. bromanov

    bromanov New Member

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    i do hope the units are more interesting than "shoots balistics fast" or "shoots balistics far"


    get some tesla tanks, melee units, a desolator or something, and a flying aircraft carrier
  8. northbehemoth

    northbehemoth New Member

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    I feel likeeee you've forgotten we are in alpha, :p descriptions are certainly not set in stone!
  9. pivo187

    pivo187 Active Member

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    I also agree...Would like to see sum unique stuff that has only been seen in PA and not units weve seen in other RTS games...Mainly units that will create a lot of strategy.
  10. northbehemoth

    northbehemoth New Member

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    I would like for you to give me 5 unique unseen ideas. Just so you can see how hard it is to come up with something which is super original! :p

    Something I would like to see is maybe a heavy artillery unit which has 6 shots like a revolver barrel then has to take some time too reload like the bombers.
  11. KNight

    KNight Post Master General

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    You don't need 'new' ideas to create strategic diversity, you just need a diverse set of complimentary(but hopefully with little overlap) for that.

    There are plenty of units that we don't know about yet, as Uber said way back during the time when the whitebox pics were nw, they are focusing on the CORE set of units they feel are needed for basic gameplay, and expanding out from there as they find needs or openings for new units.

    Mike
  12. amphok

    amphok Member

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    never seen units in other rts
    flying stationary artillery(shoot air and ground, i hate "one armed units" also called specialized, they make the game so rock-paper-scissor, which is horribly bad and boring, this is why i don't like SC2)
    seism tank(create earthquake wave)
    a strange units that instead of destroying other units, absorbs them and becomes more big, until it explode
    ecc

    as you see there are plenty of possibility
    Last edited: June 13, 2013
  13. nlspeed911

    nlspeed911 Member

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    Seismic Tanks exist in some games. Mostly mods, but doesn't that sci-fi WWII RTS have them too? Or the M.A.D. Tank from Red Alert, sort of.

    Flying artillery is something I've always wanted to see. Some mods have them, but I haven't heard of any games with them - actually, I have, one single game I have never played and can't remember... :p

    The other two sound too micro-ish, if that makes sense. :p
  14. amphok

    amphok Member

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    i know about the mad tank, but this is different, this unit, launch a big underground wave(In multiple direction), that immobilize or slow down the other units, and also make damage

    the unit that absorbs other units, absorbs them automatically, just keep it in range, does not require any micro, then it become big enough and explode or it turn into another thing after it absorbs large quantity of units, , so you can use it strategically(this one concept is very original imho, no rts has it IIRC)
    Last edited: June 13, 2013
  15. chickenatorius

    chickenatorius New Member

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    How about a unit that shoots a concentrated energy blast in one direction at an extremely low rate of fire (say 1 shot every 5 or 10 seconds) but dealing enough damage to significantly impair a large force. Great against people who send a big mass of units your way with no real strategy, but awful against flanking maneuvers.
    Useful + awesome = fun.
  16. YourLocalMadSci

    YourLocalMadSci Well-Known Member

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    I've already spoken a little on the subject of why unit diversity is vital to promote strategy: http://forums.uberent.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=47560

    It makes sense for Uber to focus on core combat units on the moment, but as the game develops, I'm sure more units, and more interesting units will get added.

    One thing I keep hearing is that it is important that units are very different from everything seen so far, and that unit redundancy is poor in general. Although it is true that the more meaningful differences there are, the more meaningful strategic choices there are, I think a lot of people are overstating what constitutes a "meaningful" difference. Differences between units can actually be quite subtle, perhaps only differing in only one or two stats, whilst still providing lots of options and choices as to how the units can be used.

    Lets take a look at TA. If you include the expansion packs, and official post release units, then just one side in TA (in this case ARM) had:

    7 T1 K-bots
    9 T2 K-bots
    5 T1 Aircraft
    6 T2 Aircraft
    5 T1 ships
    6 T2 Ships
    6 T1 Vehicles
    7 T2 Vehicles
    6 Hovercraft
    4 Seaplanes

    As well as 10 economy structures, 8 factories, 5 intel structures and 13 defensive structures.

    That's ALOT of different options for the player. There were some similarities in this list. For example, T1 peewees were direct fire K-bots very similar to T1 warriors built from the same factory. They had the same general purpose of waddling up to the enemy and laying into them with an obscene number of projectiles. However, the warrior was heavier, slower, better armoured, and more expensive. Thus there were additional choices generated in how to use them. A synergy of both units operated better than either one did by itself, as warriors could tank while the peewees laid on the DPS. This is what I mean when I say that unit diversity choices can be subtle, yet still be important. I would hate to see each unit "role" filled by one UNT PRECISELY VON unit, when just a couple more generates a lot more choice as to how they can be deployed.

    The ARM side above could deploy a grand total of 92 different units and structures, making up just half the total units in the game. I would hope PA can top this one side total. Seaplanes and hovercraft units can be reduced and folded into other factories, however there would also be units generated by the fact that players need to interact with the orbital layer, and other celestial bodies. If orbital factories are as similarly fecund as their land-bound brethren, then we may be seeing an additional 8-12 orbital units. The construction sub also hints that there may be a selection of underwater structures as well. Plus, given the fact that there are structures necessary for space moment (unit cannons, planetary engines, launchpads, etc.), the total number of units and structures could reach over 100 and land somewhere around the 110-120 mark.

    Or, at least that's what I'd love to see. This estimation is based on a great deal of supposition and possibly a small amount of wishful thinking. This all depends on how stretched Uber is in terms of time and money. A key factor is how efficient the unit-generation pipeline is, however I'm optimistic that the aesthetic style of the units may lead to rapid generation. Ultimately, only time will tell.
  17. mushroomars

    mushroomars Well-Known Member

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    Units that hop about like jumping spiders, a unit that spins an explosive spider web to trap enemy units, a unit that causes lava to pour out of wherever it targets (assuming you are on a planet with an active subterranean layer), a bot that wears its enemies corpses as armor, a unit that projects holographic terrain over an area as a form of cloaking.
  18. extraspectre

    extraspectre New Member

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    More units with different weapon types please.

    Laser bots/tanks (red, green, blue), rapid fire energy weapon bots/tanks(peewee, flash) and ballistic bots and tanks.

    Oh, and rockets. Hmmm, am I missing anything?
  19. northbehemoth

    northbehemoth New Member

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    I think that all of the idea's above are certainly worth the second look, and I know Mr.Mavor has mentioned something about spider bots from TA. Though I don't recall what.

    To the commenter whom referenced TA, Keep in mind the original had about half of what you are saying. Though there will certainly be a great deal more then what we have seen so far! I am confident that each factory will beable to fabricate double what it does now, which means that there is a great deal more then what we have seen so far! Which means maybe there will be some units we have mentioned here factored in.

    Does anyone feel like the defense towers are a wee bit too strong in the sense that they more or less oneshot units?

    ^ Maybe a missile unit, which has insane range and the ability to attack the surrounding orbitals, and the plants surface
  20. amphok

    amphok Member

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    also some aoe damage units would be good, in TA there were none(only tiny splash from big explosion), nuke does not count obv

    ah big bertha yes, but i want some mobile units with aoe

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