Wrecks, why?

Why do wrecks exist? For what purpose? Create a micro-mechanic? Something to mess up pathing?

More times than I care to remember, I have seen my poor fabs being stuck somewhere due to wrecks blocking their pathing.

Even if we assume that they could be harvested for minerals or energy, it would create a rather massive micro mechanic if you can't automate it. And even if they are harvestable, I don't think they should block. The game is already rather micro intensive

Wrecks are there to show that actions have consequences. lose massive tank army there should be something t show you lost a tank army.

additionally safe to say in the finished game the wreckage will be able to havested - as this was a core feature in TA - where they gave metal income dependent on what kind of unit wreckage it was and hot much it was degraded (by further gunfire/explosions)

In the finished product expect the pathing to be much more flexible and the wrecks to not cause as much trouble.

When wrecks have metal, it will become important to dictate where a fight takes place so that you can hoover-up the metal to further fuel your war effort.

Wrecks will be a reward for those who can use them effectively.

Currently Wrecks don't do much because Engineers have literally no automation, and reclamation is the wonkiest mechanic ever right now. I don't even understand how it works right now, I never use it.

In the future, you should be able to just select some engineers, quintessentially tell them "You, go, eat that and put it in my metal warehouse." and they'll go off on their merry way. It will be a big boost to metal production, which is something you need on metal-deprived planets and continents.

It will also help out with the earlygame->midgame energy stall that most eco-focused plays suffer, as you should be able to reclaim trees and creatures for energy.

Wrecks are nice because, as people say, they show stuff has happened and you will be able reclaim metal.


I really hate how games today skimp on physics. Its not even because of realism or crap like that. I just hate it when in say Starcraft 2, after huge battle everything disappears, not even explosions or marks remain.

Level just stays nice, neat and clean. that really annoys me and ruins immersion.

having holes in the ground, wrecks, scourch marks so you can see there was a huge battle here, even if you didn engage in it.

In TA (and SupCom?) you could set an engineer on patrol in a wreckage field and it would auto reclaim all it finds. So don't fear the micro, this is only now because this "intelligence" is missing currently. And I don't see why this would not come to PA.

Exactly. Wrecks can bring a lot of subtlety in the early fights, because the one who collect the wrecks take an immediate advantage. Also it will limit the dumb spam, because it will provide a lot of metal to the players who is attacked.

I'd love to see some engineers, roaming around hoovering up the cattle-esque wildlife.

I like the wreckage too- forcing the enemy to clamber over the remains of their ruined comrades. Good touch!

It also enhances static defenses as the begin to build an impromptu wall of wreckage around themselves, making it harder to reach them by land.
Reclamation is going to be good! Is it running yet?

Yes but it doesn't give metal for the moment.

In Supcom reclaim is perhaps the most underrated and most important part of strategy and gameplay. I feel it added a lot to the game and would benefit PA too. I do feel like beeing able to walk through reclaim would help with PA. It was that way with supcom I think?

The 80% you got in Sup1/FA was a bit excessive with the global economy.

When your actual mass-rate was five times the mass-rate of mexes+fabs, it was a pretty slippery slope.

Personally, I thought that Sup2 went a bit far with their reclaiming nerf (did a flip and made it 20%), but a nerf was most certainly needed.

That's interesting. Wouldn't reclaimable wreckages be an anti-slippery slope mechanism?

"moooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEETHGJDFHFGFY!!!!!!!" as space-cows quickly decompose into a pile of bones under a reclaim-beam.

And leave the Calcium? Its use as a reducing agent for the extraction of metals from raw Ores is reason enough for Future-Robots to use it!

Not to mention it's alloying properties.

What about Calcium permanganate for Rocket fuel!
Calcium phosphide for torpedoes...
And Cheese! What about Cheese for the Robot masses?

Only if you hoover them.

If you lose a battle, you're not likely to be able to hoover them (the victor will usually get them). So you're down some tanks, and your opponent got enough mass to build 80% of what they just killed. Oh, and an 80% refund on what they lost too.

[EDIT:] Having wrecks block shots (and take damage that reduces their worth) would be a good ancillary nerf to the reclaim amount.

Suppose you have a bit ol' fight, and everyone leaves a smouldering mess. There'll be another skirmish for ownership of the field. Which will add more metal to the kitty. However, as metal accumulates, it also gets shot more often. If effect, you can saturate an area. That way, when someone does eventually get to claim the whole lot as their own, it's not an instant economic game-over for the loser. I like the sound of that.

I would definitely love to see wreckage blocking unit shots as well. Having it block unit paths? Probably not.

So you're in favour of tanks having no downsides in rubble-strewn spaces?

So where exactly are Bots supposed to excel, lordq?

I'd give bots the ability to flank, while making tanks more front loaded. To that end, I would allow bots to turn and accelerate significantly faster than tanks. I would also have bots with significantly better turret turn rate than tanks. Tanks would be appropriately balanced with superior health and/or damage.

I'll be expecting maps to be significantly more 'populated' with mountains and ridges and such as the game is developed to give bots tight areas that they can access more readily than tanks.

That still makes bots very niche and need micro to be effective. What exactly do you have against wrecks stopping movement?

It worked in TA, no problem.

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I just don't see any compelling reason for a big hunk of metal, the twisted remains of a once proud battle-robot... being out of phase with the rest of the universe when it comes to things moving through it.