Collapse
No announcement yet.
Conversation Detail Module
Collapse
  • Page of 2
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Game Feature Scratch Army

    #1
    Subject:
    Build your own army from scratch.

    Description:
    There are two different levels of this idea. The first is a lot more simple: Allow players to pick and choose from a wide variety of units and structures to build a custom army, and then play the game with their own army. This is what I was hoping for with Tiberian Twilight, to be honest. Limit each player's choices so they have to go into battle with a decent variety of units, but let them be the judge of what they want to use.

    The second is a lot more complex, and would definitely have to be the root of a whole game: Allow players to build each unit meticulously. Each individual unit would have options like which weapons they can use, including the firepower, firing rate, accuracy, and ammunition (if applicable) of each weapon, amount of defense to each type of weapon for each front armor, side armor, back armor, top armor, and bottom armor, what kind of movement it has (wheels, treads, legs), how fast it moves forward/backward, how fast it turns, what kind of abilities it has (can carry units, can fly, etc), its overall looks, and so on. The more you give each unit, obviously the more money it would cost to build, and would require a higher technology tier to build.

    Structures would work on a similar level. Players could choose the armor of the structure, what it produces (if anything), what kind of weapons it has (if anything), how much power it consumes or produces, and abilities (eg: can move, can pack up, can garrison soldiers, etc), how large the structure is, what units pop out when destroyed, and so on. And again, the more effective the structure, the more it costs.

    You could customize your army's looks, colours, and voices, and pick a symbol and a name for it (possibly allow players to do whatever they want with this for offline use, but require pre-selected options for online use).

    Positive Effect:
    - Every game would be different, especially against other players online.
    - Would add whole new elements of strategy and fun to a game.
    - I could be wrong, but I don't think I've ever seen another game do it.
    - Depending on how in-depth customization is for Option B (eg: picking how your team can tech-up, how it builds structures, etc) it could draw an audience from any RTS, not just C&C fans.

    Negative Effect:
    - Would be REALLY hard to balance, and if balance wasn't at least really close to perfect you would see a lot of players min-maxing as well as a lot of similar armies online (thus defeating the purpose).
    - Option B would require a whole game dedicated to its mechanics and adding careful detail to everything, probably being expensive to do and possibly taking away resources from other areas of the game.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    ****This post is reserved for more specific thoughts****

    Weapons (Infantry or Armor)
    - Gun (naturally deals 50% more damage to infantry, half damage to armor)
    -Cost: $100
    -Assault Rifle
    -Rifle
    -Pistol
    - Auto-Cannon (naturally deals 50% more damage to infantry, half damage to armor)
    -Cost: $100
    -Mini-gun
    - Explosive (naturally deals normal damage to all units, cannot be used for anti-air)
    -Cost: $300
    -Grenade
    -Land mine
    -C4 (melee range, infantry only)
    -Explosive Cannon (armor only)
    -Bomb (armor only)
    - Cannon (naturally deals 20% damage to infantry, 50% more damage to armor, cannot be used for anti-air)
    -Cost: $150
    -Cannon
    -Land mine
    - Rocket (naturally deals 20% damage to infantry, no extra cost to allow both anti-air and anti-surface)
    -Cost: $150
    -Rocket launcher
    - Concussive (can attack submerged units, can only attack water-craft)
    -Cost: $200
    -Torpedoes (water-craft only)
    -Torpedo-bombs (armor only)
    -Water mine (armor only)
    -Sonics
    - Sniper (no effect on armor, half cost on range, half cost on damage)
    -Cost: $300
    -Sniper rifle
    -Ninja stars (infantry only)
    - Melee (immediate range only, naturally deals double damage to infantry, cannot be used for anti-air)
    -Cost: $150
    -Maul (animal, animal armor only, no effect on armor)
    -Sword (no effect on armor)
    -Energy Sword (cost +$100)
    -Arm Blade (no effect on armor)
    -Energy Arm Blade (cost +$100)
    - Laser (naturally deals normal damage to all units)
    -Cost: $300
    -Pulse laser
    -Beam laser
    - Electricity (deals double damage to infantry, cannot be used for anti-air)
    -Cost: $400
    -Tesla Coil

    Comment

    • #3
      I love this idea. I think that it would be great if this was implemented, specifically the first one.
      Sure, customizing your entire army would take a huge amount of time, but that's your time, and you can use it if you want. You're not wasting time if your having fun wasting it!
      Something I do not want to see, however, is earning/buying units and parts in-game. For free-to-play games like Team Fortress 2 and End of Nations, it's acceptable, but for anything that I would have to buy, I want everything there. NO special turrets that destroy tanks in one instant that you have to buy. Not even something that you earn.

      Comment

      • #4
        That's a very good point. I'm not even really down for the idea of having to earn your stuff in-game. If everything is balanced, it shouldn't matter what parts you get and when you get them.

        Comment

        • #5
          Well, I actually have this idea that I'd like to implement into my own universe here:

          You have three unit types - Infantry, Vehicle, Aircraft. From there, you can have three sub-types of the units.

          So, let's take Infantry for example. You can have three different kinds of them.
          -Basic Infantry. You can focus the soldier on Mobility vs. Health, and then pick a weapon on Damage vs. Rate of Fire
          -Explosive Infantry. Again, focus on Mobility vs. Health, then a weapon that's good vs. tanks and aircraft, bad vs. infantry and buildings (a missile), good vs. buildings and infantry, bad vs. tanks (a mortar), or good and bad vs. nothing in particular (a grenade).
          -Advanced Infantry. Same Mobility vs. Health, then you pick a schtick to give him. Does he turn invisible? Does he have an area-denial chemical weapon? A powerful machine gun?

          For vehicles:
          -Basic Vehicle: Balance of Speed vs. Armor, as well as high alpha vs. rapid fire.
          -Secondary Vehicle: Balance of Speed vs. Armor, then either an anti-infantry machine gun an artillery gun, or an AA missile system
          -Advanced Vehicle: Same balance. From there, players can choose which perk to give the units - multipurpose like the Mammoth Tank? Utterly specialized against one thing - like the Flame Tank or Apocalypse - but helpless against others? Or a long-range cannon with a hard punch but a long reload?

          For aircraft:
          -Helicopter: Armor vs. Detection - will this thing not exactly be stealthy, but be able to take hits like nobody's business? Or will it instead rely on staying out of sight? From there, you either arm it with a weapon, or a cargo bay (to carry a non-advanced vehicle or five infantry)
          -Basic Plane: Anti-Air vs. Anti-Ground - which also scales how much armor the unit has. Basically, the difference between your fighter being a MiG or a Warthog.
          -Bomber: Stealth vs. Payload - is this thing going to to rely on sneaking past the enemy's defenses, to destroy a particular target? Or will it be laden with tons of bombs to lay waste to an entire area, but be highly visible while doing so?

          Could probably be applied to Base Defenses as well, but the common Anti-Inf, Anti-Air and Anti-Tank works well enough.

          Comment

          • #6
            I like it, but wouldn't that be too big of a game and make the computer lag?

            Comment

            • #7
              Nah, I'm thinking each of the individual parts would have models and the unit creator would say "Part Number 3 for the hull, Part Number 1 for the Hull, Texture Number 5".

              Comment

              • #8
                Come to think of it, yeah I think Kane_J is right. A game where units are far too customizable would probably make the game super laggy. Still, Option A would be clear for this.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Originally posted by Stammer6-2 View Post
                  There are two different levels of this idea. The first is a lot more simple: Allow players to pick and choose from a wide variety of units and structures to build a custom army, and then play the game with their own army. This is what I was hoping for with Tiberian Twilight, to be honest. Limit each player's choices so they have to go into battle with a decent variety of units, but let them be the judge of what they want to use.
                  That reminds me of an old idea I'd had.

                  The real question here is how much control players should have over their tech tree. In other words, should players be able to build Mammoth Tanks at Tier 1 in exchange for spending $4000 for each of them instead of $2500? Should be players be able to include both Titans and Predator Tanks in their tech tree?



                  Originally posted by Stammer6-2 View Post
                  The second is a lot more complex, and would definitely have to be the root of a whole game: Allow players to build each unit meticulously. Each individual unit would have options like which weapons they can use, including the firepower, firing rate, accuracy, and ammunition (if applicable) of each weapon, amount of defense to each type of weapon for each front armor, side armor, back armor, top armor, and bottom armor, what kind of movement it has (wheels, treads, legs), how fast it moves forward/backward, how fast it turns, what kind of abilities it has (can carry units, can fly, etc), its overall looks, and so on. The more you give each unit, obviously the more money it would cost to build, and would require a higher technology tier to build.
                  This reminds me of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. That, alone, earns my approval.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    The first idea sounds cool, but I don't know if it would work too well. Sounds like more of a tactical approach to a game based more on action (at least in my experience, and assuming were looking over CnC4...). There would have to be a lot of units to appease casual gamers.

                    Second idea I'm all for. Sounds similar to the Earth 2150 series. They let you pick a chassis and armaments to customize your vehicle. But that would take forever to balance... And where would you draw the line? Do you let mammoth tank cannons be placed onto predator chassis'? Also, lag issues can be compensated for. If you individually model all the weapons/chassis and just have some kind of swap system, it could work. I'm not a game programmer, but it sounds like a logical solution.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Yeah, the plan would allow any weapon be implemented onto any kind of chassis, including Mammoth Tank weapons on a Predator Tank chassis. Overall, the vehicle would just have a lot of offense and only medium defense. Therefore forcing the player to choose a slower mobility or to have to pay a lot more money for each one he builds.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Pardon the bump, but I stumbled across a game called Warzone 2100 that basically lets players do this. Might be worth a look, and possible thinking on how to implement a similar idea in a C&C game.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          I like it, but it will be too big... i will not waste time: just take some Titans with mortars and missiles, then lets go

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Xrez View Post
                            I like it, but it will be too big... i will not waste time: just take some Titans with mortars and missiles, then lets go
                            Well of course it wouldn't be nearly half as in-depth as Warzone. I was figuring you had certain niches you could put units into, for instance, Tier 1 Tank, Tier 2 Artillery, Tier 3 Supertank, etc.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Originally posted by RedShocktrooper View Post
                              Pardon the bump, but I stumbled across a game called Warzone 2100 that basically lets players do this. Might be worth a look, and possible thinking on how to implement a similar idea in a C&C game.
                              Also Earth 2150 & 2160 allowed the player to design his own units. KKND2: Krossfire had this also, albeit as an additional feature alongside a wide array of unique predesigned units.

                              However, this should happen in-between missions and/or from the menu.

                              In case of Warzone and Earth, each time you designed a new unit it either slowed the pace of the game down drasticaly or you were forced to do so in a terrible haste since you were under attack and *needed* to have heavier, better units.. Just no time to design them because of the constant pressure.

                              Originally posted by RedShocktrooper View Post
                              Well of course it wouldn't be nearly half as in-depth as Warzone. I was figuring you had certain niches you could put units into, for instance, Tier 1 Tank, Tier 2 Artillery, Tier 3 Supertank, etc.
                              I totaly dislike the idea. It's something like "okay, you can do whatever you want, as long as you do this *insert a list of features here*".

                              Instead, you should have a limited amount of unit slots avaible for your army, and you should be able to move those slots between tiers (1,2,3, possibly 4). However, how much slots in each tier and what units are in there should, I think, be all up to player. I also think that visual customisation and tweaking of the units, including painting and adding misceleniaus additions, should be possible. Otherwise battles in such games seem to be like a fight between almost identical units. Even with a large amount of weapons and design options, Earth series still looked like clone wars between very simillar modular looking units. In the end, the only major visual difference was the chasis. Besides, most of the time it still ended on a very few designs that simply worked being used over and over again.

                              On a side note, I don't think designing units will fit C&C too well. It's just not this type of game.
                              Last edited by Borreh; 04-21-2012, 02:20 PM.

                              Comment

                              1 2 Next
                              X