Faction Customisation

OK we all know that there is only one set of bots that are accessible to all players. But what if we allowed a game mode where each player has a set amount of credits that they can spend, that gives them access to the different units in the game. Might add some extra challenge into the game, and make each game a little more unique.

Sounds like a great idea for a mod.

Sounds like people will eventually come up with the optimal set of units (unless all the units are balanced insanely well), thus removing any dynamic play.

Would be cool for a mod though, definitely.

I think where customization can really shine is for Uber to add more commanders as time goes on, that are say unlocked after x achievement. Since I agree with knight's sentiment that we really should be able to have good visibility of units, and that customizing them can hinder being able to recognize them, simply having a lot of commander types might make a player feel like they have ample customization. Not to mention, more commanders added as time goes on means our backer commanders get more and more unique to us

The best customization option would be to set say, 20 units per faction, and giving each person enough points to select 14 of those units. something along those lines.

OR

Each faction has their set unit types, one faction focuses on mechs, another tracked vehicles, a third wheeled, or hover units, the advantages would be obvious, the mech units would be balanced, the wheeled / hover units would be faster moving lighter armored quick strike forces, the tracked would be heavier armed and armored, but suffer speed and mobility, for instance needing a transport to cross water / canyons, while the mechs could use jump jets to cross canyons yet still need transports to cover water, and the hover / wheeled could be amphibious, granting them the ability to ignore water, and retro rockets to bypass canyons.

The customization options you could employ with the later idea would be to allow each player to select up to 2 or 3 units from one, or any of the opposing armies to join theirs. You could put some kind of caveat in it, maybe creating a special building "the espionage center" which would require you to spend resources in order to accomplish this, the building itself, then three levels of upgradability / research which would allow the "stealing" of a rivals vehicle technology, enabling you to build whatever vehicle blueprints you stole.

What point would there be in limiting the number of units you have? why would choosing 14 out of 20 units be better than having access to all 20 units?

Better to also set a minimum number of choices so players get at least one of every unit type, otherwise you will end up with players who forgot AA or have no way of taking out submarines.

Yeah but that's kind of the point, say there's a type that no one uses, like submarines, why counter it then when you could better use that unit type counter slot for something else.

Personally, I'd probably rape my navy, and put more units into space and air force. With a strong enough air force you could decimate a navy, with the exception of subs, and subs alone won't do much on a planet, unless that planet is completely covered with water.

But......you don't need a convoluted system that only limits you to do that. Why do you require a system to impose limits on EVERYONE when you are already capable of playing exactly how you want because you have the full selection of units available?

Mike

this is something that i hope is examined. if air units can ball up, clip and concentrate their force anywhere at any time they will be disproportionately powerful. weakening air units relative other units only delays the threshold at which air becomes overwhelming.

the way to offset this is to employ some sort of air control dynamic. most RTS opt for an air denial system where anti air is extremely potent. that system is flawed notably in that aerial concentration of force is still possible anywhere your opponent does not actively deny you, which fundamentally cannot easily be the entire map.

one thing uber is considering and has been discussed is an airbase system where carriers and airbases would establish air control and thus where prolonged aerial presence would be possible. such a system would also localize air supremacy such that losing air supremacy wouldn't immediately doom you, much how land supremacy is localized.

It's been proposed by the community, but I've never heard Uber endorse it (though I'll stand corrected if you can link me, I haven't read every post )

you're right i take it back. the most jon ever said was that he wanted some kind of reload/regenerating bar under bombers/planes, and i'm paraphrasing "even if it's like a bomber that can generate 10 bombs and then has to wait for the next ones." maybe that means this would be coupled with full reload on staging. i liked the airbase radius idea though, so much more legible and intuitive.

i find this topic interesting but i don't want to derail the thread any more x)

Oh fu©k no...

Tangible, game affecting achievements stop being optional and become mandatory. (The only other alternative is to design boring commanders.)

What is funny is you "you can just ignore achievements!" crowd can not keep a consistent goalpost.

That's because a crowd by no means has a consistent message.

On the topic of customization, I'd like to try making a mod where you get x number of credits, which you can spend to instabuild your startup base/units. Start with a group of t2 engineers and set of resource building for a good income? Or go for a risky high mobility setup with an interplanetary rocket launch facility? Or perhaps simply pump some credits into a larger metal/energy pool to start with, (and thereby power the Ubercannon straight off the bat perhaps?)

Forget customizing what units are available - customize what ones you have when you start!

I'd like to see a system where someone can built (for example) their own version of a K-bot to use in game. You have 1 tech 1 k-bot spot in your build list in game. Choosing the k-bot frame for a unit will marry the unit design of your choice to that spot. Then, the player chooses weather it fires 2 rockets, 1 rocket and 1 machine gun or 2 machine guns (for example), choose the amount of armour it has (light, medium or heavy) and other such variables which result in a final build cost / time for the unit based on those choices. Then in game when i built a k-bot mine might be cheap and fast to build but really weak vs my enemy who choose to build fewer, heavier slower units and both of us get to play according to our style with the same techs, but different applications based on our individual strategies.

The only customization that'll be in the game is the commander and the colors.

Personally I find the set stats of the units boring. You don't have to make the units completely different or vastly different. I'm thinking something along the lines of previous thoughts, along with this. Everyone gets a base line unit type or skeleton, however each unit from there can be slightly more customized (not drastically) and the customization not necessarily done on an individual basis. I.E. you have the option to pick between a- 5% decrease in armor protection with the compensation of resource cost and/or speed bonuses. Another one is the choice of base weapons systems. One guy might like lasers and another might like bullets. One guy choses to make his unit's weapon systems Laser based which gives him better afford ability, range, and larger amounts of ammunition since energy is easier to carry than massive objects with the set back that lasers do lower damage and are more susceptible to the environment (lasers can't shoot through hills and everyone knows they don't bend independently), whereas the guy with Kinetic based weapons and ammunitions has higher damage lower environment interference, with the trade off that it has lower range, a higher cost, and a lower ammunition hold.
My final thought is that if you don't want direct unit customizations, you could let the commander you play affect the stats, and performances of units. Otherwise, leaving the differences between commanders at a purely aesthetic level seems pointless to me. Sure one guy might look cooler than the other but at that point you might as well just slap a fancy sticker to the backsides of each commander and call them "different" plus if you don't have any added bonuses to picking commanders that may lead to the least popular commanders not being played just because he doesn't look cool which would render the entire process of creating said commander a pointless waste of time and money. These are the opinions of someone who high enjoys and is biased to game customization, make of it what you will, and all constructive criticism is welcome.

And so readability of the game is thrown out the window. Every player has to be the super special snowflake now.

Any restrictions on the units you can have are just silly if it's not solely for the purpose of being rational. Restricting naval units on a desert planet makes sense, but restricting a specific kind of unit, or many units, is just absurd.

Reminds me of really bad F2P RTS games, to be honest.