Post 2!

When making a mod, you should really start out with a plan. With this one, I wrote up every unit and building with specific goals for each of those units. It helps to stay on track. It isn't set in stone, however. Since I started working on the mod, a couple of things have changed from their original ideas.

For instance, originally the Turtle faction would gather resources in a similar manner to the teams in Command and Conquer Generals. However, this changed to the team automatically acquiring resource collectors rather than having to manually build them from a supply depot. There are a few reasons for this change.

Firstly, it is pretty cool. Other than that, it reduces the amount of attention a player has to give to resource management. If an opponent shoots down some of the collectors, they'll be back. Also, the other two factions have their economies based around military units, effectively getting a two-for-one deal when they spend their money. So it's fair that Turtle should not have to pay exorbitant amounts for their own resource collection.


RUSH
In competitive gaming, it seems, quite a lot of the game comes down to the opening moves of the game. Fast grabs of resources, or destroying enemy construction vehicles and early economy. Time spent doing nothing is time wasted.

The idea behind Rush is to promote that sort of gameplay. Everything about the team exemplifies attacking early.

For instance, their first unit is the Constructor Transport. It is fast, cheap, can build buildings, and can also carry infantry across the battlefield. It is not as durable as its Turtle counter-part, but is probably more useful and an integral part of the army. It does have its drawbacks, though. If the Constructor Transport dies, then all the infantry who were riding it also perish. This means players must work out at what range is best to dismount from. The transport isn't as squishy as the infantry, but it is also riskier, so players must determine where the best point to dismount is to maximise distance traversed and minimise damage taken.

All of their infantry are shorter ranged than their counter-parts, specifically so they have to either weather the fire or use Constructor Transports. They are rewarded by doing much higher damage than Stealth or Rush infantry. Their infantry also fill multiple roles. Their basic anti-infantry infantry can switch to garrison clearing mode, and their anti-tank infantry can switch to artillery mode. The exception is the anti-air infantry, which are the only anti-air unit that Rush has access to.

Their vehicles, as one might expect, are faster than their Turtle counter-parts, but do less damage. However, an upgrade can be acquired that enable the light tank to gain a lot of "frontload" damage, that is damage that is delivered up front, although it gains little "DPS", which is average damage per second. What this means is that the light tank becomes an ambusher, flanker, and primarily good for drive-by attacks, but remains poor at sustained combat.

The medium tank, on the other hand, is designed for sustained combat, but is not very good at hit and run style tactics. It is slower, so finds it harder to withdraw, and does not do as much damage up front as the upgraded light tank. But it does more "DPS", so in a longer engagement it will perform better than an equal cost of light tanks.

The last ground vehicle that Rush has access to is the Rush IFV, which can transport two infantry (upgradeable to three), and these infantry can shoot out. The vehicle is fast and lightly armoured, so it effectively allows Rush to have fast artillery, or fast AA for supporting the troops.

Obviously, rushing isn't the only thing that Rush is intended to do. Rushing is an early game attack. Since all teams should have options at all points in the game, lest a player quit because his time has passed, Rush is also the horde and map control team. What this means is that they are supposed to keep the bad guys on the back foot for as much of the game as possible.

They are the only team with a "gunship", which isn't very good at taking on a fortified position, even in bucket loads, is very good at taking on forces attempting to mobilise.

Obviously, they pay for their advantages in different ways. They don't have any base defence, meaning that defending your base requires more active involvement. However, if your base is knocked out, any of your buildings can construct Constructor Transports, so you can easily make a speedy getaway.

To encourage people to defend their bases as Rush, as well as to slightly curb their time to first attack, all their buildings require an upgrade to build each type of unit. This also means that there is another choice for the first attack. Do you try to attack as early as possible, or do you wait slightly longer to have a more varied attack force?

This also means that eliminating a Rush base will earn you a reprieve from attacks for at least a short while.

When coming up with Rush, it was probably my most "from scratch" team. It wasn't particularly based on any previous ideas I had had, it mostly came down to synergies between units, and a relatively simple concept. Wouldn't it be cool, I said to myself, if a team was based around Rushing? Well, what would make it good at rushing? Having a fast transport that is also a builder! And from there, everything flows.

Next wednesday: Economy models!