The Turtle upgrade system is a little bland. Most players ignore them for most part, which shouldn't really be the case. I believe that the changes they make do not justify the time taken to click on them. So, here is the new set of upgrades, once again divided into four sets of two, in the format:
Upgrade Name(set one of four):
- Thing it does 1
- Thing it does 2
Turtle Heavy Infantry Upgrade (set 1):
- EMP Rounds for BAI Infantry
- Adds 50% infantry HP (heavy armour)
- Slows down infantry by 25% to 30%
- AA Infantry gets increased range
Turtle Assault Infantry (set 1):
- AGES rounds for BAT Infantry
- Increased RoF for AA Infantry and AF Infantry
Defence HAT Upgrade (set 2):
- Repair Drone
- Adds 50% HAT armour (heavy armour)
Assault HAT Upgrade (set 2):
- HAT MG Upgrade
- The AA Hat gets the ability to use its AA missiles as make-shift artillery
- Anti-Building Shot for regular HATs
Adaptive Infantry (set 3):
- AAF Additional Ammunition types
- AN Infantry get the ability to disable an area around them, rather than specifically targeting
Advanced Infantry (set 3):
- AN Range increase
- All Infantry get the ability to self-heal slowly
Advanced Aircraft (set 4):
- Aircraft Armour
- Double ammunition capacity for the TUBA
Advanced Fortifications (set 4):
- Building Armour
- All buildings and the Super-Heavy Vehicle get the ability to send out a shockwave to do damage to units around it.
Anyways, comments appreciated.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
TUBA update
The Turtle Ubiquitous Bomber Aircraft is receiving an update!
Previously, it has been somewhat clunky to use. Two per fairly ugly airfield, having to take off etc. And the model didn't really make much sense.
So, I'm replacing it with a much better VTOL aircraft. The airfield will be replaced with a much more compact helipad, which can fit one TUBA per pad. They will also not take up much power.
Hopefully, this will make them more popular and useful.
Previously, it has been somewhat clunky to use. Two per fairly ugly airfield, having to take off etc. And the model didn't really make much sense.
So, I'm replacing it with a much better VTOL aircraft. The airfield will be replaced with a much more compact helipad, which can fit one TUBA per pad. They will also not take up much power.
Hopefully, this will make them more popular and useful.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Rush gameplay change
It seems to me as though Rush has become the primary steam-roll faction. This is because of a few things:
Turtle players are unwilling to build artillery pieces to bombard civilian structures.
Rush players tend not to attack until they have an overwhelming force, while using their force build up to harrass any attack forces that leave an enemy base.
So, I have a change proposal:
Each Rush unit will take up power. Each Rush command building will give around 15-30 power. If the Rush player runs out of power, then his production stops.
This means that Rush players will either have to build a lot of command buildings (wasteful), or fairly constantly harrass opposing players (which is what I want). Hopefully, players will choose the latter, and come up with relatively creative ways to attack their opponents so that each strike does at least some damage.
Turtle players are unwilling to build artillery pieces to bombard civilian structures.
Rush players tend not to attack until they have an overwhelming force, while using their force build up to harrass any attack forces that leave an enemy base.
So, I have a change proposal:
Each Rush unit will take up power. Each Rush command building will give around 15-30 power. If the Rush player runs out of power, then his production stops.
This means that Rush players will either have to build a lot of command buildings (wasteful), or fairly constantly harrass opposing players (which is what I want). Hopefully, players will choose the latter, and come up with relatively creative ways to attack their opponents so that each strike does at least some damage.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Mission ideas
I'm just going to be dumping down mission ideas here. Read for spoilers and stuff. The story will be a bit weird, especially involving such factions as Rush, Turtle and Stealth.
Introducing Rush:
Goals:
Introduces Rush resource mechanic
Basic Anti Infantry Infantry
Basic Anti Tank Infantry
Building Hub
Infantry Command
Construction Vehicle
Mission Progression:
Player starts with a construction vehicle and $5000.
Player is given access to the building hub
Player is asked to build a building hub
Once the building hub is complete, the player is asked to upgrade it to an infantry command
Once the infantry command is upgraded, the player is asked to build five BAII
The player is asked to mount the infantry, and move to the next clearing, dismount, and eliminate the infantry that have formed up there.
The player is then given access to BATI, and then asked to eliminate the two HATs parked in the next clearing.
The player is then asked to move any remaining infantry up to the group of houses past the HATs, and garrisoning the buildings
The economy mechanic is explained.
The player is then asked to eliminate some infantry and a bunker with his current available tech.
Once the player has done this, the mission ends.
Suggestions as part of an overarching campaign:
The commander has been given orders to eliminate this Turtle controlled area, no reasons given
A new war between these two factions after masses of tension
Possibly a break from a lull in fighting in a massive on going war.
Ignites lots of fighting (that will presumably unlock weapons as warfare escalates)
Introducing Rush:
Goals:
Introduces Rush resource mechanic
Basic Anti Infantry Infantry
Basic Anti Tank Infantry
Building Hub
Infantry Command
Construction Vehicle
Mission Progression:
Player starts with a construction vehicle and $5000.
Player is given access to the building hub
Player is asked to build a building hub
Once the building hub is complete, the player is asked to upgrade it to an infantry command
Once the infantry command is upgraded, the player is asked to build five BAII
The player is asked to mount the infantry, and move to the next clearing, dismount, and eliminate the infantry that have formed up there.
The player is then given access to BATI, and then asked to eliminate the two HATs parked in the next clearing.
The player is then asked to move any remaining infantry up to the group of houses past the HATs, and garrisoning the buildings
The economy mechanic is explained.
The player is then asked to eliminate some infantry and a bunker with his current available tech.
Once the player has done this, the mission ends.
Suggestions as part of an overarching campaign:
The commander has been given orders to eliminate this Turtle controlled area, no reasons given
A new war between these two factions after masses of tension
Possibly a break from a lull in fighting in a massive on going war.
Ignites lots of fighting (that will presumably unlock weapons as warfare escalates)
Friday, October 2, 2009
Mod abstract
I'm going to be setting up a moddb page, and I have to have, for want of a better word, an "abstract". My perusing has made an approximation of length, 200 words or less.
So here's where I will dump it before I put it up there.
Goals: Get people to know what my mod is about without specifying anything specific. Specific information about units or teams will belong in other pages beyond the abstract on the front page.
Required information, in order of importance.
The RTSmod is a total conversion for C&C Generals: Zero Hour
It has three factions
Each faction has unique resource gathering mechanics, build mechanic, tech trees, units and structures
All units are useful throughout the course of a game
Each faction has a significantly divergent playstyle
Much more dynamic gameplay than Zero Hour
Teams are Rush, Turtle, and Stealth
Enhanced urban combat
Intuitive interface
Team names!
Test abstract:
The RTSmod is a total conversion for C&C Generals: Zero Hour which strips out the teams of Zero Hour and replaces them with three factions with significantly divergent playstyles. Each faction has its own resource gathering mechanic, build mechanic, tech tree, and units and structures. It features highly dynamic gameplay, as well as enhanced urban combat. All units have a very specific role in the mod; no unit is useless, or left behind as the game progresses. The teams, Rush, Turtle, and Stealth, are very well defined in their roles while still being balanced at all stages of the game.The interface is simplified so that icons are easy to read, and ordered in an intuitive fashion, while the game is still complex enough to be engaging for a long time. This means that it is very easy to pick up, while still rewarding experience and skill.
*changelog*
Moved teams sentence immediately after units sentence
Moved ease of play to end of abstract
Changed wording of units sentence ;; Again
So here's where I will dump it before I put it up there.
Goals: Get people to know what my mod is about without specifying anything specific. Specific information about units or teams will belong in other pages beyond the abstract on the front page.
Required information, in order of importance.
The RTSmod is a total conversion for C&C Generals: Zero Hour
It has three factions
Each faction has unique resource gathering mechanics, build mechanic, tech trees, units and structures
All units are useful throughout the course of a game
Each faction has a significantly divergent playstyle
Much more dynamic gameplay than Zero Hour
Teams are Rush, Turtle, and Stealth
Enhanced urban combat
Intuitive interface
Team names!
Test abstract:
The RTSmod is a total conversion for C&C Generals: Zero Hour which strips out the teams of Zero Hour and replaces them with three factions with significantly divergent playstyles. Each faction has its own resource gathering mechanic, build mechanic, tech tree, and units and structures. It features highly dynamic gameplay, as well as enhanced urban combat. All units have a very specific role in the mod; no unit is useless, or left behind as the game progresses. The teams, Rush, Turtle, and Stealth, are very well defined in their roles while still being balanced at all stages of the game.The interface is simplified so that icons are easy to read, and ordered in an intuitive fashion, while the game is still complex enough to be engaging for a long time. This means that it is very easy to pick up, while still rewarding experience and skill.
*changelog*
Moved teams sentence immediately after units sentence
Moved ease of play to end of abstract
Changed wording of units sentence ;; Again
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
New experience mechanic
I can see the purpose of experience in games. Almost any modern RTS has experience (under whatever name). A couple of exceptions, like Universe At War, Dawn of War, possibly other RTS games with 'war' in the name...
Anyway, the purpose is this:
Experience (of unit or player sort) rewards the player for engaging the enemy. Depending on the game, it rewards you for doing well against an opponent. Some games include a mechanic for rewarding the engagement itself (in Red Alert 3, you get additional player experience if you lose lots of units), although most don't.
Experience can be called any number of things, although experience is probably the most popular one. An example of something that is the 'experience' mechanic that isn't called that is the "Tactical Aid" mechanic from World in Conflict, a sort of player experience.
Unit experience is experience that a unit acquires to improve itself, and only gets it from units it kills directly (or, by supporting other units, ala lieutenants from Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts). Unit experience does not benefit all of a player's units typically.
Player experience is experience that is gained from any of the owning player's units. It typically results in benefits for all or some of that player's forces, or the player's pools of resources.
I have decided to change around my unit experience mechanic. The goal of this is to make the experience bonuses curve more graded. Currently, units simply get 120% attack range for getting up to rank 3.
However, I have planned to change the unit experience as thus:
At Rank 0: A unit has 100% rate of fire and range
At Rank 1: A unit has 110% rate of fire and range
At Rank 2: A unit has 120% rate of fire and range
At Rank 3: A unit has 130% rate of fire and range
If you remember from before, a unit goes up one rank by killing twice its own value.
There are several reasons for this:
Firstly, it is more intuitive. You now know, 1 rank up means +10% rate of fire and range, across the board.
Secondly, it means that the benefits of experience gain are much more immediate. A rank 1 will beat a rank 0 of the same unit in a head on fight. A rank 2 will beat a rank 1 and so on.
Finally, the benefits don't really show themselves in a short battle, but only in longer battles. So, experience doesn't really help for ambushes (range notwithstanding), but serves much better for battles that last longer than one volley. Artillery reloads faster, snipers can shoot marginally faster, HATs turn enemy tanks into paste faster, and so on.
There is a possibility that infantry ranges may be a little more tightened than they currently are, but we shall see.
Anyway, right now, I'm fairly happy the mod has survived the worst of my emotional pits, and has gotten to the point where I can show people progress that isn't pure code stuff.
Hopefully, I shall have a decent playtest session on friday, and do some balance updates then (and also get some proper reaction, maybe even written up!). Currently, Stealth is still a little underpowered (so, perhaps a price drop on advanced infantry and vehicles), but not enough games have been played. Turtle may be a little too powerful at the moment.
Anyway, the purpose is this:
Experience (of unit or player sort) rewards the player for engaging the enemy. Depending on the game, it rewards you for doing well against an opponent. Some games include a mechanic for rewarding the engagement itself (in Red Alert 3, you get additional player experience if you lose lots of units), although most don't.
Experience can be called any number of things, although experience is probably the most popular one. An example of something that is the 'experience' mechanic that isn't called that is the "Tactical Aid" mechanic from World in Conflict, a sort of player experience.
Unit experience is experience that a unit acquires to improve itself, and only gets it from units it kills directly (or, by supporting other units, ala lieutenants from Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts). Unit experience does not benefit all of a player's units typically.
Player experience is experience that is gained from any of the owning player's units. It typically results in benefits for all or some of that player's forces, or the player's pools of resources.
I have decided to change around my unit experience mechanic. The goal of this is to make the experience bonuses curve more graded. Currently, units simply get 120% attack range for getting up to rank 3.
However, I have planned to change the unit experience as thus:
At Rank 0: A unit has 100% rate of fire and range
At Rank 1: A unit has 110% rate of fire and range
At Rank 2: A unit has 120% rate of fire and range
At Rank 3: A unit has 130% rate of fire and range
If you remember from before, a unit goes up one rank by killing twice its own value.
There are several reasons for this:
Firstly, it is more intuitive. You now know, 1 rank up means +10% rate of fire and range, across the board.
Secondly, it means that the benefits of experience gain are much more immediate. A rank 1 will beat a rank 0 of the same unit in a head on fight. A rank 2 will beat a rank 1 and so on.
Finally, the benefits don't really show themselves in a short battle, but only in longer battles. So, experience doesn't really help for ambushes (range notwithstanding), but serves much better for battles that last longer than one volley. Artillery reloads faster, snipers can shoot marginally faster, HATs turn enemy tanks into paste faster, and so on.
There is a possibility that infantry ranges may be a little more tightened than they currently are, but we shall see.
Anyway, right now, I'm fairly happy the mod has survived the worst of my emotional pits, and has gotten to the point where I can show people progress that isn't pure code stuff.
Hopefully, I shall have a decent playtest session on friday, and do some balance updates then (and also get some proper reaction, maybe even written up!). Currently, Stealth is still a little underpowered (so, perhaps a price drop on advanced infantry and vehicles), but not enough games have been played. Turtle may be a little too powerful at the moment.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Special Ability balancing
I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about balancing special abilities.
Turtle:
As it stands, the Turtle tree is fairly balanced. Well, the scout side of tree is a little more useful, as bases are less important for two of the teams, and the speed penalty on the Heavy aircraft is quite high.
The latest changes I have made for this makes the heavy side of the tree recharge its abilities 30 seconds faster, so it much more useful against fortified positions (by virtue of higher damage). Also, the heavy side gets damaging ability 1 rank ($4000) earlier.
Rush:
Rush abilities are a bit harder balance, since a lot of them are situational. When playing against Turtle, the AF upgrade for Rush Anti-Tank Infantry is still quite popular. Beyond that, the Light Tank Assault Gun seems like a fairly popular choice.
I tend to choose the medium tank sonic barrage also.
Unsure how to balance this, probably associate a money cost with the upgrades.
Stealth:
During the course of a match, stealth has access to every unit available. However, some units should probably not be available at the onset, which have a cost of 3 (which require 1 rank).
Turtle:
As it stands, the Turtle tree is fairly balanced. Well, the scout side of tree is a little more useful, as bases are less important for two of the teams, and the speed penalty on the Heavy aircraft is quite high.
The latest changes I have made for this makes the heavy side of the tree recharge its abilities 30 seconds faster, so it much more useful against fortified positions (by virtue of higher damage). Also, the heavy side gets damaging ability 1 rank ($4000) earlier.
Rush:
Rush abilities are a bit harder balance, since a lot of them are situational. When playing against Turtle, the AF upgrade for Rush Anti-Tank Infantry is still quite popular. Beyond that, the Light Tank Assault Gun seems like a fairly popular choice.
I tend to choose the medium tank sonic barrage also.
Unsure how to balance this, probably associate a money cost with the upgrades.
Stealth:
During the course of a match, stealth has access to every unit available. However, some units should probably not be available at the onset, which have a cost of 3 (which require 1 rank).
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