Unit suggestions [Split from Tester Signup]

[t78]

If the autocast ability was re-enabled, it would allow for an ability that would make infantry even more useful instead of cannon-fodder.

I have been thinking about how anti-infantry vehicles slaughter infantry. It doesn't seem entirely necessary as infantry, even in numbers, don't really maul vehicles very well. Tie Maulers basically make any infantry on the map redundant, and protecting troops from them is extremely hard.

The thought I had was whether infantry could activate a 'cover' mechanic that vastly increased their health/toughness at the total expense of their mobility. A sandbag area would instantly appear around them, and they would die at a reduced (but still steady) rate. Thus maulers and other vehicles would suppress them when they stay still, and slaughter them when they run, but one doesn't have to completely write off what should be elite soldiers. Artillery and heavy tanks would be more effective against them when they are sandbagged.

 

[nightraven1901]

T78: Hmm. I like this idea, reminds me of how I used to use GDI rifle squads. That said there's already a "good ground" mechanic that offers the toughness bonus you speak of, but they're locked to the positions they're placed in the mapmaker. I do think that a suppression system would be nice for infantry, in the vein as that offered by Command and Conquer games, but it'd probably take a surprisingly large amount of effort to make infantry hit the deck when under heavy fire to get a cover bonus (this would entail a set of animations for this action, for a start, which may have to be built from scratch, to say nothing of coding) so as much as it would be awesome I doubt it's planned.  Possibly a less manpower-intensive variant would be doable; just give them the cover bonus and movement speed debuff usually applied to suppressed infantry to them without animations, and maybe a glow to indicate the effect, but that's cheap and nasty, which are two things that do not fly around here.

Counter-suggestion: have them be able to place a bunker on the map. A literal bunker; like the ones you can build. They do count as placable; the fun part would be convincing the engine to let you place them in singleplayer without a buildpad. That said, the assets are already in engine, and we can get some mileage out of the faction-specific bunker models. It would be bloody overpowered if the bunker nerfs weren't rolling out soon, but with them... Maybe? I mean, it would add flavour and actual utility to these units we generally throw at reinforcement points and buildpads without ever ordering into direct conflict.

On the topic of capturable structures, can we get a "control module" build order on capturables, perchance? To lock the capturable to the taking side without needing an infantryman standing on it. Just an idea; tieing up an infantry squad (often the last one in his company, so he keeps taking up the pop point) to hold something I might need later is good strategy but bad math when we have ten pop points to work with. Just an idea,

[Roachbugg]

Just a little Immersion thing I'd like to see a bit of, species diversity in New Republic infantry squads. It feel's odd that they are all human the Empire is meant to be the speciest ones.

There also seem to be a lot of ground unit's that don't really have a real niche. The EoTH flame tank is a good example it doesn't really bring anything to the table the RFT doesn't.

I'd also like to see the effectiveness of Turbolaser towers be tuned down a smidge, especially since the AI builds them on literally every planet. They just counter to many unit types. Leaving the only effective ways for neutralizing them, artillery. Which some factions simply don't have and can be impossible due to their placement on some maps. Killing the power gen which varies in difficulty based on the map. Some maps the power gen can be effectively neutralized without obscene losses other your only real method of taking it our is a sensor ping and bombardment/bombingrun. The final method is trying to overwhelm the Turbo laser before it can slaughter your units. Which some factions can do well others cant. 

 

[t78]

Hmm.... true on the animation problem. I did imagine easily animatable droids flapping their arms and sandbags rising from the ground (that sounds worse than it looked in my head  ), but if they are under fire, setting up defences there and then looks less plausible. Hmm. I will think on this one.

I'd argue for placing sandbag structures in advance, but would the Ai do that? That is the key problem. An auto-function special ability where they hit the deck would be used much more effectively by the Ai. It unfortunetley would be hard to animate. Therein lies the problem!

[Slornie]

Something like that is probably do-able with, as you say, appropriate animations.  I'd envisage it as an additionl use for the deploy/undeploy ability (e.g. the Imperial E-Web) only with the AI behaviour/auto-cast bound to the same equation as the existing take cover ability.

[nightraven1901]

Funnily enough that was exactly my thinking. The AI already has a working code for tracking when a speed debuff is preferable for a defence buff; just co-opt that and link it directly into the unit behaviour, so they just do it (helps to simulate troops under fire. Ordering your average marine rifle section to advance while they're recieving fire will yield an advance, but they won't charge into cannon fire. They'll proceed slowly, carefully. I wouldn't mind the troops doing that naturally; I'm already used to insubordinate officers from space combat. But that's fairly pie-in-the-sky, this is hardly priority.