Recently I've been contacted by a very helpful person on the xenoforce reborn moddb page about balancing issues with the O3 mod. I say very helpful because unlike the normal "this sucks" or "I like my army better this way" he had a lot of very helpful and useful criticism about problems with the balancing of the O3. The funny part is Doug and I had already been talking about what this person brought up and we were already planning on making some changes. It was just helpful because he helped validate the issues we were noticing.
For example, the Scrin planetary Ion Storm ability doesn't really do much against NOD because it can't detect stealth. This makes it super-powerful against GDI and a non-starter against NOD! Worse, it's something we simply overlooked and had not noticed, so I say thank you for that!
Now that the UC is shaping up to be almost done we plan on going back in and changing the O3 just slightly, this is NOT a "Re-do" again of the o3 though. These are simply balaincing and bugs that need fixed, or units that need re-designing. An example of a unit needing redesigning would be the NOD Salamander. While some people love the Salamander model Doug apsolutly despises it. Myself I'm in the "whatever, it doesn't do anything to me or for me" column, I just don't care about the model. However Doug has recently gotten his hands on some cool looking models that we plan on using for NOD to help show that their end game units are heavily influenced by Alien Technology. In short NOD is the exact opposite of the Robotech Defense Force. What I mean by this is that the SDF1's memory matrix helps guide humans in the Robotech story, applying advance technological ideas to our existing level of comprehension the Legion Memory Matrix dose the opposite. It steadily advances NOD's understanding of technology to the point that the end result of what is being built isn't really understood, it just works that way. The Avatar already has that look upon it, where it's not what GDI was doing with mech technology at all and the only thing that it even resembles in the CNC universe is the Core Defender, and even then the Core Defender wasn't the most human of designs as it was built by CABAL.
What does this have to do with the Salamander and Medusa? Legion is a Memory Matrix without a Battlefortress to live in. The solution that Legion comes up with is the Medusa, or a new Battlefortress. It's alien in design but built with human materials. The new model for the Salamander and Medusa are like the Avatar, they are very evil and ominous looking. The Salamander's design is going to change, becoming a unit that is like a Mini-Medusa. Smaller, faster, and designed to get in close and deal damage to ships like the Kodiak and the Scrin Capitol ships, the Medusa is going to be very valuable to NOD. The Medusa on the other hand is going to still be that massive ship that is flying though the air (though smaller than what it is right now) that is a simple powerhouse, it's a freaking battle fortress and it needs to fill the roll of Armored Carrier and Heavy Battleship in a very simple and streamlined fashion.
This brings us back to the Scrin. The current designs for their Capitol Ships will be gaining a bit of a boost in terms of functionality. The Harbinger for example I'm looking at being a more valuable form of defensive platform. Scrins problem is they just don't have much of a defensive network. We're going to be fixing this with a few changes, but what I would say to people is if you want a defense line build Harbingers. Place them around your base like you would defense turrets. Then turn on their Ion Storm ability. With enough of them you can have yourself a wall of very powerful turrets that take out anything that comes near. If I can pull it off I plan on the Harbinger to still be able to launch it's fighters while in this mode though. THAT will make them even more powerful in a defensive line, having carriers launching fighters from a far distance that repair that also can shut down and destroy enemy units that get near..... a simple frontal assault will not work against a force like that. If I was playing as UC and I saw my enemy doing that for their defense I'd switch quickly over to GP03 and start pumping out GM Snipers. Get in close, hit the ship hard from a distance while stealthed to open a hole, then fly in with GP03 and start making their lives miserable. Of course the counter to GP03 will be to have an Eye-Of-The-Storm or 2 there for backup, but thats what Super Gundams and GM-III's are for.
The point is we're still working on things and making sure that whatever we do there IS a counter to that side that just seems impossible to beat. You may just have to think a few steps further than your used to. Back to my GP03 example I'm sure a lot of people who see that kind of force would build GP03 (or GP02 and go with the Nuke. Always a great place for a direct firing nuke) would also go with Hi-Nu Gundam. Myself I'd go with RX-178-0 and not Hi-Nu. Hi-Nu is a very powerful unit, but I'd rather have a production boost and try to mass-produce as many heavy hitting and fast units like Stark Jegans, Super Gundams, and Powered GM's as I could if I was fighting a fleet of Scrin Capitol Ships. I'd use Hi-Nu gundam for dealing with GDI and their massive ground force.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The power of the Gundams compel you!
There have been some questions on what bonus's / powers will the Gundams really give and how will they work exactly in the new version of the MOD for UC.
First of all we are trying to make it completely automated. No "hit the power, tell it where to attack" nonsense. If it can do it the unit should do it automatically so that the player can focus on formations and troop movements and not have to worry about making the unit fire the proper weapon.
As for what units get what exactly, it's pretty straight forward. Keep in mind this list is subject to change based on how things work out but as of this moment this is what we're looking at.
Teir 1 -
RX-78-2 : Grants RGM79 the ability to call in airstrikes and GM Sniper the ability to call in artillery strikes.
RX-78-6 Mudrock : Grants RGC80 and RX77D better targeting sensors for the ability to always strike when they fire. Grants Guntanks autoloaders for faster fire rates and reloads.
Gundam Alex : Converts RGM79 and GM Sniper 2 to the Cold Climate versions, increasing their stats and swapping the RGM79's MMG to a Bazooka and granting the GM Sniper 2 Stealth.
Teir 2 -
GP01 : Powered GM's locomotor switch's to "hover" allowing it to move over all terrains and weapon switchs to a beam rifle. GM Custom gains longer range beam rifle, detects stealth, and gains greater vision range.
GP02 : Powered GM's can repair themselves in the field. GM Customs can call in Core Boosters for fire support. RGC 83's can call in Core Fighters for fire support.
GP03 : All units around GP03 gain a 20% increase to fire rate / movement speed due to moral boost. If GP03 dies ALL units lose 20% decrease to fire rate / movment speed for 60 seconds do to morale loss.
Teir 3 -
RX-178-0 Prototype : All Lieutenants and Field Operation Mobile Suits gain a 25% increase in production speed (they build 25% faster). FA-RX178 and Super Gundam gain G-Defenser drones that help with fire support.
RX-93 Nu Gundam : GM-III units gain an anti-beam armor coating giving them an additional 35% protection from laser and beam weapons and 20% from lance weapons. Stark Jegans now detect stealth and gain a 25% increase in movement speed. Armored Jegans now gain a true "hover" locomotor like Powered GM's can gain for better movment on the field and gains anti-air hip missile pods.
RX-93-2 Hi Nu Gundam : All units around Hi Nu Gundam gain a 20% increase to HP and Damage Output due to Moral boost. If Hi Nu Gundam is destroyed ALL units have a 20% decrease to HP and Damage Output for 60 seconds do to Moral Loss.
As for what the Lieutenant Units and what they are, these are elite "build only one" units that are much stronger than the normal teir unit out there but they don't gain any bonus's from the Gundams. The other point is you can build them whenever you want, you don't have to have a specific gundam on the field to get them. This is the Lieutenant list.
Teir 1 :
GunCannon Prototype
GunTank Prototype
RX-77-3 Heavyarms Guncannon
Teir 2 :
GM Custom Hazel Unit
Powered GM Hazel Unit
GM Sniper Hazel Unit
Teir 3 :
RX-178-2 Gundam
RGZ-91 Gundam
So you can still gain some serious backup firepower no matter what Gundam you go with to help offset the fact that you may not want to put that RX78 out on the front line for fear of losing the bonus it offers for example.
First of all we are trying to make it completely automated. No "hit the power, tell it where to attack" nonsense. If it can do it the unit should do it automatically so that the player can focus on formations and troop movements and not have to worry about making the unit fire the proper weapon.
As for what units get what exactly, it's pretty straight forward. Keep in mind this list is subject to change based on how things work out but as of this moment this is what we're looking at.
Teir 1 -
RX-78-2 : Grants RGM79 the ability to call in airstrikes and GM Sniper the ability to call in artillery strikes.
RX-78-6 Mudrock : Grants RGC80 and RX77D better targeting sensors for the ability to always strike when they fire. Grants Guntanks autoloaders for faster fire rates and reloads.
Gundam Alex : Converts RGM79 and GM Sniper 2 to the Cold Climate versions, increasing their stats and swapping the RGM79's MMG to a Bazooka and granting the GM Sniper 2 Stealth.
Teir 2 -
GP01 : Powered GM's locomotor switch's to "hover" allowing it to move over all terrains and weapon switchs to a beam rifle. GM Custom gains longer range beam rifle, detects stealth, and gains greater vision range.
GP02 : Powered GM's can repair themselves in the field. GM Customs can call in Core Boosters for fire support. RGC 83's can call in Core Fighters for fire support.
GP03 : All units around GP03 gain a 20% increase to fire rate / movement speed due to moral boost. If GP03 dies ALL units lose 20% decrease to fire rate / movment speed for 60 seconds do to morale loss.
Teir 3 -
RX-178-0 Prototype : All Lieutenants and Field Operation Mobile Suits gain a 25% increase in production speed (they build 25% faster). FA-RX178 and Super Gundam gain G-Defenser drones that help with fire support.
RX-93 Nu Gundam : GM-III units gain an anti-beam armor coating giving them an additional 35% protection from laser and beam weapons and 20% from lance weapons. Stark Jegans now detect stealth and gain a 25% increase in movement speed. Armored Jegans now gain a true "hover" locomotor like Powered GM's can gain for better movment on the field and gains anti-air hip missile pods.
RX-93-2 Hi Nu Gundam : All units around Hi Nu Gundam gain a 20% increase to HP and Damage Output due to Moral boost. If Hi Nu Gundam is destroyed ALL units have a 20% decrease to HP and Damage Output for 60 seconds do to Moral Loss.
As for what the Lieutenant Units and what they are, these are elite "build only one" units that are much stronger than the normal teir unit out there but they don't gain any bonus's from the Gundams. The other point is you can build them whenever you want, you don't have to have a specific gundam on the field to get them. This is the Lieutenant list.
Teir 1 :
GunCannon Prototype
GunTank Prototype
RX-77-3 Heavyarms Guncannon
Teir 2 :
GM Custom Hazel Unit
Powered GM Hazel Unit
GM Sniper Hazel Unit
Teir 3 :
RX-178-2 Gundam
RGZ-91 Gundam
So you can still gain some serious backup firepower no matter what Gundam you go with to help offset the fact that you may not want to put that RX78 out on the front line for fear of losing the bonus it offers for example.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The Return of Gundam Mudrock
So there has been a lot of updates to the mod in the last few weeks since the last update. First we've replaced the Explorer truck of uc with a Big Tray. This is cool for a few reasons, first it helps further the graphical separation between GDI and UC. Second the structure will not only deploy and further build out the forces but it also will be the main structure for deploying both defensive structures AND will be the deployment spot for all Special Operations Units.
What are Special Operations Units? SOU units are mostly classified as artillery units or units that are designed to fulfill a special roll in the field. All those units that you read about in the back history of "these units were expensive to mass produce so the Earth Federation only built a few" are probably in this category.
Another interesting change is the fact that defensive structures are going to come with backup. That means you deploy the main weapon and then some defensive units will also deploy based on that type of structure. A basic defensive cannon will come with some commandos for anti-infantry support. That heavy anti-air sam site? How about a few RGC-80's to help protect it from ground attacks? Yea, you get the idea.
Finally we have the current (but never final) Gundam list. There are 2 new Gundams being added to our pool giving us 9 Gundams on the UC side. The new design calls for 3 teirs, each teir having 3 units to choose from. You build a unit from the teir and you get access to different bonus's and features on the units. You can only have 1 gundam from each teir built at a time, but if it dies you can rebuild it or build a different one to go a different direction. This is the new list.
Gundam RX-78-2 / Gundam RX-78-6 Mudrock / Gundam Alex
Gundam GP01 / Gundam GP02 / Gundam GP03
Gundam RX-178-0 Proto / RX-93 Nu Gundam / RX-93-V2 Hi Nu Gundam
Yep, Mudrock and Hi-Nu are back in the game. I will go into detail on what powers you actually get from each unit at a later posting but let me be clear that we are working very hard at making sure that each unit gives a bonus that helps offset other concerns (in other words obviously RX-178-0 Proto isn't as powerful as Hi-Nu Gundam but RX-178-0 will give a bonus that may make it worth it to some players to use depending on your stratagy).
Now for the down side, the only thing that this new design has to remove are the capitol ships that used to drop the units in. It would be nice keep them in but at the moment they just are not needed.
More to come soon, including pics on ModDB.
What are Special Operations Units? SOU units are mostly classified as artillery units or units that are designed to fulfill a special roll in the field. All those units that you read about in the back history of "these units were expensive to mass produce so the Earth Federation only built a few" are probably in this category.
Another interesting change is the fact that defensive structures are going to come with backup. That means you deploy the main weapon and then some defensive units will also deploy based on that type of structure. A basic defensive cannon will come with some commandos for anti-infantry support. That heavy anti-air sam site? How about a few RGC-80's to help protect it from ground attacks? Yea, you get the idea.
Finally we have the current (but never final) Gundam list. There are 2 new Gundams being added to our pool giving us 9 Gundams on the UC side. The new design calls for 3 teirs, each teir having 3 units to choose from. You build a unit from the teir and you get access to different bonus's and features on the units. You can only have 1 gundam from each teir built at a time, but if it dies you can rebuild it or build a different one to go a different direction. This is the new list.
Gundam RX-78-2 / Gundam RX-78-6 Mudrock / Gundam Alex
Gundam GP01 / Gundam GP02 / Gundam GP03
Gundam RX-178-0 Proto / RX-93 Nu Gundam / RX-93-V2 Hi Nu Gundam
Yep, Mudrock and Hi-Nu are back in the game. I will go into detail on what powers you actually get from each unit at a later posting but let me be clear that we are working very hard at making sure that each unit gives a bonus that helps offset other concerns (in other words obviously RX-178-0 Proto isn't as powerful as Hi-Nu Gundam but RX-178-0 will give a bonus that may make it worth it to some players to use depending on your stratagy).
Now for the down side, the only thing that this new design has to remove are the capitol ships that used to drop the units in. It would be nice keep them in but at the moment they just are not needed.
More to come soon, including pics on ModDB.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Damn it, I really need to start posting here more often.
First I want to say thank you to everyone who reads this blog. I simply have not been keeping up with my posts like I was supposed to and for that I am sorry. However I really do have some good news. I'm posting again! Thats good right?
On to more important things. The reason I have not been posting lately is because Doug and I have been hard at work with making some important changes to the EF and with coming up with blueprints to UC/AW/Seed. Now I know what your thinking, "wait, didn't you already have those? I mean, we've got the UC update already! It's 2 posts down!" Sorta. The update that was posted here was never posted up to ModDB (see, I do keep some promises) so only a few people have actually played it. This is a GOOD thing. After converting UC and AW to the new balancing system a few things stood out to us. First, AW held up under the new system a hell of a lot better than UC did. Second of all our Defcon system was simply too archaic to work in this new game system.
You see with the changes that we made in the O3 mod in place the old UC design was simply too constricting. There were too many "artificial" barriers in place to allow for a fluid UC gameplay to happen. You HAD to wait 5 minutes to go from teir 1 to teir 2, then another 4 minutes to go to teir 3, then another 4 to go to teir 4, you get the point. This leads to a very uneventful UC gameplay where the player is constantly on the defensive for most of if not all of the game!
Now I'm not willing to go into detail just yet in what our new system is but I can tell you a few things that both Doug and I have agreed upon that this new system must be able to pull off if it's to work right.
1. The Upgrade Path through the teirs must be fluid. It must move at the players pace and not at an artificial pace.
2. The Units that a player can choose must be able to be dynamic. This means that a player must be able to fluidly modify their game-play though the choices of units and that units must actively be able to support one-another if they really were meant to be supported. A good example of how this would work in game is with the RX-78 and the RGM-79 mobile suits. RGM-79's are all good and fine but if you have them backed by the RX-78 they could for example gain the ability to call in their own Core Bomber bombing runs! Hows that for something to watch out for! Maybe you don't want to have RGM-79's with bombing runs, prehaps your going to focus your forces around Gundam Alex. Now those RGM-79's are not normal RGM-79's, now they are upgraded to RGM-79D Cold Climate types with improved speed and fire rates! However if you lose your Gundam you also lose the bonus the Gundam grants, so you better cover those Gundams!
3. The Gundams ARE the Generals on the field. This means that a single Gundam can turn the tide of a battle by not only being an incredibly powerful and unique force on the field to fight but also by the bonus's it gives to certain units. The down side to this is you can only have 1 gundam from each Teir (there will be 3 gundams to choose from per teir and 3 teirs right now) so you can only manipulate the force so much. If you lose your gundam you can however simply rebuild it or choose a different one to go with so your never forced to stick with a specific tactic.
4. It must be a CLEAN system. This means it must not only be easy to use, not only easy to tell what unit gives what bonus's, but it must also be obvious what is going on in the field.
So you see we do have a very interesting and grand plan in the works. We should have the final design locked in by Thursday so after that I will be able to give more details. We also have plans to change AW some and make it not only cleaner but give the player more control over their forces abilities. But first we have to get UC done. Who knows, maybe you'll be playing some new UC by the end of Febuary?
On to more important things. The reason I have not been posting lately is because Doug and I have been hard at work with making some important changes to the EF and with coming up with blueprints to UC/AW/Seed. Now I know what your thinking, "wait, didn't you already have those? I mean, we've got the UC update already! It's 2 posts down!" Sorta. The update that was posted here was never posted up to ModDB (see, I do keep some promises) so only a few people have actually played it. This is a GOOD thing. After converting UC and AW to the new balancing system a few things stood out to us. First, AW held up under the new system a hell of a lot better than UC did. Second of all our Defcon system was simply too archaic to work in this new game system.
You see with the changes that we made in the O3 mod in place the old UC design was simply too constricting. There were too many "artificial" barriers in place to allow for a fluid UC gameplay to happen. You HAD to wait 5 minutes to go from teir 1 to teir 2, then another 4 minutes to go to teir 3, then another 4 to go to teir 4, you get the point. This leads to a very uneventful UC gameplay where the player is constantly on the defensive for most of if not all of the game!
Now I'm not willing to go into detail just yet in what our new system is but I can tell you a few things that both Doug and I have agreed upon that this new system must be able to pull off if it's to work right.
1. The Upgrade Path through the teirs must be fluid. It must move at the players pace and not at an artificial pace.
2. The Units that a player can choose must be able to be dynamic. This means that a player must be able to fluidly modify their game-play though the choices of units and that units must actively be able to support one-another if they really were meant to be supported. A good example of how this would work in game is with the RX-78 and the RGM-79 mobile suits. RGM-79's are all good and fine but if you have them backed by the RX-78 they could for example gain the ability to call in their own Core Bomber bombing runs! Hows that for something to watch out for! Maybe you don't want to have RGM-79's with bombing runs, prehaps your going to focus your forces around Gundam Alex. Now those RGM-79's are not normal RGM-79's, now they are upgraded to RGM-79D Cold Climate types with improved speed and fire rates! However if you lose your Gundam you also lose the bonus the Gundam grants, so you better cover those Gundams!
3. The Gundams ARE the Generals on the field. This means that a single Gundam can turn the tide of a battle by not only being an incredibly powerful and unique force on the field to fight but also by the bonus's it gives to certain units. The down side to this is you can only have 1 gundam from each Teir (there will be 3 gundams to choose from per teir and 3 teirs right now) so you can only manipulate the force so much. If you lose your gundam you can however simply rebuild it or choose a different one to go with so your never forced to stick with a specific tactic.
4. It must be a CLEAN system. This means it must not only be easy to use, not only easy to tell what unit gives what bonus's, but it must also be obvious what is going on in the field.
So you see we do have a very interesting and grand plan in the works. We should have the final design locked in by Thursday so after that I will be able to give more details. We also have plans to change AW some and make it not only cleaner but give the player more control over their forces abilities. But first we have to get UC done. Who knows, maybe you'll be playing some new UC by the end of Febuary?
Thursday, January 3, 2013
still alive and kicking
Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and kicking here. Doug and I are hard at work on the mod still, we're almost done with the AW conversion (a half dozen units to change on AW, a few modifications for UC and EF as a whole) then we will be on to finally FINALLY adding SEED back in.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
UC Test 1
http://www.mediafire.com/?jqoob2ppgmuplim
Here is a test run with UC converted, AW has NOT been modified to the new system yet.
Here is a test run with UC converted, AW has NOT been modified to the new system yet.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Keep your eyes open on thursday
Yea yea I know.... its way past when I said it was going to happen. As alen pointed out, its been awhile. I had mean to have something up last sunday for you guys but the version just wasn't coming along the way I wanted. I have one that works now but I made a major mistake in it which causes the game to not feel right for UC. Upon further inspection it was my design choices that made it feel artificial.
You see since we're using a teired unit system and UC works off of a defcon teir system I tried to have each teir follow the defcon, so all decon 1 units were teir 1 units, all defcon 2 units were teir 2 units, and so on and so on. And it works for the most part but it just feels... odd.
So as a teaser for what you can expect on Thursday here is a little chart to wet your appetites.
NAME : WT - AT - UT - HP - Class
RGM 79 : 1 - 2 - 2 - 2700 - Offense
RGC 80 : 2 - 2 - 1 - 1800 - Assault
Guntank MP : 2 - 2 - 2 - 3000 - Offense
Gunsniper 2 : 3 - 2 - 2 - 1800 - Assault
Power GM : 2 - 3 - 2 - 4500 - Offense
RX 77 D : 3 - 2 - 2 - 1800 - Assault
GM Custom : 3 - 3 - 3 - 4500 Offense
RGC 83 : 4 - 3 - 2 - 4950 - Offense
Guntank 2 : 4 - 4 - 2 - 6000 Offense
FA RX178 : 5 - 6 - 3 - 10890 Offense
Super Gundam : 6 - 5 - 4 - 8250 Offense
RGZ 91 - 6 - 6 - 4 - 9900 Offense
Stark Jegan - 4 - 4 - 3 - 4200 Utility
Armored Jegan - 4 - 4 - 3 - 4200 Utility
I know this may not mean a lot but it should give you an idea of just where we plan to have mobile suits sitting. Remember a WT 2 means it should be able to kill an AT 2 with no issues in a 1-1 battle. So an RGM 79 should be able to kill pitbulls and survive with no issues. (It will obviously still take damage).
You see since we're using a teired unit system and UC works off of a defcon teir system I tried to have each teir follow the defcon, so all decon 1 units were teir 1 units, all defcon 2 units were teir 2 units, and so on and so on. And it works for the most part but it just feels... odd.
So as a teaser for what you can expect on Thursday here is a little chart to wet your appetites.
NAME : WT - AT - UT - HP - Class
RGM 79 : 1 - 2 - 2 - 2700 - Offense
RGC 80 : 2 - 2 - 1 - 1800 - Assault
Guntank MP : 2 - 2 - 2 - 3000 - Offense
Gunsniper 2 : 3 - 2 - 2 - 1800 - Assault
Power GM : 2 - 3 - 2 - 4500 - Offense
RX 77 D : 3 - 2 - 2 - 1800 - Assault
GM Custom : 3 - 3 - 3 - 4500 Offense
RGC 83 : 4 - 3 - 2 - 4950 - Offense
Guntank 2 : 4 - 4 - 2 - 6000 Offense
FA RX178 : 5 - 6 - 3 - 10890 Offense
Super Gundam : 6 - 5 - 4 - 8250 Offense
RGZ 91 - 6 - 6 - 4 - 9900 Offense
Stark Jegan - 4 - 4 - 3 - 4200 Utility
Armored Jegan - 4 - 4 - 3 - 4200 Utility
I know this may not mean a lot but it should give you an idea of just where we plan to have mobile suits sitting. Remember a WT 2 means it should be able to kill an AT 2 with no issues in a 1-1 battle. So an RGM 79 should be able to kill pitbulls and survive with no issues. (It will obviously still take damage).
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