A thought [less predictable and harder teching]

[eyu100]

In BA right now (this is not a suggestion for BA, BA is just the only mod I'm familiar with), higher tech levels are easy to get if you have the resources - on DSD, you can tech at the back and get T2 in a few minutes, but if you are at the front and have a reasonable amount of metal you can quickly build T2 later. I was wondering what games would be like if it was harder to switch between teching and fighting, and teching was less predictable.

For example, imagine a mod that was like standard BA except that you had to play Tetris and get a certain score before you could use T2. (Someone a while ago (aegis?) wrote a Tetris widget.) T2's effectiveness would be increased to maintain balance: maybe all T2 units would have damage and HP increased by 10%, cost reduced by 10%, and T2 eco would produce 30% more energy (in addition to costing 10% less). In addition, all forms of sharing would be disabled to prevent tech sharing - an extreme measure, but the only one I could think of. Some people would be better at Tetris than others, so they could tech faster, and it would also be possible to lose at Tetris, setting you back many minutes. Someone who fought at the front line would not be able to tech easily, since they would have to spend many minutes paying attention to Tetris (instead of controlling their units). Since T2 becomes more effective, the first person to get it would have a big advantage, unlike now, where both teams often have similarly good techers.

Thoughts? What effects would these changes have on FFA games - would anyone try to tech, or would it be too risky?

[knorke]

would it be this tetris?

[oksnoop2]

like standard BA except that you had to play Tetris

Yes I would much rather play tetris actually now that you mention it. *closes springlobby, finds gameboy*

Really though, I don't understand.

[eyu100]

Tetris was just a silly way of making teching unpredictable and attention-occupying. You could instead have people solve puzzles related to tech (like "fit these parts together") or just make teching take a random amount of time.

[CarRepairer]

You can only tech up when you find a shrubbery.

[oksnoop2]

One that looks nice and not too expensive.

[MidKnight]

Please rename the topic to something more descriptive.

About you idea: It might be cool to try out. It won't take you long to put together a mutator.

[Blackdutchie]

If i were you i'd play as many other modules as possible, and see what sort of teching schemes, if any, they have. More references often lead to clearer idea's.

[smoth]

Or you could just look at how hundreds of other games do it. Tetris is a bad idea because it has nothing to do with the game in progress. Countless other games have valid approaches which solve what you consider a problem

[eyu100]

I'm wondering what effect this change would have on BA, and so far none of the posts have addressed this, except MidNight's. I don't want to know (in this thread) how other games do it, or whether the specific method (such as Tetris) makes sense, because I want to know what this specific idea would do. If you think it's a bad idea, please talk about the bad effects it would have on gameplay.

[knorke]

At first I did not like the idea of randomly combining two games that have nothing in common with each other.
I would rather play one challenging game then multiple silly games at once, but then I thought about it:

In Tetris right now, higher scores are easy to get if you have enough good pieces - with only long pieces and 2x2 blocks, you can just fill every line and get 10.000 points in a few minutes. I was wondering what games would be like if it was harder to clear lines, and if the pieces you get were less predictable.

For example, imagine a Tetris that was like standard Tetris except that you had to play Pacman and get a certain score before you could use those long pieces. (Someone a while ago (zwszg) wrote a Pacman widget.)

Tetris' effectiveness would be increased to maintain balance: maybe a cleared line would give more points and chance for 2x2 blocks increased by 10%, Z pieces reduced by 10%, and clearing 4 lines at once would produce 30% more points (in addition to long pieces being 10% less likely). In addition, all forms of rotating would be disabled to prevent easy scoring - an extreme measure, but the only one I could think of. Some people would be better at Pacman than others, so they would get more long pieces, and it would also be possible to lose at Pacman, giving you more Z shaped pieces. Someone who gets all the power pills would be able to clear lines easily, since they would have to spend many minutes paying attention to Pacman (instead of controlling the falling blocks). Since long straight pieces become more effective, the first person to get it would have a big advantage, unlike now, where both teams often get similiar good pieces.

Thoughts? What effects would these changes have on Tetris games - would anyone try to save up for clearing four lines at once, or would it be too risky?

[smoth]

Tetris is a bad idea because it has nothing to do with the game in progress. Countless other games have valid approaches which solve what you consider a problem

[eyu100]

My idea isn't really about Tetris, but people have been focusing on that exclusively, so I'll change it a little: what would BA gameplay be like if teching took a random amount of time, and made your units much weaker until it was finished? Please don't talk about Tetris any more .

Smoth: I know that, but you didn't answer my question. At least tell me what the other "valid approaches" are so that I can, well, know what they are, rather than just repeating yourself after I specifically requested something else.

[PicassoCT]

what if teching was kill based? every corpse you collect gives you research points?

[knorke]

what would BA gameplay be like if teching took a random amount of time, and made your units much weaker until it was finished?

Thats what it is like right now.
How fast you can make T2 depends on various factors such as how many resources your allies share or how much you can reclaim. Not really random but hardly predictable.
While switching to T2, your base is already more vulnerable, without needing such mechanic as weaker units.
It is just that you do not notice that on 12v12 DSD.
A techer on DSD would play the same even if all his units have 1 hp as he makes no fighting units during the simbase phase.

Now you could randomly increase buildtimes of T2 stuff but whats the point?
If you are talking about 1v1 games, T2 is a risk to make there as is.

what if teching was kill based? every corpse you collect gives you research points?

good idea! But you should have to pick up the research points by research point collector units so that game becomes more strategic by mapcontrol.
Oh wait, that already exists. It is called reclaiming wrecks.

[PicassoCT]

what if teching was kill based? every corpse you collect gives you research points?

good idea! But you should have to pick up the research points by research point collector units so that game becomes more strategic by mapcontrol.
Oh wait, that already exists. It is called reclaiming wrecks.[/quote]


what game is that? Surely again that mysterious SpringGame everyone here is talking about... got to test it someday! :D

[Johannes]

In BA right now (this is not a suggestion for BA, BADSD is just the only mod I'm familiar with),

[eyu100]

In BA right now (this is not a suggestion for BA, BADSD is just the only mod I'm familiar with),

+1