Ideas for creative/interesting modes of unit production?

[PepeAmpere]

yep, and i make a seperate alienversion for pepe Ampero..

if you mean it for real, thx. Btw check how the current Spacebugsmodels - desing, textures,... before you start to have some coherent style for both (current bugs + new egs)

[PepeAmpere]

Eggs are now ingame... yep, and i make a seperate alienversion for pepe Ampero..

if you mean it for real, thx! Before you start, pls check the rest of spacebugs stuff, to get output with coherent style (textures, model look, ...)

[PicassoCT]

How about Communism? You disband the state as the agent in charge over the means of production. Instead, the organisation in charge of production shall be the central committee.

You mean indirect controll like at the settlers series? No real comander, instead sort of "indirekt controll over a selfsubstaining, selfsupporting organic like beehive"? I can imagine that to be actually cool.. still at some point you will have to influence the beeings below.. and even if it is just as the "idea" that many of them suddenly frenzy.

[yanom]

Ok, I think I got something that works.

Engineer units can "lay" eggs via the clone mechanic. The eggs are a bit pricey but they morph into soldiers for free. You can hold shift and hit they "lay egg" button a bunch, and drop a bunch of eggs. What I'm wondering now is, can i edit the UI to add buttons that will queue up several orders with the push of a button? So you would hit this one button and it would queue up like 20 eggs.

I'm also thinking about making three egg types: tech1, t2, and t3. t1 is the cheap stuff, t2 is the larger but still accessible stuff, and t3 is game-ending superunits.

[PicassoCT]

Thats the good thing if you dont know how to chilli.. you avoid it altogether.. units autodrop eggs in water.. thats all

[yanom]

Thats the good thing if you dont know how to chilli.. you avoid it altogether.. units autodrop eggs in water.. thats all

my maps don't have water sadly.

I found some code in the unit_clone.lua that adds things to a unit's control panel fairly easily...

Code: Select all

local cloneCmdDesc = {
  id     = CMD_CLONE,
  type   = CMDTYPE.ICON,
  name   = 'Clone',
  cursor = 'Clone',  -- add with LuaUI?
  action = 'clone',
}

Code: Select all

local function AddCloneCmdDesc(unitID, cloneDef, teamTech)
  local unitXP = Spring.GetUnitExperience(unitID)

  cloneCmdDesc.tooltip = GetCloneToolTip(unitID, cloneDef,0,0)
  cloneCmdDesc.texture = "#" .. cloneDef.into --only works with a patched layout.lua! :(
  cloneCmdDesc.disabled= (cloneDef.tech > teamTech)or(cloneDef.xp > unitXP)
  Spring.InsertUnitCmdDesc(unitID, cloneCmdDesc)
  cloneCmdDesc.tooltip = nil
  cloneCmdDesc.texture = nil
end

so is it doable to ad a UI button that queues up multiple orders?

[knorke]

so is it doable to ad a UI button that queues up multiple orders?
...
What I'm wondering now is, can i edit the UI to add buttons that will queue up several orders with the push of a button? So you would hit this one button and it would queue up like 20 eggs.

Basically like the build-a-unit buttons of a factory in springs default UI?

Maybe CMDTYPE.NUMBER does that but if not you can make such button yourself because its possible to change a button's text/picture.
So on leftclick +1, rightclick -1, etc.

[KDR_11k]

Micro Modules has its own approach: Basic modules are produced by killing waves of neutral creeps, combining two basic modules forms a higher unit which must then be stuffed with more modules to gain strength. Modules come in three types and each combination produces a different unit that then takes more modules of the types used to create it (one acts as the weapon, the other as the body so sticking more modules of the weapon's type in boosts the attack power, adding more of the body's type boosts health and range in the case of turrets). When a module kills a creep it clones itself, when a higher unit kills a creep it gets one module of either its weapon or body type. You also have a master converter that can load any module and unload it as any other type, if the master converter dies you can morph another unit into one. It also calls the creep waves.

[PicassoCT]

Its somewhat sounds like dota.. with at lot more micro management. Then this is a evening latepost, which might be mercilessly unprecise, and lost the logic gear two corners away. So a dot.

[KDR_11k]

You didn't play Micro Modules? It was extremely popular for a day or two. It's not like Dota at all, more like a tower defense. You summon the creeps you want to fight and they appear from a random direction and you can summon the next wave once you've killed the one you've summoned. You try to kill them as fast and lossless as you can so you grow faster than your opponent. Unfortunately the actual PVP combat was rather weak since the best approach was to put all your modules into a single unit.

[PicassoCT]

Thats the good thing if you dont know how to chilli.. you avoid it altogether.. units autodrop eggs in water.. thats all

my maps don't have water sadly.

I found some code in the unit_clone.lua that adds things to a unit's control panel fairly easily...

Code: Select all

local cloneCmdDesc = {
  id     = CMD_CLONE,
  type   = CMDTYPE.ICON,
  name   = 'Clone',
  cursor = 'Clone',  -- add with LuaUI?
  action = 'clone',
}

Code: Select all

local function AddCloneCmdDesc(unitID, cloneDef, teamTech)
  local unitXP = Spring.GetUnitExperience(unitID)

  cloneCmdDesc.tooltip = GetCloneToolTip(unitID, cloneDef,0,0)
  cloneCmdDesc.texture = "#" .. cloneDef.into --only works with a patched layout.lua! :(
  cloneCmdDesc.disabled= (cloneDef.tech > teamTech)or(cloneDef.xp > unitXP)
  Spring.InsertUnitCmdDesc(unitID, cloneCmdDesc)
  cloneCmdDesc.tooltip = nil
  cloneCmdDesc.texture = nil
end

so is it doable to ad a UI button that queues up multiple orders?

in my mod your map has water..

[AF]

How about a giant bingo ball machine that when provided with resources deposits a ball with a random unit that splits in half to reveal said unit, construction by lottery!

[PicassoCT]

games who depend upon alea (luck) that have longterm intervalls (you invest much playtime into gambling) suck..

poker, roulette, whatever they all thrive from not having any longterm outcome depending from the moment.. (except you have that, and go home broke)

What would be a real nice ressource modell, would be a system that depends upon the beauty of the battle. Means there is a amount of ressource resheduled to you every second (from the dead, whatever) and if you for example micro a pewee to kill 3 goliaths, you get the lions share from the battle referee)

You get it, its about rewarding the guy really using superior strategy, while taking ressources from the guy who basically has nothing except sending all units forwards in a tarball of clusterfuck.

[knorke]

[KDR_11k]

games who depend upon alea (luck) that have longterm intervalls (you invest much playtime into gambling) suck..

poker, roulette, whatever they all thrive from not having any longterm outcome depending from the moment.. (except you have that, and go home broke)

What would be a real nice ressource modell, would be a system that depends upon the beauty of the battle. Means there is a amount of ressource resheduled to you every second (from the dead, whatever) and if you for example micro a pewee to kill 3 goliaths, you get the lions share from the battle referee)

You get it, its about rewarding the guy really using superior strategy, while taking ressources from the guy who basically has nothing except sending all units forwards in a tarball of clusterfuck.

Write a judging algorithm that is not easily exploitable.

[PicassoCT]

@knorke
Moderation hatin upon serious thread.. not enough glorious idea posting noobs around?

@kdr : True. Sorry didnt think that far.


Lets talk about the targets. i mean why we do this whole reshaping all the time.

#1) Pulsating battle intensity. We want the battle to be non continus, as this would turn all the wonders into background noise. Same thing about sweets, boring thing if all the time, good thing if too often, but excellent from time to time.

#2) We want the in between times to be interesting. Nothing more dull then watching your base building at extremely slow pace the next peace of fun. I mean thats the ultimate joke. You come home from watching a assembly line, turn on the game, to organise and then watch - a assembly line? So we want the player to be occupied with something during the build-up phases - and not have to worry about the battle meanwhile. Vice Versa during the battles.
Bonus Points if you integrate drama into it.

#3) Repetition is boring. I know, online gameplay is about constant mastering through repetiton, till you are better thand this or that guy, at spasming your finger at some obscure tricks. But really interesting would be something, that constantly changes. Everyone builds tanks? Tanks become weak.. basically a non-fixed rts-unit-def-tree, that takes the units as leaves, and by usage, reshifts them values, till balance is archived. Also no more bitchin about this unit or that unit beeing to strong :D

[knorke]

Everyone builds tanks? Tanks become weak..

casual noobgame mechanic detected! in progame players must find a way on their own how to make the enemy tanks weak. (by making helicopters or whatever counters them)
but agree with rest.

[PicassoCT]

you are just afraid of unemployed gamedesigners..

wish we could add something soap-opera like to the gamedesign. Look at how even mediocre tv-series make people check back on there virtual friends destiny.

[Erik]

3) Repetition is boring. I know, online gameplay is about constant mastering through repetiton, till you are better thand this or that guy, at spasming your finger at some obscure tricks. But really interesting would be something, that constantly changes.

[shameless advertisement]
Void does that
It has randomized ressource layouts and different methods of acquiring them, randomized game parameters such as starting units, randomized game goals and missions and also randomized weather...
[/shameless advertisement]

[PicassoCT]

jw doesent have that.. i should be listening to my own advice