Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Discuss game development here, from a distinct game project to an accessible third-party mutator, down to the interaction and design of individual units if you like.

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oksnoop2
Posts: 1207
Joined: 29 Aug 2009, 20:12

Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by oksnoop2 »

I just wanted people's opinions on super units and nano turrets and why they think they should be in games and mods.
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bobthedinosaur
Blood & Steel Developer
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Joined: 25 Aug 2004, 13:31

Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by bobthedinosaur »

nano? like TA? liek xta? like ba? like ca? like nota?

super? like supcom? like korgoths?
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oksnoop2
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by oksnoop2 »

Yes, and I could be mistaken but i think at least one of the E&E factions used a non mobile build assist tower.
And super units like the krog, monkey lord, bantha, one unit armies basically.
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bobthedinosaur
Blood & Steel Developer
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by bobthedinosaur »

Well then. Depends on the mod/ game. The scale the theme. A ww2 game probably wont have nano turrets, but might have a large warship. And some games don't need huge units to fit their game play. But huge units tend to sell for some reason, even if they are mechanically illogical, like the biped robots.
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SanadaUjiosan
Conflict Terra Developer
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by SanadaUjiosan »

I'm interested in what people think concerning gameplay. Sure most RTS have strong units (Starcraft's Carriers, Age of Empires War Elephants) but it seems the analog in a lot of Spring mods is even more extreme, really deserving the term "super unit." Like oksnoop said, one man armies.

And nano turrets are just an extraneous luxury in my opinion.
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zwzsg
Kernel Panic Co-Developer
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Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 13:08

Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by zwzsg »

oksnoop2 wrote:Yes, and I could be mistaken but i think at least one of the E&E factions used a non mobile build assist tower.
EE hubs are not nanotowers. They're not here to assist (you'd be better of build a new factory) but to get you to cluster your facs, and to centralize teching.
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Pxtl
Posts: 6112
Joined: 23 Oct 2004, 01:43

Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by Pxtl »

Nanoturrets are just a facet of TA-variant's geometric growth. Mobile builders become cumbersome in teh massive groups you get trying to direct the near-endless resources you build up. If you're concerned about whether you think mechs and nanotowers are a good thing, the real question you should be asking yourself about is BA's moho metal makers.
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knorke
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by knorke »

well it depends, so far one has also even to consider what it would be like for that no player is at disadvantage. if some are worried about super units being exemplary you must reflect about how they are a good idea if nobody thinks so?
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Beherith
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Joined: 26 Oct 2007, 16:21

Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by Beherith »

T3 rocks!
Nanos are even better!

Its always satisfying to build a kroggy, or to dgun one :)
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zwzsg
Kernel Panic Co-Developer
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by zwzsg »

It should be noted that TA does not have nanoturrets. Not in the official unitset anyway. Factories are helped by F.A.R.K. in TA.



TA had only one super unit, the Krogoth, which was pretty much a nub-trap, because for the same cost you'd have enough flash/samson/hawk to flood the whole map.
Master-Athmos
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Joined: 27 Jun 2009, 01:32

Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by Master-Athmos »

I guess there are three different kinds of super units. The first would be the kind we have in the TA mods with e.g. the Krogoth being a good example. I actually wouldn't call it a super-unit though (except for maybe the OTA stats which pretty much nobody uses anymore). Here I wouldn't see the Krog as a real super-unit but rather the extrapolation into the the next tech level. It of course is big, strong and expensive but you have to remember the huge economy growth thanks to strong power plants and metal makers making it a valuable choice at a certain point where multiple weaker units would die too fast and having their wrecks blocking the way...

The second kind of super units imo are things like the heroes in WC3. They're very strong but are around like all the time and don't cost you that much or even next to nothing...

The third kind then probably are the "real" superunits. I can only give the Mammoth MK-II walker from C&C Tiberian Sun as an example although it probably is a bad one as it sucked as hell. Still it's meant to be an extremely strong unit in an environment where its costs cannot be paid that easily due to an economy that doesn't explode over time. Either getting those things is a no brainer as although being expensive they have a great bang for bucks or they simply have a nice strategic effect and defeating your enemy with them is sort of a humiliation. Probably the most satisfying version of a super unit although next to irrelevant in terms of usual game importance...
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Pxtl
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by Pxtl »

zwzsg wrote:It should be noted that TA does not have nanoturrets. Not in the official unitset anyway. Factories are helped by F.A.R.K. in TA.



TA had only one super unit, the Krogoth, which was pretty much a nub-trap, because for the same cost you'd have enough flash/samson/hawk to flood the whole map.
Yes, and this was cumbersome - using aircons as assisters is grossly inefficient, but was popular in OTA simply because they don't trip over each other the way land cons do. Nanotowers really did seem to be a necessary tool for the OTA-style economy.
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JohannesH
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by JohannesH »

TA didnt have nanos and it worked -> clearly its not necessary by any means.


And super units that are effective as 1 unit armies as oksnoop said, are shitty for gameplay, its bad if game is decided by 1 unit if its of the type where you just send it to the enemy base and cant micro it much. But if theres just a big unit that supports your army like any other, thats ok.
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Tribulex
A.N.T.S. Developer
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Re: Who needs super units and nano turrets?

Post by Tribulex »

i like the idea of specialized big units. Like a mega anti air man who can eat any plane that comes at him. but its like counting all your chickens into 1 basket, because all you have to do is long distance backflip with commander with dgun and anti-bullet shield on his head and then dgun his ass and spam points that say "LOLOLLLL!L!!!"
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