Spring RTS Engine

How about mobile mexx's?

Actually I had a similar idea to that. The mobile mex would be like a resource parasite, when it made it to the metal loc it would then burrow with the abdomen sticking out. If attacked it could then un-burrow and flee. Anyway thats the idea, have no clue if it would actually work.

The changes needed for building mexes can be done in the next version. Me and deci have already had a shot at getting extracting factories and got as far as mobile extractors with weapons.

I cannot add NI mexs that build

Why not? Is it an engine-limit that mexxes can't have a nanobeam?

Mobile mexxes would be cool but are not yet possible I think.

Maybe give them a radar? But thats probally not useful enough.
Or an "anti-raid mex" with low health but a good selfrepair rate.
This way some lone level 1 tanks that somehow got to your eco won't be able to kill them...

Shielded mex?

Egarwaen wrote:Shielded mex?

Shields won't work properly in EE because Fang uses the default damage value to determine the size of the graphic eplosion, which also the damage done to shields.

howabout factory mexxes? not Nanospray mexxes that act like nanotowers, but are able to build 1/2 of the level 1 units. like the NI constructer, the missle hover and the lightning one. Of course, It would have to be obscenely slow to make sure you can't substitue a real factory for a mex :/
Mobile mexxes don't work. you can move them, But they continue to mine the spot you build them at.

A factory mex doesnt work, it does not fit in anywhere as that would not be condusive to expansion.. factories are far more expensive than mexs and a combo version would have to be even more so to be justified this would simply mean a really big ugly mex that takes forever to build... Also there would be really no point to building more than 2 of such a thing as having that many factories even if they dont produce all units is not feasible. So unlike GD or URC who build quite alot of their Unique mexs NI would basically build them not at all... the point of the expanding mex was to increase expansion by allowing your builders to continue building mexs whilst your mexs could build energy or defences giving you a hands free approach a factory doesnt really do that...

Shields are likewise not implementable at this point in time..

Fanger wrote: Shields are likewise not implementable at this point in time..

what're you looking for in shields?

Hm. NI are really quick and highly mobile, aren't they? What about a very weak mex that can basically be thrown up in no time flat? Possibly with built-in radar or a long sight range or something? Basically, a structure that helps with quick expansion.

You could call them outposts. They can just be a tower ontop of a mine, with a camer slowly panning around. They have radar and LOS on a medium to long range.

I like that.

Hehe, how cool would it be if you could build all the mexxes at home base and put them to crawl to the spots?

They'd have to be either slow and hevily armored, like a Jawa Sandcrawler (but that dosn't fit with the NI) or really fast hovery things (That does fit with the NI).

Mobile mexes don't work - they keep extracting at the spot where they were built after they move.

In the current build. But me and decimator tested a build where we'd changed the extraction code around and mobile extractors worked.

What about a very weak mex that can basically be thrown up in no time flat?

Hm, I dont know.
On enemy terrain (where those might be useful) a weak mex won't survive long. So you would have to secure the area first -> slower expansion.

Mexes with nanobeam:
Couldn't they be abused as nanotowers placed around the factories?

Maybe have the mexxes close their shells when attacked, like the OTA-style solars?

Knorke the mex wouldnt build much faster than a constructor and would have about the same build radius and would take up more space so it would only marginally useful asa nanotower to assist construction

knorke wrote:Hm, I dont know.
On enemy terrain (where those might be useful) a weak mex won't survive long. So you would have to secure the area first -> slower expansion.

The idea is that you can afford to throw them up quickly as you expand/take territory because they're so cheap and because the incidental benefits (radar/LoS/jammer/whatever) help you keep your momentum. So even if the enemy manages to push you back and destroys them, you still come out ahead.

Basically a "disposable mex".

That sounds useless. Its only going to be 150~ metal in the short run anyways.

Okay, Howabout a detection mex? Like a large radar range and LOS, meaning that it ould be used to detect lots? And on my factory mex, I mean that it costs the same as its URC or GD counterparts, but has a really bad worker time, so that it can only be used effectively in either large numbers, or being gaurded by workers.

Also, any plans of letting the Commanders build the special mexxes, but letting the normal mexxes cost 1/2 as much or something? I always find expanding tricky in the early stages becuase: "If I build normal mexxes, the enemy will kill them with a really weak and cheap unit, so I should wait a few minutes so I can use the special mexxes".

Drone_Fragger wrote:That sounds useless. Its only going to be 150~ metal in the short run anyways.

Drone says, then...

Okay, Howabout a detection mex? Like a large radar range and LOS, meaning that it ould be used to detect lots?

Proceeds to suggest exactly the same thing!