[Complex] (6-48b) Recon Unit Line Rework

[Anarcomu]

I think recon line units should instead be specialised towards being in bad terrain like desert/jungle that normal units struggle in, they are even called “Commando”, “Special Forces” etc that are associated with fighting there.
This is useful since recon will inevitably be thrown into combat in the late game when paradrop becomes a thing and there are no more places to explore, and need some niche where they can shine in direct combat against all the tanks and planes zooming around. Maybe there could be more promotions for combat in such terrain for recon in the future.

My proposal already allows lvl 3 scouts to move 4 tiles in deserts or forest/jungle (with right promotion), where a 6 move tank could only move 3 tiles. So they already have an advantage in those terrain.
Also, I'm not against buffing from terrain, if you think it warrant it. Although it might render the survivalist line less useful if over-corrected.

 

[Phosphoraptor]

Also, I'm not against buffing from terrain, if you think it warrant it. Although it might render the survivalist line less useful if over-corrected.

I see you already have something like this in your proposal, though what I have in mind is more balanced with offense and defense. Ill put out a counterproposal to better show what Im thinking.

 

[Anarcomu]

Amended to buff desert, snow, marsh and forest/jungle bonus, since they can't stack. Also I don't see this as a strong overlap with survivalism, since it is terrain-specific..

 

[Tekamthi]

I'm loving the abundance of proposals on this topic, a couple are kinda interesting.

I note this one has the .dll rework tag:

Complex Proposal: Database Changes and Changes in the DLL for the new Promotion abilities

As I read the proposal, it should be mostly achievable via database-only changes? The only portion I read as uncertain from the database perspective is no heal on ice.

...But there IS a database way to do this, albeit a database function unused elsewhere in VP: the 'Features' table has a field for 'LocationUnitFreePromotion'. I experimented with this years ago, and it functioned by adding a promotion to unit standing on this feature. Combined with the 'UnitPromotions' table's 'IsLostOnMove' field, unit loses the promotion when it moves off the feature. Assuming this still functions as it did, could use a toggle-able promotion to add malus to recon on ice. I've recently used a similar function that adds promotion from improvement, and it seems to work well, so I assume the feature version is intact too. Location-based promotion allows much more customizable malus; the only "issue" is that there can only be one of these per feature, and even most modmods tend to respect this (I can't think of any that make use of it, we've all left it for someone else to do something with) -- but since its ice we're talking about, and almost nobody uses this field anywhere anyway, its unlikely to run into conflicts if it were used, imo.

Also, to clarify OP, you may want to adjust "+10% when fighting in those terrain" to specify "attacking into or defending in"; these are currently the specific mechanisms available in database

 

[Anarcomu]

Updated (wording only), also changed "those terrain" by expliciting terrain.

 

[Anarcomu]

We don't currently have any modmod that attempts a 'no doubles' movement regime, but this a probably worthwhile direction to explore.

My first idea (which you can find in the initial post) used a "ignore penalty from terrain". The concept as a whole have been scrapped in favor to double movement, simply because coding this is a nightmare, and double movement is close enough to be proposed with.

 

[Tekamthi]

Cannot heal on Ice.

if this were dropped from OP, rest could be implemented via database-only... we have a few choices moving into voting already this round, but couldn't hurt to have another imo

 

[Anarcomu]

Well, it's too late to amend now, and that part was to address the possibility to "cross ocean" from the very early part of the game, so I think it's important to keep it that way.
Might also remove the ice crossing, but it would leave the "snowmen" promotion with very little interest.
If someone is willing to do it as a modmod, I'd definitely be interested in it.

 

[Tekamthi]

Well, it's too late to amend now, and that part was to address the possibility to "cross ocean" from the very early part of the game, so I think it's important to keep it that way.
Might also remove the ice crossing, but it would leave the "snowmen" promotion with very little interest.
If someone is willing to do it as a modmod, I'd definitely be interested in it.

aye not sure what's open to sponsor interpretation, small amendments have been made by sponsors in some cases in the past....

in any case, i've included your ice crossing promo in my counterproposal, albeit gated by physics tech so at its earliest its only available 1-tier before explorer. In my view this contains the ocean crossing concern sufficiently. It does fit with the thematic role of recon imo. As a modmod, that one's ready to go, see attachment to the OP in the other thread