Ideas for More Units!

[DefiantMars]

As their ultimate unit with floatstone, I think it would be fine if they hovered.

It would also look awesome.

Hovering Infantry it is... now what would its unique/support actions be...

The art is great, though it looks a bit more like golden Harmony than Ascendancy with the shape.

Then again, the looks suits them well.

It captures the grandiose style well either way, spires and gold everywhere.

True. True.

Either would work well for the Skyfortress.

Hell, I could give them both! I mean, they can have 2 support options. Stonger single target heal or weaker AoE heal... doesn't sound to crazy right? Though it is an ultimate unit.

If there was a water version, that is what it would be.

Could a Geovore/Steel Worm tread water? Doesn't it need to? Does it just burrow

 

[Galgus]

Perhaps it could be like a caster to play on the theme.

It would have low combat strength (for an ultimate) but powerful abilities to make up for it with cooldowns.

Each ability would put the other and itself on a two turn cooldown:

Rift - Deals 30 damage to all enemy units on a tile and all tiles adjacent to it.

Renewal - Heals a unit to full health.
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Thematically I feel like a passive adjacency heal would work better for drones, but it is open.
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I feel like letting too many things cross water cheapens the LEV tech.

For some reason this makes me think of Xeno Cavalry riding Rippers and Sea Dragons.

 

[DefiantMars]

Perhaps it could be like a caster to play on the theme.

It would have low combat strength (for an ultimate) but powerful abilities to make up for it with cooldowns.

Each ability would put the other and itself on a two turn cooldown:

Rift - Deals 30 damage to all enemy units on a tile and all tiles adjacent to it.

Renewal - Heals a unit to full health.

I do like that idea. Low by ultimate standards is still pretty respectable. And that's before any of the buffs or debuffs. A full heal or an AoE nuke sounds really fun. Giving them a shared cooldown helps curb any power creep. I like it. Should it just get its powers? I mean it does hover already.

I feel like letting too many things cross water cheapens the LEV tech.

For some reason this makes me think of Xeno Cavalry riding Rippers and Sea Dragons.

Understandable. Guess everyone else will just have to phasal transport their way over to a new continent. You are not fitting that thing inside one of those embarkation boats... are you?

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Actually I was hoping they would add unique aquatic units.

since right now on a all water map, there is no military need for strategic resources.


Supremacy could have a Sea Fortress (aircraft carrier, provides orbital coverage and +move +vision to nearby units) costing Firaxite and Titanium

Harmony a Gojirafish (very powerful submarine melee ship, can attack coastal cities) for Xenomass and Petroleum

Purity a Missile Carrier (extra long range..4 minimum upgrade to 6...naval artillery) costing Floatstone

(and others for the Hybrids)

Then all water maps would be more interesting

 

[Galgus]

@DefiantMars

The powers are probably enough, this thing would be a menace to fight in any large numbers.

If players managed the resources to spam an ultimate unit, of course.

Kind of makes me worry if the radius is too big - if a three tile section would be more appropriate.
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Maybe a veeery special transportation boat.
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@KrikkitTwo

More aquatic uniques would be nice, though I kind of like the idea of tying vehicles and battleships to the Titanium resource.

 

[DefiantMars]

Actually I was hoping they would add unique aquatic units.

since right now on a all water map, there is no military need for strategic resources.


Supremacy could have a Sea Fortress (aircraft carrier, provides orbital coverage and +move +vision to nearby units) costing Firaxite and Titanium

Harmony a Gojirafish (very powerful submarine melee ship, can attack coastal cities) for Xenomass and Petroleum

Purity a Missile Carrier (extra long range..4 minimum upgrade to 6...naval artillery) costing Floatstone

(and others for the Hybrids)

Then all water maps would be more interesting

While intriguing, I'm not sure how it would work in terms of tech placement.

People talk about just throwing units or buildings in, or moving tech around, but the way the tech web is set up. A lot of techs have prerequisites that wouldn't make sense out of order. But I prefer when the units are organic to the tech (unlike the CARVR), which is definitely a challenge. Even arriving at these few units took quite a bit of work. You have to hunt down sensible techs and spin it to fit a combat mechanic.

For the Cloudbloom: What was an earlier Harmony tech that could lead to interesting gameplay? I settled on Photosytems for that. A grown weapon.

The GyroLEV was my attempt to rectify the absurdity of that tech. Making a Supremacy tech fit into the scheme of Purity/Supremacy, while simultaneously dealing with the very nature of what autogyros are.

I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I think we should give Rising Tide a week or two just to get a feel for the game. I'd be happy to discuss this further. Especially if you could ground/anchor your concepts to a tech.

@DefiantMars

The powers are probably enough, this thing would be a menace to fight in any large numbers.

If players managed the resources to spam an ultimate unit, of course.

Kind of makes me worry if the radius is too big - if a three tile section would be more appropriate.

A 3 tile targeter might be a tad awkward to deal with at first. But I don't think it would be prohibitive.

Would it be every other turn? Or every 3rd turn. My assumption would be the latter.

 

[Galgus]

Hard to say without seeing it in game, though area of effect damage could be very strong.
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On unit specifics, you seem to weigh the hybrids to require more Xenomass too often.

If possible, I think an even balance is better.

The Obelisk could probably have two movement, and Floatstone probably makes more sense for it than Xenomass.
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The list would look a bit better with hybrid affinity names alongside the hybrid label, if you have decided on a set.

 

[DefiantMars]

Hard to say without seeing it in game, though area of effect damage could be very strong.
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On unit specifics, you seem to weigh the hybrids to require more Xenomass too often.

If possible, I think an even balance is better.

The Obelisk could probably have two movement, and Floatstone probably makes more sense for it than Xenomass.
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The list would look a bit better with hybrid affinity names alongside the hybrid label, if you have decided on a set.

I'm still finding typos, but unfortunately you're right. With the split cost and an odd number of units, its an unfortunate effect. I'm not sure how to shift it to be more even...
unless the cost steps up in pairs only requiring the increased affinity level. I suppose that it could work. The hybrid ultimates would just need 3 of both affinity resources (6) instead of the 5 of the Core affinities, but they need less affinity level and their lower level uniques would come it sooner. On paper it should be okay.

I think I'm going to go with the list of names we discussed already. Harmony, Purity, Supremacy, Ascendancy, Master, and Voracity. Unless someone can convince me otherwise.

 

[Galgus]

I'm still an advocate for Regality for Purity / Supremacy, though Mastery also works well.

In my opinion Regality seems more representative of their hierarchical society while sounding more grandiose.

 

[DefiantMars]

I'm still an advocate for Regality for Purity / Supremacy, though Mastery also works well.

In my opinion Regality seems more representative of their hierarchical society while sounding more grandiose.

It does, but at the same time I think the methodology is expressed slightly better with Mastery. Ascendancy grows by being ascendant. Voracity grows by being voracious. Regality would grow by.... being regal? Hence why I do like Mastery more, the grow by being masterful.

 

[Galgus]

Both have their merits, with slightly different implications.

We still need a unit to fill the Voracity slot.

I'm not the biggest fan of stealth, but would an invisible melee counterpart to the Geliopod work?

(Which sadly probably would not be a cyber-panther.)

Would a sea unique be a better alternative?

I'm not sure on what I'd do with the slot.

 

[DefiantMars]

Both have their merits, with slightly different implications.

We still need a unit to fill the Voracity slot.

I'm not the biggest fan of stealth, but would an invisible melee counterpart to the Geliopod work?

(Which sadly probably would not be a cyber-panther.)

Would a sea unique be a better alternative?

I'm not sure on what I'd do with the slot.

Exactly. I've been utterly stumped. Both the Nanohive and the Geliopod are invisible. So what do they get; more stealth? I like giving them surprise factor and shock and awe, both present in the Geovore. Going back to your previous suggestions, something startling and underhanded would definitely fit.

Something of note, all of the Voracity units are on Supremacy techs. Diversity is low.

 

[Galgus]

Perhaps they could get a biomechanical sea Monster melee unit that can hide in deep water?

Also, what are your thoughts on explorers and my idea of hidden artifacts?

 

[DefiantMars]

Perhaps they could get a biomechanical sea Monster melee unit that can hide in deep water?

Also, what are your thoughts on explorers and my idea of hidden artifacts?

It would cheapen LEV a bit, but I'm considering the proposition of having a Makara "clone" so an amphibious To limit its strength, I would have them "submerge" as an action. But probably give them an "ambush" bonus.

I'm definitely intrigued by Hidden Artifact sites. I'm just thinking about the saturation, artifact quality, potential differences in flavor text. I think its something to investigate.

 

[Galgus]

That could be fun, as an amphibious melee unit that doesn't have full rough terrain or LEV benefits.

I'd actually welcome more amphibious units that do not have full LEV.
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With explorers I'm mostly stumped on how to incorporate hybrids.

Bonuses to salvaging satellites could be working specialty bonus: perhaps for Supremacy or Mastery?

 

[DefiantMars]

That could be fun, as an amphibious melee unit that doesn't have full rough terrain or LEV benefits.

I'd actually welcome more amphibious units that do not have full LEV.
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With explorers I'm mostly stumped on how to incorporate hybrids.

Bonuses to salvaging satellites could be working specialty bonus: perhaps for Supremacy or Mastery?

Awesome, we have a direction now. I would like to put this in Exotic Matter or Metamaterials. Between the high pressure of the deep ocean in addition to probably multispectral cloaking it would make a lot of sense. But its just so far out of the way for Voracity. Their techs are kind of all over the place already, I don't want to exacerbate that issue. Perhaps Designer Lifeforms would work.

I think the 1st question for the Explorers is: are there 6 ways we can get artifacts.
So far we've seen Nests, Progenitor Sites, Derelict Settlements, Supply Pods, Crashed Satellites, and Submerged Ships (landers?).

 

[Galgus]

My shot at a list, not using the relic system for all explorers at the moment.

Thinking that maybe Supremacy and Voracity could be swapped.
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Harmony - May recover hidden Alien artifacts.

Purity - May recover hidden Old Earth artifacts.

Supremacy - May recover hidden Progenitor artifacts.

Ascendancy - May reveal (create) hidden organic resources.

Mastery - Satellite and ship salvage yields four times as much of a reward.

Voracity - May reveal (create) hidden mineral resources.

 

[DefiantMars]

So just a quick little heads up.

• Updated the Cloudbloom (Harmony) history text.
• Finished Obelisk (Ascendancy) entry.
• Minor update to Dyad (Ascendancy) history text.
• Added preliminary support action to GyroLEV (Nobility) entry.
• Minor update to Geovore (Voracity) support action.

I'm still working on the Tenaxodon (including a better name for the Tenaxodon). I'm having a hard time getting into the storytelling "mood" for that one. I also intend on embellishing the Skyfortress and Geovore entries to be a bit longer, but again, I need to find the right voice and mood to finish those.

 

[alysander]

I don't want many, but can we have helicopter?
This is stupid that many places (craters/mounts) are unreachable.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I don't want many, but can we have helicopter?
This is stupid that many places (craters/mounts) are unreachable.

Those places being unreachable is fine... the problem is saying they are impassable, having something like paratroopers (can "jump" over any terrain) would be good. Of course that would probably work better as a perk earned by all level 4 soldiers. (so you don't always have to use phasal transporters)

but I am surprised that they didn't add any affinity naval units (of course they didn't add any affinity units except for hybrids and that is probably why)