It seems to me after my quick trek into the comm vehicle, and my non-existant trek into the forums, that all skills that can be researched only effect vehicles. Granted, vehicle upgrades are an important part of the empire's mod, heck without them, everyone is running around in an apv with the standard cannon, getting stuck on 1 degree inclines and having to be repaired every 3 seconds do to dust corrosion. My suggestions are a few, and all the suggestions are essentially separate but can work together. First, you must consider the difference between the factions, right now, the main differences (in game) are situated on design of buildings and other artwork, a few differences on the accuracy and power of certain weapons, and general starting positions. Given Empires Mod is in a beta stage, I don't expect a sudden influx of exotic components to set both factions as different from each other as if they were from different planets. My suggestion here is based on the in game description, that one be differed from another by innate abilities. Seeing as the Brenodi side has great mechanized technology, their citizens requiring nano-tech just to live, would it not allow for better quality fortifications ect, their jeep for instance, only jeep in game of the two that has armor. Perhaps give them the innate ability of building strength and speed. Now onto the Northern faction, they are described as lower tech and less trained, but are the most determined and genetically altered of the two forces, going off their jeep design, it's practically a clown car with paper siding, no armor but a four passenger design, these people strike me as (using a term from another game) the perfect people that can initiate a zerg-like rush. Possibly to offset the other faction's tech and training, a stamania increase and a shorter respawn time and/or less engi power used to revive do to determination and genetic manipulation. Now for the second, The ability for the comm to not only research vehicle upgrades, but upgrades to the buildings and infantry as well, and quite possibly an expensive faction-based skill (I have no clue as to what, but it sounds spiffy). I had a thought, as of now, the only situations that benefit from higher research than the chain gun are small confined maps where heavy tanks don't really cut it, and you have to chop down numerous infantries, (or perhaps your comm focused on apv+machine gun research). What I am proposing as a secondary trait of this system is that classes like riflemen and grenadiers can benefit from these researches. Take a rifleman with a heavy machine gun for instance, he can shoot that gun at a tank all he wants, but really the tank can simply ignore him and go on (excluding grenades). Now say this rifleman prior to his excursions stopped by the armory and exchanged his armor for a converter backpack or received a rank-skill that supplies him with specialized ammo like plasma or some form of explosive. Now spamcannoning can overheat or even damage the tank, not to mention aiding the rifleman in anti-infantry and anti-emplacement attacks. Similar to the rifleman, wouldn't a grenadiers's motar benefit from research on longer range or more damaging projectiles? I suggest this to add more strategy to the research tree, even though it has a basis in this already. My third and final suggestion is based on the skill system, and how infantry can simply select what they want whenever. I suggest that the comm might be involved in enabling skills via research or some sort of skill tree, or maybe involve the infantry themselves in this skill tree, where skills are enabled through the use or research of others. Currently the skills are listed, and when you have enough rank to use them, you can select up to four at once to be enabled, and once you surpass that rank, every sequential rank increases the power of the skills. Just an alternate method to think of, I don't really like it that much, but suggested it anyway.
Almost everything you just suggested is planned, but hasn't been implimented due to the beta nature of the game. Infantry will be incorperated into the research tree, although through equipment rather than skills. I don't think upgrading buildings is a very good idea.
I dont really want the comm to control player upgrades. This game has a small RPG aspect thrown into the RTS/FPS aspect. I like that this game is a hybrid, keep it that way or possibly make it even more RPGish.
