Many people complain about compo being overpowered, and the major reason for that is that it weighs less. When dealing with that, most people suggest making other armors weigh less, or whatever etc etc. I've been playing galactic civilizations II again recently, and that game has "miniaturization" techs that increase the amount of space on ships across the board by a percentage. Why not have a limited version of that for tanks in Empires? It'd be off of advanced machining, "Light Weight Materials" or somesuch, and it'd increase weight capacity by 5%, and nest into another (like level 2-3 turret techs) that'd also increase weight capacity by 5%. The first'd have a research time of maybe 60s, the 2nd maybe 90s. I'm not sure if this is code-able, but it sounds like a simple modification compared to many other code enhancements (whether a global modifier can be used or whether it has to be done tank by tank, is beyond me). In game terms, this would allow for many late-game tank setups that cover all the basic firepower needs, but use armors other than compo. At the same time, it adds a lot of possible weapon combinations that make other techs more viable. With this, for example, many compo heavy tank builds can add plasma MGs, and nuke tanks can add another weapon (although they wouldn't have the heat to use all of them at once). with just a little more space, many new tank builds pop up, and we don't have to fiddle with the armor script's balance to do it. Main issue: NF meds and heavies would gain a little more space than BE, but going off of my supposed values it didn't allow for anything more over BE.
This suggestion actually reminds me of something somewhat tangential I wanted to propose. A lot of research options require the commander to go through otherwise useless intermediary paths (coolant fluids (or something) --> adv. coolant engine; superheated material physics --> plasma, etc). I was thinking that it might add some flavor to the game to give small but meaningful bonuses every time one of these intermediary technologies were researched. For instance, superheated material physics could allow all weapons to give 5% more heat to target, coolant fluids could allow all engines to cool 5% faster, projectile physics could cause a 5% increase to the speed of all cannon shells, etc. Obviously, balancing would be somewhat complicated, and we may not have the manpower to go through all the scripts or whatever, so I suppose that that fact would furnish itself as contrary to this proposal; another argument could be that this would make commanding even more intricate and harder for new players to learn. To the first point I have no reasonable objection; to the second, I believe that commanding is in want of nuance to begin with, and very few new players stick around anymore to learn how to command effectively, so the fact that this might complicate the learning curve of commanding is unlikely to make very much of a difference.
This could be cool. Could allow light tanks to carry better equipment and thus be more viable late game by a lot.
Do you mean meds? Currently you can max out armor and have a mg, cannon, and ml on a light with most armors. The late game thing isn't much of an argument either. Why should someone go out of their way to get this when it will take not much more time to simply get heavies or mediums? I'm kinda against this idea, mostly because I like how currently you have to make a decision on either more armor or firepower. I'm not against the idea of buffs and stuff in general, but this is something I don't like.
Lazy, compo heavies are not a choice between more armor or more firepower. They are both, and that's what people complain about. This feature still gives compo a slight edge in terms of weapon variability, but the other, cheaper/heavier armors can be used with the common heavy tank setups. All I want is for armors other than compo to be viable late game, which is simply not the case right now. It's not much of a buff overall, but it does make research more variable, and late game research worth continuing. Imagine a world where you need to figure out what armor an opposing heavy is using, instead of it being obvious as hell.
Ah ha ha ha AHAhahAHAHAHAHAAH Honestly, have you read any of the threads I posted on compo and how silly it is??? When I said choice I meant all the other armors have a choice. This shouldn't be taken away, there needs to be cons and pros to one or the other. Compo, I say again, needs to have its weight raised so it also has a similar pro/con thing the others have. I understand and think it is kinda ok to have a really good/expensive armor, but compo is just too good. Personally I'd rather have compo removed because there is a bit of a funky rock-paper-scissors thing with the others. More of a decision of what type a game you want to try playing I mean. I feel like there should be a post about how late game works and do we really want it to work that way, but I'm not terribly sure I want to drag the thread discussion in that direction.
I duno.. compo seemed to cost an arm and a leg at one time and coms were loathed to research it unless they had the upper hand... now its researched fairly often.
Wages and free research are both contributing factors to that. It feels like the only real expense in game anymore is tanks. No one really thinks about the cost of a vf or barracks either unless it is canyon or some other really poor map. Canyon in particular makes me a tad sad, with such little resources you'd think everyone would get absorbant but no, compo compo compo.
Definitely like the small bonuses idea. Would probably also require some balancing, although. So more points to care about when balancing. (but also more possibilities) I have to agree that compo is pretty much superior. The only reason not to get it is when its a low res map. Money is the only obvious downside, while it has loads of advantages. And from what I remember, cost was even bigger issue in history than it is now. And what?? It actually even regenerates...wtf. No matter how slow, but thats a big deal when somebody actually uses different sides of armor and let the damaged ones regenerate. Just compare this one ability to other armors excluding regen, its a way too big advantage because it can be actually very useful when used properly (and even when not).
As long as your team can keep a tank alive for more then a minute. Composite is the best. Even at the high price. It ends up cheaper as it will outlast any other armor. I don't think messing with composite should even be an option. It's good and if it's not broke why fix it? it's not really that it is OP. It's an issue of other things being crap. Reactive is weak. Regen regenerates too slow. Reflective is a joke. Absorbent is ok but should be cheaper.
It is already 5 res a plate, the same price as plain. All I really hear from this is that you want tanks to be big powerful things that can really take a beating. I like them as simple infantry upgrades that go fast. Then again, I am also in the camp that infantry fights are a lot more fun then tank fights most of the time.
I wish we would just put in a self balancing system that works on how often something is used. Not used often... gets a bonus. Used often... gets nerfed. Of course this can't really easily happen until HTML GUI code gets done so the changes can be visible.
I remember way back that counter strikeource had that market system that made under used weapons cheaper and overused weapon expensive. People complained I think and it was removed. Still, it is an idea I like... except I think part of the supposed fun of empires is using the right tech for the map or whatever strategy you want to employ. Such a self balance system kinda prevents that, though it might encourage people to try a wider variety of tactics.
Yes make abs cheaper then plane. Heavy tanks should be powerful things. When one is on the battlefield it should be feared. Not aww....how cute a heavy. I agree that infantry fights are a lot more fun. That is because the tanks are slow and weak. I do a lot more damage as a one man army on foot. I would rather have it where only a few heavy tanks could be afforded. Make them like 5k just for the tank. Give people a reason to use more meds and lights. Also make them require you to be a certain rank to buy them. Rank 0 jeeps Rank 25 Apc and light Rank 40 meds Rank 50 heavy Rank 70 arty
That the Ak47-s and M4a1s costed around 6-7k to buy. Basicly you had to use shitty weapons cause the good guns were overpriced.
