General > Discussion
Base design
Mayhem:
--- Quote from: Sophisanmus on August 09, 2008, 12:17:37 am ---....by the time the PHALANX defenders arrive to back them up.
--- End quote ---
Heh - that assumes the base defence teams are managed by a latter day Sir Francis Drake.
"The alien armada is on radar, and heading this way? Well, lets at least finish this game of bowls before we go rushing of to man the defences, eh?"
Sophisanmus:
Well, if we look at this from a gameplay standpoint, having all your troops congregated at the entryways the moment the aliens arrive takes much of the fun and challenge out of it. Now, if only some of your troops are in position and the rest are scattered, or the invading alien force greatly outnumbers the defenders, there is more potential for pitch in the battle; of course, balancing this is another issue.
The advantage I can see of having a two-part battle, one above and one below, helps justify this a bit. The top battle pits the player's current shift (the dropship junkies, for instance) and the Entrance defenses against the brunt of the invading force, with the option to withdraw troops from the "down" location when things turn sour. If the player manages to win, then the base invasion ends there. If the player loses or withdraws, the battle continues in the lower sector.
The lower section allows the player to replace his dead and wounded defenders from any other troops in the base. The next battle involves defending the remainder of the base with the second group. Perhaps the aliens could have their spawn delayed until the player takes his first turn. Should the player lose, the base is overrun, the remaining personnel are killed (or captured, if there is any game mechanic for which this would matter), etc. Winning the second phase keeps the base alive, but the upper section could be razed, with the facilities requiring time, money, and possibly worker time to repair. Ships may be damaged/destroyed as well, etc...
The idea here is that the first battle will be incredibly difficult to win, and the player must decide whether he can hold out another turn, or if he has to withdraw to cut his personnel losses (in the hopes he can turn it around in the second battle).
TrashMan:
--- Quote from: BTAxis on August 08, 2008, 08:47:59 pm ---That's out of the question. One of the biggest objections to larger bases (by mattn) was that base missions already take too long. With the expansion as written up we've pretty much stretched the mission length to the limit.
--- End quote ---
I agree. Not everything has to be simulated to the tiniest detail.
Just ASSUME you had some patrols on the surface, but the aliens punched trough.
You can even go as far as to have some aliens enter the base wounded, or a out-of-your-control soldier enter the base some time after the aliens, in persuit.
--- Quote ---The point of base assaults is that aliens have a considerable chance of damaging your facilities or vehicles. Base defence missions aren't about the player easily holding down the fort. By that token, I wouldn't assume the missions would be short if I were you.
--- End quote ---
There's a way around this. Make the base defensible, but make the alien attack strong. Let them attack from 2-3 sides at the same time, in large numbers.
Heck, it's your base - let the battle be EPIC.
BTAxis:
Certainly, that's what I think it should be like. People complain about there being too many entry points in basce facilities (and they are right up to a point too), but I do think there should not be one bottleneck the player can defend a la 300. That doesn't mean the player should be completely without any advantages (this IS a PHALANX base), so any such advantages would be offset by a sizeable invading force.
Of course there may be limitations like maximum number of actors or performance of the AI, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Surrealistik:
Yes, a two part scenario is a clear and obvious no-no. As long as the entrances are limited, make sense, and are defendable (as well they should be), and there is some sort of designated security/chokepoint base facility
--- Quote ---Well, if we look at this from a gameplay standpoint, having all your troops congregated at the entryways the moment the aliens arrive takes much of the fun and challenge out of it. Now, if only some of your troops are in position and the rest are scattered, or the invading alien force greatly outnumbers the defenders, there is more potential for pitch in the battle; of course, balancing this is another issue.
--- End quote ---
The last option is definitely the best and most plausible. Players should be able to designate the spawn/starting points of their soldier in a base defense.
--- Quote ---but I do think there should not be one bottleneck the player can defend a la 300.
--- End quote ---
With proper base construction, players can achieve this sort of scenario anyways; simply isolate all facilities with access points from your base with a non-critical facility, such as a living quarters. Further, with optimal base design (defensively speaking) they can make their base one continuous ongoing chokepoint via a snaking layout, with each facility connecting to up to two others.
--- Quote ---Of course there may be limitations like maximum number of actors or performance of the AI, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
--- End quote ---
A possible fix assuming this is an issue, might be to institute a system of reinforcements, such that the aliens respawn constantly until all reinforcements are exhausted.
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