Making Construction More Fun to Fight At

By LorrMaster

Goals:

• Improve construction fights by focusing infantry inside a base, rather than having players running around the outside

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• General QOL changes for both attackers and defenders to make fighting at these bases more fun and making it easier for new players to understand how the construction system works

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• Try and make these changes as easy to implement as possible (to the best of my understanding), only suggesting anything more complex if it’s absolutely necessary

Forward Station

Can only be placed near enemy Silos and acts as a spawn point for the attackers

• Sunderers have a difficult time getting up close to construction bases due to their size. Most of the nearby cover simply isn’t big enough to protect them and with the construction system it is difficult to tell from which direction the enemy is spawning from in order to keep your spawning options safe. Having a small, easily placeable spawn point that can be hidden away is a better option for attackers, because it can allow them to take advantage of even small pieces of cover as a potential assault point for breaching inside a base. Once inside, attackers can focus on finding cover and advancing inside of the base in order to weaken it enough that it can be destroyed. One problem that the Forward Station brings up is that it will be much easier destroy the defender’s modules once inside. Some of the later changes will try and give base builders more cover to place to try and alleviate this problem.

Rampart Walls

Max number of deployables from 3 to 5

• Since attackers are able to place spawn points around and inside the base without having to get a sunderer near it, modules need to be more well-protected to prevent them from getting immediately destroyed. Giving builders more walls to work with helps them to section off different parts of the base, creating choke points and layers of defense that defenders and attackers can use as cover and give bases more of an arena feel to them.

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No longer affected by the Structure Shield Module

• Limiting this ability to larger structures lowers the number of safe spots for the defenders to kill infantry from, making it easier for attackers to fight back or hide when getting shot at. Walls are the most common type of construction object because of the amount of area they protect and with a shield allows defenders to lock down large chunks of land without the risk of being shot back at. Removing shields from walls makes them more useful as protection from vehicles than infantry and makes larger structures more valuable if you want to protect a vantage point.

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Anti-Infantry Turrets

Should no longer be automated by the AI module

• The reason for this change would be to give infantry an easier time fighting inside the base rather than having to constantly hug the walls for cover. AI turrets are a hard counter that is difficult for infantry to deal with, since any attempt to damage the turret is immediately met with return fire. Fighting against these things just isn’t fun. Manned turrets are better, because they can actually be snuck around and require a player to aim at individual infantry units. AI Turrets near AI Modules should instead receive an overheat rate reduction while manned.

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Maybe it could only auto-target MAX units?

• Another possibility would be to have the AI Turret only automatically target MAX units, which have an easier time destroying construction objects and are often brought during galaxy drops for that reason. This could force MAX units into cover until the turrets or AI Modules are taken down while leaving the other infantry free to run around the base.

Blast Wall

Should be made invulnerable by the Repair Module. Max number of deployables from 2 to 3

• Rampart walls are too big to fit inside most bases once the design has already been established, and blocking sightlines is necessary with attackers able to spawn anywhere near the base. Luckily blast walls come with built-in entrances so they can’t be used to completely block infantry movement, only their line of fire. The reason for making them invulnerable to damage would be to emphasize their role of blocking sightlines inside the base, since a wall that can be knocked out by two HAs won’t last long in any reasonably-sized engagement. Modules should remain as the main targets if you want to weaken a base, not the walls that provide cover required to keep the fight going.

Skywall Shields

Should no longer damage infantry that pass through it

• This mechanic is just too abusable and its original intent is easily worked around by just lowering the galaxy below the shield, bypassing the damage entirely. Getting rid of the damage on contact will give attackers a little more freedom with how they can assault the fort and help us to see fewer bases built under bridges and next to hills.

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Structure Shield Module

The Vehicle Gate Shield and Sunderer Garage Shield should both block small arms fire

• This would mostly be for consistency's sake. Most other shields block small arms fire, so these should too for people to stop getting confused about which shields and ammo types do what when interacting with each other. The result of this would be that they would both be able to protect modules and infantry directly behind them, but this works both ways so the result shouldn’t have a major impact towards how these structures are used.

Repair Module

Should have a small no-deploy zone between it and the Spawn Tube

• Repair modules and spawn points are both important for keeping a base alive. If one of the two gets destroyed, that entire section of the base goes down with it. Because of this, at least one system needs to be exposed enough that attackers can reasonably reach it during a fight. The reason for adding a no-deploy radius is to keep these two systems away from each other so that a single pillbox can’t just keep an entire base alive. This no-deploy radius should be just big enough to prevent the spawn tube from being put inside the same building as the repair module as they are each too important for the survival of the base to be allowed right next to each other. Adding in the no-deploy zone would also have the convenient bonus of fixing some of the exploit bases that players can make with spawns and Repair Modules stuffed inside an inaccessible location.

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Structures that receive invulnerability should have their health reduced by 60%

• If the repair module isn’t protecting it, then it should be easy for vehicles to destroy. This is how attackers advance in a large base and destroy bases that have already been cleared out. Lowing their health also makes it harder for defenders to quickly build walls where the enemy is already attacking.

Repair Module (cont.)

Structures that receive invulnerability should have their health reduced by 60% (cont.)

• I realize that there are plans to stop Repair Modules from giving invulnerability, but I think that this will have the opposite of the intended effect. Making every object destroyable would basically put all bases on a dps timer, without any way for the base defenders to fight back in most cases. There also wouldn’t be any reason for attackers to dedicate infantry to assaulting a base when a few MBTs can do the job far more effectively. The reason why we see bases in the middle of nowhere is because of how HIVES are designed to encourage this, and has nothing to do with Repair Modules. It’s much more fun to fight around a wall than it is to sit in a single spot waiting for its health bar to slowly drop.

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Decay damage rate and make visual adjustments for the repair module

• I don’t know anything about how the underground construction exploit works or how common it is, but I’ve done my best to find a way to alleviate the problem until it is fixed. My suggestion is to have the health of repair modules, and objects not being repaired by it, decay automatically if it has not been repaired recently. The module will continue to decay until it is repaired, destroyed, or maybe turns itself off after a certain threshold. So that regular players are aware of this, the module can light up different colors depending on what its health is at the time. This could also have a bonus of letting newer players know that the Repair Module is a more important target than other modules.

Elysium Spawn Tube

No-deploy radius against other spawn tubes should be decreased, so that 2-3 may be placed in a very large base

• Increasing the number of spawn points for the defenders will help them to counter forward stations popping around the base, decreasing the travel time to get from one side to the other. It will also help make bases less campable by giving defenders other spawn options in case one side gets overwhelmed and there are no sunderers available. It would also take longer for attackers who galaxy drop into a base to lock down and destroy the base’s spawn options. Smaller bases would still only be able to reasonably contain only one spawn point, so they wouldn’t be benefitting from the smaller deploy zone.

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Health decreased by 30%, repair rate decreased by 50%

• Since there are now more spawn options for defenders to protect the base from, spawn tubes that are getting camped should be destroyed more easily. The lower repair rate is there to prevent engineers from out repairing damage while inside the shield like they can now.

Elysium Spawn Tube (cont.)

Spawn timer should be decreased from 20 seconds to 15 seconds

• Since the Repair Module cannot be placed next to a Spawn Tube anymore and the Forward Station will allow attackers to spawn inside the base, it will become much harder for the defenders to protect all of their modules at once. Reducing the spawn timer to be the same as a sunderer will help compensate for these disadvantages and get rid of the annoyingly long wait time each time you have to respawn inside of a base. It would also be nice if the spawn tube came with its own spawning icon, rather than share the same icon as hard spawns inside lattice bases.

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Should be available for “reinforcements needed” requests by default

• The Reinforcements Module allows nearby sunderers to be used as spawn points when overpoped on that hex. Spawn tubes should be allowed to do this by default to keep fights fun, even if it’s only for hexes with a 40% population difference. Getting zerged is never fun, so players should be able to help defend construction bases if they choose to do so and the Forward Station should be able to even out fights so that the extra defenders wouldn’t cause balance problems.

HIVES

HIVES currently pose a huge problem for construction, because they are able to give bases meaning without being even remotely close to anything relevant, and get easier to protect the farther away they are from the front lines. Here are a list of possible solutions for this:

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1) Just remove HIVES entirely

• The easiest short-term solution would be to just remove them from the game. I don’t believe that construction would be impacted that much by their absence, since the majority of HIVES are just placed in the middle of nowhere anyways, with only the occasional big galaxy drop or tank column coming around in an attempt to capture the core as quickly as possible before any defenders can arrive. Removing HIVES would mean that construction bases would have to be built in the front lines in order to be useful, which is good for gameplay but also means that bases will only be reached so long as there is someone pushing down that lane. There would be no refined cortium to start alerts, so the territory requirement to start one could be increased to make up for this.

HIVES (cont.)

2) Create HIVE-build zones between lattice bases

• These zones would prevent HIVES from being placed on the edges of the continent, thus making those locations useless for building bases. These zones should be just small enough that enemies can easily see and get to a base when moving through the lattice, but still be large enough that players can choose between a variety of locations to place their base. While some of the sandbox element of HIVES would be lost, at least this way normal fights can realistically start at them.

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3) Make HIVES create mini-lattice links between lattice bases

• This would be a difficult to implement, longer-term solution that would make HIVES useful by turning them into mini lattice links that can only be placed in the previously mentioned HIVE-build zones. HIVES would now be useful as a buffer against enemy galaxy drops onto lattice bases, so that this way construction bases don’t need an immediate fight going on right next to them in order to be useful. HIVE-build zones would still exist to make sure that these new lattice links aren’t just connected to the middle of nowhere.

Miscellaneous Changes

These construction changes would either be harder to implement or aren’t as important, but would still be nice to have for various reasons.

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Cortium spawn nodes appearing on the map while inside an ANT

• Players that are new to construction usually have a hard time finding cortium, aimlessly wandering around just hoping to eventually run into something to mine. Over time players will begin to memorize where the spawn points for cortium are on the map, but they still have to look around to see which areas haven’t been mined out yet. It would be useful if these different nodes that determine cortium spawning appeared on the main map in some way while inside an ANT, just so new players can open it up in order to have an idea of where to look if they want to mine some.

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Some way to get more construction objects early on

• Construction is really hard to get started on due to the huge cost of entry. I tried really hard to think of a simple, effective system for this, but other than lowering the cert cost for more essential objects, or allowing you to buy them with iso-4, I’m not sure what could be done. Construction right now is just too expensive for most new players to even try out to see if they like it.

Miscellaneous Changes (cont.)

Request building assistance from a Silo

• Bases tend to be more interesting to fight at the bigger they get, but there aren't always squads or players around to build with. One solution could be a “request build assistance” button at a silo, which would notify teammates that someone is building a base at that location and would like help. This could be a way to allow players to find each other and focus on building a single large base rather than multiple small ones. Especially important if HIVES get removed, since many of those smaller bases will now be out of a job. Anything to get base builders together would be good.

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A Combat Silo that can be placed in No-Build Zones

• This would be a new type of silo designed to allow construction to participate inside no-build zones in a way that can be limited by the developers. It has less storage space, range, and health than a normal silo, but would give construction something to do around more tightly-packed areas of the continent by allowing bunkers, blast walls, spawn tubes, repair modules, and ammo towers to be placed near it even when inside a no-build zone, but not larger structures that can block infantry movement such as Rampart Walls.

Miscellaneous Changes (cont.)

Ability to overload a Silo to capture a base

• The idea here is to give attackers some sort of reward for all their hard work at the end of a base fight. Silos would be able to be overloaded in order to switch all the nearby construction objects over to their faction. Bases along the lattice could be captured and later used by the attackers if they get pushed back. This would allow construction players to spend time rebuilding and making the most of a half-destroyed base rather than making a new one from scratch, which wouldn’t make defending it easier, but could be a different way to play the game. Over time the base could get larger as players from both factions make extensions and replace destroyed pieces, creating a very large, disorganized base until someone wins an alert.