Author Topic: Outpost Wars!  (Read 1852 times)

Offline Tellaris

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Outpost Wars!
« on: October 10, 2005, 12:56:38 AM »
Saw a idea on this from a different game (Allegiance)
The IDEA:

Essentially a team game.

A few players are chosen to be "Faction Leaders"
They choose what race their team takes (Eden or Plymouth).
Each team must have at least 2 players to join.
Leaders are whoever volunteers.
Their job is essentially to lead their team to victory.    This is dependent really on the Players they choose to join their teams.
Players have the right to decline the request to join their team (this will help prevent weaker people from trying to lead, as no one trusts them TO lead.)

Team leaders will basically pick out parts of New Terra as their home base, and starting outposts.   They can create mining outposts (Generates Income for a faction) Defense Outposts (Well defended installations that are placed to slow enemy advance) as well as anything we can think up.   The main base is a major defensive area and also generates income.   No other base does this.   Once inital bases are placed, teams have the option of sitting tight and building credits, or attacking.
Heres the breakdown on how this could work for battles.

Team A decides to attack Team B's Defense Outpost.
Team B starts with a large, well defended fortification.   All players are closely placed togerther, and share a variety of guardposts, a few tanks, and a small starting base.  Their starting resource area is very poor.   (Only 1 double common, 1 single rare, per player)   They do, however, posess a well defendible location, and their proximity makes it harder to attack them
Team A gets 5 convecs (Default) and 10 combat tanks (Default) of whatever technological level their faction is upgraded to.   (Credits come in here, I'll explain later)   This can range from simple Lasers to combinations of EMP and Thor's Hammer.   The 5 convecs are loaded with the basic stuff.   CC, Smelter, SF, Tok, Agridome.   They also get 1 Robo miner, and 3 cargo trucks loaded with the usual.

Team A must destroy Team B's base.   Team B must defeat their attackers, or hold out for a certain time (say 1 hour)

Credits:

First, how you gain credits.   Credits are given after a sucessful attack or defense.   Credits are also gained by mining outposts scattered throughout the map.   I'm still thinking about this, and its probobly not going to be easy to do, so this is just rough draft.   Heres what I was thinking the totals would be
Home base: +10 credits per round.
Mining Base: +5 credits per round.
Successful attack: To the victors go the spoils, +15 credits
Successful Defense: The fort holds firm!   Salvage their carcasses!   +10 Credits.

What you can spend these valuable credits on.

Firstly, I wanna do this one.
Tech level increases!
Tech Level 0: Free, no reserch done (not even Medical Center!)
Tech Level 1: Standard reserch done, Vehicle Factory, Medical Center, University, Nursery, Cost: 50 Credits.
Tech Level 2: Gain Guardposts, Seismology, Garage, Volcanology, Metallurgy.   Cost, 100 Credits.
Tech Level 3: Gain Mobile Weapons Platform, Meteorology, Gorf, Environmental Studies, Hypnopadia, Recreation Center, Hydroponic Growing Media. Cost: 150
Tech Level 4: Gain High Tempature Superconductivity, Advanced Vehicle Drive, Automated Diagnostic Programs, Severe Atmospheric Disturbance, Heat Dissipitation (Plymouth Only), Liesure Studies.   Cost: 200
Tech Level 5: Gain Rare Ore Processing, Recycler Post Procssing, Independent Turret  Power Systems, Robotic Image Processing, Multitainment Console Upgrade, Adv. Residence (Eden only) Disaster Resistant Residence (Plymouth Only). Cost: 250
Anyway, thats kinda a rough outline of what it would be.   I made it expensive, I want tech to take a while.

New Bases:
New Outpost: Creates a new defensible outpost.   Helps secure those valuable mining Outposts!   Cost: 30
Mining Outpost: Generates more money for you to use!   Cost: 20
Home Base: Only buyable if original home base is destroyed.   Must have ONE outpost on the map.   Cost: 100.

Factional Advantages:
Per Round.
Buy Tech for this mission:
Ramping cost based on tech level above.   Cost starts at 10 multiplied by tech level.   IE, Rare Ore Processing would cost 10 x 5 = 50 credits.   Gives advantage to players attacking or defending.
Extra Units: Buy extra vehilcles for your team!   1 tank = 1 credit + Req. Tech level.
IE, if you want to buy a Starting Thor's Hammer Tiger (Eden Only) You'd pay 1+10+10 (Thor would be tech level 10ish, expensive.)    1 per tank, 10 for tech level, +10 for tank size.   Tiger =10, Panther =5, Everything else, default of 1.   Can buy multiple Robo Miners, Cargo Trucks, Convecs, Robo Dozers, ect, to improve your start.   Cost is PER TANK.
ex you want 6 extra cargo trucks at start, +1 robo miner, +1 Earthworker, and a Laser Lynx.    The cost would be 12.   +1 for all units, and +3 for tech level of basic Laser Lynx.   Leader must specify which player gets these units, and how much.
Starting Structure: Gives a starting structure, loaded into a convec, for your deployment at start.   +2 for the loaded convec, +5 for the structure loading, +5 multiplied by tech level for the structure.
IE Laser Guardpost: Cost = 22.   2 for convec, 5 for loaded structure, 5x tech level of 2 for laser.
Note: Tech level is no longer charged if faction is at the required tech level or if the tech was already bought.
Setting Manipulation:
Buy to change default settings!   Can be canceled out if another team gets the same thing.
Unsteady Morale: Make more time for yourself to hold out by forcing an extra aspect to the game!   Cost 50.
Day and Night: Only applicable if no laggers present (ie 56ks.)   Not available on Hamachi games.   Enables Day and Night transformations.   Cost: 50
Disasters: Same restrictions applies.   Enables disasters.   Cost: 50
Default settings would be Morale Steady, Day/Night and Disasters off.

How this could easily be done: Wanna do it quickly and simply?   3 different maps, 3 different DLLs.   Lock player starting positions.   Players must join in specific order.   Players 1, 3, 5 vs players 2, 4, 6.
Change DLL as required for what teams buy.   Don't need anything extravagent, just really a template.   Can use random beacons and disasters, some beacons may be fixed.
Field battles could be possible (Essentially a combined arms unit mission, which may or may not have guardposts present.)
For Field Battles, players can buy a few buildings.   They may NOT buy a Structure factory.   Morale is ALWAYS locked for this particular mission.   Players may even buy a Smelter, for a very inflated cost of 100.   Storage + Starting common ore is cheap.   .001 Credits per ore.   1000 ore = 1 credit.   Storage = 1 credit.   Vehicle Factory = 20 credits.    Other costs to be added.
Heres starting "Kits" for missions.
All of this is placed in convecs, so players set up themselves.
Basic Setup: Gives a few guardposts, 1 tokamak.   Cost: 50 + whatever tech level required (5 multiplied by tech level)
Basic Tuber Setup: Gives a few Guardposts, 1 tokamak.   Also gain 1 Common Storage, 1 Command Center, and an Agridome (so nobody starves).   Gain 1000 common ore and an Earthworker.   Cost: 70 + Req. Tech level.
Builder Setup: Gain some guardposts, rest same as above.   Gain 6000 more common ore.   Gain 1 Vehicle Factory.   Cost: 140 + Req Tech level.  Also gain 1000 rare ore.
Battle Setup: Same as above, only you get a Smelter, a Robo Miner, and 1 cargo truck.   Beacon is Single Common.   Gain +4000 Rare ore.   Cost: 200

These are expensive, but can easily tilt the battle to your favor, particularly if you are nearing their home base and they are getting desperate.
These can easily be adapted for other battles, such as attacking the installation.
EX:
Battle Attacker: Gain 2 Common Ore smelters, 1 Common ore mine (Double) 4 cargo trucks.   Gain 2 starting Vehicle factories, 1 Starting Standard Lab, 1 Starting Adv. Lab, 1 starting Tokamak, 1 Agridome+ enough people to run this, plus all standard buildings, Cost: 200.
Population can be bought!   Cost, 1 per person per player.

Really long.   All I've thought of so far.
For Reference:   http://www.freeallegiance.org/modules.php?...order=0&thold=0
« Last Edit: October 10, 2005, 12:59:36 AM by Baikon »
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Offline Hooman

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Outpost Wars!
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2005, 01:32:38 AM »
Err, and how do you expect to keep track of this? Look at the many game variables. Even if you were to play with some DLL programming to allow for proper level startup, you still need to keep track of resource accounting. Heh, if you just want a lot of work to do, I've got a project for you already.  :P (Yes, I was recently discussing a project and the potential of throwing a lot of work into your lap.)

But anyways, I can kinda see the appeal to this sort of setup you described, but I wouldn't want to touch the implmentation with a 10 foot pole. If you really wanted to get something like this working nicely, I think you'd need to write a whole new game. This is like WD on drugs.  :blink:

Edit: Btw, that's an impressive amount of detail you've gone into for an idea.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2005, 01:33:11 AM by Hooman »

Offline Tellaris

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Outpost Wars!
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2005, 01:36:27 AM »
What would be great would be some kind of editor for this.   And its ment to be a WD on drugs!
What you'd need is a set of simple variables that you can easily add to or remove as needed.
Tech setting is easy, just specify what techs you want per level, and then set level.   This is already done by the game actually.
As for vehicles, copy, paste lots.   And change the starting locations a little.   Problem solved.   Its something that would take some time to set up per battle.   A lot can be made easy by dumping much into Convecs.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2005, 01:38:19 AM by Baikon »
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