Want to Smash an Asteroid Into a Planet?

[randy]

I want something that will make appropriate and fun use of Continental Siege Units

Stick a dozer blade on it and label it as "agricultural equipment"

[Jered]

Supreme commander was great, supreme commander 2 was garbage. sequels scare me.

Total Annihilation was great!

[Dinochrome]

I want something that will make appropriate and fun use of Continental Siege Units

Stick a dozer blade on it and label it as "agricultural equipment"

That turns a CSU into a model WV "tractor". A heavily-armed tractor.

[Highspeed]

Seriously don't these games always default to the technology tree ? You have to buy the right kind of production facilities to create the right kind of combat units and then blah, blah, blah - the peasants are revolting and we don't have enough minerals in sector number nine.
The technology tree being hard coded into the game, so basically you have to figure out what the programmers thought was important and second guess them.
I've tried it and it bores the fucking piss out of me.

[Greg]

I'm waiting for the ability to smash cities with giant combat robots (aka the two new mechwarrior games coming in the next 12 months).

There'd better be an "Enemy mech - destroyed!" voiceover.

[Greg]

Seriously don't these games always default to the technology tree ? You have to buy the right kind of production facilities to create the right kind of combat units and then blah, blah, blah - the peasants are revolting and we don't have enough minerals in sector number nine.
The technology tree being hard coded into the game, so basically you have to figure out what the programmers thought was important and second guess them.
I've tried it and it bores the fucking piss out of me.

That turns into a game design issue.

Did the game designers put 'one optimal path' into the tech tree, or did they build a 'rock-paper-scissors' dynamic into it and leave it to the players to make the most of any given approach? (The latter plays MUCH better but requires serious actual skills on the part of the game designer, as well as a lot of work playtesting.)

[Jered]

Seriously don't these games always default to the technology tree ? You have to buy the right kind of production facilities to create the right kind of combat units and then blah, blah, blah - the peasants are revolting and we don't have enough minerals in sector number nine.
The technology tree being hard coded into the game, so basically you have to figure out what the programmers thought was important and second guess them.
I've tried it and it bores the fucking piss out of me.

That turns into a game design issue.

Did the game designers put 'one optimal path' into the tech tree, or did they build a 'rock-paper-scissors' dynamic into it and leave it to the players to make the most of any given approach? (The latter plays MUCH better but requires serious actual skills on the part of the game designer, as well as a lot of work playtesting.)

My favorite approach is the Total Annihilation way, where you build a factory, and you can build all the units that the factory can make. You build the construction vehicle at that factory, and then you can use that to build an advanced factory and some structures. The advanced factory makes a construction vehicle that can build advanced structures. There are also construction planes and construction boats. You can use an advanced construction vehicle to get a structure started, and then bring the regular construction vehicle to help. If you pull the advance vehicle off, the regular vehicle can finish the advanced structure. Construction vehicles can also help factories build things. If you can to increase the rate, you could set vehicles, planes, or boats to guard a factory, and it built things faster. Also, if units got blown up, they'd leave wreckage on the battlefield that screwed things up, but that could also be recovered. Theoretically, any unit can destroy any other unit (the one exception was flak cannons that could only shoot planes), and if, for example, you had a round from one of your artillery pieces, passing through the same space as an airplane, it could hit. Theoretically, you could built a super advanced artillery piece, and power it with wind generators.

[Yogimus]

Seriously don't these games always default to the technology tree ? You have to buy the right kind of production facilities to create the right kind of combat units and then blah, blah, blah - the peasants are revolting and we don't have enough minerals in sector number nine.
The technology tree being hard coded into the game, so basically you have to figure out what the programmers thought was important and second guess them.
I've tried it and it bores the fucking piss out of me.

Supreme commander had no "research".

Supcom 2 had a HIDDEN research so you could never tell what your enemy was up 2

[HTRN]

I'm waiting for the ability to smash cities with giant combat robots

Chicks dig giant robots.

Mechwarrior online supposedly started beta in May. So here's hoping for Christmas release.

I want something that will make appropriate and fun use of Continental Siege Units

Stick a dozer blade on it and label it as "agricultural equipment"

That turns a CSU into a model WV "tractor". A heavily-armed tractor.

Paint it Farmall red!

[JustinR]

There'd better be an "Enemy mech - destroyed!" voiceover.

+1. It's been a long time since I've been able to mercilessly pummel enemy mech's with PPC's. New mechwarrior games would be great.