However, +20% of strength is about same economical effectiveness as -20% cost.
QuoteHowever, +20% of strength is about same economical effectiveness as -20% cost.
Not really. A stronger unit still takes 1 support slot, 1 transport slot, more likely to survive and gain XP.. I think you are looking at it too simplistically. You could take the argument further and say what's the difference between stronger weapons or just making units cheaper when you research new weapons? Cost is important, but not everything. Twice as many units that are half as powerful each are not equivalent in all areas.
I already thought reactor power is ignored by native lifeforms (correct me if wrong?), so I didn't intend that part to be a departure from the current rules. The point of mindworms is to counter more advanced enemies. If your enemy is going mindworm heavy, then you will readjust your designs accordingly. Use cheaper equipment and add empath/trance. Or build a mixture of unit types for the different enemy types. It's not a given that building the very strongest units your tech allows is always the best strategy.
Last two is an open door for stupid exploit: attacker standing next to defender may chose whether to attack or bombard depending on defender weapon-armor prevalence.There's no rule for anything anywhere in the game, that says you have to be 2 squares away to bombard. If you're standing next to something you jolly well want to bombard, you can. Artillery in a base, someone's outside your wall, bombard all you want.
For some reason you object to ships having a choice about direct assault or bombardment. But for battleships, it's 100% historically accurate.
A proper combat system would be simultaneous attacker weapon vs. defender armor, and defender weapon vs. attacker armor. Probably the kind of system I'll use for my eventual commercial game. It solves problems like AAA units magically having their armor bounce incoming fire off them, that miraculously harms planes, when they're only armed with pea shooters. That's not an exploit, it's just a bad simulation of combat.
Another option that I am seriously considering is to let psi combat not ignore weapon/armor completely. It may add tiny bonus thus slightly increasing high end costly end game units value.
Example.
1-20-1 regular defender costs 20 rows. Mind worm costs 6 rows. They are about same psi strength so mind worms are ~3 times more economically effective. Now let's suppose we add 5% armor value as psi combat bonus. This way regular defender psi strength will be 1 + 0.05 * 20 = 2. I.e. worms are now only 1.5 times more effective. Still better but not absolutely overwhelming. This will give players incentive building high end regular units reducing fear of losing them in psi combat.
That may be combined with reactor extra strength either directly proportionally or weapon/armor and reactor will have their own percentage increase for psi combat. Need extra fine tuning. Feel free to play with numbers.
Another option that I am seriously considering is to let psi combat not ignore weapon/armor completely. It may add tiny bonus thus slightly increasing high end costly end game units value.
Example.
1-20-1 regular defender costs 20 rows.
Last two is an open door for stupid exploit: attacker standing next to defender may chose whether to attack or bombard depending on defender weapon-armor prevalence.There's no rule for anything anywhere in the game, that says you have to be 2 squares away to bombard. If you're standing next to something you jolly well want to bombard, you can. Artillery in a base, someone's outside your wall, bombard all you want.
For some reason you object to ships having a choice about direct assault or bombardment. But for battleships, it's 100% historically accurate.
It's reasonable to object about weapon vs. weapon combat systems. A proper combat system would be simultaneous attacker weapon vs. defender armor, and defender weapon vs. attacker armor. Probably the kind of system I'll use for my eventual commercial game. It solves problems like AAA units magically having their armor bounce incoming fire off them, that miraculously harms planes, when they're only armed with pea shooters. That's not an exploit, it's just a bad simulation of combat.
I haven't paid attention to how the game chooses defenders too closely. If you're suffering from a mind worm infestation and you filled your bases with 1-1-1 Trance, would those units get put on the defensive first against psi attack or would expensive 1-20-1 garrisons without Trance get tossed in there?
Or just put Trance on all your garrisons.
A high defense unit like that doesn't have to have any problem. In the original game, Hypnotic Trance has cost=-1, which is based on the ratio of offense to defense. For this unit, cost=0. The only question is whether you or the AI remembered to add the free Hypnotic Trance ability to the unit. If the AI is not doing it, that would be the thing in the code that needs correction.
Now of course if you've modded the game so that cost=1 or some such, as I did for awhile, then you had a problem. But recently I went back to the way the original game did it, to nerf mindworms. I also doubled the defense bonus to +100%.
Hypnotic Trance does take up an ability slot. I think players should make choices about what abilities they want, and not just hand out stuff for free.
Guys, you are answering to minor details missing the main point here! The main point is that the mere presence of psi combat renders high end conventional units useless. They grow in cost but they don't grow in average combat power as their psi strength don't grow and at some point this becomes the prevalent combat type. Just because native units becomes the most economical defender and attackers against such costly monsters.
Game may unlock some 100 weapon and 100 armor somewhere after Locust of Chiron is unlocked - nobody would even bother to rush these research! Once somebody start building them everybody else would automatically switch to natives. End of (SMACX tech tree) story.
😞
Guys, you are answering to minor details missing the main point here! The main point is that the mere presence of psi combat renders high end conventional units useless.
Guys, you are answering to minor details missing the main point here! The main point is that the mere presence of psi combat renders high end conventional units useless. They grow in cost but they don't grow in average combat power as their psi strength don't grow and at some point this becomes the prevalent combat type. Just because native units becomes the most economical defender and attackers against such costly monsters.
Game may unlock some 100 weapon and 100 armor somewhere after Locust of Chiron is unlocked - nobody would even bother to rush these research! Once somebody start building them everybody else would automatically switch to natives. End of (SMACX tech tree) story.
😞
Only if you and your enemy have an agreement that you will build only psi and they will not build trash 1-1-2 Empath and 1-1-1 Trance units to cost effectively wipe out your all worm army. Is this how multiplayer games are fought?
The first player to Locusts wins?
The best idea I could come up with for native life would be to make the cost go up as the game goes on. Either by highest reactor or highest player tech.
Then when you attack with your high end units they fight against natives - their weapon is ignored.
Then when you attack with your high end units they fight against natives - their weapon is ignored.
That's why you add Empath Song as one of your offensive high end unit abilities. That's why you make R-Bolt one of your main endgame weapons. Otherwise, indeed, you're wasting your time and productivity.
The game has answers.