[RA] Playtest v1.6b - Still an experimental phase.

From alpha to beta!

Discussion about the game and its default mods.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday »

WhoCares wrote: Could the sd be unidirectional ? Means entrance south, exit north (for example) so unit don't really have a choice and don't get stuck.
Oh wow that sounds like a very good bandaid fix. Would be awesome if it worked that way.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
-Sun Tzu

abcdefg30
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Post by abcdefg30 »

That should be fixed in the next version: OpenRA/OpenRA#13093

SirCake
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Post by SirCake »

1) Why not make a general rule out of Warfactory/barracks production bonuses?
Like, if you invested 6k into production, your production rate doubles and caps out.
For warfactoy(3), barracks(12), navyard(6), airfield(12), helipad(12), even Kennels(60) ;P

2) Its allways good if more things are "viable". Like going for a multi-Warf-build...

Image

SirCake
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Post by SirCake »

Oh.. and Radar Dome need a cost decrease. I mean, the tech center only costs 1500, the Dome 1800. Why is it SO expensive? It takes FOREVER to make! It should cost between 1200-1500 realy. It just doesn't make any sense. (And prevents me from going radar dome first in competitive! Grr! I want it viable!!)
The 1600 in this mod is a start...

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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday »

SirCake wrote: Oh.. and Radar Dome need a cost decrease. I mean, the tech center only costs 1500, the Dome 1800. Why is it SO expensive? It takes FOREVER to make! It should cost between 1200-1500 realy. It just doesn't make any sense. (And prevents me from going radar dome first in competitive! Grr! I want it viable!!)
The 1600 in this mod is a start...
And Service Depot 1200. It would make sense for Radar Dome to not cost more than Tech Center.

@SirCake: Barracks is +100 cost in this playtest so that is a minor indirect buff to quick Radar Dome strategy.

I totally approve minor cost reduction for Radar Dome.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
-Sun Tzu

SirCake
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Post by SirCake »

With radar dome first im mean radar dome instead of warfactory.(pp rax ken ref ref dome airfield) Starting without barracks is cheese :P

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SoScared
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Post by SoScared »

Just to be clear the Radar Dome cost $1800 on the v1.6a mod maps.

Up until June I'll have limited time to follow up on the playtest so keep on with the feedback, great stuff so far!

Although still in "alpha" there's a few changes that already seem to enjoy a clear consensus:

- Soviet Air Support Powers charge time decrease. (drop/bomb/spy: 6m/6m/3m -> (5m/5m/2m30s)
- MCV movement speed lowered from 85 to 71.
- 30% increased repair speed at Service Depot.

The first two was already present on previous community playtests.

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SoScared
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Post by SoScared »

First exposure of the civilian Forward Command, on a new revision of Agenda:

http://resource.openra.net/maps/21269/ *updated to revision 6

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SoScared
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Post by SoScared »

Updated OP with the new version.



Changes made with v1.6b:

- Spy changes scrapped.
- Technician double damage scrapped.
- Shock Troopers - Damage vs Heavy: 60%, up from 50%
- Grenadiers - Damage vs None: 60%, up from 50%

- Chinook - HP: 140, up from 120
- Medium/Heavy/Mammoth Tank - Damage vs Heavy: 115%
- Chrono/Tesla Tank - HP: 450, up from 400

- Radar Dome - Cost: $1600, down from $1800

Overall the playtesting from v1.6a (distributed almost 10K downloads) went pretty smooth. After the first week the games settled more or less on the current meta with parts of the gameplay intensified. The +1 vision to the main battle tanks has allowed for better unit preservation (engaments are a bit more deliberate) seemed to have helped counteracted one of the biggest concerns with this playtest which was pushing T2 and T3 away from the meta. In any case the game progression is pretty much the same for the time being. The new WF cap has taken a back seat after the first week, which made me really happy as it has settled as an option, not a default. Despite the 25% bonus, players still prioritize expansions, infantry and tech above the second WF.

As for the rest, in general it's still to early to say too much but I found some room to tweak a little more with the numbers. Additional damage vs heavy for all main battletanks and a bit more health to the frail Chrono and Tesla Tanks with their Light Armor. The big elephant in the room off course is the Radar Dome price/production decrease which will pull closer the entire tech tree a little bit. Core structural changes such as these are generally the last thing I want to meddle with but as with the WF cap gamble it's worth giving it a shot. Lately we've seen more Radar Dome rushes brought forward by competetive players which are fun to watch but overall the current strength of the Service Depot makes this a risk not worth taking. In the past I believe the steep price increase of the Radar Dome was due to how the RA mod was played at the time when MCVs had no build radius and the Artillery was the ultimate anti-hero at the time.



There's no set schedule to the playtesting but I imagine the different versions to be out for an extended period of time, preferably no less than a month in between. The featured changes can be replaced on a whim dependent on their performance and feedback from the playing community. *Also, please feel free to pick apart the .yaml for specific testing or modifying it to fit ones own purposes.


Playtest v1.6b Map Pack (.zip) download links:

Will add later. Currently just stress testing the numbers at:

Sidestep: http://resource.openra.net/maps/21359/
Agenda: http://resource.openra.net/maps/21351/
Interference: http://resource.openra.net/maps/21353/

Naturally spammed with civilian structures. *new revisions added. (18 May)



Glhf!

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SoScared
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Post by SoScared »

41 maps uploaded to the resource site and downloadable in the OP as .zip files!

There's plenty more great maps out there but I just started out with these. Let me know if you want any particular map included and I'll be happy to add it asap. Feel free to alter the mod maps for your own purposes.

Printer
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Post by Printer »

About spies. I propose:
1. $+300.00, or $+150 England cost
2. Reset Nukes

Why $800.00:
For $250/pop (Allied players love England for this and other reasons), I believe it's too spamable. Veterancy, powerdown, and shroud reset are game changing. Vanilla was $1000.00 actually but to me $800 encourages gameplay. Many use it for money, but veterancy is my #1 priority when using them. For $250, they are insanely powerful and way under used. Bear in mind the first spy is also almost always successful.

Why Superweapon resets
This is one everyone's thought of. It would make so much sense. It could also reset Air Field powers, instead giving of veterancy.

If you don't know the secret to spies- it's to disguise them as civilians as no one cares or watches civs. Yes I know everyone will now use them against me since I've raised this...

SirCake
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Post by SirCake »

A cool way to debuff base pushes could be to reduce mcv build radius by 30% or so. Just an idea :)

OMnom
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Post by OMnom »

SirCake wrote: A cool way to debuff base pushes could be to reduce mcv build radius by 30% or so. Just an idea :)
Won't do a damn thing, and you'd just be annoying the rest of the playerbase with a useless change.

SirCake
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Post by SirCake »

It would reduce the reach you have by deploying an mcv near an enemy base.
It would force a undeploy and redeploy more often, which gives the besieged a chance to snipe the mcv.
It would make it more likely that the mcv is in range of arty.
It would reduce the effectiveness of double drops aka dropping a tesla/pillbox after a power plant to snipe the artillery "countering" your basepush.
We would see more abandoned and vulnerable bases, because players actually have to move their mcv instead of basecrawling to their expansion.
Also, bases would likely be more compact and not look like someone got out their salt shaker to plan a base layout..

Yeah, thats what I have to say about that.

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WhoCares
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Post by WhoCares »

the effect on base push would be too limited compare to the fact to be annoyed to not have enought radius to build your own base.

Base push strenght is not crawling to the heart of the opponent main base, it's mainly be able to pop a rax and a def when you engage whichever is an army, or a base.

If you want to kill base push, put a delay of 10 sec coldown for a mcv freslhy deployed before it can place a structure. (diden't say we should do that, just saying it would be the way)

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