[CNC] progress on the mod & future directions
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:19 pm
Changes I am working on in CNC, and the rationales for them. (Edit: updated changes that have been made and possible future tweaks)
CNC is a bit different from RA, mostly because RA has changed so much from its classic form. Some things have changed in CNC, though, too.
My goals in general have been to give a role to each unit, such as the Jeep and infantry, which play a minimal role. Currently, I am trying to add some variety by creating multiple tech tree branches (like in RA, where various buildings are required as pre-requisites). In CNC, it is just -> Communications Center -> Temple of Nod/Adv. Comm. Center.
Changes made in the past by others or myself:
- Giving players who build a Communications Center an airstrike weapon.
- Making the Airstrike appropriately destructive, and making the plane scout the map.
- Artillery and MLRS given long ranges (comparable to RA), and balanced out. (Artillery explodes).
- APC now has an anti-aircraft gun.
- Adjusting building HPs according to air strikes and ion cannon/nuke strength.
- Chemical warriors were made to be somewhat effective against vehicles, to differentiate them from Flamethrowers.
- Increased the transport helicopter's capacity from 5 to 10, to allow large-scale infantry transport without lots of micromanagement and tons of helis.
The major changes to the balance. (I now consider major edits to the game's unit stats is now basically complete. Future changes will be minor tweaks.)
People have often complained that C&C is "too armored" (tanks would take forever to be killed, especially by other tanks, making it hard to control territory) and that it's fairly unbalanced (e.g. annoying reliance on bike spam). I tried to add some tactical possibilities to the game by rewarding units able to get behind enemy lines and kill vulnerable units (e.g. artillery) before getting annihilated. I also found that the machine gun on the Hum-vee and Buggy was next to useless--it is now more powerful vs. infantry and also has a chance to destroy a light vehicle. Tank firing rates were pretty slow and they missed a lot, and didn't do much damage, especially against lighter units. I think that the boost to their firing rate is needed, and won't make units in C&C too easily killed.
- Machine-gun on Hum-vee and Nod Buggy considerably buffed vs. infantry and light vehicles
- Previously underpowered Rocket Troops (E3) damage vs. heavy armor increased from 8 to 15 dmg/sec.
- Bike Rocket damage vs. heavy armor increased from 9 to 23. (It's not as drastic as it sounds, since tanks get a firing rate boost). Rocket bike cost increased from $400 to $500.
- Stealth Tank missiles now do +50% damage vs. heavy armor. Small burstdelay added to firing, to add some risk to the second shot.
- Tank firing rate increased +50%. Damage rates are now close to RA values. Damage vs. light vehicles raised from 75% to 100%.
- APC's anti-aircraft gun now fires at ground units too. It is good vs. vehicles, ok vs. tanks, and poor vs. infantry. It is designed as a soft counter to rocket bikes and artillery, and to transport rocket soldiers to the front line.
- Transport helicopters reduced in price from $1500 to $750, to make use for infantry transport not prohibitively expensive. Helipad reduced from $1500 to $1000.
- Burst delay added to MLRS, so that vehicles have a chance to avoid its second shot.
- Infantry detect cloaked units at range=1, like in C&C 95.
- Grenade throw speed increased from 5 to 12
- Hum-vee HP increased and Buggy HP decreased, in order to justify their cost difference
- Towers increased in defense value, to provide decent defence against early base rushes: Range of Guard Tower increased from 5 to 6, to match range of rocket soldiers & bikes, and damage vs. vehicles increased. Advanced Guard tower range increased to 8 (to match Stealth Tank's range, and as a general buff)
- Flame tank firepower brought back up to C&C 95 levels.
- Some unit speeds adjusted: Bike from 11 to 13, APC from 10 to 9, Light Tank from 9 to 8, Flame Tank from 9 to 8, MLRS from 6 to 8, Med. Tank from 7 to 6, MCV from 6 to 4. While all vehicles get +25% speed on roads, Recon Bike gets a +50% speed bonus on roads. Untracked vechicles are slightly slower on tiberium.
- Unit rotation rates increased for fast vehicles and light tanks
- Damage of towers/turrets vs. buildings reduced to discourage basewalking
Some possible future tweaks that may be required: (edit)
Overall I like where the game is now, but players might discover through playtesting that some units are slightly overpowered. If you do, here are the tweaks that I suggest as the best fixes to those units likely to be unbalanced:
- If MLRS is too deadly against vehicles, reduce its spread from 15 to 12 or even 9. If its range is too long, reducing it from 14 to 13 would be fine.
- Advanced guard tower has historically been a bit OP. If people still feel that it is, they should either increase its cost to from $1000 to ~$1500 or reduce its HP from 600 to ~400.
- Grenadier grenades have always been pretty slow, and thus miss vehicles. If people want to buff it vs. vehicles, increase the throw speed from 12 to 16. If this makes them too good vs. infantry, then reduce damage vs. infantry.
- Napalm airstrike: I love the airstrike, and I think its damage radius is fine, but infantry get roasted at a much farther distance from impact than vehicles do. If the airstrike is too strong vs. infantry, then reduce napalm's damage vs. infantry.
- Artillery: if people feel that it chews up infantry too well, consider reducing its damage spread or its damage vs. infantry. Reducing projectile speed or inaccuracy also an option.
Possible less-important future balance adjustments:
- Rocket Bike: consider increasing HP from 120 to 140 or 160 (C&C 95 level)
- Machine Gun: maybe increase power vs. light vehicles, or adjust vs. infantry. Maybe increase power vs. armor and buildings (currently very low)
- Orca: add 1 more ammo, so that 2 orcas can kill a light tank or flame tank
- Refinery: slightly reduce cost, since an ion cannon can destroy it, and since refineries are crucial to the economy
- Helipad: reduce cost, since an airstrike can kill it, or else add HP.
- Flame tank: add heavy armor? Adjust speed if necessary, if it's too fast or slow to get to the frontline where the enemy infantry are.
Some wild ideas for the future:
- Add a mobile SAM launcher vehicle for Nod. (GDI already has anti-air APC)
- Create two new tech buildings: the Tech Center for GDI and the Bio-Lab for Nod. Tech Center will unlock the Mammoth Tank (and any future units), while the Bio-Lab will unlock Chemical Warriors. This might make chem warriors more useful by making them accessible earlier in the game (for those who want to go down that tech tree quickly).
- Create two additional factions per side, with each faction having a unique trait or two, and maybe an upgraded or unique unit.
- I made a hum-vee that can carry a passenger. If the passenger is a Grenadier, then a high-speed grenade launcher fires from the turret. If the passenger is a Rocket Soldier, then a rocket fires from the turret. I thought this might make GDI able to reasonably defend itself from armor without producing its own tanks
- I made a lot of units a long time ago which, while kinda cool, almost certainly will not be added to the main game. You can find them here: http://cncplus.tumblr.com/
They are: Flying Soldiers (GDI), Tiberium Tank (Nod), Chemical Scud launcher (Nod), Mobile Detector (GDI), Laser Tank (Nod) - 'obelisk on wheels', Recon Trike (GDI).
If anyone wants to playtest with me and provide feedback, please msg me on IRC.
CNC is a bit different from RA, mostly because RA has changed so much from its classic form. Some things have changed in CNC, though, too.
My goals in general have been to give a role to each unit, such as the Jeep and infantry, which play a minimal role. Currently, I am trying to add some variety by creating multiple tech tree branches (like in RA, where various buildings are required as pre-requisites). In CNC, it is just -> Communications Center -> Temple of Nod/Adv. Comm. Center.
Changes made in the past by others or myself:
- Giving players who build a Communications Center an airstrike weapon.
- Making the Airstrike appropriately destructive, and making the plane scout the map.
- Artillery and MLRS given long ranges (comparable to RA), and balanced out. (Artillery explodes).
- APC now has an anti-aircraft gun.
- Adjusting building HPs according to air strikes and ion cannon/nuke strength.
- Chemical warriors were made to be somewhat effective against vehicles, to differentiate them from Flamethrowers.
- Increased the transport helicopter's capacity from 5 to 10, to allow large-scale infantry transport without lots of micromanagement and tons of helis.
The major changes to the balance. (I now consider major edits to the game's unit stats is now basically complete. Future changes will be minor tweaks.)
People have often complained that C&C is "too armored" (tanks would take forever to be killed, especially by other tanks, making it hard to control territory) and that it's fairly unbalanced (e.g. annoying reliance on bike spam). I tried to add some tactical possibilities to the game by rewarding units able to get behind enemy lines and kill vulnerable units (e.g. artillery) before getting annihilated. I also found that the machine gun on the Hum-vee and Buggy was next to useless--it is now more powerful vs. infantry and also has a chance to destroy a light vehicle. Tank firing rates were pretty slow and they missed a lot, and didn't do much damage, especially against lighter units. I think that the boost to their firing rate is needed, and won't make units in C&C too easily killed.
- Machine-gun on Hum-vee and Nod Buggy considerably buffed vs. infantry and light vehicles
- Previously underpowered Rocket Troops (E3) damage vs. heavy armor increased from 8 to 15 dmg/sec.
- Bike Rocket damage vs. heavy armor increased from 9 to 23. (It's not as drastic as it sounds, since tanks get a firing rate boost). Rocket bike cost increased from $400 to $500.
- Stealth Tank missiles now do +50% damage vs. heavy armor. Small burstdelay added to firing, to add some risk to the second shot.
- Tank firing rate increased +50%. Damage rates are now close to RA values. Damage vs. light vehicles raised from 75% to 100%.
- APC's anti-aircraft gun now fires at ground units too. It is good vs. vehicles, ok vs. tanks, and poor vs. infantry. It is designed as a soft counter to rocket bikes and artillery, and to transport rocket soldiers to the front line.
- Transport helicopters reduced in price from $1500 to $750, to make use for infantry transport not prohibitively expensive. Helipad reduced from $1500 to $1000.
- Burst delay added to MLRS, so that vehicles have a chance to avoid its second shot.
- Infantry detect cloaked units at range=1, like in C&C 95.
- Grenade throw speed increased from 5 to 12
- Hum-vee HP increased and Buggy HP decreased, in order to justify their cost difference
- Towers increased in defense value, to provide decent defence against early base rushes: Range of Guard Tower increased from 5 to 6, to match range of rocket soldiers & bikes, and damage vs. vehicles increased. Advanced Guard tower range increased to 8 (to match Stealth Tank's range, and as a general buff)
- Flame tank firepower brought back up to C&C 95 levels.
- Some unit speeds adjusted: Bike from 11 to 13, APC from 10 to 9, Light Tank from 9 to 8, Flame Tank from 9 to 8, MLRS from 6 to 8, Med. Tank from 7 to 6, MCV from 6 to 4. While all vehicles get +25% speed on roads, Recon Bike gets a +50% speed bonus on roads. Untracked vechicles are slightly slower on tiberium.
- Unit rotation rates increased for fast vehicles and light tanks
- Damage of towers/turrets vs. buildings reduced to discourage basewalking
Some possible future tweaks that may be required: (edit)
Overall I like where the game is now, but players might discover through playtesting that some units are slightly overpowered. If you do, here are the tweaks that I suggest as the best fixes to those units likely to be unbalanced:
- If MLRS is too deadly against vehicles, reduce its spread from 15 to 12 or even 9. If its range is too long, reducing it from 14 to 13 would be fine.
- Advanced guard tower has historically been a bit OP. If people still feel that it is, they should either increase its cost to from $1000 to ~$1500 or reduce its HP from 600 to ~400.
- Grenadier grenades have always been pretty slow, and thus miss vehicles. If people want to buff it vs. vehicles, increase the throw speed from 12 to 16. If this makes them too good vs. infantry, then reduce damage vs. infantry.
- Napalm airstrike: I love the airstrike, and I think its damage radius is fine, but infantry get roasted at a much farther distance from impact than vehicles do. If the airstrike is too strong vs. infantry, then reduce napalm's damage vs. infantry.
- Artillery: if people feel that it chews up infantry too well, consider reducing its damage spread or its damage vs. infantry. Reducing projectile speed or inaccuracy also an option.
Possible less-important future balance adjustments:
- Rocket Bike: consider increasing HP from 120 to 140 or 160 (C&C 95 level)
- Machine Gun: maybe increase power vs. light vehicles, or adjust vs. infantry. Maybe increase power vs. armor and buildings (currently very low)
- Orca: add 1 more ammo, so that 2 orcas can kill a light tank or flame tank
- Refinery: slightly reduce cost, since an ion cannon can destroy it, and since refineries are crucial to the economy
- Helipad: reduce cost, since an airstrike can kill it, or else add HP.
- Flame tank: add heavy armor? Adjust speed if necessary, if it's too fast or slow to get to the frontline where the enemy infantry are.
Some wild ideas for the future:
- Add a mobile SAM launcher vehicle for Nod. (GDI already has anti-air APC)
- Create two new tech buildings: the Tech Center for GDI and the Bio-Lab for Nod. Tech Center will unlock the Mammoth Tank (and any future units), while the Bio-Lab will unlock Chemical Warriors. This might make chem warriors more useful by making them accessible earlier in the game (for those who want to go down that tech tree quickly).
- Create two additional factions per side, with each faction having a unique trait or two, and maybe an upgraded or unique unit.
- I made a hum-vee that can carry a passenger. If the passenger is a Grenadier, then a high-speed grenade launcher fires from the turret. If the passenger is a Rocket Soldier, then a rocket fires from the turret. I thought this might make GDI able to reasonably defend itself from armor without producing its own tanks
- I made a lot of units a long time ago which, while kinda cool, almost certainly will not be added to the main game. You can find them here: http://cncplus.tumblr.com/
They are: Flying Soldiers (GDI), Tiberium Tank (Nod), Chemical Scud launcher (Nod), Mobile Detector (GDI), Laser Tank (Nod) - 'obelisk on wheels', Recon Trike (GDI).
If anyone wants to playtest with me and provide feedback, please msg me on IRC.