Random vs fair resource distribution

DviddLeff · 2012-01-02, 11:58 AM

Resources are apparently important enough to be a factor in strategic thinking, determining what equipment, vehicles and their upgrades a player can purchase.

We know that each empire will have a foothold on a continent and from this they can push out and capture territory and the resources that they contain. Yesterday my cousin introduced me to the Settlers of Catan board game in which players compete for different resources over a hex grid (needless to say PS2 sprang to mind when I first saw it).

Now this board game at first has suggested ways to lay out the resources which had been computer generated to be as fair a distribution as possible, so everyone starts with as even a position as possible. However once you are comfortable with the game it suggests to use a random layout, potentially making areas more useful than others; case in point yesterday the centre of the map was near worthless as there were resource poor territories there, while around the edges they were more abundant.

Now what am I trying to say about PS2? Quite simply resources need to be thought about in detail, otherwise you are going to get situations where one empire is resource poor even when they have their fair share of land, or struggle to capture specific resources altogether because of terrain issues and their locations. Also the abundance of resources in particular regions needs to be fine tuned; if one side of the map has a lot of Auraxium but its is spread thinly while the other only has a few abundant deposits that could still be fair.

Now I have a few questions:

1. Will resources change locations?
2. Will territories that have a single resource be able to provide different amounts of that resource?
3. Will players be able to increase the amount of a resource they gain from a particular territory?
4. Will it only be upgrades that are restricted by resources, or the actual weapons and vehicles themselves?

Shogun · 2012-01-02, 12:13 PM

i think i remember the devs said in one interview, that they plan on using the ressources and their spawning as incentives and to direct the battles a little bit.

so my guess is, that they change and are not static

to 4.:
in the latest interview matt said, that it would be possible to change weapons and customisations at any terminal and anytime, but that ressource costs could be involved. and that ressources could be used in the store instead of station cash for most buys.

Miir · 2012-01-02, 01:31 PM

I hope the resource system will be dynamic and you will be able to setup your auraxium mining device(s) anywhere within your empire controlled hex. I know they hinted that those tower looking structures in the original teaser could move so maybe they are the mining facilities?

If that’s the case I wonder how they are controlled? Are they automatically deployed when you capture a hex or does someone have to pilot it and deploy it? How many can you have deployed in one hex? Is the mining automatic or do you have to bring back the auraxium to the mining facility to be processed? (sort of like Starcraft but you are the SCV)

I agree with Dvidd... that there should be a benefit to all the controllable land. While some areas could have more resources all land should have some sort of benefit to capturing.

SKYeXile · 2012-01-02, 04:43 PM

Miir i believe from all the info i have read that once you control the hex you gain the benefits from them, there is no mining or gathering for the player in PS2.

The questions I ask is how are they going to distribute them?

Tick
Players get resources assigned to them at every hour based on the land they own, you get resources for the next 24 hours after loggin in.

Tick per capita
you're assigned an even split of resources based off your empire population, hence large empires would require more land to get the same income as smaller ones, while this sounds nice its open to exploiting due to multiple free accounts.

Contribution share
Your XP gained is mapped against other players, you gain a split relative to the XP you have generated. EG: your empire generated 30 million XP in the last hour, you contributed 30,000 to that. You would gain .1% of the resources you're empire controls this hour.

There is obviously more systems or hybrid you could have based of those are the simplest base models, id like to hear more if you have them.

I would hope you get no resources for taking a base, simply holding them, as iv mentioned in other posts, there needs to be an incentive to fight other players, capturing a base does not do this, holding a base does.

I would also hope resources are not tradeable, assignable through outfits or in any way passed to another player. with this you bring asian farmers, and depending on the system SOE plans to implement they could farm them by doing nothing.

SgtMAD · 2012-01-02, 04:55 PM

you aren't going to have to fight for all these hex's.

think of it like driving from one base to the attack the next in PS,lay a hex pattern on the map and as you drive down the road through the hexs as you pass through them they flip,if the other empires decide to defend a hex then who ever takes it over wins it by either killing the enemy or forcing them off the hex.

I would think it requires ground vehs to flip the hex because if air can flip hexs by flying through them the map will look like a mess in no time at all.unless there is a dogfight maybe,shit I don't know.

there isn't going to be structures on every hex on the map,the different empires have to decide what they want to defend and set up for whatever they have planned,that's how you prevent the other sides from taking all your resources.

the allocation of those resources is unknown right now and I imagine it will be looked at extensively in the beta.

SteinB · 2012-01-02, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by HtSgtMAD

you aren't going to have to fight for all these hex's.

think of it like driving from one base to the attack the next in PS,lay a hex pattern on the map and as you drive down the road through the hexs as you pass through them they flip,if the other empires decide to defend a hex then who ever takes it over wins it by either killing the enemy or forcing them off the hex.

I would think it requires ground vehs to flip the hex because if air can flip hexs by flying through them the map will look like a mess in no time at all.unless there is a dogfight maybe,shit I don't know.

there isn't going to be structures on every hex on the map,the different empires have to decide what they want to defend and set up for whatever they have planned,that's how you prevent the other sides from taking all your resources.

the allocation of those resources is unknown right now and I imagine it will be looked at extensively in the beta.

From my reading of Higbys statements on webcasts, interviews and reddit it works thusly: The continents are overlayed with hexes. Hexes are controlled by facilities, towers and bunkers. Facilities control many surrounding hexes, towers control several and bunkers control 1 maybe 2 hexes. Nothing is flipped just by passing through, that has never been stated in any way.

SKYeXile · 2012-01-02, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by SteinB

From my reading of Higbys statements on webcasts, interviews and reddit it works thusly: The continents are overlayed with hexes. Hexes are controlled by facilities, towers and bunkers. Facilities control many surrounding hexes, towers control several and bunkers control 1 maybe 2 hexes. Nothing is flipped just by passing through, that has never been stated in any way.

Yea this info is correct from what i have read.

Figment · 2012-01-02, 07:17 PM

I would expect some things from RTS games (resource mining multiplyers) to be constructable on site. For instance, you may start with a valley that is rich in Auraxium ore. After it is captured, you get the option to deploy a tower using for instance outfit points and turn it into an ore mine. Perhaps this tower can then be further expanded into a mini-outfit base by adding additional structures and facilities using outfit points. For instance, the ability to obtain vehicles at this site could be added.

If your outfit constructs such buildings, perhaps your outfit's gain increases a little more resources than the increase for other players of the empire. Even if all benefit.

It would turn the game into a really much more sandboxy game than it is, strategic locations would vary more frequently and would not be all about the bases themselves. It would also provide a bit more personal interest and honour in defending and holding certain sites you helped construct.