Niche vs customizable vehicle roles.

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Whenever we talk about niche vs customizable vehicles, I feel like the designer in this clip talking to a dozen or so "generals" patting each other on the back without having the slightest notion of what consequences their decisions have for the design.


The problem typically is that people who think in "lob everything together!" don't seem to realise that the principal qualities that favour one unit are all too often completely different from qualities that favour another unit.

To niche vehicles the design philosophy "less is more" applies, because less roles means better suited for the job at hand: everything about the unit would be designed around THAT purpose. Less is more means "less kibble that isn't needed is better design".


Most people here seem to take "less is more" as meaning "less UNITS is more". This though means MORE kibble and more uniform design. Meaning all these units or all but one role gives up a lot of proper functionality, or they all get some qualities from other units that destabilizes balancing.


Every time I see unit design being discussed on these forums, I think about role and balancing - meaning direct game play consequences. Most people here just seem to think in texture reduction (which is the main purpose of reducing the amount of units: lower dev work and optimize purchasable customization options per vehicle).

Quite often it's not clear to people here what unit functionality and design properties are suited to a particular role. Sometimes I even wonder if people realise what kind of vehicle it even is.