Planetside Idea Lab

[Hayoo]

Originally Posted by EarlyDawn

Well, I'd imagine that reproduction is impossible

That's one hell of a contraceptive. So Auraxis is truly a world without the risk of death or accidental pregnancy..........sign me up for that planet please.

However, prehaps that's what the biolab tubes are all about, cloning.

I wonder if there were any pre-warpgate children. Do humans even age or mature after they've been rebirthed? If not, then those pre-gate kiddies are still babies.

I'd say somewhere in the range of 40,000 people went through.

Logically that would be enough to split between 3 groups to declare themselves an Empire, but I'd like to hear the real number one day. I need to put that on the request tracker.

[TheN00b]

Originally Posted by Hayoo

That's one hell of a contraceptive. So Auraxis is truly a world without the risk of death or accidental pregnancy..........sign me up for that planet please.

Indeed, lol.

Originally Posted by Hayoo

I wonder if there were any pre-warpgate children. Do humans even age or mature after they've been rebirthed? If not, then those pre-gate kiddies are still babies.

Nope. The smart thing to do would be to let them age, like cheese, to about 20, and then send them off to war, where they'd respawn and thus never age.

Originally Posted by Hayoo

Logically that would be enough to split between 3 groups to declare themselves an Empire, but I'd like to hear the real number one day. I need to put that on the request tracker.

Hell, 40,000 would be tiny. It takes an insane amount of people to maintain a tehnological infrastructure, fuel a massive war effort, and have a beaurocracy.

[Hayoo]

I've gone through the emplacements and towables list and streamlined it a bit so that I'm not so overwhelmed with work.

Cover that any grunt can create using the entrenching tool:

Steel boxes cover (but with sloping dirt front)

Suspended until further notice: Barricade wall.

(Grunts can no longer create cover with an ammo box. Reserved for engineers.)

Cover that an Engineer can create using the entrenching tool:

180 cover
machine-gun variant

Emplacements that Combat Engineers can create using the CE Vehicle:

12mm MG nest
Radar post
Command Post (combined with communications post)
Medical post
NTU vehicle recharger
Supply post
Landing Tarmac
Lookout post
Ground monitoring post

Emplacements (in addition to the CE ones) that Field Engeers can create using the CE Vehicle:

20mm x2 AA nest
80mm indirect fire mortar
100mm indirect fire artillery
SAM site

Suspended until further notice: 50mm, 75mm, AV missile

Towed equipment for Field Assault cert:

Storage
Radar
Communications
AA direct fire Flak cannons
90mm AV and aritllery cannon (direct and indirect fire modes - mimics versitility of 88's)
Indirect fire artillery rockets
155mm indirect fire artillery

Suspended until further notice: 35mm, 120mm mortar, SAM

[EarlyDawn]

What's a ground monitoring post?

And why the decision to streamline the command and comm posts () and take the ammo-box cover away from regular grunts?

Will you be illustrating all of these?

[7ruth]

Well I dont wan't to bring number of people in as a factor, i just want to fight in a city =D. I would consider the WG technology so advanced, assuming string theory is true, that is actualy uses the energy of the nantites to reconstruct the matter of the object. That would include DNA, RNA, protiens, brain waves, ect...

Emplacements are my favorite idea man, I really like what you have put together. To prevent extraneous emplacements, I think you should make the CE cost outfit points. If i could play a game where I got experience from successfully pushing an enemy force away from their emplacements and into their city, then i'd be a happy man =D.

I like that website a lot, I'd like to see more concepts like the one I posted here. I'm thinking of laying out a city on one of the continents, it would sure help to know which continents will become "home Continents" again. I'm going to go work on that after this post =)

By the way, 'Urban Outposts' sound more like barracks to me. So there could be a "north Dahaka barracks". I'm still a "all the way or not at all" person.

[DeepStrikeck]

Originally Posted by Hayoo

I've gone through the emplacements and towables list and streamlined it a bit so that I'm not so overwhelmed with work.

Cover that any grunt can create using the entrenching tool:

Steel boxes cover (but with sloping dirt front)

Suspended until further notice: Barricade wall.

(Grunts can no longer create cover with an ammo box. Reserved for engineers.)

Cover that an Engineer can create using the entrenching tool:

180 cover
machine-gun variant

Emplacements that Combat Engineers can create using the CE Vehicle:

12mm MG nest
Radar post
Command Post (combined with communications post)
Medical post
NTU vehicle recharger
Supply post
Landing Tarmac
Lookout post
Ground monitoring post

Emplacements (in addition to the CE ones) that Field Engeers can create using the CE Vehicle:

20mm x2 AA nest
80mm indirect fire mortar
100mm indirect fire artillery
SAM site

Suspended until further notice: 50mm, 75mm, AV missile

Towed equipment for Field Assault cert:

Storage
Radar
Communications
AA direct fire Flak cannons
90mm AV and aritllery cannon (direct and indirect fire modes - mimics versitility of 88's)
Indirect fire artillery rockets
155mm indirect fire artillery

Suspended until further notice: 35mm, 120mm mortar, SAM

[7ruth]

heh, I guess you have a tougher critic than me =)

[Hayoo]

Originally Posted by EarlyDawn

What's a ground monitoring post?

It's kind of a wide-range motion sensor but it detect only ground vehicles larger than a Lightning. It's intended use is to monitor the borders of friendly territory, since manpower is at such a premium. It functions like a base-density warning. When a vehicle approaches the location of a monitoring post, a little warning icon shows up in his screen. At that point, his signal is weak, but when he reaches the detection range, it flashes "Enemy vehicle approaching" on the Cont map.

Monitoring posts have a very wide placement range (and I think they can only be placed in friendly territory), so if Spec Ops troops or Infiltrators can destroy one, it creates a gap for forces to slip through.

If a forces wishes to drive deep into enemy territory with maximum secrecy, the best choice is to drop spec ops forces into the territory's generator, hack it offline to disable the radar and map warnings, then libs or aicraft destroy the monitoring posts (since they can't detect air vehicles). Then the ground forces can invade in total secrecy.

Another way is for a Galaxy or Phantasm to fly in under the radar and hot drop troops into the urban outpost or base. But this is very dangerous if any AA are about.

And why the decision to streamline the command and comm posts ()

It had to do with my original design for command and communications. It's kind of an involved story, and I like telling stories, so you can skip to the "Short Version" near the bottom if you like:

The buiding blocks: Enemy territory creates a blackout on all friendly communications and facility warnings for friendly troops and commanders. Broadcast abilities in any territory was also affected by your command rank, the higher you were, the further people could hear you (within your Task Force of course)

In my original idea, everything was Radius-based. That is, a CR1's radius was 200m, the CR2's 500, CR3's 1000, CR4's the whole continent (all friendly territory on the cont) and a large radius around himself if he was in enemy territory.

I tied that in with a communications system, which was also radius-based. Without comm coverage, you couldn't broadcast. So if you set up comm posts and towers in enemy territory, you could extend your communications range there, but only so far as the comm radius. Players were supposed to overlap as many towers as they could to create a blanket of communications coverage. (The idea started to feel cumbersome at this point and the fun factor weakened.)

Now I added in the Command Centers, Command Vehicles, and Command Posts. These had the purpose of boosting a unit-leaders abilities. Basically any HQ area extended your comm range no matter your command rank. They also imparted better scanning abilities and such. I debated for days whether CPs/HQs gave CR4-ranged broadcast to CR1s or just a larger radius. This was afterall, broadcasts within a TaskForce and only unit leaders could hear it anyway.

It was all to be this symbosis between Command elements and Communications elements. Comm posts would extend the empire's broadcast and map warnings range, and command locations would extend leader's abilities within them. Eventually, as happens, I discovered that all this was insanely complicated and stupid!

The Concept Today: So I gutted the whole thing and rebuilt it as a zone-based concept.

• A CR1 can broadcast over /taskforce within 1 zone, no matter where in that zone he is (just like an SOI).
• A CR2 can broadcast in their zone and the adjacent zones (2 layers).
• A CR3 can broadcast in their zone, adjacent zones, and the zones beyond those (3 layers).
• This gives something for players to strive for. The higher their CR, the better they can coordinate with their fellow squad leaders.

For communications coverage in enemy territory, all an empire has to do is place a single comm tower, command post, or command vehicle in the zone, and then communications are availabe for the entire zone. Place it right across the border if you like, it'll still reach the whole enemy zone. Although, along the border is the first place reaver pilots will look.

Commanders leading from any command center (except for the Command Vehicle) boosts that CR's range by an extra layer, that is a CR1 can now broadcast to other taskforce units in his zone and to the adjacent zones, a substantially larger area. Comtechs will also be able to enter those same Command Posts or Command Vehicles to enhance their jamming/eavesdropping abilities. It also keeps the comtechs close to the commanders that they are protecting from enemy eavesdroppers.

This makes things much more simple and direct. It also creates a better game of cat and mouse. Pilots will have fun patrolling enemy territory for enemy command posts, comm towers, supply posts, monitoring stations, NTU recharging stations, etc. Destruction is the best tangible part of the game that keeps you coming back for more day after day. The teamwork and strategy requirements provide that intangle element of satisfaction and pride that keep you coming back subscription after subscription.

End of long story.

Short Version:

The original idea sucked.
Command and Communications naturally go together
I switched the concept from a radius-based system to a zone-based system.

take the ammo-box cover away from regular grunts?

Since the ammo-boxes are created empty, a grunt would have to make several trips to fill it. In that time, surely an engineer is about who can create a bigger emplacement and with a 12mm machinge gun no less, complete with some ammo.

I decided the smaller basic cover was useful mainly as a hasty prepared position i the absence of engineers and heavy equipment. At least until further notice. If the idea catches on, I can bring it back as a variant of the basic cover for someone willing to invest the extra preperation to deploy one.

Will you be illustrating all of these?

Yup. It's a daunting task, which is another reason why I toned down the concept temporarily.

[Hayoo]

Originally Posted by DeepStrikeck

LOL. Good God, Man! Just explore the thread a little or visit my site.

http://www.planetside-idealab.com.

If you just want to browse pictures, you can go here: http://psforums.station.sony.com/ps/...ssage.id=50139

[Hayoo]

Originally Posted by 7ruth

Well I dont wan't to bring number of people in as a factor, i just want to fight in a city =D.

I hear ya, but I have to have some kind of story fiction to base these ideas on. A large city without a population to use it would seem strange in this game. Fun, but strange.

I think you should make the CE cost outfit points. If i could play a game where I got experience from successfully pushing an enemy force away from their emplacements and into their city, then i'd be a happy man =D.

The only problem with it costing outfit points is that solo players wouldn't be able to make the emplacements. I have known solo players who simply went around filling bases with an ANT because no one else was doing it. I'd hate to alienate such a potential resource as solo players creating necessary emplacements for outfits, especially if those outfits had to use up their quotas on weapons emplacements.

I'm thinking of laying out a city on one of the continents, it would sure help to know which continents will become "home Continents" again. I'm going to go work on that after this post =)

Sounds good to me

By the way, 'Urban Outposts' sound more like barracks to me. So there could be a "north Dahaka barracks". I'm still a "all the way or not at all" person.

Do you mean the name or the concept sounds more like barracks? The name was originally Urban Areas, but that sounded a little weak. So I looked at the collection of buildings and deduced they were outposts, weaker versions of their walled brothers, created to protect that zone's resources for the Empire Tech Levels.

The concept of Outposts is for that urban combat feel and also provide a conduit for more field battles. It will feel like a town, that's for sure, with all the different structures like the maglev station, powerplant, supply depot, landing field, etc.

As for names, I'd have it so that names for the outposts would be their own (based on the mythology theme of the cont) so that each 'town' had its own identity. That way, any large battles in the area could adopt the name of the outpost. The Battle for Gunuku is getting old, but with more place-names, it'll be easier to get a sense of a war with lots of unique battle locations.

[EarlyDawn]

That all sounds good Hayoo. The "Layer" system is logical. I was also thinking that prehaps you should be able to wirelessly connect the NTU refueling stations to AMSes and any other emplacement that needs to be in supply to work, if the owner allowed you. Kinda like setting up a forward base, as long as you keep it in supply.

Any ETA (Even a rough estimate) on those illustrations?

[7ruth]

Well its what i came up with after an hour and a half, or so, but you get the idea. Its not realy finished, but oh well I couldn't make it much better...
Basicly 1 by 2 kilometer colony, and obviously abandoned.

What I meant to say earlier was 'CE vehicle' not CE =/ but i do see your point.

The Barracks thing is because it sounds like that sort of thing to me...

Travel through the Wormhole took place over a 20 year period, and when it closed the TR deperately tried to find a way to reopen it. They keep it under wraps too, and people were executed(for good probably). It eventually got out and people saw a chance to break away from the TR.

[Hayoo]

I'll reply when I get up this morning (it's already 4am here ) but I just wanted to mention that I finished setting up Idealab's forums (finally).

There's not much in there yet, of course, just a greeting but I'll start filling it up eventually. The forums can currently be reached through the Site Forums link in the main menu bar or just use this link: http://s3.************.com/Planetsid...lab/index.php?

I'll start putting up new threads and squaring all the links away, but right now I'm beat.

I will also continue to post here on PSU and post news if I make a really big release on the site or WIP section.

K, I'm going to bed.

[EarlyDawn]

Yay, all registered for the forums. Looking for a moderator? I whore the forums a lot and you know how much interest I have in the Idealab.

[tjmonk15]

ill join earlydawn at moderator if ya need me. ill be postin at the idealab pretty constantly