2 replies to this topic

[Sandpit]

THIS IS A CW SUGGESTION
If you reply with anything along the lines of "this isn't fair to new players, solos, or anythign else that implies it would affect players' outside of CW I'm going to assume you didn't read the op and ignore your responses lol

Now that we have 3/3/3/3 and we know that PGI can adjust the force composition rules, I think it's time to talk about how to use this in order to promote variety. With the upcoming addition of attack/defend mode all of the pieces are in place (or will be) to begin implementing different force composition rules for CW.

Attack/Defend (which is implied to be a series of games) could easily be adjusted to include variable force composition rules. Each "stage" of the attack can have different objectives based on existing game modes in order to create a little variety with minimal coding.

Example:

Attacking team makes landfall and initiates the attack. For the first set of attacks their force composition could be 5/4/2/1 with the defenders being 3/5/2/2. The map could have 5 cap points on it that the attacking team must "scout" (think cap the point by sitting on it with different "cap speeds" from the traditional game modes). The attacking force would have to successfully "cap" 3 of the scouting locations which prevents defenders from simply sitting on one single point and leading to the traditional "kill em all" game result. This also makes having the lighter force composition more desirable for the attacking team as being able to move fast and relocate quickly would be essential for winning this mission.

This would simulate how a real army would act. They scout and/or recon areas to prepare for bigger assaults on enemy forces and locations. Including multiple points of which only a portion need to be capped prevents the defenders from sitting on one point AND forces both teams to use a little teamwork. This also adds a little variety in the weight classes you would see.


For the second "stage", the force composition could become somethign along the lines of 3/3/3/3 and have two "cap points" that requires a certain amount of weight on it before the timer begins. The defenders would have the traditional 3/3/3/3. This simulates a bigger battle but not a full on commitment of forces by the attacker or defender. The cap points would be "blank" and in order to win one team must control both cap points simultaneously. In the event of a draw, the win goes to the defenders.


The second stage could play out a few times for a planetary assault until the attacking faction owns a certain % of the planet. Once they own enough % then they can advance to the "traditional" attack/defend. At this point we're talking all out warfare with neither side holding back. For these matches the force composition could be switched to something along the lines of 2/2/4/4 for both sides. This would represent what armies typically do when they're assaulting a capitol and/or heavily fortified position.
There could be up to 10 cap points as well on the map. Owning cap points could include things like turret control and even bonuses to friendly sensor ranges due to controlling sensor towers.

This could all be based on % of a planet controlled by the attacking faction as well. Attackers are restricted to stage 1 fights until they own 20%, then stage 2 fights until they own 45%, and once they controls 46% or more, they can begin capitol assaults to take total control of the planet.

I'd also like to touch on planetary control.

Each planet can be broken down by %

Example:

Marik owns 100% of planet A. Steiner invades planet A and begins the assault process. Each stage 1 battle they win gives them 5% of the planet, but the defenders also win 5% for each stage 1 battle they win.
So Steiner wins 3 matches in a row for 15% planetary control. Then Marik wins the next 2. That means Steiner is back down to 5% control. This continues until Steiner can win enough % to move to the next stage.

Multiple factions can attack a single planet.
Example:

Marik own 100% of planet A. Steiner invades and wins 3 stage 1 battles for 15% control. Then Liao decides it's a tasty target as well so they attack also winning 2 matches for 10% control. Then Kurita decides to take advantage as well and wins 1 match for 5% control.

Now Marik only owns 70% of the planet. Once their % drops below 51% they no longer "own" the planet and lose any bonuses planet A had been giving their faction. So you can get into situations where no single faction owns a planet ensuring that no faction gets the bonus from that planet.

This would promote alliances, add some RP elements, betrayals, etc.

[Nathan Foxbane]

I think force comp numbers should be used as caps with the lighter 'Mechs having higher caps. For example, if you are the Davion Light Guards hitting a planet, as far you are concerned Assault 'Mechs have no place in your TO&E unless you salvage them during campaign and use them to replace lost 'Mechs.

In such a case stage one comps would look something like 6/5/3/1 where the numbers are the maximum you can have of a given class. It would also bring some variety to the matches if caps could be changed like the first stage one having the 6/5/3/1 cap and the next match having a 4/6/2/3 cap.

Another variation on this is the defenders specifying a unit weight type and the attackers specifying a unit weight type and the game applying restrictions based on that.
Defending Unit states they are a heavy unit while Attacking Unit states they are a Light unit. The game then gives a unit bias and may even handicap one side or the other so Attacking Unit gets a light and medium bias with a severe assault restriction while Defending unit gets a light restriction with a medium and heavy bias. As the Defending unit has an upper weight class bias they cannot field as many 'Mechs and go into a match handicapped a 'Mech as well as being limited to heavier chassis if they take too many of their heavier 'Mechs.

[Sandpit]

Nathan Foxbane, on 21 September 2014 - 05:37 PM, said:

I think force comp numbers should be used as caps with the lighter 'Mechs having higher caps. For example, if you are the Davion Light Guards hitting a planet, as far you are concerned Assault 'Mechs have no place in your TO&E unless you salvage them during campaign and use them to replace lost 'Mechs.

In such a case stage one comps would look something like 6/5/3/1 where the numbers are the maximum you can have of a given class. It would also bring some variety to the matches if caps could be changed like the first stage one having the 6/5/3/1 cap and the next match having a 4/6/2/3 cap.

Another variation on this is the defenders specifying a unit weight type and the attackers specifying a unit weight type and the game applying restrictions based on that.
Defending Unit states they are a heavy unit while Attacking Unit states they are a Light unit. The game then gives a unit bias and may even handicap one side or the other so Attacking Unit gets a light and medium bias with a severe assault restriction while Defending unit gets a light restriction with a medium and heavy bias. As the Defending unit has an upper weight class bias they cannot field as many 'Mechs and go into a match handicapped a 'Mech as well as being limited to heavier chassis if they take too many of their heavier 'Mechs.

I like the idea but that would require a lot more work I think. I'm trying to work within the system that's already in place. The 3/3/3/3 could be adjusted to all kinds of variations which, in theory and I hope, would allow for some much more diverse team compositions. It just gets a little stale using the same comp every single game every single time. It doesn't matter if it's 3/3/3/3 or 2/2/2/2, it boils down to a bit of stagnation overall :\

I'd just like to see PGI offer a little variety and it's possible even under the systems they already have implemented.