The command relay post

[Corporal Punishment]

As of now, there is no reason to build a command relay post. You must research it to go into synaptic link research and make commander units, but you do not need to actually build it. This seems a bit awkward to me. I have a little proposal: Since the command relay post is assumed to pick up, process and dispatch information to commanders, why not give it a, very basic of course, AI. This AI can have assigned up to six units to it and autonomously lead them on certain tasks. Specifically this will involve trucks and commanders. Trucks assigned to a command relay post will automatically travel to damaged structures and repair them, while commanders assigned to it will lead their battalions to intercept incoming enemy forces, should they get within a specified range from own buildings, defenses excluded. The last function would be somewhat similar to a VTOL strike tower, only it is available more early in the game.

[KukY]

I like that idea, I think it wouldn't need basic AI, just editing sensor system

[Zarel]

I dunno why VTOL strike towers are all that useful. I've discovered setting VTOLs on Patrol has practically the same effect.

I also don't know what to do about the Command Relay Post. Giving it some sort of AI doesn't seem like the right direction to go.

[Per]

I've been thinking that perhaps the command relay post should make the HQ into a super-sensor-tower that can send assigned units to attack targets seen by any sensor that player controls. It could prefer targets closer to home and/or targets that match the unit's weapon type.

Oh, and it would be really awesome if we could allow adding AA weapons on VTOLs, and this supersensor could send VTOL interceptors to protect your main base

[winsrp]

hmmm.... I have mixed felling on this...

Sure the building per se is a piece of wasted land in the battlefield, and with that name, it should allow you to do something useful and worth having.

Command Relay Post, in the name itself implies that effectively helps you command better, or in an improved way, but then again commanders are another piece of crap in the game, and not even worth making at all, high cost, upgrades don't do scrap and the 6 machines guns and 200 gunners attached to them, definitely don't make them the right combination of building / unit to have on the field.

I could say that the building gives you the sense of the field for the commander units, for example, if you don't have the building the overwrite arti command button is not enabled, also another buff could be that when this building is on the field, commanders actually win exp. from their units, and can share them, if the building is not present, then commanders don't win exp. from the kills of their assigned units, and also cannot share their level and boosts to assigned units, and added thing for this building could be that commander could gain exp from all unit kills assigned to any commander in the field, making all commanders upgrade faster and give better bonuses, since I've never seen a Hero commander, much less single hero unit, in the 2 years of playing this game.

Of course, this would imply that building commanders is actually useful and worth doing, which again, is not. Maybe increasing the amount of units to a greater number, and add arti units to that count would make them more interesting. So you can attach at the beginning 20 units, arti or non arti, and you can add lets say 10 more units with each level the commander gains, and make the commander upgrades actually do something, like make commander need instead of 4x exp to gain levels on the normal commander, only need 3x with the first upgrade, then 2x with the second upgrade, and 1x with the last upgrade.

Now these changes would make things interesting... and make both commander and command relay post worth doing.

my 2 cents.

-Wins.

[r4pture]

I agree that work is needed to be done on the entire concepts of Commanders and the Command Relay Post, as it could be a very vital part of the game, but how its implemented now....well, as most people will say, they're more or less completely useless. I've attempted various gameplay experiments with Commanders and have come to the same conclusion every time: Using Commanders only makes the game harder.

Zarel mentioned a few ideas for the Relay Post in IRC, but I don't recall what they all were. The center itself shouldn't be the focus, the focus should be on the entire concepts of Commanders in general.

[Zarel]

My idea for the command relay post was to make them control how many units you could build:

Starting unit limit: 5
Command Center: 30
CC + Command Relay Post: 180

Seems simple enough.

[Thyranim]

My idea for the command relay post was to make them control how many units you could build:

Starting unit limit: 5
Command Center: 30
CC + Command Relay Post: 180

Seems simple enough.

sounds good, but i hope that you don't have this limits in mind

[winsrp]

well.. you know, low limits since the game kindda gets stuck when over 150, the other thing would be make a better rendering engine but setting limits are faster and a lot easier.