new propulsion system suggestion

[Bethrezen]

hi all

hows about this for a new propulsion system quad tracks kind like what the Mammoth Tanks have in Command & Conquer think of em as a tracks 2.0 just as heavily armored but faster and more mobile i suggest this because tracks at the moment are so unbearably slow as to render them useless because when the unit gets badly damage its impossible for it to escape as it cant move quick enough and given the time limit that most of the missions have there also some what impractical for anything other than defense missions like the start of Beta 1 or Alpha 12 where you are under assault and need heavy units to help you hold your position while you bring in more help quad tracks would fix this as it would give you faster moving heavy units to help you breach heavily entrenched positions

[LZ compromised]

Hello.

I'm afraid tracks 2.0 would be too imbalanced as you described them.

The first propulsion you see is wheels, which are made obsolete by hovers, which are faster and more durable than wheels. But in the campaign (since you started talking about the campaign) you don't get hovers until the very end of Alpha. Tracks 2.0 would have to come considerably later, maybe closer to the end of Beta, so their benefit wouldn't be tangible until you get more than halfway through the campaign.

But that is all me imagining things. The truth is, propulsions in this game are quite balanced to each other, and if you're having trouble, you should try a different approach.
- leave the tracked tanks for defense
- use mobile repair turrets if your tracked tanks get killed before they retreat, or use trucks to build repair facilities right there
- use artillery to cover your retreat
- use half-tracks or hovers, they trade durability for speed

Now these are all solutions that don't require several months of developing, debugging and balance fixing, aren't they?

P.S. Dividing your post into sentences makes it much easier to read. Just saying.

[Jorzi]

Tracks are certainly not useless and they are very much used in any multiplayer game. If you want a fast tracked vehicle, try something like heavy mg scorpion tracks. Machineguns have quite high hp compared to their weight.

[Bethrezen]

Hello.

I'm afraid tracks 2.0 would be too imbalance as you described them.

how so ? when effectively what you are doing is adding a modification to the tracks that allows them to move quicker to make them a viable propulsion method in the campaign game for attack as well as defence because at the moment there so slow that there useless on the attack if Warzone didn't have a time limit it wouldn't matter but it does so with that in mind tracks need to have there speed increased

I only suggest the model of quad tracks as visually it would look cool but the underlying code would essentially be the standard tracks with there speed increased and maybe the armour reduced slightly and it would fill a spot between half tracks and tracks what I'm thinking is something that is more heavily armoured than half tracks but faster than standard tracks just the way hover units sit between wheels and half tracks nothing imbalance about that

here is how I'd balance it take the difference in speed and armour between the tracks and half tracks and then and then split the difference

so here is the set up half tracks / python / heavy cannon & tracks / python / heavy cannon as I'm only at the end of chapter one and these are the heaviest units I can make

half tracks / python / heavy cannon have body points of 1760 and speed of 0.77 & 0.58
tracks / python / heavy cannon have body points of 2400 and speed of 0.54 & 0.45

so now we work out the difference between the two

body points is 640
speed is 0.23 & 0.13

now we split the difference so quad tracks / python / heavy cannon set up would have

body points 2080 & speed of 0.66 & 0.52

as you can see this sits right in the middle of tracks and half tracks and is perfectly balance as for where to get these I'd say around the start of chapter 2 maybe on the mission where you have to rescue the survivors of the downed transport ship because it could be theorised that this is why the ship was shot down to try and stop the project forces getting this tech

balancing this way would give you a good staring point and then you could tweak things from there depending on how things play out and I would calculate the rest of the stats the same way average out the difference between the stats and then split the difference

But that is all me imagining things. The truth is, propulsions in this game are quite balanced to each other, and if you're having trouble, you should try a different approach.
- leave the tracked tanks for defense
- use mobile repair turrets if your tracked tanks get killed before they retreat, or use trucks to build repair facilities right there
- use artillery to cover your retreat
- use half-tracks or hovers, they trade durability for speed

Now these are all solutions that don't require several months of developing, debugging and balance fixing, aren't they?

actually I do as you suggest but due to various short comings of the game these are still not effective fixes for this particular issue

Tracks are certainly not useless and they are very much used in any multiplayer game. If you want a fast tracked vehicle, try something like heavy mg scorpion tracks. Machineguns have quite high hp compared to their weight.

I take your point but i think you missed mine on multiplayer you don’t have a time limit in the campaign you do which renders tracks an impractical option because there to slow

[Jorzi]

Well the campaign still uses the old balance, which means new stuff won't get added. Also the campaign isn't meant to be easy. I do use some tracked vehicles in campaign (although not heavy cannon python tracks so much) but I either set them on "do or die" or "retreat at medium damage".
Tracked vehicles aren't really that slow unless you make them too heavy. Try something like lancer mantis tracks, it's a really good combination

[Corporal Punishment]

If tracked vehicles are too slow, there is always the option to upgrade engines. A Mantis/Assault cannon/Tracks travels 125 mph off-road with some engine upgrades. As for the campaign, using the heavy cannon on a tracked vehicle as soon as it becomes available is a bad idea, that is true. But given the fact that you can get cannon upgrades, the medium cannon is a viable option for quite some time.