Contingency - A Warzone 2100 Expansion Pack Mod (Preview)

[Reg312]

2Shadow Wolf TJC: all balancers always think that "balance is lacking"...

agreed, research should be flexible, but its flexible enough in current game.
my thought: research should be more variative:
- if player is newbiew or just dont know what to, he can select some middle way in research
- if player is pro, he should have variant of ways which more ricky (rockets hit&run fits here as example)

2Shadow Wolf TJC: i recommend play more multiplayer games before modding


(...still reading...)

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

Maybe we could play later, but for now. I need some sleep.

Once I'm finished adjusting the stats and all that, I'd want to release this as a beta, so that others could help me playtest this mod.

[Arreon]

Tell me how these sound (I used the ones you uploaded).

[Arreon]

I also have three others that I saved on my computer.

[Iluvalar]

That have nothing to do with unit preview.

Whereas I believe that research should be made more flexible, so that players could adapt their research to even out unfavorable situations by planning ahead, you seem to believe that research should be kept inflexible, so that players would be forced to adapt their research by switching to another line, which I feel is needlessly making things harder on players.

You don't seem to understand that it is a mirror. Two different perspective that reflect. What are supposed to be those "unfavorable situations" you are talking about that would require planning ?

We both have our own opinions, so why must you continue to shove yours up my face?

I'm sorry as well. I dont want to discourage you at all. However I made many mods and changes already. And I'm interested in the games mechanics since a long time.

I dont think it's an opinion driven by some preferences I have. I understand your intentions and I'd be extremely happy to play a mod that work as you describe it. But if the constraints in the game are not appropriate, the game theory will not abide with your intention just like that.

What I hope is that you will understand my arguments, and you will make changes to your actual scenario so you keep a part of the research and design layer alive.

Maybe it would be easier to explain step by step on IRC...

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

Whereas I believe that research should be made more flexible, so that players could adapt their research to even out unfavorable situations by planning ahead, you seem to believe that research should be kept inflexible, so that players would be forced to adapt their research by switching to another line, which I feel is needlessly making things harder on players.

You don't seem to understand that it is a mirror. Two different perspective that reflect. What are supposed to be those "unfavorable situations" you are talking about that would require planning ?

By unfavorable situations, I meant those simple unit-weapon combo mismatches, such as a cannon user facing cyborgs, or cyborgs facing machineguns or lasers. Those kinds of rock-paper-scissors situations.

Anyways, I now realize that I may have made a mistake in calculating price-to-HP ratios. I'll explain later once I prepare a new draft for body and structure stats.

[Iluvalar]

By unfavorable situations, I meant those simple unit-weapon combo mismatches, such as a cannon user facing cyborgs, or cyborgs facing machineguns or lasers. Those kinds of rock-paper-scissors situations.

But this will no more exist in your world, that's what i'm trying to explain. EVERY good cannon player will make their research go by the antiborg cannon every time. They will naturally produce some of those anti-borg cannons to avoid any hard-counter EVERY games (since they have it for nearly free). On the same time, no player will be fool enough to build cyborg only army knowing every research path can hard-counter them. So they will mix with something else as well.

As a result, the weapons modifiers of both army will be diluted one will be 10% more all rounder, and the other will be 10% more cyborg. And at best, all the research and design layer choices that will remain in your mod will be to exchange 1 medium cannon unit by an anti-borg cannon in one factory out of 5. So the player will slowly slide form 10% all rounder to 10% anti-borg.

Nobody will play "pure-blood" armies if you make it easier to mix different modifier... such "unfavorable situations" you are talking about will not exist.

Anyways, I now realize that I may have made a mistake in calculating price-to-HP ratios. I'll explain later once I prepare a new draft for body and structure stats.

I know that you mean ^^ .

Maybe I could run my autobalance on your mod ? could help at least as a guide ?

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

After some further testing, I'm now kind of divided on whether or not I should change how I assign prices to turrets and bodies based on their dps and HP.

Initially, I was thinking about switching to a system where, every time the component's HP (and dps for turrets) is doubled, then the price would be quadrupled. This would've ensured that their estimated force projection (a basic concept that I developed that is measured by multiplying an entity's HP with its dps to determine how much damage the unit could deal before it could get destroyed) would've correlated linearly with the unit's price.

However, after some more thinking, I realized that, if I switched to that kind of system, then I would probably create a balance issue where players are encouraged to rush their opponents with cheaper units over more expensive ones, since, for the price of a heavier unit, I could build many smaller units, and the combined force would have better effective force projection than the more expensive unit. In short, I'd be encouraging zerging.

For example, if Unit A costed $50, and had 50 HP and 50 dps, while Unit B costed $200, and had 100 HP and 100 dps, then a group consisting of 4 of Unit A would cost as much as one of Unit B, but would have a combined total HP of 200, which is twice that of Unit B, and, if left alone, would have a combined dps of 200, which is twice that of Unit B. However, even though, given the fact that, as units within a group get destroyed, the group's dps decreases over time, I calculate that the group's mean effective force projection, from the time that they're at full power to the time that the last unit of the group gets destroyed, would be 2.5x that of Unit B's effective force projection.

Example situation

4 Unit A (cost $200, 50 HP each, 50 dps each)

1st segment: deal 200 damage, lose 50 HP. 1st unit dies
2nd segment: deal 150 damage, lose 50 HP, 2nd unit dies
3rd segment: deal 100 damage, lose 50 HP, 3rd unit dies
4th segment: deal 50 damage, lose 50 HP, last unit dies

total damage dealt: 500

1 Unit B (cost $200, 100 HP each, 100 dps each)

1st segment: deal 100 damage, lose 50 HP, unit survives
2nd segment: deal 100 damage, lose 50 HP, unit dies

total damage dealt: 200

------
See what I mean about how OP cheaper units would've been over more expensive ones?

Now, if I had used the pricing system that I was using earlier, then things would be different. For example, if Unit A costed $50, and had 50 HP and 50 dps, while Unit B costed $100, and had 100 HP and 100 dps. For the price of one of Unit B, I could produce 2 of Unit A, which would have the same HP and dps as Unit B. However, the group's mean effective force projection would be about 75% that of Unit B's effective force projection.

Example situation

2 Unit A (cost $100, 50 HP each, 50 dps each)

1st segment: deal 100 damage, lose 50 HP. 1st unit dies
2nd segment: deal 50 damage, lose 50 HP, last unit dies

total damage dealt: 150

1 Unit B (cost $100, 100 HP each, 100 dps each)

1st segment: deal 100 damage, lose 50 HP, unit survives
2nd segment: deal 100 damage, lose 50 HP, unit dies

total damage dealt: 200

------
If I switch to a pricing system where component price is quadrupled every time HP and dps gets doubled, then I'd be promoting zerging. However, if I keep the current pricing system that I have, then I'd be encouraging more usage of expensive units over cheaper units. Perhaps I could find a balance between the 2 pricing systems?

After some deliberation, I believe that I found one such system that, while not perfect, seems close to it, where the component's price is multiplied by 16 every time the component's HP and dps is multiplied by 10, or where the component's price is doubled every time the component's HP and dps is increased by about 77.8%. For example, if Unit A costed $50, and had 50 HP and 50 dps, while Unit B costed $100, and had 89 HP and 89 dps, and while Unit C costed $200, and had 158 HP and 158 dps, then while I could produce 4 of Unit A, or 2 of Unit B for the price of one of Unit C, the mean effective force projection of the group with 4 of Unit A, would be about the same as the mean effective force projection of the group with 2 of Unit B, and would also be about the same as Unit C's effective force projection.

Example situation

4 Unit A (cost $100, 50 HP each, 50 dps each)

1st segment: deal 200 damage, lose 1 HP
2nd segment: deal 200 damage, lose 1 HP
3rd segment: deal 200 damage, lose 1 HP
...
...
49th segment: deal 200 damage, lose 1 HP
50th segment: deal 200 damage, lose 1 HP, 1st unit dies
51st segment: deal 150 damage, lose 1 HP
52nd segment: deal 150 damage, lose 1 HP
...
...
99th segment: deal 150 damage, lose 1 HP
100th segment: deal 150 damage, lose 1 HP, 2nd unit dies
101st segment: deal 100 damage, lose 1 HP
102nd segment: deal 100 damage, lose 1 HP
...
...
149th segment: deal 100 damage, lose 1 HP
150th segment: deal 100 damage, lose 1 HP, 3rd unit dies
151st segment: deal 50 damage, lose 1 HP
152nd segment: deal 50 damage, lose 1 HP
...
...
198th segment: deal 50 damage, lose 1 HP
199th segment: deal 50 damage, lose 1 HP
200th segment: deal 50 damage, lose 1 HP, last unit dies

total damage dealt: 25000

2 Unit B (cost $100, 89 HP each, 89 dps each)

1st segment: deal 178 damage, lose 1 HP
2nd segment: deal 178 damage, lose 1 HP
3rd segment: deal 178 damage, lose 1 HP
...
...
88th segment: deal 178 damage, lose 1 HP
89th segment: deal 178 damage, lose 1 HP, 1st unit dies
90th segment: deal 89 damage, lose 1 HP
91st segment: deal 89 damage, lose 1 HP
...
...
176nd segment: deal 89 damage, lose 1 HP
177rd segment: deal 89 damage, lose 1 HP
178th segment: deal 89 damage, lose 1 HP, last unit dies

total damage dealt: 23763

1 Unit C (cost $200, 158 HP each, 158 dps each)

1st segment: deal 158 damage, lose 1 HP
2nd segment: deal 158 damage, lose 1 HP
3rd segment: deal 158 damage, lose 1 HP
...
...
156th segment: deal 158 damage, lose 1 HP
157th segment: deal 158 damage, lose 1 HP
158th segment: deal 158 damage, lose 1 HP, unit dies

total damage dealt: 24964

------
Note that I used the following formula to calculate total damage dealt quickly:

total damage dealt by group = (unit damage + (unit damage x # of units)) x total # of steps / 2

total # of steps = ((unit HP x # of units = group HP) / damage-per-step)

It's not perfect, but I feel that it's close enough. Besides, in Warzone 2100, other factors would come into play, such as range, armor, movement speed, and weapon modifiers to name a few, in addition to damage and HP. Weapons with a higher damage-per-shot might be too powerful to use on a target with less HP than its damage-per-shot, while weapons with a lower damage-per-shot might have more difficulty doing damage against targets with more armor.

What are your thoughts on this? Should I adopt this new pricing system, where the component's price is multiplied by 16 every time the HP and dps is multiplied by 10 (or, if you prefer, where the component's price is doubled every time the component's HP and dps is increased by about 77.8%)?

By unfavorable situations, I meant those simple unit-weapon combo mismatches, such as a cannon user facing cyborgs, or cyborgs facing machineguns or lasers. Those kinds of rock-paper-scissors situations.

But this will no more exist in your world, that's what i'm trying to explain. EVERY good cannon player will make their research go by the antiborg cannon every time. They will naturally produce some of those anti-borg cannons to avoid any hard-counter EVERY games (since they have it for nearly free). On the same time, no player will be fool enough to build cyborg only army knowing every research path can hard-counter them. So they will mix with something else as well.

As a result, the weapons modifiers of both army will be diluted one will be 10% more all rounder, and the other will be 10% more cyborg. And at best, all the research and design layer choices that will remain in your mod will be to exchange 1 medium cannon unit by an anti-borg cannon in one factory out of 5. So the player will slowly slide form 10% all rounder to 10% anti-borg.

Nobody will play "pure-blood" armies if you make it easier to mix different modifier... such "unfavorable situations" you are talking about will not exist.

By any chance, have you played any of the Command & Conquer games? They have a similar rock-paper-scissors kind of gameplay mechanic as what you may be describing there. Infantry are weak to machineguns, but resistant to anti-tank cannons and missiles, while tanks are resistant to machineguns, but weak to anti-tank cannons and missiles. This is, of course, in addition to other kinds of metaphorical rock-paper-scissors kinds of concepts, such as how longer-ranged weapons can hit shorter-ranged units safely, how faster units can take better advantage of their, and their opponents', weapon ranges, and how they're better at retreating for repairs, how air units cannot be targeted by many kinds of weapons, or how weapons with a large area-of-effect are better used against groups of units than on individual units.

However, from personal experience with those games, I'd say that saying things like "such unfavorable situations would no longer exist" is just outrageous. While not many of their games have a research system at all, and while those that do have very short research systems compared to Warzone 2100's, there WILL be times when the opponent is sending units that have an advantage over your own units. However, unlike in Warzone 2100 (especially the way that you seem to want it to be), very little, if any, research is needed to develop a proper counter, meaning that you actually have a much better chance to even the odds by simply producing units that could counter theirs, assuming that you're able to act in time. (Scouting does help.) That's why I feel that the Command & Conquer games are, overall, more forgiving in terms of difficulty, and therefore, more accessible for players.

It's this kind of accessibility that I feel that Warzone 2100 is lacking, and it's this kind of experience that I'd like to implement in this mod to complement and improve upon Warzone 2100's already in-depth experience. If you still feel that that's the wrong way to do things, then you may want to go do something else, since I doubt that you'd be able to convince me to abandon this path.

Anyways, I now realize that I may have made a mistake in calculating price-to-HP ratios. I'll explain later once I prepare a new draft for body and structure stats.

I know that you mean ^^ .

Maybe I could run my autobalance on your mod ? could help at least as a guide ?

You could certainly try, though stats should be taken with a grain of salt due to how unpredictable and incalculable some things are.

[Iluvalar]

What you need for your problem is the figure modificator :

Code: Select all

function Fwz_fig($fig,$sign=1){
	if($sign>0){
		return (pow($fig,2)+$fig)/2;
	}
	else{
		return 1/2*(pow(8*$fig+1,.5)-1);
	}
}

where $fig is the number of figure you will get with compared to a mean pricing.

Exemple (let suppose the mean price is 100$)
Unit A (cost $50, 50 HP, 50 dps)
Lifespan = 50HP/some_enemy_dps_we_dont_care_because_it_will_desapear_at_the_comparison(k)
Total damage= 50 dps*50HP/k=2500 DpsHp/k
figure = 2
figure modificator = (2^2+2)/2= 3F
final Efficiency= 7500 DpsHpF/k
Efficiency / $ = 150 DpsHpF/k$

Unit B (cost $200, 100 HP each, 100 dps each)
Total damage= 100*100=10000
figure = 1/2
figure modificator = ((1/2)^2+1/2)/2 = (1/4+1/2)/2 =3/8F
final efficiency = 3750
Efficiency/$ = 18.75 DpsHpF/k$

Conclusion : unit A is 8 time more efficient than unit B.
WIth 1000$ on a paper simulation, I got 17A surviving out of 20.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

I don't think that I understand how this is supposed to work, but let's try giving Unit B 158 HP and 158 dps while keeping its price at $200, and see how this turns out.

[Iluvalar]

Unit B : Cost 200$, 158HP, 158Dps
Total damage=158Hp/k*158Dps=25000HpDps/k
Figure=100/200= 1/2
figure modificator = ((1/2)^2+1/2)/2 = (1/4+1/2)/2 =3/8F
Final efficiency = 9375 DpsHpF/k
Efficiency / $ = 46.875 DpsHpF/k$

Conclusion : unit A still 3 time better.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

@Iluvalar: Ah well. Like I said before, I believe that stats should be taken with a grain of salt due to how unpredictable and incalculable some things are. I may be assigning some new stats for now, but once we actually test things out in-game, I may have to change them up later. Although I still don't exactly know what "efficiency" is supposed to represent here, keep in mind that, while a group full of cheaper, more fragile units may be able to deal out more damage-per-second if left alone compared to a more expensive, more durable unit with the same price as the entire group, a more durable unit usually has a better chance at surviving while retreating for repairs, while under fire, than the more fragile units, so they're more likely to live long enough to earn better promotions.

---

Anyways, I've prepared a new set of stats for if I decide to implement that pricing system where price is multiplied by 16 when HP and dps are multiplied by 10.

Bodies:

Viper: $50, 50 HP, 1000 Weight, 2500 Engine Power, 10 Kinetic Armor, 6 Thermal Armor
Cobra: $100, 89 HP, 2000 Weight, 5000 Engine Power, 15 Kinetic Armor, 9 Thermal Armor
Python: $200, 158 HP, 4000 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 20 Kinetic Armor, 12 Thermal Armor

Bug: $45, 47 HP, 750 Weight, 2500 Engine Power, 6 Kinetic Armor, 10 Thermal Armor
Scorpion: $90, 84 HP, 1500 Weight, 5000 Engine Power, 9 Kinetic Armor, 15 Thermal Armor
Mantis: $180, 149 HP, 3000 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 12 Kinetic Armor, 20 Thermal Armor

Leopard: $63, 58 HP, 1000 Weight, 2500 Engine Power, 11 Kinetic Armor, 9 Thermal Armor
Panther: $126, 103 HP, 2000 Weight, 5000 Engine Power, 17 Kinetic Armor, 13 Thermal Armor
Tiger: $252, 184 HP, 4000 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 23 Kinetic Armor, 18 Thermal Armor

Falcon: $57, 54 HP, 750 Weight, 2500 Engine Power, 9 Kinetic Armor, 11 Thermal Armor
Warhawk: $113, 96 HP, 1500 Weight, 5000 Engine Power, 13 Kinetic Armor, 17 Thermal Armor
Eagle: $227, 171 HP, 3000 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 18 Kinetic Armor, 23 Thermal Armor

Gladius: $79, 70 HP, 1000 Weight, 2500 Engine Power, 13 Kinetic Armor, 13 Thermal Armor
Longsword: $159, 125 HP, 2000 Weight, 5000 Engine Power, 19 Kinetic Armor, 19 Thermal Armor
Claymore: $317, 222 HP, 4000 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 25 Kinetic Armor, 25 Thermal Armor

Retaliation: $71, 64 HP, 750 Weight, 2500 Engine Power, 13 Kinetic Armor, 13 Thermal Armor
Retribution: $143, 114 HP, 1500 Weight, 5000 Engine Power, 19 Kinetic Armor, 19 Thermal Armor
Vengeance: $286, 202 HP, 3000 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 25 Kinetic Armor, 25 Thermal Armor

Wyrm: $100, 89 HP, 1000 Weight, 2500 Engine Power, 16 Kinetic Armor, 16 Thermal Armor
Salamander: $200, 158 HP, 2000 Weight, 5000 Engine Power, 24 Kinetic Armor, 24 Thermal Armor
Wyvern: $400, 281 HP, 4000 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 32 Kinetic Armor, 32 Thermal Armor
Dragon: $800, 500 HP, 8000 Weight, 20000 Engine Power, 40 Kinetic Armor, 40 Thermal Armor

Cyborg Mk1: $25, 28 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 4 Kinetic Armor, 4 Thermal Armor
Cyborg Mk2: $31, 33 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 5 Kinetic Armor, 5 Thermal Armor
Cyborg Mk3: $40, 39 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 6 Kinetic Armor, 6 Thermal Armor
Cyborg Mk4: $50, 50 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 8 Kinetic Armor, 8 Thermal Armor

Super Cyborg Mk1: $50, 50 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 8 Kinetic Armor, 8 Thermal Armor
Super Cyborg Mk2: $63, 58 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 10 Kinetic Armor, 10 Thermal Armor
Super Cyborg Mk3: $79, 70 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 13 Kinetic Armor, 13 Thermal Armor
Super Cyborg Mk4: $100, 89 HP, 0 Weight, 10000 Engine Power, 16 Kinetic Armor, 16 Thermal Armor

Cyborg Transport Mk1: $200, 158 HP, 0 Weight, 1000 Engine Power, 16 Kinetic Armor, 16 Thermal Armor
Cyborg Transport Mk2: $252, 184 HP, 0 Weight, 1000 Engine Power, 20 Kinetic Armor, 20 Thermal Armor
Cyborg Transport Mk3: $317, 222 HP, 0 Weight, 1000 Engine Power, 25 Kinetic Armor, 25 Thermal Armor
Cyborg Transport Mk4: $400, 281 HP, 0 Weight, 1000 Engine Power, 32 Kinetic Armor, 32 Thermal Armor

Structures:

Command Center: $150 + cost of Heavy Sensor Turret, 600 HP, 10 Kinetic & Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor
Power Generator: $250, 600 HP, 10 Kinetic & Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, provides 16 power per second for every derrick
Power Module: $200, provides an additional 8 power per second for every derrick
Oil Derrick: $100, 300 HP, 10 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor
Research Facility: $250, 600 HP, 10 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, researches at a rate of $20 per second
Research Module: $200, researches at an additional rate of $10 per second
Factory: $300, 750 HP, 10 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, produces vehicles at a rate of $20 per second
Factory Module: $300, produces units at an additional rate of $20 per second, per module
Cyborg Factory: $250, 600 HP, 10 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, produces Cyborgs at a rate of $20 per second
VTOL Factory: $300, 750 HP, 10 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, produces VTOLs at a rate of $20 per second

Repair Facility Mk1: $300 + cost of Heavy Repair Turret Mk1, 632 HP, 12 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, repairs units at a rate of 50 HP per second
Repair Facility Mk2: $378 + cost of Heavy Repair Turret Mk2, 735 HP, 15 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, repairs units at a rate of 58 HP per second
Repair Facility Mk3: $476 + cost of Heavy Repair Turret Mk3, 887 HP, 19 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, repairs units at a rate of 70 HP per second
Repair Facility Mk4: $600 + cost of Heavy Repair Turret Mk4, 1125 HP, 24 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor, repairs units at a rate of 89 HP per second

Structure Bodies:

Steel Tower: $75, 200 HP, 8 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, MEDIUM Armor

Hardcrete Emplacement/Tower: $150, 356 HP, 12 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Supercrete Emplacement/Tower: $189, 413 HP, 15 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Plascrete Emplacement/Tower: $238, 499 HP, 19 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Plasteel Emplacement/Tower: $300, 632 HP, 24 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor

Hardcrete Hardpoint: $300, 632 HP, 16 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Supercrete Hardpoint: $378, 735 HP, 20 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Plascrete Hardpoint: $476, 887 HP, 25 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Plasteel Hardpoint: $600, 1125 HP, 32 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor

Hardcrete Bunker: $300, 632 HP, 20 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, BUNKER Armor
Supercrete Bunker: $378, 735 HP, 25 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, BUNKER Armor
Plascrete Bunker: $476, 887 HP, 32 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, BUNKER Armor
Plasteel Bunker: $600, 1125 HP, 40 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, BUNKER Armor

Hardcrete Super-Emplacement/Firebase: $600, 1125 HP, 20 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Supercrete Super-Emplacement/Firebase: $756, 1306 HP, 25 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Plascrete Super-Emplacement/Firebase: $952, 1577 HP, 32 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor
Plasteel Super-Emplacement/Firebase: $1200, 2000 HP, 40 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, HARD Armor

Hardcrete Fortress: $1200, 2000 HP, 24 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, FORTRESS Armor
Supercrete Fortress: $1512, 2323 HP, 30 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, FORTRESS Armor
Plascrete Fortress: $1905, 2805 HP, 38 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, FORTRESS Armor
Plasteel Fortress: $2400, 3557 HP, 48 Kinetic and Thermal Armor, FORTRESS Armor

About the FORTRESS armor type, it's something new that I'd like to add in. Basically, it would be similar to BUNKER armor in terms of resistance to attacks, though unlike BUNKER armor, instead of it being very weak to incendiary weapons, it would be as near-impervious to incendiary weapons as HARD armor.

I may have to raise the amount of starting power from $1300 to $5000 (and double, triple, or even quadruple power generation rates) if I'm going to increase unit and structure prices to these kinds of levels.

[Iluvalar]

but once we actually test things out in-game

They still work like my formula predicted...


Don't you see my units ? What I call efficiency, is the total damage of the unit (lifespan*dps) multiplied by the figure modificator (the mass effect).

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

Do your calculations account for groups of smaller units that cost as much as a more expensive unit, like my recent ones did? If you did a calculation where Unit B had 200 HP and 200 dps, and still cost $200, and it turned out to have the same "efficiency" as Unit A, then I fear that you're falling into the same balancing trap that I did earlier.

By the way, my earlier calculations didn't assume that, when a unit's HP drops below, I believe, 25%, their rate-of-fire decreases. I'm not sure if that would have any effect on how they'd stand up to my earlier calculations,

Oh, and I decided to perform a mock battle of my own between 4 of Unit A ($50, 50 HP, and 50 dps) vs 1 of Unit B ($200, 158 HP, and 158 dps) to see how they'd fare in battle with eachother. For this battle, I'm assuming that all units would be firing shots that only deal 1 point of damage at 50 shots-per-second for Unit A, and 158 shots-per-second for Unit B:

At about 1/3rd of a second into the match, one of Unit A is destroyed by Unit B, which has taken about 67 damage (50 x 4 / 3) from 4 Unit As by then. Unit B currently has 91 HP.
At about 2/3rd of a second into the match, a 2nd Unit A is destroyed, while Unit B has taken 50 damage (50 x 3 / 3) from the remaining 3 Unit As. Unit B currently has 41 HP.
At only slightly less than a second into the match, a 3rd Unit A is destroyed, while Unit B has taken about 33 damage (50 x 2 / 3) from the remaining 2 Unit As. Unit B currently has only 18 HP left.
After 1 and 1/3rds of a second into the match, the final Unit A is destroyed, while Unit B has taken about 17 damage (50 x 1 / 3). It survives with only 1 HP.

Again, this was assuming that units' rate-of-fire doesn't decrease when their HP drops below 25%.

[Iluvalar]

Omg, I'm totally sorry.
First i did a very noob mistake: My function take into account the price. So you dont need to divide the efficiency with the cost again ! ... my fault.

Second : Even if taken the mean price of 1 tank give some results, the results are far better when we use the total power for the figure count. Here an exemple :

budget:600$
12 unit A (50HP,50Dps,50$) efficeny =195000
3 unit B (175HP,175Dps,200$) efficeny =183750
expected outcome: win for A
actual simulation....
XXXXXXXXXXXOOO 96.2ms
XXXXXXXXXXOOO 192.4ms
XXXXXXXXXOOO 288.7ms
XXXXXXXXXOO 325.7ms
XXXXXXXXOO 414ms
XXXXXXXOO 557.9ms
XXXXXXOO 701.7ms
XXXXXXO 793.9ms
XXXXXO 896.3ms
XXXXO 1183ms
XXXO 1469.7ms
XXX 1572.5ms
survived:21.99%

budget:200$
4 unit A (50HP,50Dps,50$) efficeny =25000
1 unit B (175HP,175Dps,200$) efficeny =30625
expected outcome: win for B
actual simulation....
XXXO 286.7ms
XXO 573.4ms
XO 860.1ms
O 1146.8ms
survived:18.08%

same units, less budget...