Sci-fi RTS, working name "Project Conflict" Thread

I'm still unsure of the name, but that can change anytime.

However, the game itself.

A short description of it would be that the player build a base like in most RTS games, construct units, gather resources and battle with the other players/AIs in the game.

What's so special about this RTS then?

Units

The emphasis on units will be giant customizable robots. The customisation is not anything that's complicated or something that takes a lot of the playtime. Three different buildings are required to build a robot. A part factory where the robot parts are built, a pilot training facility where the pilot of the robot is trained and an Assembly Pad, where the parts are put together and the pilot is inserted. Pilots can enter robots on the battle field as well, but in the construction phase, the pilot is inserted in the assembly pad.

The robot consist of five parts, a head, a torso, two arms and a pair of legs. The different parts have offensive, defensive or special attributes that help them in their combat. The arms are mainly used for combat, both melee and ranged, the weapons are built into the forearms and/or upper arms to keep the hand free, some weapons can occupy the hand spot, some defensive capabilities are also possible for arms. Other parts can also have weapons, but mostly defensive equipment and/or special attributes.

There are three different types of the pilot. Ranged, Mixed and Melee pilots, that enhance the robot's capabilities at the respective combats.

A ranged pilot will win against a mixed and melee pilot if their robots are identical and ranged only, respectivley a melee pilot will win over mixed and ranged pilots if their robots are identical and melee only. And a mixed pilot will win over a ranged pilot in melee only and against a melee in ranged only. If the robot is mixed for both ranged and melee, the difference comes up with how much time is spent in the two different ranges.

Robot parts are unique to the factions, meaning that one faction does not have the same part as another faction. However, a robot can have a part decapitated, and if the part survives, it can be taken to the base and researched so that the player can build that part him/herself.

Regular units are small compared to the robots, but still serve a purpose, some are pure damage based, but most are meant to funtion like "mage" units in fantasy RTS games, buffing, cursing or other functions.

Resources

The resources are simple. Collect a basic resource, build enough power to run your base and you're good to go. The difference is that resources can be used in two different ways, so far. They consist of three parts, two separate model parts. The resource generation part, the harvesting part and the available resource pool part. The resources can be depleted but will generate more as time goes by, so they will never be completely depleted. The harvesting part is where the player gets the resources, there are a limited number of "outlets" from where the player can gain resources. The more outlets there are, the faster can the player harvest more resources, the last thing is the resource pool which dictate how much max resources there can be at one time at the resource site. The more parts for the resource pool, the larger the amount of resources at the source is.

The first one is the classical way, collect them, store them and then use them to build units and buildings.

The other is that robots can "overcharge" for a specific time by connecting to the resource source, the time is based on how long they're connected. Resources from the source are spent just as when you would collect them. So while a robot can be overcharged for a long time, the resource can be drained.

Another thing with the resources is that a player can upgrade the resource source itself.
-How fast the resource regenerate
-How fast the player can harvest resources
-How big the resource pool can be

So in other words, a player can spend resources on getting more resources faster, both by being able to harvest faster even though there's a limited number of outlets, and the resource regeneration speed. The resource pool is more for the robot overcharge part, as more resources are available at one time if the player choose to not harvest.

The power is simple enough, a set power is needed to make a building functional, as more buildings are built, more power is needed. Buildings can be shut down incase the player exceeds the power limit.

Maps

The maps are multilayered, meaning that there are several layers in a map. Traditionally it's handeled so that each layer is it's own map, but I plan on having it on one map, meaning that the map is entirely in 3D.

Neutral Buildings

Last thing that is not unique to this game, but an addition I want, is neautral buildings that the player can capture or be next to in order to get an advantage near the building. Examples would be a regeneration field that repairs/heals units close to it or an observation building like that found in Starcraft 2.

What do you think?

Sorry but it sounds like a flop, even a few somewhat similar games have been released in recent years. A high degree of customization does not seem to be desired in the current RTS market.

That's the beauty of being indie though. You can make the games you want to.

It could work. It sounds interesting.

somonels wrote: Sorry but it sounds like a flop, even a few somewhat similar games have been released in recent years. A high degree of customization does not seem to be desired in the current RTS market.

The customization is meant to be practical, there isn't say, one sword arm with 50 different skins. The customization affects how the robot plays. A player can make a robot look awesome, but that doesn't mean it'll be good for a specific purpose the player might need to be good in.

Furthermore, as the customization happens in-game, it's not saved for the player to use in another match.

And another thing, I make this game because I want to play it, there are others who are interested in this project, but I make it mainly for my own enjoyment.

TerranAmbassador wrote: That's the beauty of being indie though. You can make the games you want to.

It could work. It sounds interesting.

Thank you.

It's inspired by Metal Fatigue, which had the customizable robots.

Like the sound of the game , are you going to do it

Nice idea. Some of the regular units should be engineer/repair guys!

DarkSpriteStudios wrote: Like the sound of the game , are you going to do it

Yes, I have set a goal to get a somewhat "playable" version by the end of this summer. Meaning that there's a map and atleast one unit capable of moving on it.

plinkie wrote: Nice idea. Some of the regular units should be engineer/repair guys!

Yes, one faction will have one unit dedicated to some sort of repair.