Smarter Launchers

[Eric]

If a cell with creeper "knows" how much damage is coming then I want the creeper to be "smart" and get out of there....

[xing]

one thing that would not be that hard to code that might help the people that want the targeting to change on launchers is a range toggle , so you can reduce the range that the selected luncher looks at causing it not to overlap so much with other launchers

this might even help people using lynchers to cap titan emitters too

[UpperKEES]

If a cell with creeper "knows" how much damage is coming then I want the creeper to be "smart" and get out of there....

;D

one thing that would not be that hard to code that might help the people that want the targeting to change on launchers is a range toggle , so you can reduce the range that the selected luncher looks at causing it not to overlap so much with other launchers

Maybe move some launchers a few cells backwards?

[Fisherck]

What I would almost suggest doing to solve this would be to basically add a randomifier (if that is a word :)), or, since it sounds better, a scatter shot option. Simply, have a meter that can be moved for launchers. It starts at 0, and the launcher will fire at the deepest creeper. Move it up higher, and the launcher will still find the deepest creeper, but instead of targeting it spot on, it may be a few cells off, or more if you wish. The more launchers you have, the more randomimity you want.

[UpperKEES]

It's the main characteristic of the launcher that it fires at the deepest Creeper, just like a blaster fires at the closest. That simple principle is one of the elegant parts of the game. Again, spread them out more so they target different area's. (And please note that it doesn't matter when they hit the same subcell when the Creeper is very dense, because in that case all damage is done anyway.)

Why make it all too easy? It would even be more convenient when all my weapons automatically move 1 cell forward if there's no more Creeper in range. A repulsor could adjust it's beam length when it hits a wall. A phantom coil shouldn't recharge when the last gateway spawning phantoms has been destroyed (or even auto-destruct). Tech domes could stop using energy and producing technytes when all upgrades have been bought.

But isn't this game about playing it smart? What's wrong with a little thinking?

[Ebon Heart]

What I would almost suggest doing to solve this would be to basically add a randomifier (if that is a word :)), or, since it sounds better, a scatter shot option. Simply, have a meter that can be moved for launchers. It starts at 0, and the launcher will fire at the deepest creeper. Move it up higher, and the launcher will still find the deepest creeper, but instead of targeting it spot on, it may be a few cells off, or more if you wish. The more launchers you have, the more randomimity you want.

*grammar nazi moment* randomifier I can accept... but I think it's "the more randomness you want" not randomimity. and also, I believe something very similar to this was suggested at the beginning of the thread, but have a mode where the density for creeper the launcher targets is randomly multiplied by a certain number, so that it'll hit around the densest creeper, but end up targeting the densest 4 or 5 patches.
EDIT: but despite this, I agree with KEES. This same complaint was had with mortars in cw1... but a few players have used that to their advantage in custom maps in such. *guilty* and that was one of my more popular maps. Every game needs a few complications to be fun.

[Ranakastrasz]

@UpperKEES

Why make it all too easy? It would even be more convenient when all my weapons automatically move 1 cell forward if there's no more Creeper in range.
- Well, I could instead say that it would be convenient to add options to blasters to make them target creeper or drones only, or which order, but since that would make it too easy, it obviously should not be added. I would like it if my launchers would similarly synergize, rather than having more be almost always a bad idea due to significant overkill.

A repulsor could adjust it's beam length when it hits a wall.
- Certainly would be useful for the same reason, or it could simply use power proportional to the amount of cells the beam contains, rather than the potential length, if only because you cannot perfectly manage the length in certain cases to do exactly what you need.
A phantom coil shouldn't recharge when the last gateway spawning phantoms has been destroyed (or even auto-destruct).
- That would be nice, but not necessary, as it uses very little power for the one time recharge, while the tech labs on the other-hand will continue to drain power.

Tech domes could stop using energy and producing technytes when all upgrades have been bought.
- Well, At least the option to double click on tech domes to select all of them would be quite useful, As it is a pain to find all of them and either pause them or delete them (and replace with reactors) Other games actually have features to remove depleted production facilities, automatically, or with a single button.

But isn't this game about playing it smart? What's wrong with a little thinking?
- Isnt there a different between thinking and unnecessary micromanagement? Certainly I do not mind having to relocate blasters and launchers. but I do not like having to pause the game, find each and every tech lab/ phantom coil, and manually delete each and every one of them. It certainly does not count as fun in my book. Certainly the launchers are not as much of a micromanagement problem, but I find launchers to be mostly ineffective in many cases. as while their Damage is much higher, blasters waste much less energy for many of the same jobs. Certainly they are necessary for high density creeper, but it seems odd that their targeting AI is unable to spread the damage out so as to waste less power. Do you, in creeper world one, send 20 drones to all bomb the same spot, simultaneously? That will cause a lot of overkill in most cases, aside from high powered emitters, as the bombs after the first few, and the first of each wave, will mostly be wasted, as most of them will be hitting spots with little to no creeper there. Certainly unless it will be a landing point for a relay or collector for a totem, or for a beachhead, it would be better to spread that damage out as much as possible, to reduce the overkill, so as to do more overall damage to the creeper coverage as possible, right?

I would also note that launchers seem to play a significantly different role than mortars in the first game did, (Although it has been a while since I played the first one) After all, the mortars Generally cleared out a layer of creeper, quite efficiently, and didn't have to be very close to said creeper. However, While launchers have a slightly higher range than blasters (and fire around corners, unlike Dr Device) they are not really able to continue to hit the deep creeper unless you have them parallel, or in front of the blasters for them to be effective at all(or behind shields) Also, this is quite annoying especially when you have really narrow corridors, like in much of the campaign. Certainly I understand that you need to move them up. Also, due to the differences between the side on and top down simulation, if they fire into a pit, it tends not to either empty it, or even reduce the level much, unlike mortars.

[UpperKEES]

I guess we have to agree to disagree. :)

[Ranakastrasz]

I guess we have to agree to disagree. :)

Agreed :)