Creeper World 3 Suggestions Initiative

[Lioncourt]

What about an anti-creeper magnet?  Say it lasts a specific amount of time when sitting in creeper, can be fired by the cannon, wherever it lands in the creeper (or not in creeper), the anti-creeper will use that as a "lets head there" signal, kinda like a magnet drawing the anti-creeper to it, or perhaps having a setting to "tell" the creeper which way to "crawl"...

[Mr.H]

What about an anti-creeper magnet?  Say it lasts a specific amount of time when sitting in creeper, can be fired by the cannon, wherever it lands in the creeper (or in creeper), the anti-creeper will use that as a "lets head there" signal, kinda like a magnet drawing the anti-creeper to it, or perhaps having a setting to "tell" the creeper which way to "crawl"...

Added your idea :)
Also those guppies are looking awesome similar to the carrier someone suggested, so I'm guessing either virgil follows the same line of thought or he reads this :) .
Did he mention lightning in the video? Maybe weather will be implemented.

New ideas:
1. Decayable terrain, just like in CW2 but then only in CW3's universe. I'm talking giving the creeper some good old limited terraforming abilities. Will make you think twice where you place your defenses.
2. Mission type: Protect, you're set out to secure and then protect vital wildlife endangered by the creeper until the timer expires. This can be anything from a ancient tree to a endangered tortoise. You may also be asked to protect a bunker, research facility, etc.
3. Currency: Credits/Vigils(no harm in naming a currency after yourself :P )/CreepDollars, use this to buy new upgrades between missions in the campaign or custom campaigns only. In one on missions the creator can decide what is available and what is not.
4. Mission Type: Skirmish, you have no capability to build anything and save for a sole guppy to rearm your units that flies in every 1.5 minutes you are left with the units you have and nothing more. Thus every unit is essential, so be wise and win quickly before you lose the upper-hand.
5. Mission Type: Containment, Your mission is to trap and study creeper to better learn their weaknesses. Thus you are given no nullifies. In-order to trap an emitter you must place a line of defense around it and have a shield overlap the emitter.

[Wheatmidge]

1. Decayable terrain, just like in CW2 but then only in CW3's universe. I'm talking giving the creeper some good old limited terraforming abilities. Will make you think twice where you place your defenses.

I think this would be brilliant, having creeper slowly gnawing away at your solid ground could be really fun.

[Pakars]

1. Decayable terrain, just like in CW2 but then only in CW3's universe. I'm talking giving the creeper some good old limited terraforming abilities. Will make you think twice where you place your defenses.

I think this would be brilliant, having creeper slowly gnawing away at your solid ground could be really fun.

I agree, having some limited terraforming capacity for the creeper would make CW3 a lot more interesting. I can see two ways this would basically work:

The first would be that all terrain is decayable, which would punish players who take too long to hold the creeper back. It would have to be quite slow, but you could end up with every map being a long slog through bottom-level-of-map-to-top full of creeper, which wouldn't be very good.

The second would be to make certain areas of the map decayable, which would allow you to make mountain ranges blocking the creeper that will decay away, and areas of the map that will turn into pools, keeping the creeper away for a while longer. He could make it so the speeds of decay can be different, like CW2.

On the side, it would be interesting if terrain the player terraformed was decayable, but takes a while to waste away, so you have to reinforce walls, etc. that you make. Another interesting mechanic would be that if the terraformed land has not been touched by the creeper for an extended period of time, it recovers, eventually becoming undecayable, just like normal land. I think that this would add some depth to the terraforming mechanics.

Another thought would be that you could have power zones on the map that haven't been touched by the creeper, but if too much pools there it makes a new emitter, which would make an incentive for taking power zones quickly, and keeping them.

[lurkily]

I like the idea of all terrain raised by terraforming being decayable.  (Doesn't applied to lowered by terraforming, of course.)  I would suggest that land terraformed to 'x' level retains the numbers while a Terrap is nearby, though.  This way you can keep a terrap nearby and have it actively such energy to maintain your fortifications.

Terrap repairs would have to be able to actually PREVENT the damage, because I suspect damaging terrain that had a unit on it would destroy the unit.

[Mr.H]

I like the idea of all terrain raised by terraforming being decayable.  (Doesn't applied to lowered by terraforming, of course.)  I would suggest that land terraformed to 'x' level retains the numbers while a Terrap is nearby, though.  This way you can keep a terrap nearby and have it actively such energy to maintain your fortifications.

Terrap repairs would have to be able to actually PREVENT the damage, because I suspect damaging terrain that had a unit on it would destroy the unit.

Agreed adding it to the list :)

[hoodwink]

If terraformers were only able to lay down decayable ground, but this ground could regenerate over time, would it balance things out.
I do like the idea of terraformers repairing ground, and of ground eventually becoming undecayable, however.

As for the farm/food ideas, I always thought that there were 10-20 people on the liberation ship in CW2, and everything else was robotic or automated. That could well change in CW3, but it doesn't seem to fit in my mind.

Good luck with the idea engine you've got here.

[Mr.H]

If terraformers were only able to lay down decayable ground, but this ground could regenerate over time, would it balance things out.
I do like the idea of terraformers repairing ground, and of ground eventually becoming undecayable, however.

As for the farm/food ideas, I always thought that there were 10-20 people on the liberation ship in CW2, and everything else was robotic or automated. That could well change in CW3, but it doesn't seem to fit in my mind.

Good luck with the idea engine you've got here.

Doesn't each turret have a crew manning it. I feel a wee bit of guilt whenever I lose a blaster because of a tactical blunder on my part, all those innocent people wiped out because of me...

[Nemoricus]

The game's lore seems to suggest that the weapons are unmanned, and in particular the fact that only Odin City/the Liberation Ship rifts out at the end of each mission supports the idea that the only humans on the map are in the city/ship.

[thepenguin]

yeah, unmanned.

even now, we've got unmanned weaponry.

[chrislove01]

Like supreme commander :-)

[Mr.H]

Good, no reason to feel bad if I lose turrets now :D .

Any more suggestions anyone? I'm not sure if virgil added lightning, but that shield that randomly exploded could either be related to an overload feature, or a lightning strike :D .

1. What about being able to convert a emitter using advanced tech and tactics into an anti-creeper emitter. More an end-game tactic, and the emitter is at minimal power but it's still a steady supply and can be useful in delaying the creeper for a bit.

2. I'd also love to have earthquakes or some-such. This wouldn't be random(since that's non-strategical), but detectable and has a warning timer(they're advanced humans remember?). This could create cavities(cracks), push land up and down, and decimate your forces. The command posts and such are immune to this effect.

3. Creeper tsunamis, a devastating event with a warning timer, this grabs a large portion of the creeper and collects it together progressively into one tall wave. Unless you have a strong line of defense this can decimate your forces, shields are the best defense against this menace. This can occur due to an emitter overload, volcanic explosion(has to be covered in creeper), or maybe a special kamikaze creeper building.

4.   Underground lava flows can also heat up the creeper creating a steamy creeper version that is aerial like spores but attacks like spreading clouds(aerial units can't fly through steam creeper, but you won't lose any aerial units since they won't rise or fly through it ever. You can use special new weaponry to fight this new threat. If the lava doesn't make sense, a some sort of creeper atrocity that spews out creeper steam would suffice as well. Visually creeper steam is see-through, but you can have the option to either not see it(disable); unadviced though, or make only the outlines visible.

I find the fact that aerial units have no enemies currently a bit strange the above option is a good way to not kill them but still hinder them, and even completely block their efforts until cleared.

6. Another idea is a creeper sub- this is a bit like a drone from CW2 that travels through the creeper but only through creeper. It can fire a single spore(long cooldown) and automatically targets anything that falls into the creeper. On the same level it has a small range outside of the creeper, so if you land a single blaster to create a bulkhead the creeper sub(definetly need a different name) would target it. Now you have a creeper-only enemy unit that can only travel in creeper.

Tell me if you like these ideas and i'll add em.

[Nemoricus]

1. Yes please, as one more option for what to do with a power zone.

2. Random terrain movements could get frustrating for the player, since they have no control over or ways to predict what will be destroyed and what won't.

If you've ever played Total Annihilation's Rougpelt worlds, the ones where the planet suffered from heavy and random meteor bombardment, you'd understand the feeling.

3. I'm going to reclassify this one as: Do interesting things with fields, please!

4. I agree that the Creeper needs some form of AA, and an exclusion zone that units will not go in would be one way of doing that. The option to show either the mist or the outline is a good idea, too.

6. Not really needed, since the Creeper already damages everything that lands inside it.

[Mr.H]

1. Yes please, as one more option for what to do with a power zone.

2. Random terrain movements could get frustrating for the player, since they have no control over or ways to predict what will be destroyed and what won't.

If you've ever played Total Annihilation's Rougpelt worlds, the ones where the planet suffered from heavy and random meteor bombardment, you'd understand the feeling.

3. I'm going to reclassify this one as: Do interesting things with fields, please!

4. I agree that the Creeper needs some form of AA, and an exclusion zone that units will not go in would be one way of doing that. The option to show either the mist or the outline is a good idea, too.

6. Not really needed, since the Creeper already damages everything that lands inside it.

1. I hope i'm fearing it'll become like the CW2 dark laser, so that's why i nerfed it to not make it overpowered.
2. The text says it won't be random...? We could even have little red lines a bit before it happens to show where everything splits if that is what people want. Nonetheless it would be epic and destructive, also a great way for a map maker to controllably change their map in the middle of gameplay. Essentialy two maps in one, all in one earthquake! Imagine a perfectly timed creeper flood, that scares the player into submission. Then the lines appear and a canyon is torn into the landscape, halting the creeper moments before it envelops your base. A lot of opportunites there, and it won't be random at all; these guys are far out into the future, they can probably detect earthquakes accurately by then.
3. Pretty sure you could do that with fields but it would be hard and complicated, having a simple time setting and click-and-drag thing would be epic.
6. True, I'll try tweaking it, maybe it shoots creeper bolts or something. Or it's just a drone limited to only moving within the creeper and then kamikazes to for lots of damage instead.

I hope virgil reads this thread often, and anyone reading this please rake your head towards this issue :D

[hoodwink]

Mr. H, whatever happened to 5) ?