[suggestion] Customizable Corporate HQ

[Link327]

We can already customize the entire fleet avaiable for a custom mission, so why not aswell the Corporate HQ?

[GoodMorning]

One word: yet.

[Relli]

I choose to pointlessly reiterate that I am MASSIVELY excited for this concept. I want it so bad. I'm already starting to plan my map series around the ability to do this. So....yeah, that. Want.

[strigvir]

It would be hell to balance. Since HQ appears instantly, nothing prevents you from creating a monstrosity with several lathes and engines.

[Relli]

It would be hell to balance. Since HQ appears instantly, nothing prevents you from creating a monstrosity with several lathes and engines.

That's certainly true, but you've gotta remember....there are a thousand other ways to make a horrifically imbalanced map already. I've seen missions where you start with ships, like that one with the Embargo, so it clearly isn't limited to just HQs. It's all already possible. Plus you have free reign over the number and strength of all enemies. Nothing stopping someone at present from making a map with an emitter that releases one particle every hour. Then even the microtanker would be horribly overpowered. I'm far more interested in seeing what people make that's balanced and unique, and I happen to believe that it's not worth removing that possibility just because someone else might abuse it to no real effect.

[Kharnellius]

Or perhaps a point system where you can only spend a certain number of points for the HQ for it to be considered part of the game.

Or if he wants even  more control you can literally only use the parts that the HQ originally came with...nothing more...nothing less.  This would only be for scoring purposes.  If you want to go nuts, then it would be considered a custom fleet.

[Grabarz]

At the very least, the map creator should have the ability to redesign the HQ for their map.

[yum-forum]

At the very least, the map creator should have the ability to redesign the HQ for their map.

I am not sure that it will be right...

[Relli]

At the very least, the map creator should have the ability to redesign the HQ for their map.

Was that not what we were talking about? It's what I was talking about. This is what I want, as an aspiring mapmaker with a plan involving a company of much lesser means.
If we start talking about allowing the player to bring a custom HQ into existing missions, it's a different story. I don't think it's the slightest question that the act of doing that would place it under the Custom Fleet scoreboards. It just becomes a matter of whether you want to allow something that powerful to be granted to the player instantly. And now I've got deja-vu. I guess this is what you were talking about before, strigvir. If it is, then you're absolutely right, it's quite a lot of power, and I can easily imagine the custom scoreboards dominated by people using an HQ with five lathes, eight reactors, and twenty engines. Y'know, stuff like that.

At the end of it all, I think that it might be too much to let someone use a custom HQ in any mission, that's debatable. But like I said in my post earlier on, I think giving this power to the mapmaker is a much better idea, and while it still has some flaws here and there, I strongly suspect the good will easily outweigh any bad.

[Tarmandan]

If the HQ design is tied to the map, that will allow for a lot more interesting missions, especially with usage of the "defeat if HQ is destroyed" option. Together with impassable land (either through option that might be patched in or through PRPL) this will allow for great "RPG" missions. I am against allowing custom HQs if you want to get on the custom score board as a monstrous HQ can really cheese anything. Just put several layers of armor on it and lots of shields and lathes and if it is spawned by the same principle of insta-built in the editor  with lots of tanks cause they will be full, or otherwise lots of reactors. The times with that will be ridiculous, as the effect is just so much more gamechanging than custom fleets. With just custom ships you still have to manage your energy and are bound by map layout. But the HQ can just pop in everywhere, brute forcing through clever map designs