New unit

[Eriy]

I was looking around the forums and I didn't see it mentioned anywhere so sorry if it has been mentioned before but, I was wondering if it would be possible to be able have players make things similar to emitters. They would have to be a lot weaker of course, and cost a lot to build but could be useful to have an extra defense if you are trying to cap an emitter.
It could be something that sends out waves of tightly packed nano-bots similar to how the creeper spread out of emitters, or something of the sort. In order to power it you might have it so that it must be built over a reactor, or maybe 4 reactors (in a square) which would then no longer supply you with energy and power this nano-bot spewer.
This might be more effective when/if bigger maps come out but could be very useful when you are forced to play a defensive battle until you can finally muster the force to charge out, or if you are sending out your blasters/mortars to cap an emitter. It would be immovable of course and maybe have a limit as to how many you can have.
The nanobots (which I guess would have to have their own color so you can know how spread out they are) could even be used to protect you from spores too.

I'm not sure how this would fit into the game but I thought it would be cool if you could make something like an emitter(but weaker) to help you fight off the creeper. Essentially you already would know how to code something like this, but it would then involve how your nano-bot area reacts to the creeper area when they border each other.
Also, you could have it so that any building in your nano-bot area performs slightly better. And of course, something like this should be hard to make, and expensive! (such as requiring 4 reactors in a square to be built upon and then require a lot of packets to do the actual construction)

Well, I hope to hear from everyone   ;D

[Aurzel]

actually in development virgil did toy with the idea of a player-allied emitter, where the two creepers would annihilate each other if they collided and the one with the greater concentration would win out, i dont know if he's still working on this or if the ideas been shelved atm

[knucracker]

Hmmmm.
Interesting idea on the clustering of reactors that can be turned into a new "unit".

I have considered making "friendly" creeper.... but this would have to wait till CW2.

[mothwentbad]

Allied creep + terraforming = win?

;)

Might be interesting, creep wars together with terraforming, walls, gates, and such. Rescue missions, whatever. Release just enough creep to give the rescue effort enough time, but defend your base, too.

Or maybe you have to hold an emitter for so long before it converts, so you have to make the right move at the right time. It could be very tricky to balance. I think it would work well with terraforming, though.