JUSTIFIED list of things we'd like added to improve this game

[Friendlywaters 1]

Like everyone (I Hope!) here, I've brought CC, had some fun. Like far too many people, I have put it down far too early. There's just a few tiny issues that add up to pure frustration and it'd really be a shame to watch this game flounder when it has so much potential.

So a thread where we can LIST the kind of feedback for the devs to toy around with and the reasons why they'd help may lead us in some way towards that.

AI Fixing!

It's been mentioned by everyone and their dog. Really I think the friendly AI needs to be a lot more proactive, there sometimes seems to be a delay between order and response. Mostly due to the time to create waypoint nodes to travel but when under attack and especially when trying to flee death, it can be frustrating waiting. The AI of both friendly and enemy ground vehicles should have a preference for road travel. Enemy AI is very basic, it'd be nice for enemy units on islands not to be so willing to wait in ambush all the time. I'd like the idea that enemy units will assist bases that are under attack or search for the player. Maybe link the AI hostility to defence level of islands with the maximum defence adding a high probability that the AI will actively attack the carrier continuously once it has been found.

Walrus maneuverability increase

This one would fix the vast majority of AI complaints. The Walrus is too slow, can't go up hills at a reasonable angle and cannot turn on the spot. The islands in this game are beautiful but driving offroad is impractical as it is. The Walrus needs to be slightly faster mostly to travel around the islands in good time and so the penalties of heavy armour don't reduce the vehicle towards a slow blob target. Yes I know turbo exists but that is another issue. Being able to climb hills at a greater gradient would be significantly useful especially in situations where you're trying to assault islands from a different route or have fallen off-road or just for scouting around. There is massively missed potential to do "commando" raids in this game. Being able to turn on the spot is also must. The weapon turrets don't turn a full 360 degrees as it is so when flanked you are forced to turn the vehicle, that is reasonable but reverse-turning is not. Watching the AI attempt a 3-point turn is pitiful and being forced to do so yourself is unnecessary. Also it'd be very useful for escaping tight areas. There is literally no reason why this shouldn't be the case.

Change the Manta from "VTOL Jet" to "VTOL Helicopter"

The Manta is currently a plane, not a helicopter, so when flying the "foward" key controls the throttle but the mouse controls the altitude (unless using the altitude keys as a modifier). This makes it incredibly difficult for anyone (even the AI!) to attack ground targets as you have to downtrottle to hover before attempting to attack ground targets. The problem then, is that, as a plane, the Manta cannot aim high or low enough to do so from a safe distance. I would propose that the Manta is changed to be more like a helicopter with a "stable" WASD flight control with altitude control as before then let the mouse control where the weapon system is pointing. Anyone who has ever flown a helicopter in any war-sims I could mention :p knows the concept of popping-up to attack a target before taking cover behind a hill or some trees and I'm sure many would enjoy the freedom of making that easier. The Manta needs to be far more stable and being a 'copter would recitify this. Also, when no keys are pressed, the Manta should default to a hover, this is the future after all!

More starting ammo and fuel for units

The carrier being a gas-guzzler I can reasonably accept. It can travel through time after all, but the units I deploy waste ammunition and fuel far too readily and this will single-handedly destroy multiplay of any sort if both players are being forced to retreat before battle because their ground units ran out of fuel just doing recon of an island. Yes there are refueling points etc but they're clumsy and not tactically spaced for any sort of balance. I propose increasing ammo and fuel by default to around double, this can be played with of course. Especially crucial since Manta fire twice as fast and so need to re-arm more often. The ammo attachment works and should stay as useful, perhaps more so if amunition is increased. Who wouldn't try to sneak up on a carrier and kill it single handedly in a stealthy Walrus in MP? Commando raids and full scale assaults need their place and Hostile Waters was outstanding at doing so.

Repair, fuel and healing depots have area of effect zone

Driving up to a building to repair is time-consuming and cumbersome and if you have some ai-nitwits around you, it's worse! I propose lowering the resource (fuel etc) that is given per second, but making the replenishment an automatic area of effect. And to counter potential problems of camping, if units are attacked or attacking in the aoe, the depot stops the replenishment effect, until after say 10 seconds after combat has stopped. If you do manually use a depot it should be able to be interacted with from any angle, not just the foward face. Same with command centres. And manually healing etc would still be fast.

HUD and audio/visual enhancements

Can we have the health of enemy structures and vehicles etc visible when they are targeted? And a "hit" indicator such as a red flash over the targeting cursor would be wonderful for demonstrating if we've actually hit a target. This is certainly true of the carrier itself which has no obvious way to tell if any projectile it launches from the main gun connected at a significant range, until it is hopefully dead or a scout is sent out. This would also help with the AOE long range weapons as one could fire blind, spot a red flash on the cursor indicating "enemy hit" and assume correctly that something was indeed hit. Also an audio cue for "enemy destroyed" would be handy. Yes it does make the game more arcade, but it also makes it much more noticeable if a building you're attacking is actually being hurt. It's annoying attacking something like a radar structure and only knowing it's about to die when it catches fire for example. It might also make any potential co-op that much more useful to prevent overkilling or at least allowing for teams in co-op or othewise to make decisions on who is the most hurt. Actually, thinking about that, having the health of friendly carrier-based (not island based) units over the unit itself will be useful in any future team-games. As for turbo, can we have a "turbo-bar" so we can tell when it is ready and when it has depleted? Also a nice "overcharge" sound effect wouldn't be amiss and would be quite exciting if done right.

Anyway, if anyone wants to chip in, please do. This isn't a debate thread but let's try to be organised and hopefully get some inspiration and pointers going.

[Thygrrr 1]

I think units have a little too much fuel actually. Ammo is super plentiful. I'd actually cut the ammo of some weapons down 20-30%.

I agree with most other things.

I don't understand your manta point. I hate helicopter controls (like in games such as Battlefield 3), they are nigh impossible to keep on target. I think Mantas fly great. Auto-downthrottle would be okay to have, but no major changes. I'd like them to be able to actually do a barrel roll, drop vertically while turning sideways, and do things like a split s, so I want them to be more like a plane, and even less like a helicopter.

[Friendlywaters 1]

I am sure I'd get a ban for a "shooting of" gag, but "spray and pray" beats burst fire IMO. I am a fan of helicopter controls DONE WELL. As it is, making the Manta more into an F22 of the future would make only bombs useful since strafing runs would hurt too little unless you'd prefer taking lots and lots of anti-aircraft fire, and expending amunition. Ever played the Command and Conquer series? The Orca fighter/bomber is a helicopter that literally turns on a dime but flies at full speed like a fighter and has handles very well.

[Thygrrr 1]

I should make a video how I fly a Manta. :) Only rarely do I have issues (mostly because I can't freely turn the thing upside down when I need to.

EDIT: Actually, yeah, it needs to have more freedom of roll & pitch, and an ability to stop fast (e.g. by rolling 90° and then pitching 'up' real hard). It should also instantly cut vertical throttle when I hit the down button thrice or something, putting me into free fall. Ideally, there's a soft and a hard vertical throttle.

To properly circle strafe a target, because of the low AoA I need to have, I actually DO fly pretty huge circles around my targets.

Edited October 9, 2012 by Thygrrr

[Hornet108 10]

That list sums it up pretty well. All it needs ontop of that is the ability to order your mantas to use their hooks properly, rather then having to do it manually.

[Tontow 1]

The manta would be just fine as is if it wasn't for the bad mouse acceleration.

Its more of a jump jet atm.

[Gazzareth 1]

I would say the Mantas are fine as they are, although I would rather have more fuel for the units - Ammo is fine, but they really should be able to cross the islands a good few times before needing refueling....

G

[Savant1974 1]

I find the carrier's repair system a little obtuse - I like the use of fuel to get repairs done, but otherwise there was nothing wrong with the original's version of damage control. Percentile displays would be a nice addition, as well as a clearer indication of what is currently being repaired, and I find that even with something set to 'top priority' repairs won't always happen with a low fuel state. The problem with the current setup is that some systems will only be repaired if they're set to high priority, and if I want many systems repaired, they have to all be set to high, so I can't stagger the choice of what gets done first aside from manually setting top priority.

Repairs: Basically, what I want is an override that switches off fuel concerns for priorities, and they just get fixed in order.

Scout drone usefulness: Speaking of the carrier's gun, in the original you would launch a camera drone above the island and use it to spot targets for the carrier weapon systems. The scout drone in gaea mission is useful for scouting the island, but not relaying positions. I'd love to be able to have its feed on a picture-in-picture display while the carrier gun uses it to sight on targets. I'd also like to be able to carry more than one of them on the carrier at a time; either that or the ability to re-dock with the carrier so I can re-use it - it's either disposable or it's not, if you get my drift. :)

Main gun: The carrier's main offensive weapon, after being heavily damaged, won't commence working again 'til it's back to 100% - in the original, you could get it partially functional above 50%, so perhaps this could be added too, with reduced turret turn speed or something. I'd also like to be able to switch it off so it doesn't waste shells firing at Mantas, or shore emplacements. The plasma gun seems to be able to hit them occasionally, but shells... it doesn't even try to aim properly, just points the gun directly at the target and the shells hit far short.

Lasers: They're extremely accurate and with decent damage/'ammo', to the point that other weapons pale by comparison. Consider lowering the amount of charge the manta lasers can hold, or lowering damage or something. A weapon that accurate shouldn't be doing that much damage. Might want to put in a laser system for the carrier too, for old time's sake ;)

Production: I'd rather be able to set amounts of stuff to be built, rather than have to go back and constantly put in 'carrier fuel' in amongst the other stuff I need. Like, set it to build 25 or 40 carrier fuel, and if it drops below that, it makes some more. Same with other items. Constantly having to adjust and feed the queue isn't the optimal way of doing this, and perhaps having a priority system here as well would be useful.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Savant1974
Ideas!

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There is a sticky thread for suggestions:

- Suggestions for CCGM (please post them here)