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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0022089AI War 2Gameplay IdeaNov 5, 2019 6:55 pm
Reporterwhetstone Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Severityminor 
Status consideringResolutionopen 
Product Version1.003 Sortable Objectives 
Summary0022089: Idea for a competitive multiplayer mode.
DescriptionI think a fun competitive multiplayer mode to eventually have could be:

First to destroy the AI wins.

Players have separate AIPs. This would make AIP reducing structures very valuable and fun to fight over. This would also make you change your strategies and play style a bit by making things more time sensitive and pressure the the players to act more aggressively than they would otherwise. There could be an option to be able to see both player's AIPs or a hardcore mode where the other player's AIP is hidden which would be quite fun.

Possibly add a Police Faction that gets hostile towards human players for human on human fighting to limit griefing. The main goal is to kill the AI not each other but fighting over strategic structures/systems would still be allowed albeit at a cost. Maybe it could work like this; if a player destroys another player's fleet leader or base the Police Faction will send a wave at the player who instigated, this wave could spawn through an Exo-Galactic wormhole making it more of a risk. This would have the side benefit of making it easier to develop as you wouldn't have to worry about the Police Faction and the regular AI interfering with each other and it would help maintain game balance. Basically the Police Faction is an invisible Faction with no presence on the game map until an Exo-Galactic Police wave is triggered. The strength of said wave could be determined similarly to how counterattack waves are determined. There could also be an option to disable PVP entirely and strategic structures would be a first come first served type of thing.

An option to limit game times could be an adjustable doomsday clock where they AI gets so strong even if the players work together it would be almost unstoppable, I say almost because it could be fun that if players do manage to work together and win in the doomsday scenario it results as a draw instead of a loss for both players. For instance if two players agree they only can play for 3 hours they can set a 3 hour doomsday clock when they are setting up the game.

Anyway, just an idea. I'm sure it would be a lot of work to implement but it could make for a fun, deep, and competitive RTS in the era of MOBAs while still keeping the spirit of your great game.
TagsNo tags attached.

Activities

Chris_McElligottPark

Nov 4, 2019 9:48 pm

administrator   ~0054351

It's a very vague possibility, but mainly AI War has always been a co-op game. The competitive multiplayer requires a kind of balance -- usually -- that just isn't found in this sort of game. The roguelike elements would make it inherently unfair at all times for players. I can't see a way that wouldn't just plain be frustrating to everyone.

BadgerBadger

Nov 5, 2019 12:25 am

manager   ~0054364

I would like this, if only to allow for players to say "Hey, I bet my fleet could beat your fleet." "No way dude. $5 says I win"

I don't want to remotely balance the game around PvP, but I would like for players to be able to opt into a "Lets fight" mode.

whetstone

Nov 5, 2019 3:42 am

reporter   ~0054366

Is the procedural generation parametric? If so, could you not balance just this mode so that each player has an averaged AI strength around their home system at game start, equal number of AIP reducing capturables/destructables within so many jumps of home system, equal number of fleets within so many jumps, AI Overlord within the same amount of jumps, etc?

This mode would in no way need to have esports level of balance and having slight advantage/disadvantage over several games would balance itself out eventually. Your player base seems to like a challenge and would probably be accepting of the inherent imbalances which I think could be minimized relatively easily, but I am not familiar with your codebase so maybe it would be an nightmare to implement.

If you wanted to have a "fair" esports level of balance, could you not use the grid or hexagon maps with the AI in the center and players at the corners with everything evenly distributed? All the capturables and destructables could be equal for each player but the actual capturables and destructables could be randomized from game to game to keep things interesting. Just a couple balance options off the top of my head.

BadgerBadger

Nov 5, 2019 12:00 pm

manager   ~0054371

Well, some of that balance will need to be done for multiplayer in general (it would suck if one player started without any good capturables nearby).

ZeusAlmighty

Nov 5, 2019 6:55 pm

manager   ~0054378

Civil war mode now triggers PVP civil war too--Free for all!

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Nov 4, 2019 8:46 pm whetstone New Issue
Nov 4, 2019 9:48 pm Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Nov 4, 2019 9:48 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status new => considering
Nov 4, 2019 9:48 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0054351
Nov 5, 2019 12:25 am BadgerBadger Note Added: 0054364
Nov 5, 2019 3:42 am whetstone Note Added: 0054366
Nov 5, 2019 12:00 pm BadgerBadger Note Added: 0054371
Nov 5, 2019 6:55 pm ZeusAlmighty Note Added: 0054378