Okay it’s a bit long but bear with me.
So after playing around with defending the Homebase I’m simultaneously Impressed and disappointed.
Overall I think this was a nice addition to the game, and I had some fun with it, it has potential.
I like what has been added, but it’s not there yet.
I’m gonna mention what I didn’t like, ideas to improve what exist and what could be added
First of, after trying easy mode on skirmish difficulty I was surprised to see how fast the health of the walls and defenses dwindled during the attack
So after going over the damage to my base, I thought about what changes, that I not only would like to see but that I feel is needed to make this game mechanic more enjoyable.
when it comes to the health on structures I feel like we need to see either
- More health/armor for the existing walls and defenses so that they could take more damage
or
- Stronger structures that gets unlocked after completing the defense for the first time.
For example walls and defenses that have higher build cost but has 2-3 times the health of the current structures
Alright now that I’ve mentioned what i feel needs to be changed let’s get to the less pressing topics.
I thought about how this base defense could be better after thinking about for some time I came up with some things I would like to see.
– First of, Defenses. More like, automated defenses. –
Let’s begin with the Resistance Machine Gun Pillbox.
I thought that the Machine Gun Pillbox/Bunker should have a higher rate of fire, but after thinking about it some more I got some ideas.
What if the player could, in a way “invest” in it.
You would be able to give it a weapon you already have and the quality of the weapon would determine it’s rate of fire, accuracy and damage. (no experimental weapons)
you could also give it different types of weapons, like Assault Rifles, shotguns or SMGs.
Then I thought, what about Snipers?
Well what about the Resistance Hunting Tower
You could be able to build a tower, that is enclosed like the pillbox, that you could give sniper rifles or even Launchers like the RLG-7 or the GRG m/49 again the quality determines the accuracy, rate of fire and damage (perhaps also grenade launchers if/when they get added and again no experimental weapons)
So how would you give it a weapon?
Well based on the pillbox description
there’s a person inside it. based on that fact I got some ideas.
An addition to the base could be amenities for survivers, like living quarters, and a common area, this would naturally appear at a fixed location within the buildable area most likely at the south or south-east side of the truck where there are less machines approaching
This area is where you could interact with NPCs to give them weapons and assign them to their defense positions, this part is not somewhere you could build freely but that you can put resources into the structures/buildings you want.
Buildings you could create there could be:
- Barracks - determines how many survivors are in the camp and would then also by a determining factor in how many automated defenses you could have
- Medical tent - will automatically heal the player when they are inside or spawn medical supplies between waves and after the attack
- Scout station/resource station - will slowly acquire building materials and other resources when the base is not under attack. (these resources can only be used for the base)
some more amenities could:
- Mess hall / eating area
- Social area - perhaps a fire place with some logs that people sit around (one person could be playing a guitar)
The mess hall and the social area only serves to boost the moral of the survivors which could give a bonus to the:
Medical tent, in the form of healing rate
Resource station, in the form of how fast it gathers resources
Defense structures, in the form of how much health they have
So for the final thing
damaged and destroyed structures
The resource requirements for repairing walls and defenses should be more forgiving in my opinion.
if walls gets completely destoyed they should leave behind ruble that you must scrap or dismanlte before you can build there this will give you some resources back (perhaps ovarall 10% return)
While automated defense structures, that are obviously manned, can not be destroyed but will instead be disabled and inoperable, these can be fixed with health items and might return automatically with 15-20% health between waves depending on if you have a medical tent or not. you can also repair the structure itself with metal and wood to give the gunner more protection again.
[edit] For god sake can we get rid of that humming from the FNIX structures around the base it’s so annoying when you have to listen to it all the time while planning you defenses and building them.