Prolog:
It’s a very difficult topic in case of Generation Zero.
You always need a good balance between those units, especially if you have multiple factions.
The units also need some kind of senseful, strategic or logical purpose.
New ones should also fit somehow to the already existing ones and to the game and lore.
It’s even harder to develop a new machine if the greatest part of the existing ones already consist of different versions of few machines.
The direction
- Aliens, Mutants and Zombies won’t fit the game and the lore. Yes, you can add a story twist to include and explain them. But that wouldn’t be Generation Zero any more.
- Cyborgs could make sense indeed. We already know about Tatjana with the hunters leg and there are soviet soldiers with exosuits. Think about them, where the AI got control over the exosuit. The difficulty here is more on the technical side of the game, I’d guess. You would need smoother animations for humen/humanlike beings. And then: what’s their purpose in the game? Cannonfodder?
- An enemy Humen faction. Same difficulties as with cyborgs, but for the story they could have a greater purpose.
- More machines is almost the best solution, but which ones…?
Some facts
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FNIX uses legged machines in general. The seeker is the only exception. It is hovering on low altitude.
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Soviets initially just used rolling machines. Lynx (Balls) are self explaining and the Wolves are tracked vehicles and roll through the landscape as well. Well, they are able to stand up, but don’t seem to be able to really walk… They just make moves to turn into another direction. The great exception here is the Firebird as first really flying machine. (sadly it can’t land and walk, then we would have the soviets as multipurpose faction)
Some more words to the firebird:
It came with a perfect timing. FNIX already destroyed the swedish forces and aircraft also by using swedish military infrastructure and its own abilities. FNIX didn’t get flying machines yet to have an excuse why they are bound to Östertörn. Soviets came there to defeat FNIX… In a time where we players already destroyed the coastal cannons and the large artillery.
(Yes, bad story implementation of soviets, they should indeed just appear if you have a certain progress in the story, because we now can find and fight them even if we didn’t do the southcoast missions for example. Why can the soviet hovercrafts come to Östertörn, but other military forces navy (swedish, NATO) not?)
Ok, we wanted new machines, we wanted flying machines and the devs did them in the best way possible.
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Games often work in a way like “stone, paper, scissor”. There often is something to counter something else. Now we got a new flying machine but we didn’t really get a need for something to counter it. Neither for the resistance, nor for FNIX. Everyone still can fight them.
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What we don’t need are FNIX machines which are specialized on taking down those aircrafts. Especially no flying machines because that would enable FNIX to leave Östertörn and Himfjäll to the mainland (except it is the goal to introduce a way to expand the world for a story DLC or a sequel).
Additionally we would focus more on the skies which isn’t a good idea for this game as we aren’t able to fly, too. And we shouldn’t. -
There is water, so why don’t introduce waterbound machines? Well, for the same reason as for flying machines. And the machines don’t like water. And we, too.
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Currently there is just one boss machine, the reaper. What about a soviet boss machine? This could indeed be a thing, but would it really be a new machine or just, like the reaper is an upgraded tank, a superior version of a wolf or a firebird? There already is a topic featuring this.
Conclusion
After many words you see it’s hard to make realistic ideas. One often mentioned idea is another class for each machine with new special abilities. But it’s still no new machine.
Something new and bigger one than harvesters and tanks (and therefore reapers) are doesn’t make much sense in my opinion. Of course it would be cool to have a new great challenge to beat, but always just more and greater isn’t a solution. Filling gaps is one, but I don’t see gaps currently.
Finally I’d like to write a short idea for a new machine, but I’m not sure for which faction:
An armed subterranean drilling machine.
It would be something new and surprising if you would just feel and hear it coming, but don’t see it. Then suddenly it drills up somewhere next to you, drops some ticks (or lynx, in case it’s soviet) and starts to attack you with a submachine gun or flamethrower and gas… Or disappears again by drilling to somewhere else.
It could be a tracked vehicle (soviet, Name: Mole) or legged one like a centipede (FNIX, Name: Centipede, Worm or Digger).
Last but not least:
This text just represents my opinion.
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The only enemy human faction i think could work is the soviets.
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I’m still waiting for the iron church.
There must be more than there is now.
But how will they be?
An active faction like the soviets or a passive faction like the resistance with new story missions and some npc standing around?
Imagine a point where you need to decide whether to follow the iron church or the resistance with different missions to do.
That would improve the replayability a lot… Even greater would be if the available items and weapons would depend on our decision.
But finally it would just be another passive faction.
Actually fnix could just develop an harvester with an AA battery and the normal missile pod to counter Firebirds…that works.
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Aren’t they able to fight them yet?
Not sure. I usually don’t watch them fighting each other. I blow them up… Or down.
Well, if I think twice… It’s even not necessary. Harvester are a support unit. Tanks are the ones which are built to fight them. To fight all.
We saw both tanks and harvs hitting Firebird with rockets multiple times…
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@Madchaser @xMstSpider Come on guys, dont be so dense.
A Tank can certainly take down a Firebird, but it was not designed for that purpose.
The same way a REAL tank can be used as artillery, although it was designed to counter other tanks and to fire at infantry and other vehicles.
Fnix could just develop a new unit type or modify an existent unit, to counter directly aerial threats, it would make more efficient to take down Firebeards, faster than Tanks or other Units do.
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lol
yeah I am aware that it’s more like a side-effect than a “normal” way of doing.
Funny though the FNIX uses whatever it can throw at them incl hunters.
We could also get a new AA weapon like Stinget (not sure if anything similar was in Sweden in late 80’s) to counter Firebird, because hitting it with CG or RPG sucks and exp PVG is OP anyway.
Devs could also give us some other stuff to play with, I would like to have e.g. mortar to 1) get something better to level down base walls 2) new toy to hit bigger enemies (I could to hit Firebird couple of time with exp ÄlgSt, could be fun to hit it with mortar shell) 
I know what you mean, but don’t you think an AA weapon with guided missiles would be a bit OP? 
Laserguided missiles, where you still have to aim at the target, should work well.
If you stop aiming the missile could explode immediatly. And as you are slower while aiming, you can’t run away if you’re under heavy fire.
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May depend on ammunition (see CG) so I don’t think the AA must be so strong by definition. (compare to 6* PVG, which is really OP)
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