Construction in 2023 - Dev Letter

Please just add a snapping function to walls, towers/bunkers and the such. That alone would make a happy camper.

Takeaways and opinions. Here's what not to do.
1. Not allow stalkers with AV knives to destroy bases.
2. Do not remove Pain Spheres and Automated defenses
3. Do not remove the damage from Skyshields allowing people to just drop thru the shield and insta destroy the bases.
4. Stop trying to push everyone into outfits and squads to DO EVERYTHING. A portion of the game now is locked behind outfits and walled to only officers that have access to the newer vehicles and carriers. Really would be a giant turn-off to start locking construction options to outfits as well that we the player bought with real money.

Here are some suggestions to change.

Snap to wall function/auto connect, instead of painstakingly trying to line up walls with limited view just give us snap to walls and defenses

You want to make fights of player bases fun? Remove the no deploy zones for orbitals, add in a larger XP incentive for destroying player bases. Make the faction want to destroy the bases I currently see so many bases ignored even though those bases are active resulting in losses of static bases cause the self-awareness of the player bases is relatively poor. Remove no construction zones whichs leads to the next suggestion.

Even further if you want to make player bases fun? How about allowing construction around or on static bases remove the no deploy bs and build onto static bases, making super fortresses and bases where the zerg not only has to fight thru the bases but player defenses and offenses creating long term fights. Yes cortium runs will still need to be made but in the heat of battle and escorts to get such cortium is where the fun and danger relies. Allowing construction next to static bases or allowing construction on player bases makes things a little more interesting and the collective building of dedicated builders could make some pretty impressive defenses and setups regarding construction.

So tossing peoples investments into the trash buying turrets and painspires, etc is just ok? Especially those who paid real money for them? People are gonna want refunds if their just gonna delete them. No compensation= no removal and thats my stance on it.

As an avid construction hunter / AV-knifer as well as a construction guy, I wholeheartedly support these points. I shouldn't be able to shoot out a spawn tube and hit left click ~100 times (I counted) on a silo for the entire base to crumble. That said, hunting bases in small 1v1 or 1v3 situations is very fun. I love making routers and messing with builders. I don't really have a problem with AI turrets because the challenge just becomes positioning correctly that you can shoot out the aiming module without getting shot.

Ugh, got half way through my write up and the dang browser lost my post!
So yeah, I've been looking for this particular thread to both give my input on the subject of Construction AND receive Feedback on my own ideas.
I'm going to be addressing Wrel's Letter first, so if I happen to accidentally repeat someone else's Ideas be patient because I haven't even had a chance to review the thread!

Ok, while I like Lorrmaster's design language, namely the nodes with which walls can be meet/mated with, I am AGAINST REPLACING our Current Construction Logistics Assets (Spawn Tubes, Vehicle Terminals) with larger Pre-Fab Buildings.
Instead, I think it'd be better that those original Assets act in SUPPLEMENT to these newer, larger Constructs, allowing Base Builders a better means of Scaling their layouts.
If you're like me, a Support Builder trying to draw as little attention to your Vehicle Base as possible, and Large Pre-Fab Buildings kind of stick out.

Also I have some notes for Lorrmaster and/or the Devs on the layout of a "Field Rebirthing Center" building that draws on my experience from the beginning of Planetside 2 and Small Outpost Spawns if either of you wants to hear it.

Ok, since being able to place Modules in "Sockets" was the core of my idea to better integrate Construction into Static Lattice (IE Dev made) Bases; If you are going to go to all the trouble of creating such a system for Constructs I feel it'd be very easy to retro-fit it into Static Bases!
Still, smaller Constructs might not have the needed space to put a Module Socket, thus to essentially recreate the Area-of-Effect of the current Module System, I suggest a GIANT Broadcast Antenna with four-ish Module Slots at its base.
The Antenna applies a Module's Effect over a large radius, probably at reduced effectiveness, but still again eseentially emulates how the current system works.
It would have a Skywall Shield Emitter about three-fourths up its height that provides an umbrella of cover over its Area-of-Effect, but rather high up and the Antenna is still itself vulnerable to attack via the exposed top.

Which brings me to the Modules themselves and my list of proposed changes:

Skywall Shield Emitter

As I said above, a Skywall Shield installed on the Broadcast Antenna would basically recreate the umbrella of aerial protection we have now.
Skywall Shields could then ALSO be installed in Construction Buildings to give them an additional "personal" Skywall, allowing the layering of Skywalls to create a more intricate defense; You could take out the larger Skyshield by Shelling the Antenna, or just come in below both with a Transport!
Keeping with the need for Active Upkeep, Skywall Shields would only last around 10 minutes before requiring replacement.

Structure Shield Module

I do NOT like Wrel's suggestion below to turn One-way Shields into Two-way Shields, as it basically negates the benefit of a Structure Shield in the first place.
Instead, like a Skywall, the Modular Socket System would allow us to implement Structure Shields in more nuanced ways that would be more inductive to "Gamification."
So the Broadcast Antenna gives a general "One-way Window Shielding" to all applicable Constructs, but installing a Structure Shield in a particular Socket in a Construction Building would provide a "One-way DOOR Shield" on a certain Entrance.
Certain Buildings could even be entirely sealed via this method, but that would require using all of its available Sockets AND replacing the Module at least every 10 minutes.

Turret AI Module

Ok, this is something I'm really looking for feedback on; Are Automated Anti-Vehicle and Anti-Aircraft Turrets really THAT BIG of a problem for Armor and Air?
Yes, I'm aware there are very strong opinions on Turret Automation in general and Automated Anti-Infantry Turrets in concerns with Construction in particular, but since I never really liked the Xiphos Turret in the first place I have a different solution when it comes to Construction Infantry Combat.
Honestly, My biggest inspiration for integrating Modules with Static Bases was back when Modules were first put on Test, and thinking how AWESOME it would be as a Defender if I could use the AI Module at an Amp Station to automate ALL those Turrets that just don't get USED.
Would such integration make these Facilities more dangerous for Vehicles?
YES, but it would also give Air and Armor something to engage with when short handed Defenders can't both fend off Vehicles AND defend against Infantry.
Again I don't have a good enough handle on how the Automated Anti-Vehicle Turrets actually are right now, but they can certainly be tweaked if needed, and like the active upkeep of the previous Modules they would only have that Automation for 10 minutes.

Reconnaissance Module

Alarm Module

Honestly the "Reconnaissance Module" was still the "Reinforcements Needed Module" when I first did my Module Integration write-up on Reddit, hence I'd honestly combine the two into a single Module that provides Motion Spotting AND informs nearby players about the Status of Structures/Buildings/Modules.
Ideally each Module would have a use both for Static Bases and Construction ones with such integration, but I alone can only have so many different ideas and this is where my imagination falls short.

Repair Module

Ok, so Wrel mentioned a possible three Construct Durability-enhancing Modules, two of which were Repair-based.
I think that's one too many, as if you are going to out-repair damage you want it in one big burst ANYWAYS; We've got Repair Tools for Trickle Repairing already!

Thus I'm thinking of an "Emergency Repair Module" that functions more like the Fire Suppression System on Vehicles; A Module that, when Activated, automatically repairs a large percentage of Construct Health, then MAYBE continues to Repair a bit afterwards.
Its Key Limitation is that it has to be Manually Activated, and is instantly consumed on said use.
This could probably have the longest Module up-time at 20 minutes, but is again consumed once someone hits its "REPAIR EVERYTHING" Button.

For general Durability (And thanks to watching some Star Trek), I'm thinking of a "Structural Integrity Field Module" that both Increases a Constructs' Max Health AND its Damage Resistances.
Its effect could possibly be stacked, but with diminishing returns, and like most of the other Modules only last for 10 minutes at a time.

Pain Spire Module

So Modules are where I'd place the infamous Pain Spire.
Ideally, when Socketed into a Broadcast Antenna, a single Pain Module only does a slightly annoying tick of damage, probably not even enough to fully deplete an Infiltrators' Shields before its 10 Minutes are up.
That said, they could possibly be stacked on a Broadcast Antenna to create a more potent Large Area-of-Effect, but is probably even more damaging when Socketed directly into Buildings.

Again, I'm against Two-way Shields as they're effectively just viewports on most Constructs at that point.
I'm very open to a re-vamp on what Shields appear Where, but Shield Windows you can't SHOOT through would just be annoying.
I've also just suggested what I would do with Pain Spires, turning them into a Module that could either be more easily countered or have a greatly restricted Area-of-Effect, and allowing the Turret AI Module to still Automate Anti-Armor and Anti-Air Turrets.
For Anti-INFANTRY, where I think the most venom against Automated Turrets lies, I'd suggest a complete overhaul; Instead of one Xiphos Tower with 360 degree Field of Detection and Fire, we have a Deployable Dispenser that allows a single Player to place MULTIPLE Spitfire-like Sentry Guns that can only fire at things in a limited Cone in front of them.
I'm thinking three or four guns with a 30 degree, 30 meter Cone, that both do the same sort of damage AS a Spitfire and can only withstand the same punishment.
Again I'm not fond of the Xiphos, especially as this implacable Turret Tower you need Anti-Vehicle Weaponry to take down, but I don't think there are many faults in an Automated Deployable more limited than even the Spitfire, are there?

I'm thinking providing more, smaller items would be nice.
Even just destructible waist high fence pieces or Cargo Crates and Containers could add a lot of fun character to Construction Base Builds.

Ok, I like the idea of more dynamic Cortium Mining, but this is a situation where I don't think the Games Physics Engine could really handle all those extra bits and pieces flying around.
Instead, might I suggest larger FIELDS of smaller Crystals/Nodes?
I mean most of us are "farming" this Cortium anyways, so why not make them irritating, tank trapping patches of Crystals that ANTs need to keep "mowed" or else they'll spread to block vital throughways?

This would also give the Orbital Mining Drill a bit of Offensive usage; Intentionally generating such Crystal Patches to hinder Enemy Armor movement.

YEP!
Honestly one of the biggest Quality of Life changes I think could be made is just outright creating a separate, smaller Silo for Restricted use.
It's hard to even tell if my own Silo is unlocked or not in the first place!
An entirely separate model of Squad/Platoon Restricted Silo would remedy that, visually identifying it from a General Use Silo, and being smaller in capacity and claimed territory would allow Squads to build denser Bases that require a bit more upkeep.

I've also seen ideas on "Stealth" Construction, and think an even smaller "Stealth Silo" that only produces a Cloak Bubble able to cover the most basic of Logistic Constructs would be a useful niche

I can't disagree to adding more counter-play!
Especially making Flails/Glaives/Orbital Strikes more obvious via fricking Laser Beam blatantly intensifying at a Target.
That said, I DO want the Map Targeting Icons to be fixed and hopefully embellished with a Directional Indicator for Incoming Artillery Fire, mainly so we can extend the ranges on the Flail and Glaive to provide more rear-line Artillery Support.
The Orbital Strike Uplink can still be a blatant Expanding Circle of Death, as it's a great candidate for being turned into a Construction Building in its own right.

I think it CAN work, we just need a decent uptime on each Module and probably have the Alert Module (or just the Modules themselves) tell us when when a Module is about to expire, like with the Silos themselves.

Honestly this is why I've wanted Intercontinental Entity Map Transfers, aka WORKING WARPGATES, for a long time now; We could potentially link the existing Continents with Oceanic Maps like Osher with an Intercontinental Lattice, giving us entire Continent Sized Maps to act as "Construction/Vehicle Lanes" between the more Infantry Dense Landmasses we have now.

This would be Awesome; I know I've wanted to make my Cortium Farming more directly useful to my Faction and this would allow us to basically convert Cortium into much needed Nanites for Infantry Consumables.

Again I have to ask; How detrimental are the Non Anti-infantry Automated Turrets?

Eh, as I've already posted, I've got an idea about Broadcast Antenna Constructs that essentially reproduce the Aura/Area-of-Effect radii of existing Modules while also allowing individual Building Module Installation.
I don't know how having these Broadcast Antenna overlap would work out, but it's certainly something that can be looked into and balanced as needed.
And needing to replace SOCKETED Modules doesn't seem all that tedious to me; As they are effectively "As Needed" you don't have to waste your Starting Coritum pulling as many as possible to properly harden your Base before making another ANT run.
And honestly checking your Construction Base every 10 minutes is usually a good idea.

I personally don't like the Cortium Bomb as a Weapon, but that's probably because its locked behind the Outfit Merit System and as you yourself say, it's used more outside of Construction.
Re-envisioning it as an "Anti-Module" for detonating Constructs is a good move in my opinion, creating a mini-objective where you have to hold a position long enough for the Bomb to properly go off.
I'd even suggest adding a "Deadman's Switch" system where if the Bomb's owner is Killed, it automatically starts its Countdown, but successfully defusing the Bomb gives the defuser control of said switch, allowing them to either "pick up" the Bomb or start the Countdown again.

I don't disagree in having a large Timebomb in the game either, especially one that have a similar "Deadman's Switch" mechanic, just that if you're going to use it for Anti-Zerg work it should be a more obvious Objective.

Indeed, it certainly be nice, but it's hard to tell what the technical limitations are.
I'd personally like to see buildable Bridge Segments and floating Pontoon Foundations so we could build our own crossings on Osher, but one thing at a time.

Agreed...

...But I think this method would be too much work and complication for very little payoff.
Instead I'm envisioning a Base Construction System where we create consecutive LAYERS of Defenses, mostly Walls but some Skyshields, that Enemies could either demolish outright or somehow circumvent to disable whatever key Construct is giving their forces the most trouble.

Again agreed, and I personally like that the letter directed discussion here on the Forums due to a distaste for Reddit's organization.

Good to see someone with current Platoon-level Experience emphasizing the importance of Force Multipliers in Construction and Defense.
Personally I've been able to make "defenseless" Bases work... but that's because they're rear-line Vehicle Support Bases I've tried to make as unnoticeable as possible...
And that means I have to go out of my way to inform the rest of the Faction that they can pull FREE Vehicles from my Base, painful because even THEN it rarely sees use.

Eh, I'm thinking the Module Change will make Setup easier due to not REQUIRING certain Modules at the Start.
My Rear-line Vehicle Base for example, currently needs at least a Repair and Alarm Module just so I can safely leave it to gather more Cortium, the new system could allow me to just install an Alarm Module since a Rear-line Base will be more visible to my Faction and thus people will draw FREE VEHICLES from there.

Indeed, hence why our Static Force Multipliers are so important!
Nobody wants to defend a mere "roadblock" when a Zergball is charging through.

Eh, I don't like it because it defeats the entire point of the Shielding in the first place...

Exactly, I've got suggestions on how we can make these Force Multipliers more Intricate and Engaging, but removing them outright leaves no reason to bother with Construction in the first place

Yeah, I'm thinking this is another reason we should keep the basic Elysium Spawn Tube, Light Air Terminal, and Light Vehicle Terminal; Those can become Default Unlocks and thus free up Cert Investment into things like Vehicles themselves or a Router.

Yeah, I'm wondering if large fields of smaller Crystals/Nodes wouldn't be a better way to go about this, potentially creating an obstacle in and of itself.

Good to know, I've been out of the game myself for a while and not leading even longer than that, so I don't know what Alert Meta is suppose to be.

Yeah, having Sockets to put Modules in, even if it was a Construct to generate an Area-of-Effect, would be SO much easier!

Personally I'd be against the removal of our basic Construction Logistics Assets specifically BECAUSE bigger Buildings will be harder to fit into place, but having additional Buildings into which Modules can be Socketed would create natural Sub-objectives when dealing with a Construction Base.

Didn't go through your links, but I do agree that the Devs should be careful not to over indulge Non-Construction Players when it comes to Construction.

This is pretty much why I'm suggesting replacing the Xiphos Tower with deployable Sentry Guns; STRUCTURES can be extremely durable while Deployables can be fragile.
It's also why I'd want to increase the ranges on the Flail and Glaive; It allows Artillery Bases to have an affect even when not directly on the Front Line!

If they hadn't already removed wrecked Vehicle Hulls for optimization, I'd be all for this!


Ugh, I hate to double post, but I don't want all this to disappear before someone else response...

Want to know why the zergfits ignore player made bases, even though that base might give a big tactical advantage to the enemy? Because taking on player made bases doesn't generate outfit resources for outfit I-win buttons: bastion, pocket OS, anvil, that fat tank....and thank god it doesn't.

The current construction system I find is more useful as a "staging ground" for an assault on a heavily-defended base, or to stall an advance on a lattice push. Those are really the two key aspects that construction is useful in Planetside 2. Something that allows people to more easily defend or assault lattices without having to rely on overwhelming numbers. People love to set up bases on the beaches of Mirror Bay in Oshur, or blockade the roads around Nason's Defiance in Hossin. They're a passive force-multiplier. That said, the issues stem from the fact that the rewards of overcoming a base or even maintaining one is not worth the trouble. You don't earn certs for constructing a base, only for adding cortium into a silo or for making repairs. If you get certs from an orbital strike or the flair gun, or even the AI controlled turrets, that's just bonus certs and not feasible for long-term sustainability. And the locations that would make for an ideal base is few and far in-between. There's a very narrow criteria where the base has to be in a narrow enough position to force a fight through it, but not so cumbersome that you can't actually build because of the terrain issues. The change to a lattice-focused construction base is generally good, but I feel the setup will err more towards veteran players like myself would can afford all the expensive construction buildings versus a new player debating whether they should spend certs on a new weapon or that bunker.

Personally, I think the construction system needs to be revamped from the ground up, starting with the design philosophy. Planetside 2 is a very mobile game. You spend very little time in one place since lattice bases change hands within 5-10 minutes each. Bigger fights can go 15-30m, and from experience, that's about the same time it takes to get a fleshed-out base fully functional. That's not even including the time it takes to harvest cortium with ANTs. A newbie is not going to spend all that time setting up construction if they don't see an immediate impact.

Expanding the construction options I think is the right step, and I would break that down even further into different classes.

You'd have the small variants, things like tunnels, trenches, barrier, akin to the deployable Hardlight Barriers or engineer turrets, except these would be construction objects with much sturdier and more static intentions. These I think would be great if they could be placed without the need for cortium or a nearby cortium silo. That way, new players can still get in on construction and it's mobile enough that they can build these in nearly every fight.

Then you'd have your standard variants with the current items such as the Infantry Tower and vehicle platforms. These are much more hardier than your barrier varieties and require cortium to build. Their purpose is to be a force multiplier and an obstacle for the enemy team, to serve as a staging ground for your empire, which is especially needed for large and open continents such as Oshur, Indar, and Esamir, where pulling enough armor to assault a base is tedious if you don't have the numbers and the nanites to do so.

Finally, you have your lattice-specific variants, where only specific buildings can be built. These are the huge spawn rooms and fortresses that we see for traditional bases. These are modular in nature, with each structure connecting to another in an easy-snap fashion, much different than the free-form design of the current construction system. It's here that you have infinite possibilities to what the base can have. Drawbridges, trapdoors, force fields, generators... it could be entirely underground, or a towering skyscraper. Basically a maze of mayhem and carnage. Because this base is player-generated, each experience is different with each playthrough. I would add another condition that these bases passively generate certs for the entire empire, making these bases very lucrative and a high priority target for everyone involved, as they are the only bases that generate a resource everyone uses. That means you're encouraged to build out this base fully even when there's no fighting going on. This will especially appeal to those who have invested quite a lot of time into the game, such as vet player myself.

If done right, the construction rework could be a game-changer for Planetside as a whole. If not, then it becomes a passable experience. The key here is to make it worthwhile to the player.

Construction is now possible only on a flat surface. And this is a rather annoying factor in the game, which is important to fix, why not give us the opportunity to install structures that create a flat area and allow buildings to be placed on it (besides, this could give an increase in the health level of the structure)
But it’s better to just stop at smoothing the surface in this way. Moreover, to give each player a limited number of these same blocks on release, and adjust their number along the way.
Building upgrade levels. Each building will have, say, three upgrade levels.
For example:
Wall level 1 - normal wall, no one-sided shields, standard amount of health.
Wall level 2 - visually increases in thickness, a visor appears on top, the level of health increases.
Wall level 3 - a one-sided shield appears, which is always on, regardless of the presence of the corresponding module.
Silo level 1 - the usual health of the storage capacity and the area within which it is possible to establish their structures.
Silo level 2 - increases the level of health, increases the supply of available cortium, increases the area of construction.
Silo level 3 - reduces the cost of cortium, creates a field of removal, and gradually restores his health. All changes change the visual design of the silo.
Skywall shield level 1 - no change to default shield.
Skywall shield level 2 - covers a large surface, has a pronounced hemisphere shape, increases the energy reserve before shutting down.
Level 3 - The coverage area is further increased, the shield takes the form of a sphere and creates protection to the ground similar to A.N.V.I.L. Shield or gate shield. In addition, you can make a reduced delay in reloading the shield after disabling.
All improvements so change the appearance of the module.
Infantry tower level 1 - no change.
Infantry tower level 2 - slightly increases the level of health, one-sided shields appear.
Infantry tower level 3 - anti-infantry turrets appear at the very top. Similar to the Engineer's turrets, but mounted in windows, lacking personal shields and quickly overheating. These are just examples, I will be glad to see your suggestions. In addition, some buildings can be limited to, say, 2 upgrade levels.
How it will work. I have two suggestions:
First, through the terminals of each building, the player activates an upgrade from the cortium in the vault.
The second option is that the player will still activate the upgrade via the terminal, but the upgrade will come from using a welding tool from the storage, so the involvement of the players in the building process and upgrades will not be a simple click of a button.

Another annoying factor of the building system. As I said, construction now is only comfortable on a flat surface, or with slight deviations. But! There are various rocks in the game, small rocks that conflict with deployable objects. If you're trying to place a wall, for example, and put it on top of a small rock, it won't be possible because the game will tell you "object intersects with existing objects". But that's not all, for example, there are rocks with even surfaces on Indar, on which it would be very convenient to build a base, only all this rock literally conflicts with structures.

the main thing is that the bases could still be built alone in those places where it is possible right now.
AI turrets cannot be removed, otherwise nothing prevents them from coming as a saboteur and placing cortium bombs in place of modules.
my biggest fear is that the developers will only allow base building in hexes specifically allowed for building.

@Wrel I think all of the proposed changes are great - I would love to see them implemented. If I've understood you, the present struggle of construction seems to be that player-made-bases are inhospitable to fight over. I think that is ultimately because they rely on automation to make up for the fact that people do not tend to actively man them if they are not the builders themselves. I think the are not manned because they lack intuitive and beneficial activities for non-builders to perform to incentivise populating them, and outside of bombardment weapons, there are not strong enough incentives for enemies to want to attack bases. The construction system needs tasks that 1. any allied player can and would want to perform from within a PMB that intuitively contributes to the success of the hex they are in, and 2. that require players to stay at PMBs to carry out. Without tasks like this, allied players will not stay at PMBs because they are empty, have nothing to do in them, and pose little relevance to the "main fight" for the hex. Without players manning PMBs, enemy players will not care about attacking them because to do so will just be breaking mostly empty buildings. Any such tasks should be supporting tasks that are not essential to victory, but just aids to it: locking necessary parts of gameplay behind PMBs would cause newer players to suffer and cause fights without them present to stagnate.

I suggest making manned stations that have logistical or supporting tasks that the operator can perform which assist the fight for the hexes control points. Perhaps they can be used to drop buffs or special logistics like you find in outfits. You could make remote control stations to pilot drones that can spot gtoups of enemies or provide other intel. Perhaps a large room could be made that, while powered, slows the rate at which the hex can be captured by enemies. Things like this would give PMBs more of a supporting role that impacts the hexes themselves and provide incentives to players from all factions to try and interact with them.

Basically, non-construction players need meaningful things to do inside player made bases, and they have to be impactful enough that enemies actually care to come and stop them.

(I apologize for the double post - won't let me go back and edit.)

@Wrel
I offer the perfect solution
1 leave the old buildings and the old building system
2 Make it so that if the player uses new buildings with the new building system, then old buildings with the old building system cannot be placed nearby.

This will solve most of the issues and will please lovers of old construction and new

Perhaps we can say that the community would love to see a hybrid system of sorts, somewhere between the free-placement style construction system today and the proposed modular system, but we can actually see the effects of the additional add-ons.

A good solution for the problem connecting walls would be a new 'corner/tower/building' that allows other constructions to be build closer,have less impact of collision.

I

hello daybreak how are you? I've been wanting build mode on PlayStation for a long time. I would like to ask you to put the construction mode for PlayStation. thanks in advance you have made the best game in the world.

This is something I wrote some time ago in a Reddit thread on how to change static bases, so I'm reposting it here in case it's useful for construction.

I remember when the devs added the outfit resources I imagined the static bases as follows:

Static bases now are very basic, the only thing that is completely enclosed and protected is the respawn room and the rest are rooms and buildins but only with pillars lacking walls, doors, shields, ground/air generators, turrets...

The team controlling the static base, can interact with the letter and pull a door, a wall, a turret, a generator, a ramp... and place them in predefined places in the base.

For example, the energy module can be placed in three different predefined locations on the base and only one can be placed.

In each room it is mandatory to put one/two doors depending on the size of the building, the rest you have to put walls.

The team that has captured the base has to decide what to put, either a wall, or a door, or a shield-door...

In the turret spaces which type of turret they prefer to put, the choice is free.

With this, players will never play in a static pre-designed base, because the configurations change all the time and there would be infinite combinations.

The team defending the base, configuring the base by adding and completing the base, the attackers will find a new layout of the base, the same buildings but where there was a door there is now a wall, and where there was a wall there is a door so they have to enter from somewhere else and discover the new layout of the base to get to the letter and capture it.

The good thing about this is that the defender can make a very good design by creating a nice funnel of bottles in a door so that not even a Max Crash can get in, so this is where the cortium bombs come into play.

The cortium bombs can be used to open holes in the walls creating another route to get to letter, once the bomb is placed it appears on the HUD for all players with the countdown, the attackers will have to defend the bomb until it detonates (1 min) and the defenders go to defuse it or they will have another hole in the base through which the defenders will be able to get to letter.

Can you imagine a fight in a base where it's not just Zergs all in one room defending the letter, but there are more strategy...

The attackers are destroying generators and turrets and making holes in walls so they can attack the letter more easily... And the defenders have to get out of letter to defend the facilities and not allow them to penetrate the base.

The defenders can rebuild the destroyed or breached walls while fighting and put the wall back up (although it will take a while to get it back up) or just put this burden on the engineers so they can repair the wall by fixing the breaches, but it should take about 10 engineers to repair it.

And once the base is captured all the added configurations are destroyed and the base goes back to its original basic design with nothing, the outift that captured it has to set up a new base quickly, add walls, gates, shields, turrets...

This makes it so much fun that you always fight in a new and completely re-designed base at any time, it also means that the defenders don't just stay and camp on letter but have to go out of letter and defuse bombs or they will be left in a room with literally no walls...

Personally speaking, I think this would be an excellent time to have Hives return as the [infinite filled] source, Or maybe using the other construction adaptions from a few years ago that allowed for cortium to be refilled remotely. from various locations, and then 'piped' into the silo or hive. Interlocking barriers would be immensely helpful, as would a grid-lock pattern that could snap into place. Invoking something in the Virtual Training arena for base building would allow fast builds to exist.

Having underwater bases would also be helpful [with the previously aforementioned connector].

Another thing, it's something I still don't understand how it's still possible since the bastions were released.

How is it possible that, 3 main builders, build an mantain a huuuuuuuuuuge base, spending between 30 to 45 min of their lives and with Silo at full (50k cortium) and that bastion alone, came, focused the damage only in the Silo, and the base even with Sky Shield and Shield Wall ACTIVATED, and yet the bastion can destroy the Silo in less that 20 seconds, no minutes or hours, 20 ******* and ****y seconds.

Simply absurd.