May. 5, 2023 - PTS Hotfix

[Feedback]
Structures must be invulnerable when equipped with a repair module. It is necessary to make flat areas, without buildings and any game objects where there are capture points in the built hexes. Combine Light Vehicles Terminal with Light Air Terminal into one structure. Rework Shield gates. Add cells to all structures and decor for the module, at least one where they are missing. Make special slots for temporary modules in which only this type of module can be installed. I'm also waiting for your changes in NCZ.

Make such a choice of pre-installed modules as a choice of equipment. With the possibility of subsequent replacement of modules and overload. This will save you from constantly running around with these spears every time you build a base.

No, that is not a good idea.
Then you have people building bases, that have no entrances except through a chokepoint, if one player has the ability to make a wall if they put in the time and effort than another player should be able to destroy it after an equal amount of time and effort.
Spamming the Heavy Repair/Fortress Module is a fair enough equivalent to invincibility.
"Passive Invincibility" should not be allowed, the Repair Module is enough to about double the time it takes to knock down a wall,
that should be enough time for a base builder to return from a Cortium Run.

On the test server, it takes about 2min(~40shells) for an AP Lightning to take down a wall alone and repair doubles that to 4min(~80shells). That is still about the time it takes to cap some bases, which is more than enough time to get back and put in a Heavy Repair Module. Though a Prowler is really the King of Base Destruction, alone it could only take down a wall in about half the time.

I could see reason that the Bunker, Command Center, and Bulwark Wall getting an HP increase in a range of x1.5-x2.5, but saying any structure with a repair module should be invincible, which every structure can have, is fair too strong. The more relevant construction becomes to the main game the more it needs to adhere to it's balance. Temporarily blocking a zerg from a base is fine, but eventually it should go down. I believe the test server Repair Module rate is in a good state of balance currently, but if you really want more durability I would suggest more asking for more base HP, as changing the repair rate or damage modifiers would ruin any chance of one player sieging down a wall for an entry point.

Then no one will storm the base. Everyone will destroy it from afar.

I don't know the speed of the Heavy Repair Module, but the Fortress Shield Module is an invincible bubble shield, and when one runs out of time you can just ferry a new one in. Either one basically makes that structure invincible for a short time, atleast to one person in a tank.
If that person is spending time bombarding your base then you too should be spending time, counter-attacking/repairing.
However the tank running out of ammo is a very real possibility, as is you having to spend cortium on these temporary modules.

"Fun gameplay"

The speed of the heavy repair module is 2% hp a second for 60 seconds. 500 cortium a pop, same as the fortress shield.

It in no way makes a structure invincible. Most tanks can output 600~ dps and the bubble shield can be driven into or waited out. (Along with being a boring ferrying mechanic where you keep going back and forth or lose your base in under a minute)

Ammo for tanks is an absolute joke: Ammo towers, Ammo printer, Ammo sundies, Deliver module ants. These all accompany any armor group.

If the devs want them to be infantry play spaces as they imply, they shouldn't be shelled by people afking clicking on a hill until the base is leveled.

C'est très compliquer d'évaluer ce que seront les répercutions (bonne et mauvaise) tellement il y a de changement.
Dans l'idée je suis prêt à accepter votre vision des choses, qui est de nerf une certaine partie des bases pour rendre les attaques plus "fun" en enlevant les auto tourelles, les tour de feux, et la destruction de véhicule sur le skywall tout en ajoutant du neuf dans la mécanique de construction, bref pourquoi pas même si j'en suis un peut triste à titre personnel.

Si le "nerf" s'arrête à sa, je ne suis pas totalement contre. Mais le soucis c'est que le nouveau système de skywall nerf énormément les bases TNA, je pense que ce n'est pas une chose que vous avez vu venir puisque je n'ai pas trouvé de trace écrite parlant de ce genre de chose. Le soucis étant que les 3 bâtiments aptes à créer un skywall présentent une exigence de pose très élevée, dans le cas des endroit non plat, (se qui est le cas de 80% des bon spot à base ANT) On ne pourra pas intégrer de bâtiment à skywall et donc ça vas se faire exterminer par tout se que l'on connaît, la plupart du temps le seul bâtiment qu'on arrive à poser pour le skywall est l'orbital strike mais il possède un skywall beaucoup trop petit, et le pire c'est que si un allié à un orbital pas trop loin, on ne pourras même pas construire de skywall du tout..

Se qui nous donne comme résultat, disparition de système de défense, des base plus du tout viable dans des zone non plate, la disparition de nombreux spot à base ANT qui deviendrons trop faible et peut exploitable

Si il ya une chose à revisiter, c'est d'abord cela, peut-on laisser l'ancien module skywall ? se serait une bonne chose sans trop de complexité.

I learned a long time ago to not build a base within LOS of a TR ammo tower, since a prowler will just lock down and delete the base. Sometimes, the tank doesn't even render, but that didn't stop them!

Considering how pointless bases are in general to the lattice fight, I'm not expecting them to have learned anything. There are 4 useful bases in the current system,: speed bump, vehicle pull, OS base, router base.

Speed bumps slow down an armor push, or can backstab a push that ignores them. Vehicle pulls live far behind the lines, especially for free small aircraft, OS bases are prime targets, and how often does a fight stall for 15 minutes, anyway? Router bases are frequently just a silo and router pad, with people flying them in from elsewhere probably.

That's *it*. Anything else is a borderline case, and usually very easily destroyed. Or just someone screwing around.

This entire new system, like the old, was DESIGNED FROM THE GROUND UP TO BE POINTLESS.

You want people to get into an infantry fight out in a field. Okay. WHY?

DBG won't let people build onto an existing base. They won't let people use artillery to attack the base (the spawn point is inviolate!) EACH AND EVERY base was designed to be a fight between the spawn and attacking sunderers. Nearly every fight can be ended by driving tanks by and killing the hard spawns, unless it's a point hold by an organized group.

PS1 already HAD an infantry/field system. It was putting a easily capturable tower on the side of every base. Yet they decided to go "Call of Battlefield" chasing that play style, instead of putting the towers from PS1 into PS2.

Now DBG has the chance to put towers back in. I doubt DBG is going to do anything that interesting though, they're going to sit them pointlessly out in fields where people will mostly ignore them. Or people will kill them, because it's BORING to sit around guarding a base all night. Then a squad drops in, there's no turrets to even HELP, and then the spawn is gone before the builder can react and get help.

Of course, why would someone BOTHER to help? Defending a player base doesn't push the lattice. There's no XP reason. They can get more kills in a lattice meat grinder. The correct command decision is to ignore any non-critical construction bases, and ALMOST ALL of them are non-critical, because they are all DESIGNED TO BE POINTLESS.

Self-filling silos on the empty lattice lots was a missed opportunity from a LONG TIME AGO, and the one situation where construction matters. They're still going to get shelled into oblivion without automated turrets AND ARTILLERY returning fire, though. Several prowlers can lock down at extreme range near an ammo source and just delete anything that can be killed, easily. Slightly harder for the NC, and hardest for the mags that got their gimped new gun gimped even further.

So.

How DO you make construction useful? I have opinions, some might even be right.

>Self filling silos is a good start. More easily building out those mostly unused lots might be nice, though it might be a playground for stalker and minor cloaks waiting for people to get bored. GUARD DUTY AND ESCORT MISSIONS HAVE NEVER BEEN FUN. I don't trust most of the people on any faction to be able to build competently, though...

>Let it expand and reinforce and ATTACK "real" bases? If you can patch a deliberate hole, or put up a skyshield to push off drops until they deal with a silo off to the side? That would MATTER. Or deploy a hardened spawn (like the PS1 tower!!!) on the side of a base, that wouldn't evaporate in 3 Kingsnake reloads.

>If you could shell the inside of a base, it gets REALLY complicated. First off, there's the friendly fire to deal with. If the spawn gets shut down though, players will actually have to THINK FOR THREE SECONDS and pull armor from the next base back! Build artillery of their own? Maybe give bases a Flail socket for lattice-base responses to people building nearby? Sure, a flail is going to get kills firing at a spawn room, but attackers aren't going to sit near the smoke either (after the first five times they get TKed by a flail, anyway...)

That and frankly, bases have a lot of buildings, and nearly all of them have roofs. You could try waiting until the shells land and then scooting into a doorway. There's a directive for killing people with the Flail, yet the darts don't work near 95% of where people are most likely to be.


Also, I'd rather like to build a base from the top down. A nice RTS view around the silo, for fine placement and minimizing gaps..

Hello Builders & Devs,


Thank you Mithril for posting the PTS hotfix. I have come to give a detailed review, backed with 7 years of construction experience and extensive testing on the PTS server. I will focus on the placement arrows and offer solutions to everyday problems us builders encounter, specifically on uneven and bumpy terrain. Since the update, I have built over 70 different bases in different regions and clocked in an additional 200 hours of planetside2 and placed at least 300 fortress shield modules since the fortification update dropped. This will be a bit extensive but please take the time to read it as it touches on basically every structure in the game. I have added images with arrow solutions and some explanations, please take a look.

Before we dive into it, I want to brush on people requesting ants destroying silos and invincible structures being added. Ever since construction was released, people keep flagging silo's not being destroyed by ants as a bug. I believe it is intentional and has been this way since the dawn of this system. In terms of invincible structures, they have been added, tested, used, abused and ultimately removed due to their sheer ability to dominate any attacking force by literally existing. Consider other solutions with a better sense of balance, like resistance tweaks or repair module buffs. Remember, the devs are limited in terms of resources and allotted time spent on systems. Give feedback with that in consideration.


WALLS

Starting with rampart walls. In the old system, the only over ground restriction on these walls was the center 4 dots and a few underground dots. This wall, would have been valid -> RampartWall1 allowing suitable terrain clipping preventing infantry/vehicles from spilling over. The new system is too strict, here are two solutions to offer slightly more leniency in terrain clipping without going overboard -> RampartWall2 .

Now solid walls. This is the second biggest upset in the new changes. SolidWallMeme This has to be a joke right? It's not. Here is a proposed set of arrow solutions to fix this. Please also remove the ramp on the back. It makes this usually super easy and right placement, impossible. -> ImpossibleWall . Here is another example, while simultaneously being to low when the old wall would be just fine. ImpossibleWall2

Small Bulwark Walls. It appears that every change to construction, considers only flat land and disregards any other type of terrain. As every single person in this game knows, there is not exactly a lot of flat land. Here is the proposed solution to help make it more 'terrain friendly' while leaving the module slot accessible. -> SmallBulkwarkWall

Large Bulkwark Walls. Same as the above bulwark wall except larger. It is designed only for being build on flat land. Here is the proposed solution. -> LargeBulkwarkWall

Blast Gates. The blast gate has seen barely any use in any bases ive seen or built. It needs a module slot to have a purpose, or else no one will build it. Here are the arrow placements to ensure the module slot fits and is terrain friendly -> BlastGate . The module slot should go here -> BlastGate2 . If the dev feels generous, consider adding one on the other side as well.

Blast Walls. The blast will is actually too generous. I think if you were to give it a module slot and move the arrows to compensate while restricting placement flexibility to make a trade off for the new found durability, it would be a more common feature among bases as again, I have seen it used, very very very rarely. -> BlastWall


STRUCTURES

Infantry Tunnel. I love the infantry tunnel, however I don't use it do the lack of module slots like the blast walls/gate. In this image, I placed a good spot to add one. The placement arrows for this structure are perfect as is. -> InfantryTunnel . Module Options: Repair, Durability

Infantry Tower. I love the infantry tower too, but again it is rarely used. The dark light feature on it is awesome, however a module slot would make it a go-to object in bases -> InfantryTower . Module Options: Repair, Durability

Pillbox: This used to be my bread and butter when building bases, it was amazing for basically everything the old system had to offer. However, losing that durability offered by both repair and structure shield module, it would require one more module slot to make up for the deficit. I do believe the arrows are OKAY but you can no longer put a spawn tube in unless the terrain meets a specific criteria. -> Pillbox

Infantry Awnings. They are currently in a good place.

Vehicle Bridge. THE COOLEST STRUCTURE TO EVER BE ADDED TO PLANETSIDE. Sorry for yelling, I got excited! The bridge has sooo much potential but it's left untapped. It is the biggest structure in the game any player can place. However, it is super squishy and offers no easy way to repair it under fire. A module slot in the center would allow more utility for this gigantic structure. THEMEGABRIDGE . In addition to that, after testing the bridge in many many many different places, I notice that a whole bunch of those locations fall short by literally a meter. These could be an epic asset to builders. I suggest moving the underground arrows even further down than they already are, offering some easter egg locations to have zergs fighting across your base! TheBridgeArrows . Module Options: Repair, Durability, <- The most important ones. Cool Ones -> Skyshield (This would be epic), Equipment Terminal, Fortress Shield Module, Heavy Repair Module.

Module Dispenser. It is currently in a good place.

Vehicle Pad + Aircraft Pad. In a good place

Ammo Tower. In a good place, however the option to install an equipment module would be a huge Convenience to tank drivers. It would save time having to run to the top of the command center to refill tank mines/repair grenades and other consumables.

Bunkers. Better than ever before, ty for changing them and making them confluent with construction.

Vehicle Gates. I've been saying it for a long time, placement wise, they are broken. They shouldn't be able to do this -> FloatingVehicleGate . In the previous image, I added an additional underground arrow attached to the very bottom of the stairs would prevent 99% of exploitable positioning like clipping into rocks, floating to high for infantry to climb and other stuff. In addition to that, it sucks that the vehicle gate has lost a lot of its durability potential by losing a module slopped when compared to walls. Consider adding a second one beside it to install both durability and repair. -> FloatingVehicleGate2 . This would ensure the same level of reliability as rampart walls, which are usually used bipartisan to each other.

The Silo. This, hands down, has to be my biggest grind to my gears of the new update. The silo, is, simply put, TOO BIG. I have lost out on nearly every one of my good, tight, aggressive building spots due to the new silo blueprint. It clips with tree branches way below terrain, or rocks that you can't actually see above ground. It is too wide, trying to put it tightly beside a wall doesn't function because the hitbox is actually bigger than the prefab itself. -> Silo . In this image, I propose cutting the base of the silo by about 35%. I also propose reducing the width of the bottom portion, up until the very flat surface at the top of the base to be remove as its just not necessary and makes a fluent base just that much more difficult to obtain.

Command Center. Command Center & A Tiny Rock . Simply put, why is the collision box on this structure SO, DAMN, BIG! The amount of cool places you COULD put this, you can't due to something as silly as a rock being 5 meters away from the actual building. Now don't let me mention the air pad attached to it. The Air pad Center . This really should not exist. Why does the command centers air pad need to check if there is collision 50 meters below it. The amount of placements limited just because of this is beyond countable. Consider making the air pad collision box a separate entity, detached from the main structure collision box.

Rebirth Center. It's in a good place.

Cortium Silo Reserve. It's in a good place. A cool feature that has had some gossip would be allowing the silo to either function independently or expand the range of a current silo. By placing it on the edge of the main silo range, it would extend the range (from the point it is placed at) by adding an additional 25 meter radius of connected silo zone.

Orbital Strike. It's in a good place, however you still have the ability to hide the ENTIRE structure inside of terrain.

Glaive + Flail. Mechanically, I think moving them higher above ground is a good call. It leaves more room for a base being assaulted to take down the flail/glaive. I do believe though that being killed by a flail while inside a construction spawntube is a little unfair. Once your skyshield is down and you die 5x in a row to a flail after clicking spawn, your base is likely toast with 0 room for counterplay.


MODULE BALANCE

I will keep the module page short. Proposed changes should address some durability problems many builders are talking about and the level of 'tediousness' the 60 second modules create

The repair module; 0.5% -> 0.75% or 1% per second. This does not need an explanation, everyone in this thread knows why it needs a buff.

The fortress shield module; 60 Seconds to 75/90 seconds. Cost; 500 -> 1000/2000 respectively

Heavy repair module; 60 seconds to 75/90 seconds. Repair Rate; 2% -> 3% per second. Health Added -> 8000 to 10000. Cost 500 -> 1000/2000 respectively

The Firewall Module; Let this be installed into vehicle/air terminals and command center. This should prevent infiltrators from hacking it. Otherwise, why call it a firewall module when it doesn't act like a firewall from hackers?


If you made it to the end, I applaud you. I love this game, there is nothing else like it. I want to make it the best I can and fun for as many people as I can while I still support it. I admit, I cancelled my membership. I did it to show how much I care about the game and voice my opinion when I am not being heard. Hell, I made a forum account just to state how unsatisfied I am. A lot of players are unhappy with the state of construction, so here I am speaking up for those who will sit, disappointed, on the sidelines waiting to quit the game and never look back. This update has really hampered an enjoyable experience and everything I have listed today, if deployed, would bring back a few lost builders and keep the ones who are thinking of leaving. (Frankly, there are more people dropping construction and the game all together. more than I expected. I myself was almost one of them.) I do believe that this can be salvaged. So please, take what I have posted today into consideration. I have been here since 2012 and I don't plan on leaving if I don't have to so please please please, salvage this update!

Please implement this feedback,
ToxicToast

Sorry for the essay, but man there was a lot of untouched ground and stuff left unsaid. Everything above would resolve many many many, issues when it comes to building on rigid and rough terrain without leaving room for exploitative placements.

If you have some time, I highly recommend you guys read it. It is stuff that I think would make every, single, builder, a happier person and have a more enjoyable time building while changing nearly nothing from an attackers standpoint, aside from some much needed missing durability on some structures and walls.

I made a more concise reddit version here; This Will Fix Construction - Reasonable Building Reparations : Planetside (reddit.com)