Construction in 2023 - Dev Letter

Discussion in 'Official News Feedback' started by Mithril, Jan 17, 2023.

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  1. OSruinedPS1

    Ever since the first MMOFPS came out in 2001 (WWIIONLINE) organized players have proven themselves intellectually incapable of playing defense. Organized players don't play defense, they don't do recon, they don't plan, don't strategize, don't use battlefield tactics; they only pop dump and cheese,

    Defensive tools should be tailored for non-outfit solo players or at most half filled squads (6 players).

    With that all out of the way...Construction is aesthetically ugly, nodes are obnoxious to drive over with vehicles, turrets are useless and the first to get destroyed, and what's the point of putting up a wall when HESH goes right through the shield? I mean WTF, bruh.

    Construction does need an overhaul, but don't make it worse.
    • Up x 2
  2. OSruinedPS1


    You have to completely exit game, then restart game to fix that bug.
  3. OSruinedPS1

    Not just the OS, but all artillery should despawn after the builder is offline for like 10 minutes. Players are going afk or exiting the game and blocking everyone on their side from building any artillery within 600 meter radius for HOURS.
    • Up x 1
  4. HardButt

    I am quite impressed by and appreciative of the intelligence and clarity of many of these comments. The quality of the players and the overall thoughtfulness of the developers are why I regularly play Planetside and strive to support the game with funds.

    As a base builder I have one basic request.

    Please provide some defense against a person hacking a vehicle terminal, spawning a sunderer and destroying the spawn tube before I can respond. Whether this is with pain spires, auto turrets, capture timers or other approaches is not that important.

    I support needing an ongoing presence to call down orbital, glaive and artillery strikes. I think this should also be the case for outfit orbital strikes.
    • Up x 1
  5. RiP0k

    Better yet, just make points for modules, walls and buildings on the game bases. And set the kind of Cortium Silo you want to put on the vehicle capture points. I am one of those builders who did not build for the sake of any successful creation of a battle (this almost everywhere does not work). I am building to serve as a support using the construction system. If you essentially leave the same NCZ it won't change the state of the construction system. People don't attack player bases not because it's not interesting. But because they do not negatively affect the capture of one or another hex. And those who attack do it because they just want to. Whether it's a successful attack or not. The building will not function as a support in your vision of this system. Because one way or another, all the battles take place on the same bases. And people try to skip hexes with points for construction faster, because they are not interested.
  6. OSruinedPS1

    Defensive tools should actually make it harder for the attacker, and easier for the defender, the tradeoff is sacrificing mobility and time to build. I know, a radical idea when some people think everything should be equal: a tank should be equal to infantry and a plane equal to a tank. It's thinking like this that leads us to upsidedown flying bombers, weak maxes, and OP cloakers.

    Defensive walls and protection from flanks and rear for infantry firing positions should be the bread and butter of bases. Structures should be extremely strong, and attackers should have access to mobile artillery to effectively damages bases or has big enough HE to damage infantry in partial cover, like the Planetside 1 flail, or another fixed artillery player made base. Battery and counter battery, not random melee.

    We should also be able to unlock our artillery for other players to use, sometimes we just wanna relax and build.
    • Up x 1
  7. redgroupclan

    Short, succinct bulletpoint feedback on the construction improvements from a dedicated builder

    * The idea of having a permanent silo on vehicle capture bases is interesting, but I'm not sure about it. Could mean a really entrenched platoon never actually loses the hex because the silo can never be focus-fired to knock the wind out of the construction base.

    * LOVE the idea of having more structures to build. Disappointed that there was no mention of adding foundations or snapping to objects. Trying to place structures, especially on uneven terrain, is one of the biggest problems builders deal with.

    * The idea of having to swap out modules as a constant base maintenance sounds tedious. Extend it somewhere BEYOND 20 minutes or it'll be worse than cortium drain.

    * Highly dislike effectively removing cortium bombs as a usable weapon. I personally enjoy using it as a combat weapon and it seems like a wasted tactical slot if it can only be plugged into module slots.

    * As we're back to the removing pain spires and AI turrets topic, I continue to insist you cannot do that until a single person can't destroy a base by themselves. Give bases a collective damage threshold or something before they actually take damage.

    * Like the idea of lowering unlock costs and having more unlocked by default. This is a no-brainer.

    * Having to chip away at a cortium node and run down the pieces for it sounds more tedious than sitting there holding M1.

    * Having an outfit mining drill to summon cortium sounds nice.

    * LOVE the idea of expanding building areas, but I'll hold my breath on that one. Would be great to be able to build right up to the edge of a dev base to provide Sundy protection the dev base doesn't naturally have.

    * LOVE the idea of having to maintain a laser sight on Flail/Glaive/OS targets. Does this mean the Glaive won't maintain a continuous fire anymore?

    * You say OSes will do less damage to construction bases. Are they getting even more survivability under a skyshield or are structures not protected by a skyshield getting the same buffed survivability?

    * Maybe make a construction/HIVE mini-alert, but don't have construction trigger the main alert.
  8. RedMen

    *About AI Turret and Pain Spire Removal
    Even now, it seems that an alternative method is necessary because the base is destroyed by a single horse.
    After all, it's difficult to defend when one tank arrives.

    *About base modules
    conditional approval
    If you need cortium and control to activate pain spires, routers, turrets, etc., abandoned bases are easy to destroy, and bases with people are difficult to destroy.
    It would be nice if a door shield could be installed at the entrance of the bunker, and the repair module could be activated.

    *Modularization of Cortium Bomb
    disapproval
    Wouldn't it be nice to have a little more power against buildings instead?
    It seems preferable for the module to freeze the function until it is removed, or to keep the HP decreasing while it is inserted.

    *Desired construction role
    I want more active buildings
    Currently, it is mainly used as a departure point for vehicles and aircraft, and after that it can only be used for minor harassment.
    For example, providing some repairs to players fighting within 200m
    provide ammunition
    Turn on a radar function for moving players every 10 seconds
    Make it possible to place a small equipment change machine in the same 1:1 ratio as a router... etc...
    I want some functions that have merit by fighting there

    *suggestion
    How about adding a building function to a normal capture point?
    For example, you can switch turrets to AA/AI/AV, install walls and gates that can be destroyed, attach sky shields, build bridges, and so on. It may be impossible because it will change quietly and finish it, but...
    For flails, if you can use the guy at the base, it will be relatively easy to defend, and people will gather rather than building freely, and the demand for engineers will increase.

    *what i want now
    A system that gives experience to others when they use flail (currently a charity project because there is no reward)
    A system that gives experience when using Glaive (currently it is a charity because there is no reward)
    A case where there is a space between bases that cannot be built at all because the no-build zone is too wide.
    The artillery ban is so broad that often Flail-kun is completely a figurine

    I want a little self-propelled artillery vehicle
    When there is a target to bombard the targeting darts, width is born on the battlefield

    If the bunker puts it, it will rather do whatever you want with the cortium bomb, so dealing with the problem of losing just putting it
    Vehicles and aircraft don't use resources, but if you replenish your infantry equipment, your resources will decrease.If you can max out with cortium, the max will increase a little more and you can treat it as a heavy armored soldier.

    I want a wall-type skyshield
    It's amazing how many times I'm attacked by tank guns from a very long distance...
    It's not a bad thing, but...

    big silos
    Half the capacity is fine, so I want something a little smaller
    Since the head is sticking out of the wall normally, only the silo is crushed and all functions of the base are down! is unfamiliar
    You don't even need a big silo to build a forward base

    Pain spire is overkill, but you can install up to 5 Engineer's auto turrets. mosquito?

    I want the pawn on the ship of the new map to throw infantry in the building function Probably interesting

    I want a building with a smaller equipment change function
    Anyway, I think it would be good if the bunker had its own silo and became a building that was built up on the front line.
    It would be great if you could install a manned artillery battery of your choice on the ceiling

    If you have a main gun that is suitable for destroying structures (however, the anti-personnel and anti-tank damage will be about 30%), I don't have any complaints even if the base is destroyed by a single tank... Now, I'm going to put out a tank in defense! →The opponent was killed by a main battle tank! → Healed and no effect! There are so many...

    I want more artillery
    Railgun-like, lock-on missile-like, self-propelled artillery, or something a little more powerful because it's manned-only.
    In the current situation, even if a person rides, it's just an ornament other than AA...

    Is it okay to use the Cortium Bomb as general equipment?
    Or how about making it available for free from the terminal at the base?

    It would be fun if there were more empty bases of Esamir.
    If there is a place in the center where the silo can be fixed, and the neighboring area is secured, and the type of base of the power that built the silo is in the middle point, I think everyone will desperately build it.


    It would be convenient if there is a base that can be used to create a fixed structure with a fixed layout as the base of the base.
    It would be nice if it had snap points on the wall
    I'm even more happy if it's a set with a silo

    *impressions and thanks
    I said a lot with my poor translation, but I'm having a lot of fun playing with architecture! I'm looking forward to seeing you in the future! Thank you very much!:)
  9. Valisha

    Let the AI modules be, they are the only way to protect the base without an entire dedicated squad.
    Change the Pain Spire module into a Cloak Jamming one. Last thing we need are cloaked stalkers inside our bases -_-
    • Up x 2
  10. OSruinedPS1

    Fieldworks was invented to give infantry a local tactical advantage.
    Artillery was invented to counter fieldworks.

    You mess with the natural order you end up with upside down flying bombers.
  11. Demigan

    Ok so let me get this straight:

    1: you are changing targeting weapons to lasers, for all the reasons I have been pointing out for literal years now? Great!
    2: you are focusing on making the fight more about moving through an interior, as I’ve suggested for years? And add more enjoyment for both defenders and attackers to have fun instead of either murder holes or cheese-it-or-leave-it tactics? Great!

    The problem I see so far: where are the incentives? The module deployment is hopefully at the module emplacement itself, if you ask a player to walk back to the silo to buy a module then most players will not interact with the system. The regenerating silo on currently open points is a good idea, but does not create incentives for building elsewhere. Get some incentives to build, support and attack bases elsewhere! Here’s a few options:

    - make it interact with spotting. Currently its almost impossible to signal an enemy base position and what the base contains. Place a spotted silo on the map regardless of the distance its at compared to other players, add icons above the silo that indicate what is spotted nearby (spawntube, vehicle spawn etc). These would also show up on the map in case you are close enough.
    - let it fulfill a tactical or stragetic role on the battlefield. If you can teleport ground vehicles from one construction base to another it offers a great amount of freedom of movement and attack opportunities when building behind enemy lines.
    - let players build a Lattice generator. Once finished it takes a moment to power up, in which all factions are alerted a lattice generator is powering up and in what region (but not where in that region).
    - let them generate portable gadgets, like a miniature citadel shield players can bring anywhere for an advantage until the gadget or its parent building is destroyed. This is where stuff currently in the armory can shine. ANVIL’s for example would be a great gadget for people to pick up and request a vehicle on top of their position with. A faction-wide steel rain would also function great as would a lot of smaller new gadgets that didnt make the cut for the armory.
    - let them provide region wide bonuses, with each large facility being assigned a region of smaller bases. A regional bonus could be a discount for all players buying vehicles, or it could provide a farther auto-spot range on aircraft as well as the ability to spot all players in a large area with a scan ability. Or it could provide a support weapon like a miniature flail which any player can call upon if they buy a 50 nanite laser designator at an infantry terminal (basically an alternative to wielding a rocketlauncher). Idea’s aplenty.
    - let it change the capture timer. A defending construction base would for example double the timer and an attacking one halve it.
    - let bases generate 100% free weaponless transports to get to and from the base. This could be as simple as spawning weaponless Flashes.
    - provide any base a certain distance from the frontline and without lattice connections with a higher resiliance to damage so players are less forced to babysit a base and only really need to defend it once its region comes under attack.
    - add an emergency button that slows down attackers and gives allies a chance to spawn into the base, for example by creating a citadel shield around the silo and a large area around it as well as reducing the respawn timer on the elysium tube and increasing the range that people can spawn there. This at the cost of cortium and a long cooldown.
    - reduce the time on the elysium tube, it makes no sense anymore to have it take longer than a Sunderer.
  12. IexoPeoa

    These are good points, especially the need for automated defenses, and I really like the new HIVE idea, make it something akin to occupying and exploiting a resource.

    I would also add that I don't like the idea of removing cortium use and replacing it with temporary modules. Not only does this further reduce the role and universality of cortium harvesting, but also means that a single infiltrator in a good position can effectively shutdown a base, by shooting anyone who tries to visit the silo to restock modules. It also means that bases laid down behind an advance are harder to reoccupy in retreat, as simply refilling the silo wouldn't restore them to action, instead the modules in each and every active structure need to be replaced, while under fire from a fast advancing enemy.

    Not sure what I think about turning vehicle capture points into silos, doesn't seem like it'd add much, and could even make practicing base building harder, as following a moving group and building around these points is good practice for base building. With them as silos instead of capture points, it's far more likely those large groups would build there first.

    I also had some other ideas...

    First, rather than capturing a silo, perhaps destroying the enemy silo and replacing it with your own could unlock the surrounding structures to be converted to your team one by one using an Ant, to make base capture more of an effort than a light switch.

    Second, giving Ant mining lasers the ability to extract cortium from enemy Ants, silos, and perhaps even Colossi if they can get close to one, could add an interesting theft/sabotage dynamic to an otherwise benign vehicle...
  13. TR5L4Y3R

    please Please PLEASE add a no buildzone on cortiumnode spawnareas or make nodes permanent ... it still happens WAY too many times with players who farm cortium just leave their silo in the middle of nowhere without deconstructing it and prevent further nodes from spawning for others to collect and as such unneccesarily increase the travel distance between harvesting nodes and your base ...

    in order to involve infantry more into baseattacks you could add the objective/option to overload the silo (being THE corestruture of a PMB) similar how it was back then with hives to then detonate in a nukesize explosion (like seriously make PMB destruction at least somewhat visualy rewarding) were just bombarding it makes it detonate in a standart explosion ... modules like structureshield- and repairmodule for the silo could boost its surviveability to be almost indestructible ...
    • Up x 1
  14. Demigan

    Thinking about it that modular thing should be expanded.

    Instead of one building with an OS on it and a standard interior, you create several empty buildings with interiors and each has a bunch of module slots. These are divided into small, medium and large slots.

    Large slots would take something like the OS. Small slots would take the modules you are designing. Medium slots would offer external support powers. A simple example: a medium slot on a wall segment could house a turret to fend off attackers, with the obvious downside that its always vulnerable to attack. One such module could for example give the player access to a drone when they enter it. This drone has a limited range (say 150m) and access to all construction parts, giving the player a birdseye view to place construction pieces quickly without needing to return to the silo constantly.

    The goal of these buildings would to add more variety to bases as an OS is not always the same building, and players can be encouraged to place other buildings around it in order to offer more protection.

    Since you are already doing modularity… modular buildings? You place one and you have options to extend the building. A walkway, a balcony, or even another building piece connected to it to increase the overall size of the building, adding more module options to be slotted in but also increasing the indoor/outdoor space to fight in.
    • Up x 1
  15. Louey

    Please! Just let me be able lock my silo again. Pleeeeease!
    • Up x 1
  16. ElMasMonstruo

    I don't really like the changes, I would focus more on improving the current construction with the least possible investment of time and money by the developers.

    The cortium mining thing I would leave as is, changing that sounds hard to implement and the impact on gameplay would be close to zero.

    Improve the construction so that the elements fit together to avoid gaps, create a couple of new elements, teleports, jumpers, tunnels... (between bases)

    The problem with construction nowadays is that the maps were not originally intended for construction to come later, so 90% of the map has sloped terrain and it is NEVER worth building on uneven or sloped areas, the silo is totally exposed and two MBTs destroy it in less than 2 min.

    I would create a new construction object <platform> with dimensions of 100x100 square meters on hexagon form, totally flat that you can put on any terrain no matter how uneven it is, in the centre of the platform there is a capture point <A>, these platforms can be attached to each other, adding letters, <B>, <C>... a player can only create one platform.

    From now on, the platform acts as a Silo and can only be built on the platform, when a platform is built it should appear on the map as the Orbital Strike so that the enemy knows where the base is, how many HIVEs is generating and then can come to destroy it.

    Platforms give HIVEs depending on how close they are to the enemy warpgate, they give 0 if you build the base one or two maps away from your warpgate and start giving points as you get closer to the centre or enemy warpgates, even more so if it is deep inside enemy territory next to their warpgate.

    The owner of the platform can interact with the letter of his platform and destroy the platform by hitting "destroy platform" and thus all the construction that was done on it.

    The Silo, Glaive and Flair are removed from the game and the build is immune to Armour and Orbital Strike.

    The only way for the enemy to destroy a base is to capture the letter (s) in 1 min (plus 1 min per each letter has the base), to capture the letter you need X people in the letter or the counter does not start capturing (thus eliminating the stalker infiltrator).

    With this you have a minimal implementation in time and resources by the company and a big change in gameplay, building a base would be more fun and they have a purpose to create and destroy them.
  17. Wolfuprising

    This seems sustainable to a degree and would be great… if a game this old and complicatedly developed could support it. But that would take more than a few big patches to deliver and balance before other aspects of the game that are affected end up pushing more of the playerbase away. Every time the devs decide on a shift in meta, more problems are created every week than the devs can solve in a month, and with that in mind this game is all ready losing a lot of long time vets I know at the rate we’re going due to performance- and faction-related issues that oughta be worked on before introducing potentially very-gamebreaking content or content that just won’t be used due to over-restriction
  18. Wolfuprising

    I like building in this game despite all its many… MANY flaws, but I don’t believe construction was really a priority over making a more healthy/subtly-survivable environment for solo play, as well as smaller scale outfits that aren’t solo-fits…

    That said, since this is happening anyway, I’d suggest making any new construction items ***architecturally*** modular. I don’t just mean that in the sense that they already are modular, I mean *make them connectable* and sealable at any angle - make them easier to put next to one another, perhaps even able to snap together at the edges, yanno? And don’t design them in ways that infantry can easily exploit — the bunker for example: Sure, it looks cool and it works from the inside (when there’s a shield module), but functionally, it’s useless! It makes an otherwise secure base worse-off. In fact, it’s an unspoken rule in construction nowadays that you never place a bunker if you want a secure base. 1. It can't be integrated into the rest of the base perimeter, 2. Getting inside and over it is too easy for attackers, and 3. Cloakers can easily access the terminal and use it to resupply the same cortium bombs that will demolish your base in minutes while you’re away. Just never place a bunker, they do more harm than good.

    There are other construction items like the bunker too, and that could be so much better if the architecture of the construction items was inspired *firstly* by strategic thinking and *lastly* by creative/artistic thinking - no offense to the original designer in that regard tho, because really, the bunker does look cool aF… it’s just not usable in the planetside meta.

    So to sum it all up, Modularity, Connectability, and ideally, the ability to snap-together buildings and walls and what-not… MUST HAVES!!!
    • Up x 1
  19. OSruinedPS1

    No, we have to let any random passerby drain your silo by putting down garbage that messes up your well planned design, in the middle of a battle. "Oh boy a bunker, thanks guy."
    • Up x 1
  20. 4EMODAN

    make it so that the wrecked tanks remain on the battlefield for a while and the ants can dismantle them into cortium.
    This will bring interesting gameplay, where a wrecked tank will become a cover for infantry and other equipment.
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