[Suggestion] Construction Revamp Suggestions & Ideas

With all of the recent updates, I feel like the Construction system has been pushed off to the side. I just wanted to throw down a list of things that I'd like to see changed or implemented in one big long list, whether anyone agrees with my opinions or ideas, or not.

1. Geography: If there is no intended or immediate update planned for the construction system, considering the geographic changes to the continents, modifying geography by itself is one of the easiest ways to improve construction overall. Areas like the valley between T.I. and Crown, or the ramps leading up to Auraxis Firearms ; I would encourage the devs to consider leveling out some of these areas to make for cleaner base building and give incentive to build in certain areas as it makes linking walls and putting all modules down with ease. Maybe throw some eye candy like crates and other random goodies in these flattened, leveled areas to give them that "fire base" kind of look.
2. Cortium Withdrawl: ANTs and Construction go together. ANTs, like the Colossus, use cortium for their Stealth, Turbo, and Barrier. While harvesting is fine and dandy, long term storage in one place makes ease of access more efficient for those people that like to use the ANT offensively. A module or a secondary auxillary storage silo of some kind that allowed withdrawal would not only increase overall storage capacity of the base, but would make a base useful when it comes to keeping vehicles supplied. Cortium withdrawal could be worth no XP. But I'm not sure how the devs would handle deposit XP.
3. Routers: Some people are for them, some are against them. I have no problem with the current system whatsoever. I wanted to try incorporating Routers to be spawned from the ANT deployment terminal, with cortium drain for that router tied to the vehicle. If the ANT explodes, or runs out of cortium, the router stops working. This gives incentive for ANTs to be used during most major battles, be useful, and since they don't share the same deployment zones as sundies, they are inevitably further away than most sundies would usually be. And for those sundies that stay parked in the back, the ANT provides another gun platform for defending against armor that probably wouldn't otherwise be in the fight.
4. Jump Pads & Lifts: I would like to see both jump pads and lifts added. I think the with the pads only launching some conservative distance, say 100m, it could add something fun to the construction system. Lifts being the same way. It gives Drifter LA's a chance to get some height, or maybe grant access to a tree or cliff so infantry can get to some unique places. --- I just thought these would be cool.
5. "The Pantheon": Let's face it, most of us at some point use the vehicle garage for something other than a garage. And while it's arguable whether the garage provides better protection for mods than strategic placement out in the open with turret cover, we can't argue that most of us never use it for parking vehicles in. I would like to see some kind of super structure with ample HP to house the pain spire, spawn tube, rep, shield, and alarm module that most people try to squeeze into a garage. I could care less what it looks like, but the Pantheon came to mind as something that might be able to fit all of the mods in the nice circle around the pain spire, with their own designated slot.
6. My Silo is and Eskimo: Please give him an igloo. Or a hat. Some kind of armored structure with an open face where the terminal is that armor can still fire into ; the silo really does need some kind of protection to give builders access to places that just aren't very strategic otherwise because of silo exposure.
7. The Bunker: Does anyone really use the bunker? It's bulky, clunky, nothing fits or butts up well against it. The terminal is infiltrator fodder. I would like to see the bunker reworked to be more useful. Sometimes the terminal is wonderful to have, but the size of the bunker itself doesn't fit right. I would prefer to see the girth of the bunker shrunk and the height increased to be more like a tower, or actually be turned into a miniature Rook tower. Anything is better than what it is now.
8. Cortium Harvest Time: Even with membership, it's slow. Am I the only one that thinks harvest time is too slow?
9. Blast Walls: I'd personally like to have 3 blast walls rather than 2 for solo building. It's the same amount as the regular rampart or solid walls. That third wall would come in handy.

There are little things that a lot of us complain about. The infantry tower and the bunker could be modified to be able to squeeze walls next to them without leaving gaps. That would be really nice. A completely solid blast wall without the stair openings would also be useful. For me, when an alert starts, if I choose to build to try an impact that alert, I try to be set up within 20 minutes for a full base so I can go do other things. I think fixing the geography with the dimensions of the construction items in mind would give more people incentive to set up bases that are actually useful, especially in those predetermined, fixed locations, so we can all stop wasting our time.

I've seen what's been done to Esamir... I know I'm not asking for too much for just a few 200m x 200m plots of flat ground here and there to throw a block party on. Bastion AA bases and retreat points for Colossus tanks were also considered. Having a large space that is modular makes it simple and the bases built on them useful, so they can support the air and armor. Have the perfect spots for the 2 silos within those build zones marked for optimum placement to make it easy for new builders. Maybe a pre-made "fill in the blank" system where these areas have natural defenses or towers, and the builders just need to squeeze in the walls and other mods to complete it.

My biggest gripe with construction does have to be how restrictive the placement is currently. It can be difficult enough working around the no-build areas without the slight incline, rock that clips underground or bit of rubble making it impossible to set your pieces down. I would like more forgiveness with clipping into structures outside the no-build areas as well, being able to reclaim a lone building that would be little other than eye candy otherwise would be nice. Something that didn't make your list that we desperately need though is an overlay to the map to display the current no-build zones and potential cortium spawns, so that we can see what spots are viable

I feel the same way. The height of structures has always been a problem, or getting walls to sit right on inclines horizontal to the grade, which is impossible with the current system. That's why I think geography is an easy fix. Giving builders level ground to build on solves most of the problems with minimal effort in my mind. I also respect the fact that the devs don't want bases to be invincible as well, but they aren't. Even if walls were all closed up, gaps filled, there is always a way to beat a base without defenders. Especially keeping in mind the turret AI nerf from last year. --- Let's not forget Nightshade? That stupid knife... And cortium bombs, enemy artillery, a random armor column, a bored LA with lots of nanites and a need for ribbons. -_-

With the Mission system introduced, I wanted to really push for level ground. I like the idea of a "fill in the blank" kind of system where structures like the silo and artillery have designated places to go. Walls to fill in gaps between towers, vehicle shields, etc. The mission could be to "Complete" the "fire base" or something. Useful for setting up a defensive position and teaching the construction system as a tutorial perhaps. Put them at strategic locations and bring the builders to centralized locations so there aren't random useless bases (not counting air pads) scattered everywhere, and ANTs all fighting over cortium. I've probably spent more hours doing construction than most people in this game, and there is never any unity or solidarity among the builders. I assumed there were leftovers from the PS:A flop. That would be a good way to incorporate buildings like you suggested. I've always wished I could put mods inside of buildings, like the small shack at Berjess.

Not having the build zones on the main map is something that took getting used to, but it's definitely a feature that should be added. Relying on the mini-map is a pain, however it's not so hard to memorize all of the best build spots. The cortium spawns take awhile to memorize as well. Not the end of the world though.

With the Bunker I think a lot of the structures in general in the game need a solid redesign, so many just feel slap dash, or they just haven't changed from the useless box they are since launch.

And with a geography change they could design small outposts to be construction fun towns instead of nightmare spawn farms.

I agree 100%

This is exactly what I've always envisioned in my head, the 'fun towns.'. The buildings around Sunken Relay are a good example of a place where mods can be placed indoors. The steel flooring is what keeps us from being able to do this since the mods won't clip through them. I don't think that's very hard for them to modify whatsoever: just make the buildings have flat dirt floors and the problem is solved.

It could be something as simple as a double stack with the sundy garage addition on it, closed in on one side, so the silo could be placed in the garage area. Mods indoors. Maybe add a vehicle shield to the doors of the main spawn building when a module is present. They could modify an Amp station wall platform so that only the catwalks remain of the walls themselves, leave the towers in place, and the lower parts of the base them just need to be filled with player built walls to close them up. Or just basic walls, like those around Waterson's Redemption, with the lifts and infantry nests, and a few places here and there that need to be filled in.. --- There are plenty of good ideas.

More random ideas.

The square steel floors that are used for balconies and other walkways throughout PS2 are modular, and have multiple variations from railing to small walls. The A-point scaffolding and platform around J908 is a good example of this. The A-point at Nason's Defiance is a good example of a variation with a solid wall. These platforms, if they were large enough to build on and allows modules to be placed on them, scattered about, would make great construction platforms in strategic areas, with maybe some kind of modification system using the Cortium to make a square platform a platform with a hand rail, solid wall, rampart-type wall, etc, and allowing the builder to modify or upgrade the tile would give some flexibility to the base building system and allow a little bit more creativity.

I think if they just reduced the No-Build zones along the entire capping Lattice by 40% ... they could then put some real restrictions on Routers finally such as requiring the same Tether range from its Spire that say... an Orbital also deploys at.

Infact they also could cause the placed router to stop functioning should the Spire itself be destroyed. (even a single competent person can usually accomplish this rather quickly with a stock Valkyrie / Harasser and some kind of ordinance)

The only other thing I can think of that we never talk about, is finding some other uses for the Glaive. Because it really needs some .. either some kind of alternative firing mode that ignores No-Builds and buffs Friendlies, or has some kind of minor impact on the functionality of SpawnRooms, teleporters, & Sundies

they actually did change the Pillbox recently.... but they changed it for the worse by having the collision boxes inside of it take up even more space and now we're lucky if we can even squeeze 2 modules right near the doorway in it

The routers are fine as they are as long as it's an organized squad or platoon using them, IMO. Transport has always been my biggest peeve solo, to the point I don't even try to bring routers to fights anymore without support (as it should be, I guess). However, I think that's a really cool idea regarding the tether. I'm sure you've dropped a router plenty of times just to have some cheesy infil storm through the zerg and take the router out. Most of the time they're not that hard to kill for someone that knows what they're doing. I think the biggest complaint is when outfits are dropping on fights with multiple routers. Organized platoons will usually have 2 or 3 at a time when they use them. --- Router spam is a problem every once in a blue moon.

The size of the no build zones has been something that I myself and others have griped out. I understand why the zones are so big ; because they don't want construction to interfere with the base fights. Some of the build zones are larger than others, and reducing everything would allow base turrets to be placed close enough to effectively plink a spawn room or a cap point for more than a handful of bases.

I believe the dev that originally worked on all of the construction left the company, probably well before the buy-out. A few people have told me that dev said the construction system wasn't complete. I guess this was right after the Hives were removed. So we know that this is an aspect of the game that probably hasn't been looked at for a very long time, and the entire system is unfinished.

Thanks for the input! Rarely does anyone advocate for construction in PS2. I understand the company is small now, and the devs probably don't have the resources to sink hundreds and hundreds of hours into development for a part of the game that is neglected by most regular infantry players (outside of router & air bases). I'd just like to keep pushing for some simple QOL changes that won't waste DB's time and resources to the point that it's a burden on them.

No one wants to play Minecraft. --- Rust, maybe... Trap base??? **sarcasm** --- And no one wants to haphazardly slap down a bunch of walls and structures that look like they were placed by a 2-year old with a Lincoln log set either, simply because the terrain in most places doesn't allow for symmetrical placement of modules. With the introduction of Bastions and Colossus, having some real fortified construction points between bases would do nothing but good for the armor game. I don't remember the last time I saw a squad actively using cortium and bases to spam light armor. It doesn't happen as much as I would expect it to. Bases have the capability of controlling armor fights if only more people would collectively use them to zerg.

Construction is a good way to earn certs with little effort. It's great for people that are multi-tasking doing other things and still want to contribute to the game but may not have the time to do other things. I'm not saying everyone should play PS2 at work, but if you do .... There are also the social factors, and plenty of nights when I do builder squads, we just have a good time, shoot the shyte, and meander about. It's something relaxing to do in game for people that want to take a breather, and it gives everyone a chance to talk to each other outside of yelling commands or taking orders. Love standing around that water cooler that is the cortium silo.

Speaking of no build zones, they were put there to stop changing bases from their original layout right? But their shape is always circular and diameter can be absurdly large. Also there are a lot of places where I've personnaly put down structures that caused trouble for friendly tanks like in the middle of the road and the poor guys couldn't drive offroad well they had to waste a good a minute to maneuver around it.
The devs need to replace the no build zone circles with a no build zone texture that covers the entire map, then you can lay the no build zone on roads too and define it more clearly instead.

AV turret is the only thing that's even marginally effective against infantry beyond a 75m range and even then it takes something like 4 or 5 splash hits to actually kill 'em. So I don't accept that explanation from the Devs, they weren't telling the whole story there. It's a real feast or famine turret and it HAS to be manually manned to even pose a deterrent to them. But this is also why I've said plenty of times... that it should get its own special resistance to tank shells but then become weaker to infantry Rockets/Tools

There are a few additions I thought I would drop here since we already have a construction post going:

• A map overlay of the no-build zone and potential cortium locations
• Some means of angling certain pieces, or more forgiving collision detection points
• Greater collision tolerance for the bits of rock hidden underground
• Some method of removing terminals from bunkers, because it is currently a dead piece in my lineup. No builder wants a cortium bomb rush or MAX suit going ham in the middle of the base.

As a last piece suggestion, I would like something that could provide an AOE darklight effect to help counter those people who enjoy camping the lone builders out there. Probably controversial, but it can be a pain in the rear getting rushed by a class that has great 1v1 potential and can carry cortium bombs. Personally I feel the bombs put too much power in the hands of infantry, but that seems to be the angle things are currently taking anyways.

Yeah, actually placing the buildings is a huge pain the ***. I've found some places where it's not too bad, but they are rare. There are a lot of good suggestions here. I doubt the game's engine could handle and of the significant landscaping that would go into making a real forward operating base, so some more tolerance one building placement would be a decent compromise for "a couple troops with some shovels could have leveled that ground". The vehicle pad is the worst offender.

A designed way to integrate modules into buildings should have been implemented years ago, rather than the gimmicky "place your buildings low enough to have a dirt floor" method currently employed.

If the bunker didn't come with the infantry console, I might put more effort into figuring out how to make it usable, but right now, when attacking a PMB, I'm inclined to say "Oh the poor fools! They made a bunker! Stand by for router folks."

It's not that the engine can't handle it ; look at the entire rework of Esamir's geography ; they can do geographical changes with ease. The dilemma usually boils down to the server having to render objects. I'm not asking for more modules and walls and things that have to be rendered by the server. I'm simply asking for some flat ground with architecture and aesthetics that make it look as if the location was designed to have a player made base on it. That's not really something that would adversely affect server load.

A lot of the best build areas are butted up next to cliffs and hills. Having some kind of scaffolding like at the Impact crater that eases it's way into a cliff edge, or just doing the same with the landscaping and using the steel walls as a retaining wall --- or natural rock for that matter --- would be extremely easy for them to do. A platform, another happy little dirt road. Go Bob Ross on it. Surely that's not too much to ask from the world designer(s)?

I'm not big on the lore either, or any kind of PS2 RP. However those guys that say that the construction isn't meant to be 'Minecraft' could or should at least agree that the system should at least try to be integrated into the story. I think a player should see a player made base and think to themselves, "This is supposed to be here." Rather than it just being a mish-mash of modules and walls thrown out in the middle of the wilderness.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of cool places to build off of the beaten path, but those rarely see much action and are the favorite spots of the classic air & router bases.

Oh, I didn't mean that the game can't handle the devs leveling things out, obviously it can, I meant that it would handle players changing the terrain, thus the need to change the building tolerances to imagine that players are doing some landscaping.

I've been voting with my wallet for 2 years now... Still no quality-of-live changes to the construction system.

Sometimes I wonder why do I even bother with constructing anything other than a silo, router and air terminal in the most desolated areas of the map.

The pillbox is probably the only building that's actually useful. Placing things in it is a real chore though. But at least it can be done...

We

I avoid the pill box simply because it's impossible to get pain spire coverage in the corners. I still use the garage for that most of the time. When I have multiple builders a lot of times I'll just place the tube out in the open, but out of LOS of tanks with a turret covering it. There are a few designs that eliminate most of the blind spots.

The pillbox design itself isn't all that bad. If it was doubled in size with a hole in the roof to fit a pain spire in it with a shield over the front door, it would work just fine for a spawn building.

I want them to just let us build anywhere.
So long as 1 one of locators is touching a piece of ground, let it be built.
No block out areas.
Build a base right next to the base.

No spacial limites.

Build 3 orbital strikes in the one base.
Let it go crazy, lets have mega bases.

Maybe even add in a new building "Cortium Miner"... maybe make it cost, 40k. Once it is built, the silo no longer drains, it just slowly adds cortium to the base.

LET THERE BE MEGA BASES OF MADNESS! WIth 10 anti vehicle turrets, etc etc.. get rid of the limitations.

Could be fun!

Frostbite here is a good example of what I'd really like to see. Just some small platforms like that that modules can actually be placed on.




The walkways around Waterson's here are another good example.



Easy enough to make some unique and complex creative designs, anywhere from a flat surface like the Frostbite, to the walkways around Waterson's, to a multi-story structure where rampart or flat walls could fill in the perimeter with stairs. (Anyone who has built bases in games like Rust or Ark or Atlas could appreciate designs like these.)

The problem with construction is that it's not set up to be rewarding right now and can't really be rewarded.

Any action in the game warrants some kind of reward for doing it. This can be expressed in the time spend to perform the task, the skill required to do it and the design of what it's supposed to do.
Construction takes a lot of time to do compared to other tasks like pulling a vehicle and going to town with it. Construction is not incredibly skillful and it's design is to be a static base. This makes it almost impossible to properly reward players for their actions. By the time the reward is big enough for the time and effort you put in within the limited design the PMB is nigh invulnerable. There are also dozens of failstates that make PMB's useless once you hit one. From a vehicle that levels your base to the fight simply leaving your PMB stranded too far from a defensive line to be useful.


The solutions aren't in adding things like Cortium withdrawal or adding Jumppads, but through rigorously changing how bases function.

1. Make bases fast to build.
   • After collecting resources a base should be quickly build and operational to do whatever it's designed to do. You could add limitations so that it becomes expensive and time consuming after reaching a certain base size, but before that a PMB should simply be a quick build that is just as easily abandoned as it is erected.
   • Options to make it faster is making sure the player doesn't need to return to the silo after placing every item, and having access to a more birds-eye view of the surroundings.
2. Redesign PMB functions.
   • Right now PMB's aren't really used for anything. They aren't very useful for roadblocks (and a few of the places where they could be were removed on Esamir for example), they lose their function if a fight passes them by and aside from dropping OS's or a Router they aren't really doing anything in the game.
   • Functions could easily include:
     • Generation of special items that modify other fights. Examples are protective deployables for near your Sunderer or a capture point, special vehicle production (Colossus available for non-outfits for example), faction-wide drop-pod beacon using Sunderer rules etc.
     • Transportation hub. Being able to provide teleportation across a continent for players and vehicles to other transportation hub PMB's, making it possible to add limitations to redeploy. Additionally as transportation hub the availability of free weaponless Flashes and unarmed Valkyries could help transport players from the PMB to the actual fights they try to reach. In conjunction with the above point it could also generate a local teleporter that someone can pick up and drop in a certain radius of the PMB, allowing players to teleport directly from the PMB to the deployed item to quickly reach a fight.
     • special rules for capturing. For example being able to generate a lattice-link to nearby bases. Making PMB's modify a local base by providing special protections like powering up a facility-related Citadel shield. Or the PMB providing offensive items to attack a facility.
3. Redesign PMB layouts.
   • Currently players are encouraged to build death-pits rather than a base people want to fight in. Instead construction should be build in a way that encourages players to build fun bases to fight in. Examples:
     • Instead of surrounding bases with walls, you build structures like those found in facilities that can be upgraded with PMB items inside. Since these structures are designed to be fought in and around they are more inviting to attack. Such buildings can have a weakspot for vehicles to attack from the outside and a weakspot inside for infantry to attack, and the PMB builder will be encouraged to protect those rather than make the entire base impregnable. These buildings would be upgradeable to give them their functions inside your base, like a teleport building or a building with airpads and communications allowing you to build aircraft.
     • You build special buildings that generate the things you want in your PMB from point 2. These buildings could be constructed in components, and it's up to the player where he places these components. Each component is large enough that encircling it is tough, and they function similar to current buildings in allowing players to fight inside and around them.

Does this sound like a heavy redesign? Yes. Is it necessary? Absolutely. Current PMB design is impossible to make enjoyable for both the builder and the attacker at the same time, on top of that PMB design has too many ways it just falls flat without doing anything for the builder other than be destroyed or no longer useful. It fits into PS2 like having a mini-game of Tic-tac-toe.