I know this is treading on sacred ground for many of you who loved PS1 but hear me out please. What is a NTU? In short, a vehicle which brings resources to your bases. Each time you spawn a vehicle, respawn, etc, etc, you use energy. A common retort these days is "BUT I DONT WANT TO DRIVE A STUPID TRUCK!" I hear you but what if there were two different types of NTUs? I'm going to bring in some elements of MOBAs here in terms of "creep" versions of NTUs. Before you flip out and go "I DO NOT WANT NPCs" I am not suggesting they'd have a direct impact on combat. With that out of the way... So what's the difference? Automated NTU The purpose of the ANTU is to create a living lattice link, instead of watching lines draw you see their destinations and locations. Less artificial lines and more immersive way of seeing what is going on and where the battle lines are. It would carry less resources than a manned NTU. Create battles because of being a persistent escort mission. Ambush opportunities since the "trade route" would be scripted. Even though not player controlled this could also create new battle lines when the enemy moves in to cut you off. Additionally, it would stop wayward bases from being drained out by ghostcappers but a determined offence would still break it. Manned NTU A tougher meaner version. Essentially armed like a sunderer to prevent it being utterly useless once it has brought its cargo. Carry more resources than the ANTU Player-driven routes and providing a player made meta of when/where/how. - I believe these two version would create a battlefield where those who want to take an active role in changing the flow of a battle can do so(and have a larger impact), while others can protect/attack the most predictable routes. Perhaps even a new kind of meta of attack/ambush/active NTU delivery. Perhaps even more importantly, when you see battles going on in several places then perhaps you would rather spawn a vehicle than redeploy all over the map. Indeed, it would make vehicles have a VERY important job on the battlefield.
Wouldn't aircraft be the most efficient and lethal at disrupting & protecting these things? Wouldn't the low-pop side(s) be less capable of defending these, making the overpopped side(s) able to directly prevent their opponents from even spawning & using vehicles outside the warpgate? Let alone be able to use more Manned NTU, allowing them a greater advantage? - Other than that: Clever concept.
If that is the case, I think a lot of today's pilots would love the challenge and duels for supremacy over the skies. Indeed, it would turn the entire map into a flight zone. Also, if too much air gets present, this might just prompt people to roll in with skyguards or other stuff. Yeah, I can see that but sadly this is more or less a fundamental problem of any open world game but that said, I remain optimistic of what could happen if the vehicle game turns more interesting and rather than being mercilessly pounded into the spawn room, you do at least get some battles. For instance, guerrilla warfare and such.... But yeah, the zerg gotta zerg.
How is an NPC or sundy a challenge? Unless it's more rewarding EXP wise, than destroying infantry and vehicles across the map, it won't be fought over. They'll just avoid each other, the odd times they do it. yeah Guerrilla warfare would be interesting. The problem is making it possible without making it the only way to fight.
I meant other pilots. While some may be tempted to go after easy pickings, most long for a way to impact the battle in a real way. Also, when you directly affect the flow of battle most outfits will find a way to deal with you but other than that, maybe make it so they are tougher the closer they are to the warp gate, like NANITE SHIELD OF AWESOME to prevent easy mode gank squads simply operating far behind enemy lines. This could be on a progressive curve based on the number of bases too.
Well being capable of taking out the ability to spawn, and create vehicles, faster than anything on the ground... Is more than impacting really - let alone in all likely hood, manned NPCs would be literally screwed unless they are on the overpopped side. An ESF let alone Liberator can already dominate a battle, until aircraft have destroyed enough people that dozens of skyguards appear. * But really, this could maybe add the logistics some people like, while making it not-as-easily exploited by zergs? Perhaps make the NPCs hold the Lion's share of energy, with a limited backup underground line akin to an SCU on the bases? (aka your concept, with a backup system, so aircraft can't determine the entire ground game without any other method to combat it) Only available to bases not on the border, and is incredibly small in energy rates, so underpopped are not literally screwed if the enemy can simply field more aircraft. (Border, meaning bases with direct lattice links to hostile Hexes)
I actually had in mind variable speed railway systems that ran between the bases. Which players could knock out at either the Train or the Track level. ESFs are terrible vs. ANTs. And rightly so: otherwise ESFs would snowman-hunt the ANTs into extinction. ANTs have very high resist rates to ESFs and ANTs can cloak up and be very hard to track. Even if Libs are good at killing ANTs, the Libs themselves are asking for trouble by doing G2A inside enemy zones where enemy Air can more readily gang up and kill them away from their own support. Depends how it was done. Good way to ensure Overpop would not be an advantage: make the NTU be the baggage train support. With Overpop, they have to expand that support over more land, farther from their Warpgate, and make it bigger because they have more to support. So they are much more vulnerable to having that baggage infrastructure compromised. And the NTU becomes more of a "tax on being big" and less a "bigger badder weapon" they can use to multiply their power level with.
Id love a new NTU silo at each base and the requirement to fill it. O and id personaly be fine with driving the thing, i dont have ADHD i dont need to shoot constantly. BTW, NTU stands for 'Nanite Technology Units'. It is what the 'nanites' were actually called. It was the ANT - Advanced Nanite Transport that transported the NTU. So the NTU was the bases resource that it used to create vehicles and equipment, spawns players, and of course power the base. I suppose we could change it to mean 'Nanite Transport Unit', allowing us to keep some original flair. But the big thing about the NTU in ps1 was when it ran out the base became neutral, creating the ability to seige your opponents until you win. Since the bases in ps1 were so defensible (for the most part) sieging was a valuable tactic often used. Without this mechanic and the need for it i dont think it would be as good but it would still be nice for bases to stop spawning troops or creating vehicles because it ran out of NTU. Small excert of PS1 in-game lore: Nanites make up what we know as Warpgate Energy. It is through these particles and the way they flow through the gates that everything within Auraxis is sustained, created, and recreated. By interpreting these energy flows, Empire scientists are able to make equipment, vehicles, structures, and even humans appear and dissappear like magic. No one really knows what they are, only that we can manipulate them to our own ends.
I would nothing more than to get some of the old wisdom in as well. My attempt here is not stray too far from what is possible within the current PS2 yet still create more visceral impact on the battlefield. Consider it more a template than suggestion.
