Hi,
Firstly devs... Great game so far!
Below is my 2 cents on the game at it's current state including some suggestions/ideas for thought
2v2: I don't think you'll find a single person currently playing who wouldn't like the option for a slightly larger player limit 2v2 for example. So I don't think demand for that will be an issue as was suggested in the stream yesterday, and surely it can only help with player retention?
Obviously you guys are aiming for this game to be somewhat competitive (leaderboards etc), so below are (in my opinion) some fundamentals that I believe would aid in moving further towards that goal (Just Suggestions, if you've already decided against these points, I would love to hear why)
This game currently lacks the ability to effectively micro-manage units. (As a veteran SC player, I've many-a-time won matches/battles against superior armies purely through effective micro)
The attack move you mentioned in another thread as a planned release helps somewhat with this. But the basics such as a button to stop the current action (usually referred to just as "stop" in every RTS since AOE.) are essential in Ranged vs Melee combat or any encounter. Google "Counter-stepping" for this one (can also be achieved with Attack-move, but not as effectively with high attack speed weapons) Just been told that this is already sort of implemented, just hoping for the half-second delay after to be cut-out (on-stop -> recalculate selected unit's targets? )
The micro-ability of players is what sets them apart at higher skill divisions/leagues and is what will keep those players playing this game
If anyone isn't quite sure about the significance of even the "stop" button, I don't mind making a quick vid demonstrating it (although I'm sure there's hundreds already on youtube though amongst the thousands of SC2 micro tutorials).
Question for thought:
1) Have you ever considered making the unit's have collision boxes (so they can't merge onto one spot and instead have to move around current units to fire. Like in SC2 for example (and many other RTSs) as opposed to having 30 drones occupy the same 1x1 metre squared on the floor. This again changes the gameplay tactics to incorporate micromanagement . One such example is the 'arc' in SC2 with picture below. In the situation below, the blue guy with nearly half the numbers is almost certainly going to either win the fight or at least kill 85% of the Reds
2)Increasing Agro Range (Not attack range)
I've been trying to work out why the units felt so "dumb" around combat. I've finally narrowed it down. Their agro range seems to be near on exactly Very close to the same as their maximum fireing range.
This results in my units attacking one unit then completely ignoring the unit behind it upon killing the first and I find I'm always having to move units forward. The expanded Agro range seems like a common trait amongst other RTSs. Have you guys considered it here?