Goonhub
04-06-2024, 01:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-06-2024, 01:17 AM by Kotomata. Edited 1 time in total.)
i don't really feel knowledgeable enough about the current state of flock balance to suggest anything particularly impactful so instead i have decided to tally up some things that i feel could be good ideas maybe (most of these arent going to be 100% thought out, just throwing stuff and seeing what sticks)
1: flockmind RTS commanding should be more robust, drones should be able to do tasks 'continually', e.g. set them on a cage and theyll keep repairing it, set them on a tealprint and they'll seek out more resources to add to it until its finished, maybe a sort of 'guard' setting which prevents them from going too far from a designated tile?
im assuming flockdrones automatically seek out and gather resources but if they dont thatd be a great thing to be able to tell them to do
essentially I read the flockmind wiki and the RTS command options listed there seemed a bit lackluster
2: repair station building? i'm not entirely sold on this myself but a structure that automatically repairs drones and (especially) cages could be very useful
3: maybe give flock back their guaranteed 1 trace? flocktraces are honestly a very important aspect of flockmind gameplay 'cause theres just so much to do and flockdrone ai is kind of terrible, having a starter trace would give new flockminds a friend to talk to and bounce ideas off of as well as a little extra help in early drone micro (which is usually the most difficult part of flock if you get spotted early)
4: make flock quieter? it seems weird to me that flock are way brighter and louder than their blob counterpart considering flock are much weaker than blob early on (and have less 'loud' powers like absorption and direct melee attacks)
also while thematically it makes sense for silicons to 'hear' flock im not really sold that it's a good balance idea, especially since its kind of a punishment for communication between flock players, something you would never really expect to get punished for and can't prevent traces from doing
5: give drones more 'inventory', it'd be a massive QoL improvement if flockdrones had like 1 or 2 more queue slots for item dissolution, as it stands currently you have to constantly pick up new items and its kind of annoying (though i understand if it might be too strong to give more slots)
6: reduce building resource cost/build time: in my opinion one of the defining features of flock is the ability to RTS base build structures, so its a shame that for most of your flock run, building drones will generally be cheaper and more efficient (drones are way more versatile and actively keep you alive), and when drones get really expensive, you probably have enough to just steamroll the crew anyway
imo collectors should drop down massively, they're your only alternative for compute generation aside from grabbing terminals so them being so expensive is a serious drag on any playstyle that isnt just rush bridge; 100 resources seems like it'd be a fair amount
everything else is more balanced in my eyes, maybe just a sweeping 25 cost reduction plus faster building would be enough to push flock more into a base building direction
thats about everything i have off the top of my head, i will probably read replies but dont expect responses, i mostly wanted to throw some ideas out and encourage a community discussion
oh i almost completely forgot but flock UI should probably get a lookover, 'in world' abilities like radio stun burst should be colored differently than stuff like the control panel and place tealprint (also maybe move tealprint button closer to designate tile buttons? which should also be colored differently???) basically its all the same shade of teal which really hurts readability, even as someone who has played flock multiple times i STILL struggle to navigate the massive button line
1: flockmind RTS commanding should be more robust, drones should be able to do tasks 'continually', e.g. set them on a cage and theyll keep repairing it, set them on a tealprint and they'll seek out more resources to add to it until its finished, maybe a sort of 'guard' setting which prevents them from going too far from a designated tile?
im assuming flockdrones automatically seek out and gather resources but if they dont thatd be a great thing to be able to tell them to do
essentially I read the flockmind wiki and the RTS command options listed there seemed a bit lackluster
2: repair station building? i'm not entirely sold on this myself but a structure that automatically repairs drones and (especially) cages could be very useful
3: maybe give flock back their guaranteed 1 trace? flocktraces are honestly a very important aspect of flockmind gameplay 'cause theres just so much to do and flockdrone ai is kind of terrible, having a starter trace would give new flockminds a friend to talk to and bounce ideas off of as well as a little extra help in early drone micro (which is usually the most difficult part of flock if you get spotted early)
4: make flock quieter? it seems weird to me that flock are way brighter and louder than their blob counterpart considering flock are much weaker than blob early on (and have less 'loud' powers like absorption and direct melee attacks)
also while thematically it makes sense for silicons to 'hear' flock im not really sold that it's a good balance idea, especially since its kind of a punishment for communication between flock players, something you would never really expect to get punished for and can't prevent traces from doing
5: give drones more 'inventory', it'd be a massive QoL improvement if flockdrones had like 1 or 2 more queue slots for item dissolution, as it stands currently you have to constantly pick up new items and its kind of annoying (though i understand if it might be too strong to give more slots)
6: reduce building resource cost/build time: in my opinion one of the defining features of flock is the ability to RTS base build structures, so its a shame that for most of your flock run, building drones will generally be cheaper and more efficient (drones are way more versatile and actively keep you alive), and when drones get really expensive, you probably have enough to just steamroll the crew anyway
imo collectors should drop down massively, they're your only alternative for compute generation aside from grabbing terminals so them being so expensive is a serious drag on any playstyle that isnt just rush bridge; 100 resources seems like it'd be a fair amount
everything else is more balanced in my eyes, maybe just a sweeping 25 cost reduction plus faster building would be enough to push flock more into a base building direction
thats about everything i have off the top of my head, i will probably read replies but dont expect responses, i mostly wanted to throw some ideas out and encourage a community discussion
oh i almost completely forgot but flock UI should probably get a lookover, 'in world' abilities like radio stun burst should be colored differently than stuff like the control panel and place tealprint (also maybe move tealprint button closer to designate tile buttons? which should also be colored differently???) basically its all the same shade of teal which really hurts readability, even as someone who has played flock multiple times i STILL struggle to navigate the massive button line