Morganth
23-06-05, 13:39
Right, I was bored so I decided to redesign Cycrow using ideas that many people in the community have put forward. I won't name who's ideas they were, because I am not entirely sure myself, however I am not claiming them to be my own. I am just applying them to how I think a real outpost should be, as it may combat ninjaing but at the same time make outposts more than just a hackscreen. All of the concepts below can be applied to other outposts, but I'd like to see people's views before I start on another :p
The edited images (yes I know they are crap) are attached below, so it would probably help if you referred to them whilst reading through, otherwise you'll just think I'm mad :p I've also posted my thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of my ideas, so that I can at least get a go of flaming myself :lol:
The Outpost
Area of outpost increased (although it may be a little too spacious in mine, so it could be shrunk a little)
Outpost is classed as a key outpost, which allows it to have a larger number of paid guards, but with a higher upkeep cost. There would only be a few of these on the map, so that not every OP becomes a fortress :rolleyes:
Security Features added (see below)
Buildings rearranged (see below)
Hack Sequence Altered (see below)
Security Features
The gaps in the sexy green walls indicate entrances, possibly with gates that require hacking to get into (and cost to be setup). Or once open, the gates would stay open until say an hour after the 4th hack is complete, so that whoever lost the OP has a chance to come back before the new owners can refortify the OP.
The red dots on the attached picture indicate possible locations of guards. These guards would have to be paid for out of the clan bank, and have a daily upkeep cost otherwise they despawn. They would only need to be 60/60 guards (Trader Union probably) that are controlled by the OPs security settings, but hard enough that they present a threat to attackers and can't be levelled off of. The guards should also have their aggro range shorten for things above them, allowing people to fly in and drop the attackers in the outpost and attack from within.
Turrets, guards, gates and other security measures are controlled by the Security Point (labelled 1 on the other picture). The Security Point is regarded as the second hack for taking an outpost, once hacked, the respawn timers on dead guards will be increased sufficiently to make a difference and turrets can not be placed after the 2nd hack is complete. However, if you hack the terminal before the 1st layer is down, all security measures are disabled for 5 mins while the systems reconfigures (this means guards won't respawn in this time, turrets stop attacking, and the gates are opened).
If any security measure is either hacked or destroyed (whichever is relevant to its type), a notice is shouted on the owning clan's chat. If one of the guards aggros onto someone/thing, then it will only announce a problem if it gets killed by a player (so you can have a spy stealth in, disable the security and allow people to get in).
Cycrow's Establishments
Refer to the attached picture please :)
Building 1 : The Security Point, as explained above
Building 2: The Hack Room, we should all know what this is by now
Building 3: The UG, much firmer model that doesn't allow for clipping, or for people to pass behind it. Placed out more in the open to allow the defenders more room to manouver past AoE when they zone up.
Building 4: The GoGo, because I don't like running across the OP to get to it :p
Building 5: YO's, see Building 2 :D
Building 6: That random building that is currently next to the UG needs a home. This will need clipping reinforcement to stop people sliding through it.
The Hack Sequence
Layer 1 : This occurs at the hack term, and allows full access to the security point.
Layer 2 : The Security Point must be hacked in order to allow for the security of the outpost to be borked enough for the 3rd layer to be accessible.
Layer 3 : This is done at the hack term again, and allows access to the hack net layer by disabling any local security.
Layer 4 : This is the final hack, and is completed by tapping the outposts lecturn inside HN
Advantages
By allowing for certain OPs to get the "key" status with increased security, it gives larger clans a target, and allows smaller clans to focus on outposts with less security which they can attack with smaller numbers. The idea behind this is that minor outposts are fought over for between smaller clans and the larger key outposts are fought over by the larger clans. This way everyone gets a chance at OP fighting.
The added security of Cycrow (and other key outposts) will mean that it can't be as easily ninja'd (i.e. you'll need more than just 4 hackers to get past the guards). However, a zerg won't have much difficulty.
The increased cost on maintaining a key outpost at its full and rightful potential will mean a clan is less likely to take the attitude that it can ninja it back later on, as they will have to rebuy guards etc.
Zergs will have plenty of guards to attack if they can't draw the defenders out of the UG
Only active clans that can maintain a steady cash flow will be able to hold key outposts
Disadvantages
Raids are very difficult to achieve inside a key outpost
The increased number of models being drawn by the client inside the outpost would probably cause a drop in FPS
With the current cash reward on research missions getting cash to maintain security could be easy for a large clan with lots of researchers. To combat this, you might need to get 90 Trade Union sympathy to purchase guards, or even 90 sympathy and complete the epic (not that there is one I don't think), or perhaps even have mobs drop parts required to "build" guards.
The edited images (yes I know they are crap) are attached below, so it would probably help if you referred to them whilst reading through, otherwise you'll just think I'm mad :p I've also posted my thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of my ideas, so that I can at least get a go of flaming myself :lol:
The Outpost
Area of outpost increased (although it may be a little too spacious in mine, so it could be shrunk a little)
Outpost is classed as a key outpost, which allows it to have a larger number of paid guards, but with a higher upkeep cost. There would only be a few of these on the map, so that not every OP becomes a fortress :rolleyes:
Security Features added (see below)
Buildings rearranged (see below)
Hack Sequence Altered (see below)
Security Features
The gaps in the sexy green walls indicate entrances, possibly with gates that require hacking to get into (and cost to be setup). Or once open, the gates would stay open until say an hour after the 4th hack is complete, so that whoever lost the OP has a chance to come back before the new owners can refortify the OP.
The red dots on the attached picture indicate possible locations of guards. These guards would have to be paid for out of the clan bank, and have a daily upkeep cost otherwise they despawn. They would only need to be 60/60 guards (Trader Union probably) that are controlled by the OPs security settings, but hard enough that they present a threat to attackers and can't be levelled off of. The guards should also have their aggro range shorten for things above them, allowing people to fly in and drop the attackers in the outpost and attack from within.
Turrets, guards, gates and other security measures are controlled by the Security Point (labelled 1 on the other picture). The Security Point is regarded as the second hack for taking an outpost, once hacked, the respawn timers on dead guards will be increased sufficiently to make a difference and turrets can not be placed after the 2nd hack is complete. However, if you hack the terminal before the 1st layer is down, all security measures are disabled for 5 mins while the systems reconfigures (this means guards won't respawn in this time, turrets stop attacking, and the gates are opened).
If any security measure is either hacked or destroyed (whichever is relevant to its type), a notice is shouted on the owning clan's chat. If one of the guards aggros onto someone/thing, then it will only announce a problem if it gets killed by a player (so you can have a spy stealth in, disable the security and allow people to get in).
Cycrow's Establishments
Refer to the attached picture please :)
Building 1 : The Security Point, as explained above
Building 2: The Hack Room, we should all know what this is by now
Building 3: The UG, much firmer model that doesn't allow for clipping, or for people to pass behind it. Placed out more in the open to allow the defenders more room to manouver past AoE when they zone up.
Building 4: The GoGo, because I don't like running across the OP to get to it :p
Building 5: YO's, see Building 2 :D
Building 6: That random building that is currently next to the UG needs a home. This will need clipping reinforcement to stop people sliding through it.
The Hack Sequence
Layer 1 : This occurs at the hack term, and allows full access to the security point.
Layer 2 : The Security Point must be hacked in order to allow for the security of the outpost to be borked enough for the 3rd layer to be accessible.
Layer 3 : This is done at the hack term again, and allows access to the hack net layer by disabling any local security.
Layer 4 : This is the final hack, and is completed by tapping the outposts lecturn inside HN
Advantages
By allowing for certain OPs to get the "key" status with increased security, it gives larger clans a target, and allows smaller clans to focus on outposts with less security which they can attack with smaller numbers. The idea behind this is that minor outposts are fought over for between smaller clans and the larger key outposts are fought over by the larger clans. This way everyone gets a chance at OP fighting.
The added security of Cycrow (and other key outposts) will mean that it can't be as easily ninja'd (i.e. you'll need more than just 4 hackers to get past the guards). However, a zerg won't have much difficulty.
The increased cost on maintaining a key outpost at its full and rightful potential will mean a clan is less likely to take the attitude that it can ninja it back later on, as they will have to rebuy guards etc.
Zergs will have plenty of guards to attack if they can't draw the defenders out of the UG
Only active clans that can maintain a steady cash flow will be able to hold key outposts
Disadvantages
Raids are very difficult to achieve inside a key outpost
The increased number of models being drawn by the client inside the outpost would probably cause a drop in FPS
With the current cash reward on research missions getting cash to maintain security could be easy for a large clan with lots of researchers. To combat this, you might need to get 90 Trade Union sympathy to purchase guards, or even 90 sympathy and complete the epic (not that there is one I don't think), or perhaps even have mobs drop parts required to "build" guards.