I won't go criticizm here; in general i think things are simply heading forward in the same simple manner when it's frustrating the changes seem so.. bland and unthoughtful. Please refrain from balance discussion of the ideas though, as i'm thinking on a gameplay level.. what would make the game play more fun (assuming balance). Notably the P units were extremely boring.
Protoss My first suggestion is not actually about HotS however, it's about warp gates (mainly because HotS. Giving this much mobility too early in the game has clear wide reaching consquences. Instead, prehaps pylons can be chained together within a reasonable distance to create warp roads as it were, for a small cost/or maybe preferrably free but 1 use only per pylon - mybe ability to stack or add 1 line to each later. The actual mechanisms would need a lot of decisions (ie: width of effect handling, speed bonus, prehaps small units fastest? guess it can just work like creep maybe with a +1 shield bonus too? i think unit animations could be fixed to not look dumb too, or simply leave a trail until they stop? could pylon road length mean less evergy circle?). I think they should also not be able to be crossed, only parrarall to prevent visual clutter and easily spammable big blocks of P advantage.. should be kept fairly low visability for that purpose too, and some small tweaks to show units are using it.
But imagine it lategame and the strategical positivities of a well laid out network of warps encouraging simcity and showing complexity from the best players in their choices. I think an interesting lategame option would be to have an stronger advanced pylon that could support roads from normal pylons on higher ground so ie: transparant bridge, if the map could do it Until then you need to follow ramps in your roads and keep chains active (an extreme idea would be the mothership coming back and being involved in this way, although in a way to avoid deathballs; such as dropping temporary warp road pylons in return for energy, or temporary ramps would be weird)
I think this gives Protoss it's unique mobility option, i, and it creates a huge range of strategical options and some nice extra skill to be keeping progress of in the game. The benefits can be tweaked to make sure it's not too extreme, and P gateway units *could* be maybe made slower/stronger as before. But thats maybe too relient on it. At the least small unit groups will immediately be emphasized to avoid snaking them through roads. And it opinions up many tactics to oppose it as well, i'm sure you can think of many idea's for and against; even add a few things in, EMP makes a pylon temporarily lost 50% potential say) Just keep in mind you are never stuck on them, you don't have to be forced into lines just make it your own advantage Use them to move quicker into position, do hit and run storming, even quirky stuff like distance mining if it could ever be useful. I invision top players thinking closely about every building posititon in future creating awesome efficient constructions of their own right and really cool possibilities of zealot charge and stalker blink movement.
What do you guys think, this went long than i thought. Sorry i added a bit too much detail to the basic idea, but i wanted to show the potential of what could be interesting, especially if you had things like on/off switches and the mindgames involved :p I have complex ideas along these lines for quite a few of the HotS units if anyone cares or if even better, anyone a mapmaker :D. Tell me how you'd think this could dynamically affect matchups, if at all, as opposed to the simplistic warp gate function. Just please no balance suggestions unless you think something could be funamentally broken in a matchup.
Thanks for reading, i hope. My ideas for the 'new' P starship and maybe the other carry on from this in some ways to make it less one dimensional. Really think things could be fleshed out.
I actually like the "pylon road" concept, such that a warpgate searches in a fixed radius for pylons, then from each pylon to every out of range pylon, and so forth. This creates a very physical map presence mechanic, makes warpgate for use as an offensive too only possible with warp prisms or really complex pushes, and in general creates a much more push centric and map control centric protoss. It also opens up a new style of harassment for opponents of protoss, which is greatly needed as a way to promote more interesting gameplay.
Lord knows warpgates need to be changed. Might as well use your idea, cause at least it'd be interesting as hell.
Hi, thanks for your feedback. Attempting to break the certain annoying elements in the game such as ball vs ball was at the right of my mind, and i thought this immediately is going to punish that further plus remain instrusive visuallly. My ideaa for the P New and only Starship are as follows:
I'm not too familar with the air to air dynamics of PvZ other than i'm assuming muta's are just mobile. But let's say it's for that purpose anyway; and take into the account it's the only serious P fleet left despite being... Protosss. i feel like the interceptor idea should be bought back in the form 4 (8 upgrade) weapons bays; but to create some versatility and actual less screen clutter, i suggest a few options to make them posssibly interesting. You start off with the choices of simply a scout-style blaster weapon to fire at close (but much better than scouts lol), or booster engines in each spot. So the typical defensive muta killer would be all blasters. But for advanced players, and with upgrades, you could either attach 1 slot minor aoe scout-style missles.. or you could attach a 4 slot pylon half generator/dropper, sacrificing it's remaining slots to generate energy and the ability to drop pylons (slightly worse than usual in it's power, but half inside the ground with decent defence).
Strategically it could have so much potential (provided the unit was viable enough to be even be built but unfortunately i don't get to make everything from the group up :p). The obvious variations would keep the noobs happy and the advanced options even if maybe not viable certainly has some potential tweaked. It can't be too complex can it just to have multiple options on 1 unit? Obviously some units need to be short and sweet but this is the P capital ship. Could be implemented instead of teleport to Nexus stupdity.
The Replicator is dumb but another spellcaster could probably be fit in, but really not one intended in even more messy battle situations. Maybe a non floaty droning thing either, like a technotemplar or something, half templar/reaver/goon but smaller. Could have a simple helpful ability like temporary pylon charge (to help make it even more important), then 2 energy/upgrade expensive versions of the scarab mk2 (it hits this time haha). For specfic Terran weapon, say 200 energy it sends a thin piercing shot starting at 500 damage and dropping with the range, and if a mechanical unit not dead shut the unit down for a period depending on how hard it was hit. The Zerg scarab is mortar based, hit for hard damage if not outright kill any and keep the area corrosive but slowly dissolving away. They both sound very powerful of course, but the drawback i think would be 1.lose remaining energy/shields like DA used to 2.short duration to pack and get out (meaning a combo spellcast like FF blocking him in would be good), but the unique thing will be having to quickly manually aim the projectile, not even like target fire.. but the direction. Then you have to hold it a few seconds too prehaps while hopefully keeping your target in sight.
I know that sounds unstarcrafty to target but some relatively difficult micro needs to get in there, but P was supposed to be about powerful shit like this. The numbers might be retarded, i didn't mean this unit to be massed or hardly build even. I think in the perfect scenario one aimed shot could end the game but i wouldn't want it regular at all. Just something really fun for spectators and players alike especially if they are making nukes more common.
I know these are way far out there compared to the other idea, would change the game significantly, it would need to be rebalanced, etc. I know that. But i'm writing up design idea's that i think would actually totally turn around HotS in spectator factor if it was possible. Hopefully i'll do Zerg/Terran soon, got some very interesting ideas with Terran and one big particular one i liked with Zerg that would make it extremely interesting microwise especially ZvZ.
Zerg seems to be designed as the defensive race for some reason in SC2 although a lot of those features got cut leaving you with a a bit of barren looking wasteland.. it was already similar issues for most of BW's lifetime in ZvT so there's no excuse other than they didn't pay much attention i guess. I think an interesting way to go, and to force the game into something a bit more tactically interesting at times would be biowarfare and making the influence of the creep more so.
Swarm host firstly sucks, nothing why the lurker was fun appears to be in it. But to take this burrowed defensive unit to it's extreme i think most cool would be a launched projectile (aoe style so sometimes misses). If it hits direct it does only direct damage.. but then it sticks to the ground for a very short period before an aoe spray of toxins. So there is the chance to dodge/aim and also avoid the landed shot. toxins worse on bio direct on mech and no shots on melee rage. Also maybe burrow should just be a total defensive mode to take damage. When dead they should spray too.
Viper would be full of biowarfare style ideas i mentioned and should be able to consume recently dead corspes for more, hen fires parasites long distance to cover areas; lings could make proximity parasites with little aoe, hydralisks make an all aoe needler parasite, roaches create a heavy hitting no aoe parasite. Other corpses collected to produce general energy, to create one of two spore clouds (light graphics to stop everything being even more of a mess) drains and sticks to armoured units while eroding it away, the other the same to bio. Stays on the area mildy for a period.
I think 'nydus eye' should be the way to scout off creep with a limited health span before they die off it. Maybe have other abilities such as biological paraside upgraded that can be activated on combat units for small aoe damage; the timing of which could greatly help battles as opposed to only dying. As you can see this really would be a swarmy nothing-to-lose way of fighting.. and adds a lot of free damage to their arsenal. But i tried to think of things that could be all rounded out with some work, they would just geniunely be different!
Well i said all that for Z/P but i have a lot less to say about T. They are already have been the proactive and easily most flexible already. But the Shredder looks skillless and bad, and it would be easy to apply that some new changes keeping my ideas in mind about using the map a lot more to your advatantage to create smaller groups and more micro. I'd rather see it a multipurpose vehicle, repairing, prebuilding like scarabs would, temporary warp road blocks and cover toxin pools, and maybe something a bit more interesting like HL style trip-mines . Meanwhile Battle Hellion would fit frontline burning the Zerg's new weaponary as best as it can, maybe a nice napalm grenade ability. Warhound i have nothing to say, just boring. Maybe shield mode could be like cloak mode, you hold on/off for some extra micro.
Anyway hope someone read this and got something from it; the real HotS design in my opinion looks totally unimaginative when there's so many possibilities. Instead of Blizzard's intended compositon vs Blizzard's intended compositon i hope people break out of it, if not at least people mess about in the editor a bit and make something interesting. If the game will be simplistic why not have funky micro tricks like toggle a key to enter defence mode and take 12 tank shots, the micro moments would be crazy.I know it sounded like i added tons of defence everywhere but i seriously think on a good map it'd play out how SC should, constant action, small groups, microoooo.
EPT
Use them to move quicker into position, do hit and run storming, even quirky stuff like distance mining if it could ever be useful. I invision top players thinking closely about every building posititon in future creating awesome efficient constructions of their own right and really cool possibilities of zealot charge and stalker blink movement.
