Sentry gun ARC
Chris0132
Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
In playing as marine commander, I've noticed that dropping sentries to support an attack is quite effective.
But it's rather expensive, and kinda clunky to pull off.
So I was thinking, what about if there was an ARC variant which swapped out the ARC gun for a sentry gun.
It would basically be a sentry you could move around, to balance it against regular sentries it could have either a more narrow firing arc and be a bit more expensive, but it should also have more health and be more resistant to damage when folded up.
Sending a couple of these with your marines and setting them up in the corner of rooms would help support an attack, as well as giving the marine commander some more stuff to do.
I like the pushing with sentries mechanic, this is just a way to make it a bit more 'official' sort of, and a bit more practical in more situations.
I suppose it might overlap a bit with the exosuit role, but making use of the sentry gun tracking ability is something I want to do in attacks.
But it's rather expensive, and kinda clunky to pull off.
So I was thinking, what about if there was an ARC variant which swapped out the ARC gun for a sentry gun.
It would basically be a sentry you could move around, to balance it against regular sentries it could have either a more narrow firing arc and be a bit more expensive, but it should also have more health and be more resistant to damage when folded up.
Sending a couple of these with your marines and setting them up in the corner of rooms would help support an attack, as well as giving the marine commander some more stuff to do.
I like the pushing with sentries mechanic, this is just a way to make it a bit more 'official' sort of, and a bit more practical in more situations.
I suppose it might overlap a bit with the exosuit role, but making use of the sentry gun tracking ability is something I want to do in attacks.
Comments
hm...
Reminds me of a time I had to TF spam the entire way to the last Alien Hive in NS1 because the Heavies and JPs kept dying to Hive1 Skulks. /off-topic
Basically I like the mechanic, and want a way to make it a practical option.
Might be a bit clunky.
The reason I wanted it to be on the ARC chassis is that you can just click the turret and then click a 'relocate' button and it would pack up, drive to the location, and unpack again with no mess of having macs drifting around and ending up where you left them. Plus I wanted it to be pretty durable, especially when in motion. This is kind of a thing that a marine squad would want to keep alive as a valuable piece of equipment.
You could also add the option to turn it over to marine control, which would basically allow marines to direct it, say they press E on it to select it, then stand somewhere, look in the direction they want it to face, and press E again, and it will go to that place and set up there. Alternatively marines could double tap E on it to make it follow them. This would be useful for ARCs as well, as marines on the ground could quite possibly control these sorts of assets better than the commander if the commander is busy elsewhere.
I'm not sure it's possible to balance it and retain usefulness...
Why not give the sentry turrets a upgradeable tech that allows them to be relocated manually by marines? Similar to the Combine turrets in HL2, although not that quick and responsive. You should be somewhat burdened when moving this thing. Still, I think this kind of re-usability would allow for turrets to keep their res cost and build times and make it a bit more valuable.
<!--quoteo(post=1836880:date=Mar 11 2011, 06:22 PM:name=FocusedWolf)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (FocusedWolf @ Mar 11 2011, 06:22 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1836880"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->+1 Mobile turrets because turrets supporting the offensive is more interesting then the super expensive static-defense-turtle-stalemate-inducing gameplay we have now. It also will allow you to reconfigure your defenses on the fly, and wheel out damaged turrets for repair. Nothing but pure <a href="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/06/gun_bot_1_4.jpg" target="_blank">awesome sauce</a> if you ask me.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Allowing those super strong static defenses that encourage turtling to be relocated, so they can also be used to push only tips the balances even further in favour of Marines.
Allowing those super strong static defenses that encourage turtling to be relocated, so they can also be used to push only tips the balances even further in favour of Marines.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What if the turrets could not fire while moving, (like how whips can't hit while moving), moved very slow on DI [which encourages aliens to spread it], had a transition-delay between travel and firing mode, had a reduced firing arc, could not be driven through areas that are unpowered (unless a portable power node is nearby, which gives the com another reason to set those up and the aliens a way to block it), and could not be dropped anywhere (like an armory) but instead would have to be built within range of a cc and then guided out (like how a com currently guides macs).