TL;DR version:
- Combat would occur mostly through indirectly via independent combat units
- Aliens and alien artifacts removed
- Shroud of war
- Double/triple most recipe yields to speed gameplay up significantly
Details
- You have a unit manufacturing plant that builds/stores a wave of independent combat units (ICUs) which you can release when you select a destination on the map. The units push to that area, destroying anything they find. They have a fairly limited lifespan (which eliminates the need for a bunch of the RTS elements)
- You must constantly decide whether to research economic/infrastructure advancements or combat unit upgrades
- Without aliens, expansion can be swift, but other player(s) may send waves of ICUs to a poorly protected outpost (if they find it)
- The player can effectively engage enemy bots (so they can defend themselves, and being in the right place at the right time is important), but their weapons and follower-bots aren't effective against structures/bases.
- Shroud of war makes scouting and radars important, and lets players be sneaky
- ICUs would need several new bot types such as scouts, damage soakers, and damage dealers
Balancing
- Damage types and resistances should be setup so that it is futile to attack bases personally but you're still effective against ICUs; while the ICUs use a weapon type that is effective on entities/bases
- (?) An intricate or long-range train system may be difficult to setup and protect in a fast-paced game like this (particularly the rails themselves... but maybe not). Therefore it might be better to make an overpowered logistic bot system so that expanding is more feasible
- The ICUs could all be flying (though they don't necessarily need to be fast, especially some that are 'tanky') so that pathfinding is simplified (and to prevent abuse of pathfinding system). Walls could still be relevant because either the ICUs will attack them first, or they will prevent a player from being able to destroy a few laser turrets quickly and sneak in for an easy assassination.
- It may also help to have a fast-start option, in which a couple tiers of technology are already researched.
Comments
- I know this is a bit of a pipe dream, but I tried to make everything as compatible with the fundamental gameplay that already exists. That way maybe it could actually happen
. Also, I think these concepts line up pretty close to Factorio's appeal of efficiency/manufacturing/expansion and just gives it a new type of challenge. Besides some new units, I think the only major hurdle would be having a fog of war and different starting locations for different players.