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sorry for the spelling

Colony's balance issues are found within the design (basic meta-game). I have said this before, but I should have put more emphasis on it. The reason for the Grodtiz and Sakata Spider comments were to explain how hard it is to base a plan around changing something things like them. I will admit I didn't even make an attempt to do this in that post. Now I will explain exactly why I have so many seemingly pointless or random things in the plan.

First, you need to understand that the balance problem in Colony is caused by the design, or basic meta-game. This at first glance is completely gibberish, but it actually makes perfect sense. So many people in the Colony community think the problems are in the units, which is a fallacy. The true cause, problem, reason, detail, or whatever you want to call it, is the Governments themselves. I don't mean Communist is weak, or Monarchy is really strong. I am talking about how similar they are. Every Government has to do one of five styles to win: Tech, Adaption, Influence, Missile, or Spam.

The first style ever in Colony was Tech based. It relies on having better Tech than your opponent. Adaption is the second style that was created. This one relies on using 2 unit deployment structures in the early-game. With the introduction of Monarchy this style became less popular. Influence based styles rely on using influence units. Missile based strategies are a result of the Influence style. This style relies on early/mid-game Missiles. The last style is Spam based. This style uses streams of units, which counters Missile based strategies. All of these styles still exist today.

There is a problem though. Governments can switch styles based on the matchup, so instead of having a metagame that is dictated by the Governments; we have a metagame that dictates the Governments. I have mentioned my Governmental Role Theory in the past, but never explained it. Basically if Colony was balanced, every Government has a role in 1v1 and a choice of roles in 2v2. I believe this is what Krin was aiming for when he made Colony. Why am I able to make this induction? Each Government has a unique perk. It would be different if each Government only had different income rates because then the game would be just fine.

Now that you hopefully understand that, I can get into the core changes (Government-Based) in the plan. The first thing to do is figure out what role each Government plays best in 1v1. Fascists play best using the Tech style. Capitalist and Monarchy plays best using the Adaption style. Communist plays best using the Spam style. Influence is not a style, and it shouldnât be a style because it is a bonus. Monarchy can abuse that bonus. It is okay for two Governments to have the same 1v1 style as long as they are forced to play differently. Capitalist is more Tech-Based, while Monarchy is more Spam-Based in my plan. I donât want to be bothered to figure out the 2v2 roles, so I will let that that go until I finish looking at the 1v1 aspect of the game.

Now that the Government Roles are assigned, we can discuss the Armor, Structure, Unit, Weapon, and Influence changes. I really hope you understand this post, took me about 12 hours to make.

Colony's balance issues are found within the design (basic meta-game). I have said this before, but I should have put more emphasis on it. The reason for the Grodtiz and Sakata Spider comments were to explain how hard it is to base a plan around changing something things like them. I will admit I didn't even make an attempt to do this in that post. Now I will explain exactly why I have so many seemingly pointless or random things in the plan.

First, you need to understand that the balance problem in Colony is caused by the design, or basic meta-game. This at first glance is completely gibberish, but it actually makes perfect sense. So many people in the Colony community think the problems are in the units, which is a fallacy. The true cause, problem, reason, detail, or whatever you want to call it, is the Governments themselves. I don't mean Communist is weak, or Monarchy is really strong. I am talking about how similar they are. Every Government has to do one of five styles to win: Tech, Adaption, Influence, Missile, or Spam.

The first style ever in Colony was Tech based. It relies on having better Tech than your opponent. Adaption is the second style that was created. This one relies on using 2 unit deployment structures in the early-game. With the introduction of Monarchy this style became less popular. Influence based styles rely on using influence units. Missile based strategies are a result of the Influence style. This style relies on early/mid-game Missiles. The last style is Spam based. This style uses streams of units, which counters Missile based strategies. All of these styles still exist today.

There is a problem though. Governments can switch styles based on the matchup, so instead of having a metagame that is dictated by the Governments; we have a metagame that dictates the Governments. I have mentioned my Governmental Role Theory in the past, but never explained it. Basically if Colony was balanced, every Government has a role in 1v1 and a choice of roles in 2v2. I believe this is what Krin was aiming for when he made Colony. Why am I able to make this induction? Each Government has a unique perk. It would be different if each Government only had different income rates because then the game would be just fine.

Now that you hopefully understand that, I can get into the core changes (Government-Based) in the plan. The first thing to do is figure out what role each Government plays best in 1v1. Fascists play best using the Tech style. Capitalist and Monarchy plays best using the Adaption style. Communist plays best using the Spam style. Influence is not a style, and it shouldn�t be a style because it is a bonus. Monarchy can abuse that bonus. It is okay for two Governments to have the same 1v1 style as long as they are forced to play differently. Capitalist is more Tech-Based, while Monarchy is more Spam-Based in my plan. I don�t want to be bothered to figure out the 2v2 roles, so I will let that that go until I finish looking at the 1v1 aspect of the game.

Now that the Government Roles are assigned, we can discuss the Armor, Structure, Unit, Weapon, and Influence changes. I really hope you understand this post, took me about 12 hours to make.

i didnt read the previous posts but i just realized

If we add probability to this game then it may significantly balance this game

I'm going to sleep soon, but I will post again before I do. I just found an error I made when measuring the Influence Field.

I'm going to sleep soon, but I will post again before I do. I just found an error I made when measuring the Influence Field.

its probably that the enitre field length is 100, and then the central base is actually 100, but it seems moree becuz theres some things blocking. Yos, what i mean by x>95 is that sakata MKII or meditecs will continue to go to 100, so it gives sakataMKII and meditecs a perk. Here is another suggestion: change the type 3 multiplier for the sphinx to 0.7, so the gladiator would be stronger, i suggest that you still change the others lower. Also, I think much of the community would rather have you play colony for 12 hours (not continuously) instead of making 12 hour posts.

I figured it out. The Influence Field is F(x)=6x. The Influence Field only counts from the rally points, so there are only 600 pixels. I actaully thought about the Meditec and Sakata Mk-II thing today. I will be editing the Influence changes in the next 2 hours.

PS: I am forced to stay up 5 more hours because of BlizzCon. If I decide to only watch my school's marching band tomorrow, I could play for 12 hours. Basically, If I wake up on time I won't be on tomorrow.

I edited the Influence changes.

add probability to the game. Excluding a few units, each unit is usually countered by something else. However some counters just overwhelm other things.

By adding damage probability then it makes luck an added factor, meaning no matter what you do you still have a chance to win.

Ex. Marine deals X-Y damage, Tanks deal A-B damage, etc.

I dont know the exact specs of damage but by adding a range, battles will start relying partially on luck

Probability doesn't belong in a RTS. If you want probability, play a RPG.

I just found some interesting information.

I was looking at an old email I got from quicksmasher because there were 2 variables I never identified. They are both had something to do with the units, but one is x and one is y. I had thought these were the size of the units, but never accepted that fact because of the y values. Marines have a y value of 16.4, while Chronite Tanks have a y value of 10. I decided to makes boxes in paint using these values and noticed a correlation between the boxes and a certain area of the units. It turns out the values are where the weapons are located. This may seem like useless information, but these two values cause havoc, in my plan.

Why are these values so important? They increase or decrease the travel distance of projectiles. Weapon range is based on the x coordinates of units. The position of units are in the center. The weapon positions are in a different location, than the center of the unit. I also think they have a role in the overkill mechanic.

I also have reason to believe these values are the cause of this side advantage. Honestly I don't know what this advantage is, but if this is one these values are the cause.

I will post a visual aid much later tonight.

PS: Please tell what the so call side imbalance is. I will be able to figure out what causes it. If I knew what it was.

PS: Please tell what the so call side imbalance is. I will be able to figure out what causes it. If I knew what it was.

This "side imbalance" is that the units on the left side hit the right side unit to the back, while the unit on the right side hits the left side unit in the middle, this only accounts for splash units, and some units, if hit in the back, wont be hit, like the roman vs central base, roman sometimes wont get hit.

I'm confused. Can you explain more about this imbalance. I read about it before, but it doesn't make sense.

I was right. This so called imbalance is caused by the targeting. Units have 3 positions; one is for the Field of Influence, one is for targeting, and one is for the weapons. The Field of Influence position is only a 1-Dimensional (X) coordinate, which is the middle of the unit. The weapon position is a 2-Dimensional (X,Y) coordinate, which is where the unit is for whether or not a unit is in range. The targeting position is a 2-Dimensional (X,Y) coordinate, which is the where projectiles hit the unit.

The weapon and Field of Influence positions work fine. The targeting position is what is broken. It is using the X and Y values of the weapon position, but it doesn't adjust to what side of the field the unit belongs to. To be honest, this is a terrible targeting system. Not only is it broken, but it is wrong. The targeting position should be the middle of the unit, so dodging would be hard for both sides.

Here is the visual aid I promised. 382 is the range of the Base's anti-ground weapon. The Chronite Tank's weapon position is (100,10). I am a little off with mine lines.





I think I know the cause of every bug in the game now.

I just did some test with sergeant951 and found out this bug isn't a side advantage. If a left side unit is closer to the right base than a right side unit, than the left side unit will hit to the right. This only effects certain units.

I need to do allot of measuring today.