Ok, so we have another idea. Let's see what you think of it.
CORE
Siege machines cannot (mostly, more on this later) be destroyed by hand, but only by other siege machines.
Only battering rams can break walls. Catapults cannot.
Siege Engines need some amount of time, much like now, to charge before they can attack other objects. Which types of objects they can attack determined by how far they have charged up, Palisades perhaps 24 hours, Brickwalls, say, 32 hours, other Siege Engines, say, 2 hours. Siege engines can move immediately, but are still subject to similar restrictions as now, in that they can only move by some relatively small amount per hour, or so.
We introduce a new "siege engine" called Archery Towers. Archery towers are stationary, and can be set to auto-fire at Siege Engines within range. Archery Towers have some minimum distance enforced between them, and do not require brimstone to construct. Archery towers only need about one hour's charge to attack other Siege engines.
Siege engines can be locked, much like Knarrs.
Siege Engines expire after some time, unless "cooled off" by brimstone. Archery towers perhaps around 64 hours, Catapults and Battering Rams around 48.
Siege Engines, much like now, warn nearby claims when they are deployed.
Archery Towers have slightly shorter range than Catapults. Both Archery Tower and Catapult ranges are still somewhat randomized.
Archery Towers cannot attack other archery towers. There should be no incentive to construct them offensively.
OPTIONAL
Catapults and Battering Rams can be dealt some amount of damage, or slowed down, by attacking them by hand, to give defenders some incentive to attempt sallies against them.
SCENARIO
Attacker builds a ram against a claim, to test the occupant.
Occupant builds a defensive archery tower, which counters the ram.
Attacker builds catapults to take out the tower.
Defender builds towers further into the base, forcing new catapults closer to the walls. As new catapults are deployed, the defender can rebuild the advanced Archery Towers to target the advanced catapults. The advanced towers can potentially be targeted by the rear catapults, but those can only fire so often.
Defender also has the more expensive option to build his own catapults in defense.
Millions of unanswered and critical minutiae involved in this. Very rough executive summary. The beauty of it is, if it works, that there is potentially a large amount of back and forth involved, while also -- very important -- entirely avoiding claim magic.
Have at it!
"The psychological trials of dwellers in the last times will be equal to the physical trials of the martyrs. In order to face these trials we must be living in a different world."
Can catapults and other siege engines attack archery towers?
While it would need some good balancing, I really like this idea. I think its a major step forwards towards more dynamic and interactive siege. Support.
Last edited by neeco on Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
W9: Hermit
W10: LS of EoCity
W11: God King Emperor of the East [Retired]
W12: Wouldn't you like to know
So damage is done to individual wallsegments, with no 101x101 claim or anything? What's to stop me from building a million palisade wall buffer?
Also seems dumb that the damage would be done to individual wall segments. If the siege camp is forced to move, the siege would basically restart? Pretty much every siege I've been a part of has had to relocate at some point, because RNG with defensive catapults just ends up destroying the attackers eventually.
Why not? The game has a big hammer. If you have enough strength, why not be able to break the walls? Say, with a force of about 500? Slowly, but possible.
Proposal looks pretty good, as long as it's balanced sensibly.
DDDsDD999 wrote:So damage is done to individual wallsegments, with no 101x101 claim or anything? What's to stop me from building a million palisade wall buffer?
How about AoE style scorpions that damage all wall segments in a line?
