Economic Systems and Infantry Evasion

The latest update really doesn't deserve much of a screenshot but we've got some really cool changes here. First we've got a really big economic update, some plausible changes that I'm considering, as well as a few changes to the nature of combat which I'm assuming will have very far reaching effects in evening out the playing field between the units in the late-game.

Economy

The economic system in the map has been totally revamped in terms of income. Rather than simply calculating income by multiplying the number of buildings together, each building will actively produce a pool of population which increases over time. This population then has a number of variables including happiness, unhappiness, efficiency, inefficiency and productivity which will generate an income to be given to the player. Furthermore, the damage of a building will reduce the number of people who can habit the building, losing too many people at a single time (something very plausible in the late-game) will result in a sharp population decline that can only be mitigated by quickly rebuilding and repairing the lost or damaged buildings. This means that heavily entrenched players will have to spend a lot of time repairing the damage from bombardments and saboteurs. Sabotage against population housing is a very effective long-term strategy, it should be nearly as effective against bombing. Buildings will most likely be expensive into the future and losses in tears will be felt despite how much of everything the player has.

Combat

All infantry are being given an evasion bonus depending on their type. The bonus can be very small  - 5% or 10% in the case of rocket infantry and others - to absolutely massive - 25% in the case of light infantry. This bonus was introduced to ensure that light infantry are a valuable and effective combat force even into the apocalyptic dystopia of the late game where entire armies are subject to massive orbital bombardments and some of the most terrible weapons we can think of. I don't want to see an invasion and occupation complete without the basic grunt, and this unique bonus (as well as other abilities) will ensure that he has the mettle to stand up in late-game brawls against the weapons of war.

-Helios

Game is almost ready for a 1v1 test for the current economic systems, a few more units are necessary, as well as the ironing of a collection of bugs.

Ground Units List

Full ground units list as follows, finished units marked with an x

Infantry
- Light Infantry x
- Medium Infantry x
- Heavy Infantry
- Automatic Rifleman x
- Marksman x
- Sniper
- Anti Tank x
- Mortar
- Medic
- Officer
- Engineer
Special Operations
- Infiltrator/Commando
- Joint Terminal Air Controller

Civilian Utility Vehicles
- Combat Utility Vehicle x
- Reconnaissance Vehicle
- AT Utility Vehicle
- Transport Vehicle
- Repair and Recovery Vehicle
- Armored Car

Military Vehicles
- Infantry Fighting Vehicle
- Armored Personnel Carrier
- Light Tank
- Medium Tank x
- Heavy Tank
- Mobile ATGMv
- Mobile Rocket Artillery
- SP Howitzer

After a long Hiatus

It's been a long 11 months since I've even looked at this mod. In fact, I'm surprised that I've still got it on my drive. Luckily now, it's backed up to a reliable location, and can be retrieved at a later date. As of the last 3 days, some serious improvements have been made.

- The skybox background is competed
- Cameras have been updated for all planets, and all planets function normally
- All planets can be landed on by spacecraft.
- The final resource, Helium 3 has been implemented.

The next feature of the mod to be developed will be the completion of the ground unit tree, and an establishement of a rudimentiary aircraft, aerospace, and spacecraft tree. The latter three will only include 1-3 units by the time pre Alpha testing begins.

Finally, I've come to the decision that the name Tears of the Sun  is pretty terrible and needs replacing. If you have any suggestions for a new name, send them my way.

Tears of the Sun II
2011-09-17 8:01 PM EDT

Despite a catastrophic computer failure I've managed to recover the maps from a flash drive. Here are some screen shots of the forest terrain and some new UI elements. New UI dialogs include the taxation counter. and new Dialog boxes will be coming soon.

Introduction

2011-09-17 7:52 PM EDT
Welcome to the Tears of the Sun blog! Here I hope to track the progress of my upcoming Starcraft II map: Tears Of the Sun. The map is a multiple player 4x game. This is something that I believe is missing from SCII.

Players will begin the game on the surface of their planet. They can zoom out to space to view their planet at any time by pressing escape. There will be an AI player on each planet as well as another player. It will be up to the player's discretion on if they want to be aggressive or diplomatic with the other player on their world. Once they reach sufficient technological capacity then they will be able to fly to other worlds through space and engage with other players.

Six planets in Total
Two players per planet
Fully rendered space
Land Combat
Space combat
Air Combat
Space units on the surface of worlds to provide support.

More information will come in following posts.