Would you prefer reclaim versus zombie reclaim versus your own suggestion?

[PokerChen]

There are two reclaim mechanics in the original:
- standard reclaim by parasites/leech starships/Neinzul nanoswarms. This captures the AI ship and makes it fully your own unit with energy cost and ability to command them.
- zombie reclaim by the Botnet Golem. This turns the AI ship into your units except with a black outline. They cannot be controlled, and automatically patrol your worlds with some basic logic, but don't cost any additional energy.
 = = =
 In the engine remake, IMO modders probably won't have an easy way to specify exactly how particular mechanics work. So, suppose we have to streamline, and choose one reclaim mechanic to keep. Which one would you prefer? Would you make any additions?

e.g. If I am limited to one reclaim mechanic, I would choose zombie reclaim modified with more-aggressive AI and a limited-life timer (say 3 minutes). This removes some of the perma-clutter, although it also removes the joy of fighting 2x everything AIs with parasites.

[Pumpkin]

Between the two, Reclamation feels more "basic" (because the player control the reclaimed ship) and Insanity/Zombification feels like "special reclamation" where, sure, now the target is on your side, but you can't directly control it.

If we really have to make a choice, I would keep Reclamation as the basic mechanism. However, I also like the Insanity as a twisted reclamation. I don't want to see one removed.

[Kahuna]

If one had to be removed imo it should be zombies. Reclaimed ships are more useful and fun for the player. Zombies can only be controlled by rerouting them with redirect rally posts which also redirects other ships and feels almost like a bug. On the other hand gathering a lot of zombies and creating your own CPAs with the Botnet Golem and zombies is fun too.

[kasnavada]

I'd make parasite units (and botnet) slave masters instead of parasite. Each parasite being able to "control" only a limited amount of units.

If they kill something, the "reclaimed" unit is tied to the nearest slave master, and the slave moves with it. If the slave master is dead, well... it moves to the next slave master if there is enough of them, else it reverts to the AI.


(imagine all the "Oh, no, the botnet's dead" threads and laughs maniacally in advance)

PS: this also helps solve the issue of parasites unbalancing the game by capturing too much stuff, as it implicitely limits the amount of captures.

[PokerChen]

One of the reasons behind my preference against both reclaim mechanics is  the permanent power creep involved. Every time the AI fields things like Snipers and Zombards, I eventually end up with a near full cap off all marks 1-4. This is worse for the botnet, as they now auto kite, patrol, and have no cap.  Should reclaim be this powerful? Or are people in general okay with the reward versus effort?

[Tridus]

One of the reasons behind my preference against both reclaim mechanics is  the permanent power creep involved. Every time the AI fields things like Snipers and Zombards, I eventually end up with a near full cap off all marks 1-4. This is worse for the botnet, as they now auto kite, patrol, and have no cap.  Should reclaim be this powerful? Or are people in general okay with the reward versus effort?

Having the Botnet golem be that powerful seems fine to me. It creates manacial laughter every time one turns up in a game, and it's a target I know I'm going to try and get. It also hurts like hell if you lose it (given the AIP cost to activate it).

Having stuff like that available in the game is great. Having it work differently than standard reclamation is fine. If I was going to get rid of one, I'd probably get rid of standard reclamation instead. The zombies certainly add personality.

[Draco18s]

I would keep both.
But if I absolutely had to choose, I'd probably ditch zombies.