Arcen Games

General Category => AI War II => AI War II - Modding => : -NR-SirLimbo November 01, 2020, 04:58:55 PM

: Mod: Kaizers Marauders
: -NR-SirLimbo November 01, 2020, 04:58:55 PM
Mod: Kaizers Marauders


What was originally designed to be a slight overhaul of Marauders domino-ed into a full-on rework.

Unique Marauder Units:

Marauders bring an entirely unique set of units to bear. From small and nimble fighters to their own forcfields and even up to galaxy-ending Dreadnoughts able to steal science, hacking and enemy ships anything goes. Mind that the player through various means can acquire most of these:


Strike Craft:

Interceptor Fighter:
Cheap and very nimble anti-light fighter, deadly to many other strike craft.

Fusion Torpedo Bomber:
Fast and powerful bomber with low durability, but can block off the first hit almost entirely.

Disrupter Corvette:
Inhibits enemy movement and attacks, along with a planetary decloaker. Damage grows if enemies are not or barely moving.


Frigates:

Light Sting Frigate:
An atypical frigate with great damage against forcefields, good speed and a lot of alpha strike power along modest radar dampening.

Rampage Frigate:
Extremely powerful frigate with a multitude of weapons against many kinds of enemies, but slow and with shorter range.


Raiders:

Raid Cruiser:
Powerful capital ship with light drones, an anti-heavy torpedo and 4 different laser weapons, able to deal with almost any foe. Cloaks and can attack numerous times while cloaked.

Raid Carrier:
Modest durability and speed but with the ability to produce frigate drones, aiding best in drawn-out fights while giving fire support from the rear.

Raid Blaster:
Extremely powerful Raider with an array of beam weapons, incredibly powerful shields and a ravenous desire for stealing.


Defenses:

Consumer Turret (Tier 1):
Deals increased damage as shields fall lower and spreads cleptomania.

Breach Torpedo Turret (Tier 1):
Very high damage to armored targets at a high range, but low rate of fire and projectile speed.

Beam Sniper Turret (Tier 1):
Infinite range and annihilation of high-albedo, which often includes cloaking-capable targets.

Fortified Forceshield Generator (Tier 2):
Protection from damage, even more from bombardments and snipers, but halves damage under it.

Phase Cannon Turret (Tier 2):
Very high alpha-damage to enemies with full health or shields, but lower if enemies are damaged.

Defense Post (Tier 3):
A high-damage, high-health multi-weapon defense structure. From Deadline Injectors to Energy Waves and a Plasma Blaster, along with the ability to be empowered by forcefields.


Superstructures:

Trapdoor Machine:
Black Hole Machine with a planet-wide slowdown to ships with lower engine power, at the cost of raw power.

Parametrium Amplifier:
Parametrium radiation flows from this device into the entire galaxy, boosting Marauder invasions.

Fortified Planetary Saturator:
Planet-wide Tachyon, Tractor and radar dampening irradiation, growing in strength or numbers with mark level.

Void Booster:
Boosts planetary speed, damage and metal salvaging speed.

Guard Harbour:
Extremely powerful defensive structure with a true implosion weapon, dealing percentual enemy health as damage once shields are down. Also well equipped to debuff and destroy smaller foes.

Supply Center:
Planetoid constantly harvested for metal doubling as a staging ground for supplies, increasing raider capacity and planetary-to-invasion budget conversion.

Tech Nexus:
Cloaked archive of technology, preventing research blackouts and boosting mark levels.

Raid Battleship:
Extremely powerful Marauder Raider specifically designed to take on the Galactic War the AI might unleash upon Marauders, but with a weakness to most Frigates.

Automation Controller:
Builds and controls a great amount of drones, including repair drones to aid in regeneration efforts.


King Units:

Shhhh...!!! It's a secret! Well, one that's small and easily figured but still.


Unique Mechanics:

Kaizers Marauders are smarter and stronger than normal Marauders:


Smart AI:


Realistic Economy:

Note that Marauders DO NOT take over such units as to not have them destroyed for AIP!

Technology Gain:

Note that Marauders DO NOT take over such units as to not have them destroyed for AIP!

Defectors and Hacks:


Superstructures:


Alternate Victory Condition:
  • Kaizer, the dread pirate of the Marauders, can be set up to invade the galaxy at a certain hour, if desired.
  • When he invades he will unite various Marauder sub-factions under his flag (but won't rip out AI-allied or Player-Allied Marauders from their allies). This will lead to Marauders backstabbing their minor faction teams if needed.
  • If spawning in for Player-allied or AI-allied Marauders all hostile-all or minor-faction-teamed Marauders will join in with the Player-allied or AI-allied sub-faction instead.
  • His mark level rises every 3 hours, regardless of which hour he spawns at. The further along the game the stronger he will become. He will also upgrade to a spire-infused variant if one of the Marauder sub-factions under his flag has spire debris.
  • He will actively enter a berserker mode, taking half damage and dealing double, once his health drops to 25%. At this point if he's facing bad odds he might decide to literally warp away to any allied Marauder Capital, putting the planet on a hefty cooldown for all invasions, and repair before continuing the assault.
  • If destroyed the player has a chance and a choice:
  • Either let him die within his wreckage, rendering all Marauders not allied to either a player or an AI defeated (no more conquering, defending, warp-ins, invasions, potential in-faction quarrels if Marauders are too strong).
  • Or save him and his ship via a Hack, allowing the player to OWN his dreadnought for a hefty 200 AIP, allowing access to a Flenser-eating machine of doom at high mark levels. While the AI may react with both Galactic War units and normal attacks his ability bring doom onto any enemy he encounters makes for a great game-ender.


Journals and Lore:

Note: This is an ongoing project!

Debugging and Balance Adjustments:


Installation:



Special Thanks:

I'd like to thank a number of people on discord who have been actively testing or otherwise greatly helping this mod throughout its lengthy development cycle:If I missed anyone, which can happen, simply sound off! I want to include everyone who contributed here!

Feedback, bug reports and all else encouraged!
: Re: Mod: Kaizers Marauders
: Sinzdri December 26, 2020, 12:27:40 PM
Very much enjoy the mod, but have found that in multiplayer the marauders seem to never invade or turn up in any form regardless of settings. Does the mod not support multiplayer or have you had anyone else encounter this issue?