So this is my first devlog I guess. I have to start somewhere.

Today I want to talk about some of the details and mechanics of how custom vehicles are going to work in Dropzone. In Dropzone, players are able to design and deploy custom made vehicles created from scratch using different parts. These can include armor, weapons, wheels, and anything else. The stats and abilities a unit has is a combination of what parts were placed on it. Each part has a list of associated stats, including cost, weight, health, weapons, and any other details to keep track of.

Let's start with armor. Armor is the basic building block of your unit, improving the maximum HP for each block added. Right now I have armor parts made from primitive shapes. Eventually I want to add some cool 3d models to let players make their own visual designs, but it all works the same.

If you have just armor blocks, your unit will have trouble moving anywhere. Luckily you have access to mobility items. Wheels can be used to propel your unit, with the eventual plan to add treads, legs, and other options. The top speed of a vehicle is an average of the top speed of all mobility parts, weighed by cost. Unit weight is also a factor. Each mobility item can sustain a certain maximum weight capacity, and a unit must have enough mobility items to sustain all the weight. Where this gets interesting is different mobility items offer different advantages in speed or weight capacity per cost. So a wheel can move really fast but can't carry much. Tread based designs can effortlessly carry higher weight, but at a low top speed. Acceleration is constant right now but I may tie that to mobility items as well.

Now for the fun part. Weapons are what defines the attack of your unit. Right now I have a machine gun, autocannon, tank cannon, guided missiles, mortars, and a howitzer. The stats and visuals for all these are placeholders, but they are fully functional. The guided missile is just a neon green sphere right now. When I get more into developing the weapons, this customization system can produce some interesting roles. For instance, guided missile weapons are expensive, but light. Cannon weapons must be braced, resulting in a higher overall weight.

I think this provides a mix of realistic results while being simple to use. For instance, a heavily armored vehicle with a big cannon will likely need treads, creating a tank. A group of wheels can create a wheeled gun vehicle, which is cost inefficient but highly mobile. I’ve got some ideas for infantry and aircraft too, but I’ll discuss that more when the time comes.

I do not plan on adding any limits to the number of units players can have access to. But I will likely add an unlock cost to each unit type. This makes playing around a smaller number of unit types more viable, making reading the strategy of your opponent more reasonable. This also encourages multi purpose or experimental designs with non combat abilities that may not be applicable. You gain the benefit of only needing to unlock one unit type. Custom units allow for incredible depth, variety, and player expression. It also allows for new interactable content to be gradually added to the game. This is a game I think would benefit from many different parts to use.

One issue that these customizable games often have is that units do not change playstyle based on which parts are chosen. For instance, a game might include regenerative armor, weapon types with different damage, or adjustable stat buffs. Oftentimes the problem with this approach is when the shooting starts in an actual match, the interesting decisions made in the unit editor fade away, leaving only a big blob battle. A unit with extra armor and a machine gun vs a unit that is extra fast and has a rocket launcher is not an overwhelmingly interesting interaction. I plan on adding different weapons, abilities, and passives to encourage very different playstyles for different units. I think a tame design is the wrong approach here. RTS games need to be a bit wacky to be fun.