New Support Structure Idea

While I have my doubts if it's even possible to make a structure that land units can walk on and subs can go underneath in spring.. Anything is possible I suppose..

Keep in mind I am a lobpot player not 1 vs 1..

I believe we shouldn't try bringing land units into sea, that would kind of take away what sea has, a space only a few factories have access to, which gives it a strategical factor when playing in maps that aren't fully water and have things like ponds and rivers. Besides, this structure would be outmatched by such factories instantly in situations it would be even slightly significant, both in maneuverability and the ability to hide underwater. I don't want sea to turn into LAND 2.0. Also, Djin exists for transporting units across land masses...

Additionally, I don't think making an easier way to build porc in sea would help, if anything it would make the whole experience more miserable. The biggest issue right now imo is that it is a static lane where neither opponent can push into each other if they are good enough. Heck, try destroying BLaNKMiND in the sea, dude is a BEAST, I can't leave lane for 2 minutes without him destroying my team, but if I stay I can't push and he can't push either, unless one of us has 2-3x the army value.

Nevertheless you got my +1 because I would like sea balance to be more discussed and ideas thrown into it sense right now it's a really boring attrition lane and in need of a new mechanic imo, because it only feels like damage control for Scylla. If you lose it then a good Scylla player will be the end of you.

adding onto what I said before, many people's main complain is how economy in naval REALLY sucks sometimes so I was thinking of this platform's primary use would be to make it more coinvent for economical structures like solar and singu

The engine pathfinder will not work with this idea. Fundamentally, a given location on the map is always at a given altitude vs "zero" level (which is the water level). Thus, if pier is to be a thing, it needs to be functionally equivalent to terraform (i.e. subs would not be able to pass under it). With that in mind, I'd argue it is more trouble than its worth.

Engine is open source, feel free to fix it=) Its quite a few lines of C++ though...

But conceptually there is nothing impossible about it, you just need to patch the pathfinder algo to have multiple "layers" to it (so the pathing is not done on one graph, but rather on several different graphs which have certain connections between them). It would also allow for some cool map features such as tunnels and bridges, as well as maps with multiple water levels (e.g. Folsom Dam would be able to actually be a dam with water levels before and after being different).

quote: as well as maps with multiple water levels

You don't need to change pathing for multiple water levels. Source: I have done it, see original thread with video at: http://zero-k.info/Forum/Thread/29599?page=2&Search=&User=&grorder=&grdesc=False&grpage=1

Tunnels/bridges are indeed a different story, especially for units (such as hover) that should be able to take both "under" and "on top" of the bridge.