Disabling Orbital units bar transport?

[Ouch Crab]

Evening.

Just hoping to figure out if theres a way to do the above mentioned, Been awhile since i've played and among my friends the only solution to do anything was play turtle until getting battleships then dropping a blob of them on an enemy commander.

I've found orbital combat entirely frustrating and boring at the same time, i'm tired of watching commanders getting insta-deleted because someone turtled up and just spammed battleships.

The fact that a blob of battleships can instantly show up ontop of a commander and their sizable HP pool makes it completely impossible to stop them once they've arrived, since it only takes 4-5 seconds for them to kill a commander at best - worse still that theres very little way to stop the battleships before they arrive yourself, unless you have a battleship hoard of your own.

Even using the specialised orbital sniper ships isn't much worth since a battleship can simply leave orbit immediately, or worse - i've had people use a nearby moon to just fly to the moon and then drop exactly ontop of the snipers in question.

I'm not asking for a removal or major change, simply just to know if theres a way to disable orbital combat without removing the ability to use unit cannons or transports.

Its been a little while since i've played, so perhaps my information is outdated yet i've been meaning to start it up again for a few games with friends, so any information would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

[Kyso4ek]

I stay away from multiplanet maps thats your best bet.

Otherwise you can disable units using the mod interface from the main menu. Disabling units works for custom games.

[Quitch]

Originally posted by Senator Crab:

Evening.

Just hoping to figure out if theres a way to do the above mentioned, Been awhile since i've played and among my friends the only solution to do anything was play turtle until getting battleships then dropping a blob of them on an enemy commander.

This is usually indicative of a badly designed multi-planet system, where transit times are too long to properly scout and contest worlds, or that system lacks enough stalemate breakers like asteroids, other smashables, or an Annihilaser. Unless the system is designed to force people to go out and fight, then people will turtle.

It'd be like having a 1v1 single planet where all the metal is inside your base. There's nothing to go out and contest. so you'll get a very turtley game.

Because the system designer is very easy to use a lot of people will throw something together, not realising they've just designed something absolutely terrible for good gameplay. I strongly recommend checking out the map packs available in Community Mods.

[Lula Mae]

Originally posted by Senator Crab:

I'm not asking for a removal or major change, simply just to know if theres a way to disable orbital combat without removing the ability to use unit cannons or transports.

I second everything that Quitch said. How the system is designed greatly affects the quality of gameplay.


Aside from that, you can restrict selected units from gameplay through Community Mods.

The host of the game first enters Community Mods. On the "Units" tab there is a list of everything that can be restricted from any game they host.

It's a long list but you can pare it down by filtering on "orbital".

[Ill Behaviour]

Another point worth mentioning is that missiles can attack orbital units, so surrounding your com with catapults and bluehawks will make it a lot harder for your opponent to do this. Also If you lock down the orbital space above your base and keep your comander moving around it will make it harder for your opponent to scout your commander and drop the blob directly on him. Omega's move slowly so they will take a lot of damage if they have to move through a base with a lot of orbital defence.

[Kyso4ek]

Yeah maybe spam bluehawks and also set commander on patrol around the planet.

[Lula Mae]

Originally posted by Senator Crab:

Evening.

Just hoping to figure out if theres a way to do the above mentioned, Been awhile since i've played and among my friends the only solution to do anything was play turtle until getting battleships then dropping a blob of them on an enemy commander.

I've found orbital combat entirely frustrating and boring at the same time, i'm tired of watching commanders getting insta-deleted because someone turtled up and just spammed battleships.

The fact that a blob of battleships can instantly show up ontop of a commander and their sizable HP pool makes it completely impossible to stop them once they've arrived, since it only takes 4-5 seconds for them to kill a commander at best - worse still that theres very little way to stop the battleships before they arrive yourself, unless you have a battleship hoard of your own.

Even using the specialised orbital sniper ships isn't much worth since a battleship can simply leave orbit immediately, or worse - i've had people use a nearby moon to just fly to the moon and then drop exactly ontop of the snipers in question.

I'm not asking for a removal or major change, simply just to know if theres a way to disable orbital combat without removing the ability to use unit cannons or transports.

Its been a little while since i've played, so perhaps my information is outdated yet i've been meaning to start it up again for a few games with friends, so any information would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

Someone made you a mod for that - https://forums.planetaryannihilation.com/threads/is-there-a-way-to-hide-enemys-unit-trajectory.73250/

[Sagi]

well that's how pa works and i like it.
early game is about setting up strong eco and weakening the enemy as much as possible
mid game is all about larger armies
end game is all about assassination

best defences against it is to often move your commander.
I think it was possible to have a patrol route set up for your commander even including several teleporters.
so if you have a large base or even a planet, you can set up a few teleporters and make your commander have a patrol route.
This way the enemy will never be able to pin point where your commander will be and you can commander defend against spammable things like nukes and orbital units