RTS Challenge - Biomoth

RTS Challenge
Campaign Missions
Valiant Tech Tree
Aquera Tech Tree
Biomoth Tech Tree

My pseudo-entry to the RTS Challenge. My main comments are attached to the Campaign Missions. What follows is a breakdown of the Tech Tree illustrated above. I describe their general appearance, weapons, and other characteristics.

Notes:
- I suck at naming things. They are open to renaming.
- I listed a couple specific Special Attacks/Abilities/Upgrades. These are not exhaustive. Most units are open to additional upgrades and special abilities.
- All Biomoth units and buildings regenerate health very slowly. The Hive regenerates health fastest (aside from Swarmwalls), and the closer a unit is to the Hive, the faster it regenerates.
- Subterranean units are able to traverse cliffs, vertical projections, chasms, and ravines. They cannot traverse water of any kind (unless specifically allowed to)
CRITICAL NOTE:
- - - - - All Biomoth buildings are merely large units
- - - - - So buildings and units share the same ‘unit cap.’
- - - - - The player must balance their ‘units’ and ‘buildings’
- - - - - The Upside: greater potential for production, no electricity to constrict building construction
- - - - - The Downside: more complicated, and once production is underway, the player must be careful to balance their buildings and units
- - - - - Since it’s a unit cap and not a building cap, then if Chemical Extractors are destroyed (causing the player to be using more units than they have resources for), then there are not the side-effects of buildings shutting down, like the other planets have

Biomoth:
Resources:
- Minerals (like carbon, silicon, etc., mined from rock deposits because most rock on the surface is useless crust)
- Metals (like iron, tin, aluminum, etc., mined from metallic deposits)
- [Purified] Biomoth Air (unit cap and building cap; no standard maximum)
- - - - - All buildings/units are self-powered
- - - - - On Biomoth, the limiting factor is Purified Air available to breathe
- - - - - On other worlds, the limiting factor is Unpurified Air available to power their units
- - - - - So this reads “urified Biomoth Air” on Biomoth, and “Biomoth Air” on other worlds

Worker (basic builder):
- Expends 1 Biomoth Air
- Resembles a brown-shelled pillbug
- Builds, Repairs, Gathers
- Built by the Hive or Mitosis Chamber
- When gathering resources, the Worker attaches itself to the resource node, continuously siphoning resources (cannot gather resources without a Hive built)
- When building, the Worker burrows underground and grows into the desired building (the Hive is the exception; see below)
- Additional Workers canNOT be tasked to increase productivity
- Weak melee attack
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

The Hive (main hub):
- Provides 10 Biomoth Air
- Built by 10 Workers rolling up into balls, and together combining to make the Hive
- Can build multiple Hives
- Since training 10 Workers takes time, the Hive itself has a lowered build time, and has a slightly reduced resource cost
- Resembles a large, upside-down raspberry
- Builds Workers
- Is able to, at any time, collapse into the 10 Workers again
- Available Upgrades:
- - - - - Hydroponics – Allows Workers to float on water, and spawn into buildings on water (allows buildings to be built on top of water)
- - - - - Surface Membrane – Spawns a membrane on the ground (or water’s surface) that extends to include all neighboring stationary buildings
- - - - - - - - - It’s kinda like blight (from Warcraft III) or creep (from Starcraft)
- - - - - - - - - Biomoth buildings do not have to be built on the membrane, but buildings can be built on the fringes to extend it
- - - - - - - - - By appearance, is grayish-brown, with a dull sheen (not shiny) with occasional cracks (looks like a bug’s shell)
- - - - - - - - - Increases subterranean speed of units by 20%
- - - - - - - - - These effects remain only while the unit/building is on the membrane
- - - - - - - - - The membrane disappears of the Hive is destroyed or dismantled
- Building Upgrades: (are lost if the Hive is dismantled into the 10 Workers)
- - - - - The Hive Convergence – Upgrades the Hive to the Hive Convergence. Increases armor capacity and health regeneration rate. Resembles a hemispherical bug shell. Now armed with a thin swarm of shrapnel that orbits the Hive Convergence and causes damage to nearby enemy units. Provides 15 Biomoth Air instead of 10. Provides access to higher levels of technology.
- - - - - The Hive Centrality – Upgrades the Hive Convergence to the Hive Centrality. Increases armor capacity and health regeneration rate. Resembles a hemispherical bug shell, with a large brown and shiny spire emerging from the top, and narrow spines poking from the sides into the ground. Now also armed with medium-range subterranean spikes that automatically attack enemy units by poking out of the ground and impaling enemy units. Provides 20 Biomoth Air instead of 15. Provides access to the highest levels of technology.
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

Chemical Extractor (unit provider):
- Provides 15 Biomoth Air
- Built by Workers
- Resembles a large brown-shelled bug (like the big acid-spewing bugs from Starship Troopers)
- It’s large for a unit, but small for a building (remember, you’re gonna be building tons of these)
- Puffs of smoke seep out from under the shell
- Able to move; not fast, but it’s something
- Builds Sappers
- Available Upgrade: Shell Restructure – Allows the Chemical Extractor to become smaller, but becomes rooted in place (this upgrade is individual for each Chemical Extractor, and cannot be undone)
- Chemical Extractors that have been upgraded with Shell Restructure can also be upgraded by Seismic and Subterranean Sciences to slowly draw resources (minerals and metal) out of the ground.
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

Sapper (resource gatherer):
- Expends 1 Biomoth Air
- Lower resource cost than Workers
- Gathers
- Resembles an ant with a glowing abdomen
- Attaches its abdomen to a resource node, continuously siphoning resources from it
- Up to 5 Sappers can be tasked to one resource node
- Individually, doesn’t gather as efficiently as a Worker; it’s in its numbers that it’s advantageous
- Able to latch onto enemy units/buildings and slowly drain resources (and health) from them

Mitosis Chamber (very basic trainer):
- Expends 1 Biomoth Air
- Built by Workers
- Builds Workers
- Resembles a seashell (the type used by hermit crabs), looking more brown and bug-like
- Stationary only
- Has special ability: Rationed Resources – Rations the amount of available Biomoth Air, allowing 15 excess units to be built. The additional air supply depletes after 2 minutes.
- - - - - This allows the player to temporarily surpass the unit cap
- - - - - This ability is here for this sole reason: so that if the player loses their base, but still has some resources and one unit (a Worker), they are able to start over and rebuild
- - - - - This ability has a shared cooldown between all Mitosis Chambers built by the player (nice try)
- - - - - This cooldown is fairly significant, so it’d be a good idea to save it for if your base is almost wiped-out
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

Hatchery (basic trainer):
- Expends 5 Biomoth Air
- Built by Workers
- Looks like an egg tipped on its side; large legs appear to keep it from rolling around
- When a unit is built, the legs lift up the Hatchery, and the bottom of the shell opens up to drop the unit
- Builds Carvers, Riftmakers, Parasites, and Bladespinners
- Trains upgrades for those units
- Able to lift up and move slowly (cannot build anything while it moves)
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

Carver (basic soldier):
- Expends 2 Biomoth Air
- Built by Hatcheries
- Resembles a worm with wings (a worm with blades protruding lengthwise from its sides)
- Spends all its time underground; can be spotted only by the mound of dirt it makes when moving
- For the player controlling it, its silhouette is marked so they can see it easily
- Can still be attacked by enemies
- Causes minor damage to any unit or building it travels under
- When ordered to attack, it makes a small circle around the target, to do continuous damage to it
- With Liquid Sealing, able to move into water

Riftmaker (basic artillery):
- Expends 3 Biomoth Air
- Built by Hatcheries
- Resembles a praying mantis
- Has a medium-speed sonic attack (sound-based attack that works like a projectile)
- Special Attack: Rift – Launches an energy blast at the target, affecting all targets in the past of the blast, pulling them apart and causing significant damage

Parasite (heavy basic soldier):
- Expends 4 Biomoth Air
- Built by Hatcheries
- Has a slow attack that launches parasites at the target
- These parasites are minor units of their own, able to be targeted
- The minor parasites attach to the target and slowly drain health from it
- Unless destroyed by the enemy, they continue to drain health
- When the targeted enemy dies, the parasites die as well
- The main Parasite gains 20% of the health drained by its spawnlings
- Resembles a green/brown blob moving along the ground (the little parasites “sploot” out of it)

Bladespinner (basic flier):
- Expends 3 Biomoth Air
- Built by Hatcheries
- Resembles a wasp
- Default attack is a “Blade Swarm” attack; an attack style that launches a shotgun-like pulse of shrapnel at the target (able to attack aircraft)
- Special Attack: Bladespin – causes a tornado-like whirlwind of blades (centered on the Bladespinner) to cause damage to all nearby enemies
- Medium-speed flier

Evolution Sciences (upgrade facility):
- Expends 5 Biomoth Air
- Built by Crawlers
- Resembles a large ant, reared-up on its hind legs, with a large glowing sphere resting on the ground in front of it (being “held” by the four uplifted legs)
- Provides upgrades, including (but not limited to):
- - - - - Liquid Sealing – Allows subterranean units to also move into water
- - - - - Magnetic Swarms – Increases Blade Swarm and Swarmwall damage by 20%. Allows Swarmwalls to damage enemy units up to 10 yards away.
- Able to drop down onto all 6 legs and move slowly (cannot research anything while moving)
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

Seismic and Subterranean Sciences Factory (armor trainer):
- Expends 10 Biomoth Air
- Resembles a jagged and dangerous starfish; the ground around it is radially cracked
- The top opens and allows the units to climb out
- Stationary only
- Builds Creepers, Seismic Crushers, Tunnelers, and Seismic Regulators
- Trains upgrades for those units
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water
- Available Upgrade: Seismic Extraction – Allows stationary Chemical Extractors to also slowly draw resources out of the ground.

Creeper (siege):
- Expends 6 Biomoth Air
- Built by Seismic and Subterranean Sciences Factory
- Resembles a rhinoceros beetle
- Has a medium-powered Blade Swarm attack
- On command, can tunnel underground, where it is completely invisible to enemy players
- Unable to move when underground
- Has underground attack: Upthrust – The Creeper thrusts its spined horn toward the surface, causing significant damage to units above it

Seismic Crusher (siege):
- Expends 7 Biomoth Air
- Built by Seismic and Subterranean Sciences Factory
- Resembles a lobster
- Has a melee attack: slams the tips of its claws into the ground, causing seismic damage to nearby enemies, and destroying nearby underground units
- The attack can be triggered at any time (don’t need a target)
- Special Ability: Burrow – Causes the unit to burrow most of the way into the ground, still leaving its shell visible. Is still visible to enemy units. Movement speed slowed by 50% and cannot tunnel under surface obstructions. Damage against buildings increased by 25%. (With Liquid Sealing, is able to move into water but is unable to surface)

Tunneler (siege):
- Expends 5 Biomoth Air
- Built Seismic and Subterranean Sciences Factory
- Resembles a centipede
- Is always underground, leaving a small trail of displaced earth
- Attacks by going underneath the target and stabbing upwards, causing relatively minor damage
- Subterranean Special Attack: Seismic Charge – plants a bomb at the location of the Tunneler with a 10-second fuse, causing significant seismic damage
- With Liquid Sealing, able to move into water

Seismic Regulator (siege):
- Expends 10 Biomoth Air
- Built by Seismic and Subterranean Sciences Factory
- Resembles an even larger, three-horned rhinoceros beetle
- Standard attack is a powerful melee attack
- Special Abilities:
- - - - - Seismic Swarm – fires a swarm of ‘bugs’ (which are actually seismic charges) into the ground of the targeted location, where they tunnel into the ground and explode after 2 seconds, causing severe seismic damage
- - - - - Burrow – Causes the unit to burrow into the ground, leaving its top half still visible, so is still very visible to enemy units. Movement speed reduced by 50% and cannot tunnel under surface obstructions. However, Seismic Swarm range increased by 25%, and Seismic Swarm can now fire under enemy obstructions. (With Liquid Sealing, is able to move into water but is unable to surface)

Nest (hanger):
- Expends 10 Biomoth Air
- Built by Crawlers
- Resembles a bulbous cornstalk, topped by a wasp’s nest, which cracks open to release units
- Stationary only
- Builds Dragonflies and Moles
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

Dragonfly (flier):
- Expends 2 Biomoth Air
- Built by Nests
- Resembles a dragonfly; wings are fixed wings; has jets for vertical take-off/landing
- Fast flier
- Has a medium Blade Storm attack
- Special Ability: Latch – Allows the Dragonfly to pick up a small non-flying unit; slows its speed by 50% and prevents it from attacking

Mole (transport):
- Expends 4 Biomoth Air
- Built by Nests
- Resembles a hemispherical bug shell; stretches-out (accordion-style) when carrying units; has 4 jets (2 on the front, 2 on the back) for vertical take-off/landing
- Able to carry and transport up to 20 units (this varies depending on the size of the units it’s carrying; it can even carry mobile buildings, though those are the equivalent of 10 smaller units)
- Special Ability: Dig – Allows the Mole to tunnel underground (letting the Mole transport units underground, still visible with the uprooted earth; cannot disembark units while underground; if destroyed while underground, its occupants are destroyed with it)
- Unarmed
- With Liquid Sealing, able to move through water

Implosion Sciences (Special Trainer):
- Expends 15 Biomoth Air
- Is a cylindrical building, much wider than it is tall; the top looks like a Stargate laying flat, a ring with a black vortex swirling in the middle
- The sides all retract upwards to let units out
- Stationary only
- Builds Implosion Tanks, Sabotagers, and Subterfuges
- Allows Nests to build Cruisers
- Trains upgrades for those units
- Automatically repairs/rearms nearby units with small, un-targetable workers
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water

Cruiser (heavy flier):
- Expends 7 Biomoth Air
- Built by Nests (via Implosion Sciences)
- Loosely resembles a spider: a single large elliptical pod with 8 legs (4 per side) extending up and out, then jointed to point back down
- Armed with multiple (5-8) implosion beams – a beam attack that causes medium damage (in terms of game mechanics, is exactly the same as laser weapons, but in terms of lore, is different technology)
- Special Ability: Momentum Reversal – Causes 20% of incoming damage to be reflected at the attacking enemy (lasts 30 seconds with a 90-second cooldown)

Implosion Tank (heavy artillery):
- Expends 10 Biomoth Air
- Built by Implosion Sciences
- Resembles a scarab beetle with a swiveling head; cannon is built between the “mandibles”
- Armed with an implosion cannon – beam attack that causes significant area-of-effect damage
- Special Abilities:
- - - - - Kinetic Redirection – Causes 20% of incoming damage to be channeled at the target the tank is currently attacking (lasts 30 seconds with a 90-second cooldown)
- - - - - Burrow – Causes the tank to burrow most of the way into the ground, leaving its head and weapon visible. Is still visible to enemy units. Movement speed slowed by 50%, and cannot avoid surface obstructions. (With Liquid Sealing, is able to move into water but is unable to surface)

Sabotage (stealth unit):
- Expends 4 Biomoth Air
- Built by Implosion Sciences
- Resembles a simple ant
- Is automatically stealthed unless attacking
- Enemy units are able to see it if it closes to melee range
- Has a weak melee attack
- Special Ability: Plant Detonator – The “ant” leaves its “abdomen” at the targeted location (or attached to the targeted unit/building)
- Special Ability: Detonate – Detonates the “abdomen” for significant area-of-effect damage
- The Sabotage must return to Implosion Sciences to rearm

Subterfuge (stealth tank):
- Expends 8 Biomoth Air
- Built by Implosion Sciences
- Resembles a cross between a large ant and a scarab beetle; flat and elliptical like a scarab, but with a definite head/thorax/abdomen like an ant
- Has two large cannons mounted to the top of its thorax, in addition to two large cannons representing the mandibles, and a retracting cannon between the mandibles
- These 5 cannons are implosion beams
- Special Ability: Quantum Distortion Field – allows the Subterfuge to turn invisible for 30 seconds. Cancelled by attacking or by taking damage. Ineffective at close (melee) range.

Swarmwall (defensive wall):
- Wall composed of swarms of “bugs” (are actually shrapnel)
- Yep, this swarm is thick enough to stop any line-of-sight attack
- Because shrapnel is easy to replace, the wall self-repairs (faster than other buildings, but still slow enough that enemy units can tear it down)
- Built by Workers (one Worker is used to construct one node, which can then be extended via the Extend Node ability below)
- Expends 1 Biomoth Air per node
- The wall can be directly passed-through by any friendly unit
- Enemy units can also pass through it, but as they do, they take massive damage (if you’re trying to pass through an enemy’s Swarmwall, your units will, by default, stop before passing through it. You have to force them to go through it. )
- Special Abilities:
- - - - - Extend Node – Allows any segment of the wall to construct a directly adjacent segment. After clicking the ability, the player is prompted with a location of where to place the node. If selected further away, multiple nodes will be built in sequence until it reaches that location. Automatically expends the resources necessary to build the wall.
- - - - - Move Node – Each segment of wall is able to move slightly. As long as the number of nodes is maintained, the entire wall can move. If two adjacent nodes become too far separated, a hole forms in the wall. Each segment’s Move Node ability has a separate (but relatively significant) cooldown.
- With Hydroponics, able to float on water.
- When on water, also extends down into the water to the ocean floor.

FINAL NOTES:
The Biomoth units really toe the line between organic and mechanical, and I don’t think I’ll specify whether I wanted them to be more one or the other. They ought to be mechanical, but by looks alone they seem organic.
This was the last tech tree I worked on, and it was much harder than I expected. I wanted there to be a lot of subterranean action, but there are only so many ways to have a subterranean unit. Also, it was really tough to come up with unorthodox methods of attack. True, there are a ton of weird attacks one can come up with (and believe me, I had some really weird ones), but there’s a problem with that: It’s tough to control an army when each unit’s attack is a special ability. I needed a bunch of unorthodox attacks that would be automatic.

I used these items of stock to make the Resource icons:
Mineral
Metal