Camouflage in Robocraft

The new paint gun tool implemented in the recent update has many obvious uses, one being cosmetic application. However, I believe that this could also be used to make your bot harder to see while in battle, increasing it's survivability. In a sense, this camouflage would be the practical side of this new part of Robocraft. In this tutorial, I will show you the advantages and disadvantages of camouflaging your bot, along with a few templates to help you get started.

On the positive side of things, camouflaging your bot will allow you to be harder to pick out from the surrounding terrain. While not effective when your bot has been spotted, it does allow for you to not be as visible while moving to another position or during a stealthy assault on an enemy position.

Now, for the downsides. This camouflage is not perfect. While it does make your bot harder to see, it does not completely conceal your bot from an enemies eyes. One major drawback worth noting is if you bring a winter camouflaged bot into a battlefield that is sandy, with no snow in sight. Instead of concealing you, the camo instead helps you show up more :)

In my opinion, I believe that this is best suited to flyers, such as drones, planes and copters. However, they might also find good use on the top of tanks and other ground vehicles, to help conceal them better from bombers and/or snipers.

Lets say you want to deck your bot out in camouflage to help it in the following maps: Tharsis Rift, Tihonium Canyon, and Hellion Impact Crater. Below is an example of a paint scheme that you could use. The bottom uses tan and white, scattered across the bottom. The top uses orange and brown, also scattered. When applying the paint, do not use the mirror tool. Paint the base color with the mirror tool, then switch it off for the second color. Symmetry is not recommended when doing this.

Note: You may have noticed it already, but the camp does not work overly well on the Tihonium Canyon. I omitted it mainly because there is a one in six chance of getting that map, so painting for it it pretty much pointless. However, if you want to do it, here are the colors: top has brown and tan. Bottom has tan and light green.

The bot featured in these pictures is Reaper Rebirth[robocraftgarage.com], made by LittleBitHarsh[robocraftgarage.com].

Lets say you want to deck your bot out in camouflage to help it in the following maps: Gliese Lake, Ophiuchus Valley, and Spitzer Dam. Below is an example of a paint scheme that you could use. The bottom uses light blue and white, scattered across the bottom. The top uses white and grey, also scattered. As with the previous application process, fill with the base color, then turn off the mirror tool to apply the second color.

The bot featured in these pictures is The Baron, made by OrgazmO. Available on the CRF, with limited sand camouflage.

I have also done a bit of research on the next planet coming for the next set of maps. It appears to be a forested map, complete with waterfalls, forests and such. I have also read somewhere that it might have a volcano, which spews lava that can damage vehicles. Link to one of the pages I was looking at can be found here[robocraftgame.com]. Don't hold me to this though, I may be completely wrong :). I have a camouflage scheme for this when it is needed: top will have dark green and brown. The bottom will depend on what the atmosphere of the planet will be like, so I can't give an accurate value at this time.

I know that there are skeptics out there, so here is your data proving it works :)

Previous to adding camouflage to my bomber, I averaged around 3-8 kills per game (Battle Arena). After I painted it out in camouflage, I immediately began to see that I was getting hit less while not under a spotted status. I began averaging at least 10 kills per game afterwords, which I have to say is pretty amazing. A few screenshots from games using camouflaged vehicles:

Of course, I can't say that this will work that well for everyone. These stats are partly due to player skill, with the camouflage supplementing.

If you have any thoughts, reactions, tips, etc. on this, feel free to put them in the comments below. I will do my best to get to everyone. Happy gaming everybody :)