Overview
Helpful tips on building vehicles intended to last.
The Beginning of Your Enlightenment
So, you want to learn how to build? I will not teach you that. I will give you guidelines for building, but every creative thought and process should be yours. It is vital for all builders to understand their strengths, weaknesses and preferences.
Now, let us begin.
Tri-Force
When I first read about this it seemed ridiculously confusing. I went “Uhhhh… so tetras and stuff are OP?”. In fact, the concept is quite simple. If you take into account that when a block is damaged the damage will spread to other adjacent blocks, you will realise that utilising the limited connections of Tetras and Prisms can create a long lasting bot’.
At this point most people will be confused. What I really mean is that you can misdirect and misguide damage itself. Cubes have 6 sides. Therefore, six modes of outputting damage. But a Prism only has four, while a Tetra boasts a measly three. While the damage spread among the blocks does not change, the direction can. Have some hastily drawn diagrams to explain…
When you take this into account you could theoretically make a bot’ last twice as long. Even more so, as Cubes, Prisms and Tetras all share the same armour value.
Using this you could make two layers of armour. One could get get completely destroyed, but as long as there was minimal connection to the other layer, it would be virtually untouched.
You can learn more in the link section at the end.
Basic Tips
Here are some basic tips you should always use or consider in every build:
- Cover the stuff you use to move. If they go, you become a sitting duck.
- Always protect the spot under the pilot seat. If it goes, you die.
- More coming soon…
ElectroPlates
These are so important I feel they deserve a section to themselves.
Pros:
– Brilliant against Plasma and Rail guns (they can completely negate the damage of one shot)
– Useful shapes
– Can guard/ add an extra layer of armour for guns, underbelly, top, front etc
– Can prevent satellites from being one-shotted
Cons:
-Very heavy/ cause a lot of drag
– Expensive
– Not always worth it (blocks might be more useful)
– Very weak to SMG fire
– High CPU use
Opinion
I think electroplates are cool, useful bits of armour. They are however, a complete waste of time if you have to cripple your design to make them fit, and they are quite hard to adapt into a design. While they play a major role on hovering and flying craft, it might not be worth it in some designs.
An Example Tank
This is my T4/ T5 plasma tank. It can be adapted to hold SMGs, and potentially even Rail Guns. I have used all my techniques stated here, and it will win almost any 1v1. Once I even managed to get eight kills, unassisted, as is shown here (for all you sceptics).
The robot itself is very cost effective, and I always make a profit so long as I do at least one CPU’s worth of damage.
Here is an earlier version (I have since updated the armour, interior and general body shape).
My very first robot. Primitive, simple but did a good job. I called it Jurisdiction.
MK.1 of the robot I use today. The first to bear the name “The Paradigm Shift”. Notice the out dated “tech cubby”.
The fully operable shining star of bot’ technology. It utislises Tri-Force armour to the max, and is often victorious.
SMG
The SMG is probably the most versatile weapon of all. It is effective at long range, and even better at short range.
To hit a target at long range you want to tap the fire button, but only long enough for one or two lasers to slip out. This tapping helps circumvent the crosshair “bloom” (the longer you fire the more inaccurate the shots become). Depending on the distance of the target, you can hold down for longer periods of time. Satellites and planes make tiny targets, so only shoot sparingly. But when a SMG/Plasma tank comes rolling, plink away at it before opening up at short range.
Always try to have all SMG’s facing the front, as their unique property means that only one gun can fire at a time. It is only logical that to get maximum shots per minute all the guns have to be facing the enemy.
Plasma
A great burst damage artillery weapon. While the curve on the shots may be hard to judge at first, plasma is certainly worth it!
Howver, because plasma is a burst weapon, it is best suited for hit and run attacks. Plasma bombers do well because they have high mobility, and plasma hovers do well as they are not in the line of fire, they just add a punch to attacks. You will notice that in the higher tiers plasma tanks become progressingly weaker, as skillful SMG users come into play (by the time you have reloaded, the SMG tank could already have removed half your weapons).
Fin
The end for now, but more will be coming soon. Dont be afraid to recommend guides/ websites for the link section.
Links
[link]
For more on Tri-force, and for a more in-detail explanation.
[link]
Interesting idea to protect guns if you can’t be bothered working Tri-force into the your bot’.
[link]
More advice for beginners.
[link]
Even moar building tips.
Some Bad Examples
These are my prototype bots’ for entertainment. They are not overly good, and do not have any of the features in this guide. I thought I might as well include a flyer and rocket sled for inspiration, though.
The Fly. So named because it can’t really do much damage at all, but it does irritate. It also flys (a side effect of high speed). Tonnes of fun, and I once managed to get into a fight with five enemy SMGs. I danced around the place missing wildly with my plasma as I ducked and weaved through the super heated energy bolts. They even tried so hard to get me they didn’t notice my flanking teammates until they bothered to wonder why they had no guns. I then drove over to the enemy base on 97% health.
Kestrel. A simple plane using no rudders. Not a big threat to anybody, but a good introduction into the world of flying craft.
