<![CDATA[Next Gen gameplay]]>"Next Generation of Strategy Games" mod is my attempt to create a deep, strategic, diverse gameplay experience that isn't stuffy or stale. No "turtle game". No spamming of game enders, experimentals, or nukes. No absolute air superiority. No "snowball" and no emphasis on microcontrol or "build orders." NO META. With gradual gameplay development at all tiers. With gameplay that allows all units to showcase their best qualities, such as T2 hovers and bots, T1 bombers and submarines, T2 fighters/bombers. With more pronounced differences in the use of different types of units. With an emphasis on warfare, not economics. A pleasant pace even on ladder, so you can enjoy the game rather than feel stressed, and keep track of everything happening on the map. Everything should explode, move, and be fun. And all this on maps from 20 to 80 km without any lag. For example, 15-20 km maps are suitable for 1v1 games. You reach T2 at 20-25 minutes, and T3 at 40-55 minutes.

Slowed economy. Doubled ranges (except water vision, sonar, omni, and anti-navy). Halved speed for non-air units. Stealth for all submarines. Sonar and torpedo tubes are placed underwater. Bomber damage is increased by 2-4 times while maintaining DPS. Decreased gunship speed (similar to helicopters). Not hundreds of air units per match, but dozens. Mechanics reducing the speed and damage when ground units fire while moving. Increased reclaim time. Reducing repair time and cost by up to 40%. And other changes. Some of them are listed in the readme.txt file in the mod folder. Other changes are visible in the unit stats.

The M28AI adaptation is decent, but not complete. I can say I had to make it much, much more aggressive and less focused on economy. Although even so, it's not as aggressive as it should be. So it's better to play with a 2.0 cheating AI. Or one-on-two. It's not a great fighter, but it handles economy quite well.

Available in repository.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/topic/9744/next-gen-gameplayRSS for NodeWed, 03 Jun 2026 23:48:37 GMTThu, 25 Dec 2025 01:21:56 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 15:01:07 GMT]]>@cychwa_klaymberg Therefore, the damage of artillery and ships was reduced by 2 times. And as the range increases, the dispersion of the projectiles increases.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70855https://forum.faforever.com/post/70855Thu, 25 Dec 2025 15:01:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:43:49 GMT]]>@thinkerx
Doesn't this approach lead to even greater penalties for mistakes? I mean, if I built an expensive experimental unit that's also slowed by 50%, and my opponent built a ship that fires at a range of 10 km, it feels like I've lost before the fight even begins?

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70854https://forum.faforever.com/post/70854Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:43:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:12:51 GMT]]>@cychwa_klaymberg Hordes of units aren't necessary for the most intense and massive battles. On the contrary, they add problems with control, pathfinding, lag, and just create a mess.
It's much cooler when a battleship with double range can shoot through almost all of Seton.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70853https://forum.faforever.com/post/70853Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:12:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:00:47 GMT]]>@thinkerx
Perhaps. But I absolutely love massive and intense vehicle battles, as well as the T1-T3 experimentals from the Total Mayhem mod. It makes my balls clench when the all-consuming spam horde advances 😉
But I will definitely try your mod, I'm interested to see the changes.
In any case, what you are doing is great, it is variety and a new gaming experience 🙂

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70852https://forum.faforever.com/post/70852Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:00:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 13:01:02 GMT]]>@cychwa_klaymberg In faf also was an interesting attempt to change the gameplay with the "Wars of Glory" mod. Unfortunately, it nerfed not only the economy (which is a good thing), but also the combat system. Unit damage was reduced several times, turning the game into a dull wall-to-wall battle.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70851https://forum.faforever.com/post/70851Thu, 25 Dec 2025 13:01:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 12:53:16 GMT]]>@cychwa_klaymberg I've read your posts, and I think my mod is exactly what you're looking for. I've gone further in changing the base balance. I've tried to maintain the FAF balance as much as possible, making only necessary adjustments. I haven't added any new units, as they're secondary, but each new unit would have significantly complicated the balance.

I need testers to work on the mod. I tried to create lobbies before, but it was unproductive because my mod changes the gameplay so much, and people didn't understand a lot of the things I did. Besides, I experimented a lot and tweaked the balance many times in search of the right path. So it wasn't interesting to casual players.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70850https://forum.faforever.com/post/70850Thu, 25 Dec 2025 12:53:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 12:20:24 GMT]]>@cychwa_klaymberg
It's precisely for the reason you described that I cut mass fabricators from the game. Resources out of thin air and without the need to control the map is anti-gameplay. Units have truly become fewer; in a normal game, there are somewhere around 150-250 per player at a time. That's why I nerfed the ACU. ACU is very strong even in vanilla balance in the first half of the game.

The enemy can be destroyed even at T1. True, I played with people a long time ago, and there was a different version of the mod (quite similar). But still, I got destroyed even at T1. Lately, I've been using AI for development and testing.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70849https://forum.faforever.com/post/70849Thu, 25 Dec 2025 12:20:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 11:42:08 GMT]]>Interesting approach. Does it work? I'm not criticizing; I'm genuinely interested in discussing it. Unfortunately, in my thread - nobody's really writing much.
After slowing down the construction speed of T2 by 2 times and T3 by 4 times, including the release of these technologies, I encountered the fact that people do not want to capture new territories; it is easier for them to build huge fields of T2 mass fabricators simply with a large number of engineers and complain that the 1250-1500 limit is too little. So while I was increasing their energy consumption to huge values, people were doing it.
So yes, I'm interested in your approach.
By the way, could you describe in more detail how your games work? Is it possible to destroy the enemy at T1-T2? I'm confused by your description of small groups of troops. Does that make me think a commander can easily overcharge a T1-T2 army?

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70848https://forum.faforever.com/post/70848Thu, 25 Dec 2025 11:42:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:44:51 GMT]]>@cychwa_klaymberg By nerfing engineers (who spend mass four times faster than factories, the cause of the "snowball") and increasing costs of generators sixfold. This evens out the economy and balances out the overly strong air, but has little impact on land units. They are built at almost the same speed and require little energy.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70843https://forum.faforever.com/post/70843Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:44:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Next Gen gameplay on Thu, 25 Dec 2025 08:07:56 GMT]]>Interesting. I'm far from a fan of standard gameplay (I don't like the 9-minute T3 mechanics).
You write that the emphasis is on combat, not the economy. I wonder how exactly you achieved this, as the economy has always been an important aspect of the game in any mode and, especially on large maps T1-T2 units quickly lose their relevance, while the economy always works in the positive direction.

]]>https://forum.faforever.com/post/70838https://forum.faforever.com/post/70838Thu, 25 Dec 2025 08:07:56 GMT