[Discussion] Spawn insta-kill mechanic
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Esteemed colleagues of the Screeps universe,
A recent conflict with the tenacious R33t4rd has revealed an unconventional use of an existing mechanic. I would like to discuss whether this is in line with the developers intent or if the mechanic needs to be adjusted.
An example of this mechanism can be seen here:
https://screeps.com/a/#!/history/E18S53?t=17445518The mechanic
If a spawn has no available positions to spawn into and there is a hostile creep nearby, the spawn will delete the hostile unit (regardless of circumstance) and spawn the intended creep in that position.
The original reasoning
This mechanic was implemented to protect new players from having their spawn surrounded by 1 move units. Originally this was a problem in safe mode where a player could still be disrupted by having their spawn surrounded. In the meantime, a new mechanic has been introduced which allows a player in safe mode to phase through enemy units.
Proposals for adjustment
1. Make this work only in safe mode
2. Remove the functionality altogether (is it necessary?)Kind regards,
Atavus
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I agree that said mechanic is bad. not only because of how powerful it is, but because producing tough parts only can cost at most 3.3 energy per tick. way more efficient than shooting them pesky invaders.
its a lot worse on this room: https://screeps.com/a/#!/room/E16S42 where a single spawn blocks every entrance.
I don't think safe mode is a problem since in safe mode enemy creeps can't block your creeps.
removing this is unlikely, i actually submitted a bug report prior to using it and was told its working as intended.
My solution is a simple one - if a friendly creep is blocking the spawn, the spawn should not kill enemy creeps blocking it. This stops enemies from preventing spawns from spawning creeps completely, but stops the defensive use of consecutive creep spawning.
This mechanic can be abused much worse, imagine two creeps standing next to a spawn, and moving from the rampart to block all free room other than where the enemy is standing. a moment ago you had two slots for creeps to spawn, and then your fully upgraded creep disappears to a single tough part creep.
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although i agree with R33T4RD proposed solutions, another potential less radical solution would be to prevent building spawns 2 squares from the room edge (eg, 1 more square inward than other structures).
This would still require the attacker to be careful about possible instakill but would not require him to stay on room edge and bounce, thus losing half its attack opportunities
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Why not spawn the creep standing directly on top of the spawn? I realize it's an obstacle you can't move onto, but if spawned you could move off of if you have room. Maybe you can't create a creep at that spawn if a creep is still directly on top of it.
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I really like WarInternal's idea since it would prevent the instakill mechanic but also give us the option to decide where we want the creep to go when it spawns.
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WarInternal's idea is nice except for the fact that it doesn't deal with the problem since it simply says remove the feature, and let enemies block spawns.
This feature was implemented for a reason.
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Wasn't it implemented for new players who had their spawns blocked? If so, then they cannot block the spawn since in safe mode there's no collision with other players' creeps.
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@Tyggerr you are correct, that's why I mentioned that the original reasoning doesn't really apply anymore. The feature could be removed outright, but it would be justified to provide Artem with additional options to consider in case he wishes to do something else.