Currently, contamination is pretty much a useless mechanic. It barely does anything at all and can be cleared effortlessly.
I think an overhaul of contamination can make it a serious game mechanic and buff units that need it
Contamination would instead have 3 different forms. Each form has 5 levels, with effects, clean time, and clean cost increasing with each level:
Catastrophic (Grey Skull)
The destruction of roads, bridges, tunnels and public buildings on a massive scale. This type of contamination has immediate effects and is caused by the most powerful conventional weapons.
Caused by:
- Conventional Ballistic Missile [+1.0]
- Nuclear Ballistic Missile [+1.5]
- Conventional Cruise Missile (Level 4+) [+0.5]
- Heavy Bomber (Level 4+) [+0.1]
- ICBM [+3.0]
Effects:
- Construction of new buildings will be stalled
- Morale cannot increase until effect is cleared
- Cleaning is costly, and takes 1-24 hours
Purpose:
Catastrophic contamination is a strategic loss for your enemy, especially in a homeland or annexed city. In the long term, they will have to spend valuable resources to clean the city up and repair their buildings. It isn’t recommended to inflict this kind of damage in a short-term war, as it could be you that pays the cost.
Chemical (Green Skull)
Exposure to deadly chemical agents, causing both short and long term health effects.
Caused by:
- Chemical Ballistic Missile [+2.0]
- Chemical Cruise Missile [+1.0]
Effects:
- Completely stops any healing inside the city
- For every level, units in the city will lose 1 HP every day. This means that they will have no change at level 1, and -4 HP at level 5
- Units with NBC protection will never take damage from this effect
- Cleaning is cheap, but takes 24-72 hours
Purpose:
This contamination is of tactical importance. When used correctly it can force enemy units to leave a heavily fortified position, as well as stall the recovery of their most important stacks.
Radiological (Red Skull)
Powerful radioactivity that has long-term consequences. Caused only by nuclear weapons.
Caused by:
- Nuclear Ballistic Missile [+0.5]
- Nuclear Cruise Missile [+0.2]
- ICBM [+1.0]
Effect:
- Adds a morale penalty of 10 per level
- Cannot be cleaned
In the mode “Apocalypse”, players can construct the Decontaminator, which will clean this effect over the course of 24 hours
Purpose:
In small increments, this effect is useful for reducing the enemy’s resource production. Nuking a city multiple times can make that city uninhabitable for the rest of the game. Use this wisely…
Bunkers
Each level of bunkers will decrease incoming decontamination by 20 percent. For example, if a Chemical ballistic missile hit a city with a level 2 bunker, it would only add 1.2 levels of chemical decontamination
How this affects units
Missiles: Currently, missiles are typically not worth their cost if you intend to use them against cities. Building damage caused by most missile types can be easily repaired, and units easily healed. This is problematic when you consider that missiles are consumable units. Therefore, they should have more profound effect on cities that make them a significant threat in the long run. Rather than just squeezing out TDS, players may think more carefully about who may use missiles on them, and invest in bunkers + TDS earlier on
Theater Defense System: Gives more importance to this unit, which is rarely used in game
Heavy Bomber: Direct buff that allows it to more effectively complete its role as a strategic weapon
I think an overhaul of contamination can make it a serious game mechanic and buff units that need it
Contamination would instead have 3 different forms. Each form has 5 levels, with effects, clean time, and clean cost increasing with each level:
Catastrophic (Grey Skull)
The destruction of roads, bridges, tunnels and public buildings on a massive scale. This type of contamination has immediate effects and is caused by the most powerful conventional weapons.
Caused by:
- Conventional Ballistic Missile [+1.0]
- Nuclear Ballistic Missile [+1.5]
- Conventional Cruise Missile (Level 4+) [+0.5]
- Heavy Bomber (Level 4+) [+0.1]
- ICBM [+3.0]
Effects:
- Construction of new buildings will be stalled
- Morale cannot increase until effect is cleared
- Cleaning is costly, and takes 1-24 hours
Purpose:
Catastrophic contamination is a strategic loss for your enemy, especially in a homeland or annexed city. In the long term, they will have to spend valuable resources to clean the city up and repair their buildings. It isn’t recommended to inflict this kind of damage in a short-term war, as it could be you that pays the cost.
Chemical (Green Skull)
Exposure to deadly chemical agents, causing both short and long term health effects.
Caused by:
- Chemical Ballistic Missile [+2.0]
- Chemical Cruise Missile [+1.0]
Effects:
- Completely stops any healing inside the city
- For every level, units in the city will lose 1 HP every day. This means that they will have no change at level 1, and -4 HP at level 5
- Units with NBC protection will never take damage from this effect
- Cleaning is cheap, but takes 24-72 hours
Purpose:
This contamination is of tactical importance. When used correctly it can force enemy units to leave a heavily fortified position, as well as stall the recovery of their most important stacks.
Radiological (Red Skull)
Powerful radioactivity that has long-term consequences. Caused only by nuclear weapons.
Caused by:
- Nuclear Ballistic Missile [+0.5]
- Nuclear Cruise Missile [+0.2]
- ICBM [+1.0]
Effect:
- Adds a morale penalty of 10 per level
- Cannot be cleaned
In the mode “Apocalypse”, players can construct the Decontaminator, which will clean this effect over the course of 24 hours
Purpose:
In small increments, this effect is useful for reducing the enemy’s resource production. Nuking a city multiple times can make that city uninhabitable for the rest of the game. Use this wisely…
Bunkers
Each level of bunkers will decrease incoming decontamination by 20 percent. For example, if a Chemical ballistic missile hit a city with a level 2 bunker, it would only add 1.2 levels of chemical decontamination
How this affects units
Missiles: Currently, missiles are typically not worth their cost if you intend to use them against cities. Building damage caused by most missile types can be easily repaired, and units easily healed. This is problematic when you consider that missiles are consumable units. Therefore, they should have more profound effect on cities that make them a significant threat in the long run. Rather than just squeezing out TDS, players may think more carefully about who may use missiles on them, and invest in bunkers + TDS earlier on
Theater Defense System: Gives more importance to this unit, which is rarely used in game
Heavy Bomber: Direct buff that allows it to more effectively complete its role as a strategic weapon
Yee Haw