I've been loving this mod every time I use it and wanted to put down some thoughts it. I think it did a lot of good work on balancing issues after the update but after finishing another Gundam focused playthrough I noticed some stuff that seemed weird and some stuff that seemed like it needed a bit more tuning. I'm splitting it into categories to make it easier to read and splitting it into things I'm not sure about/think might be a bug or unfinished and things that seem to be balance issues. I hope none of it comes off as harsh criticism, I absolutely love this mod and these are all observations and opinions from playing the most recent version a lot.
Things I'm unsure of or might be bugs/unfinished:
Spoiler
-There seem to be duplicates of a lot of weapons with slightly different stats and no description. Like the "Guided anti-shield warhead" and the "anti-shield warhead" are identical in OP cost and damage, but one fires slightly faster with a smaller burst and does a bit more dps. This is something with a lot of the weapons and they are listed in the files as things like particle and particle 2, 2bcannon_m and 2bcannon_m2. They tend to have slightly different stats and attributes and I think maybe they are Zeon and EFSF variants of the same weapon but in any case it makes things feel cluttered and I think having different names/descriptions would really go a long way to help with this. This is probably my biggest issue in the mod right now.
-Some of the ships seem to always list 0 weapon flux per second. The Pegasus and the Papua do, the Zudah, and some others I've seen. I don't know if this is a result of other mods or something with this mod conflicting, but it isn't an issue I have with any other ships but ones from this mod.
-I love how the guide light lasers look on ships, but I swear I think the AI might treat them as weapons. I sometimes see the AI hovering just outside of main gun range and I think it might be because they are inside the range on the guides? I think I see them wriggle around to make sure the lights point at the enemy too but I have no idea. This one could just be the AI being a little weird or it could be a glitch, I have no idea and it might just be in my head. The AI does seem to be a little happy to stay in long range in some ships, the Pegasus bases especially, and part of me thinks this could be cause. If there's a chance that it is maybe lowering the range to something like 600 would help a lot? Again, no idea.
For general balance stuff I'm going to split it up between ships, mobile armors, strike craft, weapons and wings.
Ships in general have two issues that pop up a lot: low DP costs and tough shields combined with good flux stats. It isn't always an issue, and a lot of the things here aren't huge issues for a variety of reasons but just observations after a pretty long game of focusing on just using these ships and trying to make them work as well as they can.
Spoiler
-The more line styled Zeon ships are all okay for the most part. Nothing too out there that I really noticed. I'm sure there's numbers that could be adjusted but things like the chibai, musai, and others aren't issues I don't think.
-The Papua, Jotunheim, and Dolos are all really strong. They all show up really rarely in AI fleets though and took forever to get from blueprints, but they all have somewhat similar issues. They are a bit more balanced in large fleet battles against a ton of enemies since their biggest weakness is their sheer size and relative lack of toughness, but they are just so efficient to deploy that it doesn't always matter.
--The Papua has the capacity of an Atlas and a Prometheus combined, and for only 24 DP brings 3 fighter bays on a pretty tough platform with a good number of missiles. The rest of the hardpoints point in random directions to make sure that they aren't super relevant a lot of the time, which I think is good, but the ship still brings too much for only 24dp. The low armor and hull don't really matter with such a nice shield that can easily be extended and such long ranged focus. I really think it needs a much higher DP/supply recovery cost as is since it can easily fight with ship that costs the same DP, or worse flux stats to make it less combat capable. Maybe a small nerf to cargo and fuel along with a small bump up in DP to 26?
--The Jotunheim has basically the exact same issue. It is a little less amazing as an all around supply ship since it doesn't have a full atlas of cargo, but it still holds a ton and is even more efficient when it comes to damage per DP. 4 bays for 24 DP makes it one of the most efficient platforms for fighters out there and its got a ton of missiles. Both of these ships are really powerful but not in a very fun way to me, more of just like a too much for too little way. I think this could just go straight to 30, it has a lot of fighting power.
--The Dolos is really, really strong. 40 dp for 6 bays, low tech toughness with high tech shields, and an absurd amount of hard points. This needs to be 60 DP like most super-capitals for sure and probably could use one less fighter bay, but one less bay might take away a little bit from it. Definitely needs a big DP increase though, this thing can easily fight multiple capitals.
-The Yapp and the Space Transport Ship are going together since they have the same issue, although the Yapp is worse. 3 bays for 4 DP. They both have the same thing as the above ships where they aren't powerful in a super fun or interesting way, they are just really efficient. I think making the yapp 6 at least it would still be usable and very efficient. I think the transport is probably okay where it is since it just has the two ballistic turrets and if somebody wanted to optimize so hard they'd spam them then that's on them I think. Mostly these ships seem like they're just ways for the AI to spam more mobile suits in battles, which if that is the goal of these and the above ships then I see what you're going for. From a pure balance standpoint I think they're both really strong but they're very much just like a rock to stick mobile suits in. The yapp just feels really strong since it has an extra bay and has so many hardpoints, it's genuinely really good for what it is even if it is basically a weird colossus mk.2.
-The EFSF line ships would be okay, but they have really really good hardpoint placement on a thin profile ship. This would be fine but I think the built in 2 barrel side guns are insanely efficient. They have like .78 flux efficiency for non-emp damage while the ships still have really solid shields and flux stats. Overall I do really like them but I think the side guns could be tuned a bit to cost a bit more flux to fire.
-The various Pegasus carriers feel like they are straddling the line between carrier and warship really closely, and they all feel really similar to one another. I don't really have an issue with any one of them, but I could see maybe shrinking a couple of the mounts to have an extra fighter bay on one of them or just something to give them a little extra distinction. Purely opinion here, I don't think they need a change really and I almost always had one around. They're strong and expensive but feel worth it.
The Mobile Armors are fuckin amazing now mostly. I love them.
Spoiler
-The Asparas II and III have a bit too strong of a main gun now. I remember previously they felt too weak, now its a bit on the other side. I definitely prefer too strong to too weak, but I think just a very small nerf on the main cannon for them would make them feel more fair. They are really insanely fun though.
-The Bigro is perfect. I think it could maybe use a very small maneuverability boost or some other very small buff, but I mean very small. For the most part it just feels good. Love its little claw animation, always have one in the fleet.
-Big Rang also feels amazing now. No issues with it. With a good officer and some built ins it is just a beast, but without that it feels really rough. That feels so right for a mobile armor to me, this is exactly what I love about the mod. I could see a similarly very small buff like the Bigro to either speed or shield efficiency, but again very small. Could maybe be a bit more DP, like 2 higher, but its fine.
-Big Zam I think is almost perfect but the shield feels too strong. The thing can stand up to basically anything. I don't think it needs much of a nerf, but maybe just a very slight nerf to the shield damage resistance since it has the built in shield mods which can make it very, very tanky. Also very very fun though, I love seeing all the lasers shooting out and I used this a lot.
-Braw Bro feels okay but I think the funnel cannon hands could use some more speed and maneuverability, and more range. The whole armor could use a slight speed buff. The hands have a weird habit of focusing on missiles as well instead of an enemy ship. I also think it would be a lot stronger and more fun to use if it just had an extra one of the hands as a built in weapon, just so there's some control over what is happening and the pilot has something to do. As it is it feels too random and too weak to feel good, but I think with a slight speed buff and a built pilot controlled one of the cannons that stayed on the ship it'd be nice.
-Elmeth has a similar issue but I liked it a lot more than the Braw and it felt a lot better to use. The funnels feel great, they're really strong and add a lot. I think the cannons shoot a bit too slow though. If the funnels get distracted or destroyed the Elmeth is basically just dead junk. I think the cannons would be a lot more fun and usable if they did a little less damage but shot faster. Like 30-40% less damage, but 3 second delay instead of 5. 5 seconds just feels so long in a fight for what doesn't feel like a lot of damage payoff. I'm also not sure why they reload when they have a 5 second reload and a 5 second fire delay? Is that just to make sure skills don't affect them? The really slow fire rate on the cannons just makes it feel so slow to play and makes it unusable in a lot of situations for me.
The MS strike craft all feel great. I don't think I'd change much.
Spoiler
-I think they could maybe use a bit higher overhead on supplies and cost a bit more to recover though, they feel a bit too easy to field. Definitely not too much though, maybe a range of 2-4 more supplies depending on the MS. 1 DP just makes me feel like they are disposable and weak feeling in the menu, that feels like what I would pay for a talon not a Gundam.
-RX-78 has two sabers but only seems to use one. That one might be a glitch I think. It also has flux shunt and hardened shields even though it doesn't have shields and can't install any, which just feels weird.
-Char's Zaku-II has two weapon options which I love, but the bazooka feels a bit worse than the rifle. The rifle is really useful for shield pressure and does great damage at a really long range. The bazooka shoots a lot slower and without the rifle or the machine gun the mech is absolutely helpless against shields. I think the reload for the bazooka should maybe be a little bit faster, and I think it would be worth considering letting the generic bazooka reload very very slowly like 1/15 seconds or something just to make it feel more fun to use. I love the machine gun though, in general I think the way it works now is really fun on all the MS's that have it.
For the weapons I think they're mostly good really. Aside from the stuff with missing descriptions and duplicates I absolutely love the weapons. The beams especially just feel great to use, they're my favorite energy weapons pretty much. I also love the missiles, but I do think that having 90 ammo on the anti shield smalls might be a bit much. Even without expanded missile racks they can just keep shooting all battle and are so good at only 4 OP. Maybe drop it down to 50, or increase the OP some, or change them to reloading, or just something since as much as I love using them they are just probably too good.
Lastly the wings are also mostly pretty good but there's two things that I did notice.
Spoiler
-The Zaku II rifle wing seems really passive. Even when set to engage they will often just hang around the carrier and not actually move forward at all. The snipers also do this, but they have enough range that it isn't normally an issue while the Zaku will usually just float there doing nothing.
-I never would imagine saying this, but the Gogg is crazy good. I think it needs either a small damage nerf or a small shield nerf. The thing can 1v1 most frigates and win, and if you do what I said earlier and spam out Yapps filled with Goggs there is genuinely nothing that can stop it.
-Less of a balance thing and just an opinion, I think the Thunderbolt and normal variants of a lot of wings seem to be pretty similar. I love having the thunderbolts, but maybe they could have a bit more engagement range or a more consistently higher speed/maneuverability, something to make it a bit more obvious that they are different and to give them a more distinct character to what is already there.
I have no doubt some of this probably came out a little more critical than I would probably want but I already feel a bit silly typing up so much about the balance of a mod without any prompt. I hope it's okay, and I do want to say again that I genuinely really love the mod and it has a pretty permanent place in my list at this point even if literally nothing about it changed from how it is right now. None of those issues are massive or gamebreaking to me and you've done a fantastic job with this. If you ever wanted help writing some of the descriptions or doing anything like that I would be willing to at least help have something there for some things. If not then no worries, I will continue to enjoy it either way. Thanks for making this mod.
OMG what a great advice that make me want to reply you on a separate message
1. Things I'm unsure of or might be bugs/unfinished:
For the warship naming part, Bandai hasn't gave their weapon a proper a name apart from MS weapon and such. So the naming for warship weapon are slightly "normal & subtle" they're named after their function instead of having a proper name such as NPC in monster hunter game. I might consider changing them in the future if I've better idea or I could get help from fans for naming the weapon for me, I don't want to mess it up myself for my poor English
2bcannon_m and 2bcannon_m2 are completely identical weapon with different colour beam to differentiate the factions, agree that we could twist their stat slightly to make them slightly fits to their respective faction.
0 weapon flux per second - I haven't come across with this issue before, let me have a look and see where to fix this issue.
guide light lasers - yeah I'll lower the range and see how it works, the downside for low range setting is that the guide laser will not show until enemy ships in range, it doesn't feel like it's guiding the MS when launch
2. Ships
chibai, musai - are set to their high value, maybe I'll lower down others to make them appears more often.
The Papua, Jotunheim and Dolos - are very strong for sure because work as mothership for ZEON counterpart of Pegasus and Dolos is the largest among them. Papua, Jotunheim are more like a carrier type of mothership that is lacking of firepower, and they have weaker armour and hitpoint compare to Dolos which has it all.
Papua - it's weird that vanilla tweak the DP after we set it, it was set to 28DP in my file and it appears as 24 ingame same goes to Dolos. I'll work on the stat to make them more what they suppose to be from your advice same goes to Jotunheim and Dolos
(I've go through the file in detail and I found that I put the DP value in the wrong column, I'll get it fix, a bug that I didn't realise until this point oh dear)
Yapp and the Space Transport Ship - sure thing will adjust their DP accordingly. I'll also remove 2 turret point for Yapp and increase DP slightly
Increase cost of flux to fire for PD gun
Pegasus - I'm planning to make them different by changing their shipsystem and their stat, otherwise they just identical at current stage.
3. Mobile Armors
Asparas II and III nerf main gun
Bigro - agree that I love the weird animation I made for Bigro claw, it felt so cartoony (in a good way)
small max speed increase
Big Rang - smaller than small max speed increase and shield efficiency small increase
Braw Bro - slightly buff applied to armour and speed, consider take 1 of the funnel and fix it on the ship
Elmeth cannon adjusted to your request - may need you to test it out before release
4. Pilotable Mobile Suit
The DP issue has been realise and has been fixed, so all good with that Gundam not costing 1 DP anymore
Gundam twin saber can be use, but glitch sometimes, it's good on the otherhand to create varieties to the weapon system management, and fit to lore that gundam don't always use both saber
Shielded MS actually has a shield both pilotable and non-pilotable, they just appears to be invincible because I tune the graphic setting for it
True that no-one use bazooka if you could use a better weapon such as rifle, I tried to let bazooka reload faster now but ammo still the same 5 ammo + 1 ammo reload every 5 sec to see how it works
5. Non-Pilotable Mobile Suit (Wings)
Sniper and rifle units (long range units stay all the way back with their carrier, because they've been assigned with "support" role in the mod file. Support role usually acts the way you see, they don't engage at the front line.
Gogg - do you mean Zock? oh dear it's too OP then I've nerf it before, it seems it needed more nerf to be done
Thunderbolt type MS - actually they've higher speed than normal version, but it seems not obvious enough for their setting I'll buff it more
6. Turret Weapons
I'm sorry that the front missile weapon is a bit bias, because I always dreamt of having an unlimited missile weapon, its unlimited ammo seem to have cause big game balancing issue, I've now adjusted the weapon to fire non stop for 11 volleys and it will slow down as the reloading speed could not catch up. Same goes to Guided Anti-Shield Warhead, these weapon act as both swamp and medium damage dealer missile.
Are you interested joining the Gundam UC discord for gameplay testing? if yes pm me in discord and I'll invite you into the group. Thank you very much
