[Research] Armor Variants

[Sarah_U.]

Summary (a quick, 2-3 sentence summary):
Add several types of armors with variants to research for the marines.
Each variants MAY have several tiers, but all have their own specializations to focus their utility and role.

Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole):
This would give a way for marines to specialize a bit more.
This would add dynamic.
Gives a much needed additional purpose to research.
Allows for various new opportunities to implement equipment in research.
Grants marines a way to counter nerfs related to movement, armor and huggers in a gameplay friendly and realistic way (Good for community & gameplay, yay?)

Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc):
Research can research material and combat research to get basic armors that specialize in certain stats like movement and mobility, armor (b18) and/or improve existing armorsets.
They could potentially get more and more research going to get full exosuits with onboard injectors and auto-splinting, etc.
All examples, make your own stuff, but the base idea is there.

Edit: Here's a few examples of armors that could be discussed and implemented:

• E-3a Adaptive Armor | The E-3a Adaptive Armor is an high end exosuit that clamp to its wearer. It is a marvel of combat engineering and allows the wearer to soak damage while hindering his mobility. It can attach certain helmets to its frame to grant its wearer with a more complete protection.
  The helmets in question doesn't include the base helmet, but you can wear it separately. It works as an hardsuit and would grant decent protection against everything, but it's very high end and comes with no inventory capacity. People need to remove it to threat you and it takes a while to recover once you pull back, if you can even run out of the fight with that thing.
• M4X Armor | (Directly from wiki:) An update to the aging M3 vest, M4X armor provides better protection against high-velocity impacts than its predecessor without sacrificing mobility. Instead of a basic vest and infantry 'bucket' helmet, the M4X incorporates full-body protection with armored sleeves, thick gloves, and a full-face helmet complete with a light ballistics-resistant visor.
  The armor is also augmented with a lightweight body frame to help the wearer maintain his balance whenever he is hit with tremendous force, like body blows from an onrushing Xenomorph or Yautja. Most notably, and unlike its predecessor, the armor also incorporates light resistance to Xenomorph acid blood.
  While the M4X is superior in all aspects to the M3, the armor is still undergoing field testing with several Marine combat units before being issued to the entire US Colonial Marine Corps
• CMk1 Armor | The Carrier Mark1 armor is an armor dedicated to the transport of equipment and various items across the battlefield. Made to support the high demands in logistic inside the medical and engineering combat units, this armor offers no decrease in performance compared to the M3 armor, but offers more capacity for storing and holding items on one-self, doubling the space offered.
  The armor is a good example of combat inovations, and it is said prototypes will soon be ongoing tests. (Requires combat tech due to the low changes)

Implementation (Optional, if you have an idea how to implement it):
[N/A]

[YungCuz]

This seems pretty intresting. Do you have any ideas on what kind of types there might be for this?

[nerocavalier]

If I had to guess, I'd say it'll be based off of the corpses of aliens hauled back to research. Like say if you got a bunch of runners dead, you can use them to make a lightweight speedier armor whereas if you got a crusher you'd get something along the lines of B18 that slows you down.

It'll encourage aliens to not recklessly endanger their lives because they'll feed the marine war machine, and marines now have a reason to bring back dead corpses again. It'll also give the Researchers something meaningful to do now.

[Boltersam]

I love the idea, and I could draw up a Caste-Armour list given some time. On my own, though, I have an idea on what the quality of the armour produced should be from different castes and tiers.

Tier 1s will give specialised armour, let's say a Runner would give lightweight (No speed debuff) but more fragile armour, a Hunter would give armour with the same stats but no speed debuff as regular armour, and a Ravager would give tough and lightweight armour from its chitin. On the flipside, Sentinel castes should give tougher and slower armour (Along with the Crusher), and Drone castes should give armour with more of a supportive focus.

Whether or not armour quality is affected by upgrade level is debatable.

I also have an idea to make armour more available.
T1 armour, let's say, can be replicated using more standard materials, and don't need alien parts to be made after being researched from a body.
T2 bodies can be used to make two armour sets, and cannot be manufactured without Xenomorph components.
T3 bodies only make one armour set each.

Thoughts?

PS: Any armour made from the Queen will combine the best effects of all three caste armours. Light, tough, and with a supportive bonus.

[Shyguychizzy]

I love the idea, and I could draw up a Caste-Armour list given some time. On my own, though, I have an idea on what the quality of the armour produced should be from different castes and tiers.

Tier 1s will give specialised armour, let's say a Runner would give lightweight (No speed debuff) but more fragile armour, a Hunter would give armour with the same stats but no speed debuff as regular armour, and a Ravager would give tough and lightweight armour from its chitin. On the flipside, Sentinel castes should give tougher and slower armour (Along with the Crusher), and Drone castes should give armour with more of a supportive focus.

Whether or not armour quality is affected by upgrade level is debatable.

I also have an idea to make armour more available.
T1 armour, let's say, can be replicated using more standard materials, and don't need alien parts to be made after being researched from a body.
T2 bodies can be used to make two armour sets, and cannot be manufactured without Xenomorph components.
T3 bodies only make one armour set each.

Thoughts?

PS: Any armour made from the Queen will combine the best effects of all three caste armours. Light, tough, and with a supportive bonus.

I mean with recent speed nerf the marines had lately....I suppose this would be quite helpful as well making research even more valuable or important job to marines. Making it you have to kill xenos in order to satisfy the armor upgrades...it is quite fair being not every single marine can get a upgrade maybe if they personally drag their fresh kill and wait for research to do so. I mean there isn't a ridiculous amount of dead xenos maybe later in the round there are.

[Sarah_U.]

My idea originally didn't quite involve the use of xenomorph parts, although I would be interested in see'ing bio-engineered armorsuits that would be partially created using synthethic xenomorph plates and whatnot.

Base idea was only involving the usage of base materials like metal, silver, gold, etc. Since it'd be an hassle to make hundreds of armor sets and rare minerals are meant to be extremely rare in CM. Either way, I still welcome the idea of levelling xeno research and using it with other research levels to create stuff.

[Houlihan]

Just... Yes. Going no armor is frowned upon by everyone despite being mostly dangerous to yourself and very useful in certain circumstances and we -need- marines to be able to sanic their way to a crit xeno once in a while, among other things.

[Sarah_U.]

Don't want marines to sanic their way around either, I just want them to have specializations in their loadouts. Think about heavy armor, high-capacity armor, etc. The possibilities are large and this is a field that could be very well exploited and improved to give some very much anticipated content to Research.

[MauroVega]

http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/M4X_Armor

This seems quite interesting +1
(good old AvP extinction)

[Sargeantmuffinman]

I think it should also go to basic armour varients such as:

Scout armour: Negates the speed nerf but is lightly armoured meaning they'll sustain less damage.

Reinforced: Tougher varient of armour which would be a direct upgrade to the M3 pattern, slight increase in armour with no major debuffs.

Heavy: B18 styled armoured with tougher protection, not actual B18 armoured but close.

[Wubs4Scrubs]

+1

I'm all for research getting more toys in their arsenal, however this would require a LOT of dev work to be implemented in addition to a significant amount of testing. Also all these new armor types would require unique sprites which would increase the amount of work even more. Due to these concerns my guess is that this change isn't possible at the moment but hopefully a dev will see this thread and give some actual insight.

[Garrison]

If I had to guess, I'd say it'll be based off of the corpses of aliens hauled back to research. Like say if you got a bunch of runners dead, you can use them to make a lightweight speedier armor whereas if you got a crusher you'd get something along the lines of B18 that slows you down.

It'll encourage aliens to not recklessly endanger their lives because they'll feed the marine war machine, and marines now have a reason to bring back dead corpses again. It'll also give the Researchers something meaningful to do now.

I'd also like to see certain research items made available depending on what xeno corpses get brought back to R&D. As I mentioned in another post, dissecting a drone or related caste should provide items that can be used to counter Weeds and Resin constructs. Dissecting runners and hunters should give melee weapons or light but effective armor. Or if someone actually managed to kill a queen and drag it all the way back to the Sulaco. Research should be able to use its genome to invent a medication that can suppress the growth or even kill alien embryo's without surgery (at the expense of suffering toxic damage to prevent it from being godly)

[Sarah_U.]

Thing is, all low-tier xenos have a chittin that's really just the same in the lore. The movie marines have explosive-tipped weaponry and that's why they can efficiently pierce the chittin, but overall the xenos are really though opponents and the difference between their low-tier castes usually range from the difference in muscle and physique rather than exoskeleton.

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

M4X is not going to happen. It's outside our time period, and it's currently an item a donor paid for.

Also the design is objectively pretty confused.

Carrier armor caught my eye a little though.

[Sarah_U.]

M4X is not going to happen. It's outside our time period, and it's currently an item a donor paid for.

Also the design is objectively pretty confused.

Carrier armor caught my eye a little though.

As stated, those are pretty much example templates for y'all to use and/or think of; Or rather, they're here to give a basic idea of what the concept rounds up to be.
Although I hope you liked some of dem ideas

Thanks for the reply.

[forwardslashN]

Denied. We are rethinking research.