From Initial Base to combat in no time
Hey Unreal Devs,
In today’s Behind the Design, we’ll talk about the Initial Base and the Base Editor.
It was clear to us that it shouldn’t take long until the action starts and the player needs to make impactful choices.
That’s why we came up with the Initial Base and a Base Editor. This way, the player is in control to define the early game strategy even before the match has started.
Every player spawns with the predefined base layout and doesn’t know exactly how the enemy base will look like.
What is known at the start of the match is the location of the other players. But scouting is still important to ensure there is no rush attack coming or to check whether the enemy is going for a greedy expansion or an economic approach.
Base Editor
The player can place 12 Smelogs around the initial Menhir and use 12 upgrades on them.
On the tiles adjacent to the Menhir, no Smelogs can be placed and no buildings can be built during the game. This space is the spawn point for newly produced Smelogs.
Every Smelog except for Tier 3 Units or Buildings can be placed in the Base Editor. Tier 3 Units are the Menhir, Cave, and Obsidian Cannon.
Endnotes
Every player starts with the same amount of resources, even if a player chooses to use fewer Smelogs or not all of the upgrades. We are considering changing this depending on how good the Initial Base works. This could make the Initial Base and the Editor a bit more complex to understand, but it could uncover some fancy strategies. Let us know what you think. 
Happy New Year 