S.A.D. The Tosonian Race

[Hot_Dog]

Although the Tosonians are completely spiritual, they have the abilitiy to take on solid form.  With the start of the Tosonian War, they were forced to build solid ships and buildings in order to combat the Humans/Ptaloids.

The spiritual characteristics of Tosonians are expressed in their technology.  First and foremost, they have the ability to change their one unit on-the-fly, without requiring the use of structures.  Tosonians cannot teleport, but with the aid of upgraded "Operation Centers", their unit can become "like the wind" and travel from one end to the other.  In this form, the Tosonian unit is invulnerable to all but defense, yet is therefore unable to attack anything.  In addition, the unit requires time to travel, unlike teleportation (which is instant).

With the exception of the Degruser (being a Tosonian invention), all Tosonian ships are air vessels.  Incidentally, a Tosonian unit cannot become a Degruser "on the fly."

Many Tosonian buidings reside in the air, and for an unknown reason are accompanied by a muddy ground beneath them.  These buildings have high HP, and can only be attack by air weapons, but their armor is vulnerable to Argos.

Tosonian Buildings and ships make extensive use of oxygen (though buildings are not organic), and thus Tosonians require a second resource.  Not only is oxygen required as part of the flat price of a building or ship, but buildings require a constant supply of oxygen.  Resource buildings for oxygen can be built anywhere on the map.  In addition, the huge price means powerful units, and thus the Tosonians are the "Protoss" of S.A.D.

[DJ Omnimaga]

wow nice idea I like it

About the oxygen, will the buildings energy drop gradually when oxygen is low?

[Hot_Dog]

About the oxygen, will the buildings energy drop gradually when oxygen is low?

Either that (for instance, a building with less oxygen might take longer to do something, such as fire) or at the first sign of low energy the building requiring the least oxygen will shut down, providing full oxygen to the rest of the buildings

[DJ Omnimaga]

aaaah ok I see ^^

[Hot_Dog]

Tosonians can change their unit type on-the-fly, meaning without the aid of an Operation Center or Transformation Gateway.  This gives them an advantage in that they can change their strategy quickly without having to retreat to one of their bases.  However, there are a some rules if the Tosonian player changes on the fly:

1. A Tosonians cannot add or subtract units from his group when the player exchanges this way.  Each and every unit must be changed into the new unit the player wants.  If the player does not have enough units "on hold" to do this, he must buy them.
2. Transformation on-the-fly requires 5 seconds as opposed to the normal 2.5 seconds with the help of other buildings.  This may change for better or for worse after balance testing.
3. On-the-fly transformation can only occur with air units.  The Tosonians have 7-8 air units and 2 ground units, so a Tosonian group of air units cannot become a group of ground units on-the-fly, and vice-versa.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Basically, you need the exact same amount of units of a kind as the currently used one, right?

[Hot_Dog]

Basically, you need the exact same amount of units of a kind as the currently used one, right?

Exactly.  If you have 10 Tosonian units of one kind, and you want to transform away from certain buildings, you can't get 0-9 or 11-25 of the new unit you want.  It has to be 10.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Ok cool, thanks for the info

[Hot_Dog]

PURIFIER

Tosonians require pure oxygen for their ships and structures as much as they do Belthium Crystals, so a purifier "mines" oxygen from the air.  Purifiers can be built anywhere that a normal structure can be built.  In addition, they mine oxygen faster than refineries mine crystals, and can have additional processing nodes constructed for them (just like refineries).

Tosonian structures, except for "Operation Centers/Transformation Gateways," other purifiers and refineries require a constant supply of oxygen.  All buildings consume oxygen at the same rate.  If there is not enough oxygen to run every building, a building chosen (starting from least important) will be shut down.

[DJ Omnimaga]

I like the concept, it makes things more realistic and I like how some races got different ressources

[Hot_Dog]

CYCLONE

The cyclone is the Tosonian engineer.  Like most Tosonian units, the Cyclone flies, giving the Tosonians a slight advantage for island resources.  However, cyclones cannot cloak, nor can they research cloak.  Also, cyclones start out moving slow, requiring an upgrade for speed.  However, they can construct buildings from longer distances.

[Hot_Dog]

SAGH'VAH

The Sagh'vah is part of the reason that I allowed air units to be built so early in the game for the humans, and why I allowed Galbonians to attack air units...the Sagh'vah is the Tosonian gunship, essientially its version of the "Raptor" and the "Protar"  

[DJ Omnimaga]

Nice again

Will upgrading the cyclone also increase the speed at which they build structures?

[Hot_Dog]

No, upgrading the cyclone will not increase that particular speed.  A cyclone always builds at the same rate that a Scouter and Creeper do.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Aaah ok, thanks for the info