I saw a map like this in Warcraft 3. I thought the idea was brilliant, but poorly executed at the time. To do it right, the author would need to:
-Create a large, but intuitively understandable "tech tree" of unit evolution. Usually, this means variation in playstyles and attack types is driven by differentiation from the evolving unit into two distinct evolved units, rather than convergence as you suggest. This is not to suggest that a convergence-based system couldn't work, just that it would require a lot of effort on the part of the mapmaker to consider the possible implications of converged units.
-Set basic ground rules on evolution so that it doesn't become a race to the "hero" unit with enough abilities and power to simply steamroll the game by itself. Another reason why divergence tends to be a better theme than convergence. Think: Marine + Marauder + Goliath + Raven (Ranged unit w/ Stim, Slow, Anti-air, and detection) or Zergling, Ultra, Brood (fast moving, fast attack, high armor, cleaving unit with summons).
-Consider a resource system or spawn time to help limit the presence of OP abilities or ability combos in your gene pool. For example, you must find 6 red thingies to upgrade attack speed on your melee units or 6 yellow things to evolve faster movement. Evolving range might incur a 10 sec cooldown per additional range evolved, 80 sec to evolve 8 range unit, for example.
I love the idea, but fleshing it out is much harder than it might seem, unfortunately. It's a very ambitious idea to implement and balance properly.
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@tdhsst: Go
I saw a map like this in Warcraft 3. I thought the idea was brilliant, but poorly executed at the time. To do it right, the author would need to:
-Create a large, but intuitively understandable "tech tree" of unit evolution. Usually, this means variation in playstyles and attack types is driven by differentiation from the evolving unit into two distinct evolved units, rather than convergence as you suggest. This is not to suggest that a convergence-based system couldn't work, just that it would require a lot of effort on the part of the mapmaker to consider the possible implications of converged units.
-Set basic ground rules on evolution so that it doesn't become a race to the "hero" unit with enough abilities and power to simply steamroll the game by itself. Another reason why divergence tends to be a better theme than convergence. Think: Marine + Marauder + Goliath + Raven (Ranged unit w/ Stim, Slow, Anti-air, and detection) or Zergling, Ultra, Brood (fast moving, fast attack, high armor, cleaving unit with summons).
-Consider a resource system or spawn time to help limit the presence of OP abilities or ability combos in your gene pool. For example, you must find 6 red thingies to upgrade attack speed on your melee units or 6 yellow things to evolve faster movement. Evolving range might incur a 10 sec cooldown per additional range evolved, 80 sec to evolve 8 range unit, for example.
I love the idea, but fleshing it out is much harder than it might seem, unfortunately. It's a very ambitious idea to implement and balance properly.