Change the rocket pod acquisition range from 2000 to 1300

[Viech]

Please vote this issue up 👍 or down 👎 using the thumb reactions to
denote your sentiment on the change proposed in the title!

Issue addressed (optional): None
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Polls may be started by developers to gauge community support for a
prospective or existing merge request concerning a small change; usually a
moderate update to the default value of a setting that affects the gameplay.
The change as such should be completely described in the issue title; a
rationale may be given in the comments.

Polls are neither necessary nor sufficient for making changes to the game.
They support, but do not replace, review and approval of the merge request.

[Viech]

This is in fact a minor change as 2000 is essentially unbounded and rarely reached. A range of 1300 is where it starts to get interesting: An advanced dragoon may be able to barely hit the pod outside of its acquisition range, though only in an outside area where the goon can shoot in a 45° angle and where the rocket pod is not located higher than the goon. From the 1300 mark, we can re-evaluate and adjust in smaller steps if needed.

[DolceTriade]

What's the purpose of the change? Is this a nerf? If so, why?

[Viech]

What's the purpose of the change? Is this a nerf? If so, why?

It's technically a nerf but you can also think of it as a sanity check. Maps where ranges above 1300 play a role are possibly those that suffer most under the rocket pod, balance wise. You need quite a large room or long hall for this change to take effect. For instance, it makes a small difference on Niveus:

(barely outside the proposed 1300 qu range; note the two blue squares)

(just within 1300 qu)

Note that I'm not even fully convinced that the rocket pod is overpowered since you have quite a few options to play around it, but I've heard players suggest it may be, and I am now mildly traumatized by a match on Niveus where there were four or five of them in this spot and you would die almost immediately if a human player managed to block your attempt to rush into the base with their body. I think it's agreed upon that it can be frustrating, and the effectively infinite range of 2000 qu (maps where this can be exceeded may exist but I don't recall any) seems to me like the ideal knob to turn to not nerf the pod in less frustrating scenarios.

TL;DR: This proposal sets the acquisition range to a saner default, it has effects only in corner cases but we can adjust it in smaller steps from here.

[ghost]

the exagerated range of rockets plus their exagerated agility is a real problem for alien beginners. It's also a state1 defense, which should thus not be that strong, considering the adv goon which have barbs is stage 3 IIRC.