Scale Megathread

This picture looks great but would play horrible. This type of poll is obviously going to yield a 75% want for change. Majority of the minority always want their voices heard while the rest are content with what they got.

I dont think the issue with the game is scale of units but the appearance of terrain. Cracks and mountains are just obstacles and have minute strategic implications which are mostly negative if you decide to build near one. Moutains need to be more plateau-ish and cracks jumpable by certain units to add gameplay and options.

Id like to be able to interact with all of the terrain, because as of now they are really just props.

I agree, mountaints should be more monolithic and more plateaus are needed.

But the size of the mountains, (5x the height)
the multiple levels the buildings are on (plateaus)...
And the congestion leading to actual strategical thinking and tactical building placement.

I think all are good for gameplay.
And are partially driven by scale.

this is severely intentionally blunt. Suggesting a scale change is not suggesting a zoom mechanism change.

I'm perplexed as to how you could come to this conclusion.

The size you see the units at now would be no different than the one you'd see them at, post scale change. I guess you seem to believe we'd make the choice not to zoom in as much. But I can reassure you straight away. I already had made up my mind not to even before your intervention. So that's already one person in the list that disproves such a theory.

You really won't notice the extra click on your scroll wheel I honestly doubt it.

choosing the point at which to stop zooming (a point at which you can admire the units at leisure) is something you brain does automatically. I trust you wouldn't see a difference and it wouldn't be any more of an icon war than it is now.

Then I can't agree with you. I see the units as too small at a reasonable zoom distance. I want them to be bigger and more readable at further zoom distances. Making a huge change to them that, appreciably, grants no difference in their readability as they are now is both a pointless waste of time for the developers, and doesn't affect the problem of Icon-Wars (which by extension is also wasting developer time and effort).

respectfully, I disagree with your position.

disagreement accepted.

But you should be aware that I (and many other people) don't consider there is an "icon war problem". or that "developer time is being wasted".

I personally am a rational man, I know that if I were to fly up in my blip above my troops of the second world war, I probably couldn't distinguish each troop clearly, walking, or rolling forward.

actually icons would seem logical. As that is what generals used, on maps.... in real life.

Hell I love icon wars.

Id love to see a minimalist RTS that allows literal millions of units fighting across a planet.

GET ON IT MODDERS!

Realism is there to inform and to keep things from becoming disjointed, not to be adhered to as a strict set of rules that can never be broken. Units are representations anyway. There's no reason they can't be oversized for the sake of gameplay, readability and above all the joy of watching giant robots beat the snot out of each other with lazorz.

well currently it's more like toy one make toy two go popcorn with his microwave lazer (which apparently takes less than a second to take effect). Realism isn't a doctrine that I'm trying to apply. I'm not even campaigning for realism strictly speaking. I'm campaigning for enjoyability of the game which, it just so happens, goes with a bit of immersion (which you'd be surprised how long of a way it goes). For me and all the others, the feel, the look of the game, while not primordial, play heavily on our immersion string, and we need to take this into account to make the game a great experience.

Prop size can be changed more easily, at least at present.
Not saying that it should be done. My post was pointing out how the alternative (larger planets) is even less of a solution in many ways.

I'm willing to wait at least until terrain features become part of the simulation before judging, to see what effect that has on the feel of the game.

what about the look?

I want some Uber dev love here.

Tats, you seen the new terrain props for the desert and lava planets?

They look really cool.

I like them. ~_~ I'm sorry about that not really changing my mind thought.

the textures are great, playing with purple and my mods I had a neat display of colors. the units can nolonger go into the lava so there's that. there's just the lava being in "pits" that missing to me. and maybe being liquid too.

I'm just a bit sad, that you have to zoom in so much to see the action. Thus I'd probably vote for making units larger.

zoom distance is irrelevant, it could obviously be modded to be closer as freecam allows you to get as close as you want or wherever you want for that matter. how do you think @garat got his signature?

Zoom distance is not irrelevant. The closer in you must zoom to see your units the less of the total battlefield you get to see. Larger units means I can zoom out further, still see the cool art and lazorz and also see a larger proportion of the planet.

Sounds like shite strategy

you're really purposefully passing these points under silence.