Is it possible to use the PA game engine and make an RTS with non-spherical maps? (Like Total Annihilation or Forged Alliance, or Ashes of the Singularity) From my experience that is the major reason none of my friends liked PA. Thanks! Warren
If you want Total Annihilation then play Total Annihilation. If you want Supreme Commander play Supreme Commander. They play better than vanilla PA anyway. Spherical maps are the primary distinguishing feature of PA and I cannot for the life of me imagine why someone would want them gone.
I think it is possible to make non spherical maps based on current game engine. I have played a map which is a cubic planet. Or alternatively, you can create a planet which contains a square land area, and then fill other region with lava. If you just don't like the mini map of PA, you can install the mod: UberMap https://forums.uberent.com/threads/rel-the-ubermap.68808/
It's possible to make flat maps, but camera will be VERY weird, because it will still rotate around a sphere. And it probably impossible to play. Also spheres are more fun than flat stuff. Real maps have curves.
So how many people bought this game and playing it? Very few people. And from my own experience the main reason was the spherical Maps. I like everything else actually. And I can play on the spherical planets but it just feels like an unnecessary evil. I got probably 20 people to buy this game. They all said they hated the spherical Maps. Other than that it's good. Planetary Annihilation has the best features such as the server side computing of all game data.
It can take a while before people get used to spherical maps. It sure did for me and I can imagine that most people are not into that. Flap maps can be made in pa however gameplay wise it simply won't work. Apart from the camera issues you'll also get targeting issues. Units will overshoot each other because most projectile shoot with a curve (in standard rts most shoots in a straight line but you can't in pa cause it'll hit the ground.
Lad, spherical maps is the biggest feature of this game. An option for flat maps would be nice, like almost everything.
I think the option could have been possible if HR had got kickstarted. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/659943965/human-resources-an-apocalyptic-rts-game
Please tell us, WHY is it that you guys don't like the sphereical maps? When playing on multi planet systems it feels so cool to zoom out and see all the planets orbiting around. I really don't see how multi planet systems could work with flat maps. I like how you have to be aware of what's going on around you on all sides, not just a few directions, which is the main difference of the maps and personally I think the game would be boring without this aspect. You have to constantly choose which side you need to send units down to attack / defend and where your going to expand to. It also means scoutung for or at least guessing where your opponent is sending his armies so you can react to that. I find it fun to have to scroll around and keep on top of all these things happening on opposite sides of different planets. However if you want to play on flat style maps (which I admit are fun sometimes) then there are maps made on a spherical planet with half the planet blocked out by cliffs, making the map play like a flat map. First one that comes to mind is team arena.
Of course I have played PA from day one and hoped it would be popular. I am just saying that spherical planets seem to be quite the turn off for a lot of people. The man said it best a long time ago: https://forums.uberent.com/threads/...-on-planetary-annihilation.34967/#post-751287 Chris Taylor: Yeah. When I saw that, I kind of saw the old Chris, you know? I’ve been a firm believer that multiple battlefields is not a good idea. You look at chess and you try to go to 3D chess, it just blows your mind. The brain is powerful, but the brain has limits. Only savant genius type of people can play on multiple boards at once.
So you're saying that spherical planets make it difficult to control and stay on top of everything that is going on? I understand how this happens when you are trying to control everything on multiple planets (which would also be the case if you were trying to control multiple flat maps), but I don't see how the spherical maps actually make it much more difficult to stay on top of everything. Especially when you can just zoom out and get a good view of a large area of the planet. You only have to get used to scrolling around. Also PA does so many things to make managing everything so much easier such as a streaming economy, infinite build on factories, build queues, picture in picture, live chronocam, area commands and a small emphasis on microing units. Or maybe I have just played PA for too long
Of course I agree with you in a lot of ways. I can't hardly stand playing FA, and only do because my friends and family still like it. It seems so slow and the upgrading of metal is the most important thing. Yes, I played FA a lot of hours since it came out. Unfortunately my friends and family all said the same thing (about the planets vs rectangular map) and don't like the multiple battlefields either. For us yes, we are used to PA and can navigate everything okay, but for a lot of people that really is difficult to get into. Warren
It's called Planetary Annihilation because it's annihilating the idea of having planets as maps. Game title is literally saying no to spherical maps. Kappa.
But on a more serious note, do you not like the spherical maps because they are difficult to comprehend from a strategic aspect? We don't need a backwards Ubisoft where it's the community who wants to downgrade and not the devs/publishers, lol. Plus, I doubt the gameplay mechanics of PA (which were designed for spherical maps) would work with flat maps.
I always had problems navigating the planet as without pool lock i would always get lost in my own base. This is why i quit playing (in beta). But with pool lock and me getting use to the spheres it became great. Did they try out pool lock?
