Do you want to add the weather in the game?

Do you want to add storm, hail,...?

Please see the other half a dozen or so threads on this topic.

I can't found any topics "weather". Please add links.

Planet types as gameplay limiters

Natural events that hamper your strategy

The general consensus that I got from reading the threads was that people did not want.

I don't mind the idea but not as something that effects gameplay as discussed in other threads. I think visually it would really enhance the game - giving the player a real sense of being on a different planet.

A consideration here is that I'd rather them put their time & money in to making a great game rather than make it look pretty. They can add that kind of stuff in to the procedural generator at the end. Gotta remember we're on a budget here folks.

Edited: crappy touchscreen related typos.

I'd like all types of weather being added into the game but i'm not a fan of it affecting the gameplay. Perhaps just as a cosmetic factor then it'd be pretty awesome. Same with a day/night factor. I'd like to see all of these things. Creates more immersion and eye candy.

Weather may be interesting from an aesthetics point of view but it should absolutely not affect gameplay whatsoever.

Please add the idea of the weather, you would like to see: the meteor rain, aurora,...

Just add them weather effects and junk/satellite orbit when you zoom all the way out to planetary scale. And when you zoom in ground level just make them disappear/nonvisible.

Cosmetic weather effects, yes if the devs feel like it. Random events affecting gameplay, no way*


*Unless there are a large number of small random effects which would average out over the course of a game allowing player skill to ultimately decide the outcome, for example see the Heroes of Might and Magic series (games I-V, HOMMVI is an abomination against mankind).

Ohh god..

I don't think people here know the toggle button function.. it is used to turn things on/off... So, IF you want something in your game, turn it ON. If you don't want something in your game, turn it OFF...
If I'm playing PA to relax, I will put the AI in easy mode and I want random events that can cause some advantage/disvantage for the affected side, I want thunder storms that slow my units down for a small period of time... my goal is to explode robots and to destroy planets! And you know why? Because I'm playing the game to relax!
BUT, if I wanna play a competitive game, then I just need to turn these events OFF..
Cmon... I cannot be the only one here that thinks this way

Time spent making optional features is time spent not making features everyone will use.

Uber will make the game to the community.. Not to a selected number of players that want to play the game competitively.

Ok, from a technical perspective, lets look at clouds. The game will involve play that will position the camera both well above and well below any cloud cover. To transition between these camera views would potentially involve moving through cloud cover.

Now there are a few ways to do clouds, one is to use volumetric fog, another is a transparent sphere around the planet, another is by using sprites etc.

The problem with these is that you have 3 goals - performance, visual quality (how good/ugly it looks) and realism (realistic cloud density etc). You can only choose 2 of those. For example: Spore had good visual quality and performance, but lacked realism. The clouds were extremely sparse and for a game like PA that would be undesirable if you wanted the clouds to actually have an effect on a region.

Beyond that, clouds would also visually conceal large portions of the planet. If there is strat-zoom you will still be able to see your unit icons but it will be difficult to give movement orders if you can't see the terrain.

All this could be overcome given enough time, but at what expense? Less polished units? Poor balance?

I would rather a working game before they start adding flourishes.

Hey, if worst comes to worst, you blow up the planet that gave you bad weather. That's what I'd do on a rainy day.

I doubt that conventional weather would add anything to the game. I mean, we've seen that basic Mechs can operate in the cold vaccuum of space, so would rain and snow really bother an army of robots? I doubt it.

In other RTS games, weather effects and/or a day/night cycle provide added layers of strategy, but PA is probably too epic in scale for it to matter.

However, more exotic "weather" might be interesting, like meteor showers and ion storms. Meteor showers would be devastating for moon and asteroid bases, because they don't have atmospheres to protect them -- it would definitely add a risk-vs-reward aspect to expanding into space.

Also, hurricanes and typhoons on Ocean planets, volcanic eruptions and lava floods on Lava planets, and super-hurricanes on Gas Giants (like the Red Eye of Jupiter). Yeah, I'd be in favour of that. But not rain and snow on terrestrial planets, because they wouldn't be extreme enough to matter.

I've been trying really, really hard not to post here because the volume of terrible ideas is utterly unmanageable. But this is such a ludicrously terrible concept I'm forced to tell you your idea is bad and you should feel bad. Random factors that decide games are horrible. The result should be decided by the better player, not the luckier player!

If you don't want them in your game, turn it off.
Also I'm pretty sure Galactic Wars will have random events like these.

Is galactic war multiplayer?

So you wouldn't mind playing a game where there is a random chance that a event with the potential destructive power of a nuke will suddenly happen where your commander happens to be standing?

That's not how multiplayer games work. You can only play games if there are games of the type you want being made, or if people are willing to join your games. When every lobby* is Isis No Air No Game Enders 20-min no rush Fox Only No Items Final Destination annihilation games, (Or 10,000/10,000 Metal Isles Commander Game Continues No Nukes, for TA players) you don't really have any "options". If there are options, people will use them, and you can be sure they'll pick all the stupid ones.

*Exaggeration warning, for pedants.