Classic flat planet?

I wonder if a more "classic" gamemode would be avaiable, where instead of fighting on a randomly generated planet we would be able to have battles on flat randomly generated planes such as in the original TA?

The engine could do it.. you can fight on just about any arbitrary shape

About arbitrary shapes, how is gravity handled?

Normal to the surface would be my guess.

However, that does mean bridges, walls, and cave ceilings are... this could be amusing to watch.

yeah destabilizing a mountain to squich my oponent

Next feature for PA: Fighting on a giant Baconstrip.

BM, let's make a roller coaster map!

I must say, a flat map should DEFINITELY be included in the game by default! It would be awesome to Truely feel the difference between 'Total' and 'Planetary' Annihilation!
We want it!

I was wondering how maps would be working a little lately. If it's all procedurally generated, that sort of takes out a large competitive aspect; can't learn an entirely random map and have it balanced perfectly.

I am fairly sure you can modify a randomly generated map and save it to share around.

Well, it doesn't necessarily take out competitive aspect.
You could make that players have to choose their starting position.
Then, you could only blame yourself if you've chosen a bad one

I think Mavor's said they'll still have pre-made maps in addition to randomly generated ones, so no worried there.

You can balance it perfectly, using symmetry. (Say the east hemisphere is identical to the west hemisphere, or quadrants, or eighths or whatever.) Also neutrino said they are capable of adding metal patches after world-generation, so you can do things like have players select their landing zone and the game automatically populates that zone with the standard starting resources.

now that sounds like a fun tool

Now I'm an FPS player and I can tell you 9 out of 10 manually designed maps suck for competition in FPS games. I don't know if this is the same for RTS games, but if it is, random maps and competitive play are not a good combination. Random and competition is never a good combination anyway.

Bored lurker out.

Edit: What I'm trying to say is, balance isn't the only thing that matters in map design and I think a manually designed map will almost always be better than a generated map. For competition that is.

The thing is, if an RTS is developed properly, the randomness of the map shouldn't matter in any way, except to influence the strategies chosen. The key is that the initial distribution of resources for the game opening be balanced in some way. In PA's case, the distribution of local metal and energy should allow for the player to have an opening that is equivalent to their opponent's. (And being able to choose the start position is something that will go a long way in helping that balance.)

The key, however, is that the openings need not be identical. A player may start in an area with lower metal and higher energy, or vice versa. Then they need to adapt their opening gameplay style to accommodate this distribution until they can adjust for it. (In TA, this could mean focusing on aircraft, which have a low metal/energy ratio. Of course, PA's economy is a bit different, but the overall principle should be about the same.)

With resources taken care of, the game focus moves on to how advantageous the terrain is for the player. Again, with a variety of units to choose from, the player should be able to adapt to the terrain no matter what type it is. Using Zero-K as an example, a player in an open area would be vulnerable to fast-moving vehicles, whereas a player entrenched in hills would be vulnerable to spider bots. Either way, it's the player's responsibility to adapt their strategic choices to the situation.

Starcraft is a poor example of how to develop an RTS to allow for strategic adaptability like this. The fact that Terrans excel at chokepoints while Zerg excel at open areas, for example, means that there are instant limitations on how random the terrain can be while maintaining fairness. A balanced map has to take into account all the race and unit limitations. In PA, the units are made to take all the different terrain types into account, which is a much simpler, and more logical approach.

But going back to the original thread topic, if I recall correctly, the devs said that sections of a planet could be cordoned off to simulate a flat, 2d map. (Plus the aforementioned ability to create custom maps.)

So it shouldn't matter in any way except matter a lot? Because it is hard to not matter a lot if you influence the chosen strategies in a strategy game.

People need to get a handle on the term "random" in this context.
Maps will be PROCEDURALLY generated, adhering to a set of RULES, with RANDOM elements to provide variety.

Take a look at Fischer Random Chess as a good example of how to add an element of randomness but maintain (perhaps even improve) the competitive nature of a game.

Rote learning the ins and outs of a specific map (or opening in Chess) is not strategy.

My bad. What I meant to say was that a map that is non-symmetric, using procedurally-generated elements shouldn't make a proper strategic game any less competitively balanced, provided there are certain minor controls in place to counter the outlying cases. (Such as all the metal deposits located in one location.)

Thing is, it's not just distribution of resources that matters. Terrain also matters. If you get dropped in a small box canyon with no room to spread out, and your opponent spawns on empty plains, your opponent could have a time advantage on you, because you have to waste time working your way out of the canyon.

Similarly if you end up on a flat plateau and your opponent is on jagged, non-buildable terrain, you have a time advantage by being able to build immediately and your opponent has to go looking for a flat spot to build his factories.