I couldn't help but notice a lot of similarity in the feature set of PA's replay systemwith various NVR (Network Video Recorder) solutions for large CCTV systems given they're something I've worked with in the past. But one "missing" feature I think that could be of use is an Activity Histogram. In CCTV recordings it's usually based on video motion detection, which is what the above represents with the line and colour changes representing a threshold. But for PA I think Damage would be the better metric. That way you could quickly seek back and forth to points in time when all the pew pew is going down.
This should go bleep sometimes as well. Although maybe just damage isn't what's necessary. Maybe you should have two histograms layered into each other, one for damage and one for motion, so it'd also be noticeable if you see a big force that isn't shooting yet
Something like this for economy would be great too, so you can find the exact point where you stalled and work out what happened.
Including a histogram for a wide range of relevant variables would be pretty awesome. Damage, resources, units (total and specific), etc.
It appears histograms are also seen in Achron, a game mentioned in related topics lately. The histograms shown are: Chronoports Under Attack Damage Dealt Units Created Resources
......That's because Achron is a game about/using Time-Travel as a Core Game Mechanic. That pic is of an actual game, not a replay or anything. Mike
Well i can see why they might be useful in-game. Makes me wonder if it'd be of value in more than just the replay system of PA...
Sounds good. having it in replays would be great; if it was represented during games it'd have to be different (only show damage taken by your own units for example). Showing total damage dealt out could end up a bit cheaty if you were attacking ground somewhere in the fog of war with your artillery and saw the damage appear. And total 'global' damage of course couldn't be knowable from a player's perspective.
+1 This makes me think comprehensive stats might be cool too. Maybe even a highly customisable stat window that could dynamically track kills, unit types, total metal/energy spent, APM and pretty much any other things that would make live-casting games more interesting. Come to think of it, you could even implement it on a player by player basis tracking the stats perfectly for the player and then based on fog-of-war for opponents. Being able to quickly see how much metal you've demolished against how much metal they ought to be producing (based on the metal points you can see) in the past 10 minutes could give you a hint about what your opponent is doing.
