So, watched the latest live stream, though the chat window was all hosed up for me. Anyways, game play looks awesome, I have read a few comments about strategic zoom, and 3D worlds etc, I had an idea I would like to share, though, it may not be popular. As you zoom out, perhaps the planet surface should fade away and replaced by a fairly course grid, a grid that is see-through, so, you can also make out strategic icons on the far side of the planet. The downside, those lovely planets are not seen in their full glory, though perhaps we have a hot key to show / hide the surface detail. Of course, what we have not seen yet, but was discussed briefly was fog of war, so, you may not see that many icons anyway. but it solves the issue of icons on the far side. Now, this idea is not without issue, would icons get confused being on this/far side, but appear on top of each other, perhaps far side icons are a different shade / small / distinct somehow. Now, obviously the surface detail is very important, you see cracks, mountains etc, that needs to be presented in the strategic grid, maybe, these will show as different colors in the grid? green - flat terrain red - impassable terrain, impassible is a difficult concept, as it is based upon unit type, so, perhaps re is just a high cost area in terms of terrain blue - sea etc so, basically as the map is generated, we also generate a strategic map. also, I have seen complaints about getting confused over orientation of the map, I have to admit, when I play SC I like to keep north up, just for my own sanity, that obvious becomes and issue, I hope (assume) there will be a button that resets you view back to 'normal', just so you can reorient yourself quickly. Anyway, Uber might have been planning this all along? if so great. Slim
I liked the feel of games navigation when I watched the stream, it really looked good already now, in this early stage of a game. I must admit I don't like the surface texture being replaced when you zoom out, but I would like some sort of grid lines showing when you zoom out (that can be easily toggled on/off) so you could possibly identify some sectors on a planet, and maybe even hoot-key a camera position to a certain location, to allow you quick view to that location. For those that get confused by orientation, there should be camera option to to keep the camera oriented to north, or a hot-key for that because it would get tricky around the poles if it would be automatic .
I really like this idea, if you have three bases, then quickly jumping to them would make life really nice, especially when you are fighting battles of a couple of fronts / planets. Perhaps combine this with an option to share the point with allies, via a beacon they can also see, something like: Ctrl F5 -F8 set marker F5-F8 jump to marker Alt F5-F8 share marker with allies When setting markers, also set orientation at the same time, you might to orient a base a specific way, before saving the marker. Slim
lots of modern RTS have camera/location hotkeys now, i'd be surprised if uber doesnt do this. although i dont think supcom did, granted supcom really didnt need it
Agree. The idea is to remove the planet, so you can 'see through it' to the strategic icons on the far side. Thinking more about it, a toggle key to show planet / hide planet makes most sense. Slim
I rather love this new zoom system and support it. Uberent has lots of ideas that work well and paying for this game is worth these cool features.
Sorry bmb Not my intent to offend. It is difficult sometimes to understand what people are saying, I misunderstood your comment, my apologies. Slim
What I meant was I want to see the graphics first and the UI second. UI elements replacing graphics is the very opposite.
Ok. So does that mean you are not a fan of strategic icons? They sometimes get in the way of the graphics, or am I wrong again I have to admit, I would to be able to toggle certain aspects of the graphical layers on and off, strategic icons being one of those things, I like to watch the battles, and a bunch of little icons does not make a good viewing experience. During the live stream, they kept having to say zoom in, so we could see stuff going on, if I was new to TA/SC/PA and saw just those icons, I would be walking away. Slim
Strategic icons are great because they allow you to clearly distinguish units that would otherwise be too small and far away to see. They don't so much replace graphics as merely supplement. Even so I do prefer if the icon was an outline that allowed you to see at least a dot of the unit in the center. Rather than this solid block. As such: viewtopic.php?p=717382#p717382 Being able to toggle things on and off isn't good enough if those UI elements present vital information. You'd have a pretty game that would be unplayable. What needs to be done is for that same information to be presented in the least intrusive way possible.
