Too much micro management....my rough idea to improve

Why not?

Because it's not Starcraft. That was my entire point. E-sports is totally obsessed with just replicating the same thing they've been doing since forever, and I imagine in no small part it's because the players are not going to change to a new game that they might not be as good at.

RTS games are the worst though, because the overbearing obsession with competition is pervasive down to its roots. So not only do the vets not want to try a game that is overly different from Starcraft, but that feeling trickles down all the way. FPS games don't have this problem, there are so many types and varieties that appeal to so many different kinds of play that there's literally something for everyone.

I think that's why RTS gaming has stagnated so much, because it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The people who hate or aren't good at micro and grew bored of Starcraft-style mechanics simply quit playing RTS games because the mainstream ones were all basically the same over and over. The result is that the only players left who care about the genre are the ones who do want micro and Starcraft mechanics.

Which is why I applaud Relic for making games that aren't micro-dependent and while maybe aren't even good for competition, that are at least going against the status quo and attracting new blood.

It's hard to keep a crowd for a game where half the time nothing happens....well most of the time anyway.

I don't think that has much to do with being an E-sport as starcraft just being a shallow game.

So you're saying that there is no potential playerbase for macro games such as TA, Supreme Commander and of cour PA? Because then making this game would be pointless.
Also, if that's not what you're trying to say. Then why couldn't the TA, SupCom or PA players have a competitive scene?

As long as the game facilitates a great gameplay balance, has spectator and replay support, then competitive gameplay is always possible.

We are the minority of a minority.

Strategy games = a minority of gamers, TA/Supcom/PA strategy games = a minority of strategy gamers.

From a "making a huge popular game with a huge player base, competitive gameplay and aloot of profit" standpoint making games like TA/Supcom/PA isent such a good idea, they will never get the playerbase of a more common game genre, neither will we get a playerbase as big as starcraft (a more common type of game in this genre). Its a fact.

However, they do not have to bother with competition against other games much, since there arent any new game out there like TA/Supcom/PA, so while they will never draw the huge crowds of a popular game genre or "earn the big cash", they do instead get a more loyal smaller playerbase.

Thats the reason games like this are viable (The market for games like this is small, but its not filled with games allredy).


Its not impossible that PA will become a realy big competitive game, just very unlikely.

Oh so this is an "Anything that is popular or mainstream is not good" thing. I guess can safely disregard your argument then, Thanks.

Its the truth. People flock to things because its the perceived 'popular' thing to do. Its why justin beiber, league of legends and wow are so popular. They cater to crowd of not so smart people. The majority of mainstream things that people perceive as popular, is absolute braincell wrecking trash.

That's called "catering to the lowest common denominator." :lol:

Mainstream does NOT equal bad; chances are it's just gonna be easy to get into, and stuff. And probably, in the case of mainstream video games nowadays, very addicting mechanics added into the game. Formulaic mechanics, really. -Stares at Call of Duty.- Yes...

Anyways, ayup, *I agree with you*. It seems mean and even elitist, but that's how it is.

+1
Command and Conquer 2 had preset way-points, these could be helpful as well.
Example of use: Click on way-point so units travel via it, then at the end give the units a target to attack.

Some of these automation ideas make me think that there should be some kind of upgrade system. So that they are not available in early game, so forces them to mid ie. 2 or 3 + planets being built upon.

+1

This kind of this could cause an Administration screen.
Groups of units being given a toggle switch for fire mode/priority etc.

Take a look at this post.

The more I read and think about this topic the more in favor I am in a Planetary Annihilation Keyboard.

I'm concerned about this fact especially because of all the times I've seen " big scale game like this" and other similar statements.

That does seem like dumbing down or just ghastly.

Yet again, about the scope of the game. This auto-repair feature is probably needed.
And take a look at this post.

As an option in the lobby, please.

Yep macros, that's the way to go.

+1

+1

Arnt sports supposed to be good becuase, if they are popular then the media will pay attention?

aarg, make Planetary Annihilation good.
This is new stuff man!
Planets, Galactic Warfare, macros (maybe).

Total Annihilation is good. The aesthetic of this game should be maxed out!

This is false. These games have had people flock to them because they have done something right. Starcraft and LOL are very spectator friendly , have "rank point" systems which make the player feel like they've achieved something, have communities whose sizes have reached critical mass and the games can run on a wide variety of PCs due to their graphics options. People don't flock to things for no reason. Gamers love Portal but that's not because they're dumb sheep, it's because Portal has excellent humour and puzzles.

Learn from the behemoths and don't discount them due to their popularity. This smart/dumb dichotomy is very childish. Looking at the steam forums one would assume PA has the dumbest community around because the children and the ignorant are often the most vocal in a community.

I dislike the idea of removing construction units, changing gameplay or building whole bases based on AI decisions to lower the micro management.
IMHO it would be better to improve the user interface. Just give the player the possibility to automate some things in a simple manner.

Maybe someone played AI War. The game is also about macro, so some ideas might be great for PA. Some examples:

In AI War you can command construction units to build, repair and help constructing ships in the system automatical. For PA it could be similar: select some construction units, press v and use the mousewheel to define a circle around your mousecursor. After you click, the construction unit will help constructing and repairing everything in the circle. You could also draw an area with left click.
You could also use ctrl+v for the contruction unit to let it help on everything on the planet. Nice to have for conquered planets.
If I remember correctly, patroling construction units in SupCom1 worked similiar.

Another possibility would be to help with extractor contructing. Just click on the extractor icon in the construction menu of a unit while holding ctrl and the contruction unit will build the nearest extractor. Click a second time with control and the contructor qeues the second nearest extractor and so.
Press ctrl+alt and the constructor qeues up all free extraction points on the planet. Nice for conquered planets.

Also, in AI War exists an unit, which rebuild destroyed buildings. Would be nice to command a construction unit to do the same in PA.

Anoother possibility would be to define a amount of units you want on a planet, and every factory on the planet will build this unit until you have your specified amount.

tl;dr: Fight micro management with user interface improvements and command to automate units, not with gameplay changes or decision making AIs. Get ideas from other software or games, big or small does not really matter.

I'd like to see that tested in a future Alpha or Beta.