Aircraft Flight height to low

Just wanted to touch on something that has been bothering me since I first joined beta.

Aircraft really seem like they are flying at a helicopter's height in game. I know they are supposed to be reasonably above the ground for anti air to attack them but right now they just look like they are 10 stories off the ground. Its worse when bombers look like they are swooping in like a hawk to drop their bombs. I like the height that the engineers hover at but making all the units fly at this height is rather off putting.

This is how I visualize it.


I'm not sure how flight mechanics work in game but I think aircraft could use a slightly higher altitude.

Let me know what you guys think.

Yea, good point, I also agree they diserve more height. that said making the units smaller fixes that.

The image is too high. Makes them too close to orbital.

Normal cruising altitudes of a Boeing 747 is between 30,000 feet and 40,000 feet. That's between 5.68 miles and 7.577 miles up.

The international space station is 230 miles up.

So if anything, the orbital should be higher and aircraft should be lower.

again with the realism. did you look at the artstyle? it has to "feel good" not "look scientifically exact"

Yupp. To me, it feels good as is.

chronosoul commented on how it looks like it is at helicopter height, which I interpreted as a reference towards realism and how it doesn't look real. But in reality, the proportions are way off no matter how it looks, so comparing it to helicopter height is pointless.

So.

It looks good to me with how everything is currently scaled. Especially since they're already flying higher than the mountains.

If scale were changed, then everything is thrown out the window and is dependent on what the scale is changed to.

well they need to stay out of radar range

the problem i have with air currently is if i give them a multi move order around 25% of the time they stop suddenly to float up higher then continue on their way... and to me that just limits their reaction time to inbound enemy forces

The image in the OP is clearly not to scale.
Currently, PA aircraft fly about 50m up. You could throw rocks at them if you have a good arm. (Or maybe a sling.)

I think realism and artificial are a touchy subject so i'll just say my reference to helicopter height was just a real world reference to compare the flight height of aircraft in the game. I wasn't using it to say the aircraft height isn't realistic, just something people can actually relate to when drawing their conclusions.

Orbital right now is weird how it gets sent super high into the air/space and then gradually comes back down to earth to travel around the planet. (if you move a orbital laser or radar satellite you'll see what I mean)

I'm not asking for a drastic height change for aircraft since they do already fly over mountains... but currently they just seem to be skimming the surface a little to much. There are times I think the commander's head might get clipped off due to a low flying bomber.

IMO orbital height is perfect, and the planes could be a little smaller. I understand your concern, but I think the problem here is not the digits that represent the height in the code, but the art style. Plus I think increasing the height will have weird effects on very small planets.

Perhaps it is that the planes are too small ? Making them bigger, and slower at turning (we have to feel they are f**** heavy metal birds, not remote controlled toys), may look better.

I feel like you express valid points but I really wish you would elaborate to explain your reasoning.

Art style aside. An aircraft should look like its flying and not barely hovering over the ground. However maybe you can explain how the art style justifies its low flight height.

A change in the size of aircraft might help in making them seem higher in the air.. But that is very dependent on the scale change that might occur.. That might be a good method to go about this issue honestly

Air has to be close to the ground for gameplay reasons. It's already difficult enough to select air units in some games because they fly too high, and with PA's spherical maps, if they fly higher than they do now the problem will only be exacerbated. They have to fly low for ease of use and positioning, or you're basically guessing where they actually are at any given time.

It looks a little odd aesthetically, but trust me when I say the game just plays better with them flying at such a low height.

I think it's fine as is.

It looks like those air units could just about scrape the top of that T2 pgen.

Yes they can, but who minds? Otherwise they'd be out of the atmosphere, and planets would have to be much larger to make vanity mode screenshots like that possible. The angles would be horrific.