Another list of yet more things I'd like to see in PA

Discussion in 'Backers Lounge (Read-only)' started by rippsblack, January 19, 2014.

  1. rippsblack

    rippsblack Member

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    So I'd just like to take some time to talk about yet more things I'd like to see in PA

    • More robust unit tracking:
      Personally I think it sucks that when you select a unit and press 't' for tracking that you have to keep the unit selected or the tracking is lost. In Total Annihilation you could track any unit regardless of its selection status. To take this further, I'd like to see tracking of enemy units as long as LOS / Radar coverage is maintained, this would be very useful for coordinating assets to target a retreating commander while keeping it in focus.

      I've also noticed in addition to the selection status limitations of tracking as it is implemented now you can not enter free cam mode (via spacebar) without breaking unit tracking. One of the greatest attractions to Total Annihilation was tracking an army of tanks and watch the magic as they adjusted themselves to roll up and down banks and hills and fighters perform spinning actions while quickly changing direction. The visual thrill was not to be under stated as it made the game pop out and truly make you notice that it was in fact a real 3d simulation. With modern computers and graphics cards I'd expect this to be expanded upon by allowing the player to get nice visuals from viewpoints other than the default :)
    • Area Commands & Build Preview Ghosts:
      As it stands right now planning a base is somewhat difficult when you've used a mixture of area commands and standard placement to create your base layout. For one thing you can't view area command ghosts unless the parent construction unit is selected, making it harder to plan around that with another unit or group. Area commands always show up as placeable anywhere giving a false impression of the terrain and the amount of valid construction area, only to find out when the buildings simply weren't built.
    • User Interface:
      First of all I know its currently undergoing big changes and improvements all the time :)
      so that's good, but here's a few suggestions of which some may seem obvious, others hopefully not ;)
      • Toggle 'build mode' button on factory's instead of a pop up, I really cannot see how it could have more than two options so it would make sense to reduce clicks per action.
      • Query button / Command:
        Sometimes I find it hard to know exactly what a unit is from space as the icons can get blurred together and are very similar to start with. My idea is a button on the GUI that is a '?' which you press and then click on a unit, It'll bring up details similar to the F1 gui in Total Annihilation which not only named the unit but gave semi-relevant stats (I'd want to see all relevant stats in PA). as a nice feature the the pop-up GUI could contain a little viewpoint showing off the unit you queried.
      • Persistent overlay icons:
        So at many points in the game's alpha/beta I've seen a few iterations on the overlay icons and I still don't feel its right, I think they need to get smaller the closer you zoom in so they are not the same size as the unit covering it up, but rather floats above their head or under their feet. Sometimes even looking at the maximum zoom is not enough to actually tell what the units function is, keeping the icons even at this level allows for that still.
    As always I reserve the right to completely change my opinion on all this :p
    carlorizzante, lafncow and suspision like this.
  2. suspision

    suspision Member

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    I like em. Simple yet good ideas.
  3. kryovow

    kryovow Well-Known Member

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    id like to add an idea for area commands.
    If i send 100 engineers on a new planet via teleporter, and i want to build all metal spots on it, i want to select all 100 and area command all metal spots, but then i want the 100 engineers to split up and not stay together build one after another. I wuold wish to set the "split" group size in the options for example 5. Then everytime i select more than 2x5=10 engineers they would split up in a group of 5 to 10. Maybe this could also be a different command, so that you still can finish a antinuke with 100 engineers very fast.
    warrenkc likes this.
  4. chronosoul

    chronosoul Well-Known Member

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    You should mess around with the ui option . there is a way to Have the build previews permanent.
  5. rippsblack

    rippsblack Member

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    Buildings placed by area command and not built yet do not have build previews as they are area commands.
    And these I'm 90% sure are not effected by this setting you mentioned.
  6. chronosoul

    chronosoul Well-Known Member

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    It is effected. Turn build previews to "always" in the UI options.


    this.JPG
  7. rippsblack

    rippsblack Member

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    That area command has been acted on and resulted in blueprints, queue another up after that and without the commander selected you wont be able to see previews or the green circles

    Edit: Its hard to screenshot nothing in context so its kind of hard to show you what I mean without recording my screen
  8. chronosoul

    chronosoul Well-Known Member

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    can't you just use the snip it tool? i don't think you need to record instructions.

    But i did get your green circles... and they stayed. Guess its a bug for da bug forum. test2.JPG

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