Hi, first off, I searched the forums for this and it seems it's been a while since anyone picked up that topic, so I thought I'd share my thoughts about the problems I see in celestial view. Problems: 1) viewing distinction once the game goes celestial its really difficult to differentiate (looking at ones space factory from above) between ground units and celestial units. this is probably the biggest issue ATM (for me). I usually turn my planet to one side to select my celestial units and to build too; this can not be a valid solution... or to put it in the words of John McEnroe: "...you can not be serious...!" here the link for you youngsters: 2) size although the celestial sphere seems to be in relatively good relation to the planet size, I think increasing the sphere would be nice to have a little more playground. it's probably an issue of speeds as of now: the fighters are really quick, while other movable objects (laser platform eg. and workers) take ages to hover to the spot one wants them to be. this can get increasingly problematic while invading other planets, i think. 3) icons has a bit to do with point 1) but i really dont see the need of showing both, planetary and celestial tactical icons at the same time. which gets me to the brainstorming. Brainstorm: 1) personally I'd prefer to have a distinct graphical separation of the two layers: if viewing planetary then one should see the icons/units as it is now; if one zooms out to celestial one should not be able to see the planetary view anymore, at least not fully. what I mean is that in celestial view, I'd like to see the planetary view somehow covered with clouds/fog of war to be able to really concentrate on whats going on in celestial. once one builds a celestial radar, the radar should then show only tactical icons through the clouds and only in the radius of the radar itself. 2) by increasing the size of celestial one would not only have more playground but could also, by zooming out, differentiate a bit more between celestial and planetary forces. this way the planetary forces icons would appear a bit smaller than the celestial ones, which would help a bit I guess... 3) icons: similar to 1) with the difference that one should at least have the option to switch quickly between planetary and celestial unit icons display. eg. once in celestial view one could quickly switch off planetary tactical view (and maybe still have it in the wonderful PiP minimap) to only show celestial icons and vice versa... sort of an icons filter: what do I want to have displayed right now...? the options should resemble more the situational needs i think. also ground units should not be selectable once in celestial view... what do you guys and girls think about this? I recon especially for gamma phase it might be nice to see improvements for this before any actual space warfare can happen. especially in respect of space warfare it would be a great option being able to switch between tactical icons displays. eg. in team play people, one could focus totally on planetary the other dedicate totally on space (seeing that orbital factories can be built by "t1" fabbers), while not having to see tactical icons for both layers. additionally i recon it would give the game a certain performance boost too, as a positive side effect...! I hope to have started some good conversations with this, and I'm eager to know how you people feel about this?!
Orbital icons should use secondary army colour alongside primary, so they are easily distinguishable. And orbital icons should be projected onto the ground when camera is low, so you can control them more precisely.
I personally would like an option that would filter selection when the celestial sphere is visible to only celestial units in that view. I also think that system could be extended to allow for layer specific selection on planet as well, so I can set it to ground or air units only, as late game you have allot going on and its often all to easy to pick up stuff you don't want. The current system does at least allow you to adjust your selection, however having a small set of buttons, or even a short-cut to cycle through the available layers could save allot of micro.
Not much, if the camera is low enough not to see ground icons. And certainly not more than it already does.
True that. Although my personal preference would be a distinct separation of the two layers, preferably by a quick click option: I want to see Ground vs. I want to see Celestial. but in general I agree. Edit: thanks for the input so far, it seems there is a decent interest for this!
I think the quick option should be "I want to control only the Ground/Orbital". With more distinctly looking icons seeing won't be a problem. Seeing orbital sphere still will be, through. Maybe connect it's visibility to controlling Orbital?
I agree that something should change here. When you have reached the crowded stage of the game and have a ton of units as well as a built up base differentiating between the layers is near impossible. Making controlling the different layers difficult. I like the possibility of icons turning on and off at different zoom levels or at least becoming transparent? I also like the suggestion to project orbital icons on the ground. Anywho good thread!
