Areas forbidden for aircraft movement

So aircraft can't cross some mountains? so what?

They can cross everything else and a very fast pace.

Hover and gunships also need air unless they use rockets of some type.

Some weird space RTS called "Space Piligrims" (or something like that) featured walls in space. "So spaceships can't cross some walls? so what?"

It's a game, not a simulation.

I'd love if you clarified why.

I'm simply interested in having areas that you can't send your blob of planes to attack/defend, and possibly introduce chokepoints and other terrain features that make ground battles interesting.

Maybe it shouldn't be areas where aircraft can't go (at least fixed wing air units), but areas that aircraft are simply not as effective in.
I would assume that this game will be using a weapon physics system like the one from the SupCom series. If thats the case, aircraft maybe able to fly over things such as those desert plateaus from the concept art, but I would assume that their ordnance may hit the surrounding landmass more than the buldings/units that they are aiming for.
Not so much an area that aircraft can't fly though, but one where they would be next to useless in.

Areas forbidden to aircraft is fine. Just because they exist doesn't mean they're going to be overused.

It's silly to have forbidden areas over holes and canyons and stuff.

But it's entirely reasonable to have them over giant mountains, and around towers and orbital tethers.

I like the way you think.

I always assumed it was because Cavalry is always more effective when flanking and not charging into the front of a waiting line of men.

So the Cavalry always hits from the attacking players right.

I like this idea. Already in Supcom/FA, you can build structures against sheer faces to prevent air attack from one side, so having impassible mountains is perfectly reasonable. At least with the mountains, your air units won't repeatedly drop their payload onto the top of them.

Given that the PA scale is orders of magnitude greater than Supcom and TA, i don't see the problem with this.

Also, i believe the idea is fine. can i suggest different air types having a different reaction to "impassable terrain"?

IE: gunships being far more effected by low terrain than, say, a fighter?

I appreciate that. That was a feature of the Supreme Commander games that I would have loved to see implemented to a greater effect (i.e. the canyons), but the maps just didn't quite support it that way.

Well in that case consider me reassured.

Ooh. Does this mean I can have a secret tunnel system where only tanks can fight and aircraft must fly helplessly overhead?

It seems PA will support terrains like bridges and tunnels, so I guess it is possible.

I just want to see aircraft risk going under an overhanging rock...
and watching some of them make pretty explosions as they hit it :twisted:

I was wondering if some planets would have gravity so high that aircraft could not fly.
e.g. metal planets due to density
In the same way that planets without oceans mean you can have no navy.

One of my friends in TA always favours gunships, in every game. So I think it would be interesting to have to invent, and contend with, differnt strategies, on differnt planets.

e.g. no air support (gravity/metal planet),
no naval bombardment support (desert planet),
no land support (water planet).

I must say i dont like this idea, what someone said eariler was cool about gunships not being able to go that high but jets? sounds crap to me. Kinda of limiting and a small scale RTS concept.

I can see u guys would like to show off planes flying quite low round cavens but they should be able to fly over them as well..

This does sound like a very neat idea for the game. I could picture biome on a large planet that has mountains and sections of it has passes and clearings that only land can drive through. Aircraft could maybe fly through the passes, but it would funnel them and give less room for maneuvering against AA. This making it a very high risk to use aircraft

It would make for a highly defensible position for a base, but with the right units and long range weapons (Orbital weapons or missiles over the mountains) it could still be broken, This would break the cycle of always having to use land and air to break most bases and putting a bigger focus on breaking a defense with bombardment before sending in units to clean it up.

Adding a feature like this would bring a new and different strategies that the player needs to learn, for both defending and attacking this position. I do hope to see this in the game in one form or another.

Another passing idea I had, if it's a lava planet of some sort there could be sections that have steam for turbulence, lava spewing into the air, or super heated plasma to prevent aircraft pathing. Metal planets could have huge exhaust or steam vents, towering metal spires.