Do we really need burning trees?

I know what you think. I'm one of those annoying people who apparently like to bring up problems. But the question remains.

Do we really need burning trees?

I'm not saying that's not cool. Graphically surely is a nifty touch. But does it really add value to the game play, or it will end up to complicate things?

But more importantly, instead of burning trees, could Uber invests time in adding the missing features promised on Kickstater and Steam? Stuffs that we all would expect at release, like Gas Giants, the Unit Cannon and a more complete Naval? And that we've been told that will be absent cause lack of development time.

The way I see it, there are going to be things (like the Unit Cannon) missing at release. The game will continue to evolve and get added to by Uber and the community.
Giving it some features which make it more aesthetically pleasing will keep people coming back and draw new people in.
I'm no game developer but destructibles are kind of a must for release if we want the game to look 'finished' and probably take less time than things like Unit Cannons to code and test.
They may also not necessarily be taking the same people off unit development that they're putting on to making trees burn.

Thats all I saw.

I think it will bring in the interesting mechanic of having to clear out trees before building or having them impede the movement of armies, this burning trees update that is coming isn't just burning trees, its making trees physical objects that impact the game.

I think it is a cool feature and we probably would get the game at the same time regardless of the order they worked on it.

Burning trees has always been one of our big rock kind of features, my man. They add interesting choices (both in spawn locations and defensive positions), a new resource, and they look pretty ******* cool, too.

The way you're phrasing this thread is as if engineering time is a black and white thing, and that's not neccesarily the case.

I am very glad we will get burning trees. This will add lots to game dynamics and atmosphere. Also lots of nostalgia for us TA guys.

Don't get me wrong. Burning trees are cool. And I said before (months ago) that I would love different terrains to affect units and movements, like bots being able to keep their pace across forests where tanks are eventually been slowed down (same for sands, deserts, mountains and so on).

I'm glad you took the time to make a point. I wasn't aware that this feature was already scheduled.

Yes.

In all reality, no, not at all, but hey! If they can't add one thing, at least try to get as many other cool things as possible! I believe that they will add, at least some, more meaningful tactics and strategies into the game, which is something many feel the game lacks a bit on. It'll be cool looking and good for play!

Also, think about it this way- the infrastructure for burning trees can be used for many, many other things. In a general sense, they enabled the environment to interact with itself and units. The same infrastructure used for burning trees could also be used for, say, giant death lasers, natural disasters, grey goo events, lots of stuff.

I see burning trees as more of a tech demo, really. They devs are just saying, "Oh, look at what our engine can do now!!".

Yes, we really need burning trees.

Very good point.

I suspect they already knew quite a bit about how they could implement forest fires from past experiences. With something like the Unit Cannon, there are probably a number of unsolved problems and design decisions without any real analogs to pull from, so the time spent on a feature like forest fires is probably spent more efficiently.
If you tell a pianist to play a song from their repertoire, they'll probably have a much easier time than with something they are completely unfamiliar with, and the same goes for pretty much every task imaginable.

Also, burning trees were mentioned during the Kickstarter campaign, therefore they can be expected nearly as much as the unit cannon can be expected.
One might argue that a game called "Planetary Annihilation" needs features such as destructible/burning trees a lot more to fulfill its promise than a unit that shoots other units.

Yes? in one of the first vid they did they allso said they woulde make a game were we coulde be apart of.
Maybe we kinda did it to our self. in some way.

i think it's a badly needed taste of flavor

Do we really need bots? Do we really need two types of tanks? Do we really need planet smashing?

Burning trees add greatly to the game and will be AWESOME when implemented.

No worries, dude.

Burning trees, and having trees actually be part of the environment, is a big feature for this game.

I remember starting TA skirmishes just to watch forest fires spread.

All I am scared about is my FPR and general performance during big fires.
It already is terrible, now it is probably gonna get even worse.

Sadly I already don't play much and I always avoid big games or big systems. It will make me very said to enlarge my list of "avoid" to planets covered by woods.

Wooha how could you say these I mean, trees burning! thats pretty awesome!

Besides that it looks awesome it also adds extra gameplay. I mean do you honestely want your tanks evading trees or put them on fire to clear a path or to eat em up with your fabbers for extra recources. Choice is yours.

I'm going to get some marshmallows now.

I don't get it. Trees and burning trees in TA were just annoying and had very little affect on gameplay. Can see the same problem here. New resource? In TA you got energy by reclaiming trees. In pa reclaiming costs energy. Have they mentioned how this works yet?