Feature: UI: Strategic Whiteboard

Strategic Whiteboard was actually a sim mod made for Supreme Commander.

It never really got used, since it was a sim mod that had to be downloaded by every player in the game, including enemies, but it was a good idea. It couldn't be a UI mod due to the fact that it sent data to other players.

If the uber devs could make this feature, or at the very least allow UI mods to send data to other players, or make mods automatically and seamlessly download, this could be possible.

I'd like a strategic whiteboard (perhaps, more polished than the lone screenshot I saw) in PA... seconded!

That is a seriously good idea.

This was actually available on a program for TA before SupCom even game out (it's called TA Demo), and there it worked even if everyone didn't have it (the people that did still saw what lines you scribbled). Plus you could press the mouse wheel to place a dot at a spot, and even leave comments on the dots like "attack here later". Not sure how it is in SupCom, but I'm guessing it's similar. Either way, would be nice.

Yeah! I remember that... that was cool!

I was wondering when this was gonna pop up, I'd like to see this in PA as well, also might be worth checking out Alien Swarm which did something similar with the minimap.

Mike

The more unique features, the better

From my experience in the TA and spring games, drawing lines on the map isn't very useful, and it can be used for insulting allies.
But labels with descriptions are really useful.

I found drawing lines extremely useful in TA with TADemoRecorder.

Like draw the line where the enemy Dragon Teeth are. Or quickly draw a circle outlining a cluster of buildings so you have a rough idea what shape the opposing base has.

However, without zoom, things like arrows were rarely interpreted correctly.

Eh, I don't think you need the outline of enemy base if enemy buildings leave shapes in the fog of war.
If PA allow players to draw lines on the map, then please have a way to hide them, sometimes allies' doodling can be very annoying.

Right, now that you mention it...

I'd actually prefer splines and thick semitransparent arrows to be drawable / draggable / resizable (by everyone on the team).

That'd really help.

And an option to turn them off.

You can do this in Zero K... draw stuff on the ground that only your team can see... anyone on the team can erase... double click while holding the "draw" button (¬) then type and hit return to create a floating text label, or middle mouse click to add a point that flashes on the minimap.

This system gets a lot of use, it's definitely something worth adapting imo. The middle click can be used to quickly draw a team-mate's attention to raiders, and the text labels are used a lot to co-ordinate strategies or for reminders e.g. "radar please".

I find it very useful. I see it used in all team games.

Just take a look at "Drawing on terrain" feature from googlefrog thread wonderfull

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=34222

Oh yeah, a great troll tool...

Pings and chat are imo enough to tell your teammates what do you want from them. This drawing tool will only be helpful to paint *enis all over the map. :roll:

Yeah, cause chats can't be used to trolling and such >.>

Mike

Labels are crucial. It's much better than chat because it's persistent over time, and it has a location associated with it.

You could label where an invading force is after scouting, and important installations to destroy.

Being able to draw on the map can help direct forces together, like football tactics on a chalk board. "You go through here, I'll flank the enemy on this side", and so on.

For Planetary Annihilation's huge scale and slower-than-usual RTS gameplay in the late game, planning and coordination with allies will be crucial.

Don't play with idiots

It's surprising how rarely you get crap drawn all over the map in ZK. Mind you people doing that would probably be votekicked pretty fast if they didn't stop. Also it's easy to erase labels in that system so no permanent damage.

Just have the ability to mute a player's chat and whiteboard separately. It could be that a well-meaning teammate says valuable things, but tends to draw stupid sh!t, so you'd want to be able to mute those separately.