I think that its too close to the ground. At the moment its like air layer 2.0. Also the Orbital radar moves way too fast. For orbital buildings that are built on the ground,( once you build them on the ground ), you should be able to launch them into orbit (IE: they would move very fast to the deploy point), and then after that they should move very slow from that point on.
It's still alpha. and first iteration even. But yeah, im sure as they implement clouds and stuff, it will be placed better. Orbit should indeed be higher up and satellites im sure will have an actual orbit not just sit in one place. But its pretty awesome they allow us to play with them this much earlier, instead of having to wait. We are getting so close now to being able to get to other planets
I'd personally like to see orbital units operate a la low earth orbit / highly elliptical orbit / geo-stationary orbits - all of that with with limited boosting. Different costs for your different placements. Rail guns in orbit would be awesome - they can target other satellites or ground units. Otherwise, it's just another air tier (at least right now). Blech.
This is retarded! We have a system for actual orbital mechanics in the system editor! Why not have orbital units exist on that layer? Scroll all the way up and you will enter the system layer, in here you can see planets and orbital units. Orbital units orbit planets and moons, and move by adjusting there velocity vectors. It would be 2d so this would prevent polar orbits. But that's an acceptable tradeoff, this would be much more elegant than making them just float. I was afraid of this, and am really disappointed, this is not what I paid for.
What exactly did you pay for? Did you pay them to make you a game that you want? Forgive me if you invested 5 million dollars but if not.. You paid to be included among the few that can test the game and see the first versions of the game mechanics and provide feedback about it, not bitch about it. I do feel like the units should be further away but thats pretty much all, seems good for first pass
Definately not a fan of the mechanics at the moment. It really does feel like navy in space. It just feels "wrong" when playing that they don't use orbital mechanics.
Well then hopefully we can get a good argument that might make them change their mind. It at least needs to be better than it is atm. because it just feels like air planes. which kinda defeats the point
Also, after playing a game or 2 with them. I find it hard to zoom in on and locate the orbiting units, maybe start off by scaling up the models a bit.
On the subject of locating orbital units, maybe just a strategic icon on the ground directly beneath the satellite to make it easy to select?
They just need a real icon, the current one is a pretty small placeholder. Apart from that I'd also like to see orbital units somehow "orbit" the planet. They should move different from planes at least.
The biggest problem with implementing true orbital mechanics is that once a unit is launched and set about on its orbit, it can move straight over the enemies base and get shot down. Have a factory on loop or whatever and you are just giving free kills to the enemies defences. Tying units down to orbits means you cannot stockpile them to try and overwhelm defences with numbers and it becomes difficult to remember (and eventually find) where all your orbital units are. If you go by the thing of having the ability to change the orbit, then what difference does it make if you keep changing the units orbit to the effect of keeping it static compared with as it is now. I think orbital mechanics should be a command / move order, not something forced upon them.
Not if anti-orbital weapons are on the same order of expensiveness as orbital units. Remember a satellite in orbit should be far out of range of any anti-air weapons and require specialized units to intercept.
For all those disappointed i think it's pretty safe to say that if you feel strongly about it then the Devs would as well. Getting orbital to where it needs to be will be a real iterative process so please keep that in mind before getting super upset. As mentioned i believe in the patch notes thread they wanted to get something to us to play with. I think they even mentioned that the current orbital units in game are using existing systems while orbital systems are being worked on. I personally can't wait to see what orbital will be like once the Devs are finished with it Cheers, -Todd
Only by expressing our disappointment and desire for something better would the iterative process even begin. If we all sat here with our mouths shut the Devs may not have even considered it a problem.
Nano i completely agree that constructive criticism is good but.... dropping lines about how much people have paid and this not being what they paid for... i just can't help but feel that's not cool. That's like waving what we spent in front of the Devs trying to make them feel guilty like they would have forgotten a whole bunch of people supported them. I just think it's disrespectful. My post was never meant to deter construction criticism. My apologies if it came across that way and re-reading it i can see how it could. It might just be me but I've kinda lost count of the number of times when people get upset they drop the money card into the mix. Just not cool in my books. Maybe i'm just old.... Cheers, -Todd
It's not really about what was paid for, it's about what was promised. Theses aren't orbital units. They do not fit the definition. They don't orbit.
