Planetary Annihilation LiveStream: April 19th, 2013

I loved basically everything you showed, except for two little things that have already been mentioned.

The camera goes vertical far too fast, maybe have it change the angle exponentially instead of logarithmically so we have a slower start.

The nanolathe looks DREADFUL imho, it gives no info at all on what the unit is targeting.

I really like this video and everything is shaping up nicely. I can understand some of the comments about a mini-map for a single smaller planet, but think it's something you should produce at some point. For instance, a very-simplistic "Robinson projection" style world map for the given focused planet/moon/asteroid with known (scouted) player/ally/enemy known force representation either by generalized area icons/color grades of intensity. So we don't have to play spin the globe to find out there is a giant force buildup or movements out-of-view. It would also alleviate a lot of potential annoying situations when we get to multi-planet and information management, i.e. a info screen of bookmarked globes that can be presented on your current/other display so you get a quick idea of what's going on.

I think that is to give them a general direction to return to when inactive.

This was straight to the point, very pleased to see the game running for the first time ! It's really incredible how far you got in only 6 months with the tech challenges you showed off : planet editor, map geometry and assets management, procedural texturing, client-server, flow fields, replay system, unit conception, and probably so much more!

The replay system on its own is very impressive with the ability to rewind a game in progress ! Like someone else said, you just made replay compatible straight from V1.0 of the game, that a frist for a RTS game afaik.

Can't wait to play it !

Awww... Seals are so cute.

So glad I backed this. I can't wait to get into the Beta!

My thoughts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIvto_fqVvc

I find the camera the only possible issue for most people, very new and unique way of navigation(in games that is, google earth is pretty similar) so I'm not sure how will people react to that and will it be noob friendly.
I know that it will be mostly left to right and the poles will be relatively fixed but still it might present a very odd feeling for some sensitive people

I want this now now now!

I actually burst out laughing when I saw your expression.

Lol

I got worried a bit when I heard about the tiered early alpha access, I cannot remember having read about that when I pledged.
Because I especially bought the tier that would give me alpha and beta access.
Would be a bit sad if people that would spend more money now would get alpha while I would not or a lot later.

However, it was very pleasant to watch the progress that has been made.
Keep up the good work !

Rofl



Nice video.

You should read the Alpha Info Sticky.

Mike

100% agree. This is the one thing that Spore actually did well and I think belongs in PA. Strategic zoom alone won't give you the big picture when you can only ever see half of a 3D sphere at any one moment. Realistically you would see even less than that because objects on the horizon are harder to discern. Robinson projections all the way. Solar system/galaxy mini-maps may not be needed though.

One suggestion I have that would help make Robinson projections less confusing is to make the center of the mini-map follow your camera movement. So basically as you pan around, the Robinson projection mini-map looks like an elongated rotating globe. This way you can focus on a battle anywhere on the planet without being confused about the wrap-around nature of a 2D projection at the edges. For example, in Spore I would sometimes forget that bases on opposite sides of the mini-map are actually really close to each other.

I actually agree that the wavy nanolathe wasn't all that appealing either.

omfg :shock:
I really did not expect to watch such a nice video.
I'm really impressed about how much stuff came in together from a such little Dev Team. Frankly how can one regret to have pledged when one of the most talented game dev Team is able to achieve so much incredible stuff within a such short time ?
The very first Kickstarted video had promised a lot and promises are obviously about to be respected.
When the in game session started i felt like i felt when i saw the very first Supcom video.

You at Uber, not only are very skilled and talented, but you have also managed to maintain a very solid connection to your community while being so busy on making this game.

A big thank for honoring your promises, And of course like many of other people, i can't wait to play this amazing game.

At the moment there's only one "nano lathe" effect in the game and it's a fixed length. When I first built it I wasn't even sure we'd get it pointing in the correct direction in time, let alone connect to what it's building. To that end I made the effect as unspecific as possible (hence the wavey spray.) The actual build effect on units and buildings however is a bit further along, but will likely still change more as we continue iteration.

It's looking amazing so far guys! In-game rewind is a really nice feature.

the waveyness looks cool on the factories but it looks kinda weird on units.

i especially like the Air Factory animation, its UBER-awesome

If we would only fight on tori, minimap wouldnt be a problem. Just use a rectangle and connect top with bottom and left with right.

I missed the live stream because my internet crapped out for nearly 4h on Friday T_T
I kid not, the guy that came to check it today said our modem was already broadcasting at least 4dB higher than normal, and at peak hours, it'd apparently capped out and simply shut off our connection.
(*adds to list of ways always on DRM can fail*)

Neon-Green nanolathe... doesn't work with the colour scheme. Less so on unit construction.
Also, the range v animation on the commander's lathe.. weird.
I'll chalk those up to "get it working!" priority though.

I like the green wire frame while it builds. I always liked that about the Empire's build mechanic in RA3.
I think it'd be better for the white frames to be default always visible, with toggle key - I kept wondering if you'd place something ontop of an existing order.

The blocky trees actually work well with the rest of the artwork, they didn't seem out of place before it was even brought up that they were that way for low poly count. I noticed they have spirals.

I've played Homeworld, so I can appreciate how you want the zoom to negate mini-maps. And while I like the smooth zoom, a key bound step zoom to allow quick switch between current, planet and system zoom (like homeworld) would probably help silence the voices and make it easier to keep apprised of things when you only have one monitor.

Lastly.. I love that replay system. Even more so that you want them patch independent - that always annoyed me with C&C3 replays. And the ingame rewind is so powerful a tool, it might need a toggle in pre-game just to make things harder.