Procedural generation = destructable/deformable terrain?

I definitely think engineers should do a bit of (automatic) cut and fill if we're going to be playing on a pock-marked map.

And I do like the idea that areas of the map that see a lot of conflict end up look like the the Somme.

@neutrino Thanks for responding! Sounds like you guys really know your stuff! I'm in as a 90 dollar backer and can't wait to start testing the Alpha build. I only played a bit of Supreme Commander and none of TA, so I'm not totally familiar with your work but I did enjoy the massive scale of SC and have always wanted a planetary scale war game like PA.

I was a huge fan of the cratering effect in Company of heroes and how pockmarked battlefields started to be effectively foxholes for infantry. Will a comparable "cover" system be in use in PA, or is that too micro-based for what you're planning?

Well, generally TA and supcom have avoided such mechanics, preferring emergent behaviour from a largely physics based engine. So craters will provide cover, but purely by virtue of being a hole in the ground that blocks direct fire attacks. Weapons with a high ballistic arc (ie:artillery) are not impeded. feel free to contradict me if I'm terribly wrong Neutrino.

wow awesome!

It is also would be impressive to include shatter destruction physics, i.e. tearing planet apart or slicing it in half with some massive laser superweapon. As to the problem with terrain rendered unusable for buildings construction due to deformation, there are two things needed: automatic terraforming control, like in Perimeter, to recover rerrain to initial or defined level, and fire protection to ensure that at least not everything around will actually hit your ground (yup, shields, cause there is actually no other way to guarantee that base is safe from accidental damage).