Simulation: How much is too much?

On the one hand I can see where too much randomness can affect the game negatively, but on the other, I don't see how more realistic simulation will add that kind of randomness.

The biggest issue about the sim is that it's very easily hidden from the player. It's paramount that the effects of the simulation are included in the UI so the player knows what's going on. Even something as simple as, when you build a turret, to have a range circle that dynamically updates to show whether terrain is blocking part of the shot - both minimum and maximum ranges too.

That can't take into account for unit size thought.

Mike

Also relevant (sort of, in a easier-to-hit-bigger-things kind of way)

Bad scouting (or being unable to scout, such as with the first 20 seconds of the game) causes the biggest problems with guess work. Given the trend for large numbers of cheap units, having an explicit scout is silly unless it does something remarkable.

Scouts are usually either: really quick, large view radius, and super cheap

Or: A mobile radar unit with medium level armor.

Why not? It should. Same principle as a light source - ray trace a volumetric sphere from the turret weapon firing point. Not for all turrets at once, just for when you're placing a turret.. or whatever works, performance wise.

Also another simulation addition I'd love to see is to have units aim at (and fire from) partially hidden units. A little bump should not block the shot of a tank when it's assaulting a tower.
I know they're little things, but it hasn't been done before and it'd make the game immersion just that much better.

As long as the maps are balanced the large scale should average out the randomness.

As long as its a mirrored map the fact that an early rush has 400 units instead of 4 like in SC it should average out a lot.

I think the place randomness is most likely is in the unit pathing and individual unit/squad AI.

Having good maps is so important a lot of the credit for Starcrafts success was its map editor and auto map downloading.