Should PA feature standard metal extractors points? Personally I think having each generated spawn point having 4 or so mexes would perhaps even out the issue of games where one player just needs to start building mexes and the other needs to walk to secure early metal. Some might think that a few seconds (or more) might not really make all that difference, but in reality the speed of your early economy, no matter the RTS, always has noticeable knock-on effects on the game. Your ability to get metal determines your early factory and power-gen count, which could mean being whole factories ahead of your opponent(s). It also delays your scouting, by delaying your factory obviously you can't get a scout out as fast, leaving you open to crippling bomber raids or early bot attacks. But Turroflux, can't players start in whole fields of mexes, won't that mean some might start with just 4 and some might start with 16, that's the nature of Proceduraly generated planets! Well yes that is true, but the availability of mexes, as the game goes on, diminishes in importance the later the game goes on. What I mean by this is that the speed in which you can get to and build mexes, assuming you have easy control over them, is less vital due to having available fabbers and the exponential effect of expanding your base has on your ability to build mexes. You can't entirely eliminate the possibility of map imbalance, even in standard cookie cutter RTS games like Starcraft 2, it will exist. But having balance in mind, even within the procedural generation of entire solar systems, is the way forward for eliminating the frustration caused by random factors out of our control.
Yeah that would be pretty nice to have 4 mex at your spawn points. Even if there is still imbalance of close-by mex you eliminate that early disadvantage of late building the initial factory that is so important at the start of the game.
If I'm being honest, I would rather go in a completely different direction with regards to starting points. There are multiple ways to deal with imbalanced features created by procedural generation, and one of the best is to allow player choice to smooth over the difficulties. Instead of giving a handful of small spots, why not just give each army most of a hemisphere? Players could then decide if they wanted to start next to the largest mass concentrations, next to water, near defensible chokepoints, or close to the edge of the large zone, so they will be able to get to their enemy quicker. This would give even more depth in team games as it gives a lot more options for different team members to occupy different roles. This is something I would very much like to see as a game-mode.
The one issue I can forsee with this is that it gives you a very good idea of where your enemy is likely to start, or rather that they won't be in the hemisphere that you were given to start in initially.
True, although a hemisphere is a pretty big place. I also foresee that this system would definitely need some sort of marker setup, so that players can see where their team-mates have chosen to spawn.
There is a certain appeal in having only a limited selections as it forces you to adapt to circumstances instead of always picking the best option out of a large set. Make sure that the algorithm always starts you near metal OR make the algorithm give you some metal spots wherever it decides to start you. Whats the difference? (Yeah, the first solution is more elegant ofc but practically its the same although the second one is a bit hacky of course.) ------------------------------------------------------- Personally I'm a big fan of the limited starting spots as it forces you to adapt and deal with the given circumstances. Although its true that certain starting spots are just way too good compared to others (20 metal spots versus none) thats mostly an issue with the current metal distribution algorithm that will eventually be revamped. What I'd like to be improved is some indicators where the enemy may start (show their possible starting circles, colour code circles in regards to how near enemy starting circles are or any other solution) but then again, wandering into the enemy commander with my first fabber and then desperately trying to build up defenses has its appeal too.
The difference is that the second one still needs to be aware if a player' spawn has access to metal, or it'll spawn MORE metal right next to preexisting metal. If you've made the algorithm aware of such a fact, then why resort to the hacky recourse?
Because its easier. Adding a Code: if NoMetalInCircle then spawn Metal is easier then having the restriction of also having metal to the other issues the spawn algorithm needs to be aware of (enough land-mass, not locked in with chasms, not on top of mountains, etc). The spawn algorithm has a set of constraints it needs to fulfill to make a spot a valid starting spot. Adding the need for metal reduces the possible starting spots it can choose from, thus making it harder to make a good algorithm that chooses good spots. As I said, its a much more elegant solution if you can make it do that without resorting to hacking in metal at the end but functionally its the same. I'm not saying they should not try to make it without the hacky method but its always an easy fallback fix when one runs out of time.
If you're really desperate to hold the players hand to such a ludicrous degree... if NoMetalinSpawnCircle == True then Disable SpawnCircle. --- I've never really agreed that the player should be treated like such an incompetent boob however. If you happen to actually be an incompetent boob... then what are you doing playing Strategy games? There's some pretty coloured building blocks in the create in the corner. Go play over there.
But the spawn algorithm has many more limitations like this: if NotEnoughLandArea if NotEnoughDistanceToEnemy if LockedInByChasm etc. etc. And eventually you run out of good starting positions and end up with those in the middle of flat land with no metal in sight because any other spot was invalid too and a starting point without metal is still better then a start point on top of a mountain or in the middle of the sea.
Then give players options to deal with such situations. Like the Egg. If you, the player are worried about no-metal spawns then select the module that gives you more metal to reclaim from the Egg or fabricate more like the Commander does.
