Supergigantomassive Planets, Custom Maps, etc.

Just wondering, any chance we can get "supergigantomassive" planets with the equivalent of multiple SupCom maps plastered across it at the largest settings? I mean... this way it would be possible to have a full-length campaign based on conquering a single planet alone, with the ability to zoom out and see the minimaps of each map layered across the planet's surface...

That, and custom maps!

Some other people already brought up the Core Prime metal world maps... I'd definitely like to see such things again! And there could be plenty of other strange and new types of maps that could be interesting... perhaps one set on the inside of some kind of cylindrical cave, or heck, a 'Halo-like' ring.

And also, one of the big (and cool!) features that I loved about TA was that people were able to really create some damn cool maps and tilesets -- I'd like to see custom map making make a re-emergence in PA, even if the tools and techniques have changed a bit.

And by this, I mean not just limited to spherical maps ... but also traditional flat maps.

I'll bump this because I like the idea. 81x81 maps were neat, but there were too few of them and they had too much water. A gigantic land map with multiple smaller bodies of water would be really fantastic, I think. A huge, sprawling fight across an entire planet would be really great.

Quote from REDDIT:

"The scale won't be smaller. The video was just demoing one possible scenario.
As the main architect on the SupCom engine I'm going to make sure this game doesn't have any maximum size limitations other than memory in your box."

So, it is up to your computer =)

The technical design goal is no upper limit on planet size other than available CPU and memory. In other words no hard baked in limits other than those based on processor architecture.

In practice network bandwidth and unit count may be more the limiting factor at the moment than sheer map size. But there will be no upper limit on what you can attempt to setup (past a certain size may be a console command or something to setup so we don't cause people to constantly crash the game).

So I think I'm going to order a 36gm ram computer to support my attempt to create an Earth Size planet

It would be great if you had something that would tell a player how well their machine might perform under specific conditions so people would generally know when they're going against recommendations.

Some people aren't that bright and might get upset at the game if it crashes or performs too slowly, without understanding exactly why. I see it as a compromise between complete flexibility and Apple's approach.

Ok, time for me to nerd it up.

Will the size of the planet affect the gravity of said planet? I know in reality that it is actually the mass of a planet that dictates how strong the effect of gravity is, but assuming a constant density, seems that larger planets should end up having more gravity.

I doubt it will affect "real" gravity, coz that would mean all your units would move slower, fire less far and you could build no aircraft. :geek:

orbital mechanics and damage (resistance) to other astral bodies... could be I guess.

Gravity effects on units isn't good for gameplay IMO, due to the procedural nature of planets it's too much of a random things IMO.

Mike

Doesn't matter, because it's client-server. If they lag, it's their loss. You can play as smoothly as you wish on your high-end rig.

Of course people will make crazy games with 40 AIs and melt servers on a regular basis, but you can always run your own server on a large amazon EC2 instance and easily enjoy super high server quality at a few bucks a month.

Seconded!

(And thanks for clarifying, Neutrino!)

Re: Gravity -- the planet could theoretically have a larger area but the gravity would depend on density... (obviously, at a certain point you'd violate any version of imaginative physics to get a surface area beyond a certain size... but this is a game)

I didn't get feedback on these question(s) though: