Input for next xta version (non-balance issues)

[Jools]

I thought it's good again to open a thread about the non-balance issues to help make the next version of XTA. I come to think of some:

* Is the warning sound when commander under attack not same as for other units? At least I think this, as I have often lost commander when idle and not bothered to follow up on warning.

* Would it be possible to implement a countdown sound when issuing the self-d order? In ota it's a beep with increasingly higher pitch as 0 approaches. (Yes, I have accidentally self-d:d commander at least 5 times that I can remember, and it hasn't been the result of BD saying that if you press ctrl while dgunning you get a better dgun, it has been the result of clumsy fingers)

[manolo_]

updated modells of mr. d
more icons when u zoomed out

[troycheek]

Is the warning sound when commander under attack not same as for other units? At least I think this, as I have often lost commander when idle and not bothered to follow up on warning.

The commander under attack sound is shared by the Arm Pacifist, I think.

[babbles]

Is the warning sound when commander under attack not same as for other units? At least I think this, as I have often lost commander when idle and not bothered to follow up on warning.

The commander under attack sound is shared by the Arm Pacifist, I think.

Yeah, and every other unit.

[Jools]

Is that an xtaid unit? Don't know it.

[troycheek]

Maybe I'm crazy, but when most Arm units are attacked, I hear Sounds/WARNING1.WAV, but when the Arm Commander and Pacifist are attacked, I hear Sounds/WARNING2.WAV.

Edit: Found gamedata/sounds.tdf which says that most Arm units have underattack=warning1; with the Arm Commander being an exception. All the Core units I checked have underattack=warning2; including the Core Commander. I almost always play Arm, but I can see that someone playing Core would never hear a different alarm sound.

(Edit again: According to Units/PACI.FBI, the Pacifist uses Core Kbot sounds (SoundCategory=COR_KBOT;) which would explain why I hear Sounds/WARNING2.WAV when it's attacked.)

The question then becomes, is it a mistake that the Arm Commander has a different attack warning sound than his troops, or is it a mistake that the Core Commander doesn't?

[troycheek]

Is that an xtaid unit? Don't know it.

I thought it was standard, but apparently it's in the "Xtaids" Unit Pack. I always play with that enabled.

415 paci Pacifist - Paralysis Kbot, built by the Arm Kbot Lab. It has a beam weapon called the ARM_Parlay (sic) which paralyzes units. The paralysis effect is pretty slow to build up, but in small groups they work okay. I think the intention is that you can then capture the paralyzed unit with your Commander. I use them to hold stuff still so I can blow it up easier.

[knorke]

*the included minimapstartboxes and startpoint remover dont seem to work correctly in replays.
*hotkeys for most used buildings would be nice (maybe as optionial download as not everybody likes that)

[manolo_]

*the included minimapstartboxes and startpoint remover dont seem to work correctly in replays.
*hotkeys for most used buildings would be nice (maybe as optionial download as not everybody likes that)

i think jools or floris made some key-lists ask them

[FaerieWithBoots]

I have a config for XTA but i doubt anyone but me finds them usefull. They are supposed to be used together with the selection key file.

(note that there is a lot of junk in the file, just ignore or remove it if you want to try it)

Feel free to make suggestions. Especially on the binds for combat units.

Basic idea is
f - energy related buildings
q - metal related buildings
d - defenses
r - radars(jammer)
e - nano
v - dragonteeth/parameter defenses
b - storages
Most usefull button is the spacebar :) It focuses view on the last message.

You cycle through the differnt buildings by tapping the same key multiple times. Ie a windmil is 'f', a solar is 2xf.

[manolo_]

I have a config for XTA but i doubt anyone but me finds them usefull. They are supposed to be used together with the selection key file.

(note that there is a lot of junk in the file, just ignore or remove it if you want to try it)

Feel free to make suggestions. Especially on the binds for combat units.

Basic idea is
f - energy related buildings
q - metal related buildings
d - defenses
r - radars(jammer)
e - nano
v - dragonteeth/parameter defenses
b - storages
Most usefull button is the spacebar :) It focuses view on the last message.

You cycle through the differnt buildings by tapping the same key multiple times. Ie a windmil is 'f', a solar is 2xf.

sounds good, ill try it soon

[MisterBenn]

Would you consider tweaking the behaviour of the metal makers? It seems everyone uses the automation widgets, and the sounds and animations of them opening and closing all the time can be quite annoying. Could the animations / sounds be adjusted so that:

1) Stay closed when forced off
2) Radio button for options like "Convert when at 20% / 50% / 80% energy storage"
3) Stay open when conversion is enabled, even when waiting for enough energy to convert. Don't constantly open and close and play the unfolding sound!
4) Perhaps flash a light on the maker and maybe play a low throb sound when converting.

It seems that maker automation is widespread / mandatory and this could be a good alternative to the widget and would stop the maker noises being the main sound to come out of a base...

[manolo_]

Would you consider tweaking the behaviour of the metal makers? It seems everyone uses the automation widgets, and the sounds and animations of them opening and closing all the time can be quite annoying. Could the animations / sounds be adjusted so that:

1) Stay closed when forced off
2) Radio button for options like "Convert when at 20% / 50% / 80% energy storage"
3) Stay open when conversion is enabled, even when waiting for enough energy to convert. Don't constantly open and close and play the unfolding sound!
4) Perhaps flash a light on the maker and maybe play a low throb sound when converting.

It seems that maker automation is widespread / mandatory and this could be a good alternative to the widget and would stop the maker noises being the main sound to come out of a base...

or modify just the sound in your settings, i never had that annoying sound

[raaar]

I think we need an unit information widget

remember ota? if you pressed f1 while the mouse was over a unit a window would pop up with the unit pic plus a few stats (speed, costs).

Now picture an improved form of that, where if you press f1, you show/hide a window with info about the unit your cursor was over when it was pressed, would also work on build menus.

relevant information:
- unit name

- picture

- description

- extended description (the field doesn't exist in the .fbi, but could be read from a text file : a paragraph describing the unit)

- stats (hp, cost, buildtime, velocity, acceleration, turnrate)

- list of weapons with details for each ... type, reload time, spike dmg, dps, range, aoe, weighted burst cost


Maybe we should set a standard for presenting relevant unit information, both in-game and to auto-generate mod unit manuals (html).

[AF]

There are different methods and algorithms for controlling metal makers all with their benefits and disadvantages

For example, some turn on all metalmakers, then when a minimum is reached, theyre all turned off till a maximum is reached, and they yoyo.

Some however turn on metalmakers one by one until the energy turns negative, starting with the most efficient metalmakers.

Others do the above but then yoyo the remaining metalmakers, or in various combinations.

The moral of the story? Build energy storage. If your metalmakers are turning on and off every 5 seconds then you either built too many, or you havent given them enough breathing room for the yoyo effect. These algorithms become more productive as the energy storage rises.

[babbles]

manual metal maker economy ftw

[Spawn_Retard]

manual metal maker economy ftw

metal maker economy is shit.


manual ftw.

[raaar]

is there any widget to show the units inside a transport?

so we can choose what to unload.

[raaar]

I think we need an unit information widget

remember ota? if you pressed f1 while the mouse was over a unit a window would pop up with the unit pic plus a few stats (speed, costs).

Now picture an improved form of that, where if you press f1, you show/hide a window with info about the unit your cursor was over when it was pressed, would also work on build menus.

relevant information:
- unit name

- picture

- description

- extended description (the field doesn't exist in the .fbi, but could be read from a text file : a paragraph describing the unit)

- stats (hp, cost, buildtime, velocity, acceleration, turnrate)

- list of weapons with details for each ... type, reload time, spike dmg, dps, range, aoe, weighted burst cost


Maybe we should set a standard for presenting relevant unit information, both in-game and to auto-generate mod unit manuals (html).

I tested CA a bit and it has what i described. It's accessed through space-click on units or build menu entries.

[CarRepairer]

I think we need an unit information widget

remember ota? if you pressed f1 while the mouse was over a unit a window would pop up with the unit pic plus a few stats (speed, costs).

Now picture an improved form of that, where if you press f1, you show/hide a window with info about the unit your cursor was over when it was pressed, would also work on build menus.

relevant information:
- unit name

- picture

- description

- extended description (the field doesn't exist in the .fbi, but could be read from a text file : a paragraph describing the unit)

- stats (hp, cost, buildtime, velocity, acceleration, turnrate)

- list of weapons with details for each ... type, reload time, spike dmg, dps, range, aoe, weighted burst cost


Maybe we should set a standard for presenting relevant unit information, both in-game and to auto-generate mod unit manuals (html).

I tested CA a bit and it has what i described. It's accessed through space-click on units or build menu entries.

Unfortunately that widget only looks at the "default" damage of each weapon. CA has (almost) no special damages so it works fine there. Spring does not make it easy to get the various levels of damage that a single weapon can do to different armor types, I tried and it frustrated me.

However, you can cover the missing info by setting up a unit helptext in the fbi file (as you mentioned above) that can read "this unit does half damage to tanks" and so on.