Different types of terrain

[McArcher]

Does Spring engine support (and are there any games that already use) the effect of different terrain types?

I mean, not just water and land, and flat land or mountains, but also additional types of terrain, like different types of swamp, desert, rock, ice/snow etc.

By different terrain types I also mean not only the visual appearance of the terrain, but also its impact on following parameters:

- maximum weight of the unit (including buildings) that can be placed of terrain witout drowning in it (hello to deserts and concrete plates from "Dune 2");

- impact on unit's maximum speed of movement on this terrain (maybe a koefficient which is used in calculating the speed with other factors like type of vehicle: tracked, wheeled, human legs, robot legs, etc.).

The present maps seem quite boring to me in respect of terrain variety on one map.

P.S.

I remember the good old C&Q Tiberian Sun, and there, if I'm not mistaken, type of terrain was more important than here in Spring's Balanced Annihilation.

[zwzsg]

Does Spring engine support (and are there any games that already use) the effect of different terrain types?

- impact on unit's maximum speed of movement on this terrain (maybe a koefficient which is used in calculating the speed with other factors like type of vehicle: tracked, wheeled, human legs, robot legs, etc.).

Yes: http://springrts.com/wiki/Maps:SMD#TERRAINTYPEx

[smoth]

The present maps seem quite boring to me in respect of terrain variety on one map.

P.S.

I remember the good old C&Q Tiberian Sun, and there, if I'm not mistaken, type of terrain was more important than here in Spring's Balanced Annihilation.

please tell me how many maps have you tried, and how you mean the terrain variety in one map? do you want multiple biomes per map?

[McArcher]

please tell me how many maps have you tried, and how you mean the terrain variety in one map? do you want multiple biomes per map?

Well, that was very long ago, I don't remember. But not 1-2 maps of course.
I mean, that there could be on one map, for example, an area with an ordinary ground with normal hardness, then close to it there can be a swamp, that will be not passable for any vehicles and heavy kbots and no heavy buildings could be placed there. Then, somewhere around there can be another type of terrain, let it be a mixed half-swamp-half-normal, which can hold only light types of vehicles and so on...

Do vehicles in Spring have a weight (or mass) parameter?
If not, then the mass divided by the projection square can be compared with terrain's hardness to know will the unit pass or get stuck or even drown there. Is it implemented in Spring?

[smoth]

We do not have a way to make areas sink certain units beyond doing lua. I don't remember that in dune either.

We can do terrain types and people have done them. They generally muck up gameplay and the path follower avoids them. To have the game do a perunit test on each and every moment a unit passes into a terrain type would be terrible. However such a thing is very reasonable in lua.

you can use terraintypes to cause speed penalties to specific unit "types" IE kbot, tank, hover..

you can do a lua check and see where the unit is at stop it dead in it's tracks.

it all seems very cumbersome.

[McArcher]

well, i told about Dune2 because there were concrete plates, on which buildings were placed in desert. Same things could be used in Spring games to be able to build stable areas on weak terrains (for buildings placements and for temporary roads for heavy units, like in real life).

P.S.

Of course, the main purpose of that plates in Dune2 was a defence from desert worms, as far as i remember, but i think plates also help lowering the units pression on terrain.

[zwzsg]

Are you going to make such a map, or are you just throwing ideas around?

If you want to make the map, I can make you a gadget that makes unit drown in swamp.

If you're not gonna do it but just think someone else ought to do better maps, then shut up.

[McArcher]

Are you going to make such a map, or are you just thorwing ideas around?

i think, both statements are true