Reviving the request list
Moderator: Moderators
-
Archangel of Death
- Posts: 854
- Joined: 28 Jan 2005, 18:15
Core aren't piloted by AIs, they are patterned. The mind of actuall people (there best people) copied into machines. Arm puts clones into their cockpits. Once they get lots of kills, they've been fighting in the same unit for a long time: figuring out how to push it; learning what aiming inconsistencies to expect and when; applying personal tweaks to make it work better, at least in interface, probably in hardware to some extent. (Boosting the reactor's output because you've been in it long enough to know it won't blow from the strain for example)
-
sparkyhodgo
- Posts: 128
- Joined: 24 Feb 2005, 19:05
Archangel, I remember reading that in the TA manual, too. I think you know what I mean, though--that it would be helpful to gameplay if your army can improve with use. It's really important to success in CC Generals, where even a small army can hold off a big one if it has enough experience/upgrades. I would love to see an equivalent in TA Spring.
-
[K.B.] Napalm Cobra
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: 16 Aug 2004, 06:15
-
Syffer Bidan
- Posts: 31
- Joined: 21 Jan 2005, 01:01
Syffer's Ideas
Yes, I agree.
Now on to some good ideas.
Syffer's Requests
Shadows:
Yes, you have shadows, and they look wonderful, but smoke trails should have much lighter shadows. When units explode, the shadows of the falling pieces look a little off. The actual debris should have dark shadows; however, the smoke that pours from such debris should have lighter shadows.
Fog of War:
This has been suggested many times before, and I will suggest it as well: use actual fog. The radar blips are annoying, and do not look very good at all. And why do the radar blips have reflections in the water? Lose the radar blips and use a fog system.
Map Boundries:
Continuous planet maps? No, for the love of God, do not implement that! What should be done is this:
Create a map boundry (an invisible square), and beyond that square, continue making the map, but have it fad off into the fog. In water-based maps, have the water travel off into the horizon. When units approach the map-limit (when the invisible boundry is theoretically in their sight), a light, transluscent line should appear, signifying the boundry.
Concerning Objects and their Destruction:
I like the idea of units being able to trample trees, but with this comes some complications. How will Commanders be able to reclaim trees if they are trampling half the forest in the process? That is a ridiculous waste of potential materials. Also, I know not about you guys, but I loved using forests as natural barriers to keep large units away from my base. Trees have strategic values that many players do not realize.
Besides, can a Peewee really trample over a tree? I suggest that you implement a weight system so that most K-bots and tanks (Peewee, Zeus, Pyro, Mavrick, Stumpy, Raider, Slasher, Commander, etc.) do not trample over trees, while only heavy units (Sumo, Bulldog, Goliath, Can, Fido, Crock, etc.) can.
Also, what happened to the good old fashion "blow them trees away"? Can we still light trees on fire? Can we blow the damn things up by firing bullets at them?
What about rocks? Where are the rocks located? What about willow trees and Oolak trees located in the swamps? What about the Japanese trees located in the archipilagos? What about the alien plantlife in the red planet maps? Are the Core Prime objects coming back? How will these be destroyed? They should not be that hard to implement into the Spring system.
Metal Deposits:
I have never seen what a metal deposit looks like in the Spring engine. I would like to see one, and I imagine many others would like to see them too. Also, when missiles hit them, what happens? Does the deposit form a crater? If craters can form under deposits, does one have to continue to destroy the area around it to create a flat area so that they can replace the destroyed extractor? There are a lot of what-if senarios.
Fire:
When objects are lit on fire, a blur effect should be implemented so that flames and smoke give off the effect of heat.
This concludes my list of ideas...
... for now.
Now on to some good ideas.
Syffer's Requests
Shadows:
Yes, you have shadows, and they look wonderful, but smoke trails should have much lighter shadows. When units explode, the shadows of the falling pieces look a little off. The actual debris should have dark shadows; however, the smoke that pours from such debris should have lighter shadows.
Fog of War:
This has been suggested many times before, and I will suggest it as well: use actual fog. The radar blips are annoying, and do not look very good at all. And why do the radar blips have reflections in the water? Lose the radar blips and use a fog system.
Map Boundries:
Continuous planet maps? No, for the love of God, do not implement that! What should be done is this:
Create a map boundry (an invisible square), and beyond that square, continue making the map, but have it fad off into the fog. In water-based maps, have the water travel off into the horizon. When units approach the map-limit (when the invisible boundry is theoretically in their sight), a light, transluscent line should appear, signifying the boundry.
Concerning Objects and their Destruction:
I like the idea of units being able to trample trees, but with this comes some complications. How will Commanders be able to reclaim trees if they are trampling half the forest in the process? That is a ridiculous waste of potential materials. Also, I know not about you guys, but I loved using forests as natural barriers to keep large units away from my base. Trees have strategic values that many players do not realize.
Besides, can a Peewee really trample over a tree? I suggest that you implement a weight system so that most K-bots and tanks (Peewee, Zeus, Pyro, Mavrick, Stumpy, Raider, Slasher, Commander, etc.) do not trample over trees, while only heavy units (Sumo, Bulldog, Goliath, Can, Fido, Crock, etc.) can.
Also, what happened to the good old fashion "blow them trees away"? Can we still light trees on fire? Can we blow the damn things up by firing bullets at them?
What about rocks? Where are the rocks located? What about willow trees and Oolak trees located in the swamps? What about the Japanese trees located in the archipilagos? What about the alien plantlife in the red planet maps? Are the Core Prime objects coming back? How will these be destroyed? They should not be that hard to implement into the Spring system.
Metal Deposits:
I have never seen what a metal deposit looks like in the Spring engine. I would like to see one, and I imagine many others would like to see them too. Also, when missiles hit them, what happens? Does the deposit form a crater? If craters can form under deposits, does one have to continue to destroy the area around it to create a flat area so that they can replace the destroyed extractor? There are a lot of what-if senarios.
Fire:
When objects are lit on fire, a blur effect should be implemented so that flames and smoke give off the effect of heat.
This concludes my list of ideas...
... for now.
Last edited by Syffer Bidan on 07 Mar 2005, 23:45, edited 1 time in total.
-
[K.B.] Napalm Cobra
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: 16 Aug 2004, 06:15
http://taspring.clan-sy.com/screenshots/screen56.jpg
See the red patch? Thats metal.
And I agree with most of what you say. I'd like to see the Blips become bounding boxes/spheres. It would make it slightly prettyier and give you a rough idea of the units size, which you get with radar.
See the red patch? Thats metal.
And I agree with most of what you say. I'd like to see the Blips become bounding boxes/spheres. It would make it slightly prettyier and give you a rough idea of the units size, which you get with radar.
-
PauloMorfeo
- Posts: 2004
- Joined: 15 Dec 2004, 20:53
Re: Syffer's Ideas
If that feature is removed, i will be extremely unhappy!!!Syffer Bidan wrote:Fog of War:Lose the radar blips and use a fog system.
It is a very good feature!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It can have something better looking than blips but that's it.
As for beeing a blip/model/feature of variable size according to the units size, that reveals too much information!
Yes, the radars can detect the units size but that realism gets in the way of gameplay because radars would also detect the exact unit type and that would be almost exactly ... line-of-sight.
And that's not what the radars are intended for...
-
Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59
The radar blips on the game map are a good feature. They could be reworked in terms of asthetics, but it isn't entirely necessary. By no means should they reveal the size/type of the unit, short of what can be deduced from speed and unit height (if the dot is in the air).
I agree with what you say about trees. Only heavy units should be able to trample trees (its fairly easy to base how heavy a unit is on its metal cost).
The fire suggestion is an excellent idea. The heat blur really sells the Balrog's roar in Fellowship of the Ring. Just make sure you (the SY's) don't over do it so that you can't see what is going on.
I agree with what you say about trees. Only heavy units should be able to trample trees (its fairly easy to base how heavy a unit is on its metal cost).
The fire suggestion is an excellent idea. The heat blur really sells the Balrog's roar in Fellowship of the Ring. Just make sure you (the SY's) don't over do it so that you can't see what is going on.
What i dont understand is, is what the hell does fog of war have t do with radar blips? The fog of War is mearly an area you have maped, but cant see. So having fog there is fine. Doesn't mean your radar blips should stop working...Fog of War:
This has been suggested many times before, and I will suggest it as well: use actual fog. The radar blips are annoying, and do not look very good at all. And why do the radar blips have reflections in the water? Lose the radar blips and use a fog system.
And yes, blips should reveile nothing about the unit. There mearly an on field representaion of the blips on the mini map and thats how it should stay. They could do with a make over looks wize though.
As for Fire, Yes a heat haze would look asome, and by the look of the water effects id say they could make it look real sweet.
aGorm
-
sparkyhodgo
- Posts: 128
- Joined: 24 Feb 2005, 19:05
-
PauloMorfeo
- Posts: 2004
- Joined: 15 Dec 2004, 20:53
-
Syffer Bidan
- Posts: 31
- Joined: 21 Jan 2005, 01:01
Syffer's Request
Let us all work together on coming up with these.
Recent Requests, Redeux
Fog of War and Radar Blips:
aGorm wrote:
What I don[']t understand is, is what the hell does fog of war have [to] do with radar blips? The fog of War is mearly an area you have maped, but can[']t see. So having fog there is fine. Doesn't mean your radar blips should stop working...
Radar blips never appeared in the original Total Annihilation. The only radar accessable was the one presented via mini-map. If a fog of war system is implemented, it makes radar blips obsolete, as both the fog of war and the radar blips would appear via the mini-map.
I do see your point, however.
Here is an idea (tell me if this is a better idea, Paulo Morfeo): if we are to keep radar blips, it should be a server option, so that the admin, or server creator, can select the option to have radar blips appear on the battle field and the mini-map, or just the mini-map.
As for actual fog of war: no one aside from the few that championed actual fog have stepped forward, so actual fog is the best idea we have. It seems too odd to have units spawn out of thin air (pardon the cliche).
As for the blips themselves: the blips do need new asthetics. It is odd that they are 3D and cast reflections in the water and shadows on land. Radar blips should be 2D, and should conform to the contour of the land beneath them, as if someone were shinning a light there (the blip being the color of the army it belongs to). I do agree in regards to the indication of unit size. Radar blips should not give away what size or type of unit it is; however, if units are extremely close togther, the blips should distort, and smear into one another much like in the original Total Annihilation.
Metal Deposits:
Thanks for the clarification, Napalm, but I am still confused. Is a deposit under-ground? That makes sense--yes--but does that mean that several extractors can go on one deposit? That seems a bit off.
Chase Camera:
I believe this was brought up before, and I agree: the chase camera is extremely neat, but when chase-cam' units die, the camera should stay behind the unit even when it is shot down, so that you can watch the unit die. Not only does it seem more professional, it serves some strategic properties as well.
Continuous Planet Maps and Boundries:
Until something better comes along, I believe Alantai Firestar has a good solution: make globe-style maps a map-maker option or a server option. As for most games, or the defaut commands, I assume we are going with the transluscent boundries as submitted a few posts above:
Create a map boundry (an invisible square), and beyond that square, continue making the map, but have it fad off into the fog. In water-based maps, have the water travel off into the horizon. When units approach the map-limit (when the invisible boundry is theoretically in their sight), a light, transluscent line should appear, signifying the boundry.
Recent Requests, Redeux
Fog of War and Radar Blips:
aGorm wrote:
What I don[']t understand is, is what the hell does fog of war have [to] do with radar blips? The fog of War is mearly an area you have maped, but can[']t see. So having fog there is fine. Doesn't mean your radar blips should stop working...
Radar blips never appeared in the original Total Annihilation. The only radar accessable was the one presented via mini-map. If a fog of war system is implemented, it makes radar blips obsolete, as both the fog of war and the radar blips would appear via the mini-map.
I do see your point, however.
Here is an idea (tell me if this is a better idea, Paulo Morfeo): if we are to keep radar blips, it should be a server option, so that the admin, or server creator, can select the option to have radar blips appear on the battle field and the mini-map, or just the mini-map.
As for actual fog of war: no one aside from the few that championed actual fog have stepped forward, so actual fog is the best idea we have. It seems too odd to have units spawn out of thin air (pardon the cliche).
As for the blips themselves: the blips do need new asthetics. It is odd that they are 3D and cast reflections in the water and shadows on land. Radar blips should be 2D, and should conform to the contour of the land beneath them, as if someone were shinning a light there (the blip being the color of the army it belongs to). I do agree in regards to the indication of unit size. Radar blips should not give away what size or type of unit it is; however, if units are extremely close togther, the blips should distort, and smear into one another much like in the original Total Annihilation.
Metal Deposits:
Thanks for the clarification, Napalm, but I am still confused. Is a deposit under-ground? That makes sense--yes--but does that mean that several extractors can go on one deposit? That seems a bit off.
Chase Camera:
I believe this was brought up before, and I agree: the chase camera is extremely neat, but when chase-cam' units die, the camera should stay behind the unit even when it is shot down, so that you can watch the unit die. Not only does it seem more professional, it serves some strategic properties as well.
Continuous Planet Maps and Boundries:
Until something better comes along, I believe Alantai Firestar has a good solution: make globe-style maps a map-maker option or a server option. As for most games, or the defaut commands, I assume we are going with the transluscent boundries as submitted a few posts above:
Create a map boundry (an invisible square), and beyond that square, continue making the map, but have it fad off into the fog. In water-based maps, have the water travel off into the horizon. When units approach the map-limit (when the invisible boundry is theoretically in their sight), a light, transluscent line should appear, signifying the boundry.
Last edited by Syffer Bidan on 08 Mar 2005, 01:24, edited 1 time in total.
No line is needed to mark the boundary
If you play the old spring it's quite obvious where the lake ends and the boundaries are because there is no terrain texture for the underwater past the boundary which makes the sea look a lot bluer outside the boundary. As for the way spring runs atm I think that they should keep the water off into the distance aspect and if you're on a landmap then you should just create the extra surrounding land and once we figure out howto restrict access beyond our custom set boundaries in our maps then that should be the end of it, it'll be a map makers decision and not an engine feature.
As for blips yes I agree with that upto a point, Blips shouldnt just be colours but rather just the translucent users insignia/race insignia, if it's airborne then it should be laying flat int he horizontal plane but in the sky with a dropdown line to the ground
If you play the old spring it's quite obvious where the lake ends and the boundaries are because there is no terrain texture for the underwater past the boundary which makes the sea look a lot bluer outside the boundary. As for the way spring runs atm I think that they should keep the water off into the distance aspect and if you're on a landmap then you should just create the extra surrounding land and once we figure out howto restrict access beyond our custom set boundaries in our maps then that should be the end of it, it'll be a map makers decision and not an engine feature.
As for blips yes I agree with that upto a point, Blips shouldnt just be colours but rather just the translucent users insignia/race insignia, if it's airborne then it should be laying flat int he horizontal plane but in the sky with a dropdown line to the ground
-
Sean Mirrsen
- Posts: 578
- Joined: 19 Aug 2004, 17:38
I've just had a... rather stupid idea.
It's mostly inspired by the recent remake of an old classic, Battle City.
In the remake, the little tanks are shown as inside a big box that lies on a table. Maybe that's what could be done to TA in Spring... make a Toy TA...
At least, that's my only idea so far on map boundaries. At least the only one suitable for all types of maps.
It's mostly inspired by the recent remake of an old classic, Battle City.
In the remake, the little tanks are shown as inside a big box that lies on a table. Maybe that's what could be done to TA in Spring... make a Toy TA...
At least, that's my only idea so far on map boundaries. At least the only one suitable for all types of maps.
I request that maps have information on lighting and sky textures included in them. What use is a terrain type if it always has the blue sky and white clouds? Maybe on a lava map I want red light or on an acid map greenish light or maybe slightly blue tinted for a dakr night effect when combined with starry sky