Actaully, I think the best way to deal with it is the way OTA did. Make LOS color, and non-LOS black and white.
I think we should be aiming to improve Spring to the point that LOS is unneccesary though. Or rather, we should make it so that maps get big enough such that there is a horizon, and a real (L)ine (O)f (S)ight. Then it could really be that if there is a straight line between your unit and the enemy one, you see it. We'd need to up unit speeds, weapon ranges, and map size to compensate.
Seriously though, in the short term. Black and white vs color is the best way to do it. If you want to overlay radar and sonar, you could switch to a CMYK color palatte. You get full color when you have everything. You have K (black, so things are black and white) when you have nothing (no LOS, no radar / sonar, no jamming). You add cyan to the terrain when you have radar, and magenta when you have radar jamming. Sonar is yellow, and sonar jamming isn't shown, or is magenta also.
Fog of War in Spring must always be shown on the game screen
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Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
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Buggi, I'm sorry if this thread annoyed you. If you like, I'll put a link to that thread in my original post.
A number of things stopped me from rezzing that post:
1) I honestly thought that the major LOS discussion thread was lost when the forums had the earlier trouble.
2) I come from a forum (TAUniverse) where rezzing old discussions is a big no-no. If an answer was stated in that thread, then creating another thread is equally bad, when some searching would have done fine. But no answer or conclusion was arrived at in that thread, as it was only speculation regarding what might happen when spring comes out, as opposed to actual current information.
3) I also felt that the content of this thread was sufficiently different, in that it refers to urgent changes from a hotkey to constant gameplay, as opposed to a brainstorm as to what the best method of fog of war would be.
To reiterate that third point, what I really wanted from this thread was not quite a discussion of the best method to display fog of war, although it was rather inevitable. I wanted the SY's to realise that the functions activated by the L key (namely LOS, not radar, although a non-intrusive constant radar range would be nice) were not optional things that can be had on and off every now and then; they are functions that always have to be on for gameplay reasons. It was only then that I mentioned that if they were to be always on, then they would need some sort of visual improvement.
Again, apologies if you feel I have usurped your thread.
A number of things stopped me from rezzing that post:
1) I honestly thought that the major LOS discussion thread was lost when the forums had the earlier trouble.
2) I come from a forum (TAUniverse) where rezzing old discussions is a big no-no. If an answer was stated in that thread, then creating another thread is equally bad, when some searching would have done fine. But no answer or conclusion was arrived at in that thread, as it was only speculation regarding what might happen when spring comes out, as opposed to actual current information.
3) I also felt that the content of this thread was sufficiently different, in that it refers to urgent changes from a hotkey to constant gameplay, as opposed to a brainstorm as to what the best method of fog of war would be.
To reiterate that third point, what I really wanted from this thread was not quite a discussion of the best method to display fog of war, although it was rather inevitable. I wanted the SY's to realise that the functions activated by the L key (namely LOS, not radar, although a non-intrusive constant radar range would be nice) were not optional things that can be had on and off every now and then; they are functions that always have to be on for gameplay reasons. It was only then that I mentioned that if they were to be always on, then they would need some sort of visual improvement.
Again, apologies if you feel I have usurped your thread.
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Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59
No, min3mat, it isn't. As I stated in my original thread (here I go repeating myself again), LOS is something you need to constantly see, for gameplay reasons, and for visual reasons (its strange to see things popping onto your screen). Therefore, what is shown in the L key (the LOS anyway) needs to always be shown on screen. However, the method used to show the L key is not designed for constant viewing, and is both difficult to see with, as well as somewhat ugly.
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Doomweaver
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GrOuNd_ZeRo
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Having some real fog or something else to represent fog of war would be nice, but I find the way it works now interesting - it's realistic in a sense, in a real war the general doesn't have colored lines on the map telling him where his unit's LOS ends. That just adds to the fog of war effect and the uncertainty of where the enemy is. It makes for a more sneaky game.
So let's add visible fog of war if people really want it and it doesn't make the map look ugly. But it should be a gameplay option.
Also, I think that multiplying the sight range of all units by a large amount would go a long way in making the way it works now feel more right. It would feel more like "real" line of sight, where your view is limited by obstacles and weather, not by an arbitrary distance.
So let's add visible fog of war if people really want it and it doesn't make the map look ugly. But it should be a gameplay option.
Also, I think that multiplying the sight range of all units by a large amount would go a long way in making the way it works now feel more right. It would feel more like "real" line of sight, where your view is limited by obstacles and weather, not by an arbitrary distance.
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GrOuNd_ZeRo
- Posts: 1370
- Joined: 30 Apr 2005, 01:10
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Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59
