Spring RTS Engine

As this caught my attention when playing a testrun on DryRiver. Probably other mappers will have the same problem.

Most of my maps are designed to work with a slope tolerance 'range'. I designed the heightmap in this way, so that all the different unit categories can go where there are supposed to go, and also where not.

I think most mappers tweak their maps to match the units slope tolerances. But in one of the latest releases of AA, kbots have been given some sort of increase to their slope tolerance! This is very annoying, because f.e. the Ridges in Dryriver don't really make a difference anymore (kbots). Also Digsite now has some 'gaps' in the ridges where kbots can go. This kinda sux big time, because if this stays this way, i need to (recompile and) re-release all maps that now suffer from that change.

My question is: Were the slopes changed lately ?
And if so, why?
and can you change this back, so that I, and other mappers, don't have to re-release all of our maps again.

let me know!

IceXuick wrote:As this caught my attention when playing a testrun on DryRiver. Probably other mappers will have the same problem.

Most of my maps are designed to work with a slope tolerance 'range'. I designed the heightmap in this way, so that all the different unit categories can go where there are supposed to go, and also where not.

I think most mappers tweak their maps to match the units slope tolerances. But in one of the latest releases of AA, kbots have been given some sort of increase to their slope tolerance! This is very annoying, because f.e. the Ridges in Dryriver don't really make a difference anymore (kbots). Also Digsite now has some 'gaps' in the ridges where kbots can go. This kinda sux big time, because if this stays this way, i need to (recompile and) re-release all maps that now suffer from that change.

My question is: Were the slopes changed lately ?
And if so, why?
and can you change this back, so that I, and other mappers, don't have to re-release all of our maps again.

let me know!

Well, I know some of it was related to our complaints about amphibs being unable to negotiate most shorelines.... but I have no idea why he loosened it for all other units.

When I adjusted the vehicle/amphib vehicle slope tolerance, there wasn't that much difference between them and kbots, so I increased kbot tolerance a bit so it'd be more noticable. Think I should go back on that? It's NP for me, I can just grab the old values for kbots from an archived file, but it'd mean re-pathing all your maps, again.

Caydr wrote:When I adjusted the vehicle/amphib vehicle slope tolerance, there wasn't that much difference between them and kbots, so I increased kbot tolerance a bit so it'd be more noticable. Think I should go back on that? It's NP for me, I can just grab the old values for kbots from an archived file, but it'd mean re-pathing all your maps, again.

if mappers need to re-release their maps because of this we would have to repath.... and it will cost mappers precious time. so yes please revert it.

Yes that would be very nice. Indeed amphibs/hover units needed more tolerance (even for my maps, thought they could get up every slope, but (too) slow, and almost not).

But if you can change the kbots back a bit, that would be great. Imho the slope tolerance for them is (was) OK. So yes, plz with next release do so :D. I guess more mappers will benefit from this.

yep, only amphib tolerance should be changed imo.

btw ice your maps are awsome!

most if not all buildings should have a slope tolerance of 20 imo.

I don't know if this 20 is more or less than what it's now, but i think a bigger slope tolerance for (all) buildings is good. Esspecially when AI's get stuck because of the lack of buildable terrain.

20 is the slope tolerance that mexes in AA, EE and gundam have. All buildings in EE have a slope tolerance of 20, same for gundam. This allows much more flexability for mappers.

AA buildings slope tolerance is about 10 for most of them I believe, which means the ground has to be damn near perfectly flat for them to build == not good.

I agree with Forboding Angel. Tweaking a map so that you can build a base in AA is a bit of a pain at the moment.

FizWizz wrote:I agree with Forboding Angel. Tweaking a map so that you can build a base in AA is a bit of a pain at the moment.

+1

Forboding Angel wrote:most if not all buildings should have a slope tolerance of 20 imo.

Well, I'd stick to that rule for large buildings. It's often damn hard to find a place to put a factory or a solar. Small buildings, on the other hand, aren't too hard to put down and the difficulty adds a lot to play. For example, on many mountains there is only one good spot for a guardian - imho, this is crucial to the gameplay, as many maps woudl be aweful if you could stick guardains all over a hill.

oh ffs all you have to do is dgun the ground, restore and you can build on it

There is not good reason to have buildings at less than 20 slope tolderance.

You're telling me that 3000 years in the future people/AI's are incapable of putting large guns on the side of a hill?

Pxtl wrote:as many maps woudl be aweful if you could stick guardains all over a hill.

You can, very nearly. If you can build a 2x2 square of Dragon's Teeth, they'll flatten the land to the point where you can put a Guardian there. You don't even have to finish them - just start and then cancel once the actual construction starts.

and if we can build a house on a 60 degree slope, doesn't it make sense that in spring a factory could be built on a 20 degree slope?

Perhaps the house might be built on that slope, but you wouldn't run down it at full speed.

Yes, I could adjust the factories so they can be built on less flat ground, but in some cases this would mean that the units they build wouldn't be able to exit the factory.

The problem with unit slopes has now been corrected. Back to 36 being the highest slope any non-allterrain unit can stand.

grrr, I'm talking about buildings.

All structures should have a max slope of 20. No more no less. The units in AA have been screwed for a long time on maxslope but I don't really care about that. That's your deal and you have your reasons.

But there is no reason that buildings should not have a max slope of 20.

doesn't it make sense that in spring a factory could be built on a 20 degree slope

I could adjust the factories so they can be built on less flat ground, but in some cases this would mean that the units they build wouldn't be able to exit the factory.

grrr, I'm talking about buildings

Uhh huhhh....

Caydr wrote:

doesn't it make sense that in spring a factory could be built on a 20 degree slope

I could adjust the factories so they can be built on less flat ground, but in some cases this would mean that the units they build wouldn't be able to exit the factory.

grrr, I'm talking about buildings

Uhh huhhh....

Sorry Caydr, I must have misunderstood your post a little bit. This part threw me off a bit and made me think you thought I was talking about units...

The problem with unit slopes has now been corrected. Back to 36 being the highest slope any non-allterrain unit can stand.