Show all movement/command lines option?

[Commissar]

The old CMx1 games had an option in which you could see all the lines and waypoints that you gave all your units before executing a turn. Now while that made the battlefield look like a big bowl of noodles, it did let me see in one glance what units where moving where and what command I gave them to do. It allowed me to easily place my units with the move command exactly where I wanted them to be in relation to my other units.

I noticed that this isn't in CM:SF. I checked the menu for the option, but I didn't find one. Has this also been thrown out of CM:SF? Without it, I find it a lot harder to place, for example, my tanks where I want them because I can't see exactly where I told my other units to go previously. Did I miss the option or has it been removed?

[Loaf]

I miss this feature too... I kept it on all the time in CMx1.

[Roter Stern]

Indeed... it was very usefull for keeping track of who's going where

[Childress]

This belongs near the top of the patch list, IMO. Game is nearly unplayable without it.

[monty burns]

I wouldn't say that it is unplayable without this feature, but it is sorely missed nonetheless.

[Battlefront.com]

We all want it because we all miss it. That's a good indication that it will be back in shortly

Steve

[Premierleutnant]

Great! That takes it one step closer to a big game.

[MoNuckah]

Sweet!

How about movement/target lines that hug the ground instead of burying through it? Helps identify tiny hillocks that can be easily missed in the monotone deserts.

[Battlefront.com]

Would LOVE to do that, but unfortunately... major performance hit for that. It takes a lot of calculating to figure out how to not intersect terrain, it takes no calculations to cut rigth through it. Having said that, it may be possible that Charles could code something clever when he's got more time to deal with things like this.

Steve

[Blackmuzzle]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

It takes a lot of calculating to figure out how to not intersect terrain

Huh? You have the terrain mesh in its original resolution, you have the actual terrain mesh with the LOD, It's easy enough which terrain tiles are on the path between A and B... what's complicated to calculate?

[Bahger]

There should be some tool available to survey terrain undulations. At the very least, it would be good to be able to get vehicles into defilade rather than hoping for the best when we maneuver them into what might just be some kind of cover...or might not. In short, there is not yet any useable "military horizon" in the game as there was in CM.

[Becket]

Originally posted by Bahger:

In short, there is not yet any useable "military horizon" in the game as there was in CM.

Which was the one in CMx1?

[Dirtweasle]

Really looking forward to seeing this back in the game soon.

Actually, having the target line go through terrain helps (me at least) figure out where to end movement so as not to expose the troops on a ridge for instance.

[Panzer76]

Good news!

[thewood]

How about gridded terrain and a new grass mod

[Bahger]

Originally posted by Becket:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Bahger:

In short, there is not yet any useable "military horizon" in the game as there was in CM.

Which was the one in CMx1? </font>

[CRourke]

Count me as another one who misses those lines. It's hard to coordinate group movements without them. At the very least, it would be nice to display the movement paths for platoon mates. I think it would also cut down on pathfinding complaints as users wouldn't be as likely to plot intersecting movement orders.

[Becket]

Originally posted by Bahger:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Becket:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Bahger:

In short, there is not yet any useable "military horizon" in the game as there was in CM.

Which was the one in CMx1? </font>

[Amedeo]

Do you think these lines should be subject to the new relative spotting rules? (i.e. fire and movement coordination only with friendly units "in contact")

Amedeo

[CRourke]

Sounds like the result would be too complicated. Really, most of us just use it make our units advance in nice pretty formations, generally when they are already in close line of sight. Interesting thought though...

[Commissar]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

Would LOVE to do that, but unfortunately... major performance hit for that. It takes a lot of calculating to figure out how to not intersect terrain, it takes no calculations to cut rigth through it. Having said that, it may be possible that Charles could code something clever when he's got more time to deal with things like this.

Steve

I'd be happy with just a dot on the ground to let me know where all my units will end up in relation to one another so I can get my vehicles in the proper place relative to all my other units.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Originally posted by Commissar:

I'd be happy with just a dot on the ground to let me know where all my units will end up in relation to one another so I can get my vehicles in the proper place relative to all my other units.

Exactly

[Huntarr]

Originally posted by Commissar:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

Would LOVE to do that, but unfortunately... major performance hit for that. It takes a lot of calculating to figure out how to not intersect terrain, it takes no calculations to cut rigth through it. Having said that, it may be possible that Charles could code something clever when he's got more time to deal with things like this.

Steve

I'd be happy with just a dot on the ground to let me know where all my units will end up in relation to one another so I can get my vehicles in the proper place relative to all my other units. </font>

[Truppenfuhrung]

Originally posted by Commissar:

Now while that made the battlefield look like a big bowl of noodles, it did let me see in one glance what units where moving where and what command I gave them to do. It allowed me to easily place my units with the move command exactly where I wanted them to be in relation to my other units.

100% agree.

With CMBB and CMAK that feature was very usefully to deploy the troops on the battlefield.

Just like the "show arc" and displaying who target what.

[Battlefront.com]

Blackmuzzle,

Huh? You have the terrain mesh in its original resolution, you have the actual terrain mesh with the LOD, It's easy enough which terrain tiles are on the path between A and B... what's complicated to calculate?

I said it took more calculations to avoid intersecting terrain that it is to just cut through it. I didn't say it was complicated to program.

When you click from one place to the next, something has to go through and determine where the line intersects terrain, then it has to raise the line in order for it not to intersect. If that is all that you want to do, that's probably not a big deal. But to have the lines follow the contours, that's more of a problem because you then have to break the line up and lower it as well as raise it. You get a performance hit from that and from the resulting line, which is now (potentially) many lines instead of just one.

For one unit the disjointed lines might not be a big deal. But what if we now show ALL units' paths? That could result in a serious performance hit. Worse, these things have to be saved into RAM or they will have to be continually recalculated each time they are drawn.

Again, as stated above, I didn't say it was impossible. It's just that to do it right it's going to take some effort to code. I'd rather see many other things coded before we worry about the move lines cutting through terrain or not. Or put another way, I'd much rather have "show all moves" with terrain cut through than to hold off until Charles has the time to program terrain hugging lines.

Steve