Improvement > Highlight impassable terrain

[LRC]

I'd like to get your opinions on the following :

- what about having a display mode that would highlight impassable terrain (8x8squares) ?

Purpose for improvement:

- know if & where a terrain (river / small cliffs / steep terrain ) is passable (information available to guys in real life, with maps and scouts ).

- this allows more careful& realistic planning of movements

- move marker is not always disabled on impassable terrain + scanning map with the move marker is very impractial

Would be get this in V11?

[c3k]

Hmm, if I understand it, you mean a toggle? Not that the terrain somehow reacts to your movement plot?

I like it!!!

I'd like to see different toggles: impassable for various units. Perhaps it would be selectable based on the current unit?

Example: what is impassable for tanks is NOT impassable for infantry.

Nice idea.

Right now the hit or miss nature of searching with the active end of the plotted path point to watch the cursor change is very time consuming. Plus, not very accurate.

I'm for it.

Thanks,

Ken

[7thGalaxy]

I wouldn't mind having an easier way of figuring LOS out - shading the area that a unit can see, for example, as a toggle, rather than having to test everything with target.

[Battlefront.com]

The problem with this stuff is the same problem we had back in CMx1... paths are not computed at the time you place Commands, only at the time they are executed. What we really need is the ability to see a fully detailed, realtime, route as we move the cursor around or just after we place a waypoint. Unfortunately, this would kill the CPU in some cases even for a single unit, not to mention a group of units. So no, unfortunately I don't see it happening for a long time. (showing LOS has similar problems)

Now, LRC's suggestion is entirely different. What he's suggesting is that if your movement line bisects a square that is impassible that it be highlighted. This is just a binary thing and doesn't require the CPU to struggle to figure out a way around the square. Instead, it is just identifying that if your unit were to go along a straight line then it would not make it there in a direct way. However, it might be possible for your unit to maneuver around the particular deadspace. LRC's suggestion would not demonstrate that, so the player would have to use some judgement or exploration to figure that out.

LRC, I see the value in what you're suggesting even though it has its limitations. Because we can't do the best solution, perhaps we might be able to do something like this. At the very least I'll pass it onto Charles for consideration.

Steve

[LRC]

Steve,

There are several approachs to the solution:

#1/ At map generation, calculate if terrain is passable(depends on water depth, terrain steepness). If yes, it can be highlighted as such. Highlight is toggled by a ctrl+.. command.

#2/ highlight terrain when it is bissected by path => not very practical because it requires to scan the terrain to find impassable terrain.

#3/ recompute path in real time => CPU nightmare

LRC

[Battlefront.com]

Crap! Lost my reply so I have to type up again

#1 isn't practical because different units, theoretically, have different terrain they can/can't pass over. Therefore, it's not possible to have a single pass and highlight those spots. Plus, most of the impassible terrain is graphically obvious (swamp, cliffs, buildings, debris, etc.)

#2 shouldn't be an issue because LOS/LOF currently checks along a straight line, in realtime, and looks for a lot more information than binary yes/no passage. Seeing as most movement lines are fairly short, the hit would be even less.

#3 yup, nightmare indeed! On top of that, what would happen when the player got his precomputed path? He'd probably try tweaking it. What happens when anything, including speed, is tweaked? Recompilation of the path! People could easily find themselves in a frustrating downward spiral. Not to mention the likely pause after finalizing any change so that the CPU can figure things out and redraw it. Nope, not an option!

Steve

P.S. I take it you are a programmer or at least work with one?