Low Bocage looks too much like a hedge IMO

[A Canadian Cat]

I just got burned, well actually my guys are not dead but they are no longer hidden either, because I thought a field was surrounded by a hedge row. Turns out it was low bocage.

Here is the scenario I told my scout team to quickly hop this hedge and then slow move along it to hide from enemy view and get into a house in a flanking position where they can get good eyes on the enemy approach. What did they do? They ran down the road in full view of the enemy (thank goodness the enemy was actually further away than I thought) ran past the house I wanted them to go into and then back down the other side of the hedge. All the while I'm yelling at them "no, no don't do that you are going to get killed and you are giving away everything". At first I as flumuxed as to what happened and then it suddenly dawned on me "it's not a hedge you idiot".

If you put a hedge next to low bocage I can tell the difference but low bocage all by itself looks like a hedge especially in a context like this one where there is no other bocage around.

IMHO the low bocage needs to be a bit more beafy. High bocage looks formidable and I "get" that it is an impassible obstacle just by looking at it. Low bocage on the other hand looks wimpy and I think my guys can just hop right over.

How do other people feel? I am thinking a mod would help here - just to make the low bocage look more formidable.

[Sergei]

The hedges are really minuscule, like a string when viewed from distance, and extremely thin. Low bocage is just as thick as tall bocage, so it's very easy to recognize from high angles, and up close they look rougher than hedges. I think you'll just need to stare at them for a few hours and you'll pick the difference!

[Rocky Balboa]

Agreed, some terrain is harder to differentiate than others. There is discussion in another thread concerning some type of visual clue from the UI for blocked terrain.

Since changes to the UI are not likely to happen anytime soon, I would suggest you make this post in the Mod forum. A good modder can tweak the terrain to make it easier to distinguish.

[Pak40]

It's easy to tell hedges from bocage once you experience it the first time. Hedges are very low and trimmed square like boxwoods.

[Migo441]

Yep, I totally agree with this.

I accept the two types of bocage and how guys can only move through them at gaps, etc... But yes, the low bocage just looks too wimpy and makes it hard to believe the guys can't jump or climb over it.

[Pvt. Ryan]

I suggest a toggle that lays a color shading over the different types of terrain features that people have trouble with, such as dark green for high bocage, light green for low bocage, mauve for hedges, etc.

I'm not a programmer, but I'm sure this wouldn't take more than a few minutes to code.

[Erwin]

Another issue I have encountered is seeing what appears to be a gap in a hedge and ordering inf to run to it and move thru it. only to find they run to the "gap' and then move away and go around the hedge as apparently there was no gap.

[Childress]

Agreed that 'low bocage' could be fattened up a bit. As a visual clue.

[GreenAsJade]

Same thing happened to me... I didn't even know there _was_ low bocage

[WineCape]

Time to plead with a good modder.

[ParaBellum]

I hate the low bocage. Had infantry suddenly make suicidal detours due to me thinking they were simple hedges a couple of times already.

[Sitting Duck]

Time to plead with a good modder.

Ah...so a modder could make some changes that would make the different terrain types more easily distinguished?

How far could that be taken?

For instance - could a modder simply add a bit of color to bocage (high and low) to make them easier to distinguish? What about substituting images of rubber ducks (low bocage) and rubber swans (high bocage)?

The other thing that is sometimes difficult to spot are gaps in bocage. I seem to remember reading that Steve puts "dirt" tiles at the gaps to make them more readily visible to players.

[Sergei]

Agreed that 'low bocage' could be fattened up a bit. As a visual clue.

I don't see how it could be any fatter, as it's already as thick as tall bocage is. If it was any thicker, you couldn't see soldiers standing next to it because they would be covered by the branches. It's also about twice the height of a hedge.

[c3k]

Do they share any textures? Would a modder be able to change the hedge appearance so it appears very different from low bocage? Embedding the word "Hedge" would be a but much, but if the textures are separate, anything is possible.