PAC maps: theory and practical

[stdout]

Wow, Hubs, what you're describing sounds -AWESOME-. I love it.

[J]

Sounds awesome Hubs. Take all the time you need to squash bugs because it will probably the template for a lot of maps.

[teknotiss]

agreed that this is a great effort from you hubs, once you're sure you've got it sorted let me know and i'll chuck it onto the top post! 8)

[teknotiss]

just had a thought, could we get a clear current target for the spore towers? if i use "t" i have to maually rest all towers, in the end game it'd be really useful to have "y" be clear spore targets and let them aim themselves at whatever units again.
here's hoping  8)

[stdout]

That would be a great feature.

You can select any spore tower and click on "T" and that causes all spore towers to aim for that spot.

To be able to select any spore tower and click "Y" to cause them all to go into auto-targeting mode would be perfect.

[mzimmer74]

Love the idea about the "y" key for towers.  That would definitely make the end game easier.

[Hubs]

I'll check the code and see how easy that would be. I love the idea! So many times I've wanted that feature!

[Hubs]

What does everyone think about adding a "Y" function for emitters to unsupport all emitters? There's been a few instances where this would have been nice in early game when I'm trying to push on two fronts. 

[stdout]

What does everyone think about adding a "Y" function for emitters to unsupport all emitters? There's been a few instances where this would have been nice in early game when I'm trying to push on two fronts.

That'd be nice.

What I always do is if I have an emitter that is being supported, and I want it disconnected, I just destroy the emitter. That causes all the other emitters to drop back to normal mode. But then that leaves me having to wait a few seconds before I can build something new in its place.

So yes, a Y function for emitters would be good.

[RrR]

It would be very convenient if you could re-aim a spore tower by selecting the cross-hairs rather than having to scroll and find the tower. Much as you can re-aim a bertha either by selecting the bertha or its cross-hairs.

[Hubs]

So I wanted to give everyone a quick update on the PAC template.  It's coming along really nicely. The map finalization process works great and I have some help text on the map in edit mode to help.  I've implemented the "Y" function for emitters and spore towers so that all emitters will stop supporting and return to normal mode, or if you have a spore tower selected all towers will go to auto target mode.

It would be very convenient if you could re-aim a spore tower by selecting the cross-hairs rather than having to scroll and find the tower. Much as you can re-aim a bertha either by selecting the bertha or its cross-hairs.

I agree! That would be a very helpful feature. I think to do this (because you wouldn't always see the selection ring around the spore tower you selected) it would be helpful to show the spore target ring at the mouse so you know you're targeting for a spore tower. This would apply to normal spore tower targeting as well.  I've already implemented it and it's kinda nice. I have it scaled down to about half the size of the normal target so it doesn't get in the way. For spore tower selection via its target, it makes sense to only have it work when the red target is showing (which occurs when the tower is at least 80% charged). That leads me in to another idea...

How would everyone feel about a toggle to always show spore tower targets? Right now it only shows when 80% charged, but I could create a toggle button (perhaps "U") that could switch between just showing when they're almost ready to fire and always on.  Thoughts?

[DestinyAtlantis]

That would be nice, but it would only be for manual targeting, since Auto targeting should be like with Berthas, where only after a certain charge level it selects a valid target.

[RrR]

Thanks for making cross-hairs selectable.

Having the targeted spore towers always showing their target, and then changing colour/size shortly before they fire, would be a useful option.

It would also be useful to be able to pause all spore towers, to make synchronised spore firing easier.

[stdout]

Concur with all the above.

It would also be useful to be able to pause all spore towers, to make synchronised spore firing easier.

I second this. Right now it's quite time consuming to make them all synchronize. Making that more efficient and intuitive for the player would be a most welcomed improvement.

[Hubs]

How about a button that just resets all spore tower countdowns?