[Suggestion] Fog of war

[Ninja]

I think that this could be an interesting option, allowing map makers to easily turn on some sort of "fog of war" for their maps.

Ideally, this would do the following:
1. The map's picture would be entirely blacked out where there is fog of war
2. The fog of war would either block everything or allow you to see any terrain. Probably let the map maker choose which type to use.

As for more the logistics of how to implement it, I'm envisioning a "paint brush" of sorts, allowing the map maker to place fog of war wherever they may please.

Thoughts? If necessary, I can try to refine this further, but I figured providing a bit of a general template and a few ideas for specifics may be preferable.

[Sorrontis]

That would be a fun tool. I'm sure V could do something like this, however, I see this being low on the priority totem pole :)

[Cavemaniac]

Here's a thought - how do you choose where to place your CHQ to start the game?

It'll be all dark/blank at the beginning.

Randomly drop it?

It won't place over land or structures...

[Ninja]

Here's a thought - how do you choose where to place your CHQ to start the game?

It'll be all dark/blank at the beginning.

Randomly drop it?

It won't place over land or structures...

That's why I put in the paint brush idea. That way the map creator can blot out what they don't want you to see, and allow you to see a landing spot.
Or, if they want to, they could make you randomly drop it. :P

[Sorrontis]

it's very useful for maps where the player's fleet is already added to the map, including the HQ, so there is no choice.

[Cavemaniac]

Here's a thought - how do you choose where to place your CHQ to start the game?

It'll be all dark/blank at the beginning.

Randomly drop it?

It won't place over land or structures...

That's why I put in the paint brush idea. That way the map creator can blot out what they don't want you to see, and allow you to see a landing spot.
Or, if they want to, they could make you randomly drop it. :P

Gotcha - that'd work!

[chwooly]

Or the map maker would have to just prepopulate the map with the CHQ.

[Grabarz]

Why though? Each map plays out the same. It would only make it so that you might have to forfeit your first "scouting" run of a level, after which you'll know exactly how the map is laid out. Plus, we have thumbnails.

FoW is cool in strategy games because you never know how the enemy might approach you, but in this case enemies really have preset paths - particulate always flows the same way, ships always engage from the same flanks etc...

[Ninja]

Why though? Each map plays out the same. It would only make it so that you might have to forfeit your first "scouting" run of a level, after which you'll know exactly how the map is laid out. Plus, we have thumbnails.

read the suggestion, please. Thanks.

Mostly intended this for larger maps.

[Grabarz]

I did read the suggestion, thank you. The only thing I missed is that thumbnails would be blacked out. So, what you want is for it to be impossible to tell what the map is from the thumbnail, which kinda defeats the point of having thumbnails to begin with.

Secondly, I've played a few, and I believe my point still stands even on larger maps.

Best case scenario you're just not going to know how many ship/doppel spawners the map has.

I don't think something like this really fits how this game works, unless you're using PRPL to generate random events, which in conjunction with really large maps would probably make for a smooth 5 fps experience.

Fog of War aims to surprise the player with events where enemy can make unpredictable moves. That's just not a thing that happens in this game, and has never happened in these games.

[Ninja]

I did read the suggestion, thank you. The only thing I missed is that thumbnails would be blacked out. So, what you want is for it to be impossible to tell what the map is from the thumbnail, which kinda defeats the point of having thumbnails to begin with.

Secondly, I've played a few, and I believe my point still stands even on larger maps.

Best case scenario you're just not going to know how many ship/doppel spawners the map has.

I don't think something like this really fits how this game works, unless you're using PRPL to generate random events, which in conjunction with really large maps would probably make for a smooth 5 fps experience.

Fog of War aims to surprise the player with events where enemy can make unpredictable moves. That's just not a thing that happens in this game, and has never happened in these games.

All right, so the map maker can choose to not have fog of war if they see no point to it.
If you're arguing against V taking the time to make this and instead spend time on other things, I can see that. But I can personally see situations where fog of war could create a very nice element to be used.

EDIT: and by the way, I apologize for my bluntness/rudeness earlier. I was for some reason feeling particularly tired at that moment, but I should have chosen not to comment instead of taking it out on you.

[GoodMorning]

We can partly PRPL this.

[Sorrontis]

We can partly PRPL this.

I remember there was a couple CRPL maps that emulated this.

[GoodMorning]

CW3:CS:Amrakul? It was just irritating there, because it had to follow the CN.

I'd use a tiled form, because it's harder to place multiple holes otherwise.