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Overdrive Graphics Idea

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ATrankhokomoko
6 years ago
I've just had an idea about communicating overdrive to new players.
While the grid circles in eco view are good, I think they still don't drive the point home well enough.

My thought was making actual connections (lightning? beams?) between energy buildings with overlapping grids.
I'm not 100% sure how it should look, if it should be continuous or show every few seconds, if it should depend on the amount of energy in the grid etc.

Another unrelated idea is to add some indicator of overdrive to energy structures similar to the spinning speed of mexes, but this doesn't convey the connectivity imo.
+2 / -0


USrankCrazyEddie
6 years ago
Do we really need to make overdrive and energy-gridding more discoverable to new players? Most new players won't get much of a benefit from it, in that their game performance will be much more affected by things like unit counters, basic economy management, not overbuilding defenses, and attacking.

Players will learn about overdrive from tutorials and missions, from guides, from other players, and by discovering it through the current eco view / powerplant-placement UI. Maybe that's good enough.
+1 / -0


USrank[GBC]1v0ry_k1ng
6 years ago
I think it could stand to be made more visible.
+0 / -0
USrankBeamer
6 years ago
(edited 6 years ago)
I would like to be able to see the overdrive circle while queuing a line of resource structures. It is great that when I am deciding where to place my solar collector, I can see its overdrive circle to make sure it overlaps my existing overdrive chain. However, if I try to shift-build a line of solar collectors, only the solar collector under my mouse shows its overdrive circle. It is important to show the circle for all the solar collectors so that the player can adjust the buildings' spacing while ensuring they still overlap.

On a similar note, it would be helpful to see the overdrive circle of queued resource structures that haven't been built yet.
+1 / -0

PLrankAdminSprung
6 years ago
(edited 6 years ago)
Supcom does this. Their "grids" only work with direct adjacency and I think they have lower impact than ours. [Spoiler]

quote:
their game performance will be much more affected by things like unit counters, basic economy management, not overbuilding defenses, and attacking.

These would also force them into the hardcore competitive playstyle. A nab typically wants to make a casual simcity with turrets and (sometimes explicitly) does not want to do the things you mention. When making a simcity, OD is the only way to increase income (extra mexspots and wrecks both lie beyond the porc line).
+3 / -0

DErankkatastrophe
6 years ago
(edited 6 years ago)
This game is designed for what you call "hardcore competitive".

I think we need to be sure if we want a simpler game that attracts potentially everyone or a complicated game that needs some efford to put into, but rewards you highly for that. At the moment, it´s clearly the latter. Nonetheless, i support hokos idea as well as beamers idea of making grid of queued structures visible.
+0 / -0

ATrankhokomoko
6 years ago
quote:
I think we need to be sure if we want a simpler game that attracts potentially everyone or a complicated game that needs some efford to put into, but rewards you highly for that. At the moment, it´s clearly the latter. Nonetheless, i support hokos idea as well as beamers idea of making grid of queued structures visible.
Everything you've said is true, note that conveying info isn't just for new players, it's also good for preventing almost-touching-grids accidents.

quote:
I would like to be able to see the overdrive circle while queuing a line of resource structures.
I'm like 90% sure I coded this in, it may be an option though.
+0 / -0

CHrankAdminDeinFreund
6 years ago
(edited 6 years ago)
While lightning or laser beams would be cool, they are too similar to weapons so one would expect them to interact with units or buildings in between. The supcom power line grid looks decent. I'd reduce the connections to a MST.

Having a visual indication of the grid is something that'd really help making the game more intuitive. It's a hidden mechanic that easily gives the feeling of a overcomplicated/bloated game, especially when not understood. (Those were my thoughts about zk's grid when I was a BA player). Thus visualizing the grid and its impact would actually make the game feel less complicated.
+1 / -0