LOS aid

hoplitis · #1 February 13th, 2006, 08:20 PM

Wouldn 't it be nice if you selected a hex (right click) and somehow (ie by pressing a certain key) have its LOS area highlighted? It would be extremely helpful in locating good positions for FOs, snipers, overwatcing units etc.
Comments?

Mustang · #2 February 13th, 2006, 11:57 PM

Not really realistic. A big part of a real commander's job is positioning his units where he thinks they will have the best view. I think that the game should be kept the way it is, because most other games ignore this fact. A commander can only see as much of the battlefield as his map shows him.

narwan · #3 February 14th, 2006, 12:39 PM

Finding the right spots is recon work. So use recon to find them. I would certainly be against the option you suggest, not realistic at all.

hoplitis · #4 February 14th, 2006, 06:30 PM

I'm 40. "Realistic" for me means that I need glasses to figure what's going on on the god damn screen !!!

And to argue against my proposal (

), I would say that a "LOS aid" would mean that the player would spend less time "studying" the map which is one of my favorite aspects of wargaming.

The scouting/recon argument is a strong one. But for a player playing mostly scenarios against the AI, "proper scouting" is in a sense "scenario sensitive". Unit mix, map size and duration can limit your capacity for even rudimentary scouting. (One more reason to appreciate good scenario designers).

The "LOS aid" could be used as an exotic way of introducing elements of the "digital battelfield" concept in the game (then it would be limited by time frame of scen, nationality,etc). Codewise may be difficult though...

And finally,
how does the AI handle LOS issues? Does it "know" where the good locations are, does it search for them or is it LOS dumb ?

Cameronius · #5 February 14th, 2006, 07:07 PM

I have played against the AI a lot! And I would be very surprised to here that it takes LOS into consideration at all. I believe that the only thing taht matters to the is the shortest route (least number of MP) to the objectives or the other side of the board. AI NEVER uses terrain to it's advantage.

Mustang · #6 February 19th, 2006, 05:50 PM

Yes, there should at least be some code in there telling to hunt for high ground. Also, it should check the terrain around it and see if it offers any advantage. For example, if two human units are attacking an AI unit and the AI sees that it can block one of the human unit's LOS by moving behind a tree, it should do so. I do this a lot (use terrain to block part of the enemy force so I can engage the other part piecemeal). Also there could be some code telling it to try and find enfilade fire positions and fire at tank's flanks.

And Hoplitis, you're not the only person having trouble seeing what's happening on the map. I'm 14 and sometimes I can't tell what a unit's LOS is exactly. Still, I don't see how your LOS aid idea could solve this problem.

About the digital battlefield idea, it's an interesting consideration, but this game mostly represents battles from 1950 to today- nobody makes many scenarios taking place around 2010 or so.