Spring RTS Engine

this looks like a lot of fun,
i really like the commander thing, we should have that in spring!
select a bunch of units and pick one as the commander, any commands given to the commander get given to the other units and you can see the relationship of the units to their commander.. shouldn't be too difficult i expect.

Isn't that just what the Assist command does?

That's the one thing I kind of wondered about. You've got a game where you can slow time to crawling bullettime speeds... why bother with weird strategic control schemes? There's lots of time for tactical micro management.

I was actually working on some lua that gave the impression of a "time slow" a while ago, but it didn't get very far, mainly because of issues with reloadtimes and projectile speeds.

If anyone wants to look at it, the gadget is in the CA SVN under "unit_timeslow.lua"
The unit "armkamslow" has it applied to its weapon.

This looks so great. I like a well done puzzle game, especially with time travel, and then they took it and combined it with RTS

SwiftSpear wrote:That's the one thing I kind of wondered about. You've got a game where you can slow time to crawling bullettime speeds... why bother with weird strategic control schemes? There's lots of time for tactical micro management.

Why bother with micro when you can correct your macro strategy and completely obliterate the other guys micro with a perfect counter unit?

SwiftSpear wrote:That's the one thing I kind of wondered about. You've got a game where you can slow time to crawling bullettime speeds... why bother with weird strategic control schemes? There's lots of time for tactical micro management.

Because each order you give in the past cost chrono energy. The less clicks, the less chrono energy spent.

Teutooni wrote:Why bother with micro when you can correct your macro strategy and completely obliterate the other guys micro with a perfect counter unit?

er, because he'll go back in time and send in the counter counter unit

And eventually you/they may be able to win before the time wave of your counter-counter-counter-counter units actions catch up to the present.

Sounds like the "time wave" mechanic is the kicker here, it's what makes the game work.

I guess it's basically divided into 2 minute segments of time, each of which is a discrete timeline unto itself. You can use chrono-energy to play in any time segment you care to, but you use more energy to play in earlier time segments. The back and front edges of each timeline move at a constant rate, and the back edge carries the changes from its time segment along with it. If the changes affect things that are currently in a past time segment (i.e. you build units, send them to the past, enemy kills those units in the present)... I'm not quite sure what happens, but that's a technicality.

I think I can wrap my head around that.

You'll have to make sure that you are equipped to fight at the present level in all time segments - to put it in TA terms, once T2 comes around, you'll need to send back a constructor to the earliest possible time segment and start building pop-up turrets, which will be carried along with the back edge of the segment to the future segments.

Scouting will be important - not only finding where your opponent is weak, but when - you'll want to know when your opponent is sending units from one time segment to another so you can attack where his units were and defend where they are.

It's like a RTS with a 3rd dimension.

Looking forward to this!

Yeah, that seems to be a reasonable way to rationalise it, Felix. Its almost like you're fighting simulataneous battles on different planets, and each of the planets can reinforce the other; though some planets can send units immediately via teleport (future->past), and some planets have to send it by slow transpor that takes time (past->future)

I wonder what happens if you stack up an army, go to past time and send that army to present time, where it should also exist. Do you get double army?

Anyway, it's hard to grasp the implications of time travel mechanic without specific knowledge of the limitations. I wish they had open beta.

Teutooni wrote:I wonder what happens if you stack up an army, go to past time and send that army to present time, where it should also exist. Do you get double army?

Nah. If you send an army present -> past -> present, it never exists in more than two place/times at once.

What you're looking for is this:
1) Have an army idle around for 3 minutes.
2) Send the army to 3 minutes ago.
3) Send that army + its version from 3 minutes ago back to present.
4) Send that combined army back to 3 minutes ago...

I guess the amount of chrono-teleports you can do is limited by your chrono-energy, or else HOLY EXPONENTIAL ARMIES BATMAN!

But yeah, they mentioned double armies in the FAQ. Apparently if the "parent" unit takes damage, its clone also takes damage when the time waves from the parent's damage hit it. Wasn't quite clear what happens when the "parent" unit takes damage in the future, though...

I have to assume that resource stockpiles and expenditures are universal, because having to manage your metal in the present, your metal 2 minutes ago, your metal 5 minutes ago etc. seems to be a bit of a hassle/mindfuck.

It'd probably be best if they used some non-quantifiable resource for operation.

How do they prevent Time cloning? Sending the same Mechcopy so often through the time gate, he becomes a OneMan Army?

They don't. However, if one copy loses hp, all the ones that descend from it lose that hp to. If the original unit dies, the armies dies.

It also would cost a lot of chrono energy to create such an army, as sending units through time is expensive.

One thing I think they failed to explain is what happens when a time wave hits a point where you sent units back.

Resources are definitely bound to timespace, watch the video again.

Chrono Energy is definitely not bound to time, and that's the currency that's needed to pay for time travel or orders in the past.

And if the sent-back unit does not exist in the new timewave, it won't get sent back, thus creating a new timewave starting from where it got sent. I think.

Boirunner wrote:thus creating a new timewave ... I think.

Yeah, something probably maybe. More videos!

Boirunner wrote:Chrono Energy

Clearly, but I was talking about base resources, in reply to

Felix the Cat wrote:I have to assume that resource stockpiles and expenditures are universal, because having to manage your metal in the present, your metal 2 minutes ago, your metal 5 minutes ago etc. seems to be a bit of a hassle/mindfuck.

and the video clearly mentioned going forward in time for resources and sending back, didn't it?

Sorry, I thought you were replying to

Boirunner wrote:It also would cost a lot of chrono energy to create such an army, as sending units through time is expensive.

Anyways,

lurker wrote:More videos!

did you check this shit out yet?

edit: Oh and yeah, they did mention sending resources around in time in the vid. I forgot.

edit2: I'm not sure I understand what would be special about the situation you were wondering about. I think the system with the timewaves is pretty straightforward.