Using scouts and LOS vs. ZOC

from Elemental Forums

In my play, I have found that scouts are extremely useful, not just for scouting, but to station them so they keep an eye on my borders. Getting a couple of extra turns of warning time to try to get troops (if avaiable) to help defend against a rampaging spider army is golden. But, a possibile game mechanic occurs to me:

In addition to the warning for hostile creatures in my ZOC, I think that there should be a separate warning for seeing moving hostiles that are outside my ZOC but inside my sight radius. Otherwise, I have to manually look over my map every turn to see if any monster spawns have popped up.

Why use scouts for this and not outposts? Well, scouts are mobile. If a monster pops up, I can move the scout out of the way. Can't do that with outposts. Plus, the scout's sight radius is much, much better for a similar amount of resources spent.

13,592 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I think the solution for this is to allow units to "sentry" or "patrol" an area (one being stationary, the other going along a path). They would then give warnings like a city or outpost would.

 

I personally don't want too many warnings and notifications, it bogs down the game. 

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I really would like to be able to see enemymovment, like i can in practically every other game of that kind.

Is there a good reason in FE why i should't be able to, that i didn't get yet? Or is there allready an option to enable it, that i did overlook? If not, are there any plans on adding one?

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Because the AI in this game moves during your turn (while you are moving), and they do it super fast (usually done way before you are). This allows them to make the turn process really quick. If they slow it down to show you, then it would take forever to process a turn.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Hm... I did know they calculate their moves during my turn, but don't they wait with the conduction until i hit next turn? Then it happens in a flinch of an eye, all at once. So, shouldn't it be possible to show those conductions one after another (in my field of view), without the need of waiting with all the big calculations till then? And shouldn't that result in the same fast turnbreaks, just interrupted with the visible movements?

 

For those i would like to spend some extra seconds. It would greatly help keeping the overview in a bigger empire and could actually save time one would otherwise spend searching the borders manually for possible threats and/or checking those warning-pop-ups.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Mind, I am proposing that this warning would only show hostile movement, and would ignore stationary hostiles, so that I don't get warnings all the time of that sleeping river slag until it spawns something or wakes up.

This won't bog the game down. If I end up getting notifications of 20 monsters on the move within my LOS, well, I probably have something significant to worry about anyway. Most of the time this would only be a single roving baddie if any.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

The AI doesn't "wait" for you to hit turn to move. They move as soon as the turn starts, which means while you're reading messages they are probably done. The reason for this is probably due to battles. When AI units fight move and fight, it takes time to calculate the battle and resolution, then whatever else after those battles. Also, if you wait until the player moves (and hit turn), the AI would then need to take into account what you just did during your turn, and have to recalculate things (which means it won't be fast). If they move right away, they only need to consider what you did last turn.

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

I am getting the feeling we start talking past each other, Kalin. (If that's the correct english term.) :grin:

 

So you mean the AI doesn't have owne turns? It does everything in the same as yourself, but before you even notice it, because it had time calculating it in the last turn, while you doing your stuff?

Well, this way or the other, the AI would still have to do calculations to adjust it's next actions to the actions of the player and wait with the conduction till he hits the turn-button. So just showing them still shouldn't be adding more calculations, right?

 

And sorry if it seems i would try to hijack your thread, Andrew. My intensions are good. ;)