Although the addition of a range indicator wouldn't take anything away from the game other than the use of estimation, it shouldn't be added for two reasons.

It doesn't really add much. Even if it is added, and the newbs can see how far a marine, hydra, tank etc. can shoot, once they know the range estimation, they would just ignore the circle, and it would occasionally get in the way of seeing something if it sticks out.

Also, say you select twelve dragoons. All of a sudden you have twelve circles, and all of the intersections would make it a tad cluttered. And if the circles weren't added in, it would still be easy enough to tell where you should be to hit. The only unit that would be slightly hard would be the siege tank, only because it's range is farther than its vision, so you would need to extend its vision to know its true range.

Klockan3

Sweden2866 Posts

September 30 2007 08:53 GMT

#43

Well, i think that most here dont know how this is handled in most games.

Normally you have circles around the ghost images of turrets you place or other imobile weapons to show the area were it can shoot. In most games(Asie from TA/Supcom) you dont see any area around mobile units or turrets unless you select the turrets or have a ghost image of a turret selected.

This doesnt clutter the system, this is easy to implement, this is very intuitive so tere is really no drawbacks to it. Btw, you dont see enemy turrets range usually, to see it you will need toselect a worker, select a turret and hover it over th enemy turret since they have equal range you can easily determine their range.

And from the videos weve seen this is th system blizzard uses.

minus_human

4784 Posts

September 30 2007 09:50 GMT

#44

It could work for some lowly newbies, which is good, and I don't think it will affect very good players at all.

The best use, would be imo, when the game commentator uses it in different occasion during a match. (ie two passing workers, the commentator would know if they saw each other, assaulting a bunker with goons (or some equivalent of this) etc.

flabortaster

Philippines99 Posts

September 30 2007 11:25 GMT

#45

works best on static units really...

vicml21

Canada165 Posts

September 30 2007 15:15 GMT

#46

I say no, just because one of the greatest things you see (especially in TvT) is how units are set up sometimes to JUST outside your range, and within theirs. A good example is siege tanks. Just watching the actual starcraft replays of XellOs games from BlizzCon makes me admire how pro some of these people are, having siege tanks perfectly set up to the perfect limit without range indicators.

If everyone were able to do this without having to have been familiar with the game, might take away from the pro scene, IMO, and I wouldnt end up admiring progamers for these small things like how perfectly units are set up to take advantage of their range, without the use of indicators.

Q(-_-Q)

United States348 Posts

September 30 2007 15:18 GMT

#47

On September 30 2007 18:50 minus_human wrote:
It could work for some lowly newbies, which is good, and I don't think it will affect very good players at all.

The best use, would be imo, when the game commentator uses it in different occasion during a match. (ie two passing workers, the commentator would know if they saw each other, assaulting a bunker with goons (or some equivalent of this) etc.

ya, i like the idea of giving obs range vision

Fen

Australia1848 Posts

September 30 2007 15:18 GMT

#48

For buildings, yeah sure. It allows weaker players to accurately place their defenses. Stronger players arent going to need the circles and the advantage that it gives to your op is soo insignificant that it shouldnt effect the outcome of who wins. For units it becomes a little different and I think it should be left only for static defenses

lugggy

450 Posts

September 30 2007 15:23 GMT

#49

The game needs to require more skill not less. We already know there are going to be lots of areas where less skill is required. So I say with range finding we take the opportunity to add some skill to the game of SC2.

And we know everyone loves sniping. Snipers have to judge the distance to the enemy and time their shot with any movements such as breathing and heartbeat, as well as compensate for wind. I think we should make players have to meet the same standards when firing upon the enemies. They should have to individually order each shot, targeting where they think their unit should aim, but wind (which will vary) and breathing monitors will display in the upper left corner, and the shot will fall so they will need to aim a little past the enemy and to the left or right as wind requires, and time it with the heartbeat and breathing accordingly. This would bring some skill back to SC2.

toothyp1cks

Australia14 Posts

October 12 2007 14:00 GMT

#50

I don't have an opinion. I will take what Blizzard gives me and thank them for their work. If you are perfect in every way you can crticize

ocoini

648 Posts

October 12 2007 14:35 GMT

#51

I was thinking about this a while ago aswell, range indicator, it would be a cool graphic thing. But I would much rather have it as something that goes into the "feeling skill" pool

Feel free to add it in the singleplayer/observer mode though.. i love single player

fight_or_flight

United States3988 Posts

October 12 2007 15:00 GMT

#52

I think its a good idea....it will only make micro that much more fast and furious.

alffla

Hong Kong20321 Posts

October 12 2007 15:24 GMT

#53

On October 01 2007 00:23 lugggy wrote:
The game needs to require more skill not less. We already know there are going to be lots of areas where less skill is required. So I say with range finding we take the opportunity to add some skill to the game of SC2.

And we know everyone loves sniping. Snipers have to judge the distance to the enemy and time their shot with any movements such as breathing and heartbeat, as well as compensate for wind. I think we should make players have to meet the same standards when firing upon the enemies. They should have to individually order each shot, targeting where they think their unit should aim, but wind (which will vary) and breathing monitors will display in the upper left corner, and the shot will fall so they will need to aim a little past the enemy and to the left or right as wind requires, and time it with the heartbeat and breathing accordingly. This would bring some skill back to SC2.

-_-

i'm so sick of people giving examples that are soooo over the top to try and support their point

TheOvermind77

United States923 Posts

October 12 2007 15:33 GMT

#54

I think it is a good idea and would, when made toggleable, make for a nice way to see how your armies are faring in a battle and where units can be maneuvered to maximize their potential.