Fog of War

[Dizzi]

FoW covers the map. Creatures, Rooms, Tiles and Traps let you see in the FoW with their sight range. Sight lingers when no longer in play.
We are not talking about the thick black FoW, the grey one that shows last known information in that location.


Currently, Sight of Evil has limited use. When map is revealed, you do not need to use it.

Also, you can view the enemy once you've scouted his base.
Example, you can see any boulder traps they place what units they have and what level they are.

[Mothrayas]

I'd say yes, but only for areas that aren't directly connected to your dungeon, or behind enemy doors.

[Dizzi]

Yea, tiles contribute to visibility range making FoW never to grow there.

[Mothrayas]

No, I meant that even if, for example, you just have a dungeon in a corner connected to a water spiral going all the way across a 200x200 map, there'd still be full visibility (i.e. no FoW), regardless of the are being over 200 tiles away. Just, if it's accessible, it's visible, no FoW at all.

Think of it like spawning a Fly at any point of the map. If it can reach the dungeon from there (excluding going through enemy doors), no FoW. Otherwise, if the fly cannot reach the dungeon, there is FoW.

[Airandius]

I think a system like that of Warcraft 3 would work excellent. (With a few minor adjustments.)
Because I'm not expecting you all to have the game let me explain:

Basically, there is fog of war. It's as if a blanket is placed on a certain area. You will be able to see what there was at the point that you were there but you can't see what happens.

In other words: you send a monster to your enemy. The dark shroud (pure blackness, only gold and gems will have their initial location shown) will disappear. You can now see what happened to all the rock and gold. You see rooms, monsters and any changes that are being made.
After a while (10 seconds or something) fog of war will appear. You will see the rooms in the state that they were when your monster passed. But when gold is mined, walls are torn down and rooms are placed or removed. You wont see it. Nor will you see monsters. You'll have to use the eye spell or move your monsters there.

Fog of war will not appear near your dungeon tiles and monsters.

[dotted]

I would suggest we dont have a dark shroud, as in showing all the terrain from the start, much like starcraft 2.

I don't think requiring people to study a map for 6 months before being able to play it properly is a good idea.

[Dizzi]

Dotted is right.

@Mothrayas: Oh, I dunno if that's good. But pretty much everything is visible then? The places I wouldnt be able to get to is the places I never been to before. I don't really understand what you're saying though =/.

[Airandius]

Urg let me into the conversation.

Here is a video of what I mean. The entire game has FoW and no shroud (which we should have just like in DK1).



This is how many games do it, and they do it for a reason. It's the best for competitive. Having huge area's shown just because they are connected makes on sense.
You wont have to explore at all as soon as you dig into a cave.

When there are no units or buildings, you wont be able to see what is going on. But you can still see the terrain from when you were there the last time.
Makes perfect sense and is excellent for both campaigns and competitive multiplayer.
In WFTO a unit or any tile you have claimed will remove the FoG in the area around it.

[Dizzi]

Yea, that's how it should be. So, you might see gold rocks you want to get your hands on but when you get there you realise it's all been dug up because it doesnt get updated. The visibility should linger longer than RTS like these imo.

[Metal Gear Rex]

I think the poll is pretty worthless since it isn't very clear if we're saying Yes to Fog of War, or saying Yes to this new suggestion you mention at the bottom of the first post. So we can't tell if they're saying Yes to Fog of War in general or if they're talking about the new suggestion.

Currently, Sight of Evil has limited use. When map is revealed, you do not need to use it.
Also, you can view the enemy once you've scouted his base.
Example, you can see any boulder traps they place what units they have and what level they are.

While I don't think everything we make should be useful 100% of the time, I will say I do like the idea. I disliked how the enemy base was viewable throughout the whole time once it was explored. Here's my idea/thoughts (and taken some ideas from the other posts )

• In the beginning of the game, all land connected to the Dungeon Heart will be revealed automatically. This is how it was in DK1 and I kinda like the idea, but not neccessary
• Once we explore land, it will remained to be explored IF it is connected to my dungeon directly without, say, an enemy Door blocking it or a wall or something.
• If there is a door or something blocking it, the fog of war will regenerate. We'll still be able to see what WAS there, but only the area layout. We can't see any Creatures, Traps, etc and the area won't be updated until the Player re-explores it. I guess we could call this the Shroud or something. I dunno.
• Enemy Land will automatically have Shroud no matter what. It doesn't matter if it is connected to the Player's Land or if it has a door blocking it off or whatever.
• Sight of Evil will show what is at a certain location, but won't actually update the area. So if you last saw a Lair there, and the enemy sold it to build a Hatchery, then when you use Sight of Evil, you'll see the Hatchery. Once Sight of Evil vanishes, however, you'll see the Lair again. (Otherwise, Sight of Evil would be really abused if it updated the area)

One other thing we should take into consideration is sounds. When veiwing the map with Fog of War, I think we should still be able to hear sounds of what's going on as in DK1. That was a good idea and also allows Players to be more cautious if that's how they play. Otherwise, Players are pretty much forced to mine through areas blindly.