Am I the Only One Annoyed by the Fact the We are Pretty Much Forced to Play on the Cloth Map?

from Elemental Forums

It may not look like a priority, but at the end of the day I tend to realize that I have played 90% of the time on the cloth map, and I have missed out most of the graphics. In fact, while I don't 'have to do that, I instinctively switch to the cloth map because units are faster when movin on it, and more important, because the position of the terrain elements and the notable locations can be more easily understood.

Mereover certan woods to me are unrecognizable form high grass when I play on the 3D map (those woods made of spoiled trees), which tends to slow down my game (and having an even slower movement in EWOM can be really tragic).

I wish I had some incentive to play on the 3D map which is more beautiful, but unis move so slowly on it! Maybe in FE units will move faster, or more stuff will happen during a turn so that we won't have to keep clicking the end of turn button and keep watching units move in a desert, and that will partially solve the problem (?)

Anyone else prefer moving on a 3D map instead? Maybe there are some visual settings I can change? Any ideas?

 

10,976 views 24 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Hm. I believe the Total War series of games solves this problem quite simply; hit your spacebar while your unit is in motion to increase movement speed by somewhere around 3x. Nifty solution in my opinion. Hit spacebar, receive victory over slow movement in 3D campaign mode.

 

I also tend to play in the cloth map of the game, as the information that is relevant to ruling an empire is more readily available. However, we differ in the opinion of it being an issue. It just makes more sense to me, tactically, to have a superior form of information on the.. well.. tactical screen of the game. The cloth map provides a large overview of the geography and political atmosphere at a glance, which I believe was the intended function, whereas the 3D part of the game was to dazzle us with facinating colors and architecture, more or less. Though if that wasn't how Stardock intended it, it is how I have played it. But anyway, I agree with the OP, a way to increase the speed of which the units move on the campaign map would be nice. It also wouldn't hurt to have an option to do the same while in combat.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Speeding up units would certainly help, but as I said the problem is also that certain objects are hardly recognizeble on the 3D map.

In any case, while it may not be considered an issue, it would certaily help the game if all the eye candies could be experienced at all times.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

I think we should have a slider that determines unit movement speed. What say you?

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 3
I think we should have a slider that determines unit movement speed. What say you?

Yep. That option should mitigate player concerns that I've read on the forums.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't play on the cloth map at all. Not ever.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 3
I think we should have a slider that determines unit movement speed. What say you?

I think this is a great idea. Perhaps if we could specify, in seconds, how long it should take strategic/tactical unit movements. If the player set the value to 2.0 seconds, then the currently moving object would have 2 seconds (regardless of actual distance being covered) to move to their destination. If you wanted to get really fancy, you could ease the unit movement speed in and out so that they actually accelerate rather than instantly speed off (which has been bugging me visually for a while now).

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

i play 80% of the game on cloth map

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

I would play 100% on the cloth map if it would tell me where the beaches are, the unit icons would show me troop strenght, cities would have their small info bar on it too.

So... sometimes I'm forced to see the regular map. :/

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 3
I think we should have a slider that determines unit movement speed. What say you?

 

Sounds like a great solution, provided it doesn't take too much time/effort.

 

My issue with the main map is that somtimes goodie crates get hidden behind mountains and you need to go to cloth map to see them.

I'd like a hotkey to go straight to cloth map.

 

 

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

My issue with the main map is that somtimes goodie crates get hidden behind mountains and you need to go to cloth map to see them.

Or any special ressource or quest etc. to see what and where they are. I have a hard time discerning lots of things on the normal map, imo certain stuff is just too similar to other things for me to easily see what is what.

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

There is already a check-box on the options screen called "enable quick move" that makes units move faster on the main map.  Still need a slider too ??

BTW, I could really, REALLY use a similar option for speeding up animations & movement in tactical combat.  Or, the total-war style space-bar works find.

But I too play in cloth-map only mode, partly because switching between modes is so slow on my machine.  Also, agree with those who find some things hard to see on the main map.  Also, cloth-only reduces memory use and for a long time it helped me play max-sized maps longer before crashing, although I think/hope that is no longer a factor.

And agree with reply #8 re beaches.  Please make them show on cloth-map somehow.

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

I would play 100% on the cloth map if it would tell me where the beaches are, the unit icons would show me troop strenght, cities would have their small info bar on it too.

So... sometimes I'm forced to see the regular map. :/

Beaches look slightly different, since they are straight lines. instead on the cloth map it is completely impossible to see certain (i think very tall)  mountains because they don't appear AT ALL on it!!

Reply #13 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 3
I think we should have a slider that determines unit movement speed. What say you?

Elven legacy has a slider like that, but they also added the option to double click on destination to skip the animation altogether. When you have lots of units to move that can be very nice.

But I would also make sure that the 3D map is a nice place to be in order to understand the surroundings.

 

Reply #14 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Alstein, reply 9
... I'd like a hotkey to go straight to cloth map.

There is one at the end of the zoom/angle hotkeys (4 or 5?). Would be better if there were a matched set of 'standard zoom/angles' on both the cloth map and down in the 3D muck.

(Yes, I'm one of those largest-map folks who thinks the 3D layer is for occasional eye candy breaks, not for really playing the game.)

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

Slider sounds good if it is possible to put in.

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

I use the cloth map only to see the whole area.  After playing in the 3D world, the cloth map seems.....well, kinda flat and bland.  Have you tried checking the Enable Quick Move box?  Moves you faster on the 3D map.

Reply #17 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting dowdyhoody, reply 16
I use the cloth map only to see the whole area.  After playing in the 3D world, the cloth map seems.....well, kinda flat and bland.  Have you tried checking the Enable Quick Move box?  Moves you faster on the 3D map.

I just tried 'enable quick move' (which I didn't see before you mentioned it, so thanks), it works but I find it distracting: units just telepor... ehm... 'jump' to their destination. I would rather see that as the effect of double clicking on the destination (like in the quite succesful wargame "Elven Legacy"). Removing a setting from the main menu would't hurt either (as much as I like options, the possibility of keeping an option and simplify the menu should be considered).

Reply #18 from Elemental Forums Top

There is a fast movement option , though I don't like my units warping to their desitination

Reply #19 from Elemental Forums Top
Slider for determining how fate the units "appear' to move: yes. Yes. yes. BTW, I am happy with the cloth map / detail map arrangement. However, a few things that appear on the tactical map do not have an icon on the cloth map. Have cliffs /breaches been fixed to show on cloth map? Do all goodie (and not so goodie) huts now show on cloth map? I think these are the two items with which most players are concerned.
Reply #20 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting ElanaAhova, reply 19
Slider for determining how fate the units "appear' to move: yes. Yes. yes.
BTW, I am happy with the cloth map / detail map arrangement. However, a few things that appear on the tactical map do not have an icon on the cloth map. Have cliffs /breaches been fixed to show on cloth map? Do all goodie (and not so goodie) huts now show on cloth map? I think these are the two items with which most players are concerned.

I am really starting to think that most people play on the cloth map, which doesn't make much sense considering the work that went into the eye candies... Still it's fine as long as they don't get bored. Personally I am starting to be bored about that same flat look all the time.

Speeding up units is fine , but I would definitely make sure that everything is visible on both the cloth map and the 3D map.

Reply #21 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't suppose that there's a button to switch to-and-from the cloth map on-the-fly yet?

Reply #22 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Luckmann, reply 21
I don't suppose that there's a button to switch to-and-from the cloth map on-the-fly yet?

The suggestion has been around for ages. Hopefully it is on some dusty to-do list still. Seems so simple to retain a camera angle & zoom setting for both the cloth map & 3D. A thing like that could well get more of us cloth-map biased folks to take more eye candy breaks.

Reply #23 from Elemental Forums Top

play on cloth map 100% of the time, for performance issue. But also the technical aspect of the map is clearer on the cloth map. I still miss the beaches and the city summary Icon on the top of the city.

It's a shame there are no combat clothmap.

There are still improvements that could be done to the clothmap.

Reply #24 from Elemental Forums Top

I do play on the cloth map almost all the time, because I can't seem to handle the 3D map that well system-wise.  Late-game, if I were to flatten my view so I was looking at the land sideways, the game would instantly crash.  It happened before.  So yes I am very annoyed...