Suggestion for leveling terraforming skill

I was thinking today: What exactly does raising your terraforming skill give you? Does it just make you lose less energy?

Ok, so anyone here who's ever tried making a expanse of land however large or small completely flat at the exact same elevation know's its a pain in the ass because you can only "level" one tile at a time. What if as our skill increased, we had the ability to "level" more tiles at once? Obviously we'd still have the ability to level just one tile like we do now, but maybe it could move on from a 1x1 area to a 2x2, 3x3, etc as your skill rises. Obviously, this would have to be scaled correctly as to not make it too easy or too difficult.

What do you guys think?

I like it, But I think I remember reading that as you skill up that it will take less time to do the action, With less energy per action.

travdoty wrote:

Quote:

---

What do you guys think?

---

Sound problematic, what if I don't want to level such a large piece of land? Also, leveling is calculated by the slope. There would be many more slopes to alter at one given time, it just seems like way too much.

aliksteel wrote:

Quote:

---

I like it, But I think I remember reading that as you skill up that it will take less time to do the action, With less energy per action.

---

I think you're right, but I don't think it's like that currently. I hope it eventually will be like that. If it already is, then it needs to be more affective.

You level 2½ tile at a time already when levelling. I you level each 2. tile you will raise 1½ tile at a time. Move two tiles down and repeat, it easen up the process a bit.

I'd, however, like to see more terraforming options. Such as making long/short slopes instead of having to make 'stairs'.

My point was that once you "unlocked" leveling larger spots of land, you could choose which one you wanted to do. If you wanted to do some fine tuning, you'd select the one we have now. If you wanted to do larger spots of land, you'd select a larger number. And as for calculating many slopes at once, it already does that to an extent and all they would have to do would increase the area to apply the algorithm to. It wouldn't hog crazy amounts of system resources because it's not like everyone's gonna be leveling all at once =)

travdoty wrote:

Quote:

---

My point was that once you "unlocked" leveling larger spots of land, you could choose which one you wanted to do. If you wanted to do some fine tuning, you'd select the one we have now. If you wanted to do larger spots of land, you'd select a larger number. And as for calculating many slopes at once, it already does that to an extent and all they would have to do would increase the area to apply the algorithm to. It wouldn't hog crazy amounts of system resources because it's not like everyone's gonna be leveling all at once =)

---

But this system will cut the manpower needed to speed up the terraforming process. It's fine the way it is, especially when it comes to balancing. Best to just reduce the energy required and the time to dig.

I personally would rather have a grid that I could see while I have my terraform window open that would grow as I gain skill. this would make it easier to see the level, or lack their of, and would help me while terraforming at night, in the snow. it would also allow me to determine where the tiles are on flatter surfaces without having to use trial an error.

Tybalt wrote:

Quote:

---

I personally would rather have a grid that I could see while I have my terraform window open that would grow as I gain skill. this would make it easier to see the level, or lack their of, and would help me while terraforming at night, in the snow. it would also allow me to determine where the tiles are on flatter surfaces without having to use trial an error.

---

You can already look at the elevation. However, it does still get annoying, we need something more than just numbers. Some sort of grid would be nice...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by VeryWiiTee

You level 2½ tile at a time already when levelling. I you level each 2. tile you will raise 1½ tile at a time. Move two tiles down and repeat, it easen up the process a bit.

I'd, however, like to see more terraforming options. Such as making long/short slopes instead of having to make 'stairs'.

---

You are able to make nice ramps and slopes now.

And for the grid idea. I dont know why you would need that. unless your screen is really dark at night.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by trenixdecease

travdoty wrote:


But this system will cut the manpower needed to speed up the terraforming process. It's fine the way it is, especially when it comes to balancing. Best to just reduce the energy required and the time to dig.

---

I should have specified that I wasn't suggesting being able to level 10x10 spots of land, that'd simply just be way to much. Maybe every 10 points in terraforming would give you the option to level half a tile more? You'd have a slider showing you your available leveling sizes and be able to switch between them before you hit the button.