Compound Terrain Effects

[Eric McDonald <mcdonald at phy dot cmich dot edu>]

Hello,

  Currently, unit visibility is determined by several factors in 
Xconq. One of these factors is the terrain of the cell upon which 
the unit is positioned. However, this factor is limited only to 
the primary terrain of the cell, and does not take into account 
connectors (such as roads) or coatings (such as snow). The same 
limitation is also true regarding a unit's attack and defense 
advantages. After reviewing the code, I think it would be fairly 
simple to also factor in the effects that connectors, coatings, 
etc... could have on visibility and ability to attack/defend.
  As an example, suppose that a unit is sitting on a forest cell 
that has a road running through it. Now, if the unit is on the 
road, it should be more vulnerable than if it is just in forest. 
Under my proposal, a game designer could say that the unit has a 
25% chance of being seen in forest, but a 200% chance of being 
seen on road, and the aggregate effect would be 25% * 200% = 50% 
chance of being seen on a forest road.
  Another example would be a unit affected by a sandstorm 
coating in a desert environment.

  As I previously stated, I think the proposed changes would be 
simple and straightforward. They primarily involve iterating 
through subterrains associated with cells, and making sure that 
tables such as visibility can have values greater than 100%. (Of 
course, if the final calculated chance is >100%, then it just 
means that being seen is guaranteed.)

  So, my questions are:
  (1) Are any gamers interested in playing game modules with  
these compound effects?
  (2) Are any game designers interested in using them?
  (3) Is it too late to add a "semi-feature" to Xconq as the 
release is coming up?

  Comments welcome.

  Thanks,
   Eric