USA Strategy Center can be located by pressing spacebar when strategy is set

[OccultGuy]

I couldn't find a similar issue and think its worth a discussion

Description

The map event announcing the strategy can be jumped to by pressing spacebar to reveals its location. Usually a beacon is placed to remember its position on the map.

Looking at Generals vanilla, the Strategy Center (Strat) used to reveal itself by a VisionObject which reveals the map like a superweapon does. In Zero Hour this VisionObject is commented out/removed. This change seems to be indended.

Now, I find issues with the current behavior, as it is slightly based on luck - you could have another map event override the Strat's one, meaning you miss out on knowing the position. It also gives an unfair advantage to those knowing about it.

Option 1 - remove the map event

This would mean, that it is no longer possible to use the spacebar to jump to it. From my tests the event is probably based on the ENUM or the BattlePlanUpdate, as removing the entries for audio and messages does not prevent the map event. The original intend was to no longer reveal the position of the Strat, as indicated by the removal of the VisionObject.

Pro:

• It would encourage scouting
• USA players would not necessarily have to expect to rebuild their Strat every 4/5 minutes, as it dies to A10, Artillery, SW, etc. pinpointed to its position
• You don't need to use beacons for remembering where your opponents Strat is
• No longer need to pay attention to the announcement of strategies, aside from remembering which one it was

Con:

• It buffs USA, ever so slightly
• Scouting is hard

Option 2 - reveal the Strat permanently

Similar as it was in vanilla Generals, or just ShroudRevealToAllRange = 1, so its always visible. Testing shows, even with ShroudRevealToAllRange set to 1, anything really close to the Strat gets revealed too.

Pro:

• You don't need to use beacons for remembering where your opponents Strat is
• It nerfs USA, ever so slightly

Con:

• Strat is always attackable, even without forcefire
• Strat health is always visible
• Opponents always sees which strategy is set

Option 3 - leave as is

Pro:

• No need to do anything

Con:

• You have to be quick about placing the beacon if you want to mark your opponents Strat
• Interrupts whatever you were currently doing to place the beacon
• Casual players will accuse you of map hacking

Thoughts

From all pros and cons I think the beacon thing is an important aspect. You can only place a limited amout on beacons and might want to use them for different things, or you have more opponents than beacons available.

I lean slightly more in the direction of removing the map event, as it feels more like the intention of the ZH Devs.

I could also live comfortably with the Strat being always revealed, as it has very minor downsides.

Please don't call this a skill issue. The behavior is obscure enough, that the only way to learn it, is to be taught or stumble on it on accident, plus there is a uncontrollable luck factor to it.