Please improve the rotation system.

[ZachTheInsaneOne]

I have spent a great deal of time in this game simply trying to get parts in the correct orientation when building. On large parts, I will often spend 2+ minutes spamming the rotate button before being able to place that part where I want it, just to then move on to the next part and spend another few minutes trying to get that one in the correct orientation as well.

There is a very simple solution to this. Take the two keys you can use to cycle through orientations and give them two different functions:

Key 1: Open a rotation sphere that appears around the part, allowing you to click the direction you want the part to rotate. Once it has been rotated, release the key and it will remain in that orientation relative to the tech you are working on.

Key 2: Pressing this key will cycle through the applicable connection points on the side of the part you are trying to connect, starting from front/top left and moving towards back/bottom right. This should not rotate the part in any way, only selecting from connection points on the side of the part that is touching the connection point you have selected on your tech.

This would make building much easier to deal with, take less time and be less annoying. The current rotation system is exactly why I haven't built any new techs in well over a month despite still playing the game regularly. I know you guys are probably working on other things like new corporations or new parts or whatever, but please take a moment to go back and fix this giant glaring issue that has been hindering the building system since release.

[Dudemaster698]

I've got an Idea For a rotation system

There's a Separate Button for Rotation. when you Click on it, It shows a Rotation Axis, And
you can Drag Each Individual Axis to Rotate The block You've Selected.

But Please. Make Rotating Simple, Game.

[ZachTheInsaneOne]

Originally posted by dudemaster:

I've got an Idea For a rotation system

There's a Separate Button for Rotation. when you Click on it, It shows a Rotation Axis, And
you can Drag Each Individual Axis to Rotate The block You've Selected.

But Please. Make Rotating Simple, Game.

Yes, that's... Exactly what I just posted. But I went into more detail.

[wolff_laarcen]

100% agree, the rotation system is absolutely dire and needs a complete overhaul.

Blocks will rotate in random directions, ignore attachment points, refuse to move in the z axis, and generally be difficult to place. There should be 6 rotation keys: rotate clockwise and counterclockwise, on each axis. Why is it so unnecessarily complicated and convoluted?

The current block rotation mechanics make building an infuriating exercise in frustration when it should be fun. There's nothing quite like getting a great idea for a build then spamming rotate for so long that you forget what you were trying to do.

[Vertu]

Currently, most blocks actually have a co-operative biased rotation. For example, whenever you go to place a slope, if you have it connect to one side, and then to another just by moving your mouse, it will then orientate the slope block to have its hypotenuse face outwards from the corner you interacted with. If that's not enough, if you rotate a block that is not attached to anything (basically dragging a block away from the tech and start rotating it), it will always rotate clockwise and after it makes a full 360 rotation, it will then rotate to another axis and rotate clockwise again for every key input. And when you do this, the game actually saves the orientation of the block when you did that. After the game loads the connection points of the tech, it will orientate the block back into the orientation you had it in when rotating it off the tech!
You can combine the biased system with the off-tech system to basically rotate a block a certain direction while off the tech and then use the biased rotation system to rotate it to the correct axis.

So if you rotate a HE 4 slope to face north while off-tech and then go to place it onto your tech, the game will always spawn the slope facing north after the connection points are loaded when snapping onto the tech's grid (not placing onto the tech itself though).

If you have a corner part, the biased system would always orientate the part to go along with the nearby slopes. You don't even have to rotate it at any time.

I find the rotation system to be super simple and handy. The rotation system with displayed axi such as From the Depths is more complex and interactive.

Additionally, if you where to rotate blocks using the opposite key so it rotates counter clockwise, everything I said before will apply.

All blocks have a set sequence of orientations. If you consistently rotate it clockwise you basically go down the sequence list. If you rotate it counter clockwise, you suddenly start from the last orientation and move up the sequence. So you can actually memorize how many times you have to rotate a block to get a specific orientation, and if you over-shoot, you can press the counter clockwise key to go back.

I have no idea if this applies out side of PC but I am confidant it does.
If the rotation system is giving you a hard time, maybe try co-operating with it instead of assuming it randomly rotates the block in an undetermined orientation.
I have 1,800+ hours and its all mussel and conscious memory and I find the system to be super co-operative and simple.

Also please do not arm the missile silos at me for saying all of this. I have said what is fact in an unbiased matter over my large experience of playing TT.

[ZachTheInsaneOne]

Originally posted by Vertu:

Currently, most blocks actually have a co-operative biased rotation. For example, whenever you go to place a slope, if you have it connect to one side, and then to another just by moving your mouse, it will then orientate the slope block to have its hypotenuse face outwards from the corner you interacted with. If that's not enough, if you rotate a block that is not attached to anything (basically dragging a block away from the tech and start rotating it), it will always rotate clockwise and after it makes a full 360 rotation, it will then rotate to another axis and rotate clockwise again for every key input. And when you do this, the game actually saves the orientation of the block when you did that. After the game loads the connection points of the tech, it will orientate the block back into the orientation you had it in when rotating it off the tech!
You can combine the biased system with the off-tech system to basically rotate a block a certain direction while off the tech and then use the biased rotation system to rotate it to the correct axis.

So if you rotate a HE 4 slope to face north while off-tech and then go to place it onto your tech, the game will always spawn the slope facing north after the connection points are loaded when snapping onto the tech's grid (not placing onto the tech itself though).

If you have a corner part, the biased system would always orientate the part to go along with the nearby slopes. You don't even have to rotate it at any time.

I find the rotation system to be super simple and handy. The rotation system with displayed axi such as From the Depths is more complex and interactive.

Additionally, if you where to rotate blocks using the opposite key so it rotates counter clockwise, everything I said before will apply.

All blocks have a set sequence of orientations. If you consistently rotate it clockwise you basically go down the sequence list. If you rotate it counter clockwise, you suddenly start from the last orientation and move up the sequence. So you can actually memorize how many times you have to rotate a block to get a specific orientation, and if you over-shoot, you can press the counter clockwise key to go back.

I have no idea if this applies out side of PC but I am confidant it does.
If the rotation system is giving you a hard time, maybe try co-operating with it instead of assuming it randomly rotates the block in an undetermined orientation.
I have 1,800+ hours and its all mussel and conscious memory and I find the system to be super co-operative and simple.

Also please do not arm the missile silos at me for saying all of this. I have said what is fact in an unbiased matter over my large experience of playing TT.

I appreciate the information, although there are some inconsistencies with this. I will often watch blocks rotate in completely random directions (i.e. Component Factories rotating from one corner to a completely opposite corner and suddenly being turned on their side) although there does seem to be a set "order" of orientations, as you said pressing the other key does return it to the previous orientation, there are some things that clearly don't obey the rules and make building even more difficult than it already is.

I agree the rotation system is much simpler than in other games, but simple is not always the best. Forgive me when I say that your time playing the game has probably made you more used to how things are, and you might only find it easy because you've been using it for so long. I personally have played many other similar games to TerraTech, as opposed to spending my time exclusively in this one game, so I find the rotation system quite slow and frustrating to use.

[ZachTheInsaneOne]

Originally posted by wolff_laarcen:

100% agree, the rotation system is absolutely dire and needs a complete overhaul.

Blocks will rotate in random directions, ignore attachment points, refuse to move in the z axis, and generally be difficult to place. There should be 6 rotation keys: rotate clockwise and counterclockwise, on each axis. Why is it so unnecessarily complicated and convoluted?

The current block rotation mechanics make building an infuriating exercise in frustration when it should be fun. There's nothing quite like getting a great idea for a build then spamming rotate for so long that you forget what you were trying to do.

I agree with everything you said, but having 6 different keys for rotation. This game is also on consoles (which I do not play on) and has so many keys wrapped up in doing other things that I believe a simple sphere around the object showing direction of rotation would be best. It's easier to understand, and requires only one key and a mouse click to use.

[Vertu]

I do understand that yes I have gotten used to it, also thank you for not unloading your missile silos at me, but what I am trying to say is the system is very flexible to you. Yes if you had 100% control over rotation it probably would be easier but honestly when I build, I rarely even change Z-axis and stick to a single plane. The bias system is what really does the job for me but again, full 3-axis control over a block would most certainly help when building off multiple planes.

For now, maybe try to integrate the information I gave so you have a better building experience until the devs make some changes. Some blocks even have a "buggy" bias system, mainly newer blocks which the bias system seems to either not affect or not work effectively with. For all I know, the bias system could be less of a conditional system and more of a "if placed in a corner between two attachments, set (to orientation)".

[wolff_laarcen]

Originally posted by Vertu:

Currently, most blocks actually have a co-operative biased rotation. For example, whenever you go to place a slope, if you have it connect to one side, and then to another just by moving your mouse, it will then orientate the slope block to have its hypotenuse face outwards from the corner you interacted with. If that's not enough, if you rotate a block that is not attached to anything (basically dragging a block away from the tech and start rotating it), it will always rotate clockwise and after it makes a full 360 rotation, it will then rotate to another axis and rotate clockwise again for every key input. And when you do this, the game actually saves the orientation of the block when you did that. After the game loads the connection points of the tech, it will orientate the block back into the orientation you had it in when rotating it off the tech!
You can combine the biased system with the off-tech system to basically rotate a block a certain direction while off the tech and then use the biased rotation system to rotate it to the correct axis.

So if you rotate a HE 4 slope to face north while off-tech and then go to place it onto your tech, the game will always spawn the slope facing north after the connection points are loaded when snapping onto the tech's grid (not placing onto the tech itself though).

If you have a corner part, the biased system would always orientate the part to go along with the nearby slopes. You don't even have to rotate it at any time.

I find the rotation system to be super simple and handy. The rotation system with displayed axi such as From the Depths is more complex and interactive.

Additionally, if you where to rotate blocks using the opposite key so it rotates counter clockwise, everything I said before will apply.

All blocks have a set sequence of orientations. If you consistently rotate it clockwise you basically go down the sequence list. If you rotate it counter clockwise, you suddenly start from the last orientation and move up the sequence. So you can actually memorize how many times you have to rotate a block to get a specific orientation, and if you over-shoot, you can press the counter clockwise key to go back.

I have no idea if this applies out side of PC but I am confidant it does.
If the rotation system is giving you a hard time, maybe try co-operating with it instead of assuming it randomly rotates the block in an undetermined orientation.
I have 1,800+ hours and its all mussel and conscious memory and I find the system to be super co-operative and simple.

Also please do not arm the missile silos at me for saying all of this. I have said what is fact in an unbiased matter over my large experience of playing TT.

IMO the fact that rotating a block in a building game requires this lengthy of an explanation really just drives the point of unnecessary complexity home. Yes, blocks behave differently based on adjacent connection points. Yes, blocks follow a sequence of rotational positions. Why though? It should be more simple and accessible; The player shouldn't have to memorize 100 rules of rotation and/or set up scaffolds to get a BMB to face the other way.

[ZT Xperimentor]

I know it's been mentioned over a year ago, but glad this has been brought up again.

[Richard Dastardly]

Two keys per axis, easiest solution I think.

[ZachTheInsaneOne]

Originally posted by Richard Dastardly:

Two keys per axis, easiest solution I think.

I would agree but you must also remember this game is on consoles, where there are not that many buttons. Hence the rotation bubble method. Although, perhaps consoles could have a designated rotation mode where it would change preexisting buttons to perform the different rotations instead. It may be hard to remember which buttons rotate which axis, which is another point in favor of the rotation bubble, but it would give more direct control over how you rotate your parts.