Make Transformers be able to rotate smoothly

[Ultroman]

Placing grid-only things like Transformers is extremely annoying. Why? Why can't we just be able to rotate them as we please? Why stick to a grid? Is it really that important? It seems like a needless hassle, impeding optimal placement for no benefit.
EDIT: Apparently, this only pertains to moving existing Transformers within a blueprint. That just makes it even more weird that there isn't a toggle to override whatever grid it currently forces me to adhere to, unless I delete the Transformer and place a new one.

 

[ElectricMonk]

Placing grid-only things like Transformers is extremely annoying. Why? Why can't we just be able to rotate them as we please? Why stick to a grid? Is it really that important? It seems like a needless hassle, impeding optimal placement for no benefit.

If you separate the transformer (or any other gridded piece) from the building, you can freely rotate horizontally.

 

[Ultroman]

If you separate the transformer (or any other gridded piece) from the building, you can freely rotate horizontally.

Thanks for the tip! That's even weirder, though. Why even have the restriction at all, then?

 

[ElectricMonk]

Gridded stuff helps performance (I think) and makes it a lot easier to place walls etc. to complete simple buildings.

 

[Ultroman]

Gridded stuff helps performance (I think) and makes it a lot easier to place walls etc. to complete simple buildings.

It's nice to have the option to work in a grid for just about anything, but there are only few things that have this restriction on free rotation. Several other things also have an AoE effect on other buildings and do not need to be gridded in order to work in the game. Placing walls for non-gridded objects is no different than freely rotated objects, at least not in a way that will not be possible with a simple toggle.

 

[ElectricMonk]

It's nice to have the option to work in a grid for just about anything, but there are only few things that have this restriction on free rotation. Several other things also have an AoE effect on other buildings and do not need to be gridded in order to work in the game. Placing walls for non-gridded objects is no different than freely rotated objects, at least not in a way that will not be possible with a simple toggle.

Yeah, it’s be nice to be able to make gridded objects non-gridded to freely rotate them in 3D but it’s not really a big deal separating objects from building groups if you want to rotate in 2d.

 

[Ultroman]

Yeah, it’s be nice to be able to make gridded objects non-gridded to freely rotate them in 3D but it’s not really a big deal separating objects from building groups if you want to rotate in 2d.

I do think it's a big deal. If I can just pull the actual Transformer out of the Transformer and THAT rotates freely, that's the dumbest game design choice I've ever heard, since it then isn't actually the Transformer that has to be gridded, but instead the default "wrapped"(?) Transformer prefab, and for some reason I have to do extra work to make it work like any other thing in the game.
I'm sorry if you feel like you've explained this already, but how exactly does this locked rotation make sense for this very specific game object, when its counterparts don't have this limitation and when it is apparently possible to rotate it freely with extra work anyway?

 

[ElectricMonk]

All gridded objects work that way.
What are its ‘counterparts’?
Why are you rotating the transformer inside the blueprint? (I didn’t realise you were using a blueprint rather than building from scratch?)

 

[Ultroman]

No. When I click to place a standard Transformer, I can only rotate it in 90 degree angles and it's sort of on a grid, despite holding Z like I can with most other buildables to enable free rotation. You seem to be telling me, that I can place the Transformer, pull the actual Transformer part out of that and THAT thing I can rotate freely...is what I understood from what you wrote. Sorry if I misunderstood.

I understand that you can simplify a lot of computations using a grid system, since circle/sphere-based distance calculations are heavier than grid-based ones. It could be that they simply found that it took too many CPU-cycles without the grid-based calculations. I can understand that, but I would question whether this could possibly be handled differently, using some caching or staggered updating, so the build system can be more streamlined. If we ignore performance, I cannot see a good reason for some objects to be locked to a grid when others aren't, especially when said thing is supposed to connect to paths (which are not very flexible to begin with).

 

[ElectricMonk]

No. When I click to place a standard Transformer, I can only rotate it in 90 degree angles and it's sort of on a grid, despite holding Z like I can with most other buildables to enable free rotation.

If you’re already working on a gridded building then any new gridded piece will confirm to that grid… try placing a water treatment, keeper hut, roof piece or whatever in the same way you’re placing the transformer and they will behave the same way. To freely place them make sure you’re not building in a build group.

You seem to be telling me, that I can place the Transformer, pull the actual Transformer part out of that and THAT thing I can rotate freely..

Sorry, but I don’t understand what ‘pull the actual transformer out of that’ (what’s ‘that’ what’s the ‘actual transformer’ how does it differ from the ‘Transformer’?

 

[Ultroman]

Mind. Blown. Only moving an existing Transformer gives me this problem. You're right. Trying to place a new Transformer lets me rotate it freely. I don't use build groups (on purpose, anyway). That just makes it even more weird! Is it just to help us align things? I don't get it. It frustrates me to no end.

 

[Cocolori]

Mind. Blown. Only moving an existing Transformer gives me this problem. You're right. Trying to place a new Transformer lets me rotate it freely. I don't use build groups (on purpose, anyway). That just makes it even more weird! Is it just to help us align things? I don't get it. It frustrates me to no end.

I think the intention is mostly to help with things like blueprints when you want to put a shop inside an exisiting blueprint - at that point I find it a very useful mechnic for it to suddenly be on the grid.

 

[Ultroman]

I have added an edit to my OP to clarify what I'm talking about.

 

[DarthQuell]

You can move am existing transformer, amd on the tip right it'll say "editing group #". Hit exit, then you can move it normally

 

[NZFanatic]

Placing grid-only things like Transformers is extremely annoying. Why? Why can't we just be able to rotate them as we please? Why stick to a grid? Is it really that important? It seems like a needless hassle, impeding optimal placement for no benefit.
EDIT: Apparently, this only pertains to moving existing Transformers within a blueprint. That just makes it even more weird that there isn't a toggle to override whatever grid it currently forces me to adhere to, unless I delete the Transformer and place a new one.

You can separate any component of a building group from that group and move it freely. There's a button which says "separate from group". The only caveat is that you can't re-add it to the group if it's a grid piece.

 

[ElectricMonk]

There are lots and lots (and lots more) tricks in building, even before you get to the point where really interesting : original design becomes a major concern. I’d recommend looking at some tutorial videos - try Rudi Renkammel and / or PaulsLey to start with.