I have a suggestion. I'm not a programmer, so what i'm suggeting is either impossible or unfeasible, probably both. Now...
We all know there's a bit of a problem with movement. That in, if you try to move on the ground, it sinks from under you and you fall into a hole which is impossible to dig yourself out from. Now, my idea it to keep the deformable surfaces (which are hilariously fun), but to have something beneath them. Specifically, polygons, which cover the area of the surfaces. Here is a picture to give a sort of concept view:
The idea is. that the polygons allow smooth movement for the players (I thought it should only apply for the player characters), BUT, if the polygons are landed on/hit with a fast enough speed, they allow the player to pasws through them and interact with the ground in the usual way. Then, the polygons would "update" to reflect that there's now a large crater in the ground.
Different types of ground would have different strengths; the normal earth would be walkable, but quite easy to "deform". Whereas the harder red earth would take more speed/force to deform, the rock would be very hard to deform, and the concrete almost impossible to deform. (Deforming is taking place by the player characters hitting the ground) Sand wouldn't have a polygon, as it's quite weak in the first place.
As for other objects, they still have the same effect as before, and the damage incurred by these also updates the polygons.
So... is this as mind-bendingly crap as I thought? Would it be possible? Make the game slow down to a treacle-based-pace?
Talk to me here.