Trucks auto building on non-burning oil resources. And more

[ouch]

Well I made a patch awhile ago to make trucks auto-build on non-burning oil deposits and to auto help build structures that are unfinished. It uses the already defined repair distance. They won't commit it to the current build though till they get some feedback on how the fans will feel about such a change. If you can compile the source you can find the modified files here to try it yourself:

http://developer.wz2100.net/ticket/737#comment:17

I made this patch because it has annoyed me since I first played the game. I mean every unit in this game at least tries to help out the broader picture by doing something you didn't specifically tell it to. But the trucks? Well they just sit there doing nothing until you tell them to do something.

Despite all the benefits there are a couple of downsides. One is that you may unexpectedly get a large fast draw from your resources as a lone truck builds something and like 10 or nearby trucks want to help out. The other is that trucks that are helping out have a lit build icon. If you click on that to stop the build the trucks will, and then start back up all in an instant likely creating some confusion. And the only way to stop them from helping out is to keep them away from your building sites or give them other orders. However, I honestly don't even notice these myself in normal game play.

But this little patch opens up a lot of new tactics I didn't think of. A typical start of a game can go as follows. When the game starts, the trucks find nearby oil derricks and just start building on them by themselves. The player then just holds shift and starts laying the groundwork for the base. once a factory goes up you can order up a bunch of trucks and set the meeting point nearby the structures yet to be built, when the trucks finish they automatically help out the others. This frees up the player to scour the map for resource deposits. once the player finds an ideal one he holds shift and starts to build defenses around it with one of the freshly built trucks that are helping out. Since he wants the truck to start right away he clicks on the lit icon to cancel the current helping out and go do his other tasks. but once the defenses start going up an raid gets past them and blows up the oil derrick. By now the truck has finished the last building in the derricks defenses. The oil is still burning but the truck will auto-build on the resource when it stops so the player can move on with out having to check back on it 3-4 times.

As you can see there is a lot more you can do to take advantage of these 2 simple additions. But the devs want to know how you personally feel about this. Like I said it was a personal aggravation since the cd version for me so I'm all for it.

[smallfly]

That sounds really good. I my opinion, you -as player- shouldn't have to do anything, that a pc can calculate by itself.

[elio]

i think its a good idea

here:

If you click on that to stop the build the trucks will, and then start back up all in an instant likely creating some confusion. And the only way to stop them from helping out is to keep them away from your building sites or give them other orders. However, I honestly don't even notice these myself in normal game play.

i suggest: in the unit options you can define 'hold position', 'guard', 'follow'

hold position: do only what the player wants
guard: go and repair/build structures
follow: i dunno..

the standard option is 'hold position' to not confuse new warzone players

regards
elio

[Olrox]

In my opinion, the most interesting automatic things aren't those that do complex things: The most interesting are those that makes all the repetitive, simple, boring work so that the player can do the most complex tasks, and be proud of it.

It's a simple, useful, good idea AND initiative. Congratulations!

Edit: And the further improvements suggested by elio would add customizable features, which are very usable for those already comfortable with the game. I don't think follow setting actually work for trucks, does it? If not, it could make the truck behave automatically (as follow order implies on movement, as opposed by hold).

[Thyranim]

i suggest: in the unit options you can define 'hold position', 'guard', 'follow'

hold position: do only what the player wants
guard: go and repair/build structures
follow: i dunno..

the standard option is 'hold position' to not confuse new warzone players

regards
elio

what about this ->

hold position: do nothing at your own (only on player command)
guard: like actual behaviour - repair at your own if you see something damaged
follow: additionally build at your own

[alienkid10]

i think its a good idea

i suggest: in the unit options you can define 'hold position', 'guard', 'follow'

hold position: do only what the player wants
guard: go and repair/build structures
follow: i dunno..

the standard option is 'hold position' to not confuse new warzone players

regards
elio

I agree with Elio.

[Aldure]

Ok, hmm, say I run through an area and "tag" all the Oil wells. then set the truck to come back to base, will it build all the ones I tagged along the way? Cant say I really like that, bit to much automation involved. My luck, it is prb allready like that, hehe.

[winsrp]

what about this ->

hold position: do nothing at your own (only on player command)
guard: like actual behaviour - repair at your own if you see something damaged
follow: additionally build at your own

Agree with Thyranim, i think this is the best way. But then again there might this other configuration

hold position: Normal behaviour
guard: help construct if in range
follow: Help construct if in range + make new buildings on auto mode.

Sound like a great idea... also it would be great if you could make a bunch of constructors follow each other, like normal tanks set in defense mode of some other unit... so you could define a path for a single constructor, and just set the other 10 to protect (follow) the first, and when the first guy starts building oil wells, then the other that follow stop to help... nice

[ouch]

No, the trucks only do something on thier own when they have nothing else to do. just like the repair bots, and how the trucks currently auto-repair.

and I havn't been able to compile warzone since they screwed up the trunk for linux users. So don't hold your breath for any other additions.

but the patch really is fine as is. It's really no different than the existing automatic repairs that they already do. Just a bit more expanded capabilities. I really fail to see how anyone could possibly object unless they never actually tried it for themselfs or they don't really understand what the patch does.

[Zarel]

Well, your patch needs to be rearchitected nonetheless. It currently orders trucks to go build stuff. This is bad, especially since I just went and fixed the order/action code so automatic stuff doesn't change the current orders.

I'll speak more on it once I get back.

[Tenoh]

I dont know about this. I always hate when trucks are near defense tower that is under attack and truck goes there to fix it and gets killed. very frustrating.

[ouch]

bump so more people see it.

I dont know about this. I always hate when trucks are near defense tower that is under attack and truck goes there to fix it and gets killed. very frustrating.

Why did you have the trucks that close if you didn't want them to help out? Trucks have a really short repair range after all.

[tehloserer]

Do you people want to play a game or watch a movie? How about an option to get the trucks to auto-build defense along routing gateways like the AI does? o.O Even better. An observer mode to watch the AI fight against.......other AI.

I enjoy having to keep track of my trucks, oil, research, design, production, army, opponent's army, and opponent's oil. If I didn't have to tell the trucks what to do, I think I'd fall asleep most games. Between weak opponents and slow gameplay. I gotta have something to do while I'm waiting the minute to two minutes it takes for my army to reach my opponent's base on most map. On the plus side, this might make MP games a bit more of a challenge for me. I doubt it though.

Will this only work for oil that the trusk is in range of, or do I just need to spot it and the truck will go there itself, or do I not even need to spot the oil and my trucks will cut through the FoW directly to the closest oil?

If this goes through, just don't make it happen from the start of the game. I'd be pissed if my trucks went to get oil before setting me up to produce tanks. I like the idea of using the follow command, with trucks being set to the current default (Hold Position?) at start. Not so certain about another button on the UI (Auto-Build icon).

PZ, <3, dope. I'm out.

[zeland]

I dont know about this. I always hate when trucks are near defense tower that is under attack and truck goes there to fix it and gets killed. very frustrating.

I hate it when the trucks that I place near my defences go off trying to fix something they can't reach (i.e. a mortar pit/hellstorm built on cliffs behind them) and "forget" to repair the defences. Path finding should tell them they can reach it and not try to repair it even though its "within" range.

[Kacen]

I'm not sure, it could be an annoyance simply because the trucks may wander into dangerous territory.

On the other hand, it would reduce early game micromanagement a lot.

However even then you may want to prioritize trucks to do something else. At the very least, trucks should only do this if they aren't set to hold position.

Problem is that they start on guard mode so it'll mean if you need them you'll have to immediately set them to hold position.

Mm, honestly, not sure about this.

Mmm...perhaps trucks do this if you set them on to "pursue" mode, perhaps?

Or perhaps add an entirely new button for trucks that makes them auto-build? I mean we have the source code, right? The only limit is the skill of the developers.