Movement System

[Sensang]

Hello there,
I just remembered this game a week ago and started playing it again. And it is a LOT of fun.
But there are certain things that keep it from being a lot better and at least for me the movement system definately is one of them.
(I'd also like a "Move to that region and once you encounter enemies, stop and shoot at them"-Button, as you know them from other strategy games, but thats another story)
Especially if you Move Command your "Tanks" to a point, once they reach destination they stop and start circling around, making them so messy to control :/

I would suggest you add some sort of turning sideways on the spot (even WW II Tanks were able to do that^^). That should fix a lot of the "Units getting stuck at terrain" and units that just circle around for no reason...
I've got a lot of "If ... Then ... Else ..."s in my head that would do the trick, even though i didnt have a look into the source code or text files yet so I dont know how hard it would actually be, but it shouldnt be too hard.

Also if you command your units to attack they just sort of close in on them till theyre like in melee range no matter what gun they wield. I know you can set something in the unit menu thingy, but why not let them all close in as much as they need to be in range, at least as a standard setting? Would make them far less suicidal.

It would give the game are way more natural feel to it compared to other strategy games. If you don't like the idea could you please tell me where to look to change it myself? either text or source code? and what files?
I'd appreciate that a lot

Otherwise if you dont exactly understand what I mean feel free to ask.

Nevertheless thank you very much for all of your hard work, I really enjoyed playing the game back when it wasnt open source yet and i was thrilled when i found out that someone is actually expanding the initial programm. Good Job!

[NoQ]

(I'd also like a "Move to that region and once you encounter enemies, stop and shoot at them"-Button, as you know them from other strategy games, but thats another story)

Alt+click.

[Sensang]

Ah ok the staying at long range actually works most of the times... its just when there are tanks behind that want to go there too when it starts screwing up. (they push them forward)
A lot of my troubles go away when i make sure they dont push each other around... still not a desirable solution to have to control them so much to achieve something like that.

Would it be hard to add some kind of a "StandingStillAndFiringAtATarget"-flag to units which makes them not have themselves pushed around by allied units? They should get it when they are a certain percentage, that you can choose, of the highest range away from their target (so you can choose how many units behind yours should be able to attack without having to go around).

Because if I want that in combat I can still do a move command till they are where i want them to be.
As for the moving on the spot. It stills seem very odd to me that tanks drive forward first even if their desired designation lies behind them, and makes it very messy in larger groups. So maybe adding a check for the angle of a move command and the entire turn radius to decide wether or not turning on the spot would be the better solution.

AFor me I'd love to see that changed, but if you dont agree id highly appreciate it if you could help me out by saying where i should look in the source code so can attempt to do for myself.
And thank you for the attack move button

[Iluvalar]

I don't know in the campaign... you might want to do that a lot to save units or just to try a perfect play. But in multiplayer and skirmish you probably prefer that your units are pushed. If you can fire with 30 tanks, you will. The reason for that is that the research will render obsolete your unit. You want to use your units while they are up to date. Not to wait while you opponent build the perfect counter to your design.

So too bad if your units get hit a little, better range still give you the possibility to gang 10:1 it's not as efficient and elegant then 5:0 but it's the price to pay to be twice as fast and had 5 tanks in the melee. I think that button will cause more management then just shift clicking a couple of unit around (if there is space to had them).

[Sensang]

I don't know in the campaign... you might want to do that a lot to save units or just to try a perfect play. But in multiplayer and skirmish you probably prefer that your units are pushed. If you can fire with 30 tanks, you will. The reason for that is that the research will render obsolete your unit. You want to use your units while they are up to date. Not to wait while you opponent build the perfect counter to your design.

So too bad if your units get hit a little, better range still give you the possibility to gang 10:1 it's not as efficient and elegant then 5:0 but it's the price to pay to be twice as fast and had 5 tanks in the melee. I think that button will cause more management then just shift clicking a couple of unit around (if there is space to had them).

Till now i was only playing skirmish. I get that you need to use your units while they are up to date, yet i wouldnt suicide my units cuz of that, since its not like theyre getting comepletly useless after a few minutes. Why dont you just move command them into the enemies if you want that though.
Ive got the problem that the AI is building a lot of flamer units so i actually kinda like firing at enemies without going into melee.
But then again, if I take that away from the AI it might just get even easier...

Dunno if players are actually building flamer units. It yet would make the usage of high ranged units within normal armies easier. Doesnt seem like its worth the trouble to incorporate mortar units within your army if you have to manage them around behind your army. But then again i dont know what kind of armies actually are effective, till now, theres nothing the AI can do against masses of heavy machine gun or mini missile array units... and at least the later would benefit as far as i can tell.
It just doesnt feel right as it is, since its so different from how it works in other strategy games. Otherwise Id have to incorporate a lot of managing and shortcuts into my gameplay...

[cybersphinx]

A good place to start looking is probably src/move.cpp. If you can improve the behaviour, feel free to submit your patches.

[Iluvalar]

Your idea is interesting, I just observe that less units will actually fight and depending on who have the more range and the degree of emergency. You'll end up always switching weapon range and clicking your new button.

This game is not like other strategy games. =P