Jump to target & create squads - short cut keys

[luke83]

Would be awesome to be able to when you see a enemy to simply press "1" on the key board to make the camera Jump to that location instead of having to move mouse down to the red box. ( if multi enemies use the number keys to pick your target)

Also i normal have small teams running around the battle scape (2-3 men) , would be great if i could assign groups somehow and then cycle through just that group with a click of a button.

Just some thoughts

[kkmic]

I like the number keys idea

[hsbckb]

Would be awesome to be able to when you see a enemy to simply press "1" on the key board to make the camera Jump to that location instead of having to move mouse down to the red box. ( if multi enemies use the number keys to pick your target)

Yes, this is a good idea and not difficult to implement

[luke83]

Just wanted to BUMP this suggestion

[Volutar]

Luke93, and how do you suggest to control a GROUP? As far as I know it's impossible to multiselect units, just because there are no actions to perform simultaneously.

[luke83]

sorry i should of been clearer, the goal here was to make it easier to make teams on a map , then i could just cycle through the team i am using at that time, I dont want to group move or anything.

Personally , i pressing next unit over and over because i cant remember where my Heavy weapon team is on the map , so my heavy team is in group 2 ( which should be able to be re-named from groupe # to anything) so i click group 2 and cycle until i find my Rocket launcher.

No change to game , just more useful options.

[Volutar]

I suppose simple clickable unit list (named) will help
But it's rather hires feature.

[Amunak]

I think there's no need to have multiple keys for the alien indicator - there could be just one. With multiple pressing (let's say it's eg. a colon

Code: [Select]

;, it would cycle through all aliens the unit sees. The numbers could be then better used to select all units - I'd "hardcode" it to simply assign 1 to first unit in the craft, 2 to second, etc. If there was more then 10 units, you could press shift to have 11, 12, ... up to 20. And why would I do that? Because I think it's annoying to even have to always assign numbers to units (especially on fast missions with small ufos). It could be also made in a way that numbers and shift+numbers are for units and control+numbers are for HWPs. It'd be better also because there's already little space left to see something on the screen; we don't need to cut more.

[luke83]

OK so as some of you would of noticed, my exploration of what i may need to FOXC has lead me back to this topic i started a long LONG time ago.

Squads, to me OXC NEEDS squads, so as here is some new buttons i have been playing with for FOXC that could be moved over to OXC .

Top Control " SQUAD CONTROL PANEL" : From Left to Right - Squad icon ( in red box, each squad has different icon, maybe Name also displayed under this panel), Add unit to squad, Remove unit from Squad, Cycle between members of squad, Next Squad, Squad Move command, Squad Formations (Brown Boxes).

Bottom Panel : New Green button to Activate/Hide Squad command box and a EMpty Box on the right for futre upgrades ( "Talk" button to direct/ Issue orders to NPC/Civilians , Activate a optional feature WHATEVER ).

My question is what other Squad options should we have, Patrol Region where you specify NODES like we do on blaster bombs ? Defend Area/Object/NPC ?  WHat other STRANGE ideas can people think of?

[moriarty]

luke, how should this squad movement take place? should the units move in sequence? or should the movement cycle thorugh the units, so that each unit only takes one step before the next moves? because simultaneous movement goes against the whole turn-based idea...

[Mr. Quiet]

I agree, we need squads Games just feel better when you have those added options and still letting you do whatever you want.

I've always named my men according to the squad they belong to, so it would be neat to be able to replace the Squad button label with your squad's name, like "Crimson Reapers" or "Eagle Guard".

I just can't think of any squad options we could use since we manually control every operative ourselves. We need passive options, not options that move our men for us. Well I don't know, just weird if the game moves my men for me.

The add/remove squaddie options on the battlescape will be useful, but let us organize our men into squads on the skyranger menu as well.

[luke83]

luke, how should this squad movement take place? should the units move in sequence? or should the movement cycle thorugh the units, so that each unit only takes one step before the next moves? because simultaneous movement goes against the whole turn-based idea...

Why does simultaneous movement go against the whole turn base idea?  Group move streamlines game play, it not intended when there is multiply enemies around you and every moment is critical, its intended for use when you have cleared a area and you want to move your reserves into play ASAP or its time to raid the UFO. I have included a Group move button on my control panel but i would also there be a keyboard shortcuts for Group move and other Squad based activities.

 IF you choose to use Groupmove, everyone MOVES at the same time, if someone gets shot at or finds a enemy the Group stops and awaits it next instruction ( from here you would start issuing orders one by one again).  Also i want the button on the main control panel so the entire SQUAD panel can be hidden if you don't wish to use it, this should keep the purisit happy even though this doesnt change the gameplay at all, just stops the "PAIN" when controlling large groups.

WeOwnTheNight= Why would the game move your men for you? You choose a squad pattern for them to try to keep, you tell them from location 1 to location 2 the same as you would any other time, the only difference is you could move 10 people with 1 click instead of one, once you know you need FULL CONTROL of there placement again, just stop issuing squad commands.

I also want a new menu to view units within a group on another screen , so i still would need a button for that.

Apocalypse  Had group options and it came in very handy to micromanage your troops, OXC needs a similar feature and with Path Preview activated this feature will be very useful, its not like i am asking for "Group shooting" .

Remember its not just Movement that s handy, its also grouping , being able to quickly cycle through a group also streamlines the game.

[moriarty]

Why does simultaneous movement go against the whole turn base idea?

Apocalypse  Had group options and it came in very handy to micromanage your troops, OXC needs a similar feature

well, the whole underlying game mechanics in apocalypse were radically different. the TBS system it used was basically a frozen-time RTS, if you know what I mean.

for OXC to implement a "squad movement" system, I fear the whole battlescape needs to be re-written. I may be wrong, though.

[luke83]

for OXC to implement a "squad movement" system, I fear the whole battlescape needs to be re-written. I may be wrong, though.

perhaps, we wont know until we ask, this solves many issues when controlling large groups.

AS for some of my other ideas ( like Patrol and Defend) these come into play more for a future Mulitplayer version, where missions are not restricted to what can be worked into a story. Also imagine launching a Unamand aircraft ( Via PRPROG's Code change) and have it patrol one flank whilst you focus the bulk of your army along another side, it would give your troops a early lookout for aliens sneaking up on you.