0003068: "Stay Here" / "Hold Position" order - Arcen Idea Tracker (Bugs and Features)

ID	Project	Category		Date Submitted	Last Update

0003068	AI War 1 / Classic	Suggestion - Interface Ideas - Unit Selection, Management, and Orders		Mar 18, 2011 5:31 pm	Oct 1, 2012 7:49 pm

Reporter	FunnyMan	Assigned To	Chris_McElligottPark
Status	feedback	Resolution	reopened
Product Version	5.003
Fixed in Version	5.088

Summary	0003068: "Stay Here" / "Hold Position" order
Description	With certain types of ships, notably Regenerator Golems, it is desirable to keep them in a system and active, but under defenses and out of combat. This can be extremely difficult to manage, because when overlapped by other ships, they will often move right out of the forcefield and sometimes halfway across the system before you look back at them! In the specific case of Regen Golems, this is worse than usual, as the ships they regenerate spawn directly on top of them, causing the golem to move out of protection mid-combat--precisely the worst time for that to happen! This forces the player into repeatedly moving the ships back into cover every time they attempt to escape (unless, of course, they feel like losing the ships), adding highly-repetitive micromanagement that keeps the player focused away from the actual combat. To counter this, I suggest a "Stay Here" or "Hold Position" order. A ship with such an order will attempt to not move from that position, and to stay nearby and return as soon as possible if it is dislodged. If two ships with such an order overlap, they behave normally, but if a ship without the order overlaps one with it, the ship without the order will move.
Tags	No tags attached.

Internal Weight	New

Draco18s Mar 21, 2011 5:20 pm developer ~0011197	I would additionally ask that such ships be considered "non military" to the unit selection box, as to make a selection of units WITHOUT auto-grabbing the "hold position" units. If I really want them, I can go back and select them afterwards.

FunnyMan Mar 22, 2011 3:44 pm reporter ~0011222	I agree with that addition. The intent of the order is to keep the unit(s) stationary until specifically moved, so not selecting them in ambiguous situations is a good idea.

HTL2001 Mar 23, 2011 5:03 am reporter ~0011323	Draco18s' suggested addition should probably be made a checkbox in ctrls ("Hold-position marks units as non-military")

keith.lamothe Oct 1, 2012 9:48 am administrator ~0028545	Not exactly what was in mind here but I think it deals with the issue in a way that was manageable for the game model. For 5.088: * Added a "Control-Group-Specific" tab to the CTRLS window, similar to the "Planet-Specific" tab: Instead of selecting a planet on this tab, you select one of your 10 control groups from a dropdown. Currently the tab has: * Auto-FRD Military When this is set to "On", all your military units in this control group will be set to Free-Roaming Defender. Note: certain ship types (like fortresses that multi-repair, and zenith siege engines) never auto-FRD. When this is set to "Default", the global Auto-FRD toggle will govern. When this is "Off", this behavior will not happen for ships in this control group even if the global Auto-FRD toggle is on. If a ship is in multiple control groups with conflicting settings for this, the priority order is as follows: Off, On, Default. * Auto-FRD Engineers ** When this is set to "On", all your engineer/rebuilder units in this control group will be set to Free-Roaming Defender. When this is set to "Default", the global Auto-FRD toggle will govern. When this is "Off", this behavior will not happen for ships in this control group even if the global Auto-FRD toggle is on. ** If a ship is in multiple control groups with conflicting settings for this, the priority order is as follows: Off, On, Default. Thanks :)

FunnyMan Oct 1, 2012 6:43 pm reporter ~0028552	While I certainly agree that that is a good feature (and one that solves 0001843), it's not really relevant to this issue. The problem here is not FRD but rather ship displacement, which happens under any set of orders. What's needed is a way to increase the priority of the specified ship(s) so that other ships will move off of them rather than vice versa. Essentially, the ships would act like structures while it's in effect, occupying space but not moving. You mentioned fortresses, which I think already have this behaviour, so that they don't easily reset the repair timer. But it's useful for other ships as well, e.g. to keep them under a force field.

Draco18s Oct 1, 2012 7:09 pm developer ~0028553	Yeah, I too don't think that that change actually addresses [i]this[/i] issue.

HTL2001 Oct 1, 2012 7:49 pm reporter ~0028554	I think I've seen fortresses do this as well (forget the circumstances, but it was rare)

Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
Mar 18, 2011 5:31 pm	FunnyMan	New Issue
Mar 21, 2011 5:20 pm	Draco18s	Note Added: 0011197
Mar 22, 2011 3:44 pm	FunnyMan	Note Added: 0011222
Mar 22, 2011 9:43 pm	FunnyMan	Relationship added	related to 0001843
Mar 22, 2011 11:47 pm	Chris_McElligottPark	Assigned To	=> Chris_McElligottPark
Mar 22, 2011 11:47 pm	Chris_McElligottPark	Status	new => considering
Mar 23, 2011 5:03 am	HTL2001	Note Added: 0011323
Oct 1, 2012 9:48 am	keith.lamothe	Internal Weight	=> New
Oct 1, 2012 9:48 am	keith.lamothe	Note Added: 0028545
Oct 1, 2012 9:48 am	keith.lamothe	Status	considering => resolved
Oct 1, 2012 9:48 am	keith.lamothe	Fixed in Version	=> 5.088
Oct 1, 2012 9:48 am	keith.lamothe	Resolution	open => fixed
Oct 1, 2012 6:43 pm	FunnyMan	Note Added: 0028552
Oct 1, 2012 6:43 pm	FunnyMan	Status	resolved => feedback
Oct 1, 2012 6:43 pm	FunnyMan	Resolution	fixed => reopened
Oct 1, 2012 7:09 pm	Draco18s	Note Added: 0028553
Oct 1, 2012 7:49 pm	HTL2001	Note Added: 0028554