If we could have modal hot keys for Supreme Commander 2 that would be great. There is a advert for the Razor that shows Supreme Commander 2 with modal keys that actually show the picture of the ability on the keyboard.

We don't need to get that fancy, but having something as simple as 'A' for first ability (attack), 'S' for second ability, 'D' for third and so forth would be a big advantage. You could show the corresponding letters on the screen in the corner of the toggle (on screen button).

Having the ability to tab between unit type abilities like Star Craft would be great.

Having the ability to CNTRL click, so that you only select units on your screen would be nice too. Currently, CNTRL click is the same as CNTRL Z. Lets add some benefit to CNTRL click! Off Topic: I really wish Star Craft had CNTRL Z.

A is attack move. But yes. Four additions that would be completely awesome:
- Shift + 1-0 > add selected units to control group 1-0
- Hotkey for tabbing between firing modes, or 1 for normal and 1 for ground fire
- Remapping unit abilities to a single button - no ctrl or alt + a-z combinations
- Remapping construction buttons to something sensible and SIMPLE. And a button to toggle build mode. So if I select an engineer and press M, I get a mex. Or E, and get a Pgen. Right now, just clicking is faster.

And make them customizable.

We should continue this thread or make a new thread where we work out a set of buttons that everyone is happy with. We can either code them in the lau.scd.

-I agree, A is attack.

-I agree that we should be able to add to our control groups easier, however Shift + 1-0 > currently adds control group 1 to units selected which is important. The problem with the current system is that Shift + 1-0 is not compatible with CNTRL + 1-0 on factories. If you are not using CNTRL+# with factories, then a Shift + 1-0 and a CNTRL +1-0 will do the trick.

-I would also add that CNTRL + # on a factory should add the factory to the CNTRL group, but CNTRL SHFT + # adds the factory's product to the CNTRL group.

-Currently you cannot make factories a CNTRL group. Badjuju

-Remapping construction buttons. B is fine to get started, but the construction buttons should be closer together. M and E are too far apart! M is good because it's right next to B. N would be fine for Nergy. V would be fine for Research. L for land is fine. K for Navy is fine. J for Air is fine. G for PD. H for AATowers?



Currently, push the '[' button.

Honestly, I dont see why we need an extra button for building. Just have it always on, or make it so you can toggle build mode with capslock to be always on.

It's not possible to be modded, but I once suggested for factories:

- Add the factory to a control group works like other games - factory is selected by number key.

- Factory's rally beacon can be selected and added to a control group. All units produced by that factory will be automatically added to the control group of that beacon.



This is purely personal preference - some people like persistent build mode, some people dont. SCom1 had it as an option IIRC... SCFA needed a mod for that option.

If we don't use a seed key, we don't have enough keys.

The reason for this is because hot keys in Supreme Commander 2 are not dependent on what you have selected. I doubt they are in any other strategy games either. Having independent hotkeys improves your in combat micro.

Example:
You can have your ACU, 10 loyalists, 3 Bomb Bouncers and a magnetron all selected. If you hit the right hotkeys they will do their abilities even though those abilities are not shown as on screen toggles. Without the seed key, abilities and buildings would be sharing the same space on the key board.

Jump Jet
Knockback
Capture
Reclaim
Repair
Hunker
Mega Armor
Detonate
Charge Bomb Bouncer
Blast Bomb Bouncer
Push
Pull
All Building/Construction
Etc.

I like overlapping hotkeys. If your hotkeys are all over the keyboard, its easier to just mash the button on the screen instead... Overlapping hotkeys makes it easier to actually use them all in a short amount of time, and just use control groups for your different units instead of selecting every unit you have on the map...

We can see easily that everyone has different preferences when it comes to hotkeys ;)

Neph: keys are close together, but doesnt work for multiple unit types.
Bast: Keys all over the keyboard, works for multiple types.
Me: Keys close together, but require key sequences, works for multiple types.

Clearly, some customizability would be awesome. In starcraft 2, there are even "hacks" that edit shortcuts that are not customizable in the ingame menu, like the "next base" button, and lets you overlap buttons if you want. We really need such a hack for supcom2, and KnC.

I must say

i never use hot keys, accept ctrl-move, because its required, but
build mode in FA was awesome, and worked like you wanted it to....

wow im using way to many similes, oh well, id just see if you can get a program that can do it, i bet there is one.

We dont need hacks, we just need proper UI modding support built in. (like FA)

One that has proper limits, layers and security so you cant access information you're not supposed to. (unlike FA)

I'd like that. But you just have to look at your options, dont you?

Like what? The community figured out all of the unit and physics stats for Supcom 2 without any modding support. There shouldn't be anything else of substance that affects how we play the game.

I remember there was a UI mod made for FA where a player could see the resources of other players and thus cheat. And UI mods aren't restricted in ranked games.

That's a fair point. I am not sure how to get around that one.

Real life has armor types. How can you claim to want a sim and not want to simulate different weapons vs different armor types? Does anyone here seriously think that HEAT and fragmentation warheads act the same ? Or that composite armor reacts in the same way to a projectile as rolled steel? How about chain mail vs when dealing with slashing blows? Etc.

I always found this strange in the TA/SupCom community so obsessed with wargaming and simulation, that they want a game where none of this massive real-life variety is modeled.

I think the problem tends to be that this system isn't very transparent(Starcraft) and thus requires informations that needs to be attained outside the game. Sometimes these armor systems cause some awkward side effects, like tanks not being able to kill infantry at all.

It comes down to the fact that the chances of the Dev getting it right are so low as to not other in the gamer's opinion.

Myself I don;t see a problem with Armor systems in theory, especially for something like KnC, but it'd have to be done well/right.

Mike

This seems to hit the spot. I LOVE armor types. They just require a lot of testing to get it right.

Armour types arent "realistic", because HP itself isnt realistic.

If we look at more simulationy games like M1 Tank Platoon, you'll see that tanks can die from a single penetrating hit. Except whether a shell penetrates or not depends on shell type, armour, angle, distance, etc.

Armour types that simply have damage bonuses or penalties might be a good abstraction in a turn based wargame where the smallest unit is an entire platoon or squad, but they arent plausible in an RTS where individual units fire individual bullets.

So that's the "realism" part of it.

As for the "gameplay" part of it, if an armour/damage system requires you read description popups on the GUI to see what is going on, then its probably not a good thing. Armour/damage systems that are clearly visible in the game world is probably best. Also systems that match real world expectations. (tanks shooting shells that barely hurt infantry is an often used counterexample.)