I like Supreme Commander 2's clever UI features involving squad-like behaviour for units that are given the same command, so I though I'd port it back to FA.

Hence the [running title] Backport UI mod was born.

Having discovered that my original goal wasn't very hard, I thought I'd experiment a bit and see if I can issue complete orders from the UI. My attempts to do that failed - hard. But it did give me some new ideas that turned out to be [far] more popular than the squad selection. Since the forum is a bunch of whiny twats (I still love you) and want the later parts of the mod on their own. Without a witty name for this, I couldn't release it. One short "n-th reply is the name of" I have my witty mod name; One Click Wonder, care of OrangeMike.

So without further adieu, here's my two UI mods;


Backport.
Supreme Commander 2 style squad selection and ordering.


1. Automatic group selection.

A single click of any unit if a control-group will select every other unit said group. Handy for managing intermingled groups of units. Goom made something similar to this, but I've gone and done it better. XP

2. Automatic group creation based on issued order.

When you issue an order, the selected units are automagically (sic) assigned to new group. Automatic groups are denoted with an A# instead of a regular number. Regular control-groups remain, and function as one would expect. Feel free to test the upper limit of how many groups are possible - just don't hold your breath.

One Click Wonder.
Now, by popular demand (read: like three of you) as a standalone mod!


1. Single click mex construction.

**** clicking the UI, **** build mode, and **** other UI mods (you know who I'm talking about) that help making building easier. You can't get any easier than clicking on a damn mass deposit. I'll be adding Hydrocarbons in the next release, so don't tell me to put them in. Got that working a while ago.

2. One-click (and a key) rebuilding of destroyed structures.

My abuse of WorldView may not end with constructing mexes. Grab some engineers, find something of yours that is blown up, hold Alt. and rebuild!

4. Manual Repair/Construction of something that would otherwise be Guard/Assist.

Ever wanted to power-build a factory, or repair one but not want your engineers assist afterwards? Again, use Alt. for much win; mousing over an incomplete and/or damaged structure with engineers will set the current UI order to repair. Drop a left-click on the object and you're golden.

If my UI modding revelation inspires new ideas, or ideas that were considered impossible; I'm happy to consider and investigate requested additions.


http://code.google.com/p/healthandmana/downloads/detail?name=Backport%20lite.zip [release 4, still posts debug messages to the log.]
http://code.google.com/p/healthandmana/downloads/detail?name=One%20Click%20Wonder%2003.zip [release 3.]

the clicking on spot to build thingy, same as WZ2100 oil spots yes? if so FREAKING SWEET if not...then O.o? i would test but comp still broke atm

Clicking to build a mex sounds really helpful, as do the control group mods.

Could you please add in the TA-style reclaimables cursor?
TYVM!

New version, with feature four; one-click (and a key) rebuilding of destroyed structures. Hold down the Alt. key, then line up the mouse with the wreckage and it'll whip out the matching building. It's still pretty finicky, but I have it performing better already on my local copy.

You can't abuse it to rebuild Cybran shields or things that aren't available from the selected engineers/ACU (already tried it).

Same download link, in my haste last night I didn't give it a very good filename (read: I let 7zip name it for me), and am still working out what to call the mod.


Better fix it faster, because it pretty much is like that.


Area commands are going to be a no-show for a UI mod. The best I might be able to do is something like in Sup2, where holding down the mouse for a second turns it into a paintbrush and selects all that it passes over.


Also, OrangeMike asked me to break up the mod into small standalone mods (he doesn't want the group selector), so if you want options over which parts of the mod to use you'll probably get your wish soon enough.

You could also create a configuration panel that includes all of your new UI control stuff as togglable preferences.
I like this mod anyway, even if I'm not able to test it yet.

Well all the group stuff could easily go in a seperate mod anyways....

I'm just super glad they had an option for that garbage in SC2.

Mike

nice bm

I won't be doing a config panel; it's more work, when I can simply copy-pasta bits of code.

Kenquinn suggest a unit stats window?

So what do you press to select the entire control group A1? I'm rather daft after not playing FA for two years, sorry....


Really cool mod btw...

You should just be able to click on any unit in the control group.

Yep.

Now tell me how to not select the entire group?

Shift click?

It's probably not possible with SCFA, but SCom2 was nice in that you had a seperate icon (with number of units) for the autogroup. This means you can select individual units in addition to the autogroup.

One feature I've been asking for is:
Select some random units.
Right click on an autogroup icon.
Units will join the autogroup and follow whatever command they are following.

Explain? I'm confused.

I believe he means a sort of a "hop on the bandwagon"-feature, where throwing some units into a group conveys any ongoing order withing that group to these new units at that instant.

Say you take 5 tanks and tell them to go to place X (and at that point they form an auto group, right?). Then you take 3 arties and click on an auto group icon just created a moment ago for those 5 tanks, and these arties get added to that same group AND immediately start also moving to place X without you telling them to do anything yet. Did I get this right AZ?

Yeah. Basically, Autogroups are formed when you give some units some commands, right?

So lets say I select 10 fighters and give them a patrol order - they form an autogroup, who are following the patrol order.

So then I select 5 more fighters and right click on the icon of the autogroup above. These fighters are then added to the autogroup, and they also follow that patrol order.

----------------

In other words, because autogroups are formed based on "these units are following the same set of orders", I want the ability to add units to an existing autogroup. (as opposed to forming a new autogroup that includes the new units.)


Lol, I'm trying to explain the same thing in as many different ways as possible :P

Not possible, sorry; would involve issuing orders and that can't be done in the UI save for a very primitive subset of what can be done in the Sim.

Would it be possible to copy and later paste those orders to other units ?

Say you have a group on patrol and you save their patrol orders as a "template" to later pass to another group or to a factory building units.

That factory would assume that waypoint path as it's own and later issue those ways points to units it built.

Resin

Oh....


Doh

Not in a UI mod, no. *sad face*

A TA-style cursor which displays the mass a wreckage holds, just by pointing at it.
No Area-Reclaim, just knowing how much something yields is all.
pretty please?

Would be possible for some (read: your own) wreckage, but not for most.

There's no way of getting information about a prop in the UI.

Read DeadMG had a way of doing it for everything.