This is one thing which I would really like to see implemented. Back in the day we had the custom formation tool, but that was disabled as it was rather experimental and didn't exactly work well - however I use a mod to re-enable it, because I believe it can be useful in some (rare!) situations. If it was more comprehensive it would be useful in quite a lot of situations. One key thing I would like to see is the option for a 'cluster' formation. You can do this right now by selection one unit, assigning it a recall number, getting all other units to 'assist' that unit, and then you can effectively recall that group of units by just selection that one unit. This is great for forming a smlal cluster of Dox or boombots and can be effective, I think (for squeezing past narrow land formations or avoiding point defence). But it is fiddly to achieve, and when the unit you assigned the number to is destroyed, you lose the whole thing. It would be lovely if we could select a group of units as normal and easily select a pre-set formation for them (e.g. a 'V' for air units, a cluster, a line, or a crescent/semi-circle). These all have their uses, and it would an extra level of depth/micro to the game. I find it quite frustrating knowing that a group of units could be more effective if you could only arrange them in a nice formation before utilising them. Going back to the old, disabled custom formations feature - the main thing wrongf with it, I think, is that the custom formation is not remembered when you make the units move. So you can move them into a nice crescent shape or whatever, but as soon as they march forward, the formation is lost. Annoying. I'd love confirmation that Uber intend to pick up work on this feature again, and work on formations in general.
I can see how this would benefit a lot of players. Personally, I am not a fan of it because it definitely reduces the amount of skill needed to command a lot of units. I am used to manually putting my units in a concave so having this custom formation thing would only hurt me because it would help others, thus giving me less opportunity to prove I am better than my opponent. Tbh, I am a little worried already that the skill cap in this game is significantly lower than in most other RTSes. There is only one activated ability so it usually comes down to positioning and macro, which does not require that much apm. Edit: Although I am worried about this game becoming too easy, I don't think this feature would contribute to making it a lot easier. There might be some skill in deciding what formation to use or when.
That does mean however that it frees APM to do other tasks, while actually giving new players more breathing room. As in game now, while you don't need as much APM for commanding your troops, there are a whole bunch of tasks that can be microed that can be used to occupy all of your free time.
In what reality does APM == skill?? In your eyes, is chess a game with a 'low skill ceiling'? Because frankly it has a really low apm. Don't get me wrong PA isn't chess, but its a good balance between macro and micro and amp should not be the judge of skill in this game. (Also, i hope thats not too inflammatory)
Interesting points. I really think the game should make certain things easier for players to do, so that more focus can be put into actual tactics and strategy, rather than fiddling about trying to get units to behave themselves, like a teacher controlling a class of unruly children! If I want my group of units to bunch together, or to fan out, it should be possible. In my limited experience with RTS games in the past, I hav always found formations support to be lacking. Normally in fact it seems to be completely absent. I'd love PA to have decent formation features for groups of units.
I think it's just a different form of skill, many top Starcraft 2 players have attempted to play and often fail so hard it makes you wonder of they've ever played an RTS game.
unit formations were one of my favorite things about Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 and I would be really happy if it was added to the already amazing and player-enabling UI of planetary annihilation
well, a call of duty player trying Arma for the first time would also do everything wrong, hardly surprising
In RTSes the player with the higher apm has the greatest potential for skill. It means they are able to do more of the things that need to be done. In lower leagues, macro is the difference between winning and losing. At higher levels, players have already mastered macro so then they differentiate themselves on micro or split second decision making. APM has always been a huge measure of skill because it means a player has unconsciously mastered most of the repetitive tasks in the game and has found an efficient way to do them. A player with 200 apm spends no more than a couple seconds to handle macro every minute or so. They need such little time because they no longer have to think about what needs to be done, they just do it. So apm is a great indirect indicator of skill. Is it the end all be all? No, but there is a reason why the best StarCraft players are also the fastest and it mainly has to do with the concept of unconscious mastery.
I should clarify, APM can be a form of skill, but its hardly the only one, nor the most important. Its a good rule of thumb for Starcaft, but its hardly comprehensive, nor particularly applicable to PA.
That is true for the SC2 kind of thing, but TA/FA and now PA do not work exactly like that. Assuming PA's balance keep being improved and features added I'd hope you end up with a game where you have to manage warfare in these layers: - undersea (one day possibly even with undersea buildings) - sea - air over sea - land - air over land - orbital on multiple planets while managing a streaming economy with 2 resources and with many different ways to play on each layer. Low skill ceiling? No. Maybe on some tiny planet 1vs1, especially with the rather rushy-balance we got in the last month, but not once the balance allows for larger scale games, but that small maps always have been "easier" to play. Managing your economy to be perfect on a larger scale game is already so hard I doubt any human will ever be able to do it.
well, beyond the fact that the controls in arma are ridiculously complex, it requires a bit more brains to play, too. Thought and planning will do you more good than just a quick reaction time.
