Unit skirmish button!

I sure hope that PA's combat isn't that similar to SC2's. Otherwise we could just go play SC2 in the first place.
The way you describe kiting Infernos with Dox sounds more like a mini-game to me than an essential challenge of a strategy game.

I don't expect the level of AI that's seemingly feasible in SC2 to be viable in a game of PA's scale. Then again, that particular example wasn't all that impressive IMO.

I'm not sure I understood all of that, but I don't think that the outcome of engagements can be reduces to those binary options. Unit AI will probably do a good enough job in most cases but by no means is it a sure-fire way to win. A skilled player will always be able to outsmart the unit AI and for certain situations disabling certain behaviour will be the best course of action. IMO this adds depth to a combat system while at the same time reducing the level of complexity on the bottom line. The best players probable will experience a slight increase of challenge when facing average players (which isn't a bad thing), while the barrier of entry is lowered for everyone.

You might want to give it a try, if only just for that added perspective. It might help show you that automation not necessarily trivializes engagements and detracts from your enjoyment of the game. YMMV, of course.

The disadvantages certainly outweigh the advantages. You still haven't answered my question: Why should an attacking player be subject to the detriment of having to micro a group of units to kill another group which are on auto?

If you want automated defence, build a tower or better yet, go back to Sim City if you want a pure macro game. We could also add a command feature for factories where they grow legs and move and evade on their own and "We will figa out da belence layta!". If your units are in danger why don't you just retreat them? That's like 2 clicks. Set up hotkeys for camera (Protip: you should be doing this before the game even starts... ).

I have a feeling this suggestion is supported because of the lag of switiching between planets and selecting units. Sure, commanding units on multiple planets is difficult, but that is only a problem when it takes 10 seconds for you to switch over there.

That's ok. Don't use the Skirmish mode.

I want it. And if possible I'll use it.

Isn't that simple?

Lol it's not that simple. Skirmish mode gives a huge advantage to the user. User can sit back while attacker has to chase or whatever.

If you want Starcraft on a larger scale, well, go play Starcraft. If you fear your superior micro might be invalidated by simple and totally predictable automated unit behaviour it was not superior in the first place. Which would then amount to not separating the best from the better, but those who choose to gimp themselves and those who choose to make decisions that matter.

edit:
How come every opponent of auto-skirmishing chose to ignore the downsides for the skirmishers in this? If auto-skirmishing is not optional but always-on for certain kinds of units this opens all kinds of avenues for people to exploit. On both sides. Have roaming skirmishers that automatically harass your opponent. Have patrolling sentinels that automatically repel those skirmishers without having to chase them down and kill them. Encircling. Pincer attacks. Driving wedges between formations. All the tasty things that are fun to execute, fun to watch, easy to come up with but a chore to execute.

No it means that I would actually have to pay attention to my units. I'd be wasting time on micro while the other guy can do something else. To me that's completely unfair.

This feature isn't much like the skirmish feature in Total War, it's more like the 'Let AI control this unit' feature.

How that? You still need to give them an attack order. Auto-skirmishing just gives you a retreating behaviour. If you do not enable it on units with huge range and high speed there is no way this favours the skirmisher. And if you do, you can achieve the same with micro. Which to me indicates a balance problem, not an automation problem.

Because there aren't any downsides to automating combat of an army.

It removes 90% of the micro for what cost? Ow the unit's have their normal counters!


Yeah, no that's how the game works already.

If a group of infernos are attacking t1 tanks and they are on skirmish, I would have to keep microing to get them to attack etc., while he is just firing at me, without requiring any attention. You do realise units auto attack when they are in range? How is that a balance issue? I've told you I HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION YOU DON'T. How is this so hard to understand? It's an automation problem because in that conflict, you can be somewhere else, you can begin flanking me, managing your factories etc, while I am trying to kill automated units.

You're very idea is to reduce micro for the would-be defender but you are just creating more micro for the attacker, you're shifting the goal posts. It's doing nothing productive for ease of play.

Minus pointless babysitting. Which makes it strictly better in my book.

@taxman66 Unit performance should be independent of micro. At least if we are still going for a macro game. As such I see your concern but I do not think a player should be punished for not counter-microing. It seems it all comes down to a matter of taste, really. I want to outwit my opponent, not outclick him.

edit:
If we are talking about a button to enable skirmish behaviour for every unit out there, I am with @taxman66 here. It simply shifts the load. If skirmish became an attribute, though, something that is always active, then there is loads of potential in my book.

Then use the patrol function.

And you know, not have units that automatically do stuff when you haven't put them onto a specific command to do so.

Skirmishing isn't required when we have the patrol function.

You know it's not true. If units are OP in Skirmish mode, they are OP just the same under manual control.

Beside that, there are plenty of downsides for automatic behaviors and we all complain about how stupid the AI time to time is.

And how's that different from me actually maneuevering those tanks? Actually, were me, I would probably do a better job in keeping on distance, and decide where my tanks should actually retreat. Manual control will always have the upper hand.

But activating Skirmish on my units will allow me to focus on a bigger picture of the conflict.

I've read many users on this forum advocating for macro and adversing even the tiniest micro. How comes that a Skirmish mode now is evil?

So I should fire manually each one of my units, just to make you happy?

And that's exactly the point. I want to be somewhere else. I want to tell my tanks "attack and stay in range". Forget about. And focus on macro stuffs.

I remember Brian once saying that while his opponent microes his troops, he focuses on macro and ultimately wins. Good, I agree, I want to do exactly that.

Skirmish isn't different than other automated behaviors we already have in PA. It's just a natural evolution of a proper UI for the scale of strategy PA brings into play.

Patrolling isn't required when we have the queue-commands function. See what I did there? Textbook reductio ad absurdum.

How's that? When you give the attack order, your units move forward and attack. Or open fire if the target is already in range (if they're not firing at it already - how's that for automate behavior? ).

Where is the additional microing in attacking, assuming the defendant is in Skirmish mode? You would still microing your units way to the final target. There is absolutely no difference in that.

To bring a successful attack you still need faster units or units with a wider range than the opponent. So, really, pointless objection.

That isn't the abserdum thing, because you are right, with shift commands we don't actually need patrolling.

Patrolling however puts many commands into one,

This advocated skirmishing command doesn't put many commands into one, as it's not even a command at all, it instead making the unit's themselves make their own commands, as to why I am against it.

Yes, but for no time investment for the player that uses the unit AI to do it for them.

If there isn't a cost, then effectively it is the superior choice by default, no AI problems included.

I have the ask, how is this skirmishing not just a automated micro? How would you still need to "microing your units way to the final target."

Because that's the main problem I have in this, what does the skirmishing player actually need to do that wouldn't just make this game into a movie?

Moving past vyolin who is obviously going to post something that can only make me assume that he thinks I am insane for not agreeing with him, and picking apart my point rather then understanding why I am saying it, because I am obviously wrong because I don't think having my units automatically skirmish (Which is apparently just the roaming command from TA, despite everything that has been told to me.) is the next coming of Jesus.

Like how many times have the people in this thread asked why the people who don't like it haven't addressed something and haven't proven this idea wrong, when this idea isn't in the game yet.

We should be asking you to prove this is right? You know without just name dropping zero-k like that is an acceptable answer.

The punishment of not paying attention is losing your units.

But I will be somewhere else. Don't you see the advantage for the skirmisher? Can't you see that attacking will be nullified since the micro efficiency for the defender using evade is higher? Are you so blind that you don't see my point?

Well, then put it as simple as possible so even you can get it:

Either this behavior becomes a core mechanic, or it will be added with client side mod. And I bet you are definitely not among the players who are playing "vanilla PA" just because it's more fair. It's a trivial task and it deserves to be automated. And it will be automated, one way or another.

Wrong. You are just plain wrong. The designated role for Vanguards and Infernos is assaulting bases, not hunting down mobile units. And now please tell me how defense towers would skirmish...
All these "problems" you see, they only originate from the attempt to abuse micro to extend unit roles past their designation.

"Designated". By who? I can use them how I want, they are fairly flexible if you are not a noob.