Advanced construction templates

Hey,
I don't know about TA but in SupCom there was the template feature. Whilst in principle it was a great feature it lacked one critical element, that was rotation. I would be very delighted if in PA there would be this additional element (as I very much expect at least a basic template feature to be in the game). Ideally single buildings would be rotatable, what would then make smooth rotation of templates possible. Maybe some additional elements could be added to the template feature like a template builder, where you can get a 2d view of the buildings and where things like impassable areas due to buildings being too close to each other, the over all build time under circumstances that you can specify and the overall resources that it costs are displayed. In case of resource production buildings the overall output (mass and power?) might be calculated.

What about 'dynamic' templates. You take a template. It has three factories next to each other - that doesn't fit on this map however, so you can move one of the factories a bit away so that it does. You also have a Mass Extractor surrounded by Mass Storages on your template - but the mass deposit is in such a place that the rest of the template wouldn't fit. So you move the Mass Extractor and its 'connected' buildings (I suppose you can define this).

Maybe a bit complicated, but I'd say it's useful to build up a base with one key if you're busy on multiple planets.

Good idea, yes... maybe by pressing ctrl the template stays where it is and you can then move the objects around without the template moving as a whole!

Rotation was implemented by a UI mod called GAZ_UI.

This sounds like a useful feature. Although it may be difficult to implement.

Keep in mind that in Supreme Commander you could easily move waypoints once they were stamped on the map by holding shift and click+dragging them. Even works for buildings.

Not really an issue, as if the Storage couldn't fit in right beside the Mex spot it didn't give it's bonus to the extractor so there isn't any point in building it to begin with.

Otherwise I don't think anything really needs to be changed about the system implemented in FA aside from the ability to rotate the entire template.

Mike

Yeah no... that was just a fix that wasn't all too great itself, due to the limitedness of the unmodded version. Having four versions of the same template in the template bar for four different directions wasn't quite what I head in mind...

You've obviously not used the latest GAZ_UI... Middle mouse click rotates the template you currently have selected.

Oh, cool. Got to check that out. But still, for PA I wish a more flexible way - ideally 360° continuous placing.

Massive yes for templates, I find them invaluable in Forged Alliance.

Judging from the poll, many people appear to want a template feature. However, this thread has sedimented already... maybe those folks who want that feature should keep the thread up a little and/ or add some ideas. Otherwise this might not get enough attention and end not being in the game...

It's occurred to me that the main reason for templates in Forged Alliance was to take advantage of adjacency. I don't think PA will have adjacency so the might be a redundant feature.

But if it's easy enough to program in then good uses will doubtless be found, so please do include it.

I agree with this, the only template I ever made was a mex surrounded by storage.

From what I've understood, these templates are defined in-game? Would they be saved from game to game?

They were the templates most used, but don't think for a second they were the only ones, fact is when you're playing across planets it would be much easier to at least start your base off with a template to get all the important bits down and customizing it with regualr build orders to suite the situation.

You could select and group of buildings and use those to define a template, these were saved from game to game.

Mike

Then you did it wrong^^

I used templates a lot. For t3 eco-farms, for defensive structures (think of the mandatory t1 point defense surrounded by wall sections) and factories (facs with 2 mexes on them for example). For huge maps I even had expansion base templates (3 land facs, 1 air fac, 1 shield gen, 4 flak towers, 4 PDs, 1 t2 radar...)

I voted for this in the positive then, sounds like a nice feature that will see lots of use. It's a bit of micro investment to help reduce a lot of micro in base building and management later.

And thus crucial to have for games of the scale of supcom and above (as PA probably will be...). Actually I would like the "no-voters" to explain their point, why they think templates would not be necessary to have... "I didn't use them" is not quite an objective argument as to why they are not needed.

I voted no. But I used them and the rotation mod in SC.

For me templates were symptom of the burdensome building placement micro adjacency bonuses introduced.
I say ditch them both, the game shouldn't make pedantic building placement necessary, so despite thier wider utility templates become largely redundant in my eyes.

How about a sub-commander that you could just tell what to build? (Go get me money! or I need lots of tanks!)

Then you launch them at a planet and they just start building their own set up. As the cub-commander levels up they start using better and better AI.