I may be misunderstanding how serious a game this is aiming to be, but I'll make this suggestion anyway. Do forgive me if this is already in the plan. Given the multi-front battles on multiple bodies, I can see micromanagement become something of a chore and 300APM player requirements end up being entry requirements to tourneys. Spring RTS (started as TA in 3D) implemented the ability for clients to run lua-widgets that can read information, change the GUI, issue orders and generally do anything a player can do. Note that this is all client-side, not everyone has to have the same widgets to play because widgets cannot change the simulation. If players can't theoretically do it, widgets can't either. Indeed, you can actually reload your widgets mid-game, and theoretically patch your widgets while they run; I just did this not an hour ago because one of mine bugged in a way that I could fix quickly and I had a few seconds downtime. The flexibility this gives to Spring RTS and all the various games under that engine is incredible. Player-coded widgets have given Spring RTS the following functions: Custom Formations This is THE golden widget. This one allows the player to drag a command over the map and selected units will split up their commands along the path the mouse moves over. This has become so critical to gameplay that ALL major mods pack this widget. I cannot imagine playing an RTS without custom formations after having used it, it is that perfect combination of easy-to-use and incredible functionality. Improved Metal Makers BA (a TA derived mod) uses this heavily, as does any other that has metal makers. This toggles MMs on/off based on the player's energy level, making economy management a matter of build-and-forget instead of the incredible micro-management hell (I often just give up and excess energy in TA) Auto-skirm/swarm Long range units can be made to keep their range from enemies with a simple fight command. They will progress towards the goal until they see an enemy and then maintain maximum range until the enemy is dead (including automatically retreating). Short range fast units will jink to screw with shot prediction and generally behave like a swarm of ants. Defense Range This one manages information. It takes all your defensive towers and draws circles representing their range. Any sighted enemy towers will also have their ranges drawn until you confirm they are dead (see the spot and it's empty) Note that the widget takes into account spring's ballistic trajectory code and correctly compensates for the range increase given by the height of the tower above the terrain... and draws deformed circles if the terrain is uneven, say if the tower is built on a slope so that it has more range in one direction than another. --------------------------------------- There are many many more. These are just the primary examples and the most noticeable in a BA or ZK game. I have personally written an AA fire control widget that allocates shots from antiair to targets for (more) optimal allocation of shots. Many of these widgets reduce micromanagement and improve the overall strategic aspect. Players needing to micro less can spare more time to think up and execute strategic moves. There was no way I could pull off the kind of traps, baits and maneuvers I regularly perform in ZK without the reduced micro requirement, starcraft is essentially unplayable for me (I have ~60 APM on a perfect day... and have 1800 elo in ZK's ranking, for what that's worth) They can also perform information filtering services. A notable widget marks important structures (Fusion, nuke silo, anti-nuke, etc.) as they come into sight, allowing a player scanning with a radar plane to maintain strategic zoom and still have immediate notification of important targets. Another plays a simple notification sound when enemy air is spotted to remind the player to build AA without having to watch the entire map. In the end, automation improves the game by moving the game out of the tactical level into the strategic. And then provides the tools manage information and armies on the strategic scale. Allowing player-coded widgets merely taps into the playerbase for ideas and coding work. With a simple enough language like LUA, many people can put their ideas into practice and see how they work (or not work as it so often turns out). I sincerely hope Planetary Annihilation includes this level of freeform automation.
As much as some of the automation appeals to me, I think this would handicap new players to severely if the plugins where not readily available. and you can code you're self out of the game, just ending up with battling AIs.
Of course an easy method to use plugins would have to come with this. Spring RTS loads all plugins in a folder (whether they run or not depends on the default option set by the plugin) and the files are just plain text so you just download a few kb and drop it in. It extends further than fighting AIs. Widgets have the potential to be a full AI, true, but humans are better than AIs at nearly every level apart from blind APM or complex math. Widget automation allows mini-AIs. They take care of one thing stupidly, so you can focus on managing the overall flow. Like the mention of automatic metal maker togglers. It doesn't take much AI to "on when E is high, off otherwise" and while it is not 100% efficient, it gets the job done and removes low level micro from the game. Anything that you need a human to do, an AI won't be able to do. (unless you feel like making a submission for a modified Turing Test? =D) Examples include guesswork, interpreting information and just plain gut feeling. There have been many times when I "had a bad feeling" that turned out to save my bacon, or when I just "know" that there's a hidden bunch of cloaked units over 'there'. Strategic level moves like "this squad goes around the back of the mountain on hold fire" is also very hard to automate.
I agree. One possible workaround would be to have the option to enable/disable automation widgets when hosting a game, so people wanting to play "vanilla" would still have the option to do so (and preferably make this the default for new players). Of course, from a practical standpoint, if automation became popular enough, one might not be able to easily find a vanilla game.
Just flip your premise around. If veteran players are using good UI mods with their game, why not make it so that noob players are able to see which mods they're running, and also have the option IN THE LOBBY of downloading & installing the mod on the fly? Not only does this remove any form of unfair advantage, it also would promote the spread of good mods and enhance the gameplay of everyone.
This is a good feature that does help remove some unfair advantage, but it is hard to say if it removes all, since there is some advantage in knowing what a mod does or doesn't do.
That is an awesome idea! Just goes to show that having more people think them up is better! *wonders if it is possible to implement in spring...*
I can see that too, but I don't see a real issue. To be at the top of any RTS, you need excellent map awareness and multitasking. If you don't want that, you need to rather play a super simple game rather than strive for an extra complicated one. Though 300 APM, not likely. The more streamlined UI you have, the harder it becomes to reach a high APM (since you can do more with same amount of commands - you are no longer so much limited by the speed of your fingers when you can do something with 2 instead of 5 clicks, does not mean your brain can now process things at a 2,5x rate).
If units autoskirmish by themselves you free up attention and "brain processing power" to zoom out and do other things allowing you to gain better map awereness and multitasking.
