On production queues (advanced factory UI)

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by TheLambaster, September 6, 2012.

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What do you think?

  1. I like your idea and would like to see it implemented

    17 vote(s)
    65.4%
  2. I like the general idea but would do it differently (post)

    6 vote(s)
    23.1%
  3. I think what you proposed is not needed for the game

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  4. I don't mind

    2 vote(s)
    7.7%
  5. I definitely do not want this in the game

    1 vote(s)
    3.8%
  1. TheLambaster

    TheLambaster Active Member

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    Hi,
    In supcom I always found it very tedious to make the ever same production queues over and over again, every single game. And if you wanted to quickly build a unit that was not in the queue you had to stop the queue, build the specific unit and then reenter the queue… that was rather not great. So I came up with this:



    1. Saving queues:

    You can save and store production queues. They will persist over independent games (like templates in Supcom) until you delete them… You simply have a button in the UI of the factory that says “Save queue” and open that says “open queue store”, which will open up a window with all the saved queues. You can then drag and and drop the queues into the “current production window” (you now, the window that shows the production queue in supcom – I didn’t want to confuse by calling it production queue window) and even concatenate several saved queues.



    2. Inserting units or queues into queues being processed:

    You can drag and drop units from the unit selection window and queues from the queue store into any place between two units in the queue that is currently being processed.



    3. Queue to icon button for a better overview:

    There is a button in the factory UI that transforms all queues in the “current production window” into a single icon each (like a queue icon plus the name you had given the respective queue). This button is also in the “queue store window” - queues are represented by a single icon by default and clicking the button will expand the icons to the full queues.


    What do you think?



    btw: If the devs don’t implement such a thing, they really should give modders the possibility to do it.
    Last edited: September 6, 2012
  2. cola_colin

    cola_colin Moderator Alumni

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    migt be useful

    This function is available in SupCom:FA with gaz gui-mod
    And yes it is helpful.

    I dont think this would help me much, no need.
  3. nobrains

    nobrains Member

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    This statement is almost funny.
    I would like to see this with less "special buttons".
  4. TheLambaster

    TheLambaster Active Member

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    What do you mean? I am not a native speaker... maybe I chose the wrong wording?

    Also here I don't quite know, what you have in mind...
  5. lafncow

    lafncow Active Member

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    I like the idea & know the pain point well from TA, but I think simplicity is best for both the gamers and the devs. Here's my proposal:

    When selected, you can see a factory's current queue.
    You can drag items up & down in the queue.

    Done. No saving & importing queues, but it's intuitive, effective, and hopefully easy to code.
  6. TheLambaster

    TheLambaster Active Member

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    Well, the un-simplicity is after all optional... nobody has to make full use of what a powerful UI can do, if it is not mandatory to do so to play the game...

    I for my self ma totally in favor of a most advanced UI, as long as everything is optional, so it doesn’t get in your way, if you don't want to use it.
  7. thapear

    thapear Member

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    This idea could be entirely modded in if the UI allows as much modding as SCFA.
  8. doktor167

    doktor167 New Member

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    Assuming the porduction queues will be similar to the production queues in SupCom, there is only one function I'd like to add :

    Having the possibility to interrupt the current queue in order to build a specific unit and then resuming the queue.

    Let me explain. For example I want to build 2 engineers to reclaim or build but my factory is currently pumping out a predefined queue of units. I should be able to tell it "Build me two engineers as soon as possible then resume" very simply. Here is a proposition, make a shortcut to insert one time constructions within a queue. For example CTRL + Click on units in the construction panel would order the factory to build those units as soon as possible (meaning after the current construction) then returning to the queue.

    This would make my life easier and allow me to perform a common action in one click rather than stopping the queue, build what I need, wait for the completion, re-creating the queue with 4+ clicks and x-time wasted while watching.
  9. TheLambaster

    TheLambaster Active Member

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    Yeah, that or parallel queues (but not parallel construction), as I proposed.
  10. doktor167

    doktor167 New Member

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