Planned Fleet Control with Command Line

[Lone_Puppy]

Hi Schema & Schine,

Will we see fleet controls via command line?
This would be useful in the chat window, as we do with admin commands.

Also, any news on more orders & features for fleets?
Some I would like are;

• Targeted Mining is something I'd like...
  • Mine Target - Use Select (F key) for targeted mining, attacking, etc.
  • Mine Station - for derelict stations, or my own.
  • Mine Ship - for dismantling my own ships that are too damaged or core overheated ships
  • Mine Planet - for obvious reasons
  • Mine Planet Plate - would work with F-key
• When in battle, controlling your different battle groups for different purposes is handy.
  • Attack Target
  • Attack Station
  • Attack Turrets
  • Attack Ships

Also, I noticed we can delete the recall docking for a particular member of a fleet. It would be great if we could assign one by targeting/selecting it in build mode to a particular fleet member.

 

[therimmer96]

I would like a Move in Formation command. Limit every ship in the fleet to the top speed and acceleration of the slowest ship(s) and have them fly in formation together. Fed up of fleets seperating because they have slightly different TWR. They're fleets, not just a groupe of ships taking commands regardless of each other :c

 

[Lone_Puppy]

I would like a Move in Formation command. Limit every ship in the fleet to the top speed and acceleration of the slowest ship(s) and have them fly in formation together. Fed up of fleets seperating because they have slightly different TWR. They're fleets, not just a groupe of ships taking commands regardless of each other :c

This would be great for fleet cruising and escorting.

Oh that reminds me. An escort order. Would work like formation, but you select a target (F-key) to escort and the fleet escorting would operate as you describe above.

• Escort Sentry - Deal with anything detected at a distance
• Escort Defend - stay with the ship being escorted. Stay close and defend with all batteries.
• Escort Destroy - If it's something important or a prise of battle that you don't want to fall into enemy hands. If losing, then BOOM!

I'm sure other people can think of other ideas.

 

[Ixalite]

I think there should be a self-preservation variable, to adjust how closely your fleet engages a target, and how willing they are to accept damage. Using the old Homeworld "Aggressive, Neutral, Defensive" formation commands, you can order your fleet to all out close range attack, standard combat, or hold back and fire at long range. This can also affect how quickly the fleet retreats, how much damage they take before retreating, and how willing they are to offer combat when comparing their combat strength with that of an enemy.

Example 1: Fleet A is ordered to attack fleet B. The order is "attack sector" with the setting "Aggressive". Fleet A moves into the sector, ignoring all losses, moves in to close contact with Fleet B (less than 1,000m.) Fleet A only retreats when their combined strength falls below 50%. At this point, they return to the location from which the orders were issued, or a friendly base.

Example 2: Fleet C is ordered to attack fleet D. The order is "attack sector" with the setting "Defensive" Fleet C moves into the neighboring sector, and opens fire at maximum range. If ships from fleet D move to engage fleet C more closely, fleet C moves to keep the range open. By this raiding tactic, the AI slowly reduces enemy forces, but the battle could take a long time, even days. If Fleet C takes casualties, call it 20% losses, they give up and return home.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

command line? I'm not sure, last thing you want to be doing while in the heat of battle is typing.

If we got a quick menu that might be amazing. Press one key and it brings up the menu, hit a number key to issue an order or open a sub menu. Think audio alert menus in many popular games.

Open menu, 1 for fighters, 1 for attack selected target
Open menu, 3 for salvagers, 3 mine all overheating ships

With practice you would be able to change orders on the fly assuming the menu is put together well.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

command line? I'm not sure, last thing you want to be doing while in the heat of battle is typing.

If we got a quick menu that might be amazing. Press one key and it brings up the menu, hit a number key to issue an order or open a sub menu. Think audio alert menus in many popular games.

Open menu, 1 for fighters, 1 for attack selected target
Open menu, 3 for salvagers, 3 mine all overheating ships

With practice you would be able to change orders on the fly assuming the menu is put together well.

I want the option, because it can be quicker to hit [Enter] + [up] + [up] to get to previously issued commands that I could preset.

Ideally, I would like a macro system, where I can combine a whole bunch of commands/orders into a logic block of some type (like a custom button/inner ship remote block/whatevr) and add it to my hotbar.

The sounds of an alert would be awesome!

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

I want the option, because it can be quicker to hit [Enter] + [up] + [up] to get to previously issued commands that I could preset.

Ideally, I would like a macro system, where I can combine a whole bunch of commands/orders into a logic block of some type (like a custom button/inner ship remote block/whatevr) and add it to my hotbar.

The sounds of an alert would be awesome!

If you can issue key presses to run commands you could do the same thing [menu key] [1] [2] [3] it would be just as fast as [enter] [up] [up] [enter] but much more reliable as there is no chance it would change during game-play. What happens if you type into chat, now your remembered command is lost in a sea of text and no longer [enter] [up] [up]. With a set menu it would always be 1, 2, 3 and you could set your macro up to always do that.

Not saying commands wouldn't be a nice option, just probably not the best that would work well for everybody. Most players are not going to want to remember a series of commands to order fleets around.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

If you can issue key presses to run commands you could do the same thing [menu key] [1] [2] [3] it would be just as fast as [enter] [up] [up] [enter] but much more reliable as there is no chance it would change during game-play. What happens if you type into chat, now your remembered command is lost in a sea of text and no longer [enter] [up] [up]. With a set menu it would always be 1, 2, 3 and you could set your macro up to always do that.

Not saying commands wouldn't be a nice option, just probably not the best that would work well for everybody. Most players are not going to want to remember a series of commands to order fleets around.

This is true!
I remember a similar menu system in Tribes/2 for calling up voice responses in a custom audio pack you could download for the game.

 

[MDJinRoh]

Any chance to add chained commands ? Like : go to sector xy , mine, return to base , etc.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

Any chance to add chained commands ? Like : go to sector xy , mine, return to base , etc.

Oh yeah! So many other instances where this would be useful.

• Patrol Routes
• Plotting courses to far away places to avoid crashing into suns, entering pirate station sectors, etc
• Taxi services
• Trading Routes
• Cargo Routes

 

[Criss]

There will certainly be more functionality with fleets. Fleets are meant to enhance a single player experience primarily, through NPC's and as your own little (or big) battle force. Making them easier to use is a certainty. I imagine targeted mining and attacking will happen.