Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

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tkobo
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Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

I seem to have issues with ships accepting a move order to a new system, BUT theres also sometimes a large amount of time before the ship/s act on the order, so its hard to tell whats going.
Did the order not process for some reason ? OR are the ships just taking a long period of time to execute the order ? I can never tell....

I think so form of indication that the ship is under orders would help me alot. Perhaps have the bar of a ship executing an order could show differently in some way...flashing...or a charge up like effect... or change to an arrow instead of a bar... something.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

thinking about this as i try and get multiple groups of space ships from one end of the map to the other...why not just have them actually visibly move down the white path lines....instead of the teleport effect you have now.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by Balthagor »

So we already have a few indicators that ships have orders, but players could be looking in many places. In the unit lists, the line turns grey for units that have orders. That's carry over from SR. In the unit tooltip and in the unit popup, you can see a list of the orders they have. We also have path lines that show on the planet and system level. I think we're fully covered for orders like move, patrol, escort, waypoint, etc.

It is possible we need more feedback for some of the new orders. This overlaps with the new order-click sequence that will be in the next fasttrack build (should go out today or tomorrow).

Build space dock includes a move order so I think it's fine. Colonize, Drop and launch will new be a two step to get you to the level for your end point. Again, I think you get enough feedback.

FTL is the only order that has the delay, that can cause confusion. So that's just a question of System and Galaxy level. Like you mentioned, we have the animation showing at system level so you see that the ship is "spinning up" for the jump. We can't show it moving along the line, that's not how our movement works. The delay is not the time to cross that distance, it's the time to prepare the drive. In the unit tooltip and popup, there is a progress bar shown when spinning up. Also, if a unit is given a new order while spinning up, the spin up is stopped and progress lost.

I think what we're missing is path lines at galaxy level. I don't think we can effectively use the spin up animation at the galaxy level, but I suppose we could try it. I think if when a player gives an FTL order to a unit, a path line appears on the map to show "this unit is starting the spin up and will jump along this path when ready", that will make it clear what's going on.

thoughts?
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by Balthagor »

I did think of one other thing missing; when you issue the order from the galaxy level to a point in the system level, there is no indication at the target hex that something is going to FTL to this spot. I'll note that as a separate ticket.

Feedback on my post above would still be appreciated if anyone has thoughts about it.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

if the path line is that green line, you cant see it if your on target with the destination ,or even close, and the green line also shows for what would be jumps into empty space,if you could make them... so its not very helpful.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by Balthagor »

Jumping to empty space is not allowed

The line colour could be different at galaxy level. It could also be thicker or a graphic line something like >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by Balthagor »

We've added a sort of notification at the destination hex. It will be in the next fast track. Feedback would be appreciated once you see it in game.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

vast improvement.I can now tell without question whether the order took...
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

freaking ..... spoke too soon, somethings not working..Now instead of assigning the jump,it tells me planet unexplored and i never get the ftl incoming message...

Okay,it might be that you dont get the flt incoming message til the ship has its jump charge full.... this defeats the purpose of the message. Also ,is there some >>>>>>>> like icon that appears on the system the jump is going to ? If so, its hard to see and again might only appear when the charge is full and the jump about to happen.


If this all is so, we STILL need a way to know whether the order has taken hold or not.Something thats instant and doesnt require sitting around and waiting for the charge to reach full.

Do you get the ftl incoming message for everyship in the bg ? if so thats pointless...
Last edited by tkobo on Feb 17 2021, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

Why not just have the green line override the white line if there is a jump order .
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

yea, this is just a mess now.... If we are just passing thru,which in most cases we will be, zooming us into the system is just annoying.We really have zero interest as to where in the system we appear by default, when we are just going to a system to get to another system.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by Balthagor »

We've actually done more updates to this since I last posted. The next fasttrack should come out tomorrow, I think it addresses a number of your concerns. Your comments overlap with some discussions were were having just yesterday.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

:-)
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

Side note, the system works okay if your ftling to a specific spot in a system.

The blue indicator > is very easy to see ,and it seems to stay til all the ships in a bg have made the jump.so you have an idea of when the whole bg has arrived.
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Re: Some indicator that a unit in space has orders

Post by tkobo »

Its got new issues... You can now setup a ftl jump to a non planet spot. It wont make the jump ,but the order will process and take aim.

A thought occurred to me.... if you move the jump indicators to the line between the planets ,it would fix a lot of the issues with spotting them

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 542AE5E06/

its already possible, you just would need to make the bug a supported feature :)

Also, if you make the indicators appear at the time the order is issued,instead of when the ships are ready to jump....i think you'd have nailed it.

....And fix the way soemtimes the ftl jump order brings you into the system to pick a specific spot for the jump, and sometimes it doesnt.... it really shouldnt. If you want a specific spot, you can enter the system yourself and pick it,so there no reason to make people who dont enter the system.
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