GeneralsGamePatch
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TheSuperHackers
Add random army choice to select only vanilla armies
When selecting armies, "Random" currently means selection of one of
- USA
- China
- GLA
- USA Air Force
- USA Superweapon
- USA Laser
- China Tank
- China Infantry
- China Nuke
- GLA Stealth
- GLA Demolition
- GLA Toxin
Add a new choice, "Random vanilla" which means selection of one of
- USA
- China
- GLA
Mybe options like "Random army GLA faction" ,"Random army USA faction" ,"Random army Chaina faction" is a good idea too
The option stated in the OP is the one friends and I have sorely missed in LAN parties.
However, if we add more (I agree with the suggestion to do so), I would further suggest "Random General" which picks one of
USA Air Force USA Superweapon USA Laser China Tank China Infantry China Nuke GLA Stealth GLA Demolition GLA Toxin
Instead of cluttering the list further, maybe consider "custom match rules" where you select only the armies you want to allow. Random function would then pick out of those.
Instead of cluttering the list further, maybe consider "custom match rules" where you select only the armies you want to allow. Random function would then pick out of those.
That's restrictive. One player may wish to play a vanilla army while another may wish to play any random army for example.
(it sounds like a good idea as its own feature though)
Instead of cluttering the list further, maybe consider "custom match rules" where you select only the armies you want to allow. Random function would then pick out of those.
Very good idea.
Only downside is that this applies to all players right?
Edit: One way to give this more flexibility is giving the option to set the allowed armies per team.
Edit 2: Or the best of both worlds, instead of only being able to checkbox the allowed armies the custom rules, the host can checkbox any of the mentioned ideas above.
I think the two ideas discussed here; adding to the army selection drop down, and adding custom match rules options are both good suggestions, as separate features with some interplay.
If we put new choices at the bottom, then I don't think cluttering the drop down is going to be that much of a problem. That is, we can order the full set of options like this for example:
- USA
- China
- GLA
- USA Air Force
- USA Superweapon
- USA Laser
- China Tank
- China Infantry
- China Nuke
- GLA Stealth
- GLA Demolition
- GLA Toxin
- Random
- Random Vanilla
- Random General
- Random USA
- Random China
- Random GLA
If a custom match options feature is implemented that allows the host to restrict the armies available in the match, then that will restrict or remove from the random options presented in the drop down selection.
If we put new choices at the bottom, then I don't think cluttering the drop down is going to be that much of a problem. That is, we can order the full set of options like this for example:
Can also try CheckList, where a single selection will activate the selected army, and choosing several will select randomly from chosen list
That would probably replace the existing "Random" choice. So to maintain UX, a "toggle_all" type of button in the UI would be good to simply check all armies as the new way of selection any random army with one click.
That sounds good, but I have a few questions about such checklist:
- I presume that if you don't select any, you're automatically observer?
- How does a multi-selection show up other players in the lobby? Does it show "random" where you have hover over someones name to see the specific selection?
- Should the host still be able to control which armies are visible in the list?
Since the checklist idea changes the UI instead of adding to it, it invariably leads to some design questions, like the ones you posted.
In support of the original idea of just extending the list of options as a simple feature, I would point to Age of Empires and its huge scrollable drop down list of Civilizations to choose from, that works just fine. A long list is just not that much of an issue in practice.
To entertain the checklist idea though, I would say
- I presume that if you don't select any, you're automatically observer?
If we're already changing the UI (checkboxes, custom game options, ..), then Player | Observer could be a radio button one level above the army selection in the UI.
- How does a multi-selection show up other players in the lobby? Does it show "random" where you have hover over someones name to see the specific selection?
I don't know, good question. Maybe it could show e.g. "3 selections" if the player checked three armies? Hovering to show the selections sounds good.
- Should the host still be able to control which armies are visible in the list?
That idea of the host being able to set an army filter again is a separate feature request in my eyes, orthogonal to this one. But the interplay between them yes, could be that the armies deselected by the host would not show (or be greyed out, unselectable or strikethrough) on the player UI.
- Random
- Random Vanilla
- Random General
What's the difference between Random and Random General?
What's the difference between Random and Random General?
Random as it exists in the game today picks any army. Random General would pick any specialized army, skipping vanilla armies.
Nice! Also, it would be cool a feature to select same army for everyone on the room. Eg: The host wants a ffa with only GLA Vanilla, then a option "same faction for all" > the host chooses which army he wants > auto faction "copy" to everyone on the room.
tbh, it probably be easier to ban armies from the random selector instead. (also, they're called original or normal armies, not vanilla, all armies are vanilla since they're from the main unmodded ZH game.)
