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In an effort to more efficiently translate player intent to character action, I suggest that some method be added to apply the currently-readied order to the secondary selection unit. This would allow for better control over the timing of one's actions and alleviate some of the game's dependence on twitch-clicking. At the moment, I can think of three ways to do this, which I list here in order of my personal preference:
- Add a hotkey which simply resolves a readied action (cross-hair cursor) to the secondary selection. An error message would be displayed if the current secondary selection is an invalid unit or no secondary selection exists. Such an error would not affect the readied state of the action, so the player can still click on his intended target immediately after. This is my preferred method, as it fully preserves the two-step nature of the process and requires only the definition of a new, distinct hotkey binding.
- Instead of a global hotkey, allow the hotkey of the currently-readied action to be pressed again to resolve the action on the secondary selection. This includes clicking the button twice with the mouse, or either combination of pressing the hotkey and using the mouse. This is more efficient in terms of keyboard travel, but is more prone to errors from accidentally pushing or clicking an order twice. It also makes the buttons modal in a somewhat non-intuitive way.
- Allow the player to use a modifier key to express an intent to perform the action on the secondary selection. An invalid or nonexistent secondary selection unit would cause the modifier key to be ignored, falling back to the standard behavior of presenting the player the cross-hair cursor with which he may select a target. Disadvantages of this are that the modifier keys are already pretty overloaded already, and--more importantly--that it breaks the convention of "choose action, select target" that is standard in most RTS games in favor of the more RPG-oriented "perform action on target."
To to the inevitable cries of the "purists" that this "makes it too easy," I would respond that "making it easy" for player intent to be translated to character action is one of the two core purposes of any game's interface (the other being the efficient communication of state information). I believe that any progress towards that goal which still preserves the level of autonomy required of the player is desirable.
Thank you for your attention.
-hyperactiveChipmunk
This, in a nutshell, is why I don't approve of this idea.Originally Posted by hC
This suggestion is akin to auto-aiming in an FPS. Auto-aiming in an FPS would make it easy for player intent to be translated into character action, yet its certainly not a good idea from a game design standpoint. I will admit that whether or not your suggestion is a good idea for Heroes of Newerth is not as clear cut as it is with auto-aiming in an FPS. However, it is my opinion that manual targeting is a good skill to keep in the game.
The "auto-aim" can be achieved by holding down the (poorly-named) "Center on Info" hotkey. This causes the camera to hold stationary relative to the very same "secondary selection" unit, where it can be quite easily clicked.
I do not think that this is appreciably different, at least in terms of automating something to a level that was previously unachievable.
I first wanted to lay out the idea in its entirety so meaningful discussion could take place without misconception. I was hoping to get a feel for which of the three methods (or some other method I didn't think of) was preferred, and identify any technical issues with it. Once a single solution is decided upon, a focused poll can be made with a simplified explanation.
-hC
I want to follow up on why I don't believe this to be true, since it seems to be everyone's first argument.
In an FPS, one's target is a point in space. You fire your weapon there and hopefully it causes the death of your enemy in some way. In our case, an RTS-styled game, the target is the unit itself. The Pyromancer cannot target his Blazing Strike ultimate on any point on the map. This "auto-aim" already occurs by virtue of the fact that he cannot shoot at anything that is not his enemy. So much for single-unit targeted spells.
Now, the other types of targeting are where this gets fuzzy, and was something I was hoping the follow-up discussion would address. I'm not sure whether area- and point-targeted spells should be cast in this manner. My initial instinct is to say, "no, that WOULD be like auto-aiming," but after further reflection, I come to the realization that these skills use those targeting models precisely BECAUSE clicking directly on a unit isn't always the most-preferred course of action. The analogous method using the Center on Info key would still provide a better solution, since it allows one to "lead" the target, among other things. The method I am proposing would be identical to centering on the unit and clicking the exact middle pixel of the screen. Your enemy could still dodge the Javelin of Light or escape the Volatile Pod's radius the same exact way he normally could.
This strengthens my assertion that this adds no fundamentally-new capability to the game. It is merely a convenience that would not alter the balance of gameplay. In fact, I believe I could prove this formally, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader for now. >8)
Thoughts?
-hC
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