High Command suggestion: Go / Proceed function

[james mckenzie-smith 1]

The High Command module is a good step forward for the ArmA series; at present, however, it can be hectic to arrange coordinated maneuvers due to the tendency for squads to proceed on waypoints right away as they are made. This makes right-clicking on a waypoint and editing the actions there a bit of a race against the squad, and how fast it will get to the waypoint. This is further exacerbated when one is moving more than a single squad.

I suggest that no squad proceed on High Command waypoints until a GO button is clicked by the player, signifying that the squad can proceed. Waypoints created for the squad will remain pending until such time as the order to proceed is given. Squads could be told to proceed as individual units, or en masse.

Examples:

Here, Squad 1 is selected, and waypoints are plotted. The squad does not proceed, however, because 'GO' has not been clicked. Each waypoint can be right-clicked and edited at leisure.

Now, Squad 2 is selected, with more waypoints plotted. Squad 1 has not moved, because it has not been re-selected, and 'GO' has not been clicked.

The player has selected Squad 1 as well as Squad 2, and clicked on 'GO'. Both squads now leave on their waypoint trails. Note that it is now far easier to coordinate movement.

Squad 2 has been selected again, and now 'HALT' appears as an option. If the unit is halted, then its actions can be edited at leisure, and it can be further coordinated with any movements made by Squad 3, say.

I hope that this finds the dev team's approval, as it would radically improve the enjoyment possible from the HC function.

I do have a couple more suggestions.

First, keep the current system in place for movement in the 3D world as opposed to the map, for those needing to make quick commands in the heat of battle. Second, allow my suggested system to work for helicopters, but it is probably too cumbersome for fast jets. I'm not too sure that anyone uses fast air in HC, but you never know.

[dmarkwick 261]

Sounds like a reasonable enough suggestion :) I actually haven't done very much with the HC module, but can you sync actions so that for example two groups won't proceed until both have reached the synced waypoints?

[Wolfrug 0]

This is a very good idea - supported. A good addition to the HC module, for sure, and hopefully not too difficult to implement. Thumbs up!

Regards,

Wolfrug

[sakura_chan 9]

This could be done so easily as the entire HC system is just a bunch of scripts.

[james mckenzie-smith 1]

...can you sync actions so that for example two groups won't proceed until both have reached the synced waypoints?

Yes, it is possible to set departure times at each waypoint. Of course, as it stands, with the mad dash to right click and set times as your units remorselessly proceed on their plotted routes, this is impractical for coordinating more than a couple of units, and practically impossible if the distances involved are short.

[rübe 127]

IMHO we need another 3d-ingame-gimmick-dialog (though what? a laptop?) for HC. Maybe something that would allow customization - that is, so that you may feed it custom scripts to be fired, much like custom radio commands.

High Command is really a great thing for Arma, but really needs to get a much better interface.

And I really, really hope, that some day, we'll get an AI HC component of some sort (setup an AI command chain, ready, go). Tough I'm not quite sure, how this could work exactly, hehe.