suggestion: Add "override all commands"

[SnakebiteEx]

hello,

i think it will be very helpful if we could have a "override all" command.. what do i mean?

for example i have a fleet which is fighting an enemy..
i need backup in another part of the sector
i select the fleet, need to quickly click "remove all orders" and assign a new order before they decide to attack the enemy again..
i dont always make it on the first try so thats why i think an option to "force order" or "override orders" option that will force the fleet to ignore the enemy and go to where
i need it more..

thanks

[Buzz2005]

pause the game, you don't have to be fast for anything anymore

[Rei Ayanami]

I think a good solution would be to have the rightclick-commands menu have two modes that are similar to modern RTS games controls with waypoint/queue features:

1) Select ship
2) without holding shift, rightclick on object or in space to open command menu in "do it now!"-mode
3) select a command -> Ship aborts all current orders (at least those that can be aborted and are not in a critical execution phase) and does whatever you just commanded it to do

Holding the shift key changes the mode from "Do it now!" to "Queue new command"
1) Select ship
2) Hold shift key
3) While holding shift key, rightclick on object or in space to open command menu in "enqueue new command"-mode (you can release the shift key now, the command menu stays in this mode as long as the command menu is open)
3) select a command -> ship continues doing its current command, but gets the new command added at the end of its current command queue

Right now the shift key does seemingly nothing in combination with the right mouse button when on the map, at least as far as i know, so there shouldn't be any conflicts with other map controls.

[Solflame]

To expand upon the RTS thing, Stellaris lets you queue up orders and add both to the end or the beginning of the queue which is really nice. Not sure how easy that would be to do w/ X4 logic, maybe the best would be "make this next executed order" but it'd be nice.

Also in Stellaris, to get the queuing behavior we get right now you have to hold shift, so maybe have a button you hold that does the opposite, clears all orders and then makes a new one?

[Waltz9]

I often notice when you order a command to a fleet it indeed doesn't go on the first time.
You often have to do it twice for the pilote to respond.

[Max Bain]

hello,

i think it will be very helpful if we could have a "override all" command.. what do i mean?

for example i have a fleet which is fighting an enemy..
i need backup in another part of the sector
i select the fleet, need to quickly click "remove all orders" and assign a new order before they decide to attack the enemy again..
i dont always make it on the first try so thats why i think an option to "force order" or "override orders" option that will force the fleet to ignore the enemy and go to where
i need it more..

thanks

This has been suggested many times before. Dont understand why devs dont want this important feature. Its simply a big QOL improvement.

[pref]

Dont understand why devs dont want this important feature. Its simply a big QOL improvement.

Think it might be related to the behaviours as well, those are hooked on game events and often override the current running orders. Each of those would need to check on the queue and put themselves on hold while a higher prio command is executed. Problem is the info is missing that would allow distinguishing between commands based on source (AI vs Player).

Anyway the whole thing is a bit counter-intuitive right now,
- i really don't get why the default is adding commands to the end of the queue, that really depends on command type and context: attack and any similar orders that depend on the current state (proximity, what the opponent is targeting etc) should normally have high priority. They often would not make sense to execute minutes later as the battle layout can change drastically in that time.
Trade commands need the opposite, as one has to issue a buy order first then sell. But there is no time pressure for issuing trade commands, while in combat situations every second counts.
So the current system becomes inconvenient when the player needs to act quick.

- back under 2.0 player commands had no priority over AI ones, not sure if it's still the case. This led to ships acting in an unpredictable way, not with just behaviours, but flee as well - lost a couple ships in an extremely annoying way for ex: they always started to flee, ignoring my move orders which would have easily saved them. I kept issuing my commands which got overridden in a couple secs every time which led to the ships running into certain death when i gave up on trying to stop them.
Imo flee and all the behaviour generated commands should only override the current if ship is working autonomously (executing trade, or behaviours). Otherwise any player order should be executed without AI trying to act smart.
It felt unpredictable because there was no clear distinction when i get to command a ship and when does AI take over. Obviously i could clear the current behaviour and reset after my commands are finished but come on And that wouldn't help with the issue i had with flee anyway.

tldr; having a priority modifier like shift click would be real nice, with default being add to top of the queue except for trade commands. And please let ships obey player commands.

[GCU Grey Area]

- i really don't get why the default is adding commands to the end of the queue, that really depends on command type and context: attack and any similar orders that depend on the current state (proximity, what the opponent is targeting etc) should normally have high priority. They often would not make sense to execute minutes later as the battle layout can change drastically in that time.

Think it's done that way so the player can devise a battle plan, give orders to their ships & then participate directly, while the rest of their ships run on automatic around them with minimal intervention required.

Certainly that's the way I run my battles. Often my ships may have a dozen or more attack & move orders in their queues. Would be quite tricky to set up all of that in reverse, if combat orders defaulted to adding orders to the front of the queue. Would also be annoying whenever a new target appeared at the edge of scanner range. If I ordered my ships to attack it they'd immediately ignore their current target (& all subsequent orders) & set off straight towards it, probably right through the middle of the enemy fleet.

Personally quite happy with the current default. It's comparatively rare for me to have to junk the entire order queue in response to new enemy ship(s) arriving - most of the time tacking a new order onto the end of the queue works fine.

[pref]

Think it's done that way so the player can devise a battle plan, give orders to their ships & then participate directly, while the rest of their ships run on automatic around them with minimal intervention required.

You can plan either way.

Being able to issue commands that get executed instantly no matter what is a bit more important then playstyle preferences imo.

What you wrote is about which is best for the default, but the point is to have the ability to say where the command is created in the queue - not which should be the default queue position. That has much less relevance then having the feature.
I'd be also perfectly fine with having to shift click for instant commands, or having a ui flag that sets which needs the modifier key and which doesn't.
But being able to issue instant orders with least hassle sounds more logical as those tend to be more urgent and also it's just more intuitive that if you issue a command then the ship will go and execute it right away, so i'd keep the modifier for appending to the queue as it is in most games anyway.

[GCU Grey Area]

But being able to issue instant orders with least hassle sounds more logical as those tend to be more urgent and also it's just more intuitive that if you issue a command then the ship will go and execute it right away, so i'd keep the modifier for appending to the queue as it is in most games anyway.

Other way round for me. Prefer the orders I give most frequently to be the least hassle - i.e. if an order override key is added, would prefer that to be one that adds orders to front of queue, rather than having to use it for almost every order I give.

[pref]

if an order override key is added, would prefer that to be one that adds orders to front of queue, rather than having to use it for almost every order I give.

Whichever behaviour is default is not that important.
I get your reasons, and probably i would operate more with the modifier that way then without. But still executing a command right away by default seems so much more intuitive just as much as not having to clear queue before issuing a real urgent order.

Normally i'd expect the ship to have a single command that gets replaced by new ones, and when queueing commands new ones should always be appended. Since prepending doesn't make sense in general. Direct orders would put the queue on hold and that's it.
Then make behaviours only affect the queue and we would have a more clear situation regarding who controls the ship (player vs AI scripts).
But i assume this is probably much harder to do then a modifier key.

[Falcrack]

Why not have it like in other RTS games?

Giving command overrides previous orders
Shift + giving command adds an order to the end of the queue

It would be simple and intuitive.