A menu allowing players to request specific buildings has probably been suggested many times before, although I could not identify a discussion on the topic. The options would be part of the f menu or a separate menu and would display a message in the chat with a unique colour. (Request) Herbie (A2) wants a Refinery. The commander would see the message in a more vivid colour or perhaps a separate part of the interface. It could also be extended to play a short sound or display a request Icon on the mini map, specifically for the commander. You may consider this feature to be trivial and unnecessary, however, in my opinion, it rectifies several key problems. Separates actual chat conversations from requests. It is much easier to understand a conversation if topics are separated by colour. Makes requests easier to understand. Terms such as Ref and Rax can be confusing. Makes the process faster. I hate typing and binding. Improves Commander awareness. Requests often don't get noticed, even by the best commanders. This comes back to the topic of if engineers should be able to place their own buildings. The consensus seems to be that they shouldn't. This idea attempts to alert the commander of requests rather than relying on them to continually poll the chat.
Yeah, I still have this problem too. People often also type the requests to people who have mics, since they aren't dealing with the spam the comm has to.
I really like the idea being a seperate part of the interface (and the whole idea it's self). Currently the chat is the place for all text based information and it's hard to notice important messages in it.
to what real issue would that be just a bandaid? i dont know either brands, my assumtion that you implied bandaid is the result of a quick search, if these words have other meanings, disregard my post
This is semi-planned. Once the F-menu is replaced, players will be able to request a building at a point and the commander will get a HUD indication at that point with regard to the building requested.
I've gotten use to the idea of people using "requesting air support" and the commander just knowing what they want when they look at the situation. Still, I am glad to hear that, will make commanding easier.
I'd even show the icon on the actual map, so it's obvious someone is asking for walls or a ref, etc. Why look through the minimap for a tiny icon when you can just go to the sector and instantly see the exact location?
I suggested a similar feature; Personal Command View http://forums.empiresmod.com/showthread.php?t=19190&highlight=personal+command+view Where you also specify exactly where. The reasoning is that the bottleneck on Empires' popularity is the difficulty of commanding. Only having to click "okay" would be better. Especially since infantry on the ground are better equipped to know how exactly a turret should be placed.
