Add units to patrol?

I mean it’s theoretically possible to patch the machine code, and FAF does a small amount of that (desync fix, and something with range rings I think) but it’s pretty difficult and unfortunately the people who have done it were mostly concerned with the end result and not with writing a good patcher and documentation so that others could follow in their footsteps.

@veteranashe said in Add units to patrol?:

I would just make new patrol commands then hold shift and drap the points on top of the old ones so they are the same, I've don't this plenty of times with 3-4 points and it's fast

Yes, I understand that there are workarounds, and I, like everyone else, will use those workarounds until there is a better option, but I thought that this was a place to suggest improvements to the game. This is one of my suggestions. Another would be the ability to assist groups of units, like with one click. Maybe a hotkey called "assist control group" or something. So that, for example, your gunships don't stop protecting a group of land units when the single unit you assisted gets killed. The workaround that exists, as @Jip mentioned, is to spread assist, but that's a lot more clicks. Being able to assist groups of units would be a more elegant solution, just as being able to add units to an existing patrol would be a more elegant solution than any of the existing workarounds. That's all I'm doing, suggesting things that make playing the game easier.

I understand zappa, and I agree - if we would be able to implement it then your suggestion would be better. But we can't, as that part of the engine is off limits. Hence, the workaround(s) 🙂

A work of art is never finished, merely abandoned

You should just stop using patrol.
As Arma said, if you use it for large groups of army units it will just lead to worse formations if the enemy attacks you, since your units will be strung out and not all engage at the same time. The only unit I ever use it for is air scouts, since the preceding reasoning doesn't apply. In rare situations you might patrol some inties over a location vulnerable to drops, but air fighters can end up chasing scouts across the map and accidentally suicide, so it's best to just watch them more carefully and not think "ok they're on patrol so I don't have to watch them closely anymore."
But it's also worse if you use it for engineers than using attack move because they will not stop patrolling even if they are doing nothing, so it's harder to see that they are effectively idle.

Engine on patrol just breaks trees

I use patrol asf the same way brnk does in a short triangle just when to kill some bombers and you need to look somewhere else

My strategies are worthy of your criticisms, and many more. However, whether patrolling is a good idea or not, if the command exists, it should function as well as it possibly can.

@zappazapper No. If it is a terrible idea for any player to actually do it, it's certainly not a worthwhile investment of anyone's time to try to give them the option to save a click or two, just to play worse.

Corva - this topic isn't about whether patrol is worth it. It is about whether it can be adjusted - and the answer is no.

A work of art is never finished, merely abandoned

@jip It's 100% relevant whether it is WORTH spending time to change EVEN IF IT IS POSSIBLE.
Edit. In fact if it is the easiest question to answer it should be the first one to answer because then the point of even thinking about technical possibilities is moot and a complete waste.
Edit 2: I'm sure it has happened to many of us where we right click with units selected and accidentally give an assist order to a unit instead of a move order on that spot, and so making this ALSO possible for patrol orders would only make that problem happen more often and be ACTIVELY HARMFUL.

The user interface is supposed to encourage good gameplay. Changing the user interface in a way that promotes bad gameplay would be a bad thing. It is not wrong to consider whether a feature is worthwhile. Ignoring that, just adding something to the UI "because we can" or "because it would give people more options" is wrong.

Debate over whether this UI mod is good or that UI mod is bad is valid, but I really hope you're not making the argument that people shouldn't bother making mods based on the opinions of others. The way you express YOUR opinion on mods is by using them or not using them, not telling others not to even bother in the first place. There are plenty of completely useless mods, and plenty of opinions on their usefulness, but I have yet to see anybody suggest that certain mods should be completely removed from the library because "the community has spoken". So, you don't think it's a good idea, and that's valid, but somebody else might, and we're allowed to, and we're allowed to try and make a UI mod if it's possible, and you're allowed to not use it. That's all. I really don't understand what the gripe is here. Just don't use it. And if you think it's not something that should be discussed at all, well, then don't discuss it. I'm a big boy, I can decide for myself what's worth talking about, but don't let that force you into having conversations you don't want to have. I was looking for people who ARE interested in this, not people who aren't.

@corvathranoob said in Add units to patrol?:

@jip It's 100% relevant whether it is WORTH spending time to change EVEN IF IT IS POSSIBLE.
Edit. In fact if it is the easiest question to answer it should be the first one to answer because then the point of even thinking about technical possibilities is moot and a complete waste.
Edit 2: I'm sure it has happened to many of us where we right click with units selected and accidentally give an assist order to a unit instead of a move order on that spot, and so making this ALSO possible for patrol orders would only make that problem happen more often and be ACTIVELY HARMFUL.

It is never a waste - what if someone looked at this and thought of a workaround? Wouldn't be the first time someone came out of the blue and proposed a solution that introduced new opportunities in general.

Regardless - this topic has been answered and I think @Deribus should consider locking it.

A work of art is never finished, merely abandoned

@jip said in Add units to patrol?:

Regardless - this topic has been answered and I think @Deribus should consider locking it.

As you wish