Sparky - Field Engineer

Hi,

would anyone be able to make a UI mod that simply allows the Sparky to be changed to be a military unit, not an engeener, i.e. allow it to be selected as a ground combat unit?

Or if it's impossible, maybe add a new shortcut like this :
Ctrl-L Select all land-units (non-engineer)
Ctrl-L Select all land-units (non-engineer) + Sparky

Thank you if anyone is kind enough to look into this request!

Just a random thought but you might want to check out Selection Deprioritizer. You can adjust it quite a bit -> There's a good chance you can change them to be on the same level. However I'm not sure so if don't want to play around / want a direct answer, you have to wait a bit xd

@sladow-noob

Thanks for the advice !

I tried to modify this mod, Sparky seem to be "xel0209". I managed to remove units from my selections, but not add them.

I will continue to test as soon as I have time.

I would also love to have this functionality available. If you figure out a way, let us know. Until then I can only offer the sub-optimal option of dragging a selection box while holding shift to select everything

I didn't have analyze the Selection Behaviour in Detail:
But from my Observations I think the Selection of a Unit is depending on the defined Categories in the Unit Blueprint File.

The Sparky has these Categories:

Categories = {
'PRODUCTFA',
'SELECTABLE',
'BUILTBYLANDTIER2FACTORY',
'BUILTBYLANDTIER3FACTORY',
'BUILTBYAIRTIER2FACTORY',
'BUILTBYAIRTIER3FACTORY',
'BUILTBYNAVALTIER2FACTORY',
'BUILTBYNAVALTIER3FACTORY',
'UEF',
'MOBILE',
'AMPHIBIOUS',
'LAND',
'TECH2',
'CONSTRUCTION',
'ENGINEER',
'REPAIR',
'RECLAIM',
'FIELDENGINEER',
'CAPTURE',
'VISIBLETORECON',
'RECLAIMABLE',
'PATROLHELPER',
'SHOWQUEUE',
'OVERLAYRADAR',
'OVERLAYCOUNTERINTEL',
'OVERLAYDIRECTFIRE',
},

I would add the Category 'TANK', to it.
So the Sparky should be Selected as Well If you double Click on any Tank

So you will need to modify the Blueprint File of the Sparky with this small Change but I think this will make it functional.

Regarding to a Shortcut:
I think that is possible somehow.
The Game has several useful Functions to Check the Existence of a Unit Ingame.
For example the Function GetListofUnits which can be used in the aiBrain.lua as following

CheckSparkyExistence = function(self)
while true do
local unit =
self:GetListOfUnits(categories.SPARKY, true)
if table.getn(unit) > 0 then
-- Give them a New Shortcut
end
WaitSeconds(1)
end
end

You will actually need to add the Category 'SPARKY', to Blueprint File of the Sparky as Well. Of course that needs to be tested Out and I personally don't know how to Set a New Shortcut in Terms of the Code. Maybe this will help you or anyone else who want to Work on it.

You should be able to define your own keyboard shortcut. See old forums https://forums.faforever.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=8230
You can include unit ids in selection and use smart selection also (see page 12 of URL )