Scouts, pathing, and road issues I would like to see changed

[katanaD]

one of my biggest complaints against scouts is the auto explore feature. When set to auto they always stop when a hut is within range instead of just going to get it. sometimes i am left having to look hard for the hut as they can blend in too well at times. I would like to see them set to auto loot the huts and keep going on exploring. Maybe a game play switch to allow for auto looting.

Another is when they encounter danger. Ok, they stop, great. I lead them away and set them back to auto.. what do they do.. return to the danger spot to get killed, why?? because there is like 1 unexplored tile on the far side... I would like scouts to remember getting beaten up in danger spots and go around them or avoid them all together, if need be.

Pathing, the issue i have with this really i always notice because of scouts. I will set an attack unit, like a warrioir etc, to goto a spot. A scout when end its turn on the destination, or maybe in a choke point through which the warrior needs to go through. Which will cause the warrior to stop and ask for directions again or plot a new long ass path. Even when it still has many turns to get where it is set to go. What i would like to see instead is, if the warrior cannot move in that turn, to then stop. but if it has 2 or more turns left to destination, then continue regardless of blockage.

Lastly roads. I would really like to have a unit that is not a trader to be able to make roads because i often want to makes roads to an area that i may not want to send a trader to. Also when sending a trader, or any unit that could make a road, I would like to be able to specify land routes only. too often will i get a trader to make a road between 2 cities on the same landmass try to take a shortcut across water, thereby negating the purpose of build said road.

 

[kaspergm]

Lastly roads. I would really like to have a unit that is not a trader to be able to make roads because i often want to makes roads to an area that i may not want to send a trader to. Also when sending a trader, or any unit that could make a road, I would like to be able to specify land routes only. too often will i get a trader to make a road between 2 cities on the same landmass try to take a shortcut across water, thereby negating the purpose of build said road.

Having roads linked so intimately to traders might have looked good on paper, but it's a really bad idea in reality. I don't mind traders putting down roads, but it should not be our primary way of getting roads. Also, the game makes really bad choices as to where it puts roads - it will have two roads run parallel in hexes adjacent to each other, or will have roads that pass by a city with only one hex between them, but without going through the city, even if there's plenty of reach in the caravan range to go through the city on the way. I've set it before, but we REALLY need some sort of connect-the-dot interface to map out how we want a trade route to go.

 

[Lord Lakely]

The biggest issue is related to this topic. If the auto-unit cycle brings me to my catapult and I then I manually select my scout and then press "E" it means I want my SCOUT to auto-explore, NOT THE FREAKING CATAPULT BESIEGING THE FRENCH CAPITAL DAMMIT.

 

[Hauptman]

The biggest issue is related to this topic. If the auto-unit cycle brings me to my catapult and I then I manually select my scout and then press "E" it means I want my SCOUT to auto-explore, NOT THE FREAKING CATAPULT BESIEGING THE FRENCH CAPITAL DAMMIT.

I discovered quickly you MUST turn off auto unit cycle. It is so broken. So much easier with it off, and you can just hit the unit needs orders button when you finish the unit you want to order.

It was the jump that got me to turn it off, you'd have that one unit it would start to go to then jump to another instead.... that was so annoying. Even though I had what you described plenty of the times... the jump was what finally got to me.

Turn it off now, buy me a beer later. It will save your sanity.

 

[kaspergm]

I discovered quickly you MUST turn off auto unit cycle. It is so broken. So much easier with it off, and you can just hit the unit needs orders button when you finish the unit you want to order.

It was the jump that got me to turn it off, you'd have that one unit it would start to go to then jump to another instead.... that was so annoying. Even though I had what you described plenty of the times... the jump was what finally got to me.

Turn it off now, buy me a beer later. It will save your sanity.

I agree, even though having to click the "unit needs an action" button is so frustrating, the alternative was so (as in SO) much worse.

 

[nzcamel]

one of my biggest complaints against scouts is the auto explore feature. When set to auto they always stop when a hut is within range instead of just going to get it. sometimes i am left having to look hard for the hut as they can blend in too well at times. I would like to see them set to auto loot the huts and keep going on exploring. Maybe a game play switch to allow for auto looting.

Another is when they encounter danger. Ok, they stop, great. I lead them away and set them back to auto.. what do they do.. return to the danger spot to get killed, why?? because there is like 1 unexplored tile on the far side... I would like scouts to remember getting beaten up in danger spots and go around them or avoid them all together, if need be.

Pathing, the issue i have with this really i always notice because of scouts. I will set an attack unit, like a warrioir etc, to goto a spot. A scout when end its turn on the destination, or maybe in a choke point through which the warrior needs to go through. Which will cause the warrior to stop and ask for directions again or plot a new long ass path. Even when it still has many turns to get where it is set to go. What i would like to see instead is, if the warrior cannot move in that turn, to then stop. but if it has 2 or more turns left to destination, then continue regardless of blockage.

Don't automate scouts. Are you wanting credit for how you move units around, or how the computer does it for you? I mean if anyone wants to take that risk, I am glad that the UI has automation as an option. But if there is any issue with it, you take control and don't relinquish it.

Lastly roads. I would really like to have a unit that is not a trader to be able to make roads because i often want to makes roads to an area that i may not want to send a trader to. Also when sending a trader, or any unit that could make a road, I would like to be able to specify land routes only. too often will i get a trader to make a road between 2 cities on the same landmass try to take a shortcut across water, thereby negating the purpose of build said road.

You have engineers.
I agree the water thing can be a pain in the ass; and I would like to see the return of separate caravans and trading ships.

Having roads linked so intimately to traders might have looked good on paper, but it's a really bad idea in reality. I don't mind traders putting down roads, but it should not be our primary way of getting roads. Also, the game makes really bad choices as to where it puts roads - it will have two roads run parallel in hexes adjacent to each other, or will have roads that pass by a city with only one hex between them, but without going through the city, even if there's plenty of reach in the caravan range to go through the city on the way. I've set it before, but we REALLY need some sort of connect-the-dot interface to map out how we want a trade route to go.

It makes sense immersively; and it prevents road spam. You have enginners to fix the annoying bits.

 

[Jackanape]

Yeah, but engineers only have a few charges, so to build any real strategic roads, you'd have to invest so much more...

Still can't see why builders can no longer make roads. Feels like it was done just to shake things up, not improve the game play.

While I appreciate the concept behind caravans building the early roads, surely there could be a tech that unleashes an "infrastructure" capability for builders?

 

[Depravo]

The only circ I ever use auto-explore is when I'm certain there are no barbs in the area and want to fog bust the margins of a substantially explored landmass while waiting for the ability to embark.

Other than that very specific situation, early game scouting decisions are crucial and I don't care to entrust them to the AI. Later on, when any newly discovered landmass is likely to be crawling with barbs, you likewise can't trust the AI not to get your scout killed.