Unit selection order

[xalien]

Familiar situation: my turn starts and, lets say, a worker is selected for the next order. Order is issued and then the game jumps to some unit miles away, like a combat unit on another continent. You obey to this nonsense, issue an order, and the dumb game jumps again to some random unit without any visible logic.

This makes it very difficult (or annoying) to concentrate on one task at a time - like building improvements or invading someone. Why is this happening? Does the game gives each unit a numerical index at the time of their creation and uses it to determine which one is selected next or some other dumbass logic ? it's been bugging me since I've started playing Civ4 and that's one feature that makes me very nostalgic about SMACX.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

I don't know, but if you press the 'w' key, it will move the unit down to the end of the list.

 

[xalien]

But would that work for the rest of the game or just for that one turn?

 

[A_Hamster]

But would that work for the rest of the game or just for that one turn?

I think it works only for that one turn. At least for workers, you can use the "/" key to go to the next active worker. This way I can get the turn's building out of the way before the war/exploration. Still, I agree with the OP: the random jumping around is annoying.

 

[xienwolf]

I am pretty sure that the jumping is by numerical index of when the unit was created. In addition to A_Hamster's note about "/" to move to the next worker needing orders, you can also use "\" to move BACK to the last unit you had selected. Then manually select a new unit in the same general area.

If I remember right, there is a checkbox in the gameoptions or a line in the .ini to disable the automatic movement to the next idle unit once orders are given, that might work for you as well.

And the "w" key is just for the turn. It will move the current unit down to the bottom of the list and come back to it later (if you didn't start at the top of the list, this means you'll return to that unit before you have seen all of your other units though)

 

[xalien]

If I remember right, there is a checkbox in the gameoptions or a line in the .ini to disable the automatic movement to the next idle unit once orders are given, that might work for you as well.

That would be great, thanks for pointing it out. Should work well with together with "/".

 

[Sto]

I am pretty sure that the jumping is by numerical index of when the unit was created.

The jumping follow some rules but regarding the selection group and not the index of the unit. the next unit to select follow some rules like the distance with the previous unit, domain type, at the plot for human and some complicated selections for AI.
I've made in the previous version so that the birds are selected firsts if the function have to choose an unit not at the same plot. But with 0.32l , even with this function the unit jump sometimes from a plot to another, regardless of the other units in the plot selectable. Joining an unit to a group NULL (like when declaring nationality or the opposite) break this line. So i think that a kind of automatic un-selection has been added somewhere that makes units goes at the end of the selection group stack when they perform some actions. But i've not look deeper to find where.

Tcho !