Solving current unit landing with a few small changes
I'd like to make a few suggestions concerning unit landing behaviour, which I think would improve certain aspects of the current mechanics.
1. Every unit that is transporting troops could have an additional button, that can be selected or not. Depending on the selection, the unit auto-unloads troops on arrival - or not. Simple as that. So while some people might want to use this for every unit, some might want this for certain units only. This way every one could set it up the way they want to. And the setting has to be changed manually, meaning the current setting is remembered - so once a certain behaviour is chosen, it stays that way until it is changed again. Since this would be an optional feature players can decide if they want the generals to behave like they now do - or use the new feature to customize it the way they think unit landing behaviour should work.
https://i.imgur.com/bpXXCgr.jpg
The green arrows indicate that auto-unload for these units is activated, they grey arrows indicate that auto-unload for these units is deactivated. So every time this particular general arrives on any destination, Recruits and all three types of Bowmen will be auto-unloaded after the camp is built.
This feature would be general-specific, meaning that each general can have individual auto-unload preferences.
2. Robben_303 suggested here that it would be really helpful to give every general a number so when they are attacking one can track which general is where at a certain time. This is especially helpful with many gens sent out at the same time for blocks, etc. I added the general number in the previous screenshot (right corner of general window, in this case 2) to show how this could be illustrated. I like Robben’s idea to implement a scroll down menu for this, but I’m not sure how this can be implemented (also my photoshop skills are not that great to visualize his idea).
In addition to the general numbers to track them on adventures, it would be awesome to allow players to use number keys on keyboard. So in this case when I hit „2“ the camera will move to general with the number „2“. This will certainly clash with the sector key binds that are used currently on home island to jump from sector to sector – so this needs a bit more thought. Personally I think it would be more helpful to jump from gen to gen than from sector to sector. Maybe there is a way to have both. It would be a nice feature bot not that urgent ofc.
Generally, I would link the numbers to the camp if the general is inside the camp. If the general is outside the camp, the number is linked to him. I would place the number right where the current shield icon is. When a camp is being moved, it will also show the number, however greyed out until gen arrives at new camp.
https://i.imgur.com/FklS1kO.jpg
3. Another feature I'd love to see in this game is a "locked unit landing location", meaning every unit that is able to transport troops can be placed on a certain space with certain coordinates (if general numbers are implemented, this would make things even easier code-wise). Then the player can select this unit to remember the exact location. So everytime the unit returns to the home island, it will always set up camp at that specified location that was defined by the player. Make this for every single unit and people will be happy. No more random landing zones somewhere in the left corner. Here's a screenshot how I imagine one could set up an area for gens:
https://i.imgur.com/kqcXMCg.jpg
Generals A-F always land in their designated spots that have been assigned to each one of them. How does this work? When a player transfers a general to a certain spot he will be able to lock that position after the camp is set up, simply by clicking on the lock. Locked lock = location locked, lock unlocked = location not locked.
https://i.imgur.com/UvnJYeY.jpg
This allows individual location saving so each gen returns to certain coordinates after every arrival.
4. And while we are at it I also added a pin top in the window because that would really be the cherry on top.
