Really hard to select units on the battle map?

[Shadrach]

I've noticed this a while back, but haven't played for a while so thought it might've been fixed.

When on the battle map, trying to click to select a unit fails a lot. If I drag-select RTS-style they are usually selected, but this often selects other units. If I drag-select I can then often click directly on the unit, but if deselected I cannot.

If I zoom all the way in I can usually select it directly if a 'large' unit like a tank or gun, but not infantry.

I use the Large icons = Enabled setting as the default ones are too small.

Usually during deployment I don't have this problem, but after deployment they are really hard to select, making it impossible to inspect units directly.

[Shadrach]

I made a video showing what I mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqVKjhgBJDs

As you can see, during deployment phase, no big problem selecting units.

I am actually clicking units when the mouse is hovering over a unit, it just doesn't show.

During first orders and battle phase, I cannot select single units. First I have to drag-select it, which select the *entire* platoon. Then I have to click on the unit to be able to select and look at it.

[andrey12345 v2.0]

You try to select units in platoons mode, obviously you will select platoons not units.

How selection works:
https://i.imgur.com/VU7cLio.png

Manual, page 14

[Shadrach]

I have *always* played in Platoon mode - as I don't see the point of showing every single soldier in an infantry platoon.

And I used to be able to select individual units by clicking on them directly, without first having to select the platoon, and then the unit.

[andrey12345 v2.0]

Originally posted by Shadrach:

I have *always* played in Platoon mode - as I don't see the point of showing every single soldier in an infantry platoon.

And I used to be able to select individual units by clicking on them directly, without first having to select the platoon, and then the unit.

And what's the point then?
Do you want the units to be selected at random?

[Shadrach]

Andrey, please stop belittling your customers.

I have already said:
> I used to be able to select individual units by clicking on them directly

This is all, why do you persist making me feel like I'm talking to a brick wall?

[andrey12345 v2.0]

Originally posted by Shadrach:

> I used to be able to select individual units by clicking on them directly

You can now do this if you switch the mode to the selection of individual units. But in the platoon selection mode, platoons are selected.

Previously (month+ ago), there was no platoon selection mode, so only units were always selected.
This mode appeared more than a month ago. It is unclear what the problems with the choice arose just now.

If you want micromanagement to be in the game, then it will not be. And with each patch it will be less and less. Since the troops in the game becomes on average more and more. If you have many platoons ingame very little sense to select individual units.

[Headshotkill]

Originally posted by andrey12345 v2.0:

Originally posted by Shadrach:

> I used to be able to select individual units by clicking on them directly

You can now do this if you switch the mode to the selection of individual units. But in the platoon selection mode, platoons are selected.

Previously (month+ ago), there was no platoon selection mode, so only units were always selected.
This mode appeared more than a month ago. It is unclear what the problems with the choice arose just now.

If you want micromanagement to be in the game, then it will not be. And with each patch it will be less and less. Since the troops in the game becomes on average more and more. If you have many platoons ingame very little sense to select individual units.

Things that would truly limit micro-management especially in deployment fase would be tools for fast placement in defensive structures. Basically pick a group of units and then draw a line along which the troops will then automatically themselfs, with or without prioritising placement in premade defenses which you can choose. Doesn't have to be perfect as a bit of tweaking and shuffling is okay, but keeping platoons together and having leading units like platoon commanders deployed slightly behind the line could vastly reduce the time to shuffle troops around in deployment fase.

[Shadrach]

> If you want micromanagement to be in the game, then it will not be.

This is NOT micromanagement. This is being able to simply SELECT A SINGLE UNIT, for examining its status for example. Without having to jump through hoops.

Andrey, I have played this game for hundreds of hours - and probably thousands if you include Op. Star, AP:Kharkov and so on. Please don't tell me "You are playing it wrong." Because then I will just leave and never come back, and never buy a game from you again.

And contrary to what some think, sometimes there is an actual need to give direct orders - especially to important units like tanks. There are several reasons why being able to select units directly is still needed.

And NO - I should not need to change to the "little dots" view to do this - because this view is useless to me.

The reason this is coming up now - Is because I've taken an EXTENDED BREAK from playing this game because of UI issues like this. And it appears I might as well take another six or twelve month break again, and probably just uninstall. Although I was looking forward to purchasing the new DLC... oh well.

[Light]

Not being a fan-boi, but I never have this issue? You can either quite easily select the whole platoon (usually click twice on a single squad will do this, or select from the left menu), and now with the new UI release yesterday it is much more intuitive. Maybe your mouse not that sensitive? Cant see the problem (probably because I don't have it). Now, if talking about artillery spotting, then yea, that is confusing...

[andrey12345 v2.0]

Originally posted by Headshotkill:

Things that would truly limit micro-management especially in deployment fase would be tools for fast placement in defensive structures. Basically pick a group of units and then draw a line along which the troops will then automatically themselfs, with or without prioritising placement in premade defenses which you can choose.

This only works in simple cases, and on average it will increase micromanagement. Since on a long line the player will inevitably make mistakes and need to draw 100500 times to re-pass it. Or to place by units basis. Especially at the deployment stage micromanagement does not affect the gameplay. So this is a senseless struggle in general.

[andrey12345 v2.0]

Originally posted by Shadrach:

This is NOT micromanagement.

If you have 100 units combined into several groups. And you try to manage not by groups, but by separate units. It is crystal clear, 100% micromanagement. How would you not want to prove the opposite .

Originally posted by Shadrach:

This is being able to simply SELECT A SINGLE UNIT, for examining its status for example. Without having to jump through hoops.

You have such an opportunity (click on panel, or select from platoon), do not you?
But it is not basic important thing if you have many units.
Those. by this, the game tells you - you are doing something a little strange.

But if the units amount are small, then the game does not remind this, since the scale of the battle is different and you can select by unit basis.

Originally posted by Shadrach:

Andrey, I have played this game for hundreds of hours - and probably thousands if you include Op. Star, AP:Kharkov and so on. Please don't tell me "You are playing it wrong." Because then I will just leave and never come back, and never buy a game from you again.

I'm not telling you anything. I explain to you how it works and why it was done, and not otherwise.

Originally posted by Shadrach:

And contrary to what some think, sometimes there is an actual need to give direct orders - especially to important units like tanks. There are several reasons why being able to select units directly is still needed.

That's right, so the possibility of single unit selection is not blocked at all, even in the platoon selection mode. You can select one unit and even a part of the unit, for example, a machine gunner in the squad. But this is done thus way that you do this only if there really is needed.

Originally posted by Shadrach:

And NO - I should not need to change to the "little dots" view to do this - because this view is useless to me.

Of course, in the platoon mode, you can also select a unit, as well as in other modes. There is no urgent need to switch.

[Headshotkill]

Kinda true though that usually a platoon would act as a cohesive unit and rarely dispatch seperate squads on objectives so there's some logic to it. However I think we often want to micromanage so the squads take up good positions, like along a forest line and just moving a platoon in bulk doesn't always archieve the required effeciency, for example with the forest some units would camp out too far out in the open while others would remain too deep in the forest to have good lines of sight.
Maybe making the squad/soldier ai a bit more pro-active in staying alive could help us leave the more micro-managing parts to the ai.

[Shadrach]

Example below:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1445459958

So I want to select this AT gun unit, since a PZ3 has just trundled into range ahead, and the unit is in Hold Fire mode. But like you say, I have several platoons, and at least two (or more) could contain this specific unit. It might also be attached to a tank platoon, infantry platoon, or even attached to a HQ unit.

How would I select this unit without going into both my AT platoons, and clicking each unit until I hopefully find the correct one?

And remember the game won't let me click directly on the unit itself.

Am I supposed to be able to remember the force composition of all 15-20 platoons under my command? And where I placed them? Now talking about "godlike", that's a good example... if it was my job maybe, but not in a game.

[A Perfect Urkel]

Have you tried quickly double-clicking the unit?

EDIT: Ah, entertainingly this works perfectly well for equipment, but not for pure infantry squads. I see your point. The below still applies to guns, so I'll leave it, but...I'm not sure why it would be partially possible for some units and not the infantry as well, from a gameplay perspective. Resuming original thought...

I'm in-game now, mid-combat, in Platoon view, and yes - clicking a unit on the field once selects the whole Platoon. But clicking it again pares the selection down to only that unit. So double-clicking the AT gun (as long as the mouse cursor has the ? next to it) should more or less INSTANTLY select the gun you want.

And you've played long enough to know what you're doing on THIS front, but just to be sure: click the gun itself (or its crew), not the icon hovering over it.

EDIT 2: Thinking more, I suppose the idea would be that if you're directing at the platoon-as-your-units level, the things you'd most likely want to directly control most WOULD be, as, you said, tanks and AT guns and other equipment. Controlling individual infantry squads, though, much less necessary? Hm.

I think I'd prefer the OPTION of clicking them just the same, but, I can at least come up with an explanation for the difference.

[ems]

In my case. In large battles with many units, selection of individual squads (icon display) works clunky. I must do rectangle selection (whole goup is selected) and then again rectangle selection of squad. Or switch to the dot display, with dot display selection of squads works fine. In small battles, created in editor selection (icon display) works fine, strange.