I think we could debate the exact meaning of vague concepts for a while, and that makes me think it's not the best use of our time. Let me show what I mean more specifically to avoid any more misunderstandings. I want to show you how, working with the Fleet System (not throwing it out!) and intelligent AI, I believe it can be modified to be an awesome tool if instead of being designed to restrict, it's designed to aid.
Here's a quick little mock-up to illustrate how much better I believe the Fleet System could work with modification. Before we start,
erase the idea of Command Points from your mind - we've got rid of them. The player is free to give as many orders as he likes.
The first thing I do is set up some move points (the Patrol Points in the picture) with the intent for my Talon wing to scout out these points in order - First Beta, then move on to Delta, then to Gamma. I assign them to each waypoint in a queue of orders - this would be most easily done with a simple "right click, go here", but it would also work albeit taking more effort by establishing the patrol/move points as assignments, then assigning the Talons to move to each in turn. This provides a great screen of intelligence for me and assures me I will find the enemy at some point - if I wanted to be more thorough I could send some more guys to scout from the right first and meet at the middle. But how can we be confident our little Talons are smart enough to stay alive if they find any enemies on their patrol path? Aiding this scouting effort, imagine we have the ability to toggle each unit's intended behavior. I toggle my Talons on to passive/scouting/whatever you want to call it, with the function being that they will manuever to ensure no enemies catch them in firing range, and that their top priority is survival. In this way, if the Talons get to a scout point and there are enemies, they will skirt around the enemies instead of flying straight in and getting killed. This behaviour could be very useful for a lot of things - you could assign fast scouts to follow an enemy ship around but stay away from any fire that could occur. This kind of behaviour toggle already has precedent in the Harass option, and Harass in my mind is perfect to move from an objective to an intended behaviour choice.
I think the way the Fleet System lets you set assignments is awesome, but it needs tweaking to be really fluid in my opinion. We set a capture order on the bottom left sensor array, SA Alpha. We know no enemies will be there so we want to send something low priority there - for demonstration's sake, lets say we don't send anything there now. Meanwhile, we can expect heavy resistance at the Nav Buoys in the middle of the map, so we split the bulk of our forces between them - with the current system, this is a bit difficult, but in the system I want to describe to you, it's quick. We set Capture/Assault assignments on both, then we select the ships we want to go to each and right click on one of those markers. As you can see, I've set an Assault/Capture mark on NB Alpha and then I've selected my fighter/bomber wings and right clicked on that marker - ignore that I've also set the leftmost Frigate to that marker, that's a mistake. They're all now assigned to that objective, and I can rely on their intelligent AI to assault and preserve themselves, especially if I can control their behaviour and know they'll attempt to fight/harass/run in accordance with my planned strategy. At no point are we asking the AI to be mindless RTS drones or trying to up the amount of micro for the sake of micro, we're simply making it easier to make your dudes do what you want them to without feeling like we're fighting the system.
We've sent our fighter group to the left objective, no problem. Now we want our bigger ships to head to NV Beta, but we'd like them all to stay together as a cohesive task force. Escort! We set an escort marker on the Hammerhead, then select our frigates and right click on the Hammerhead. This is already very similar to how it works with the current system, but it's streamlined to take less menus and effort and it gives us complete control over what is escorting what and gives it to us easily. The frigates are now assigned to escort that ship and will perform that role with all the intelligence we expect of Starfarer's AI.
These kinds of modifications to the existing system emphasize easy intuitive control for the player and allow him to implement his strategy the way he sees fit. Once we've taken the middle Buoys, moving on will be as simple as selecting our units and right clicking on movement/assault/escort assignments and setting their behaviours accordingly. If we see the enemy flanking to patrol point Beta, we can easily select as many craft as we deem necessary and send them in that direction, either to that marker or simply giving them a new move assignment. We can easily change who is escorting what on the fly. We can easily recall our fighter wings to the Carrier for R&R/escort if enemies sneak up on it.
This is hardly an in-depth idea that I've thought long and hard on, it's just a quick mock-up that emphasize the ideals I've been trying to bring across in this thread. I think that the Fleet System works on assignments and tries to use the intelligent AI to achieve a degree of autonomy is excellent, but too much restriction creates a lack of control that means that autonomy is taken too far and the AI is making the kind of decisions that the player should be handling instead. By removing the restriction of Command points and giving the player quick and easy control over what units are doing which assignments, we allow him to make those decisions easily and without penalty. We enhance his ability to decide exactly how much of his force he will assign to each assignment, while the intelligent AI is put to excellent use by completing those assignments they are tasked/queued with. At no point are we throwing out the Fleet System or requiring our ships to act like traditional RTS units - we're embracing their intelligence and initiative, but we're making sure the player controls how it is used and that it is in line with his intent. Also, by making the interface more intuitive and faster to use, we aid players who want to play without pausing constantly by giving them quick access to ordering their troops.
Thoughts?
