I think automatic unit production and set poo;s of cash might work best with necessary functional  units, such as harvesters. So if you lose a harvester, you will auto cue one up to replace it.  

However, just having an auto que in general might be more of a resource drain. I don't want uneeded units to be auto produced. In RTS every credit counts, and having a constant drain just to replace units is not a good idea, since all production is situational.

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Heh heh, I didn't expect my thread to be this popular. I kind of just threw the idea out there.

I've been asked what RTS games would utilize the production mechanic. Hearts of Iron III and (I think) II uses something very similar, where you have to split production between queued units.

I like the idea of an auto-queue.

A lot of people thought this would work well in games with a lot of units. I agree, but, I was thinking of this sort of mechanic being used in a game with a very small amount of units, and a population-cap that decreases resource intake according to the amount of units you control. Something like Company of Heroes, but with units being very disposable. In that game, resources are automatically given to you based on how much territory you have captured. You win by holding "victory-point" locations until the opponent's victory-points run out.

5 hours ago, RidiculousName said:

A lot of people thought this would work well in games with a lot of units. I agree, but, I was thinking of this sort of mechanic being used in a game with a very small amount of units, and a population-cap that decreases resource intake according to the amount of units you control. Something like Company of Heroes, but with units being very disposable. In that game, resources are automatically given to you based on how much territory you have captured. You win by holding "victory-point" locations until the opponent's victory-points run out.

It looks like a type of game that requires frequent turnaround of unit types to build, not only because with a small amount of units every one of them matters but because you need to adapt to enemy moves (a single enemy unit can tip the scales) and to early/middle/late game phases and different strategies. Automatically building the wrong unit in this situation would be far more catastrophic that building it late because the player was too busy to give an explicit command.

17 hours ago, GeneralJist said:

I think automatic unit production and set poo;s of cash might work best with necessary functional  units, such as harvesters. So if you lose a harvester, you will auto cue one up to replace it.  

Pretty situational even then. I certainly do not want an auto built harvester that just goes and dies again, and assuming I have some other harvesters remaining there is a reasonable chance in the short term I want combat units first to deal with the problem.

I've been discussing this with older RTS gamers for years, now. I did a lot of experimentation in SC2's editor. Where I arrived at is that RTS games evolved into MOBA games after DotA. That was how automated unit production was finally solved and balanced with RTS gameplay, the player focuses on one part of the battlefield while the production operations continue behind the scenes, with static defenses in place at the start of the match.

If you want to evolve RTS games the place to start is not adding automated unit production to Warcraft 3, that's been solved. You want to try to take DotA and convert it back into a base-building and defending game. I have a very good idea how this can be done but I was told not to build it and release it on any existing RTS as a mod unless I want it copyrighted by that company, since the loss of DotA IP rights was a cautionary tale for the industry the Terms and Conditions are such (especially with SC2) that whatever you make is Blizzard's property.

On older RTS gamers, they believe that resource collection and onerous repitition is essential to the enjoyment of RTS games, much like the way people who drove cars with manual shifters and compression brakes were dubious of automatics and vacuum-powered ABS systems. So you're never gonna convince with words what is possible. But DotA is too simplistic and casual for most trad RTS fans. Something has to be done to bring the genre back.

Edit: At this point setting workers to gather stuff and continually building to maximize production, while trying to scout and then build a counter, and push with good timing is tired gameplay. The gameplay has become somewhat of a meme. For one thing, people have found ways around it and invented ways of cheesing the system too many times in too many ways, playing the game properly is mostly just an act of courtesy and etiquette. Many times games can be won just by spamming the right unit. It's just a numbers game. HP vs DPS and unit flexibility/mobility and RANGE. Boring unless you love endless repitition for marginal improvements over many months.

Of course it's a matter of taste, some people still play old games and still love them.

I like innovation, I think most people do. So its not about old RTS games being bad it's just not fresh anymore.

12 hours ago, Unknown33 said:

I've been discussing this with older RTS gamers for years, now. I did a lot of experimentation in SC2's editor. Where I arrived at is that RTS games evolved into MOBA games after DotA. That was how automated unit production was finally solved and balanced with RTS gameplay, the player focuses on one part of the battlefield while the production operations continue behind the scenes, with static defenses in place at the start of the match.

If you want to evolve RTS games the place to start is not adding automated unit production to Warcraft 3, that's been solved. You want to try to take DotA and convert it back into a base-building and defending game. I have a very good idea how this can be done but I was told not to build it and release it on any existing RTS as a mod unless I want it copyrighted by that company, since the loss of DotA IP rights was a cautionary tale for the industry the Terms and Conditions are such (especially with SC2) that whatever you make is Blizzard's property.

On older RTS gamers, they believe that resource collection and onerous repitition is essential to the enjoyment of RTS games, much like the way people who drove cars with manual shifters and compression brakes were dubious of automatics and vacuum-powered ABS systems. So you're never gonna convince with words what is possible. But DotA is too simplistic and casual for most trad RTS fans. Something has to be done to bring the genre back.

Edit: At this point setting workers to gather stuff and continually building to maximize production, while trying to scout and then build a counter, and push with good timing is tired gameplay. The gameplay has become somewhat of a meme. For one thing, people have found ways around it and invented ways of cheesing the system too many times in too many ways, playing the game properly is mostly just an act of courtesy and etiquette. Many times games can be won just by spamming the right unit. It's just a numbers game. HP vs DPS and unit flexibility/mobility and RANGE. Boring unless you love endless repitition for marginal improvements over many months.

Of course it's a matter of taste, some people still play old games and still love them.

I like innovation, I think most people do. So its not about old RTS games being bad it's just not fresh anymore. 

You have some interesting opinions. I agree with everything in your post. I do want to say however, that if RTS games aren't fresh, well, shooters reek. But that's just my own opinion.

IIRC RTS games were popular before shooters became popular, and fads will change. Fortnite has some vaguely RTS-like additions such as base-building.

2 hours ago, RidiculousName said:

I do want to say however, that if RTS games aren't fresh, well, shooters reek.

Shooters benefit from being mindless fun, but RTS games are all about thinking (interesting decisions). Once you've figured out all the major decisions and outcomes in an RTS, it becomes less interesting, because it's not about decisions it's about reacting. If be builds X I have to build Y or Z, or I am dead. And thanks to the Time aspect of RTS, you don't even have time to formulate a complex plan. It's really just knowing how to react. A FPS game is all about reacting, but it has the benefit of being immediately satisfying to do every action. 

DotA or LoL is also immediately satisfying whenever you do any action. Funny how that works.

It's frustrating reading the comments from people who seem to assume that just because you have an option YOU personally would like to use, they have to use it too. Obviously if you're playing an RTS game with the option of "inifinite" queues, or "automated" queues, you don't have to turn it on.

Note that the frustration stems no from the commenters who state their *preference* (e.g., "I wouldn't ever use it because I don't think it's needed"), only the ones who are responding that this idea "can't" work in existing RTS games.

My motto has always been the more gameplay options you have, the more longevity your game has. And obviously the longer people play your game the better.

As for my preference, heck yeah! I would LOVE to be able to have the option of automating unit queues in some fashion or another.

4 hours ago, Heaven said:

only the ones who are responding that this idea "can't" work in existing RTS games.

If you are referring to my comment re it being infeasible in Blizzard-style RTS, I'm specifically talking about it being infeasible in competitive play.

Do whatever you like in casual/unranked (and folks do - Blizzard's RTS have massive communities built almost entirely around custom maps and game modes), but the style of gameplay required to perform in the competitive scene is specifically in opposition to this idea.

Warlords Battlecry 3 (and 2 as well, I think) allows infinite queuing for units with the flip of a switch.  In either order, setting up a queue and turning on continuous production causes the building to produce the units in the pattern set by the list ad infinitum.  I highly recommend checking it out for studying other quality-of-life features as well, such as setting unit AI (it's fun to crank out knights that are set to "guard" an enemy general).