Feature Request: More Precision For Mass Selection

You can use combinations of Ctrl, Shift, and the Left and Right Mouse Buttons on the selection panel icons to isolate or remove groups of units from your selection. You can also use Ctrl+X to select all units of the same type as your selected units that are visible, though I realize this is a bit limiting at times (which is why I'm not mentioning Ctrl+Z).

Warcraft 3 already addressed this problem through the use of subgroups. When you band-box select multiple units, you can select up to 12, but clicking each and every one just to use their many unique abilities or give them individual commands can get a little tedious that way. So, the game automatically separates all units in a selection into groups based on unit type, and then lets you quickly cycle through subgroups by pressing the Tab key. In this way, you can have your Paladin cast Holy Light, then immediately switch to Priests to cast Dispel Magic to destroy some Skeleton Warriors, and then switch to Sorceresses to cast Polymorph on the undead heavy units, all in about a second.

Can we do something similar in ZK? I know we have units separated into unit-type groups already, but perhaps... a new control group scheme of sorts, with units being assigned to "Prime" control groups (1 to 0) like we do now, but then you can also assign subgroups to units? So when you had multiple Warriors, SnuggleBass, you would first select your Warrior prime group, then switch between your "squads" that you set to different subgroups earlier. There could even be a keybindable command where you select a unit, issue a keyboard command and then select all units that belong to that subgroup.

And for the creation of these subgroups to begin with, all you would need to do is add another keybind command. Just bandbox-select the units you want, issue the keyboard command, and boom, all those units just got added to a subgroup; whether or not they were already in a "Prime" control group to begin with. In this way, you could fine-tune your control so you wouldn't have to play select/deselect with all the units you had in a control group. Using the keybind command multiple times could change the subgroup for you, too, so tapping it once is one subgroup, two is another, and so on.

quote: I know we have units separated into unit-type groups already

As of about 3 weeks ago. Before that selected units would be displayed in any old order, not necessarily sorted by type. Only if there were too many units to fit in the selection box were they then grouped into a single icon with a number.

quote: The issue isn't selecting all the stuff, or selecting between stuff, it's that I can't stop myself selecting all the stuff in the first place.

I use the original ctrl+x functionality for this (Not_InHotkeyGroup+): grouping units to prevent them from being regrouped and making it easier to add "spare" units to the group

One thing to consider implement in is that when you box select an area and any military units are in it, everything that isn't a military unit is not selected. Cons, solars, turrets, etc would not be selected. I know supreme Commander has this. Pressing shift while box selecting selects everything.

quote: It's been a while since I launched ZK, but doesn't integral menu already do this as well? Like it used to show every type you had selected and how many there were in the integral menu window, and from there you could click on a type to select only that type. I distinctly remember that being a thing. Is that not possible any more?

It's still a thing, and I mentioned it in my first reply, and it sounds like SnuggleBass's issue is more related to the nature of box-select and their own habits around using it than the absence of any way to control what units are selected. It sounds like what SnuggleBass specifically wants is a way to dynamically exclude specific units from box, control group, and autogroup selection.

Box select has no such provisions, but specific units can be removed from control groups with Ctrl+~, and all units of that type from any autogroups with Alt+~. Ctrl+~ works for units whose control groups are set by autogroup, even if new units of that type are created and added to the autogroup control group.

You might be able to hack together a solution for combat units by using the wait command. Units set on wait would still be selected, but shouldn't follow any orders until the wait key is hit again. This would be mostly useful for deep scouts, ambush units, and defensive unit garrisons. I don't think there's an easy way to do that with constructors though.

This isn't really a complete request. Come up with a good UI as this will be the main work required. Good UI is hard to come by, I had to make 3 or 4 spire terraform UIs before it was good.

Here is something to start you off:

• Every selectable thing has a LuaUI-side state toggle.
• When your selection changes, deselect all units with the state toggle enabled provided 1) the unit was not in your previous selection and 2) that your selection contains at least one unit without the state enabled.
• State toggles are already bindable to either toggle them and possibly also to set a particular state.
• State toggles are also presetable through initial states so things like Solars (and possibly even constructors?) could be generally unselectable.

I just tested it and its great (flea scouts no longer get selected!). Also wait was a thing, until someday someone "fixed" it. I think it prevented all orders - unit was still waiting with the order queued.

Wait is nice to coordinate units like bombers (wyverns especially) not to attack the same unit and still all arrive at the same time.

Or roaches to rush to target from different angles.

Use SHIFT if you don't want the wait order overridden.