Production Queue - sort options

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Cornflake
Space Krill
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 12:37 am

Production Queue - sort options

#1 Post by Cornflake »

In future versions of the game, would like to see some sort options for the Production Queue. I would like to see some form of auto-sort going on - where anything that has a production time of "never" floats to the bottom of the queue; and all other items are sorted by production time (shortest to longest). You could still drag and drop items to reorder, but there would be some pre-sorting in place this way.

Also, being able to sort by category (the icon color) or the world name would be very nice. I find the Production Queue the hardest prt of the game to navigate (favoring the old MOO II method). When new tech is unlocked it takes way too long to find worlds that would need to start production of this item. I have tried the OBJECT menu but that seems a bit clunky (for me) as well. So sort options seem like a way to navigate easier to i can determine how best to add new tech to old worlds.

Lastly, my number one wish for changes to the Production Queue, please, a warning if you are about to add a duplicate item for a world. A simple "yes\cancel" box saying that "you are have already ordered production if this item. Do you wish to add another (in the case of outpost bases maybe) or cancel (two space elevators for instance). Would save much cursing and gnashing of teeth.

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Dilvish
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Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:25 pm

Re: Production Queue - sort options

#2 Post by Dilvish »

Cornflake wrote:I would like to see some form of auto-sort going on - where anything that has a production time of "never" floats to the bottom of the queue; and all other items are sorted by production time (shortest to longest). You could still drag and drop items to reorder, but there would be some pre-sorting in place this way.
Things with a predicted production time of 'Never' might simply be at a blockaded site which could be freed from the blockade at the start of the next turn, allowing the item to complete immediately, so we wouldn't want to have the item automatically float to the bottom. Soonest-to-complete is also not always going to be the priority someone wants either, so in general this automatic rearranging by estimated time to completion doesn't seem too appealing to me.
Also, being able to sort by category (the icon color) or the world name would be very nice. I find the Production Queue the hardest prt of the game to navigate (favoring the old MOO II method). When new tech is unlocked it takes way too long to find worlds that would need to start production of this item. I have tried the OBJECT menu but that seems a bit clunky (for me) as well. So sort options seem like a way to navigate easier to i can determine how best to add new tech to old worlds.
I'm not understanding how Production Queue sort options would help with this issue.
Lastly, my number one wish for changes to the Production Queue, please, a warning if you are about to add a duplicate item for a world. A simple "yes\cancel" box saying that "you are have already ordered production if this item. Do you wish to add another (in the case of outpost bases maybe) or cancel (two space elevators for instance). Would save much cursing and gnashing of teeth.
There is code support for adding that kind of restriction, and it is in place for the new Colony Buildings, for example. But few if any of the older content has had people go back and add similar restrictions; that's something you could do if you want. Of course you'd need to be careful not to over-restrict things in situations where people could reasonably want a backup.
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Chriss
Dyson Forest
Posts: 231
Joined: Sun May 11, 2008 10:50 am

Re: Production Queue - sort options

#3 Post by Chriss »

One thing I have often missed in the production screen is the STRG + double click feature that the research screen has and which puts items at the top of the list. Great for new stuff that you need ASAP. Shipyards, drydocks, troop or outpost ships...
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Dilvish
AI Lead and Programmer Emeritus
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Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:25 pm

Re: Production Queue - sort options

#4 Post by Dilvish »

Chriss wrote:One thing I have often missed in the production screen is the STRG + double click feature that the research screen has and which puts items at the top of the list. Great for new stuff that you need ASAP. Shipyards, drydocks, troop or outpost ships...
You can right click on an item in the production queue and tell it to move to top (or to bottom), but I suppose that isn't quite as efficient as what you mention.
If I provided any code, scripts or other content here, it's released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0

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