I think we should be able to manually control villagers by left clicking them and then right clicking our source and then right clicking the stockpile we want them to go to. The method right now is too buggy.
Iâve seen a few people suggest this, but currently I donât believe this is the way the team want to handle things.
The player is seen more as an orchestrator that provides tasks for the settlers who then go about and do it.
I personally feel that being able to control each specific unit would grow tiresome rather quickly, especially as a settlement grows, and it kinda breaks the immersion when you can tell units specifically where to go - I find it much more fun saying hey, I want these trees cut, and the little guys and girls wander off on their own accord.
I appreciate the method right now is a bit buggy, but thatâs just because of the pathfinding and will improve as time goes on 
besides, we donât want to make it too easy for Team Radiant do we?!
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This might be helpful when individual villagers get stuck. However, I am sure that bug will be fixed by release.
It definitely would, but then thatâs what I mean about making it easy for them 
having the option to manually control a unit might prove useful if they got stuck⌠and if it were easy enough to bake in (and the player wanted the option of having that level of micromanagement) i could see that as a viable playstyleâŚ
but the controls now seem right to me⌠once we can drag-select resources to interact with, this will become even more apparentâŚ
I specifically donât want this. The model I enjoy in these types of games (Dwarf Fortress mainly) is that the people arenât yours to own. You can set things that need to be done, but canât actually make them do it. In DF my dorfs would often drink beer and sleep alot, and not do their jobs. I actually got frustrated in Timber and Stone when I learned I could play it like an rts. I donât want to play a city building rts, I want to help my settlers by directing their growth.
I dunno, my two cents.
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I have to agree with you there. If you start controlling individual people it creates to much micro managing for this type of game and becomes more like Age of Empires or Starcraft. As the bugs are squashed in the pathfinder getting stuck shouldnât be much of an issue.
Besides of lack of keyboard camera controls and the lack to drag-select resources, the way the game is controlled is perfect in my opinion.
I would fall into this camp as well.
For RTS games - itâs a perfect method of controlling because you need to be able to do this.
For me itâs much more satisfying assigning jobs and watching as your town lives on itâs own through your guidance.
Having said that, it will be interesting to see how combat is handled, whether we see it in a similar vein to Gnomoria/ Dwarf Fortress, or if there is a bit more âcontrollingâ done âŚ
Iâm with those who say that we should avoid a control system like this. However, at the stage the game is at right now, it would be very helpful to have an âoverrideâ of some kind in case they do get stuck.
Another idea I have is to be able to select workers and select an âemphasisâ, so that they are more likely to do a specific job (but can still do all the others).
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An override might be as simple as a button to refresh everyoneâs path finding etc
Well if we canât do it the way I suggested, I think there should be
- A recall button which stops everyone and brings them to one point
- A way to see who or how many people are doing one thing
If you are ok with an override to refresh the pathfinding, Iâm ok with that. I should not be able to tell them exactly where to go though.
Some sort of in game task viewer would be great. I bet that if it isnât in the stock game, someone will mod it in. I noticed that the carpenter will only be a carpenter, and will not do anything else. If you have seen the early job design Radiant has posted (anyone have a link for that thing?), it has some specific jobs that in the future would clear up the ambiguity of who is doing what as they will only do what their job is.
This would definitely be an interesting thing especially as we get further in and our settlements expand.
I think Dwarf Fortress handles this with the use of certain classes that keep track of things? Iâm not sure how well that would translate over to SH which I believe will have a lower population cap but itâs still food for thought.
A breakdown of settler distribution would be neat 
Thinking about it, I feel that it would really be awesome to be able to select different âemphasisâ for different settlers. If Team Radiant implements a sort of XP system, this would be particularly useful.
I think that should be an option but the main option should be the only option we have now to avoid some bugs maybe
I like the idea of being able to click someone to see what their current tasks are, but for the most part, I want to merely oversee not control individually.
likewiseâŚ
im hoping that, in regards to combat, we have a bit more control⌠it seems that might be the case:
âWell, we donât want the player to have to micro-manage most units. You sort of give the orders and your settlers figure out how to implement your plans. For combat units, where you do exert more control, we will have the pathing options you would expect in an RTS: waypoints, patrol, etc.â
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Iâm coming fresh from having played âCraft the Worldâ, a 2D game with elements of Terraria, Dwarf Fortress, and other crafting games. CtW offers direct, manual control of individual dwarfs, and after having dealt with that, I sincerely oppose this idea.
Either the implementation of this idea is crippled (e.g. not enough options when controlling the individual, leaving them unable to perform any useful tasks), or immensely overpowered (e.g. having full access to the playerâs inventory, regardless of stockpile distance). It just feels bad.
That being said, I support 100% the idea of adding more indirect player control to Stonehearth. For example:
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Patrols. Giving footmen personalized patrols, or even being able to copy existing patrols, and being able to add âguard postsâ to these, which would stall them at that spot for a certain amount of time before going to the next patrol point.
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Attack/Defend Options. Selecting hostile creatures and should give the option for footmen, or any other soldier-like class to take the offensive and attack. Ideally, this feature would include a menu that would give you the option of selecting which of your villagers would attack (by default, it would just be the footmen). This would give you the ability to dispatch a footman, or two, while still having some to defend your villagers. When the horn is blown and the villagers are on the defensive, everyone will follow attack orders unless specified otherwise.
To stop the bugs perhaps just an override button return to campfire or flagpost option. This could also be used for the retreat for combat idea floating around the forum