Permanent creation of units

[seregadushka]

I think stopping the birth of new units due to lack of resources is a big mistake by the developers. 

According to this strategy, the game turns into a punishment. 

I have to constantly check the condition of the barracks.

The unit production queue should be restored automatically when resources become available.

My mouse will break before I enjoy the game.

This is incorrect. This can be considered a bug. 

[real_tabasco_sauce]

1 minute ago, seregadushka said:

I have to constantly check the condition of the barracks.

Hey, this is intended, so that there remains some attention needed to maintain your economy. Furthermore, putting more actions into maintaining your economy should reward you with a better economy.

it may be still be changed, of course.

2 minutes ago, seregadushka said:

This is incorrect. This can be considered a bug. 

If one considers this a bug, my preference would be is to remove it from the game.

[Deicide4u]

2 minutes ago, real_tabasco_sauce said:

If one considers this a bug, my preference would be is to remove it from the game.

Seconded.

Otherwise, why even play the game if you want everything to be automated for you?

[DesertRose]

What's annoying that if auto-production stops due to insufficient resources the building switches back to no auto-production.

It would be nice if the game remembers auto-production, and if I order a building to produce units again I do not have to enable auto-production again.

[seregadushka]

12 minutes ago, Deicide4u said:

Otherwise, why even play the game if you want everything to be automated for you?

Please don't show me how I should feel during the game. If you give me your explanations, I won't stop considering it a bug.

I can cite analogies from the game itself, showing that these things are of the same order.

According to this logic, a unit should stop when it has cut down 1 tree.

The camel should stop after 1 cycle.

But it is the birth of new fighters that is highlighted in a different behavior.

For me, it's exactly the same when the creation of units continues with the availability of resources. 

This is not logical, and does not coincide with the general strategy of the mechanics of the game. 

And don't tell me, "To make it interesting for you, we're making the game harder.

Clicking on the barracks 100 times per game is not a game, but a battle with the UI.

This is an artificially created problem. 

My conclusion is that the "queue" button should be pressed only by the user, and raised only by the user.

Do this in the general settings: "Queue Locking.

And let everyone choose the game mode for themselves, whether they want to take a break from the game or face 2 hours of battle with a wrong decision .

[Deicide4u]

39 minutes ago, DesertRose said:

It would be nice if the game remembers auto-production, and if I order a building to produce units again I do not have to enable auto-production again.

This can be a good middle ground.

[Seleucids]

@seregadushka This queue locking feature that you suggest exist in some mods, called Autoqueue or ProGUI or something. You can ask @Atrik for help on this

[Atrik]

Hi @seregadushka,

It is very understandable that you feel that some features of the game in their current state, prevents you from appreciating the game fully.
Repetitive tasks, aren't adding anything to the game-play experience. And it is part of the 0.A.D. vision to limit them as possible.

"This interactive/real-time contest should challenge the mind and avoid boring repetitive actions."

As such, units autonomously carry on after cutting a tree as one of the example you provided, but this is because we can be confident enough that the player would want this to happen.

However, production is complex. It depends on a lot of factors, and influence of lot of other things too. For example, there are already problems often stemming from the current auto-queue :

• If the user need the resources for another purpose, auto-queue might unconviniently consume them
• Which building should produce if two of them are competing for the same limited resource?
• How can the actions that we will be carried be as best controllable by the player?

Theses challenges, I did face them when trying to make the trainer feature in ModernGUI. Because I was new to programing, to UX design, and even to 0.A.D. the feature is built with a bit of things that I wish to revisit. Mainly, it adds waaaay too much buttons to the UI, and complex ones too.

I have in mind a system that will permit to have the QOL gained by this trainer feature, but without the added complexity. Basically, make it feel like it is very naturally integrated. It might be something that will come sometime in ModernGUI, and that I will poll here on the forum for an integration in vanilla.

My beliefs are also that we should enrich some other parts of the game-play such as formations, units abilities... Sort that the game become even more of a strategic contest and less then just a measure of 'mechanical skills'.

[seregadushka]

I don't agree. Disabling the auto queue is an artificial difficulty. 

Probably , the authors deliberately went for it . To equalize the odds between a human and Petra.

Petra has a good chance anyway, and Petra is not wrong. Her Auto Queue is always on. He never thinks twice, Perta has a 1 millisecond time gap between resources and queue activation. The population growth of Petra follows a strictly exponential curve. I want that head start too.  I only have the mouse exponentially approaching its broken switches.

When I put an archer into production, I always press TWO buttons. Imagine there is one archer and 2 buttons. I already have this double reflex, like Pavlov's dog.

The whole world is moving towards "No Click". Everything was already thought out 100 years ago:  mouseenter,  mouseover , :hover . Every website knows how to understand the user without a single click.  But not 0 A.D. !

This can be included in the game releases. "We are the only game with two buttons for each action."

Find another way to even our odds, at a lower cost. At the cost of a broken mouse. Give Petra the hero Hercules or Stalin, and turn on the Auto Queue. I agree.

I want to play O.A.D. with my head propped on my left hand, yawn and watch movies on 2 monitors. 

And now I have to fly from the combat center with the mouse, knocking down a bag of chips, to another corner of the map to check how many barracks I have idle. 

Let's be honest. Even the author himself will not be able to assess the extent of deforestation. The game does not have this visual indicator. Now there is a forest (although it is already stumps), and a minute later it is gone. But you're saying it's my fault for not being able to assess my capabilities.

Suggestion 1: Add this "Auto Queue Lock" option to the settings. 

Suggestion 2: The Queue button is already there. This does not require redesigning the UI. Do the ON/OFF manually, and the issue is closed. 

You have ways to collect statistics on the status of this button. 

I suspect that 99% of users will have it enabled. 1% are the remaining developers who like to suffer.

Petra builds her battle formations, develops new tactics, and changes the composition of her units. But I don't have time for that. I'm checking the barracks. I see empty fields when there are thousands of unclaimed resources on the counter. Because there was a one-second break in deliveries 10 minutes ago. That's why I lost. 

Because there are much more interesting things on the battlefield that require attention.

Let's imagine that I am the King of the universe, who has conquered millions of peoples, captured hundreds of countries, but I could not find a competent foreman anywhere who competently presses this button himself. 

Which building should produce if two of them are competing for the same limited resource?

Resources: Again, I disagree with the arguments that the Game cannot distribute resources between buildings. No. Because such a situation is not possible in principle! Each building appears after activating it with the mouse. Every task is the same. There is only one mouse, which means that these tasks have a stack. 2 buildings will never appear on the map in 1 millisecond. I won't be able to set 2 tasks in 1 millisecond.

Do you have Russian vigilantes in the game? They have an axiom: "Whoever gets up first gets his slippers." Take their advice on developing their game.

Don't turn 0 A.D. into Hamster Kombat Clicker. Give the player the opportunity to be a strategist and commander, not a logistics provider.

[Deicide4u]

2 hours ago, seregadushka said:

I want to play O.A.D. with my head propped on my left hand, yawn and watch movies on 2 monitors. 

I'm worried about your attention span here. 

2 hours ago, seregadushka said:

I suspect that 99% of users will have it enabled. 1% are the remaining developers who like to suffer.

You suspect wrong, many players avoid the auto-queue feature as if it's the plague.

[seregadushka]

Deicide4u , Doctors usually monitor the concentration of span of their sick patients. Then patients will hear enough of their daily diagnoses, and they go on forums and repeat it where they are not asked.  

I could call you a liar. But I'll call you a poorly informed employee of the Colosseum. You didn't run a social survey, you don't have statistics on the use of the "Auto-queue" button.

Especially when it's not here .

Edited 6 hours ago by seregadushka

[guerringuerrin]

Hi, @seregadushka
 

I agree that the vanilla training system has some issues, and even some behaviors that may feel like bugs, although perhaps for somewhat different reasons than the ones you mentioned.

In many RTS games (including some very famous, successful ones that are still widely played today) it is normal for the player to pay attention to unit production. In fact, many of those games do not even have an auto-queue feature like the one that exists in 0 A.D.

As for whether the auto-queue should automatically resume once resources become available again, I think that falls more into the area of design decisions. Personally, I find it difficult to consider the current behavior a bug. However, I could imagine having an option in the settings that allows the auto-queue to remain active and automatically resume production once the required resources are available again.

What I do consider a real issue in the current system is the way units are assigned to production buildings. At the moment, when you order units from a group of barracks, the system does not prioritize barracks that are idle or less occupied. As a result, it is quite common for new units to be added to barracks that already have long queues, while others remain completely unused.

This often leads to unnecessarily long production queues and an inefficient distribution of unit training. And you end up going through your barracks one by one, trying to find which one ended up with a huge production queue and which ones were left idle.

In fact, there is currently a PR in progress in the repository that aims to address exactly this problem. The idea is to prioritize the least occupied barracks when assigning newly trained units. I hope to finish it in time for it to be included in the next version of the game.
 

5 hours ago, seregadushka said:

The whole world is moving towards "No Click". Everything was already thought out 100 years ago:  mouseenter,  mouseover , :hover . Every website knows how to understand the user without a single click.  But not 0 A.D. !

This can be included in the game releases. "We are the only game with two buttons for each action."

You don't have to rely only on the mouse. You can use control groups to select all your barracks with a single key, and you can also use the keyboard to choose which units to produce and even the batch size.

So it is perfectly possible to manage production using only your left hand.

Edited 13 hours ago by guerringuerrin

[ffm2]

On 14/03/2026 at 10:16 PM, seregadushka said:

Clicking on the barracks 100 times per game is not a game, but a battle with the UI.

This is an artificially created problem. 

That is no argument. The whole game is a artificial problem. If you want to relax, there is no problem in setting the starting resources to high. Your production won't turn of.

You can also use proGUI which changes 0a.d. more to your liking, just as DOTA changed Warcraft 3 with a shift of the focus to the heros.

The Idea of these "artificial problems" is that the player has tasks in his base even while raiding that may get neglected. The key is for the player to prioritize on the more beneficial: Is the raid good or doing more damage to your economy. In depth also discussed here:

On 04/05/2024 at 7:15 AM, real_tabasco_sauce said:

This is a good watch for those familiar with the automation debate.

Ok so maybe its a different game from 0ad, but many points on automation are valid across RTS games.

The community is heavy divided because players automate their game with mods, don't disclaim it and compete with players that like to compete solving these "artificial problems" better than their enemy. See other threads like:

It's also not just that the problems just gets removed, they get removed in a way that no human player can. So besides that they have to deal with less, they have a benefit.

[Tapothei]

On 15/03/2026 at 4:30 AM, seregadushka said:

I have to constantly check the condition of the barracks.

I call this micromanage, feel free to use a mod that can help you play a 'simple' but fun game to you but if you ever incorporate this into a competative match your actual skill is artificial in the end.

I can suggest however for you to hotkey that barracks(Control Group). Hmm... I'll go make an issue and suggest that if you hotkey you should cycle through the buildings in github, makes it easy see without having to manually click the building.

Edit: Made it

Edited 5 hours ago by Tapothei

[Grautvornix]

Is there really a good enough reason to enter into personal accusation of being a liar/poorly informed etc.?

Can we please try and keep this discussion on a more sober basis please. Lets not overheat the discussion - there is more important things in life that deserve that level of excitement.

[guerringuerrin]

3 hours ago, Tapothei said:

I can suggest however for you to hotkey that barracks(Control Group). Hmm... I'll go make an issue and suggest that if you hotkey you should cycle through the buildings in github, makes it easy see without having to manually click the building.

This is already solved here: https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/pulls/7806 and will be available in R29

[Tapothei]

1 hour ago, guerringuerrin said:

This is already solved here: https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/pulls/7806 and will be available in R29

I know its like a specific building hotkey but what about Control Groups like will it cycle?
I tend to juggle my Control groups in 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and when I become competent will I involve more then Barracks be it Stable, Mercenary building, Siege building such and such and I rather have it in Control Groups because its changeable on the go~

Edited 2 hours ago by Tapothei

[seregadushka]

11 hours ago, guerringuerrin said:

What I do consider a real issue in the current system is the way units are assigned to production buildings. At the moment, when you order units from a group of barracks, the system does not prioritize barracks that are idle or less occupied. As a result, it is quite common for new units to be added to barracks that already have long queues, while others remain completely unused.

You just confirmed my words. Read your text again. 

So why are the barracks or buildings "unused."? Because the queue ran out for 1 second an hour ago. But this moment was missed.

With this quote, you have just joined the Auto-Queue fan club

[guerringuerrin]

2 minutes ago, seregadushka said:

You just confirmed my words. Read your text again. 

So why are the barracks or buildings "unused."? Because the queue ran out for 1 second an hour ago. But this moment was missed.

With this quote, you have just joined the Auto-Queue fan club

That paragraph you quote refers to something slightly different: it describes how units are assigned when the player orders training using a selected group of barracks. Even when resources are available and auto-queue is enabled, this behavior occurs in the same way if the available resources are not sufficient.

As for whether barracks should remain with auto-queue enabled or not, I addressed that earlier above:

Spoiler

11 hours ago, guerringuerrin said:

As for whether the auto-queue should automatically resume once resources become available again, I think that falls more into the area of design decisions. Personally, I find it difficult to consider the current behavior a bug. However, I could imagine having an option in the settings that allows the auto-queue to remain active and automatically resume production once the required resources are available again.

Now, I think you are referring to something beyond simply keeping auto-queue enabled, and you are advocating for a fully automated training system. That is highly debatable from a game design perspective and can hardly be considered “a bug.” There are plenty of successful RTS games that do not automate this aspect.

[seregadushka]

5 hours ago, Tapothei said:

I can suggest however for you to hotkey that barracks(Control Group). Hmm... I'll go make an issue and suggest that if you hotkey you should cycle through the buildings in github, makes it easy see without having to manually click the building.

I'm asking you to save me from monitoring each barracks at B*100 times/hour (that's exactly how Petra gets high in the game), and you're offering me a button to see empty barracks faster.

I've listened to your advice about hot buttons. It kind of reminds me of a bicycle with square wheels. I appreciated it, thank you. 

Therefore, I have only one counter question: "When will there be an Auto-Queue in the main game, without Mods? "

[Deicide4u]

Fun fact.

StarCraft: Brood War is one of the most successful RTS games in history. That game defined the word E-sport.

I've been playing that game for 20 years now, and I'm nowhere near being good at it. My average APM is ~105, when I'm being serious, which puts me at high D to low C rank.

Good players have ~250 APM, while pros can go up to 400 when microing their units.
The best part is, Brood War has no auto-queue. You can't even hotkey more than one building at a time. Still, I'm still playing that game, after all this time.

[Tapothei]

Just now, seregadushka said:

Therefore, I have only one counter question: "When will there be an Auto-Queue in the main game, without Mods? "

I'm just a casual RTS player, probably never, its part of the game and I rather keep it as it is, since having full pop at either min 15-30 is skill based rather then full pop always at min 15 with automation. Would it still consider RTS if the gameplay loop is automated? I could vouch for the auto-train to be removed to enrich the strategy experience, The AI can always be toned down to cover that.

[Seleucids]

1 hour ago, seregadushka said:

Therefore, I have only one counter question: "When will there be an Auto-Queue in the main game, without Mods? "

When pigs fly