TL;DR
To use ghosts for planning, I propose to extend the Ghost building system so that Ghosts can be locked which means they are ignored by bots.What ?
I frequently want to use ghosts for planning. Then it is not practical that available robots will build these ghosts. Therefore I propose to introduce a "locked ghost" kind of ghost.- strg+shift+click (with item or blueprint or ghost in hand) creates "locked" ghost on the map that is visible as a normal ghost with a lock icon on top (like the X for destruction on built entities, but a lock)
- these ghosts are ignored by bots and do not generate "no item available, no bots available" warnings but they are visible to the player for planning
- strg+click on such a ghost makes them unlocked (removes the lock icon) -> robots will now build them, warnings will trigger
- strg+mark a rectangle will make all marked ghosts unlocked
- strg+click/mark toggles locked/unlocked ghosts so ghosts that are not locked can be locked also after placing them
Why ?
I imagine that this would be a very useful feature:- Locked ghosts can be placeholders on the map, and built later when resources become available.
- In the potential new "blueprint game mode" where players might want to place blueprints for planning, but build other planned buildings first. Let's say I place a blueprint for building the whole refinery, but I only want the initial oil processing to be built as long as the rest is not researched yet ...
- This would be a medium-sized change with big positive implications for the game play in my opinion.
