Chose direction new units/buildings face

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Would it be possible to decide which direction new units/buildings you want to build face when being done?
In general, it seem to me northern spots are favored over southern spots. Example: Southern team attacks north, northern team finishes pd/t4 just in time - new units/pd fire(s) at once.
Counter example: Northern team attacks south. Southern team finishes pd/t4 - but has to wait for them to turn north and start firing. Just a few seconds, but they can make a difference. Fair and balanced?
There are games where you can chose the spot for a new builing and after that you also can drag the mouse into the direction you want the new element to face.
What do you think, would that be a good idea for this game as well? If so, would that even be possible?

[The Mak]

There was a discussion topic on GPG forums about this same topic. I would have provided the link but it seems their forums are down.

If I remember correctly, Domino had something working but there was some issues when a unit is being built and it clips through the factories model. The unit under construction will still be aligned to how it is being built (ships facing north/south, land units facing east/west) so you can imagine a battleship being built and a sea factory in the east/west position.

I think there was a pathing issue as well. With the units aligned in the original construction direction, they would spend alot of time rotating just to walk out in the custom direction that the factory is now aligned to.

This is one thing that Planetary Annihilation does real well and is really useful.

[IceDreamer]

It can be done, and done well. It just hasn't been yet.

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Thanks for the replies. Too bad the old forum is gone Would have been interesting to see what was discussed there.
I understand the problem with the factories. Maybe it can be solved by some clever coder My primary concern is with PD/t4 tho. At least you can prepare your pd for incoming units by ground fire in the desired direction, so the pd will turn that way. Still, especially a turning t4 (south) against an incoming t4 (north) is annoying because the southern t4 loses so much health before even firing once

Edit:
I also wonder if the map layout considers the time you need to turn as the southern player. For example, will the northern front player on Setons be faster at the mass than the southern front player? Hm, sandbox, here I come :p

[IceDreamer]

Oh god, rotating Factories is tricky, but rotating PD is much easier and has SO MANY ADVANTAGES. This should happen

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I thought a little about the practical execution. The problem is, that you cannot just place the pd/t4 and drage it into the directon u want the unit to face - that would mean you couldn't build a line of them anymore. So, maybe a solution for that could be to press the left mousekey to place the unit. Then, while left key is pressed, press right key as well and move the mouse into the direction you want the unit to face. Let the right key go (while left pressed) and drag a line in the direction you want - all units in the line will face the same direction u chose.

Edit:
Obviously still the northern team will have a little advantage because they do not have to invest more time and clicks in turning the pd/t4. Still, maybe it would be usefull (or maybe u even can chose a default setting for the direction based on your starting position on the map).

[Lionhardt]

You know what would be cool regarding PDs... I have no idea if his is possible though...: If PDs had as their default orientation looking to the center of the map. This way here would be no more imbalance through PD default orientation.

[IceDreamer]

I think of this less of a way to reduce map imbalance, and more as a new thing like Adjacency bonuses; a thing which a player can CHOOSE to use extra time for to gain incremental advantages provided the enemy does not do the same.

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Exactly, Lionhardt, thats what I meant by "default setting"

[The Mak]

Found the link but the forum is still a bit unstable. So you may need to keep trying to connect.

I do not remember now and do not have FA with me, but if you select attack ground and select in the direction you want, then go back to fire at will, do the turrets rotate back to their default position?