Interface and Controls
This section covers basic interface description and controls for Spring: 1944. Much more in-depth information is available on the Spring RTS website, but for simplicity's sake this section provides the basics of how to operate ingame. Note that, in line with Spring's extreme modifiability, most controls and keys can be modified.
Camera
The Spring engine has several different camera modes to choose from, each with its own nuances. You can change camera mode by holding ctrl and either pressing backspace or the mousewheel.
TA mode is the "standard". It is your average 3/4 view mode, however the view angle can be changed by holding ctrl and spinning the mousewheel. Another interesting viewmode is "FPS". This basically gives you full 360 rotation and pitch for your camera to view anything from any angle (except from underground). In most mosts, pressing backspace or the mousewheel (without holding ctrl) will switch the control mode from fixed (a small cross will appear in the center of the screen, and any mouse movement while result in moving the camera) to normal (you will be able to move your cursor and select thing, and scrolling the edges of the screen will move the camera).
Selecting and Moving
To select a unit or structure, you can either left-click on it directly, or left-click and drag to select it, like most standard RTS games. When selecting 4 or less combat units, or any non-combat unit (and any structures that have the Move ability), your default Command will become a Move order -- right click somewhere to tell those units to move there, and they will do so, not stopping (voluntarily) until they reach that point. When you select more than 5 units that default command will become "Fight" -- it acts almost the same as Move, except your combat units will stop and engage any targets they come across (rather than walk by firing wildly from the hip). You can also right-click and drag to have your units move into a line formation -- this is usually the best way to advance your troops (issuing a line formation Fight order) as they will spread out, maximizing their fields of fire.
When you manually select an order from the unit's order menu, such as "Fight", "Move", etc, the trigger becomes the left mouse button.
Queuing build orders
Engineers, Barracks, and Yards can generate structures and units. Selecting them will show a build menu in their command menu. For Engineers, clicking the type of structure or unit you'd like to build will let you place that item anywhere; the Engineer will walk over and start processing the order there. For structures, clicking a build order will automatically build that unit, which, when done, will walk out.
Issuing orders to structures
Structures that build units (Barracks, Vehicle Yards, etc) have several commands available to them in their menu. Although the structure itself can not carry out these orders (a barracks can not sprout legs and move), the order will carry over for any unit built by that structure. For instance, if give a Barracks a Move Order somewhere outside of it, all infantry built there will move to that point once they're built. In other RTS games this is known as giving it a Waypoint.
Behavioural orders
Most units have an array of behavioural orders that affect how that unit behaves:
Setting units to Hold Fire will cause them to, naturally, hold their fire, forever.
Return Fire will cause those units to only fire if fired upon.
Fire at Will will allow those units to fire at anything that comes into range.
Hold Position forces the unit to stay where it is. This can be useful for most vehicles, as with the Spring behavioural AI system vehicles have a tendency to want to move around a lot in sometimes very strange ways. If you want your vehicle to stay put where it is and never move, set it on Hold Position.
Maneuver will allow a unit to move when an enemy comes close; if out of range of weapons, it will attempt to get within weapons range (although often not successfully thanks to the above unit behavioural problems). The units will have a set "leash length" where they will engage any targets that come nearby.
Roam allows units to essentially pursue a target they happen to see nearby indefinately. Rather than pursue for a bit and then turn back, they'll go hunting their target until it or they are destroyed.
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