QoL: Priority for energy distribution.

[Stickman]

Since people throw all kinds of ideas there, let's have one more, more on the quality of life side.

Allow player to nominate one building for maximum priority for energy packets.
Preferably as hotkey and a button in main UI, not as option on unit selection, and some kind of visual effect.
Priority means that, if a unit can receive an energy packet, it will be supplied by next available energy packet.

I understand that controlling energy production/consumption is a crucial skill for CW games, and this can change the way many players start their games. Instead of carefully estimating when it safe to place next, say, collector, it will be possible to place your whole layout first and then just nominate collectors one by one as they are bring built. And this will lower the whole "skill ceiling", but is it a bad thing? It would be possible, for CW3 example, keep a PZ beam powered during spore raid or beeline for some resource while overbuilding.

I also understand that, technically, it's already possible to do this (or achieve close enough effect) via intense micro-control of every unit.

As I perceive, currently energy distribution works this way - unit requests packet and gets into request queue, last place. As the time goes, units in front of the queue get assigned a packet and leave the queue, allowing next unit to have next energy packet. If a unit then needs another packet, it goes back into queue, last place. I think, that with just one priority unit it would be possible to either shuffle this unit into the front of the queue each time it requests the packet or have some special variable to check for Unit ID that should have priority.

If this reads like a total nonsense, I think I can try to explain better with tons of screenshots on request.

[GoodMorning]

I rather like Stickman's suggestion. It also allows precise allocation of packets until you start getting more than 30 produced per frame, by which time there's little need for micromanagement unless something needs priority power.

[FluppyGuppy]

That is a really nice idea. I'd hardly consider it OP, someone who wants to be packet-perfect can do it easily enough. This would just make it less time consuming.

[strigvir]

I had a similar idea but as HQ toggle for construction priorities : consecutive and simultaneous. In consecutive it will switch to next building only after enough packets sent to finish the current one. The order I guess is plopping order or just distance to HQ. Simultaneous is old behaviour.
Limited to construction because I can't remember even a single situation where I'd need priorities for other than initial grid and reactor plopping.