Selection

Since Ransacked is about controlling multiple units at once, it's important that the player has the right tools to select their units.

A unit's selection state is represented by a projected circle beneath them. An outline is also used to indicate that the unit is about to be selected, if the input is completed. The colour of the outline and selection circle are determined by the unit's faction: green for ally and red for enemy. When selected, a unit's selection circle will be white. Out of all the selected units, one unit is focused, this circle will be yellow.

The simplest way of selecting a unit is to click on it. For precision, selecting a single unit this way is done with hit-boxes conforming to the unit's shape.

You can also select units by drawing a box with the mouse. This method doesn't need to be so precise, so we just draw a box for each unit, and check for overlapping.

Given a selection of multiple units the selection system will filter the selection to the highest tier of the following groups:

• Controlled Units
• Allied Units
• Neutral and Enemy Units
• Interactable Objects

Holding shift will allow the player to add to their current selection group.

Deselecting units can be done in three ways: selecting a new unit; pressing the cancel button or drawing a box in empty space.

In order to change the focused unit there is a "cycle unit" hotkey. With a group selected pressing the cycle unit key with change the focus to the next unit in the group. Holding shift will reverse the direction.

If the selection group is currently empty, pressing the cycle unit key will select the first controlled unit. If a single controlled unit is selected, pressing the cycle key moves the selection to the next controlled unit, deselecting the old unit. Holding shift will also reverse the direction.

Selection sets can be bound to hotkeys. The current selection can be bound to a key by holding control and hitting the hotkey. From then on, if that hotkey is pressed those units will be selected. Holding shift will add to the current selection. A "Select All Controlled" hotkey exists by default as well.