Please, for the sake of this topic, assume that Ensemble Studios desires to continue the trend of adding game features that minimize micro-management. This trend is very apparent. Notable milestones include:
- cuing units, gather points (AOK compared to Warcraft 2)
- farm cue at the AOK:TC mill
- villager auto-tasking after building in AOK:TC
- cue a mix of units and techs in AOM
- auto-cue in AOM:TT
NOW THE QUESTION: --------- My only idea so far that survives some scrutiny would be something I'll call Build Sets would be "for the advanced player", just like AOK unit formations. (i.e., not very advanced) The Build Sets would be combinations of buildings that advanced players build anyway, but ordered (after selecting a villager) with a single hotkey. For example, a tower surrounded by weak walls would be one Build Set. A tower surrounded by houses would be another Build Set. A resource drop-off with two walls from it's "side" edges to the "side" edges of the nearby resource would be a third Build Set. A combination of one of each 2nd-age military building would be a fourth Build Set. Things like that. If you wanted to use a Build Set you would simply define a hotkey for it.