Using sketching to control heterogeneous groups

The basic methods of interaction in strategy games with regards to controlling groups of units has largely remained the same since the first strategy games were released. Although the control systems in games today are effective and intuitive, they are somewhat limiting for the user in terms of achieving more complex goals. Recently, there has been research into using sketch-based systems as an alternate means of controlling a crowd, granting a higher level of control to the user while maintaining an easy to use and intuitive interface. So far, however, this has only been implemented for homogeneous groups. This paper describes the implementation of a sketch-based crowd control system for strategy games, which allows the user to exert a greater level of control over their armies by giving them the ability to control heterogeneous groups by using sub-group sketching to distinguish formations and paths for groups and sub-groups to adhere to.