Adding formations? Aren't formations already in the game or is this something entirely different that I'm completely out of the loop on?
Here is a quick preview.
Each fleet can be set to act in relation to another friendly fleet, designated the 'Anchor Fleet', and the presence of 'threats'. So you might set fleet A to place itself a million kilometres from fleet B in the direction of alien ship C. As fleet A and alien ship C manoeuvre, fleet B will attempt to maintain that position.
Once an Anchor Fleet is set, there is a descending order of potential threats. Firstly, you can specify a specific alien ship, even if that ship is not currently on sensors, in the same system or hostile. However, that threat will be ignored until the specific alien ship is on sensors in the same system. Secondly, you can toggle the fleet to use the nearest hostile warship as the threat. A 'warship' in this context is an alien ship that you know has weapons (as per the Intelligence for the parent alien class). So if the specific threat is destroyed or moves out of sensor range, the fleet will use the nearest hostile warship as the threat instead. Third is the toggle for the nearest hostile contact. So with no specific threat or warship, the fleet will use any hostile contact as the threat. Finally, you can use the Anchor Fleet's destination as the 'threat'
You can set a distance from the Anchor fleet and an offset bearing. So you might have two fleets set to be 30 degrees either side and ahead of an Anchor Fleet to act as sensor pickets, or you might have your support ships set at 180 degrees so they follow the Anchor fleet.
The second and third panels on the screenshot allow you to choose anchor fleets and specific threats.
Finally, if a fleet joins another fleet as a sub-fleet, the sub-fleet will retain its formation settings. While they won't be used by the sub-fleet while it is part of a fleet, they will become active again if the sub-fleet is detached and becomes a fleet again. This will allow easy detachment of escorts. I intend to have recall escort fleets and deploy escort fleets orders to make this easier. It's not all coded yet, but this is the general idea.