Artistic Forces/Command bar

"The command bar, located at the bottom of the screen, is where you will give many commands and instructions to your units and buildings."

- Martin Alper II In real-time strategy games, the term command bar or bottom bar is a unique real-time strategy (RTS) control interface primarily used by both Trigger Soft Corporation and HQ Team, making its debut in War Diary (released in South Korea as Choongmoogong) from 1996 as opposed to the sidebar, which is firstly featured in Westwood Studios' Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty from the year 1992. As its name implies, the command bar interface is a horizontal bar display that is usually located on the bottom corner of the game screen and serves a variety of functions, most notably the queuing of commands, buildings, units, abilities, and upgrades.

Description
The command bar, located at the bottom of the screen, is a unique command interface that takes the form of button-laden command box on the right side of the in-game screen.

In Artistic Forces, the gameplay makes use of the command bar, typically placed on the bottom of the in-game screen. In most cases, the command bar itself will have the following interface details starting from left to right:


 * Mini-map (if the radar building is present and powered)
 * 4 in-game menu buttons:
 * Menu button
 * Help button
 * Allies button (Intel in single-player-exclusive Campaign mode)
 * Message log button
 * Population count
 * Building/unit portrait
 * Fund count
 * Information box
 * Power cap
 * Elapse timer
 * Slot list
 * Hide/show command bar button
 * Command box
 * Experience bar
 * Promotional protocol button
 * Scrollbar

Additionally, the command bar is expanded with a support power bar shown at the top-left corner, and a mission objective display at the upper-left corner of the screen, as well as a hero list display.

Command box
The command box allows you to select commands, buildings, troops, and abilities.

Commands
TBA

Move
The Move command orders your selected units to automatically move from one location to another.

Attack-Move
The Attack-Move command orders your selected units to move to the destination while stopping to fight all enemies in their path.

Stop
The Stop command orders your selected units to automatically stop moving or attacking.

Like the command bar itself, the appearance of the Stop command is much different on what faction you are playing as, especially the writing system of their respectively official language(s). The following factions' official languages written for the Stop command are:
 * English - SDA, Mutant Horde, GIA, FAF, Toon Federation, ESU and IMC
 * Russian - CCS
 * Mandarin Chinese - PDF only
 * Japanese - RSSDF, Josei Guntai, Kemonomimi, Yami Musume and Kaijin Gundan (for Josei Guntai, it is entirely written in hiragana)
 * Korean - TDF
 * Open hand gesture - Stick Figuroids, Freaks, Robotoids, Possessed, Dominators, and Puppetoids
 * Dog paw - Anthro
 * Homeworld language - Planetary League
 * Animatopian Basic Standard - DoA
 * Oarckish - Oarcks
 * Esperanto - Totalitarian Empire
 * Latin - CotU and FHC
 * Zeta Reticulus - Alien Empire
 * Visitor language - Interdimensional Empire
 * Bear paw - Beast Warlords
 * Paw of the Tyrannosaurus Rex - Tyrannosaurians
 * Hebrew - MDS
 * Arabic - AMEC

Guard
The Guard command orders your selected units to guard a specific area and defend it from enemy attacks.

Air Guard
The Air Guard command orders your selected units to guard airspace from enemies and their attacks.

Attack
The Attack command orders your selected units to either force attack on the ground, or automatically attack neutral or enemy units in melee or ranged combat.

Hold Position
The Hold Position command Hold Position orders your selected units to prevent enemy units from chasing any units, especially air units that will chase any unit that they come across. Sometimes the enemy will send in a bait unit that will fire briefly then run back to cover. If you are not watching, your army might blindly follow that bait unit back into a trap.

Patrol
The Patrol command functions like the Attack-move command, but also allows you to follow any designated units.

Retreat
The Retreat command is very useful for your selected units to flee from enemies while in combat.

Scatter
The Scatter command allows your selected units to scatter from each other.

Gather
The Gather command is useful for your selected units to gather resources, most notably supplies, minerals, oils, and even crops.

Return Resource
The Return Resource command allows your selected units to return resources to your base while holding any type of resources.

Repair
The Repair command is useful for your selected units to repair damaged structures, vehicles, aircraft, and vessels, including mechanized units.

Ground Attack
The Ground Attack allows your selected units to forcefully fire a targeted area in a range.

Cancel
The Cancel command is very important for selected buildings or units to cancel their progresses.

Set Rally Point
The Set Rally Point command is important for selected productive structures to set the path from a building to a targeted location, even after training or building.

Sell
The Sell command is importantly useful for selling selected structures, and giving you a cash value back depending on the building's cost as a refund.

The appearance of the Sell command is factionally dependable due to the respective factions' official currencies. Here are the currencies for the Sell command:
 * American Dollar ($) - SDA, Stick Figuroids, Freaks, FAF and Toon Federation
 * Euro (€) - ESU
 * Russian Ruble (₽) - CCS
 * Chinese Yuan/Japanese Yen (¥) - PDF, RSSDF, Josei Guntai, Kemonomimi and Yami Musume
 * Korean Won (₩) - TDF
 * Currency sign (¤) - Robotoids, Anthro, GIA, Interplanetary League, Elfaenia, Dwarvenomes, Mutant Horde, Oarcks, IMC, Alien Empire, FHC, CotU, Kaijin Gundan, Horroroids, Possessed, Interdimensional Empire, Tyranosaurians, Beast Warlords, Dominators, Dark Elfaenia, AMEC, Militant Insurgents and Shades
 * Animatopian Credits - DoA
 * Imperial Marko (IM) - Totalitarian Empire
 * Israeli New Shekel (₪) - MDS
 * British Pound (£) - Puppetoids

Purchasing
This feature allows you to train troops, build structures, buy upgrades, and hire the mercenaries, depending on their costs, with enough funds you have.

Radar
At the left corner of the command bar is the radar screen, a square display that serves as a mini-map. In all game modes, the radar screen serves to display all locations visited by units controlled by the player. Various items of interest, like resource deposits, topography, units, and buildings are all displayed here for the player to better coordinate his forces. Forces belonging to different armies, be it friendly, allied, and enemy, will often be color coded for better discrimination.

Radar screens are typically dependent on a radar building of some sort to be constructed by the player in order for them to work. When a radar building is not constructed or functional, the radar screen will deactivate. Once a radar building is restored, the screen will display radar again.

Power
The power requirements of your base are displayed on the center-left side of the command bar, commonly as a power cap. Power consumption is shown as a power value and a maximum amount of your base's power supply. Should the power value overtake the maximum power gauge, the base’s power needs will be exceeded, with new power supplies requiring to be constructed/repaired in order for power to be restored and green.

When a base loses power, unit and building construction will slow down significantly, sometimes coming to a complete halt depending on the game.

Before Artistic Forces
Although the command bar is mostly known for its chief prominence in Artistic Forces, the gameplay feature is traced to Korean-developed War Diary, released in 1996, as the bottom bar. The concept of the bottom bar really took an inspiration of the sidebar system, firstly traced back to Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty, developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in the year 1992.

These features would be abandoned in future iterations of the bottom bar, which is more prevalent.

Artistic Forces
TBA

Other games
Other than Artistic Forces, many games would copy the bottom bar system in the years following the release of War Diary, with most making a few small edits.
 * 7th Legion (1997, Epic MegaGames, Vision Software, MicroPose)
 * Age of Empires (1997, Ensemble Studios, Microsoft)
 * LED Wars (1997, Larian Studios NV, Ionos Inc.)
 * The Tone Rebellion (1997, The Logic Factory, Virgin Interactive Entertainment)
 * Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 (1998, Ion Storm, 7th Level, Eidos Interactive)
 * StarCraft (1998, Blizzard Entertainment)
 * Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds (1998, Rage Software, GT Interactive)
 * Age of Empires II (1999, Ensemble Studios, Microsoft)
 * Dungeon Keeper 2 (1999, Bullfrog Productions, Electronic Arts)
 * Warzone 2100 (1999, Pumpkin Studios, Warzone 2100 Project, Eidos Interactive)
 * Sacrifice (2000, Shiny Entertainment)
 * Star Trek: Armada (2000, Rockstar Games, Activision Blizzard)
 * Star Wars: Force Commander (2000, Ronin Entertainment, Lucasarts)
 * Dark Reign 2 (2000, Pandemic Studios, Activision Blizzard)
 * Traffic Giant (2000, JoWooD Productions)
 * Cossacks: European Wars (2000, GSC Game World, CDV Software, Strategy First)
 * Times of Conflict (2000, Eugen Systems, Microids)
 * Ground Control (2000, Massive Entertainment, Sierra Studios)
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (2001, LucasArts, Ensemble Studios)
 * Stronghold (2001, Firefly Studios, Gathering of Developers)
 * S.W.I.N.E. (2001, StormRegion, Ravensburger Interactive Media)
 * Battle Realms (2001, Liquid Entertainment, Crave Entertainment, Ubisoft Entertainment)
 * Empire Earth (2001, Stainless Steel Studios, Sierra Studios)
 * The Gladiators: Galactic Circus Games (2002, Eugen Systems, Arxel Tribe, Tri Synergy)
 * Warcraft III (2002, Blizzard Entertainment)
 * Army Men: RTS (2002, Pandemic Studios, The 3DO Company)
 * Command & Conquer: Generals (2003, Electronic Arts)
 * Rise of Nations (2003, Big Huge Games, Microsoft Game Studios)
 * Besieger (2004, DreamCatcher Interactive, Akella)
 * Codename: Panzers (2004, StormRegion, CDV Software Entertainment)
 * Ground Control II: Operation Exodus (2004, Massive Entertainment, Sierra Studios)
 * Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004, Relic Entertainment)
 * Codename: Panzers, Phase Two (2004, StormRegion, CDV Software Entertainment)
 * Axis & Allies (2004, TimeGate Studios, Atari)
 * Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth (2004, Electronic Arts)
 * Act of War: Direct Action (2005, Eugen Systems, Atari)
 * Empire Earth II (2005, Mad Doc Software, Vivendi Universal Games)
 * Age of Empires III (2005, Ensemble Studios, Microsoft Game Studios)
 * Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (2006, Big Huge Games, Microsoft Game Studios)
 * Company of Heroes (2006, Relic Entertainment)
 * Empire Earth III (2007, Mad Doc Software, Vivendi Universal Games)
 * World In Conflict (2007, Massive Entertainment, Vivendi Universal Games)
 * Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (2009, Relic Entertainment)
 * Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (2010, Electronic Arts)
 * StarCraft II (2010, Blizzard Entertainment)
 * Company of Heroes 2 (2013, Relic Entertainment)
 * Act of Aggression (2015, Eugen Systems, Focus Home Interactive)
 * Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III (2017, Relic Entertainment)
 * Age of Empires IV (2021, Relic Entertainment, World's Edge, Xbox Game Studios)
 * Company of Heroes 3 (2022, Relic Entertainment)