PLAYER INTERFACE (ver1.0): Hosted by Frank Moore

[SnowFire]

tfs99: But now with v1.1, the cursor is totally screwed up in HOMM III... if CivIII isn't Windows based, this is something that absolutely should not happen (it didn't in 1.0 or HOMM II, how odd...).

Another thing. I think Octopus's notes should be put in the save file (you type them yourself) so you don't have to go through every save "alright, what was this one. what was this one." A system similar to HOMM III again would work here, with an extra space for a note on this map. And, it was in SMAC, but just to make sure, a very precise date/time saved would be nice as well.

[Depp]

Bell, how could you possibly fail with it?

in smac everything is so slow, you gotta hold down the mouse button to do thing and half the time you come to the scouting mode where you can´t actually send the unit anywhere, you gotta do it all again.

And the pathfinding in CTP is the only good civ/smac pathfinding there is, and you see exactely where it will go too, and when it will reach certain points.

Well, no use arguing about this. When i first played the game i was dissapointed because everything was so different. But after playing a game i kinda began to like it and after another game i realized that the interface is very efficeint. It´s just different, and most people can´t take that. But if you have patience you will discover that it is really an improvment.

I have found that this is why many dislike CTP and only play it one hour, it´s not civ 2. But it was not supposed to be....

Sorry about this post, it has really not much to do with anything :-)

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Depp writes:
I have found that this is why many dislike CTP and only play it one hour, it´s not civ 2. But it was not supposed to be....

Well, you continue to generalize, but they aren't correct. I played, and still play, CTP quite a bit. But I can't sit down and do a marathon session with it like in Civ2 or SMAC because I get so frustrated with the horrible interface.

[Ecce Homo]

Good point from Alexander's Horse:

During the game, you should be able to print out maps of your empire.

[Shining1]

Snowfire: HOMMIII patch 1.1 is totally screwed anyway. It probably doesn't merit discussion.

Suggestions: The major RTS ideas (production queues, send unit to point, make group, save group/city to number, etc) need to included as fundamentals to playing civIII. It's about time TBS players got fed up with the crap interface we keep receiving.

[Bird]

[Never mind what used to be here. I just got MPG and see that they've included what I wanted, so I assume they'll carry it over to CIV III.]

I would also like to have the option of precluding goodie huts from giving you advanced tribes. They can really screw up one city games.

<font size=1 color=444444>[This message has been edited by Bird (edited June 16, 1999).]</font>

[ml_4da3]

a people counter that can count to more than 320 million people!

[Frank Moore]

Here is an idea that has cropped up from time to time, but never instituted.

A real time clock, possibly with an alarm clock feature.

There may be a reason that game developers do not include this in the game, but I would really like this feature. Do you folks agree or disagree?

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Frank Moore - Civ3 Player Interface Thread Master

[Frank Moore]

Bird,

In SMAC at least one can just pick "start new game" and then start at the main menu. Are you refering to CTP?

ml_4da3,
What game are you referring to? CTP?

General note to everyone: Please let us know what game is being referred to. Especially if it is a "do it this way" idea.

Tanks

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Frank Moore - Civ3 Player Interface Thread Master

[This message has been edited by Frank Moore (edited May 28, 1999).]

[Bird]

Frank: I was referring to CIV II. It sounds like they've put the right feature in SMAC, but I didn't know that. If so, great, just carry it over to CIV III.

ml_4da3 is also referring to CIV II (as I think most people are when they don't specifically say otherwise or the context isn't otherwise clear). His idea should be incorporated, and they should also increase the maximum number of cities a civ can have (from 256 or something like that) (not that I ever came close to that many cities, but others have).

[jof]

I would like to add the ideas of the following to the topics 2 & 3 of the summary from may 28th, 10:43:

(on comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic)
iainQlang@enterprise.net wrote:
>Would it cost too much in hard disc space to have a scratchpad for
>each city? By the time I get a civilisation to a reasonable size and
>spend ages visiting each city checking management, I can forget that I
>may be trying to combine the output of neighbouring cities for some
>specific end - defence units in border locations, versus wonders in
>safe interior sites, f'rinstance. A scrathchpad / aide memoire
>thing-y would satisfy. Often a game can stretch over weeks with
>long-ish intervals between sessions and it can be difficult to retain
>themes.
>Yooors, Iain.

...

and I answered:
For Civ3 I'll suggest Iains scratchpad / aide memoire thing-y:
one for every city (by default empty)
and one for the whole faction (check tax-rate, government,
distribution of transports ...).

This thing-ys should also be able to pop up (at the end of the turn)
after a selectable condition is met (X turns passed by, Year Y is reached,
change of government, city growth beyond size Z ...).

...

The production box could show the collected shields (as it is) and
additionally the missing ones in two shades of grey as multiples of
the current production per turn
Will the production boxes learn to wrap around exceeding shields? When
not, why?

-jof-

[Q Classic]

While I like the Empire Tab thingie at the bottom of the screen in CTP, i cannot stand the rest of the interface. I find it hard to maneuver in CTP, not as well as in SMAC or CIV2.

In SMAC, i like the way the menus are set up, but i would like something like group select for cities and all.
------
So, overall, what i'd like is something like the SMAC interface, but with a menu that shows "Screens", and something at the bottom of the screen that shows "Power Chart/Graph, Who's Who, Diplomacy, Main, Economy" "Units (SMAC style)" "Empire (ctp style)"

[Goob]

Ecco Homo>>During the game, you should be able to print out maps of your empire.


Yes, and I would like to read and print my production queues from entire empire. If the various charts in SMAC (F2, F3, etc.,) were printable that would be excellent.

I want all city, production, Resource and current unit lists to be printable. Surely this is possible, and it would make those bathroom breaks so much more enjoyable.

Goob
The manuals and tech charts get boring after a time.

[Atahualpa]

make the interface that way, that you can achieve more with fewer clicks.

Ata

[yin26]

-=*MOVING THE THREAD UP*=-

[Bird]

I assume this belongs in this thread. In Civ II, the science information is too simplistic because it only tells you how many turns to the next discovery at various tax rates. The player should be informed specifically (a) how many beakers are needed for the next discovery and (b) how many beakers will be produced at the given tax rate. Keep the current info, too, for those who don't want to do the math. These changes are important in one city space race attempts because science can be wasted tremendously without it. For example, you might be cranking out 1400 beakers per turn, but only need 50 beakers to get the next discovery. 1350 beakers go to waste.

If they don't want to give this info, then make it so the 1350 beakers are not wasted.

<font size=1 color=444444>[This message has been edited by Bird (edited June 10, 1999).]</font>

[Kaak]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try to stick as close to the original civ2 interphase as possible. I am a HUGE civ fan, and i hardly play SMAC or CTP because of the unfriendly, SLOW interphases...Keep the interphase smooth, and BRIGHT COLORED, like civ2!

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Kaak
Tribe of the Divine

[yin26]

-=*MOVING THREAD UP*=-

[Flavor Dave]

There should be an easy way to find out which cities have a given improvement. When I conquer the Pyramids, it is such a pain to sell off all of my granaries. Or my barracks when I've taken Sun Tzu.

Perhaps when you go to your trade advisor, if you click on the granaries, it would give you a screen detailing all of your granaries.

[NotLikeTea]

SMAC lets you scrap one network node (for example), or scrap all network nodes at all bases. I think this is what you want, and is a nice feature to have.

[Frank Moore]

Let's continue the discussion on the v2.0 thread


**********THREAD CLOSED*************