Just a few of my advice and thoughts

December 11, 2000, 08:45

Its clear to me now, that the interface is the most important part of Civilization. If it is too clumsy and detailed, etc, it becomes a forest of information. It makes it really hard to do things quickly.

I played Civ2 for the first time in about 2 yrs, and I realized that it was so quick, and everything was so easy to see at a glace, no fancy interface, it was just straight to the point, and I think thats what makes civ2 better than ctp.

in ctp, I still have to go thru too many windows to see what I want, there should be very little mouse clicking.

the other thing about ctp I couldn't stand was the fact that it wouldn't center up on my units, or it would skip the turn when I still had units to move, it didn't tell me I had units that were still ready to move, thats awful! its not some starcraft game, its a TBS game ACTIVISION. things run differently! u need to fix that big time..

Carrion · December 11, 2000, 11:05

quote:

Originally posted by ContradictioN on 12-11-2000 07:45 AM
the other thing about ctp I couldn't stand was the fact that it wouldn't center up on my units, or it would skip the turn when I still had units to move, it didn't tell me I had units that were still ready to move, thats awful! its not some starcraft game, its a TBS game ACTIVISION. things run differently! u need to fix that big time..

You can center your selected unit by hitting the "a" key. Also if you get out of sequence of moving your units because you realized you forgot to change the queue of a city. Simply click on the units tab and hit the "n" key. It will cycle through your units you have not spent all the movement points for.

"If it ain't broke. Don't fix it!"

December 11, 2000, 19:36

I know I know..but it is still worse than civ2

and u r right, if it ain't broken don't fix it, and thats what I feel with civ2s interface, it is almost perfected, ok, it may look dull, but thats just the way it is, its the only way to make civ run great.

Simpleton · December 11, 2000, 20:47

I whole heartedly agree! CIV2's interface was a thing of simplicity and beauty! Everything you needed to run your city on one screen. Not the frustrating tab innovation used in CTP2, you have to keep flipping back and forth to get all your information rather than seeing it on one screen. It's amazing the designers of the game "reportedly CIV2 lovers" didn't realize how good the CIv2 interface was and how could they believe that their creation was an improvement on the genre!?
CTP2's interface gets a 4/10 from me.

December 11, 2000, 23:23

It makes me think really hard, it makes me think that the people who worked on Civ2 really went hard on at it, the ppl who worked on it were true hardcore professionals, they knew exactly what they were doing.

jkadabomb · December 12, 2000, 00:22

ACtually I dont think the Civ2 interface could be implemented in a CTP game. Ctp to be quite honest is a much different game and is more complex and I doubt adding a Civ2 type interface is possible for a more complex game.

XWaste · December 12, 2000, 00:53

I have to say that I didn't like the civ II interface much at all. I played ctp before trying civ II and found it horrible to use after learning on ctp.

People will like what they first learned on I guess, and judge other games by how much they differ rather than its own merits

ak · December 12, 2000, 03:21

I started with Civ2 and now play CTP2. Overall, I prefer CTP2. I enjoyed Civ2 greatly, but tired of it's micromanagement black hole. If you're into micromanaging 45 cities, fine. I prefer focusing on the big picture and dabbling in detail whenever I feel the need. CTP allows me that to a greater degree.

That being said, I agree that having all (well, almost all) of the city management on one screen was better than tabbing around. I'm thinking I might like tear-off tabs, a la some leading graphics programs (Photoshop). Then you can have as many tabs as you want and design your own management screen. Best of all worlds.

Celestial_Dawn · December 12, 2000, 04:51

quote:

Originally posted by ak on 12-12-2000 02:21 AM
I'm thinking I might like tear-off tabs, a la some leading graphics programs (Photoshop). Then you can have as many tabs as you want and design your own management screen. Best of all worlds.

That is a great idea. Could you bring this up in the Civ3 forums so that Firaxis might consider implementing this?

Simpleton · December 12, 2000, 19:32

Perhaps putting all options into one screen may not be possible in CTP2. BUT! You should try to minimize the amount of screens a player has to go to play the game. Why not combine the build menu with the units, happyness, structures tabs into one screen ala CIV2? That way you can see everything displayed at once rather than having to flip back and forth. (i.e. Flip to units tab to see how many units I have. Flip to build manager to decide what to build. Oh darn! Did I have 3 artillery, 3 tanks and 2 infantry or was it something else. Flip back to units tab. Back to build manager.) It's just not an easy task. The interface reminds me of that old game Detroit. Not a bad game but a horrible interface. You had to flip between many screens to get enough info to make even a simple decision.
So maybe not a CIV2 copy but a reasonable facsimile would have worked better in my opinion. When it comes to interface simpler is always better.

G

Dominous Nemo · December 12, 2000, 23:49

I hope I don't get flamed for this but I personally like the gui for ctp2. All but the fact that I can not assign stuff to the build queue via the city manager (my only complaint). But the build button for the city is in the city manager. Also I like the fact that I can add units/impovements to my whole nation via the natl manager. So I don't think it is all that bad. I do agree however that civ2 gui was much simpler to work with, but simpler != efficient.

Carrion · December 13, 2000, 12:51

Hell no! CTP2 interface is far better than the Civ2 interface for city managing. It absolutely drove me nuts going back and forth to 30 + cities building different buildings and units when I needed to. CTP2 allow queuing and you can even make preset templates! HOW COOL IS THAT! When I have large empires it is a freaking time saver and saves me from going insame with managing 30+ cities. Tabs? who cares! Well obviously you do. but I like then. Sure they are a big combersome and has a larger learning curve. But once you got the hang of it it isn't a big deal.

Triumphus Romanus · December 13, 2000, 15:47

Aside from wishing the AI was better, I really enjoy CTP2. Its really the only game I play right now.

Simpleton · December 13, 2000, 22:50

I guess my main point is that it's the small things that make a good game great. CIV2 had many small details which worked well and made it great. CTP2 had the potential (aside from a brain dead boring AI) to be great but the designers didn't go the extra mile. It's competitive enough in the game making world and it's the game makers that try to make a game just that little bit better that truly succeed (i.e. Blizzard, Bioware).

G