Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

Yeah, MM's patch cycle seems to be..rather odd. Note the comment in the chat about working from the top of the email stack to the bottom..

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

"Rather odd"? Yeesh kableesh. Rather backwards is more like it.

Someone really needs to ask him to concentrate on the UI. I mean, it's what will, in the end, prevent the game from suceeding in the overall marketplace. I sent him three emails right when the game first came out, but I haven't seen any of my concerns addressed in the patches. Not that I am parochial about it, but my concerns were the same ones everyone else mentioned, and that everyone still does even today. But if he is "working from the top of the pile not the bottom" then he's just, with all due respect, doing things totally b@ss-ackwards. The UI is what will doom the game to be the last in the series. It would be a pity if that happened simply because the way MM fixes things is poorly organized.

So, can I urge people to pile on the emails to Aaron about fixing the UI? Please? I really want this game to suceed, as, I think, we all do. But the UI has to be fixed for that to happen.

Just my two cents.

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

Saying that he works from the top of the pile will just encourage people to keep submitting their gripes over and over again to keep them on the top. What a strange way to do business. Maybe a prioritizing system? Maybe?

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

Maybe a forum sticky.

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

Ya that top of the pile thing kinda threw me for a loop too. I thought it to be kind of a bad policy myself. If you don't go through the emails you have gotten, and only focus on the new ones, you are going to mis all of the valuable stuff previously submitted and that might include some significant bugs thus prolong the time it would take to address said bugs.

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

I wonder if Aaron has been infected by the George Lucas bug? Its symptoms include the onset of decreased willingness to take suggestions, a narrowing of ones perspective when it comes to accepting help, and the onset of a strong desire to ignor common sense in favor of adopting a backwards approach to problem resolution.

While Lucas was far beyond ever being able to be cured, perhaps there still might be time to save Aaron. Quick, everyone stop emailing Aaron your bug reports. Hold them in reserve until the ones that have been emailed to him have been cleared from his in box and addressed. Hopefully out of shier boardom he will look at the older emails and realize that they contain some seriously good bug reports and game helping suggestions.

Once they are acted upon, then swamp him agian.

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

Maybe he sorts his email with the oldest emails on top?

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

Maybe it's all the spam he gets. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Expect the next patch to add a v1agr&a tech tree...

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

Is that the tech tree that increases the size of your ship hulls by 30%?

For shame. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Back on topic...Someday when I get some free time I plan on modifying a lot of the graphics in SEV. Obviously I can't edit the placement and so forth but I can edit quite a few of the files to modify the look of SEV.

Re: Fixing the Horrid UI
 

I think my main observation about the UI is the COMPLETE lack of any sort of thought about user scenarios and goals.

Example: I send a fleet into combat. Some of it's ships are damaged. I'd like to send those ships back to a yard to get repaired.

Have you counted how many clicks you need to do this? First you have to find the fleet, click on it, right click to get the properties, find the ships that are damaged, then click on the fleet management button, select the fleet, select the ships to remove, click remove from fleet, then find those ships and have them go back to a yard for repair.

It's all very logical and all the buttons are there, but it turns a common housekeeping task into an unbelievably boring exercise.

This is just one example, there are many others. The developer clearly did not bother to take any time to think about what the players are likely going to be doing frequently and try to tune the UI to make those activities easy.

I'm sure it was the same in SEIV. Maybe I was more patient back then. I'm bitterly disappointed with this game and wish I could get my money refunded.