[RedRover]

Here's a short post with a theme...

HOTKEYS/OPTIONS

Save Game: Flash-save so I don’t have to quit the program in order to save a game. Maybe automatically disable this in Multiplayer mode.

Bug Log: A one key-stroke option to save the current turn files into a special “Bug Log” folder so everything that should be sent in is stored automatically in one place. Time stamp or number so subsequent saves using same nation/same game won’t overwrite an existing bugfile.

Show God: Screen stores the exact original setup of the Pretender in the current game; that is, all decisions made during Pretender setup. (Lots of times I have gone into a game so fast I forgot to write down the Pretender stats, then tried in vain to recall them during the mid-game or reconstruct them later for a new game.)

Save God: Automates the process of saving a god design, so when I find a design I want to play around with awhile, I don’t have to recreate it from scratch each time. This feature should also have the capacity to save more than one Pretender per nation.

Save/Restore Scenario: Automates the process of saving a game setup to a special “Scenario” file. The scenario is recallable, so the same map setup can be replayed. This also has tournament applications. A scenario hotkey might also bring up a Replace God screen, so that I could plug a new Pretender design (or a bunch of them) into an existing map setup.

Back-step Hotkey: Goes back a step at any screen in Pretender set-up. For example, if I have misspelled the god’s name, or want to tweak the setup due to a late brainstorm, I don’t have to redesign the whole Pretender from scratch again. Maybe have a “Confirm Start” popup that seals the set-up.

Set Default God <name>: File containing the original default Pretender seeds the AI has when the game is new, available for instant recall. It drove me crazy the first time I realized that I had overwritten the default AI gods when I made my first crude efforts at Pretender design. I was stuck playing really inferior opposition for awhile since I'd tried to play everything once before repeating. <Name> is the nation’s name.

Select Theme: A popup screen that appears in setup after nation selection. Allows theme selection and automatically sets minimum scales and adds any theme-specific Pretenders to the Pretender screen for setup.

Nation/Theme starting sites: A popup that let’s me see nation or theme gem income before I finish setting up my Pretender.

F[key] Command to scroll through own forts.
F[key] Command to scroll through own Hiding/Sneaking units.
F[key] Command to scroll through own mages with forge bonus.

Programmable “Find” function: Lets you pick what to search for—Examples: 1) scrolling though leaders for a specific magic item, 2) scrolling through a magic path and level+ (in other words, Air 2 would hit all friendly Air mages with 2+ levels), 3) scrolling through all known recruitment magic sites, 4) scrolling through all known casting bonus magic sites, etc.

An alternative might be a series of screens that record specific items, and take you to the map location when you click on the entry line (cf. the way Shogun: Total War handles Ninja/Shinobi tracking). Test to see which screens would be most-used and include those. Build in the capacity to plug in modular expansion screens as needed.