FYI, since this thread has been started, About a week ago, here's a list of minor updates I sent to MM as suggested improvements. Most of them are more GUI-oriented, rather than game-play. Comments?
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List Ordering: There are many of them, but it's annoying to me how many lists (e.g. Ship Type, Colony Type, Research & Intelligence categories (within their main Category), etc.), that are presented in non-alphabetical order, making it hard to find the desired choice - they should be sorted before presentation, where appropriate.
(Bug?) Combat Replay Sound: I noticed that during Combat Replay, when missiles hit their target, there is no explosion animation, and similarly, no explosion sound effects. These sounds were definitely there during the tactical presentation.
Combat, Ship Identification: During combats (both Tactical, and Combat Replay), there is no indication as to which ship belongs to whom! Normally, this isn't much of a problem, but I've captured several enemy ships in different ways, and during combat, my ships look just like his, and I can't tell whose is whose unless I wait for all the animations to stop and I have to put a mouse over all the ships to see whose it is! There should be a colored box or asterisk or something drawn on or around ships to indicate the player color.
Combat, Component Damage: I love during Tactical combat (even when I select "Auto", or "Resolve Combat") seeing the ship's components, damage bar graphs, at whatnot. Why are they not also shown during the Combat Replay? Seems that doing that would be no different than when they are shown during automatic combat resolution in tactical. Please add this if you can! For me, being a new player, it's helpful to find out HOW exactly each ship got damaged the way it did, even as a learning tool.
Ship Repair at Ally Planet: This would be great. Perhaps since you can gain ship supplies at Ally bases at a Military Alliance, you could also get your ships Repaired at Ally planets - at either the MA, or even at the Partnership level (considering this a "higher level of cooperation" than simply refuelling) (with Ally planets giving priority to their own ships' repairs over any ally player ships).
Repair Priorities: To reorder the repair priorities, you must remove ALL items from the list, then re-add them one at a time. There should be buttons to reorder them, as with other queues, etc. (i.e. move to top, move to bottom, item up, etc.). Perhaps the ability to save these preferences as default for future games?
Tactical Combat, Ships to Move: I'm new to the game, and am still trying to get through Tactical combats, but I'm having trouble knowing which ships still have movement points left to use. Perhaps some sort of indicator on the ships' icons can show if more movement points are left (or not), rather than having to click on each and every ship. Similarly, to show if there are still weapons to be fired. This is a nit, probably, since there are the arrow buttons at the top of the screen to cycle through the ships that can shoot and/or move.
Variable Speed Replay: Seems that battles can be viewed in either "slow" or "fast" mode. Personally, I'd like something in-between. Maybe this could be some sort of slider setting, with maybe 5 settings between slow and fast?
Saving Empire Options: When I set these, they are the way I want them. when I start a new game, I have to set them all over again. There should be a way to save the current list of options as my "default" options, so that when I start a new game, they're set the way I want them. Same goes with the Global game options (i.e. save game every x turns, etc.)
Destroyed Facilities: My homeworld was just attacked, and it was not immediately obvious that my Space Yard Facility had been destroyed, along with the 4% of the population. Perhaps a list of destroyed facilities, etc., could also be displayed in the Log entry listing the combat? Similary, I once got a message about a comet or something destroying 2 facilities - but it did not tell me WHAT facilities got hit.
Galaxy Map: With the galaxy map window open, I can add "Notes" to a system, that are displayed when I mouse-over one of the systems. This should also work when I mouse-over the galaxy map that is part of the main screen! There is even a little blank space below the map that is just enough room!
Ship Icons: Wow, a lot of these ship icons are DARK! Brighten them up a little!
Component Browse in Tech Tree: When viewing the Tech Tree (if allowed to in the game) under "Tech Levels", I'd like to be able to right-click on a listed component to see the information on that component, so I know what it is I'm working towards in detail.
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And here are two earlier ideas I submitted, for the sake of listing them all here in one place.
Simple GUI addition: On the main screen, at the top, where your current stock of Minerals, Organics, and Radioactives is displayed, Add a small dash, up-arrow, or down-arrow after the "material icon", to display whether current supplies are steady (dash), increasing i.e. surplus, or decreasing i.e. running a deficit). could even get fancy and do some kind of double-arrow if supplies are increasing or decreasing rapidly, or if levels are critical.
Ship Designs I Already Know: I know the design of a particular enemy ship. Thus, I can view it in the ship designer windows. However, when I see one of these ships in actual space and click on it, it does not allow me to click on the "Comps" tab to see the components - when I cant remember what sort of weaponry it has. I notice, however, that if I get a long-range scanner within range, I can again see the design from the main screen by clicking "comps". See also previous
discussion.
[ August 16, 2002, 14:49: Message edited by: ckotchey ]