19 User Interface Problems
Here are 19 user interface nitpicks I've catalogued. I would be extremely happy to see even half of them addressed in upcoming patches.
1. When renaming a ship, the Enter key can't be used to indicate completion. "OK" must be clicked with the mouse. The Escape key can't be used to cancel the window, "Cancel" must be clicked with the mouse.
2. If you don't change the ship's name, and then click "OK", you get an error that "That name is already in use".
3. The Enter key also can't be used when entering your password to indicate completion. "OK" must be clicked with the mouse.
4. Your password isn't masked while it's being typed - this is a problem for hotseat games.
5. You need to select a ship before selecting Scrap/Analyze/Mothball, but that ship is not automatically selected in the next screen. Either don't require a ship/unit/base to be selected, or use the item selected as the default item to be modified.
6. A ship cannot launch less than all possible units remotely in simultaneous turns.
7. There's an option to show Resupply Depots, Space Ports and Shipyards (R,S,Y) on the sector map, but no way to show other important facilities like Ship/Fleet Training Facilities, System Computers, Urban Pacification Centers or racial trait facilities.
8. In the Designs screen, the list scrolls back to the top when "Hide Obsolete" or "Make Obsolete" is toggled.
9. In the Enemy Ship/Units Designs window of the Design screen, a seperate window for each race would be useful.
10. In addition to being able to view all the new constructions in the Log, it would be useful to be able to view constructions of Units, Ships, Facilities, Upgrades and Warnings separately.
11. "AI should not make changes to the empire during a simultaneous games" - change this wording to reflect what the option actually does (whatever that is). [Even better, include an option to do what that says - but that isn't an interface change.]
12. In the Planets screen, the ability to sort planets by colonization type would be very useful.
13. In the Planets screen, the ability to view only the planets within your borders would be useful. It would be more useful than the current ability to exclude restricted systems from the list.
14. When changing the top item in the construction queue, display a warning only when the top item is partially constructed.
15. When deleting the top item from the construction queue, display a warning only when the item is partially constructed.
16. When deleting a project from the research queue, display a warning only when that project is partially researched.
17. When you "Recover Units Remotely" from the sector you're in, it doesn't include the "Move to" command. This is problematic if you want a ship to move somewhere, and then return to its original sector and recover units remotely there.
18. Sometimes when entering the "Set Construction Queue" screen from the "Construction Queues" screen, the "Set Constuction Queue" screen starts at the top of the list. Other times it starts at the Last item selected when the screen was Last accessed. [This probably happens with other lists as well] [There is probably a trigger which causes the different starting points, but I can't determine it]
19. You can only trigger pods on independent ships, not ships in fleets.
That's all I found. Obviously some are very minor.
[This message has been edited by Scott Barrie (edited 26 June 2001).]
|
Threaded Mode