GUI Suggestions (it's all about reducing the clicks!)

Published on February 25, 2006 By nitey In Game Talk

After playing GCII now for a few days - I have a few 'GUI suggestions' that I would like to offer:

Civilization Manager - Colonies

- It would be nice to have a indication of undeveloped squares next to the Planet Class. This allows us to see at a glance whether we should review the planet for the next social project or not.
- It would be helpful for a mouse over of the approval rating to show us what is effecting the planets morale like it does in the planet screen.
- It would be very helpful to have the ability to sort production by weeks to complete as well as project name.
- It would be very helpful to have a function to show us if a particular planet is focusing it's production (perhaps by highlighting the background) on Military, Social or Research (and allow us to change it from this screen).

New Screen: Starbases

Similiar to the Colonies table. Shows starbase name, sector, number of modules installed, current attack/defense ratings, whether a constructor is in route, what type of starbase it is or what type of resource it is mining. Clicking on the starbase name closes the table and centers the map view on the starbase.

New Screen: Starships

Similiar to the Colones table. Shows starship name, sector, Fleet number, current attack/defense ratings, status (waiting for orders, guard, sentry, auto, etc.), any modifiers, and if a upgrade option exists (perhaps a drop down window with additional options if necessary) and it's maintenance costs. Clicking on the starship name closes the table and centers the map view on the starship.

Foreign Stats Screen

I really am not in love with this screen design, I would rather see this information displayed in a table view with catagories above and race names to the left for comparision purposes.
- However, if we continue the current screen, I would like to have the screen not change views and cycle to the top tab when cycling through the different races. For example, if I'm checking to see what everyone is reseaching, I would rather just click the race button. As it stands now, I have to click the race button and then the Misc button (as well as scroll down) to get that information. Too many clicks!

Senate Vote

This is not the UP vote. Why have us click a button to vote when the results are predeterminded? Just adds another click and mouse movement. Just show us the results of the vote and allow us to click the close button. Either that or have something that we can do to modify the vote.

That's my list so far! Hope some of these make sense to more than me.

Comments

Dataslave

on Feb 25, 2006

Have you seen the F1 and F2 mini windows? those at least offer some of the things you requested for planets/ships. Not as much information to be sure.

I do agree that another window of this nature would be great for starbases.

Christopher Holland

on Feb 25, 2006

I myself would like to see a route displayed for active ships on the screen itself. I find myself doing alot of clicking trying to find where my ships are. Not sure if this can be done but an old game (Stars! series) had fleet routes visible right on the screen so all one had to do was click on the route line to see what the fleet was and where it was going. Not a biggie. Otherwise superb game. 8)

CTB123

on Feb 25, 2006

The mini-map can show flight paths.

Tony

Franco fx

on Feb 25, 2006

The F1 screen also shows the starbases and you can click to go there.

Different strokes for different folks. I play a very leisurely game and don't mind a few extra clicks. I am sure that many players (probably the better players) play at a furious pace.

That's one reason I like playing the computer. I would irritate most human players with my deliberate style

nitey

on Feb 25, 2006

Have you seen the F1 and F2 mini windows? those at least offer some of the things you requested for planets/ships. Not as much information to be sure.

Yes I have and I use them, however, they really don't give you enough information. When I first started playing I did most of my playing from the planet/ship bar, but as my empire got bigger using the F6 key provided much clearer information and it was easier to manage production from this screen. If some of the changes were implimented above it would really make game play easier once you have in excess of 10 planets or ships.

Speaking of the F1 bar though (ship bar), it would be nice if we could filter this bar down to a particular ship type. Sorting isn't bad but filtering's better when it's just a particular information type you are looking for.

Shivetya

on Feb 25, 2006

My beef is the placement of the done buttons on game setup. Put them on the dialog box itself, not the screen border. This is more annoying at 16x12

madsimon

on Feb 25, 2006

I'd just like some keyboard love. Not everyone is as fond of the mouse as the developers apparently are.

For example, there is a "Go to rally point" keyboard shortcut: T. After you click "T", you have to use your mouse to select the rally point. Shouldn't I be able to use the arrow keys on my keyboard or the first letter of the rally point?

Just one example of a very mouse-centric UI.

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