afrit
05-07-2005, 03:43
This is a (long) wishlist for Interface Enhancements only to RTW. I hope to get comments on it, and more suggestions from other players. My rules in coming up with the list are:
1. Feature does not change the game, just makes playing it easier and more enjoyable.
2. Feature must be "doable".
Ok here goes.
Tabbed Window Improvements:
Make the little build and recruit icons in the cities window sortable. Purpose is to quickly spot the towns that are not building/recruiting.
Add tax rate icon to window (e.g as a $, $$, and $$$ signs). Makes it easy to see if you are under or over-taxing.
In settlement income column, make a toggle between income generated vs income-expense per population as it is now.
In army window, list cost of an army in the field .
In army and character window, show remaining movement points. Makes it easier to remember which characters have been moved in the present turn.
Build queue improvements:
Allow adding the next core-building to the queue, even if not available yet. The queue would pause until the settlement level is reached and then it is added. Then when the core-building is added, allow adding buildings dependent on it. Purpose is to make it easier to expand a town without having to think much about it. To avoid confusion for novice players, do not present the unavaialbable buldings in the build queue. Rather have the player add them by right-clicking (or atl-clicking or whatever) on the tech tree window.
Campaign Map
Make player's character animation speed adjustable. Now it is either very slooow or too fast if you hit space bar. Make an option for a 1.5X, 2X or 3X speed.
Allow player to pause a character's movement by hitting the tab key. Now you can only abort it with delete. Pause allows player to examine something the character saw, but then hit tab again to continue motion if it was of no interest (would be useful on 2X speed above)
Name toggling on-off should rotate from ALL -> Generals Only -> Armies only -> Agents only -> None -> All . To avoid confusing novices, this can be added for shift-ctr-N , keeping ctrl-N for current system.
City info toggling should rotate from All Info -> City names only (without population icons etc..) -> None -> All. useful when positioning troops around own city, but not wanting to hide names for screenshots. Make it shift-ctrl-T (keeping ctrl-T for current system).
Ferrying troops simplifications:
Ferrying troops is one of the more tedious aspects of the game.
Player should be able to ferry a troop by selecting an army and then clicking on any ship (even away at sea). Ship would then move towards army and and army moves to coast and boards. Saves clicks.
On narrow straits that are "bridged" by a single ship (e.g Messana, Hellespont, Gibraltar) allow player to simply walk an army over the bridge ship. Now you have to embark and then disembark.
On wider straits that require several ships to bridge (e.g Adriatic beween Apulia and Greece). Player should designate a "ferry" ship (select ship, alt-click on one coast terminus and then the other side). Troops can then use that ferry by simply dragging to the first terminus and then the next one. The ferry would stay running as long as the ship is not blocked or engaged by enemey fleets.
Allow farther travel by army on campaign map (dragging a character now will max out after several turns. Eg try moving an army from Rome to Athens overland . You can't!. ) If this a problem for the pathfinding mechanisms (as possible routes grow exponentially with distance), then allow player to select "waypoints" for route. This simplifies the algorithm for the computer (and allows player to select route). Waypoints should also be allowed to include "ferry terminals" (see above).
On campaign map, allow a battle-view survey of any tile. similar to how you can zoom in on one of your cities and watch the citizens roam. Similarly, in any tile that it visible to player, player should be able to view it in battle mode. If enemy is visible there, also show known units (skip those with question marks in the dialog). Allows player to really pick their battle field, or check out areas they rarely fight in.
Automatic reinforcements . Currently, you can alt-click a gather point for new units produced in a city. I suggest player is allowed to alt-click a general and then any unit produced will simply head over to reinforce that general. If the general is far, player should use waypoints in the map.
Automatic retraining: Choose army, alt-click city where it can retrain, and the army will simply walk there , retrain , and return next turn to initial location. significantly simplifies retraining!
Battle map suggestions:
Bring back the fatigue indicator on the unit cards.
When pressing space bar to show unit destinations, selected units should be indicated with solid triangles, unselected ones with triangle outlines. This allows player to select a unit and see where it fits in the future line, and what gap happens if it is moved elsewhere.
Replay and recording the game:
A great aspect of RTW is the ability to tell a campaign story. Screenshots help, but more is needed!
Bring back campaign battle replay
Option to save screenshots in JPEG mode. Using a screen capture tool is not so fun.
Option to automatically assign meaningful names to shots (e.g year taken/campaign vs battle / faction playing e.g gauls_265W_battle_Alesia_1 or gauls_265S_campaign_1
Simple text logs of all battle results, battle honors gained, happenings with family etc. (basically log of all the messages that drop down from the sky on the left of the screen). Allows player dping a writeup to quickly reconstruct history of faction (e.g would be nice to knwo when your first uber-strong-cavalry unit was recruited).
For every character, have a "Biography" Window that lists : Battles fought (when and with result), settlements caputred, governorships (with dates and maybe list of all buildings built by them), dates of senate offices gained.
Game play option changes:
Option to set auto-tax in individual cities (now it is a global feature. You can auto-manage [units and buildings and tax] a town, but cannot just auto-tax it [and manage units and buildings manually. Note that checking auto-manage and unchecking the unit and build boxes does not do the trick]
Option to have set auto-resolve difficulty. Right now, it is linked to campaign difficulty, and on VH campaign the human player is at a severe disadvantage when autoresolving. Add a pref to set it independently.
Battle Only Mode: you do NOTHING on campaign map, and the AI runs your faction. But you get to personally direct the battles. (right now you can play a campaign and skip battles by autoresolve. no reason the reverese should not be available). This is for those of us who hate management. It would also be nice to see how a human-assisted AI fares against the others.
Option to "export" a campaign battle as a custom battle. Allows different players to try their hands at your battles. (should be a button on the battle preview screen). This battle shoud be playable by network.
Option to "import" results of previously exported battle played on a network or as a separate game. Allows rudimentary campaign play. Should be button on battle preview screen..
Well that is a long list. I hope enough others support it so that CA takes note.
1. Feature does not change the game, just makes playing it easier and more enjoyable.
2. Feature must be "doable".
Ok here goes.
Tabbed Window Improvements:
Make the little build and recruit icons in the cities window sortable. Purpose is to quickly spot the towns that are not building/recruiting.
Add tax rate icon to window (e.g as a $, $$, and $$$ signs). Makes it easy to see if you are under or over-taxing.
In settlement income column, make a toggle between income generated vs income-expense per population as it is now.
In army window, list cost of an army in the field .
In army and character window, show remaining movement points. Makes it easier to remember which characters have been moved in the present turn.
Build queue improvements:
Allow adding the next core-building to the queue, even if not available yet. The queue would pause until the settlement level is reached and then it is added. Then when the core-building is added, allow adding buildings dependent on it. Purpose is to make it easier to expand a town without having to think much about it. To avoid confusion for novice players, do not present the unavaialbable buldings in the build queue. Rather have the player add them by right-clicking (or atl-clicking or whatever) on the tech tree window.
Campaign Map
Make player's character animation speed adjustable. Now it is either very slooow or too fast if you hit space bar. Make an option for a 1.5X, 2X or 3X speed.
Allow player to pause a character's movement by hitting the tab key. Now you can only abort it with delete. Pause allows player to examine something the character saw, but then hit tab again to continue motion if it was of no interest (would be useful on 2X speed above)
Name toggling on-off should rotate from ALL -> Generals Only -> Armies only -> Agents only -> None -> All . To avoid confusing novices, this can be added for shift-ctr-N , keeping ctrl-N for current system.
City info toggling should rotate from All Info -> City names only (without population icons etc..) -> None -> All. useful when positioning troops around own city, but not wanting to hide names for screenshots. Make it shift-ctrl-T (keeping ctrl-T for current system).
Ferrying troops simplifications:
Ferrying troops is one of the more tedious aspects of the game.
Player should be able to ferry a troop by selecting an army and then clicking on any ship (even away at sea). Ship would then move towards army and and army moves to coast and boards. Saves clicks.
On narrow straits that are "bridged" by a single ship (e.g Messana, Hellespont, Gibraltar) allow player to simply walk an army over the bridge ship. Now you have to embark and then disembark.
On wider straits that require several ships to bridge (e.g Adriatic beween Apulia and Greece). Player should designate a "ferry" ship (select ship, alt-click on one coast terminus and then the other side). Troops can then use that ferry by simply dragging to the first terminus and then the next one. The ferry would stay running as long as the ship is not blocked or engaged by enemey fleets.
Allow farther travel by army on campaign map (dragging a character now will max out after several turns. Eg try moving an army from Rome to Athens overland . You can't!. ) If this a problem for the pathfinding mechanisms (as possible routes grow exponentially with distance), then allow player to select "waypoints" for route. This simplifies the algorithm for the computer (and allows player to select route). Waypoints should also be allowed to include "ferry terminals" (see above).
On campaign map, allow a battle-view survey of any tile. similar to how you can zoom in on one of your cities and watch the citizens roam. Similarly, in any tile that it visible to player, player should be able to view it in battle mode. If enemy is visible there, also show known units (skip those with question marks in the dialog). Allows player to really pick their battle field, or check out areas they rarely fight in.
Automatic reinforcements . Currently, you can alt-click a gather point for new units produced in a city. I suggest player is allowed to alt-click a general and then any unit produced will simply head over to reinforce that general. If the general is far, player should use waypoints in the map.
Automatic retraining: Choose army, alt-click city where it can retrain, and the army will simply walk there , retrain , and return next turn to initial location. significantly simplifies retraining!
Battle map suggestions:
Bring back the fatigue indicator on the unit cards.
When pressing space bar to show unit destinations, selected units should be indicated with solid triangles, unselected ones with triangle outlines. This allows player to select a unit and see where it fits in the future line, and what gap happens if it is moved elsewhere.
Replay and recording the game:
A great aspect of RTW is the ability to tell a campaign story. Screenshots help, but more is needed!
Bring back campaign battle replay
Option to save screenshots in JPEG mode. Using a screen capture tool is not so fun.
Option to automatically assign meaningful names to shots (e.g year taken/campaign vs battle / faction playing e.g gauls_265W_battle_Alesia_1 or gauls_265S_campaign_1
Simple text logs of all battle results, battle honors gained, happenings with family etc. (basically log of all the messages that drop down from the sky on the left of the screen). Allows player dping a writeup to quickly reconstruct history of faction (e.g would be nice to knwo when your first uber-strong-cavalry unit was recruited).
For every character, have a "Biography" Window that lists : Battles fought (when and with result), settlements caputred, governorships (with dates and maybe list of all buildings built by them), dates of senate offices gained.
Game play option changes:
Option to set auto-tax in individual cities (now it is a global feature. You can auto-manage [units and buildings and tax] a town, but cannot just auto-tax it [and manage units and buildings manually. Note that checking auto-manage and unchecking the unit and build boxes does not do the trick]
Option to have set auto-resolve difficulty. Right now, it is linked to campaign difficulty, and on VH campaign the human player is at a severe disadvantage when autoresolving. Add a pref to set it independently.
Battle Only Mode: you do NOTHING on campaign map, and the AI runs your faction. But you get to personally direct the battles. (right now you can play a campaign and skip battles by autoresolve. no reason the reverese should not be available). This is for those of us who hate management. It would also be nice to see how a human-assisted AI fares against the others.
Option to "export" a campaign battle as a custom battle. Allows different players to try their hands at your battles. (should be a button on the battle preview screen). This battle shoud be playable by network.
Option to "import" results of previously exported battle played on a network or as a separate game. Allows rudimentary campaign play. Should be button on battle preview screen..
Well that is a long list. I hope enough others support it so that CA takes note.