06-14-2003, 01:59 PM
While I appreciate the info, and yes I did read it all, it didn't answer the question I wanted answered because well I didn't ask the right question. :) So, I will ask some more specific stuff to try and avoid that problem.
How does the interface feel? One of my biggest problems with MOO3 is the UI is poor, too many thing require too much "drilling" to get to. Too many things take 6 to 10 mouse clicks when it could have been done in 2 to 4. MOO3 also suffers from some of it is macro, some of it is micro, and for me what you have to micro is what I want to macro, and what I want to micro is what you have to macro. Ships and spies in MOO3 are micro, at least I consider it micro, and most of how they work is not fun. Control over what to build has to be done in micro, which sucks, I want to say to be able to say "I need 15 of these ships" and then the AI looks and says, these are the best planets to do it at so I'll get on that. Better would be, I wan 15 of these by this time so that I can have a macro influence on overdriving production. You can't do that. So, MOO3 forces you to micro some of that, when you should be able to macro it. I realize that in CalCiv things work a bit different, but hopefully that gives you an idea of what my problem is so you can maybe let me know if I will encounter it in CalCiv.
Other problems with MOO3 that I am hoping to not see are getting around the galaxy. While it is fixed in the code patch, you could only see plant names at the closest zoom levels, and while you could turn on empire flags to see what kind of influence people had where it still was not a good feedback. The game needs a toggle to put the color of the empire around the star system so that you know who the hell controls it. I don't mind the galaxy being so large that you have to scroll around it, but I hated that in order to get any feedback on who controlled what you had to play zoomed all the way in and scroll a crap load. I need high level feedback on what is going on in the galaxy in order to manage stuff. Can you at least easily see who has the most influenc in this area and the neighboring areas without a lot of scrolling and trying to remember, etc?
MOO3 has a more complex diplomacy system than the previous games, but it somewhat nebulous. It can be hard to tell why someone is happy or pissed at you, and relations can still go from really good friends to a state of war in a turn or two without any real reasons or indications as to why. The trading of techs and info in MOO3 isn't all that bad but some of the rest of the diplomacy is so frelled up it makes it annoying. Does GalCiv suffer from very erratic diplomacy?
Is the GalCiv UI customizable at all? Some of the MOO3 stuff would be much better if I could change it around a bit so that the stuff I care about is easier to get to. MOO2 handled the interface soo much better I thought, and it wasn't great.
Ah well. I think that covers more of my direct concerns, that I hope you can provide feedback on. If not, oh well, you provided a bunch of great information already.
How does the interface feel? One of my biggest problems with MOO3 is the UI is poor, too many thing require too much "drilling" to get to. Too many things take 6 to 10 mouse clicks when it could have been done in 2 to 4. MOO3 also suffers from some of it is macro, some of it is micro, and for me what you have to micro is what I want to macro, and what I want to micro is what you have to macro. Ships and spies in MOO3 are micro, at least I consider it micro, and most of how they work is not fun. Control over what to build has to be done in micro, which sucks, I want to say to be able to say "I need 15 of these ships" and then the AI looks and says, these are the best planets to do it at so I'll get on that. Better would be, I wan 15 of these by this time so that I can have a macro influence on overdriving production. You can't do that. So, MOO3 forces you to micro some of that, when you should be able to macro it. I realize that in CalCiv things work a bit different, but hopefully that gives you an idea of what my problem is so you can maybe let me know if I will encounter it in CalCiv.
Other problems with MOO3 that I am hoping to not see are getting around the galaxy. While it is fixed in the code patch, you could only see plant names at the closest zoom levels, and while you could turn on empire flags to see what kind of influence people had where it still was not a good feedback. The game needs a toggle to put the color of the empire around the star system so that you know who the hell controls it. I don't mind the galaxy being so large that you have to scroll around it, but I hated that in order to get any feedback on who controlled what you had to play zoomed all the way in and scroll a crap load. I need high level feedback on what is going on in the galaxy in order to manage stuff. Can you at least easily see who has the most influenc in this area and the neighboring areas without a lot of scrolling and trying to remember, etc?
MOO3 has a more complex diplomacy system than the previous games, but it somewhat nebulous. It can be hard to tell why someone is happy or pissed at you, and relations can still go from really good friends to a state of war in a turn or two without any real reasons or indications as to why. The trading of techs and info in MOO3 isn't all that bad but some of the rest of the diplomacy is so frelled up it makes it annoying. Does GalCiv suffer from very erratic diplomacy?
Is the GalCiv UI customizable at all? Some of the MOO3 stuff would be much better if I could change it around a bit so that the stuff I care about is easier to get to. MOO2 handled the interface soo much better I thought, and it wasn't great.
Ah well. I think that covers more of my direct concerns, that I hope you can provide feedback on. If not, oh well, you provided a bunch of great information already.
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It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.
It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.