Re: Three thoughts

[Elijah Meeks <elijahmeeks@yahoo.com>]

> > On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 mskala@ansuz.sooke.bc.ca
> wrote:
> >
> > > * If firing at specific units were to be a big
> part of some game, then it
> > > would be nice if it were easier to designate
> specific units when there are
> > > many of them, or nested occupant/transports, in
> a cell.  As it is, even at
> > > the deepest level of zoom it's quite difficult
> to click precisely on one
> > > unit if there are a lot of them in the cell. 
> One way to deal with this
> > > might be for an interface to be able to give me
> a dialog box with a list
> > > of units in the cell.
> 
> I've never understood why the interface has been so
> low on the priority list.  Back when I played Xconq
> 5.4 the interface was ok.
> Today I can't bring myself to play the game anymore
> due to the interface and to a lesser degree the high
> dencity of cities.  But
> since I don't program I can't really complain.  I
> just wanted to say that with a better interface
> you'd get a whole lot more players
> and perhaps programmers.


I know the feeling.  I didn't include city
improvements in Opal, even though they'd improve the
game, just because they end up making it look so
cluttered*.  And the TCL/TK interface is, let's face
it, so ugly in comparison to the Mac interface and
even the stripped down SDL interface (Which I'm still
in love with.  Really.  When I play XConq in SDL, it
looks like a *game*).

Another thing to think about is the opening screen,
which relates especially to Eric's game-image feature.
 If we could revamp that, then players would probably
have an easier time choosing games and seeing
something they like.

*This, like Eric's items, would be fixed by an
occupant dialog box.  I've tried to work with units as
items, though, and found difficulty with setting the
game up so that a unit could pick up another unit.  It
seems like I have to give Item units ACP and movement,
which is an annoyance to the AI and player and uglier
gameplay.  Anyone have any suggestions?  I'd love an
item-demo.g and, of course, if Eric throws in static
improvements, I can rewrite Cast Iron Life, and even
change the experience system in AWLS so that a unit
carries an Experience unit that provides bonuses,
rather than have five different units for each
experience level.  But that would probably necessitate
an AI-recommendation table for building and and and...
 Ah, being a needy XConq designer sure is the life.




		
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