Empire Tree addon idea

I like this idea, but I am confused about the phase lanes idea...

Well the phase lane idea, is to help you to know what planets are connected, so by clicking a small icon near the planet you would get the phase lanes shown on the empire tree like this

Use the info cards, thats what they're there for! (THe cards in the lower right of the screen split your alert log into 4 seperate "ques", and by left and right clicking on them you can "scroll" through the events in each que. The incoming enemy alert goes into the combat que, the rightmost card. It'll focus you in on the assault force, and by zooming out you can see where they're headed easily)

I feel the info cards are a big mess, never use them because of it.
If i see a name "bla bla" i have no idea where that is, and how would i know about the incomming fleet without moving my view?

My idea is to simplify the micromanagement, so you can keep your main view on one thing and still keep track on every thing else.

Using the infocard makes you jump alot around

so lets say i hear:
-inbound hostiles
-planet in the empire tree blinks
-i click the icon to show the phase lanes connected to that planet
-i see were they come from
-i hold my mouse over the incomming fleet
-i can then deside if its worth my main view attention
-if the main view is needed were i am, i can then just click the phase lane icon for another planet where i got a fleet stationed, and see if it can reach the planet in danger.
-So if i click the phase lane icon on the "planet in danger" and where my fleet is, they will connect and tell me if its a straight jump or they need to pass planet, something like in the first image.

So im still having my view on the same place all the time, for what ever purpos that might be.

i hope atleast someone understand what im saying

I like the infocards...

I can see where you're coming from though. Now that I'm becoming accustomed to using the Empire Tree, I'm really loving that feature. Last night I really experienced the convenience it provides. Battles raging across multiple planets. Open up the fleet node so it shows all the ships, alt click on bombers and pick target. Double click on next planet to change view, make adjustments. Scroll within the empire tree (w/o changing the view) to find nearby planet building ships, click on flak frigates and then click within the current view to reinforce their current position. With that nearby planet still in the empire tree, click to queue more ships (again without changing view). It's awesome.

With the phase lines, you could identify nearby planets w/o having to scroll to that system and check the map to see who's connected. It's easy to forget planet names and what's connected to what. Think of it as something for those of us who aren't able to quickly memorize things.

Thats what i mean

and plus this is something a joe gamer can live without, and still enjoy a good game.
and when he feels like going into more advanced (if this is advanced ) he can learn to use it too, but will take some practice

that looks nice in theory, but what about planets with 4-5 connections?

then it should show all five

I don't think it would look right, lines would be crossing all over the place

thats why it should be clickable, so you can remove it like the list of ships.

whats clickable the phase lanes that connect the planets or the planets themselves that will then show the phase lanes?

*brain hurts*

I think he means that you could turn it on and off.

I think that this is a great idea. I always get annoyed with the names. I never bother to memorize them all. With this feature, I would only have to memorize a few. Also, with the display showing incoming ships, it would be much easier. With the current system, I am always zooming all the way out just so that I can see what it means when ships are incoming at planet "x".

The phase lanes ofcourse

Hey all, I'm curious if this is the case for others. Do people use the reports (the infocard is that popup window on the other side of the screen ) much? or do you find it's too irritating to have the camera moving around all the time?

Interesting idea, Multi. We're still thinking about how to improve the empire tree, so keep the ideas/complaints/improvements coming.

I use it all the time. Very, very convenient. And its not like it changes my camera orientation, which would drive me nuts.

but still, your main view would be moved from the corrent location.

Im not saying that the infocards should be removed, but the empire tree should have an addon that will help with certain things.

Also if you could see the phase lanes on the empire tree, it would allow more strategi without zooming out.
If i would like to attack a planet from 2 directions, atm i zoom out to find 2 planets of my own that connects to it, but with the phase line idea i could do it while i concentrate on my main view.

I see what Multianna's saying. It would be a very helpful tool if you had an empire spanning several systems, but if you've only got a single system, it would be a nuisance more than anything else. After waging a few wars back and forth through your home system, you know the names well enough.


As for the infocards, they're a good idea in theory, but I haven't started to use them. They mainly seem not to work right for me, but maybe I've been doing it wrong. I'll try rightclicking on the alert card next time.

im one of those who dont remember names very well. In my game (the video one) i remember something called mulpy or something, i just cant remember those names.

If they were the same name each game i would at some point, but it would take very long anyways.


I feel its useful even in a one solar system, well it depends on how many planets you got, but above 10-15 its a must

I feel like I could use the info cards, but I don't. I feel the same way about zoom to mouse.

I rarely use the info Cards as all the jumping around can be a pain.

The idea of a an icon Flashing/Appearing on the palnet that reports the inbound and being able to mouse over it and get some info is a very good idea. Then you could use the card if you want to jump locations quickly to responed.

I disagree....

Matthew, when you say "can be a pain" does that mean you have tried it or you imagine it can just be a pain? I have yet to try it at all.

why?

Because there is a zoom out feature, use that to see where the enemy is coming from. Or one of the pop-up notifications saying a fleet is approaching. ( are there notification pop ups? I haven't played in about a week... )

I'll agree in multi system games it might be useful, then again you'd need to have your scroll bar focus on that system.

*EVIL EYES*

Info Cards
Battle/Combat cards: I use these when I am unsure of the location of a planet, or am simply interested in quickly jumping to the action. I don't use them very often

Bounty cards: To be honest, I try to ignore these. When I want to find a target that can earn me some quick cash, I hit F1.

Research/Economic cards: Never really bother with them, It's easier to just press F2 or to click the icon at the top of the screen for research. With the Planet upgrades and such, I normally have the planet highlighted and am waiting until I have enough resources to get to the next tier.

Planet cards: I never even look at these, I normally have a very good idea of where my ships are colonizing/taking, and I would hope that I would know if I was losing a planet.

Original Post & Topic
The flashing icon for when a planet is getting attacked is a great idea. It is a whole lot easier and faster to simply mouse over the Empire Tree to see something, rather than clicking an info card and jumping to it.

Showing the phase lanes is a good idea in theory but I would probably get annoyed by the insane amount of lines representing phase lanes connecting everyone's planets. A typical icon would have 2-5 lines coming out of it. I would find this acceptable in very small scenarios, but it would be horrible to see in action on a large universe.