planet management

from Sins Forums
i am what might be considered a casual gamer, meaning i play on weekends just as a way to unwind and am not an experienced RTS person so i don't know if these questions have been asked or even if they are good or bad ideas for a RTS

having said that i have been wondering:

1. are there any plans for the final version to provide a hot-key or hot keys which will allow the player to view an overview of all of their planets? for example i am thinking similar to Civilization and Alpha Centauri which permits you to see the status of all the cities, what is being produced, what has been produced, etc.

2. the ability to assign hotkeys to various ships is great, is there any chance that hotkeys will be assignable to planets? so that if you need to go to a specific planet you can simply hit a hot key that has been assigned to that specific planet?
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Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
2. the ability to assign hotkeys to various ships is great, is there any chance that hotkeys will be assignable to planets? so that if you need to go to a specific planet you can simply hit a hot key that has been assigned to that specific planet?
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You can assign a hotkey to a planet If you play with selection based empire tree (toggled in the options, not on by default), the hotkeyed planet will also be visible there for quick access, in addition to the hotkey itself.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Also, a lot of the empire level information is acquired by hovering your mouse over various areas of the hud which will in turn give you a planet by planet breakdown of information related to that element. Hover over the credits icon for an example. You can also pause the game using the pause button at any time during single player to analyze everything and issue your next set of instructions to all planets, ships, research etc.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
If I understood his first request correctly, Blair, he meant something along the lines of listing every planet and exactly what is built/upgraded/researched on it. For example it would show that one planet has 2 pop upgrades and 1 fleet, and another could have 1 pop 2 logistics, etc.. stuff that the UI currently doesn't show. It would also show if there are any ships building at that planet, or orbital structures.

Basically an overview of the whole empire in one screen, I guess
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
ugh, the thing is cramped enough as is.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
it could be a separate screen, just like diplomacy or research.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

it could be a separate screen, just like diplomacy or research.
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could be. a tabellaricv "empire overview" of upgrades, used logistics/ tactical points vs. totale ones, maybe the blip type indication station fleet size. would be even neater if you could order upgrades from there, but that may go a bit over the edge.

now, the uber-implementation would be if it could be extended to an extra tab to switch to enemy empire information. list of planets, upgrades, etc. and with a the same timer indicating how old the information is.

yes, all that information exists in the empire tree and on the map itself, but having it in a compact, comparable and readily accessable form would help.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
What the heck does tabellaricv mean?

The closest I could find with google was Tabellarische which is some sort of atlas? Would make sense contextually. Just curious Hal...
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Maybe he meant 'table a la civ' (civ games) in a very, very horribly mis-spelled way?
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
Next thing we know someones going to ask to add a "civ-o-pedia"

I understand what the OP is asking, and it isn't a bad idea. Kind of like a detailed version of the Empire Tree in a separate window. Unfortunetly i dont think that will happen because it may require an engine change that the dev's stated there isnt time for.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
tabellaric ~ displayed in a table. I want this screen, including the ability to order planet development in it. Wouldn't mind waiting until a patch though, as it doesn't make or break the game. But it would be a great help.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
The devs also said they're reworking some UI elements, so you never know, something of this nature may already be in the pipe. But if it isn't, probably shouldn't hold your breath for release, but perhaps a patch
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
i cast my vote for a tabellaric screen of such! i really like the idea!


Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top

Kind of like a detailed version of the Empire Tree in a separate window.
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I like the idea and it's been on the list for awhile but it won't make into this version of Sins. Perhaps in a patch or expansion. There are some improvements to the empire tree that should make most of these operations much easier though.

Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
ha, turns out I had a nasty germanism in there. the word I should have written was tabular (plus with a clumsily hit key at the end).

in any case, people already seem to have guessed what I have in mind. here I explain in more detail.

basically, the rows are your planets and as column you have the different upgrade levels and the maximum possible, so it shows like this.


Pop Inf Log Tac Fleet Income (Garrison = Ships stationed)
Earth 2/3 0/2 1/3 2/2 2/2 8 50 FP (or in blips)
Mars 1/2 0/2 1/1 0/2 1/2 -1.4 5 FP (or in blips)
...

and so on. and above that table you have tab cards like those in the multi tab web browsers that enable you to switch between different empires. that way its both an internal and an external advisor and gives you a nice overview and comparison of empires. foreign ones of course are only as upgraded as your latest intel allows you to determine, but its still useful, also for finding potential targets at a glance.

I know tables are a very ... dry, ungraphical sort of information presentation, but in this case I would say its by far the most efficient, because you get a lot of information into once screen.

edit: *saw dev post. cheers.* yeah, more pressing concerns atm, its ok.
Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top

Kind of like a detailed version of the Empire Tree in a separate window.


I like the idea and it's been on the list for awhile but it won't make into this version of Sins. Perhaps in a patch or expansion. There are some improvements to the empire tree that should make most of these operations much easier though.


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i think we all could manage to wait for this to appear in a patch. i wonder, would it be possible to develop this screen with a "teamwork" input. it sounds like most people like the idea, and i am sure that there are more experienced gamers than i am whose input would be invaluable.
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top


Kind of like a detailed version of the Empire Tree in a separate window.


I like the idea and it's been on the list for awhile but it won't make into this version of Sins. Perhaps in a patch or expansion. There are some improvements to the empire tree that should make most of these operations much easier though.




i think we all could manage to wait for this to appear in a patch. i wonder, would it be possible to develop this screen with a "teamwork" input. it sounds like most people like the idea, and i am sure that there are more experienced gamers than i am whose input would be invaluable.
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or pehaps some type of design contest?