Twilight User Interface problems
from 
GalCiv2 Forums
GalCiv2 Forums
Let me say that I bought Galciv 2 based on the good reviews all over the press. Let me also say that I won't be buying another Stardock game anytime soon.
Why? I like to play strategy games on huge maps with tons of other civs and I like to play them fast. The user interface in Galciv 2 however isn't customizable enough and too buggy to enable me to play like that.
Since Twilight will be the last expansion, I am hoping that some of my concerns outlined below will be addressed in a future patch before the development team abandons the game. As I see it, Galciv2 plays much worse than Civ 4 at this time, which will hurt Galcivs 2 longevitiy.
First, the game doesn't have a "minimize popups" option. Obviously, I don't want to stare that stupid robot in the eye 300 times a game. He isn't funny, he isn't cute, he doesn't even look good. If a Starbase can't be upgraded, I don't want to see a popup, if a freighter arrives somewhere, don't interupt gameplay with a popup.
Instead, most if not all events should be moved to the sidebar and should be handled in a similar fashion as the completion of Planetary Improvements queues, spies, etc ...
Second, the tech tree could be more "descriptive". Considering that robot screen bugs you each time, it does contain very very little information. It would be cool to have little icons and descriptions there showing the detailed benefits of the new improvements, weapons, defenses, special projects etc. Also in the tech tree, that same information should be accessible. Right now, if you hover over an icon in the tech tree it only shows its name. It would be helpful to also show additional information.
Next, and this is an important point for me ... there is no "quick move" option. This becomes apparent when you have covered the galaxy with a web of trade routes and each of the tiny transports move one at a time when you end your turn. Or when you are mass producing constructors to quickly build up a starbase somewhere. Having 30-40 constructors move one at a time is *painful* to watch or to wait out even.
Make all your ships execture their autopilot moves at once?
Then, I kinda like the newly added option to have the computer upgrade ship designs for you as upgrades are researched. But I don't like having to permanently go to the ship design screen to make outdated designs obsolete and no one honestly likes having to sift through 20 different defender designs in their starports.
A better way would be to streamline the process of upgrading ships. One way to do this: Add one more to the current set of buttons ("move", "animate" and "remove") on the ship design screen - "upgrade" replaces the selected component with the most current one (i.e. Warp Drive V gets replaced with a Hyperwarp engine, Singularity Drivers get replaced with Graviton Drivers etc).
Right now, upgrading ships is kinda painful. Especially if the mount points are facing in an odd direction and you have to rotate the engine again each time you upgrade.
In Civilization 4, you are alerted when enemy troops approach or enter your territory with little icon bubbles on the edge of the screen that you can click to zoom there. Something similar would help Galciv 2. Especially when playing on huge maps and fighting in several corners of your empire it would help to have such an indicator to quickly find enemy fleets. Right now, I som,etimes miss one or two enemy fleets.
Lastly, and I have often voiced my annoyance over this already ... the tehcnology used for the User Interface sucks. I understand its from some desktop customization product Stardock also sells. I don't know how suitable it is for a game like this.
Its very very laggy. Often I would click on a ship only to have the game deslect it a split second later - showing the civilization power graph instead of the ships context menu.
Once I was able to start a new game with Ctrl+N and got all the way to the new pristine galaxy map only to have a research complete screen popup from my earlier game. The game doesn't like quick sudden user movement through its menus and screens and you can cause quite a few crashes by doing that. I know retooling the user interface technology is never going to happen. Also you guys at Stardock probably know that it was a bad decision to use it, but I was hoping you would devote more time to the user interface when developing Twilight.
Why? I like to play strategy games on huge maps with tons of other civs and I like to play them fast. The user interface in Galciv 2 however isn't customizable enough and too buggy to enable me to play like that.
Since Twilight will be the last expansion, I am hoping that some of my concerns outlined below will be addressed in a future patch before the development team abandons the game. As I see it, Galciv2 plays much worse than Civ 4 at this time, which will hurt Galcivs 2 longevitiy.
First, the game doesn't have a "minimize popups" option. Obviously, I don't want to stare that stupid robot in the eye 300 times a game. He isn't funny, he isn't cute, he doesn't even look good. If a Starbase can't be upgraded, I don't want to see a popup, if a freighter arrives somewhere, don't interupt gameplay with a popup.
Instead, most if not all events should be moved to the sidebar and should be handled in a similar fashion as the completion of Planetary Improvements queues, spies, etc ...
Second, the tech tree could be more "descriptive". Considering that robot screen bugs you each time, it does contain very very little information. It would be cool to have little icons and descriptions there showing the detailed benefits of the new improvements, weapons, defenses, special projects etc. Also in the tech tree, that same information should be accessible. Right now, if you hover over an icon in the tech tree it only shows its name. It would be helpful to also show additional information.
Next, and this is an important point for me ... there is no "quick move" option. This becomes apparent when you have covered the galaxy with a web of trade routes and each of the tiny transports move one at a time when you end your turn. Or when you are mass producing constructors to quickly build up a starbase somewhere. Having 30-40 constructors move one at a time is *painful* to watch or to wait out even.
Make all your ships execture their autopilot moves at once?
Then, I kinda like the newly added option to have the computer upgrade ship designs for you as upgrades are researched. But I don't like having to permanently go to the ship design screen to make outdated designs obsolete and no one honestly likes having to sift through 20 different defender designs in their starports.
A better way would be to streamline the process of upgrading ships. One way to do this: Add one more to the current set of buttons ("move", "animate" and "remove") on the ship design screen - "upgrade" replaces the selected component with the most current one (i.e. Warp Drive V gets replaced with a Hyperwarp engine, Singularity Drivers get replaced with Graviton Drivers etc).
Right now, upgrading ships is kinda painful. Especially if the mount points are facing in an odd direction and you have to rotate the engine again each time you upgrade.
In Civilization 4, you are alerted when enemy troops approach or enter your territory with little icon bubbles on the edge of the screen that you can click to zoom there. Something similar would help Galciv 2. Especially when playing on huge maps and fighting in several corners of your empire it would help to have such an indicator to quickly find enemy fleets. Right now, I som,etimes miss one or two enemy fleets.
Lastly, and I have often voiced my annoyance over this already ... the tehcnology used for the User Interface sucks. I understand its from some desktop customization product Stardock also sells. I don't know how suitable it is for a game like this.
Its very very laggy. Often I would click on a ship only to have the game deslect it a split second later - showing the civilization power graph instead of the ships context menu.
Once I was able to start a new game with Ctrl+N and got all the way to the new pristine galaxy map only to have a research complete screen popup from my earlier game. The game doesn't like quick sudden user movement through its menus and screens and you can cause quite a few crashes by doing that. I know retooling the user interface technology is never going to happen. Also you guys at Stardock probably know that it was a bad decision to use it, but I was hoping you would devote more time to the user interface when developing Twilight.
