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Thoughts

A topic by Dějiny created May 18, 2023 Views: 92 Replies: 5
Viewing posts 1 to 3

Hello. I like the general idea of the game and I will certainly follow the development. Some tips, thoughts a problems:

  • When started, i don't have the window centered and fully maximalized. There si a margin on the right and on the bottom. I don't know, if it's specific to my system, but i don't have this problem with any other game.
  • The buttons should give you at least a little bit of feedback, when pressed (coloring, shading, sound or something). They also should be graphically distict from non-clickable text (For example, in the reserves recruiting window, there is no sign, that the word Recruit is actually a button.)
  • You can select individual battalions, but an order given to it always apply to the whole regiment. I know, that the tutorial says, that each regiment commands its battalions independently, but the possibility to select each battalion makes it counterintuitive. And actually, when having only a handful of regiments, the general should be able to give specific commands to individual battalions, according to the common rule of commanding "two levels down". If not anything else, there should be a possibility to detach a battalion and use it for some special action, where you don't want to use the whole regiment. But i'm pretty sure, that you are going to add more ways to specify the order, than just three types of movement, and some battalion usage specification could be among that.
  • I would prefer, if there was one keybind to make the time faster and one to make it slower. Not just one cycling through all speeds.
  • There should be possibility to close the briefing window in battle. It obstructs the screen a lot.
  • There is no briefing in "super-fight" campaign.
  • The window with info about selected unit has a slight typographical issue: there are spaces before colons, but not after colons.
  • I don't like the time format XXDXXHXXM very much. I would consider using classic XX:XX for time, so with days maybe XXD – XX:XX?
  • I'm not sure if this one has some connection to the game, but one time when playing, I got a "Video scheduler internal error" BSOD. I never got this one anytime before.

I'm looking forward to the next update!

Developer

Hello Dějiny !

First, I thank you for having played my game, and I am absolutely sorry for the BSOD. I have had some BSOD with my game, and an update of videocard driver made them disappear, but I did not think it could happen elsewhere. I have updated game page to warn users about it. Let me answer your question :

  • When started, i don't have the window centered and fully maximalized. There si a margin on the right and on the bottom. I don't know, if it's specific to my system, but i don't have this problem with any other game.

It is not specific to your system, I have had a little trouble with full screen display, and did not implement a good fullscreen. I will work on this issue.

  • The buttons should give you at least a little bit of feedback, when pressed (coloring, shading, sound or something). They also should be graphically distict from non-clickable text (For example, in the reserves recruiting window, there is no sign, that the word Recruit is actually a button.)

You and me can sum up this quote as : graphic user interface is bad. Hey, it's not mean to say it : I lack graphist or ergonomit skills. And reserves recruiting window is awful. I have a task to improve it, in next next release (v0.12), but I will work on it for next release (v0.11).

  • You can select individual battalions, but an order given to it always apply to the whole regiment. I know, that the tutorial says, that each regiment commands its battalions independently, but the possibility to select each battalion makes it counterintuitive. And actually, when having only a handful of regiments, the general should be able to give specific commands to individual battalions, according to the common rule of commanding "two levels down". If not anything else, there should be a possibility to detach a battalion and use it for some special action, where you don't want to use the whole regiment. But i'm pretty sure, that you are going to add more ways to specify the order, than just three types of movement, and some battalion usage specification could be among that.

I am sorry if this answer will disappoint you, but no, general will not be able to give specific order to individual battalions. I want to bring a real time strategy game that does not rely on micro managing player skills, and if I allow players to select individual battalions, there will be more micromanagement. Buuuuut, yes, you could split (and merge) your regiments during battle. You are not forced to believe me, but I coded this functionality one year ago. It was buggy, and I thought : ok, no one will need that anyway. Guess I think at least one person needs this :) . I will recreate the task to split and merge regiments. But I must add that a player might maybe be limited in the number of regiments it commands. This could be reflected by the number of officiers a player has (and pays)...This will not be on next release, but planned for v0.12 or later. 

  • I would prefer, if there was one keybind to make the time faster and one to make it slower. Not just one cycling through all speeds.

I agree, next release will have this and an icon bar (woooh, so luxurious :) ). 

  • There should be possibility to close the briefing window in battle. It obstructs the screen a lot.

You are right too, and other users complained about it : I will do it for next release (v0.11).

  • There is no briefing in "super-fight" campaign.

Sorry, there are a lot of campaigns that I left for test purpose. It looks like a draft, I will write at least a briefing about it.

  • The window with info about selected unit has a slight typographical issue: there are spaces before colons, but not after colons.

Well seen (I could have played for hours without getting this bug).

  • I don't like the time format XXDXXHXXM very much. I would consider using classic XX:XX for time, so with days maybe XXD – XX:XX?

Yes : XXDXXHXXM is technically right, but absolutely ugly for a graphic user interface. XXD - XX:XX is cool, but looks technical too. Let's say : 'Day XX - XX:XX' for the display ? 

  • I'm not sure if this one has some connection to the game, but one time when playing, I got a "Video scheduler internal error" BSOD. I never got this one anytime before.

It could have connection to the game (unless it happens frequently on your computer). I am absolutely sorry for BSOD, especially if it made lose some work or time :( . For me it happened some times until I updated videocard driver. 

I'm looking forward to the next update!

That's very kind of you. And this is important for me. I thank you a lot for having played my game, and having taken your time to write this review. I will be glad to continue discussing with you. Feel free to message me. 

Everything sounds great! Now I am looking forward to the next updates even more.

Concerning the battalions command and micromanagement:  The ability to split and merge the regiments would probably solve the issue for me. I am generally in favor of less micromanagement (that's why I like games like Command Ops 2 or Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front), but if there would be scenarios, where you have only like 2 or 3 regiments, then even commanding each individual battalion wouldn't be too much micro. But splitting the regiment in half or something like that would be probably enough.

Yes, the format Day XX – XX:XX would be even better.

Developer

Well, it seems that we agreed on micromanagement AND day format !

Thanks again for your Thoughts. I hope the next update won't disappoint you (I promised a lot, now, I must implement all these things on my Trello ... ).

Ps : I must admit I have not played Command Ops 2 and Graviteam Tactics : Mius Front. I had a look on Graviteam, but I will watch these games more precisely.

(+1)

Hello, I tried the new version. Here are my thoughts about it.

  • Game window is now properly centered and maximized, great!
  • The unit selection panel is a very good addition. I would appreciate if the unit could be centered from this menu as well. For general, there is shortcut GG, but if I didn't miss something, there is no way to center camera on other units.
  • The panel for game speed control is much better then the previous solution.
  • It's good that the in-game briefing can be collapsed now, but the arrow on the edge si so tiny, I didn't notice it at all and discovered this feature by accident. Maybe make the lower edge with arrow a bit thicker?
  • The main issue for me is, that buttons in menus still don't give any feedback when clicked. At least the slight color tint, which is used in the units selection panel, could be used on other buttons as well?
  • When you start a campaign, the campaign briefing screen contains only "next" button, which means there is no possibility to get back to main menu, other than starting the first mission and then getting back through options menu. 
  • There is a small typo in "demo campaign" pre-game briefing (fonctionalities).
  • The geographical names are shown only by clicking on the flag, which is not very convenient, especially when they are noted in mission briefing which means they are important (e. g. demo campaign, Spiegelwald) and you have to click through the flags until you find the correct one.

Looking forward to future updates!

Also, I released new version of my game as well: https://dejiny.itch.io/manor/devlog/652369/version-0120

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Hello Dějiny. First : thanks for your quick return ! It is very valuable for me !

Glad some upgrades fit you : you sent me a lot of ideas for last release and a lot of upgrades are here thanks to you !

  • You are right for centering units from panel, arrow on edge of in game briefing, next buttons on campaign screen : I will work on it.
  • You remarked that buttons do not give any feedback in last release, and I have not worked on it :( . I have a Trello for this, but did not do it :( .
  • Typo is corrected (sorry). It will be released in v0.12
  • For geographical names, ok, it should appear on battlefield when zoomed out. MMMhh I must think of an ergonomic way to do it.

Thanks again for all your reports.

By the way, I have seen a new version of "Manor", and I would like to test it. I will do it during my end of year holidays (it is a promise !!!).

Have a nice evening !

Franzoar