Better reporting wishlist

Matrix Games Forums

Forums Register Login Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ

My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums Log Out

Better reporting wishlist

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Shadow Empire >> Suggestions and Feedback >> Better reporting wishlist

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 3:45:30 PM

Nemo84

Posts: 115
Joined: 3/29/2010
Status: offline

There is so much happening each turn in this game and so many things to keep track off. And your secretary is really bad at his job of ensuring you, the glorious leader, gets all the information you need to rule. I find a lot of essential information is hidden and dispersed into various screens, instead of nicely collated into a neat report.

So this thread is for discussing our wishlist on better reporting. Feel free to point out if some of these are already in and I just haven't discovered them yet. Some reports I'd really like to see:

1. Resource report: I can easily see the resource flow of SHQ each turn. I can easily see the resource flow of a specific zone each turn. What's missing is the resource flow of my entire empire. I want to know for each resource:

- how much I theoretically could have produced this turn, basically the sum of unmodified asset output.
- how much I actually produced this turn, taking into account all penalties and bonuses.
- how much I could have theoretically consumed this turn, basically the sum of unmodified asset needs.
- how much I actually consumed this turn, with penalties, bonuses, logistics issues,...
- how much was sent to any SHQ, basically the info in the SHQ sidebar.
- how much is stored in zones, basically the sum of all zone storage.
- how much was simply lost due to insufficient storage.

This is the information I for example need to see if I need to plan another metal mine in zone A when I order a new factory in zone B, or whether my production is bottlenecked by insufficient logistics or simply by not having sufficient producers.

2. Asset report: Related to the above, currently we can only view all the assets in a single zone. What I want to do is find all assets in my empire, and filter them by type and production/consumption. I don't want to have to browse through mutliple tabs for each of 2 dozen zones to see where my farms are, I want a single screen where I can find all my farms, see which have issues and then simply click on them to be sent to the right zone so I can deal with those issues.

3. Combat report: Combat information is simply available in the history playback, but absent otherwise. I'd like a need little report each turn noting which specific units (not formations) were engaged in combat, how many kills they made, how many losses they sustained and some brief indication if their current situation needs my immediate attention (withdrew, destroyed, out of supply,...). My current HQ report is showing me a lot of uninteresting xp stuff, but none of the really important info and it's not nicely grouped but spread out over numerous sub-reports.

4. Leader replacement report: Right now trying to get the best leader for each job is a pretty time-consuming task of comparing all those little individual skills. I'd like to be able to select a certain specific job (governor, director of each specific council,...) and see all leaders ranked by suitability for that specific job. Basically I want the information shown on the decision to appoint a new leader for a certain function, with candidates sorted by suitability and seniority, without first having to fire the person currently occupying the job and then hoping there's a better alternative available.

5. Unit feat management report: My current game I have about 54 unit stratagem cards. Most of these are priests or other (nearly) free feats. Assigning these to my combat units is currently a lot of clickwork that could easily be streamlined. What I'd like to see is a neat little report or screen that shows all feats currently attached to each unit, and has some shortcut to quickly assign a new feat stratagem to a unit.

6. Diplomatic summary: Keep me updated on the diplomatic affairs of the world. Give me a simple one-screen report that displays what happened last turn. Who increased or decreased relations with whom, who declared war on whom or sued for peace, which empire is internally in turmoil because the ruling party lost their elections,... This not only helps me direct my own diplomatic efforts, it gets me more involved in the world by depicting my rivals as actual factions instead of just another series of hexes to be conquered.

7. Construction report: A single screen where I can see all buildings that finished construction last turn, with handly links to the asset, and all buildings currently under construction, including all the possible reasons why their construction may be delayed.

So, what do you guys think about these suggestions?

EDIT: added construction report.

< Message edited by Nemo84 -- 6/13/2020 9:59:08 PM >

Post #: 1

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 4:36:38 PM

zgrssd

Posts: 3385
Joined: 6/9/2020
Status: offline

1. One way to find issues, is via Managemnet->Assets
In Reports -> Zones there is also something.
They are both split across zones, to make the easier useable.

2. Too many things on one screen, just make it unuseable.
This is a inherent thruth of UI design - there is only so much information a human can parse at the same time.

4. You already get suiteability, but I guess you want to expand it to include "in use" leaders?

5. Use OOB (F4). Expand it until you see the lowest tier units. Click on each unit. If the lack a Feat, you just hit "Strat" on the Commander shown right there. Brings you right to the Unit Strategems you can play onto this subunit.

6. Oh, definitely needed.

(in reply to Nemo84)

Post #: 2

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 5:39:59 PM

Nemo84

Posts: 115
Joined: 3/29/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

1. One way to find issues, is via Managemnet->Assets
In Reports -> Zones there is also something.
They are both split across zones, to make the easier useable.

2. Too many things on one screen, just make it unuseable.
This is a inherent thruth of UI design - there is only so much information a human can parse at the same time.

4. You already get suiteability, but I guess you want to expand it to include "in use" leaders?

5. Use OOB (F4). Expand it until you see the lowest tier units. Click on each unit. If the lack a Feat, you just hit "Strat" on the Commander shown right there. Brings you right to the Unit Strategems you can play onto this subunit.

6. Oh, definitely needed.

1. Management - Assets does not provide me with an overview of the entire empire. Everything is split up per zones, which is not the information I need because resources are not constrained within a zone but shared between them. I can build a factory in zone A that runs on metal from zones B and C, but right now the only way to see if my production equals my needs is to look into three different zone screens, write down the numbers and manually do the math. All the data I need is indeed there, but it needs to be collated better.

2. Your argument makes no sense. The current asset screen for my capital contains 33 items. There's not a single asset type that I have 33 entities of in my empire. If it can show all 33 assets in my capital zone on one screen, why can't it show the 3 oil rigs in my entire empire collected together in a similar screen?

4. As far as I know I can only see the suitability score for a certain specific job in the decision screen when I need to appoint someone for that job. Which means I first need to fire whoever is currently doing the job before I can evaluate whether or not I have a more suitable candidate in the pool. And being able to see if the best candidate is currently doing another job is indeed useful information.

5. Still requires me to manually scroll through all units instead of showing me a single overview with all the info I need. Again, I know all this information can already be obtained from the game. The point of this topic is to propose better ways of collating this data into a single useful report / screen to reduce needless clicking like this.

(in reply to zgrssd)

Post #: 3

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 7:33:07 PM

zgrssd

Posts: 3385
Joined: 6/9/2020
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo84

quote:

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

1. One way to find issues, is via Managemnet->Assets
In Reports -> Zones there is also something.
They are both split across zones, to make the easier useable.

2. Too many things on one screen, just make it unuseable.
This is a inherent thruth of UI design - there is only so much information a human can parse at the same time.

4. You already get suiteability, but I guess you want to expand it to include "in use" leaders?

5. Use OOB (F4). Expand it until you see the lowest tier units. Click on each unit. If the lack a Feat, you just hit "Strat" on the Commander shown right there. Brings you right to the Unit Strategems you can play onto this subunit.

6. Oh, definitely needed.

1. Management - Assets does not provide me with an overview of the entire empire. Everything is split up per zones, which is not the information I need because resources are not constrained within a zone but shared between them. I can build a factory in zone A that runs on metal from zones B and C, but right now the only way to see if my production equals my needs is to look into three different zone screens, write down the numbers and manually do the math. All the data I need is indeed there, but it needs to be collated better.

2. Your argument makes no sense. The current asset screen for my capital contains 33 items. There's not a single asset type that I have 33 entities of in my empire. If it can show all 33 assets in my capital zone on one screen, why can't it show the 3 oil rigs in my entire empire collected together in a similar screen?

4. As far as I know I can only see the suitability score for a certain specific job in the decision screen when I need to appoint someone for that job. Which means I first need to fire whoever is currently doing the job before I can evaluate whether or not I have a more suitable candidate in the pool. And being able to see if the best candidate is currently doing another job is indeed useful information.

5. Still requires me to manually scroll through all units instead of showing me a single overview with all the info I need. Again, I know all this information can already be obtained from the game. The point of this topic is to propose better ways of collating this data into a single useful report / screen to reduce needless clicking like this.

1. Not quite. Resources can be shared between zones via a SHQ, but doing so requires Logistics capacity. You want to keep producers and consumers as close together as possible - ideally in the same hex (so any logistics disruption hits both).
Thinking of them as one big thing, is sure to crash your economy under Logistics strain

2. What if you got 33 Oil Rgs and 33 Farms in your Empire? And most filterings are not as precise as "all Farms". They will show "all Farming group assets", so every private Dome, Public Dome, Earth Farm and Xeno Farm.

4. Oh, then I missunderstood?
Or did I not and you just want to "Include non-Reserve Pool leaders" in the Options?

5. Do you want them listed in detail, like the Graphical combat view does, just empire wide?

(in reply to Nemo84)

Post #: 4

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 8:46:43 PM

Nemo84

Posts: 115
Joined: 3/29/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

1. Not quite. Resources can be shared between zones via a SHQ, but doing so requires Logistics capacity. You want to keep producers and consumers as close together as possible - ideally in the same hex (so any logistics disruption hits both).
Thinking of them as one big thing, is sure to crash your economy under Logistics strain

2. What if you got 33 Oil Rgs and 33 Farms in your Empire? And most filterings are not as precise as "all Farms". They will show "all Farming group assets", so every private Dome, Public Dome, Earth Farm and Xeno Farm.

4. Oh, then I missunderstood?
Or did I not and you just want to "Include non-Reserve Pool leaders" in the Options?

5. Do you want them listed in detail, like the Graphical combat view does, just empire wide?

1. And that is not always possible or even desirable. A lvl.5 Heavy Industry is far more efficient than 5 lvl.1's. I'd rather draw resources for a single centralized lvl.5 from 5 different zones with metal mines than outfit each of those zones with a lvl.1 Heavy Industry building. I'd also rather place this building in my well-defended homelands close to SHQ, rather than out on the periphery where the metal might be. Hence I would like the tools to make an informed decision on whether or not I have to build or upgrade a mine to support building or upgrading a factory.

2. What if I got 66 assets in a single zone, which is far likelier to happen than having 33 oil rigs? I assume that's why the scrollbar was invented...

4. I want the information I'm currently only presented with in the "pick a leader" decision to be present in an easy-to-digest format without having to trigger the decision. And yes, including non-reserve pool leaders should be either an available filter or an otherwise readily accessible piece of data in this report / screen.

5. An empire-wide list of attacks or a list of units involved in attacks for that turn, which can then provide deeper details on kills and losses that turn. It could even be used to list player-initiated combats, for which there currently is no archive at all. And as a DLC minor feature later on a unit might even carry a full combat history with it, giving a sense of attachment to units. Currently you don't even know that the 31st Brigade sacked three cities and held the line against that elite GR battalion for three turns unless you manually write it down based on the vague information from the history replay. Otherwise it's just another generic unit counter the next day.

(in reply to zgrssd)

Post #: 5

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 9:34:35 PM

Jdane

Posts: 456
Joined: 6/5/2020
Status: offline

I'm throwing myself in between the lines for a minute, just to say these suggestions seem very reasonable to me and would make for good quality of life improvements.

Workarounds already exist for most of these issues in the game as it already stands, but I can't deny it would benefit the game and improve the user experience if such features were implemented.

(in reply to Nemo84)

Post #: 6

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 9:59:39 PM

Nemo84

Posts: 115
Joined: 3/29/2010
Status: offline

Added a construction report to the OP.

(in reply to Jdane)

Post #: 7

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 11:13:32 PM

zgrssd

Posts: 3385
Joined: 6/9/2020
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nemo84

quote:

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

1. Not quite. Resources can be shared between zones via a SHQ, but doing so requires Logistics capacity. You want to keep producers and consumers as close together as possible - ideally in the same hex (so any logistics disruption hits both).
Thinking of them as one big thing, is sure to crash your economy under Logistics strain

2. What if you got 33 Oil Rgs and 33 Farms in your Empire? And most filterings are not as precise as "all Farms". They will show "all Farming group assets", so every private Dome, Public Dome, Earth Farm and Xeno Farm.

4. Oh, then I missunderstood?
Or did I not and you just want to "Include non-Reserve Pool leaders" in the Options?

5. Do you want them listed in detail, like the Graphical combat view does, just empire wide?

1. And that is not always possible or even desirable. A lvl.5 Heavy Industry is far more efficient than 5 lvl.1's. I'd rather draw resources for a single centralized lvl.5 from 5 different zones with metal mines than outfit each of those zones with a lvl.1 Heavy Industry building. I'd also rather place this building in my well-defended homelands close to SHQ, rather than out on the periphery where the metal might be. Hence I would like the tools to make an informed decision on whether or not I have to build or upgrade a mine to support building or upgrading a factory.

2. What if I got 66 assets in a single zone, which is far likelier to happen than having 33 oil rigs? I assume that's why the scrollbar was invented...

4. I want the information I'm currently only presented with in the "pick a leader" decision to be present in an easy-to-digest format without having to trigger the decision. And yes, including non-reserve pool leaders should be either an available filter or an otherwise readily accessible piece of data in this report / screen.

5. An empire-wide list of attacks or a list of units involved in attacks for that turn, which can then provide deeper details on kills and losses that turn. It could even be used to list player-initiated combats, for which there currently is no archive at all. And as a DLC minor feature later on a unit might even carry a full combat history with it, giving a sense of attachment to units. Currently you don't even know that the 31st Brigade sacked three cities and held the line against that elite GR battalion for three turns unless you manually write it down based on the vague information from the history replay. Otherwise it's just another generic unit counter the next day.

1. "You want to keep producers and consumers as close together as possible". I had to bold that word, because you seemed to have missed it. Sure, you have to spread out the Metal mines "whereever you find a spot". It is not possible to keep them all in the Capitol zone.
But what about the energy part? Should you not put that Power Plant right next to the plant?
What if you later go towards Metal Soil Extraction to feed it - would you split those things that can go aqnywhere on the planet over your zones, or focus them next to the plant?

Once you start looking towards other zones, your supply is not going to be stable. Better to look at each zone seperately.

2. If you need to use a scrollbar, there is too much on the screen. I mean there is literally too much to display at once. Processing that info will be near impossible.

5

Did't you say something about wanting a list of Units, for stuff like applying Unit feats via cards?
Suddenly you talk about a combat history for the unit?

But are good things to want, but a totally different topic from what I have been dicussing here...

< Message edited by zgrssd -- 6/13/2020 11:14:07 PM >

(in reply to Nemo84)

Post #: 8

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/13/2020 11:28:23 PM

Nemo84

Posts: 115
Joined: 3/29/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: zgrssd

1. "You want to keep producers and consumers as close together as possible". I had to bold that word, because you seemed to have missed it. Sure, you have to spread out the Metal mines "whereever you find a spot". It is not possible to keep them all in the Capitol zone.
But what about the energy part? Should you not put that Power Plant right next to the plant?
What if you later go towards Metal Soil Extraction to feed it - would you split those things that can go aqnywhere on the planet over your zones, or focus them next to the plant?

Once you start looking towards other zones, your supply is not going to be stable. Better to look at each zone seperately.

2. If you need to use a scrollbar, there is too much on the screen. I mean there is literally too much to display at once. Processing that info will be near impossible.

5
Did't you say something about wanting a list of Units, for stuff like applying Unit feats via cards?
Suddenly you talk about a combat history for the unit?

But are good things to want, but a totally different topic from what I have been dicussing here...

1. I didn't miss it, and I agree production needs to be kept together as much as possible. Still doesn't change the simple fact that it will rarely be all together in the same zone. Energy has zero logistics cost, so is definitely not something where you need to keep production close to consumption. Specialized sources such as Vulcanic Energy Plants are far more efficient than generic sources, and there are only limited locations for such plants.

I'd still not group assets like Metal Soil Extraction together in the same zone to spread out the worker requirements and not have all my eggs in a single basket that may get conquered or may rebel.

2. With a proper set of filter options there is nothing in this game that cannot be presented in a single easily-digestible screen. Take a look at games like War in the East where hundreds of units are presented in very informative easily sortable and filterable lists, offering a quick subset selection of those that need player attention.

5. Sorry, got this confused with number 3, the combat report. Yeah, it's supposed to be a list of all counters, that can be filtered and sorted by feat (and possibly by some other useful info as well). See my comment on number 2 as well.

(in reply to zgrssd)

Post #: 9

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/14/2020 7:24:27 PM

76mm

Posts: 4688
Joined: 5/2/2004
From: Washington, DC
Status: offline

I was surprised that there doesn't seem to be any way to see how much of each resource my empire is producing...I don't think I've ever seen a 4X type game without that feature.

Also, the finance reporting is very clunky and hard to understand--I would really like something in a single column, showing revenues and expenses by category.

(in reply to Nemo84)

Post #: 10

RE: Better reporting wishlist - 6/15/2020 5:33:37 PM

Munashe

Posts: 17
Joined: 12/28/2019
Status: offline

I'm continually annoyed whenever I mouse over my credit amount on the top bar hoping for a tool-tip outlining income and spending only to be met with a useless: "Credits are money" tool-tip. So better tool-tips would be very nice. Ideally hovering over any number field would outline how it was arrived at. For example, hovering over the metal SHQ spot on the left side could show metal mining and scavenging production, expenditures, modifiers from leaders, and supply losses. There's also many cases of reused icons that mean totally different things. In the combat modifiers, and especially the the asset stats. I'm hoping that's just a temporary thing that will be resolved eventually. I support pretty much all the other OP suggestions. I would really like to see an improved stratagem screen. There's a ton of wasted space, and having so few cards on each screen leads to having to click through a lot of pages to scan through all available cards. The same issue is there with the hex assets on the bottom of the screen. I end up with six pages of assets to click through. I'm not sure would be a good solution for the assets though, and it's not as big an annoyance to me as the stratagem screen.

(in reply to 76mm)

Post #: 11