Message delay suggestion

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> Steel Panthers World At War & Mega Campaigns >> Message delay suggestion

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Message delay suggestion - 10/12/2000 5:30:00 PM

Crimson

Posts: 6
Joined: 10/12/2000
From: Finland
Status: offline

Would it be possible to complement the message delay feature with the possibility of making the messages go away with clicking a mouse button? It's quite frustrating waiting for those enemy tanks firing all their often ineffective guns and cmg's at my troops. With the ability to click the message to make it leave, the playing would be much less time-consuming, and much more rewarding! I recognize the fact that it is possible to set the delay to a low value or remove the messages altogether, but would prefer to read carefully the important messages, and skip those of less importance. - Juha Virtanen -

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- 10/12/2000 10:47:00 PM

Wild Bill

Posts: 6821
Joined: 4/7/2000
From: Smyrna, Ga, 30080
Status: offline

Nice suggestion, my friend. As to its implementation, no promises. It will be mentioned to the programmers....WB ------------------ In Arduis Fidelis Wild Bill Wilder Coordinator, Scenario Design Matrix Games

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In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Independent Game Consultant

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Post #: 2

- 10/12/2000 11:51:00 PM

jsaurman

Posts: 129
Joined: 6/28/2000
From: Alexandria, VA
Status: offline

I agree wholeheartedly that the messaging system needs some tweeking. I would like to have different message delays for the different classes of messages: Armor Combat (I need a long delay) Infantry Combat (short delay) Supression (don't need these at all) Special Op Fire! (don't need this either) Enemy Retreating (don't need this either) Enemy Popping Smoke (who cares) Counter-Battery Fire (short delay) There are probably more, but I can't remember. What the ultimate solution would be is to take the scrolling message area at the bottom of the screen (the thing that keeps saying "Special Op Fire" and then move it up to the top one inch of the screen. Put some scroll arrows on the side there there so I could scroll back if I miss something. That would be the best. I used to have another game that did it that way (I think it was a sub game called Wolfpack) and it worked great. The game would run much faster, and since there are so many time lags already in the game when your opponent is taking his turn, you could use that time to scroll back if you missed anything. Any opinions? JIM

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Post #: 3

- 10/13/2000 12:14:00 AM

Fuerte

Posts: 314
Joined: 6/14/2000
From: Helsinki Finland
Status: offline

I agree, the information should be in the message log, and the message log interface could be improved. Btw, there is F5 already. [This message has been edited by Fuerte (edited October 12, 2000).]

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Post #: 4

- 10/13/2000 7:58:00 PM

Crimson

Posts: 6
Joined: 10/12/2000
From: Finland
Status: offline

Some further contemplation... I seem to remember that the message system was quite well carried out in SP3. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe you had the ability to make the messages go away by clicking plus the ability to adjust the amount of information you wanted to see on the screen (it was called 'animation level'). It wasn't a perfect system, but adequate anyway. The one thing that struck me the instant I started to play SPWaW was the (a bit awkward) message system, which was a step backwards from SP3, in my view. It is, however, great to see that the development team is so open to suggestions. Thanks for listening! - Juha Virtanen -

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Post #: 5

- 10/13/2000 8:29:00 PM

Peregrine Falcon

Posts: 165
Joined: 9/8/2000
From: Finland
Status: offline

It would be best if message(s) would show when something is firing - not before firing actually occurs. Now there's a long wait when you first see the message, then you see the firing - If you set this to...0.5 secs, you have a long wait if you are playing defensive battle and AI has lots of tanks, and all weapon slots full. Five AI tanks firing all their guns to one bunker maybe 500m away - Thats a long wait if you want to see only important messages... This is even worse when AI is firing all that MG's fire against reinforced concrete... Quite useful? Or waste of ammo? Very important messages (critical hits?) should have their own delay... [This message has been edited by Peregrine Falcon (edited October 13, 2000).]

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Post #: 6

- 10/13/2000 8:33:00 PM

Nikademus

Posts: 25684
Joined: 5/27/2000
From: Alien spacecraft
Status: offline

the new message log goes a long way towards addressing the issue, as you hit the dilemma right on the mantlet. One wants to be able to read fully the juicy detail filled info on tank vs tank hits but setting the delay too high makes all those infantry interactions too long and ruins the 'pace' and feel of the game. an option to cause the tank msgs to remain till clicked on or a key would be great but even if Matrix cant implement it i'm still grateful for the msg log.