Posts: 34
Joined: 7/26/2009 From: Uk Status: offline
It could just be me...
But whenever I play WITP:AE I am constantly having to refer to the manual to find out what the shortened ship type designations mean. Some are obvious but others not so.
I'm guessing it would be a fairly simple programming task to add mouse hints when the mouse is waved over the ship type. The hint can then show the 'english' version of the ship type. I don't know about others, but such a feature would help me out a lot!
I still need to occasionally need to refer to the list too. What I have is a ring binder with charts and tables and a few pages of rules the I can't seem to commit to memory in these aging brain cells. Having the information in a pop-up would be handy.
Posts: 273
Joined: 9/25/2004 From: Irvine Ca Status: offline
Thirty years ago, by just playing the game a few times I would effortlessly memorize the ship types and other minutiae. No despite great effort, I can not for the life of me remember what a YP is, and how it differs from an HDML. I'm happy to see that it isn't just me, and I'd love to see a little mouse over help.
I hereby report that by far the most common cause of my tabbing out of the game to look things up in the manual is to determine what can be done with a particular ship type. So, actually, if a tool-tip is too much programming, clicking on a button on the menu bar that brings up a glossary of ship types would be just as useful to me. The same table that one gets in the Manual, but as a pop-up in game when I need to reference it.
I still need to occasionally need to refer to the list too.
Me three.
That is because they are all just targets to you. BTW, how do you say "target" in Mooseler?
Alfred
"Hi skimmer, bye skimmer"? Nah, been done.
The Moose reports that he has never seen an actual "target", but just a fuzzy, myopic mess which demands he put his head down and charge, with a stomping-to-death to ensue. Unless there's a nice curling match on CBC. Then it's the comfy chair and tea.
Thirty years ago, by just playing the game a few times I would effortlessly memorize the ship types and other minutiae. No despite great effort, I can not for the life of me remember what a YP is, and how it differs from an HDML. I'm happy to see that it isn't just me, and I'd love to see a little mouse over help.
I can recall the YP from OCS, when we charged about Narragansett Bay "sinking" Soviet bad guys while Corpening to our hearts' content (with a Williamson turn thrown in to make the women squeal.) Anything with a "Y" is a yard craft, and short-legged.
I have trouble with the aircraft maintenance ships of the various flavors, versus Fast Transports that are one letter away, more or less. I'm constantly doing double-takes and the AV__s.
< Message edited by Bullwinkle58 -- 8/15/2010 5:32:23 AM >
Posts: 305
Joined: 3/21/2002 From: The Pacific Status: offline
The toughest adjustment for me was "AM" for minesweeper instead of the former designation of MSW. The term "AM" makes me want to park them all at PM and get the day turn over with.
Posts: 209
Joined: 1/5/2008 From: Cambridge, UK Status: offline
I've got something that might help a little...
It's just a pdf with the ship types (divided into Fighting ships / Support+Transport) listed alphabetically by abbreviation, and a last page of keyboard shortcuts. I think if you print it out so 2 pages go on 1 landscape side of A4 it fairly easily becomes a fold-up booklet (A5 size) that can be easily referenced (I use it as a bookmark in the manual and pull it out for quick reference).
Sorry - it doesn't include all the taskforce missions each type can do (p280). Obviously also while I formatted it for us, it is lifted from the manual and (p273 onwards) so no credit to me.
bw Chris
-- I don't think I can upload it in this part of the forum - I'll have a look elsewhere if I can...
Actually, my problem is that I will get a juicy little sigint message. "7/27 Inf div is loaded on X maru and is headed to Bumfucajama. Problem is, I have no ideas where Bumfucajama is and if it is not owned by your side you can't search for it in the base list. So give me map coordinates with my sigint info, or better yet put all bases in the base list for both nationalities but with nothing more than the basic info for enemy bases. (like where the heck it is located). Better yet. Leave a blank space next to the names of enemy bases where you can manually type in info that you get from signint so you can refer to it later.
The toughest adjustment for me was "AM" for minesweeper instead of the former designation of MSW. The term "AM" makes me want to park them all at PM and get the day turn over with.
Actually, my problem is that I will get a juicy little sigint message. "7/27 Inf div is loaded on X maru and is headed to Bumfucajama. Problem is, I have no ideas where Bumfucajama is and if it is not owned by your side you can't search for it in the base list. So give me map coordinates with my sigint info, or better yet put all bases in the base list for both nationalities but with nothing more than the basic info for enemy bases. (like where the heck it is located). Better yet. Leave a blank space next to the names of enemy bases where you can manually type in info that you get from signint so you can refer to it later.
This suggests a new TV game show: "Is An AE Player Smarter Than a 5th-Grade Geography Student?"
I feel your pain. Some of those DEI dot hexes are MIA to me , even now. Your suggestion is a good one, although a fair bit of work for a patch.
I agree with the OP. I have a well-worn 9 page print out with the info, but it would be great to have it in-game. (also, when I printed the stuff out, it messed up when printing the AG desription.......and despite looking it up multiple times in the electronic manual, I still can't remember it...and have been too lazy thus far to reprint the whole thing again) (and on the back of the print-out, I finally wrote down the Dive/Glide/low-level/horizontal altititude ranges--saving me searching for that constantly)
_____________________________
Number one principle: The inherent worth and dignity of all people.
Actually, my problem is that I will get a juicy little sigint message. "7/27 Inf div is loaded on X maru and is headed to Bumfucajama. Problem is, I have no ideas where Bumfucajama is and if it is not owned by your side you can't search for it in the base list. So give me map coordinates with my sigint info, or better yet put all bases in the base list for both nationalities but with nothing more than the basic info for enemy bases. (like where the heck it is located). Better yet. Leave a blank space next to the names of enemy bases where you can manually type in info that you get from signint so you can refer to it later.
This suggests a new TV game show: "Is An AE Player Smarter Than a 5th-Grade Geography Student?"
I feel your pain. Some of those DEI dot hexes are MIA to me , even now. Your suggestion is a good one, although a fair bit of work for a patch.
Yeah, but you know those guys have noting but idle time on their hands now.....
Requests???....I would like retention of the info given at the end of each turn, in case I am away while it runs. IE "CA Houston gets upgrade......56th Fighter Squadron arrives in Frisco"...(etc)..
Only needs to be saved for my review at the beginning of the next turn..
< Message edited by m10bob -- 8/16/2010 12:23:28 PM >
Posts: 257
Joined: 11/24/2009 From: Sydney, Australia Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: m10bob
Requests???....I would like retention of the info given at the end of each turn, in case I am away while it runs. IE "CA Houston gets upgrade......56th Fighter Squadron arrives in Frisco"...(etc)..
Only needs to be saved for my review at the beginning of the next turn..
Look in the ops report, its all in there at the very bottom.
Posts: 2301
Joined: 7/4/2003 From: Seoul, Korea Status: offline
I like the ship tooltip idea and the base ID idea. Many's the time when I have no idea where a base is, and unless it's mine, the ignorance will continue.