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Interface - 10/9/2012 6:25:29 PM   
Twotribes


Posts: 6929
Joined: 2/15/2002
From: Jacksonville NC
Status: offline 		Is the interface and controls as bad as previous games from this Company?
Post #: 1
RE: Interface - 10/9/2012 6:59:11 PM   
wodin


Posts: 10762
Joined: 4/20/2003
From: England
Status: offline 		If you didn't like the others then you wont like this. However personally I see no problem.

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RE: Interface - 10/9/2012 7:39:07 PM   
Twotribes


Posts: 6929
Joined: 2/15/2002
From: Jacksonville NC
Status: offline 		Tried the tutorial and it failed when I tried to select an army from the list of forces. I am not a fan of their interface, and as usual had trouble getting a unit into a city.

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Post #: 3
RE: Interface - 10/9/2012 9:44:32 PM   
alex0809

 

Posts: 82
Joined: 5/15/2012
Status: offline 		I find this to be one of the most intuive strategy interfaces ever once you get into it.

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Post #: 4
RE: Interface - 10/9/2012 11:34:30 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		+1 but if you don't like an interface it just comes across as a pita and just seems to fight you at every turn...destroying your gaming experience.

< Message edited by JudgeDredd -- 10/10/2012 10:39:57 AM >

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RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 2:33:14 AM   
Twotribes


Posts: 6929
Joined: 2/15/2002
From: Jacksonville NC
Status: offline 		The means to split an army, to enter a city or to get to a small province are anything but easy. The IDEA is ok but is wholly lacking on implementation.

And the fact I can't even use the demo doesn't help.

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Post #: 6
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 11:20:22 AM   
alex0809

 

Posts: 82
Joined: 5/15/2012
Status: offline 		Splitting an army - selecting elements with CTRL and then drag&drop to target province - whats the problem?
Entering a city - dropping on the city.
Entering a small province.. uh.. dropping on the small province - what problems do you have with this?

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Post #: 7
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 11:43:01 AM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		SOme people just don't like a particular interface. It might be because it's fiddly. It might be because they find it difficult. It might be they just don't like the mechanics...I don't know what the point in asking him is.

You said yourself
quote:


I find this to be one of the most intuive strategy interfaces ever once you get into it.


He's already expressed his opinion and whilst I think the interface is fine and I LOVE the fact that AGEoD find it important to put useful tooltips on their games, it doesn't mean everyone else is going to.

No point in quizzing him anymore - I think I can say and you may agree (as does Wodin) that it's his loss - but he may well think it's not.

TwoTribes - I have found that when you have a unit in a region that you own, left clicking and holding the unit and moving the mouse over the city (there is a sweet spot and sometimes it is difficult to find) the black text box will display with a flashing message telling you to release the unit. However I have noticed that you can't do that when moving a unit from several provinces away - you have to get the unit into the province and perform the action I mentioned above...or you can click on an action button to the left of the force that tells the unit to enter the structure when arriving in the region.

As for selecting armies - if you have a force (shown at the bottom) with a number of units, then you can use CTRL and left click on each army you want to separate from the force. Remember you cannot move a unit which has a padlock on it - it's locked in place. That might be for a few turns or forever

Anyway - imo you are missing out if you don't give it a fair try - it's a great game...but it's not everyones cup of tea and as I said - if you already see the interface as being obtuse - then it'll be hard to get by that without a change in mindset.


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RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 12:55:22 PM   
alex0809

 

Posts: 82
Joined: 5/15/2012
Status: offline 		Sorry I was just trying to help, maybe he didn't know you can select multiple units with CTRL.

And I think it is a bit useless to just dismiss it as "someone who doesn't like it" because while of course it is a big part just user preference, you CAN also judge an interface objectively by how many clicks/how much time you need to do a specific action.

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Post #: 9
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 1:36:02 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		Actually nevermind. Feel free to carry on - he doesn't like the interface and hasn't done for their previous games - Wodin said it just fine
quote:

If you didn't like the others then you wont like this


< Message edited by JudgeDredd -- 10/10/2012 1:39:16 PM >

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Post #: 10
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 2:48:37 PM   
Duck Doc


Posts: 693
Joined: 6/9/2004
Status: offline 		I understand your frustration. The UI can be a pain to learn. I was very frustrated early on in the series but with a lot of patience in learning now get on with it just fine. I find using right-click on the unit tabs to lock them helps a lot when moving them next to other units so they don't merge. If they are in a region you can hold them over a city or town & move them a bit & eventually you get a pair of flashing men/ arrows which allows you to drop the unit into the city like JudgeDredd said. You cna also use the menu on the side to order units into structures.

Aside for the quirks of the interface the game emgine is fabulous. There is a tool tip explaining everything. Just play intuitively & learn as you go.

I made some suggestions early on about changes to the interface to make things easier & they were implemented then abandoned. It takes practice but it really is worth it. For example, I love my car but there are some things that drive me crazy about it. Got to take the bitter with the sweet. If you are a strategy gamer it doesn't come any better than the AGEOD game engine. AJE is the best so far but all have been great. The unit density in AJE is not overwhelming. I thought I would be put off by the extent of the map & number of regions but I am not.





quote:

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

The means to split an army, to enter a city or to get to a small province are anything but easy. The IDEA is ok but is wholly lacking on implementation.

And the fact I can't even use the demo doesn't help.



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Post #: 11
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 2:57:57 PM   
solops

 

Posts: 814
Joined: 1/31/2002
From: Central Texas
Status: offline 		Well, I have bought the game but I have not played it yet (still reading the manual). So all I can say is that any interface can be improved and it is in both the developers' and consumers' best interest to do so, especially if the developer is using the game engine for a lot of different games. At some point they have to say "OK, it is done, as good as it gets. No game is perfect." But, if there is too much whining then they have done poorly and sales will suffer. Frankly, I have stayed away from AGEOD games because of comments about the UI. My only other AGEOD game was WWI Gold. The UI was OK, but not very impressive. But, it used a different engine, did it not? There, wasn't that helpful?

< Message edited by solops -- 10/10/2012 3:00:39 PM >

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Post #: 12
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 3:54:57 PM   
wodin


Posts: 10762
Joined: 4/20/2003
From: England
Status: offline 		Solops WW1 Gold is a totally different engine etc to the other Ageod titles and is more complex.

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Post #: 13
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 7:47:43 PM   
Twotribes


Posts: 6929
Joined: 2/15/2002
From: Jacksonville NC
Status: offline 		I have tried Birth of America, The civil war game and the WW1 game. haven't played any more then a few days due to the interface and the game mechanics. I did not have a lot of trouble in this one EXCEPT to note splitting is going to be difficult in small provinces and getting into a city can be a pain. I know HOW to do it, the problem is it is not as simple as knowing.

Further the Demo failed when I tried to use the troop screen to locate a group to move it. Crash to desktop. If the demo does not work why would I believe the main game does?

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Post #: 14
RE: Interface - 10/10/2012 9:05:54 PM   
Twotribes


Posts: 6929
Joined: 2/15/2002
From: Jacksonville NC
Status: offline 		I bought the game, lets see if I play it more then a couple days.

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Post #: 15
RE: Interface - 10/11/2012 1:03:44 PM   
JudgeDredd


Posts: 8573
Joined: 11/14/2003
From: Scotland
Status: offline 		Well - good luck. I hope you find the level of enjoyment I'm getting out of it - it's been well worth the money for me.

fwiw I never persevered with their ACW game - but perhaps some perseverence may just pay off for you

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Post #: 16
RE: Interface - 10/15/2012 5:48:47 PM   
MengJiao

 

Posts: 232
Joined: 12/18/2010
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Dale H

I understand your frustration. The UI can be a pain to learn. I was very frustrated early on in the series but with a lot of patience in learning now get on with it just fine. I find using right-click on the unit tabs to lock them helps a lot when moving them next to other units so they don't merge. If they are in a region you can hold them over a city or town & move them a bit & eventually you get a pair of flashing men/ arrows which allows you to drop the unit into the city like JudgeDredd said. You cna also use the menu on the side to order units into structures.

Aside for the quirks of the interface the game emgine is fabulous. There is a tool tip explaining everything. Just play intuitively & learn as you go.

I made some suggestions early on about changes to the interface to make things easier & they were implemented then abandoned. It takes practice but it really is worth it. For example, I love my car but there are some things that drive me crazy about it. Got to take the bitter with the sweet. If you are a strategy gamer it doesn't come any better than the AGEOD game engine. AJE is the best so far but all have been great. The unit density in AJE is not overwhelming. I thought I would be put off by the extent of the map & number of regions but I am not.





quote:

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

The means to split an army, to enter a city or to get to a small province are anything but easy. The IDEA is ok but is wholly lacking on implementation.

And the fact I can't even use the demo doesn't help.






I sympathize, but I've bought and played all of AGEOD's games so...hmmm...lots of things that are fun have their cranky side. I agree that the interface can be annoying sometimes, but after years of being annoyed, I really don't even notice how the oddball ways I've developed to get the game to execute what seem like reasonable orders.

There are plenty of good things about the interface:
1) days of movement to locations tracked on those red lines
2) uncertainty in timing (if you smash an enemy force on day 2, you are not likely to push on to your day 23 objectives)
3) basically fantastic maps in RofPrussia, RUS and AJE
4) fun ways of recruiting troops and carrying out administrative actions
5) nice ships and naval rules
6) weather
7) supply view mode
8) Plunder, flames, sieges, boxes of treasure etc.

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Post #: 17
RE: Interface - 10/15/2012 10:39:58 PM   
Chilperic


Posts: 964
Joined: 3/21/2010
Status: offline 		IMO, one of the best way to get used with AGE GUI is to play first BOA ( not WIA , but the very first AGEOD game). The GUI shares the same basis, but as the game much simpler, it's easier to get accustomed to the main function. You will miss a lot of new features and tooltips, but they aren't really useful for an easier game.

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Post #: 18
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