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Interface cumbersome? - 2/1/2005 5:39:25 PM   
joblue

 

Posts: 54
Joined: 5/10/2000
From: Brooklyn, USA
Status: offline 		I am new to BIN, but a digital veteran when it comes to war/gaming. I had a comment on the interface. It seems that I have to go to 2 places to get information regarding a unit. First is the info available when I select a unit, which shows up in the Info Panel at the lower right of the interface....and then there is more info available when I right-click the hex and get terrain info pop-up, continue to hold the mouse and roll-over the unit. Does anyone else see this as cumbersome? In addition , there is the awkward move of having to keep the right mouse button held down while you roll-over the unit chits (this "hold mouse button as you roll-over or it will disappear" happens way to much in this game).

I do love the game, and think that maybe I am too new to the interface. Hopefully, I am doing it wrong. Your input is appreciated in advance.

joblue
Post #: 1
RE: Interface cumbersome? - 2/1/2005 11:31:30 PM   
Adam Parker


Posts: 1848
Joined: 4/2/2002
From: Melbourne Australia
Status: offline 		The need for displaying unit info in war gaming has been an issue for the hobby since it began and the more complex that games became, the more were the variations of the theme that arose.

Initially in the days of paper and card board gaming, units simply possessed attack and/or defence strengths with generic movement allowances. The first two were displayed on the counter and the last could easily be memorized - foot, tracked etc., or 6 movement points per unit with mountains costing 4 points and clear terrain 1, as another example.

Movement allowances then became refined and they too found real estate on counters. Designers then realized that many other factors could be added. Organizational information, unit sizing, armor thickness and the list goes on.

Boardgames then split between those showing as much of this information on their counters as possible (such as Squad Leader) to those barely showing a mere icon with everything else on tables or individual unit-based cards (such as Harpoon, Air Strike or MBT).

At the digital end of the spectrum today, graphics artists face a further barrier being, the amount of information they can squeeze in terms of pixels into their unit art at various resolutions. SSG's approach imo is therefore a fairly balanced one looking at the various designs around.

In other words, the pop-up's and right-click tables you see in BiN are a factor of both digital art restrictions and a continuation of the history that war game design has become in general.

The more that the realm of graphics moves away from pixel based requirements, the faster that PC's become and the less burdensome that file sizes result - the sooner it will be that gaming art becomes much more functional. SSG is doing a pretty good job in contemporary terms.

Adam.

< Message edited by Adam Parker -- 2/2/2005 7:33:05 AM >

(in reply to joblue)
Post #: 2
RE: Interface cumbersome? - 2/2/2005 12:02:23 AM   
joblue

 

Posts: 54
Joined: 5/10/2000
From: Brooklyn, USA
Status: offline 		I totally agree, and I actually work in the CG industry....anyway, I guess my issue is primarily with unit information being in 3 places (on the counter, on the lower right panel of the interface and within a twice removed pop-up)

Dont get me wrong...love the game. Funny, it seems that games that I enjoy handle the OOB and Unit Data graphics well.

joblue

(in reply to joblue)
Post #: 3
RE: Interface cumbersome? - 2/2/2005 12:03:10 AM   
Gregor_SSG


Posts: 681
Joined: 3/6/2003
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: joblue

I am new to BIN, but a digital veteran when it comes to war/gaming. I had a comment on the interface. It seems that I have to go to 2 places to get information regarding a unit. First is the info available when I select a unit, which shows up in the Info Panel at the lower right of the interface....and then there is more info available when I right-click the hex and get terrain info pop-up, continue to hold the mouse and roll-over the unit. Does anyone else see this as cumbersome? In addition , there is the awkward move of having to keep the right mouse button held down while you roll-over the unit chits (this "hold mouse button as you roll-over or it will disappear" happens way to much in this game).

I do love the game, and think that maybe I am too new to the interface. Hopefully, I am doing it wrong. Your input is appreciated in advance.

joblue


As Adam pointed out, there is too much information needed to describe a unit for it to be displayed in one place. One solution would be to dumb down the game to reduce the amount of information required, but I'm assuming that nobody seriously wants us to do that. The alternative is do what we've done, and place the information in a hierarchy.

The most important information, which identifies the unit and its supply state, goes on the game counter on the map. The next most important information goes in the unit display area on the right, and everything else goes in the unit section of the terrain popup. The task is made more difficult by the fact the game design allows up to four units to stack in a single hex. Stacking is not inherently good or bad, it's just a factor that emerges from decisions about ground and unit scale.

You will find that as you get more familiar with the game, and with scenarios in the game, that you don't need to use the terrain popup as much. You'll also get better at the mouseover technique, which we think is quicker and easier than clicking to bring up a dialog and having to explicitly click again to dismiss the dialog.

Gregor

_____________________________

Vice President, Strategic Studies Group
See http://www.ssg.com.au and http://www.ssg.com.au/forums/
for info and free scenarios.

(in reply to joblue)
Post #: 4
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