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Berkut -> RE: The interface (7/24/2007 7:49:36 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins
quote:
ORIGINAL: Berkut
I don't think that is true, but I am kind of tired of the argument. I cannot get my primary PBEM opponent to even try the new FoF - he got tired of waiting for the patch, and doesn't want to have to re-learn that games PITA interface now that they have finally fixed some serious bugs months and months after release. And this is after we spent hours and horus playing it and figuring it out before.
Wow, I just don't find FOF's interface hard at all. It takes some learning, but I can't really envision an easier way to handle the fact that it lets you fully manage the contents and commanders of each Army, Corps and Division. The rest of the interface has also worked fine from Day 1 (granted it has also been improving with each update) and is a lot more streamlined than COG's.
I notice when establishing this trend you only used those two data points though. While I respect that you personally may not like those interfaces, what about our other games? Have you tried Carriers at War? Commander Europe At War? UFO: Extraterrestrial? A World Divided? I'm leaving out the re-releases of classics since the goal there was not to redesign the interface everyone already knew but to make sure the game worked on modern systems.
Regards,
- Erik
FoFs interface isn't hard at all...once you figure it out. But it is a PITA until that time. And that is true of ALL interfaces - none of them are hard once you figure them out.
And it had a lot of actual problem for a while, with armies moving when you didn't want them to, remember to right click to deselect, how do I move units a long way, why didn't they go where I wanted, how did THAT corps end up traipsing through enemy territory, the window size for the army displays not scaling, etc., etc. I think you find it easy now because is is second nature to you. And it became second nature to me as well, after a while. But then me and my opponent put the game down for 6 months while it was patched, and by the time we came back...it wasn't second nature anymore.
Whether this could be better? Oh, I am pretty sure it could be. I kind of doubt that it was the best that it could possibly be, but that is because of what I am talking about - there is a lack of focus on interface design, and an acceptance of poor design by publishers. In the case of FoF, if the game used windows components, it would be much improved. I could certainly imagine a vastly improved interface for managing containers and their contents, for example. Whether that effort in design is worth it, is another question of course.
And I mentioned several, of the ones I have played. War in the Pacific is a great example. A stunning game, incredibly deep, amazing detail. And (*&(*%*&# frustrating as hell to get to do what you want it to do. You spend so much time trying to figure out how to make the game do what you want, that you don't spend enought time figuring out what the options are - you end up fighting the interface, rather than playing the game. Hey, why didn't that convoy sail? What, I overloaded it? How? Why didn't it tell me that while I was loading it? ETc., etc.
But no, I don't purchase every single wargame released, I buy those that look interesting to me, and have potential for player vs. player wargaming. And I think the lack of attention to the basics of decent design, the stuff you can get from a 10 year old book on effective and basic interface design, is really hurting this genre.
And before someone says it, I am NOT talking about purty graphics! That is another subject altogether.
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