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eske -> RE: zoom in/out? (6/17/2008 12:21:19 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: baboune
Well I am sorry Marshall, EiA is a game where you need to know what is happening inside and outside of the played country. Easy and clear information is required at all times. Today, the lack of information (or limited accessibility in some cases) might be OK against AI. The fact is that in MP it requires vast improvements.
It is obvious that in such a game you need constant and easy access to corps/fleets deployment, and what has happened: Battles, Dows, state of war, number of ships being built, cash spent last land phase, money sent from country to country, last economic phase results, ship building activities, etc, in a simple and accessible form (not 500+ lines of 1/2 lines in a log).
The map: How difficult is it to have a zoom in/out? Playing Russia, you can not even see your empire from end to end. You have to guess at the location of the French army and browse from Italy to Spain and Germany. Same with British fleets. It is plain horrible and frustrating.
This access to information must have priority over any improvements to the AI.
I believe baboune has a point here and some very good suggestions. Access to information could be so much better, and add to the playability of the game in a big way simply by making the game mechanics and economics more transparent. My impression from this forum is, that if you don't knw EiA in advance the learning curve is very steep.
And my guess is a lot of experienced players keeps side notes to accumulate information along the way. Probably even running a spreadsheet or something. Trying to keep track of enemy armies and economy. A lot of this naturally belongs in the game.
And in a game that runs a long as this one, having some way to have the history of the game shown, will enhance the playing experience (My guess is most players have an interest in history, by the way..)
Graphics showing data collected over time could be Victory points, all PP ups ans downs, gaining or losing control of minors (in $ and MP), Navy sizes. This is all public information so keeping track should be made easy.
Then you could add graphics of your own nations private information like army size and composition, how you earn and spend your money - just to mention the obvious. This should of course not replace having all present data at hand. babounes list has some of that too.
Just having a primitive personal notepad or journal in game would be a bonus.
And to return to the original topic of this thread: Simply a way to export the bottom right political minimap would be a nice feature. Preferably in a good quality slightly blown up version. Improvements would be to i) add areas and ii) an indication of which area contains corps, and their nationality. I don't care how many and what type. This would suffice to make EiANW slight more of a spectator sport.
And while we're at it. Why not allow games you are not participating in to be viewed in a neutral mode, only showing public info. Simply allow any games to be loaded and then add a 'View' button next to the 'Resume'. My guess is that would not be too hard.
I don't know how the priority of these enhancements would be. You assess the effort/gain payback [;)]
/eske
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