TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (Full Version)

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Curtis Lemay -> TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:28:08 PM)

TOAW IV USER INTERFACE

By Bob Cross


Assuming one has successfully installed and set up TOAW IV (including choosing a language), this start screen will appear upon running the game:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/2DFDE7C51A0D4967A852E2BF2882DC36.jpg[/image]



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:29:03 PM)

This article will detail the User Interface of TOAW IV, game operation, only (I’ll have another article later on the Editor UI). EDIT: That other article on the Editor is here: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4387350


So, after clicking on the “NEW GAME” button, this screen appears:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/462AB6D00DDD46E9AA16BB8AA49581AE.jpg[/image]

Note that the game starts out in the Tutorial Folder. Let’s select a different one. The button on the left enables that choice.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:29:49 PM)

Clicking on it brings up the Select Theater dialog:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/D9CDCB38C10246C9B3358A9E29544067.jpg[/image]



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:30:31 PM)

Select the “WW II – West Front” button to open that folder:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/192DC4790CC5416BACA2FE1C8140DDA2.jpg[/image]



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:31:22 PM)

Before going any further, let’s go over the “Advanced Game Options”. Click on the “Game Options” button:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/6220899E96794C829D23D6E69C75DC60.jpg[/image]

The Game Options Dialog appears. Note that the bottom three buttons are new for TOAW IV. These buttons affect both players equally. So, they may not be changed after the game starts if the game is a PBEM or PBEM++ game. After setting buttons as desired, click the check mark button.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:32:56 PM)

The Player Options – Page One dialog appears:



[image]local://upfiles/14086/52653F86245541C988E65AEE34507779.jpg[/image]

This is about the same as the Player Options dialog from TOAW III. These buttons only affect the current player, so they may be changed at any time. The top buttons control the appearance of Tool Tips and the appearance of the Movement Menu. I’ve set it up above for the traditional method, with the Tool Tips basically turned off and the Movement Menu automatically appearing



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:34:10 PM)

But TOAW IV has more options. Click on the right button at the bottom and page 2 appears:



[image]local://upfiles/14086/11CBFA129D2C4D0FA3D3FE38402FC797.jpg[/image]

This page sets the Alpha and Opacity levels of dialogs and turns on various logs as desired. But at the bottom are buttons to invoke several Additional Option Editors. Click on the “Edit PBEM++ Data” button:



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:35:29 PM)

This dialog allows the user to set the parameters necessary to use PBEM++.



[image]local://upfiles/14086/FC0FC8CD777C43CABE174CC4CD54C8BD.jpg[/image]



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:36:10 PM)

Next, invoke the “Edit DBR Colors” button:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/8D80CBB9B4E74EEC9696963DFB80611C.jpg[/image]

The DBRs (Displayed Bombardment Range) are for various different ranges that can be displayed on the map. (The Unit Visibility button sets what DBRs are displayed). The dialog also controls whether such DBRs are circular or hexagonal.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:37:22 PM)

With the check box unchecked, the DBRs are circular:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/FA359DA3D2154FB684174FA761F358AF.jpg[/image]

Veteran players should recall that this was how they appeared under TOAW III. This mode is best for telling where the DBR originates from.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:38:42 PM)

But the hexgrid imposes that the actual ranges are hexagonal in reality. So, there will be times when hexagonal DBRs are preferred:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/26ED0CF6505542A9A66EF6F1180437E0.jpg[/image]

In this mode, you can tell exactly how far DBRs extend. But the ranges tend to merge together so that it can be hard to tell what unit is creating which DBR if all DBRs are shown. That’s why we’ve made both modes available via this Editor.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:39:40 PM)

Now invoke the “Edit Counter Values” button:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/53F6A648C7344DC598A65238FB83F07C.jpg[/image]

Initially, it is set up with the “Basic Defaults” applied. This is the same as it was under TOAW III. There are only two options, Strengths and Movement. Strengths are AP and DF.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:40:50 PM)

Click on the “Advanced Defaults” button:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/262084D0537F4111B123DFAA2BA2FA7C.jpg[/image]

Now there are six options that will be cycled through. The first and fifth options are the same as under the Basic Defaults. But now there are four new options: One stack option, a fording option, an engineering option, and a Unit Time Stamp option. Six options are the max that can be active, and two is the minimum. The check boxes can activate/deactivate four of the options.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:42:26 PM)

Let’s take a look at what the above options mean:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/0768D5D305C74974BC51B511D1662A56.jpg[/image]

Here is a shot from my Soviet Union 1941 scenario. The units are displaying the first option of individual unit AP and DF.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:43:34 PM)

On the Button Panel, with the Unit Tab selected, on the third row, the fourth button cycles through the options. Clicking on it switches to the second option:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/5413EB834A42431786379FB6A5EAE80F.jpg[/image]

This is the Stack AP & DF display. This shot shows the cumulative AP and DF strengths in each stack. You can imagine the value to players that this view will have.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:44:25 PM)

Click the button again to go to the third option:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/B087C4796B944D26B5604157C2136EF5.jpg[/image]

This shows minor and major ferry values of individual units. This is useful for movement planning.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:45:24 PM)

Click the button to go to the fourth option:



[image]local://upfiles/14086/5BD1F1B086554063A0FAA286EA461031.jpg[/image]

This shows Engineering and Rail Repair values of individual units. You can clearly see which units have engineering and rail repair capability.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:46:21 PM)

Click again to go to the fifth option:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/A0EBAE33776C4D699F00EC5001670399.jpg[/image]

This is the Movement Remaining display – just as it was in TOAW III.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:47:14 PM)

Finally, click one last time to go to the sixth option:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/32637BED2728498AA0B6E2E541D2A589.jpg[/image]

This is a new display that shows each unit’s Time Stamp. You can imagine how useful this will be for combat planning. (Every unit is at zero in this display since no units have moved yet. As units move, the values increase until, when all movement allowance has been expended, the value will be 10. (Timestamp is the combat round that the unit is on). Note that it takes quite a number of clicks to go from the first option to the timestamp. However, right-clicking the button cycles in reverse. So a right-click can take you from the first option directly to the sixth one.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:49:22 PM)

But users are not limited to the default values as far as strength displays are concerned (the first four options). On either of the buttons on the first four options, left-clicking on the button cycles through the strength options. But that can take quite a while to reach what you desire, since there are 44 options. A better choice is to right-click on the button. That brings up the Counter Values Menu:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/33A64B6EE3444B68B66BF471873E2770.jpg[/image]

Note that there are 22 individual unit options and the same options for the entire stack. Players will want to experiment with these values to find their most preferred set up.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:50:23 PM)

There is one more Editor to examine. Click on the “Edit Fonts” button:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/12E78E09E146445BBBBF5DCCD0DC39BD.jpg[/image]

This Editor has buttons for editing each of the 39 fonts. If you are unclear what each font is used for, mousing over each button will show its use in the Info Panel.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:51:14 PM)

Click on the first button (“Document Font”):

[image]local://upfiles/14086/780D5CF36EFF4F9FACB24A521A5A3414.jpg[/image]

The “Font Editor” is invoked.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:52:26 PM)

The first button selects the Font Name. Left-clicking on that button allows the font name to be typed in. But a better option is to right-click. This brings up the Font Menu:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/802DC888847A4DEA98F8B21D73D3F437.jpg[/image]

This is a list of all the fonts that either come with Windows or are included with TOAW IV. Obviously, this is a better way to set the font name, but if you have another source of fonts (for example, MS Office), there may be a font you want that isn’t on this list. That is what the “type it in” option is for.

Other values are just numbers to enter. (Color codes are in hexadecimal). Note the two check boxes at the bottom. If the “Windows Font?” box is not checked, all values are blanked out, since they only apply to Windows fonts. If the “Background?” box is not checked, the “Background Color” button is disabled.

The exit button sets the changes. Exiting the “Fonts Editor” saves the changes to disk.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:53:39 PM)

Now let’s return to the “Select New Game” dialog.

With the “France 1944 Cobra” scenario selected, run that scenario via the “Check” button. Before the scenario is ready, there is a new dialog showing the designer’s Advanced Rules preferences:



[image]local://upfiles/14086/0EE025D5D56C4E208C148B8229F9EAC3.jpg[/image]

Note that most of the Advanced Rules were set by the designer of this scenario. Setting them is optional, so most scenarios won’t have this dialog. Note that the first player has the option to override any of the preferences – but if he does, the second player will be so notified. We won’t override any of them.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:54:38 PM)

The scenario is finally ready:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/D9E0450EE6D744D0A6BFF4F8CA328191.jpg[/image]

Note that there are six panels:

“Show Panels Panel” in the upper left.
“Micromap Panel” in the lower left.
“Info Panel” in the lower center.
“Unit Panel” in the upper right.
“Air War Panel” in the center right.
“Button Panel” in the lower right.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:55:41 PM)

Let’s examine the “Show Panels Panel” first. Note that it has two buttons. The first button cycles between “Normal View”, “Combat Review”, and “PO Mode”. (We’ll cover those later). The second button toggles between showing only those two buttons and showing the rest of the panel. Clicking on it brings up the rest of the panel:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/0B9E4B2CFC564E4DBFDC297F4170E80D.jpg[/image]

There are now six new buttons.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:56:35 PM)

Clicking on the first new button hides the Info Panel:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/F3CF411FFE0046E784BE7B7735074A89.jpg[/image]



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:57:16 PM)

Clicking on the second button hides the Button Panel:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/02261951686E42888001E7E125A6B534.jpg[/image]



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:57:58 PM)

Clicking on the third button hides the Microview Panel:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/DF586DB2BDA44094AF08F1E826B7806D.jpg[/image]



Curtis Lemay -> RE: TOAW IV USER INTERFACE (11/18/2017 5:58:36 PM)

Clicking on the fourth button hides the Air War Panel:

[image]local://upfiles/14086/546EFD676EFB4ED7B7FA8F56013827FE.jpg[/image]



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