Change to the End of Turn button

[Bringa]

The end of turn button (lower right hand corner, over the minimap) used to be a green/red circle in normal civ. In FFH, it has been replaced with gear-like circle holding the Armageddon counter. Sometimes this number is orange, sometimes it is green. I don't know if this is supposed to mirror the old green/red mechanic, but it does not seem to work reliably. Often the text "Press ENTER to end turn" will display even while the number is still green. At any rate, changing the text of a small number is too diminuitive a visual cue for the important "is it my turn or not" information. Many times while playing today, one of us overlooked the "Press ENTER..." text and made the other one wait needlessly. I suggest changing this back (at least as a downloadable option?) and finding another place for the AC.

EDIT TO ADD: I can see the faint glowing around the button now. Faint being the keyword. How about having fireworks go off continuously while your round is over and you haven't pressed the button yet? ;P

 

[Grey Fox]

The color of the digit is that of your civ.

 

[Bringa]

Ah great, that makes sense. Still, it's not helpful in finding out whether or not it's the end of the turn. That little bit of glowing is just too subtle.

 

[Kolath]

*EDIT*

In multiplayer, an asterisk (*) appears in front of the name of players who have completed their turns. Look at the list of players in the lower right corner. Anyone without an * in front of their name is still doing their turn.

 

[Bringa]

Sure, we know how to figure out whose turn it is. The asterisk, the text in the middle of the screen. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that the big fat green/red button had a very valid function in original Civ, which was to communicate that information directly and efficiently. Instead of having to look carefully who has the asterisk or what the text says, you could see out of the corner of your eye (in a dual-screen setup) whether it was your turn or not.

 

[Kolath]

Oh, are you NOT playing simultaneous turns? In that case I think you are just out of luck and have to rely on the other two methods. You could also assign a turn timer to make sure turns move along at a decent pace. I find "medium" timer is more than enough time.

 

[zup]

Just press enter, if there is an unit that needs an order, it will center on it. Otherwise it ends the turn.

 

[MacGyverInSpace]

Doesn't the counter get a red aura at turn-end?

 

[MrPopov]

personally I think the AC > End of turn button so any changes made to it should not interfere with the ease of reading the AC.

 

[Bringa]

First of all, simturns has nothing to do with the problem. The asterisk situation is exactly the same: you can use that to read turns without a problem. It's just not as big and clear. Second, yes it gets a faint aura. Read my original post, where I said "faint being the keyword". It's not nearly noticeable enough.

Again, to make it very clear: my point is that, pre-change, the state of "game needs your input" or "game is waiting for someone else" was very immediately clear even if you had the game running in windowed mode or on a secondary display because there was a big button that would turn green or red. I find that big, in-your-face visual cue very useful and say that putting the AC into that button robbed the interface of one of its smarter features. I'm sure there's plenty of other places where the AC can be easily readable and findable.

 

[Fafnir13]

Meh, I'm rarely done with my turn when it thinks I am anyways. There's always some city micromanagement to be done or a few units inside a stack to manipulate, et cetera.
Anyways, when it stops automatically cycling through units and cities, shouldn't that be a big enough clue that your turn is "over"?

 

[xienwolf]

The only time I can think of that you need to be informed that your turn is over is if you have everything automated and will just need to press ENTER to do your entire turn. Otherwise, you should be right there at the screen DOING something when you finish your turn.


Anyway, if you want a big red flashing button, it is a trivial fix, just edit the end turn button graphic file to be a big ole red square instead of a semi-transparent copy of the AC icon. I doubt that the majority of players will be wanting to lose seZ's beautiful HUD, so don't see it becoming a main mod feature. But the file also won't ever be changed by a patch so it'll be a one time change for yourself.

EDIT: Wait... can't you just go to options and turn off the "wait at the end of my turn" option, then you NEVER have to press it?

 

[snarko]

I agree that the faint glowing is too faint. I don't want to change the button to something else but a more easy to notice glow would be nice.

 

[Kolath]

The only time I can think of that you need to be informed that your turn is over is if you have everything automated and will just need to press ENTER to do your entire turn. Otherwise, you should be right there at the screen DOING something when you finish your turn.

/agreed

I guess I'm just not understanding what the issue is here. If you are doing things during your turn and you run out of units to move isn't it obvious that your turn has ended and you need to press enter? There are no fewer than 3 places that tell you your turn is over (the "press ENTER to end turn" text, the * by your name (in MP), and the faint flow on the AC counter). I guess I just don't see how is isn't obvious. But as xienwolf said, I would suggest modding the button to be something bold and eye catching if it is such a big deal.

 

[Bringa]

The part you don't seem to understand is that this button has two more functions: it also informs you that, yes, you've successfully ended your turn (especially in non-simturns multiplayer where civ just loves to swallow enter or even shift-enter, that's a very important piece of information) and it informs you when your turn has begun, that is when your enemy in non-simturns is done.

 

[seZereth]

The part you don't seem to understand is that this button has two more functions: it also informs you that, yes, you've successfully ended your turn (especially in non-simturns multiplayer where civ just loves to swallow enter or even shift-enter, that's a very important piece of information) and it informs you when your turn has begun, that is when your enemy in non-simturns is done.

I´d suggest you simply replace the files yourself like xienwolf said. it´s just drag and drop.
the files are in C:\...\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Resource\Civ4\HUD and named HUD_endturn_btn.tga and HUD_endturn.tga

just place them in C:\...\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Mods\Fall from Heaven 2\Resource\Civ4\HUD

and you should have an easily readable button again, sorry for messing with accessibility.