[Poll] Preference of City View Features

[azum4roll]

Improved City View for VP has been well received, but the original maintainer has been missing for a long time, and the mod is in life support with patches and fixes all over the thread. It would be sad to have players shy away from it just because they downloaded the wrong version. The most updated version is also lacking latest functions such as hiding buildings.

I've been comparing Improved City View with the VP EUI version, and they really aren't that much different other than a few key features. It should be best to consolidate the two into one EUI version for VP, so I'm making this poll. You can vote for multiple options, as usual.

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Differences are listed below. Screenshots will be included later.

1. Yields and Happiness panel (top left)
The improved version is smaller, and the Border Growth meter hangs half outside the panel. There's a line separating Culture with Border Growth.

2. Production meter (bottom left)
A different background is used (the one for the tech panel) in the improved version.

3. Citizen management (top right)
Instead of a vertical list with descriptions, the improved version has a horizontal set of radio buttons with yield icons as description.

4. Specialists and Great Works (right)
All specialist icons are grouped in a separate "Specialists" panel. The "lock specialists" function may have quirks, but it works well enough.
There have been misconceptions that specialists from different buildings may have different yields or GPP, but that's false info.

Great Works from all buildings in the city are also grouped in a separate "Great Works" panel. You aren't supposed to theme your works in the city view anyway.

These features are grouped into one poll option as they both affect the building panels.

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I've also included the options for non-EUI users to voice their opinions. Non-EUI with EUI city view is an option after all!

It's all or nothing for non-EUI though. There are simply too many differences between the two versions.

 

[DukeBrani]

@azum4roll, would you please add an EUI and Improved City View screenshot of the feature in question below each point? It would make the comparison a lot easier

 

[usadefcon1]

For what it's worth I think the EUI City View does a better job of displaying buildings already built in the city.

 

[hokath]

It's been a while since I used this but iirc there is a point 5.
Improved City View doesn't show building icons, only text
Is that right?

 

[jarcast2]

It's been a while since I used this but iirc there is a point 5.
Improved City View doesn't show building icons, only text
Is that right?

Yes, they don't show building icons, only in the tooltip when you hover the buildings.

 

[azum4roll]

@azum4roll, would you please add an EUI and Improved City View screenshot of the feature in question below each point? It would make the comparison a lot easier

Screenshots will be included later.

When I have time.

 

[azum4roll]

Yes, they don't show building icons, only in the tooltip when you hover the buildings.

This I never noticed. The code seems to be identical and includes the 45x45 icon in both. Are you sure?

Or you mean the building list on the right side? That I'd lump into the Specialists + Great Works part. All those aim to trim down the building list so you don't have to scroll as much. But if wished for, we could have the icon in normal city view and no icon in small city view.

EDIT: It's intentionally not shown apparently.

 

[hokath]

That I'd lump into the Specialists + Great Works part.

I'm very much in favor of the specialists part, but I would like to still have building icons. As someone who spends a reasonable amount of time making them, it would be a shame not to see them stack up on the right anymore. I think its one of the only times you see them at the higher pixel count and you can appreciate the detail a bit more.

Large UI EUI

Spoiler :

Small UI EUI

Spoiler :

 

[azum4roll]

Improved City View

Spoiler :

So apparently, the large and small improved city view are almost identical. I guess that made modding easier, but we don't have to follow that.

Comparing the SMALL EUI city view and improved city view results in the same left panels, so the first two options are meaningless. I've also missed the Great People progress bars that are different between EUI and improved versions (again, the improved one is more condensed).

There seems to already be a clear result for the poll, but I'll add the progress bar options and wait for the poll to end.

 

[DukeBrani]

This I never noticed. The code seems to be identical and includes the 45x45 icon in both. Are you sure?

Or you mean the building list on the right side? That I'd lump into the Specialists + Great Works part. All those aim to trim down the building list so you don't have to scroll as much. But if wished for, we could have the icon in normal city view and no icon in small city view.

EDIT: It's intentionally not shown apparently.
View attachment 716251

Icons in the normal city view would be nice

 

[JNZS13]

There seems to already be a clear result for the poll

Make Improved City View great again

 

[usadefcon1]

I know this is beyond the scope of this thread, but I was thinking that a happiness focus (or minimize unhappiness focus) would be helpful.

 

[balparmak]

Thanks for the screens. Specialists have always been the main selling point of ICV and I think we have to have ICV's citizen management and GP progress alongside it to keep the right side manageable, the pool agrees so no problems there.

I do have a concern with Great Works though. If we aren't supposed to theme them here, why have two sections (one for GW slots, one for GW buildings) for them at all? I think we can do away with slots section and display GWs next to buildings as EUI. Don't remember the behavior but clicking them should take us to the theming screen, and then we're golden.

Also, I agree that having building icons is nice (else it looks like a spreadsheet rather than UI) and they don't take much space either, especially if we go with the smaller EUI icon size.
Not sure if it's too late or too complex to add these to the poll, but I'd be willing to make these changes if the Populi agrees.

edit: No need to worry about these now as I can't commit to a time frame anyway. I'll make a version then make another pool or proposal for it.

 

[azum4roll]

The ICV building list is 46 pixels each, but the building icon used on the tooltip is 64x64.

 

[Recursive]

I am really not a fan of removing building icons from the City View without a proposal.

I do have a concern with Great Works though. If we aren't supposed to theme them here, why have two sections (one for GW slots, one for GW buildings) for them at all? I think we can do away with slots section and display GWs next to buildings as EUI. Don't remember the behavior but clicking them should take us to the theming screen, and then we're golden.

Also, I agree that having building icons is nice (else it looks like a spreadsheet rather than UI) and they don't take much space either, especially if we go with the smaller EUI icon size.

Pretty much in agreement with balparmak on this.

 

[azum4roll]

We can at most fit the 45x45 icons into the building list. It's an odd size though so there's either a stray pixel at the top or at the bottom. We can't change the row height either - everything else is even-sized.

I should re-iterate that the building icons will stay in the larger version of the city view.

 

[hokath]

So the larger version -- to get this I removed the "small UI" tickbox. However this changes a bunch of stuff, not just city screen (e.g. the unit icon in the bottom right comes up in size).
Is this what we're talking about or will there be some other way to choose between the two sizes?