Pools of many things = Wasted design(s)

[Zyxpsilon]

Yup.. they gave us some cool devices that can control how we manage gameplay settings/options when we setup the next game(s).
All of that is being offered via Advance Settings ---- ONLY!

Furthermore, there are a few wacky UI/HUD flaws;

-- NW selection list should be split into TWO columns (similar to what CS does) to help us perceive the conditions & available choices more rapidly at least.



-- LEADERS have what i've been calling the "micro-managing illness beyond rational tasks". Every single games we must repeat each'n'all of the deterministic thoughts carefully fine-tuned (clicked away repetitively.. all week long for hours+days.. consecutively!) to our needs.



-- CS can't be assembled together as thematic potentials by types or in any other ways. What else is there to pick from/for?



I'll stop right there but the reasonable conclusion is that the whole concept(s) ideas are horribly lacking minimal polish. And, more importantly.. that such --QoL-- magic is almost "wasted" as it currently stands.

Have they ever heard of the term -- PERSIST ? In-between-reboot-config-steps ?? Save-Load-at-Will-on-Every-Opportunities ??? You get my drift.

Pool 1 & Pool 2 are simply not enough (( Both in naming convention or Identification qualities of custom Presets )) -- i'd want true full control over MY deductions consistantly & the precious ability to keep track of anything in a drop-down menu of whatever amounts of personal strings/lines that define what i DID & DO.
-- With .. Classical Era + European Conquest of the New World + (Mediterranean sampled) .. group(s) of Leaders & so on.

Sooooooooo... please fix your mess, Firaxis. Cuz, this has ruin all the dreamy perspectives i've ever had of proper pre-game fun.

EDIT; I am now gambling on Sukritact's ingenious skills to at least implement the NW double columns trick to his own features offered by...
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2215414456

 

[Shibooyeah]

why is the only way to select random leader pool 1 to either save a configuration or manually click each civ to change it

 

[Zyxpsilon]

Quoting == !!---horribly lacking minimal polish---!!

 

[Zyxpsilon]

I've tried to create some reference GFX components to visualize what i'd prefer to work with **IF** Firaxis would ever enhance their LeaderPicker device to support persistent Pool ID strings tagging rather than just the currently limited #1 & #2 slots.

Check out four specific gameplay contexts (Themes) with distinct names & pre-determined lists (some sort of shorty Pooling tricks) below...

-- -- --

These allow to combine 49 / 57 from the total default Leaders available.
While the 8 remaining are mostly related to "Modern Day" events; America, Canada, Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, Sweden and two fantasy stuff (Rough Rider + Magnificence).

Right now we simply can't save/load such rational DATA sets .. even through perpetually unstable static Configuration(s) which must be revised every so often for whatever reasons.
Thus -- real PRESETS filing is the most reasonable solution, AFAIC.

 

[Myomoto]

why is the only way to select random leader pool 1 to either save a configuration or manually click each civ to change it

I think Firaxis may be allergic to good UI design, or they don't have a full-time UI designer on staff, and hence we get the 'programmer UI' that's in the game now.

 

[HiRezAudio]

I think Firaxis ... don't have a full-time UI designer on staff, and hence we get the 'programmer UI' that's in the game now.

(with apologies for the selective quotation) I think that just about hits the nail right on the head - this feels like a cottage operation from the developer videos

 

[Zyxpsilon]

Something else i've just created similar to what the "Thematic Leader Pools" above was offering to everyone.

It's all about City-States & their exclusive and highly diverse Suzerain Bonuses. I always figured some are better (or worst!) than others under most generic gameplay conditions.
Since the new Barbarians Clans mode is capable of auto-generating random CS unless we pre-select whichever amounts through the Advanced setting options. This allows us to either stop them from converting into CS or indirectly allocate specific patterns in any of those random swap cycles -- via any kind of Min-Max variations.

Soooooo, here's a comprehensive trio of grouped "selections" based on some personal opinions but also, easily re-organized as you'd wish; Builds + Specials + AmenitiesPlus.

The implicit picker range includes Civitas' custom 40 for a total of 115. But my triplet only considers 31 magic potentials (each slots received a hint symbol as reference) just for kicks. Where are the remaining 84, you might ask? Well -- essentially minor twists in scope or very specific impacts that are less appealing under most situations, IMHO.
You be the judge!

--

--

Have fun.. juggling around with this wild concept.

 

[Zyxpsilon]

Just want to officially issue my gratitude to Firaxis staff for their upcoming patch ((---Tomorrow!---)) that should solve many of the above negative thoughts.

Seems a proper system of Save/Load principles will allow us to maintain custom lists in a relatively simple manner straight off the HUD components already found into the Advanced-Settings option screen.
I guess i'm gonna have a lot of fun implementing each of the personal templates created above. Starting new games will become as fast & acutely devised as rationally possible.

Thanks you, people!

 

[Zyxpsilon]

Well.. looks like i jumped the gun too fast.

There really isn't anything that can truly enhance the Pool selection steps or any other tricks (beyond the generic "Configuration" systems) that would properly refine our capacity to selectively maintain custom groups.
Soooooo.. i've left a quick reply/tweet to Kevin as an answer (more serious) to the wacky --Pet-The-Dog-- feature & how people react online.

http://twitter.com/zyx_psilon/status/1385318958249783296