flyboy22
Chieftain
The forums have currently been in overdrive concerning the game mechanics and balancing of Civ V. There has also been a lot of focus on graphics (they could be better), and other aspects that makes some of us feel that Firaxis fell short. I would rather focus on some of the UI aspects.
Again, I want to state the caveat that this is a game less than a week out from launch, while we all moved from a game that has been out for over 4 years, had two expansions, and many developer & community patches. That said, the absence of some basic aspects of the franchise make me feel that the designers put a premium on graphics (absurd diplomatic screens) instead of small items that end up making a big difference.
-What happened to the clock / alarm interface? I can't imagine it was that difficult to code. I don't know about other players, but it was nice to see just how much sleep I was sacrificing with one more turn.
-Why is there no load bar? While the load bar in Civ IV wasn't always exactly on point, it gave you an idea of what was going on. Instead, they allow you to read the bio about your civ again and again and even provide the ability to use the tooltip and find out about your special units. Probably useful when you start the game. Not when you are loading your game again and again. I personally miss the tips, which had character.
-Where are the hard facts in the Civilopedia? I read the manual and I didn't get all the hard data I wanted. I figured, no worries, surely the Civilopedia will have it. How mistaken I was! I read elsewhere on the forum someone's good assessment that the Civilopedia just seems to tell you that things "help" you, but not how much. How fast do railroads make my units? How much do Pacts of Secrecy/Cooperation help my standing with another leader?
-Where is the handy dandy Score List? I noticed that you can keep the diplomacy snapshot open permanently, but it is rather obtrusive compared to the old, transparent score list, that also included your current agreements and allowed for quick diplomacy. I suppose the addition of city-states would make the list too long, but maybe just a list for relations with major powers?
-Where are my in-city Resource Details? I actually built a road to a resource before I realized roads were no longer necessary to access a resource. (I do have a slight gameplay mechanic irk with this alteration, but I'll let that slide). I understand that resources and happiness have been globalized. And you can see your excess resources in the diplomatic screen. Yet, some buildings require "local" resources, as opposed to "empire" resources. A simple screen in the city screen should show what type of resources the city can access locally and empire-ly. Obviously, I can look around my city, but why not add this functionality?
-Where is a resource page in general? Since technology is no longer traded, I can understand why you are not able to see what people have. (Though due to the tech deals, it is possible to argue that you should be able to have some idea how advanced the guy you are working with is - so you can make a cost/benefits analysis - a research pact might not always be beneficial to make) Yet, this makes resources much more important. The resources are squeezed into the diplomatic screen. It would have made sense to have a separate screen outlining these details.
-Turns to heal? I know that I can calculate +1 HP per turn, and just figure out how long it will take for me to get to 10HP. Then again, I could calculate how long it takes for a worker to complete a task, but Civ tells me. So why not tell me how long it takes to heal?
-Improvements on a tile that the Worker is not on. As far as I can tell, I can't drag a worker over a tile that he is not currently on and see what can be improved there. Again, these are simple things from Civ IV that are not MECHANICS, but simply better user interface.
-Why change the Keyboard Shortcuts? Obviously, the keyboard shortcuts for the F1,F2,F3 should change, as some screens were replaced from Civ IV. That said, I am pretty sure movement has always be G Go and MINES have always been M Mine. I know that someone can mod to change the keyboard shortcuts back, but why alienate long-time players who use the shortcuts more than they use their mouse? What did they gain from that change?
-Multi-turn moves. This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve with Civ V. As far as I can remember in the Civ series [correct me if I am wrong], when a unit was order for multi-turn moves, it moved during your turn, generally after you had moved the currently active units and BEFORE you hit end turn. After all, they do move during your turn. Instead, Civ V asks you to end your turn before moving those units. Its nice to be able to tell where you might need to move units that still have MPs left AFTER the units you ordered last turn(s) have moved. Basically, what happened to Wait?
In addition, as widely noted, you cannot click on a unit that has multi-turn orders and see where it is heading.
If any of these features are actually in Civ V (aka, I am mistaken), please let me know!
I wonder how the QA testers did not have some of these questions, if they are long time Civ players. Something as little as not letting you skip the intro movie unless you turn it off just makes me wonder how "finished" this game was. The only excuse I can think of is that the testers turned off the movie (or it wasn't even in the test build) after the first time they booted the beta version due to this annoyance.
Again, I want to state the caveat that this is a game less than a week out from launch, while we all moved from a game that has been out for over 4 years, had two expansions, and many developer & community patches. That said, the absence of some basic aspects of the franchise make me feel that the designers put a premium on graphics (absurd diplomatic screens) instead of small items that end up making a big difference.
-What happened to the clock / alarm interface? I can't imagine it was that difficult to code. I don't know about other players, but it was nice to see just how much sleep I was sacrificing with one more turn.
-Why is there no load bar? While the load bar in Civ IV wasn't always exactly on point, it gave you an idea of what was going on. Instead, they allow you to read the bio about your civ again and again and even provide the ability to use the tooltip and find out about your special units. Probably useful when you start the game. Not when you are loading your game again and again. I personally miss the tips, which had character.
-Where are the hard facts in the Civilopedia? I read the manual and I didn't get all the hard data I wanted. I figured, no worries, surely the Civilopedia will have it. How mistaken I was! I read elsewhere on the forum someone's good assessment that the Civilopedia just seems to tell you that things "help" you, but not how much. How fast do railroads make my units? How much do Pacts of Secrecy/Cooperation help my standing with another leader?
-Where is the handy dandy Score List? I noticed that you can keep the diplomacy snapshot open permanently, but it is rather obtrusive compared to the old, transparent score list, that also included your current agreements and allowed for quick diplomacy. I suppose the addition of city-states would make the list too long, but maybe just a list for relations with major powers?
-Where are my in-city Resource Details? I actually built a road to a resource before I realized roads were no longer necessary to access a resource. (I do have a slight gameplay mechanic irk with this alteration, but I'll let that slide). I understand that resources and happiness have been globalized. And you can see your excess resources in the diplomatic screen. Yet, some buildings require "local" resources, as opposed to "empire" resources. A simple screen in the city screen should show what type of resources the city can access locally and empire-ly. Obviously, I can look around my city, but why not add this functionality?
-Where is a resource page in general? Since technology is no longer traded, I can understand why you are not able to see what people have. (Though due to the tech deals, it is possible to argue that you should be able to have some idea how advanced the guy you are working with is - so you can make a cost/benefits analysis - a research pact might not always be beneficial to make) Yet, this makes resources much more important. The resources are squeezed into the diplomatic screen. It would have made sense to have a separate screen outlining these details.
-Turns to heal? I know that I can calculate +1 HP per turn, and just figure out how long it will take for me to get to 10HP. Then again, I could calculate how long it takes for a worker to complete a task, but Civ tells me. So why not tell me how long it takes to heal?
-Improvements on a tile that the Worker is not on. As far as I can tell, I can't drag a worker over a tile that he is not currently on and see what can be improved there. Again, these are simple things from Civ IV that are not MECHANICS, but simply better user interface.
-Why change the Keyboard Shortcuts? Obviously, the keyboard shortcuts for the F1,F2,F3 should change, as some screens were replaced from Civ IV. That said, I am pretty sure movement has always be G Go and MINES have always been M Mine. I know that someone can mod to change the keyboard shortcuts back, but why alienate long-time players who use the shortcuts more than they use their mouse? What did they gain from that change?
-Multi-turn moves. This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve with Civ V. As far as I can remember in the Civ series [correct me if I am wrong], when a unit was order for multi-turn moves, it moved during your turn, generally after you had moved the currently active units and BEFORE you hit end turn. After all, they do move during your turn. Instead, Civ V asks you to end your turn before moving those units. Its nice to be able to tell where you might need to move units that still have MPs left AFTER the units you ordered last turn(s) have moved. Basically, what happened to Wait?
In addition, as widely noted, you cannot click on a unit that has multi-turn orders and see where it is heading.
If any of these features are actually in Civ V (aka, I am mistaken), please let me know!
I wonder how the QA testers did not have some of these questions, if they are long time Civ players. Something as little as not letting you skip the intro movie unless you turn it off just makes me wonder how "finished" this game was. The only excuse I can think of is that the testers turned off the movie (or it wasn't even in the test build) after the first time they booted the beta version due to this annoyance.
(so far)
