Impartial MASTER LIST of issues/problems

[st.patrik]

Originally posted by Windreaper:
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but I'd love to be able to tell AI _not_ to use certain spells. Something like having little checkboxes next to the list of available spells. For example, I don't want my machakan sorceresses to cast stuff like fire flies/raise skeletons when they got other spells available and within range.

Casting some spells is also rather dangerous for the caster (and everyone else around him/her). I'd love to tell them stop using them too. But on the other hand, casting AI represents some sort of "random" factor in the combat system even if they don't make sense to me. Oh well, mages have always been the weird bunch of people to me

You mean a kind of 'negative scripting' for mages: "I don't care what spell you cast, just don't cast these ones"? Is this what you mean?

[Zerger]

Holy! long list heh. As I see the list begins with the most important things.

[st.patrik]

Originally posted by Zerger:
Holy! long list heh. As I see the list begins with the most important things.

Actually it's intended to be impartial, and therefore the order is merely the order things were added in - no implication of importance should be taken from the order whatsoever.

Anyway, when I make the poll you will all get the chance to speak out about what you think is most important. Until then, lets avoid talking about which are more/less important.

[st.patrik]

Here's the updated list, broken up into 4 categories:
1. Tweaks/Easy things to add
2. Additions of relatively minor features
3. Additions of relatively major features
4. Balance considerations.

1. Tweaks/Easy things to add
• Darker colours/textures in unit displays
• Alignment of stats in unit info screens
• Pre-made Gods for New players
• Newbie 'get started' guide
• Quick start game for Newbies
• End/quit/save/host button remake
• Bless effects more prominently displayed when creating a God's magic
• Actual effects of scales explained when creating a pretender's scales

2. Additions of relatively minor features
• Castle battle results
• '?' accessible on main menu
• Research point 'lock' for schools of magic
• Random nation AI opponents
• Map and Scenario triggers [not sure where this was mentioned]
• Ability to rename, or at least add epithets to commanders
• Negative scripting for mages (i.e. telling them what you *don't* want them to cast)

3. Additions of relatively major features
• SP diplomacy
• Increased battle replay functionality (various speeds, etc.)
• More than one god for each nation
• Moddability
• Ability to search for items on commanders
• Enhanced start (starting with more than one province)

4. Balance considerations
• Improve Strategic AI
• Bug fixes
• Less focus on supercombatants
• More regrowth possibilities / less emphasis on population death

Additions? Comments?

[licker]

Strategic AI should probably go in #3.

I don't really understand the difference between #s 1 and 2 and why you broke out what you did into them, but since they are all 'minor' issues I don't think it matters that much.

Bugs should be their own catagory or not even in these lists, bugs should be fixed as a top priority in all cases (yes BUGS not FEATURES )

[Windreaper]

Originally posted by st.patrik:
You mean a kind of 'negative scripting' for mages: "I don't care what spell you cast, just don't cast these ones"? Is this what you mean?

Sort of. But it'd work both ways.
Let me make a poor example here. Checked spells are the ones that the mage is allowed to cast. Unchecked ones would be the ones that won't be casted. All spells would start checked.
.
.
.
[_]Flying Shard
[_]Fire Flies
[x]Magma Bolts
.
.
.
[select all][clear all] <-- important buttons

[Saber Cherry]

Oh, I mentioned this in another thread. For Category 1):

Line up numeric unit stats. So instead of like this:

Strength 10
Attack Skill 10
Defense Skill 10
Precision 11

It looks more like this:

Strength ......... 10
Attack Skill .... 10
Defense Skill . 10
Precision ....... 11

-Cherry

P.S. I hate cross-posting, but:

I don't like scrolling down a menu to find the exit button. Every exitable menu should have a big "X in a Square" in the upper-right corner, where you click to exit... just like in MS-ish standardized programs. Or at a minimum, never have to scroll to the bottom to exit (like in the spell lists).

[ October 29, 2003, 21:50: Message edited by: Saber Cherry ]

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by licker:
Strategic AI should probably go in #3.
I don't really understand the difference between #s 1 and 2 and why you broke out what you did into them, but since they are all 'minor' issues I don't think it matters that much.

I thought it was a good breakdown (without personal knowledge of the game code) of what seems easy fix and what seems like it would mean coding for abit.

[PhilD]

I'll add a few, because apparently some of you experts don't remember what it is to discover this game and its hundreds of unit types...

Unit names together with icons (in recruitment screen, and in army screen; maybe just where it says "12 units" it should say "10 Heavy Infantries, 2 Light Infantries")

More detailed lists of losses in battle reports, again with the list of unit names (at least for the units you lost)

Bring back the battle simulator, and make it more tweakable. OK, maybe only when there's a way to speed up battle replays, but still.

Short list of troops under a given commander when you right-click on him.

I'm pretty sure there are other UI issues, but I'm forgetting them. Someone mentioned they'd like the Exit button to always be available in scrollable lists; that, and right-clicking out of the list (when something is supposed to be selected) should close the list.

[Sammual]

What about beefing up the Bless effects by starting them off at level 3 and 6 not 4 and 8?

Sammual