Could we optimize / simplify the Champion UI?

[contingencyplan]

... because this is ridiculous.

When I'm playing with N champions, it seems like every basic operation is
?(N).  This is frustrating me to no end, especially since I like champions and
the nebulae and the like.

Shared Designs

By far, the biggest problem is sharing design layouts between my ships:

• Select Champion 0
• Create a new design layout
• Click Copy to Disk
• Select Champion 1
• Click Copy from Disk
• Create a new design layout (if desired)
• Click Copy to Disk
• etc.

This is insane:

• All I want is a shared design pool for my champions. I realize that
  unlocks are local to each champion, but I see no point in having the
  designs be local as well.
  
  
• The only available synchronization point requires
  destructive assignment to a shared resource. This
  should set off some major red flags.
  
  
• It requires two full passes to ensure everyone has the same set
  of designs. Forgetting to "Copy from Disk" on one champion (or worse,
  clicking "Copy to Disk" by accident!) is a great way to have all of this
  tedious (redacted) thrown out the window to where I have to start over.

This process is great for demonstrating race conditions, but horrible for
actually playing the game.

Solution:
When I save / delete a design on one champion, publish the change to all other
champions under my control. Yes, this includes those who have been shared by
another player --- this should not cause a significant problems in
multiplayer, because there shouldn't be THAT many designs.


Saving Module Marks in Designs

My next problem is with how designs are saved and upgraded. When a design is
saved, the Mark of the modules is part of the design, and there's no way to
"downgrade" marks for saving purposes. This means that I have to rework a
design saved during an earlier game because I have not yet unlocked the
required marks yet (which triggers the round-robin described above).

This means that I don't want to save an updated design with the higher marks
when I do unlock them. However, it also means that when I switch from one
design to another, I have to also remember to click the "upgrade to latest"
button before applying.

Solution:
When saving a design, just save the modules without their marks. When
switching to / loading a design, automatically select the highest-mark modules
available.


I have a few more complaints, but these are by far the biggest two, and this
post is already long enough. Is there any reason why these solutions couldn't
be implemented without too much trouble?

[Kahuna]

The current Champion UI could be put into the tool tip of the Champion.

Boom! Problem solved!

[contingencyplan]

Well, my understanding is that separating out the champions into quasi-player-slots was due to the necessary architecture. It always struck me as odd / possibly a bad choice, but since I haven't seen the code base, I'm not in a position to judge. That's why I didn't suggest what I really wanted --- make the champions be regular units with some extra information tacked on, which would (if done right) solve all of the problems I have with the current UX.

This would be about perfect --- I can usually tell shields and hull from other visual cues, and the XP isn't that important to me where I need to see it at all times; I usually care about my resources more. Just need to add a shadow charge bar above the unit, and there's nothing I would need to hover over my champion at all times to find; I would just need to mouse over for specifics once in a while.

[contingencyplan]

I'm not sure if bumping is culturally accepted here, but I wanted to check if
anybody had any comments on Kahuna's UI suggestion and whether the devs could
comment on the difficulty of de-coupling the champion UI from the per-player
UI? These sorts of shortcomings have caused me much aggravation in my current
game.

[Ragnarok]

How about "we" delete the damn thing from AI War once and for all. Bad ideas belong to the Trash. Some things you cant fix.

[chemical_art]

Champions would have been great as a concept of their own game in retrospect. It still feels too tedious and separated from the rest of AIW. I know on paper it sounded neat for refleeting and such, but in practice they just take up too much time per "sitting (mission)" for my liking. I often can't afford to micro for half an hour without pausing the game, and after the 20th time it is boring.

[Toranth]

How about "we" delete the damn thing from AI War once and for all. Bad ideas belong to the Trash. Some things you cant fix.

Champions would have been great as a concept of their own game in retrospect. It still feels too tedious and separated from the rest of AIW. I know on paper it sounded neat for refleeting and such, but in practice they just take up too much time per "sitting (mission)" for my liking. I often can't afford to micro for half an hour without pausing the game, and after the 20th time it is boring.

Boo.  I really enjoy having the Champions in the game, especially now that the AI response has been altered from just 'MOAR SHIPS'.  I agree they could be improved, but I know I enjoy the playing a lot now that I don't have to sit doing nothing for hours every game.

[Bognor]

I really enjoy having the Champions in the game

Me too.  I really enjoy the nebula missions, even after playing through to Battleship several times.