Some interface thoughts from a new player.

[clone]

I recently picked AI War and it's hooked me like few games have.  I feel a bit like a kid in front of Master of Orion again.  So much to learn, and so much to explore.

Overall I find the game fairly smooth to navigate.  I've sunk about 15 hours into it so far.  I've gotten used to the shortcuts, keeping one hand on the keyboard.  It's pretty quick, but there are still some things that could use improvement.

Well, with that out of the way:

Holding shift down to build multiple structures.
How often does anyone build a single turret?  Single transport?  Single engineer?  Single anything (other than maybe colony ships?).  It gets tiresome always reaching for that shift key so that I can paint a wormhole with tractor beam turrets.  Should paint-building not be the default?  Players can always right click to exit 'build mode', and holding shift could enable "single build mode'.  Maybe a menu toggle for this?  Or perhaps paint-mode for certain structures being automatic (like turrets), whereas others (like power plants) just single-build.  In any case, I would prefer paint being the default, since I'm almost always holding shift.

Getting to the galaxy map / mini map.
There is plenty of space at the bottom of the screen to shuffle in one more icon.  Why are both of these maps grouped under a single button with an awkward menu?  The menu doesn't seem to work all that well either, sometimes kicking me back to the system view when I make a selection, or doing something else weird.  A user shouldn't have to click twice to get to these critical views when there's plenty of room for two buttons.  I know we have one hand on the keyboard, and I usually go for the TAB key, but sometimes I'm feeling lazy, and burying these tools two clicks deep seems like an odd design decision.

Wave information.
When I see a wave is approaching, I have to pause the game, hit F1, and scan the 'by mark/alphabetical' ship lists for whatever is approaching to check their stats.  In a multiplayer game I really don't feel like holding everyone up while I sift for information that doesn't need to be hidden like this.  It would be nice to hover the mouse over the wave-warning box and have it display the stats for the approaching ships.

The Mini-Map
I've seen videos of older versions of the game and the mini-map in the top right corner looks quite nice.  Because of the very far zoom-range, the full-screen mini-map seems mostly redundant.  The only time I bring it up is to check which wormhole is flashing when a wave is coming in.  Kind of a pain, since the only other indicator is a slight color-change of the wormhole when you zoom close in (and I'm a bit color blind).   The only other reason is to make sure I'm within the planets gravity well. 

On that note, it would be nice if the gravity well was represented visually in the system, perhaps with a slight color-shift of the background or something.  As a new player I found it very confusing why my ships were not moving, and why I couldn't unload transports, etc, until I did wiki-reading.  Having to constantly bring up the mini-map to make sure my transports aren't going into the "no-zone" is very annoying.  This stuff either needs to be visually represented in the planet view, or the mini-map collapsed back into the corner so I can reference this "large-scale" information (just like blinking wormholes) at a quick glance.  The mini-map really offers no other helpful information.

There is also something comforting and familiar about having a mini-map in the corner.  Standards exist for a reason.  That would also do away with that awkward map button/menu.

Anyway, I love the game and will continue to pour countless hours into it.  I just think there are a few improvements that could really polish and streamline the experience.

Thanks for bringing such an amazing creative vision to life.

[zoutzakje]

hmm the only thing that has bugged me a bit is the wave warning info (or the lack of it). Finding out what hull types are coming to attack me is usually kind of a hassle to find out. Luckily I have memorized most of them by now, but it used to be instant pause for me whenever I heard the wave warning sound.
The amount of ships, starships, their marks and which AI is sending them is displayed well. Only the hull type is missing. In my opinion, wave warnings should be something like this:

200 AI 1 bombers (polycrystal), 2 starships [III] to....
that would make it so much more useful (at least to me).

[keith.lamothe]

I recently picked AI War and it's hooked me like few games have.  I feel a bit like a kid in front of Master of Orion again.  So much to learn, and so much to explore.

Welcome to the forums   Very glad to hear you're having so much fun.

Holding shift down to build multiple structures.

This isn't a complaint I hear very often... well, I think I remember hearing it once before   Anyway, at some point we could add a toggle to flip the meaning of shift there, sure.

Getting to the galaxy map / mini map.

Yea, just use the keyboard, GUI space is kind of at a premium on the lower supported resolutions, and this button kind of doesn't need to be there at all except to serve as a reminder to very new players that those other views exist.

The menu doesn't seem to work all that well either, sometimes kicking me back to the system view when I make a selection, or doing something else weird.

I vaguely recall someone mentioning that, if it's not already in our mantis, could you please put it there?

http://www.arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI_War_-_MantisBT_Overview

It would be nice to hover the mouse over the wave-warning box and have it display the stats for the approaching ships.

That's a great idea   Will put it on my list.  Won't work for schizo (multiple types, unspecfiied) waves or show you the stats on the unspecified starships, of course.

The Mini-Map

The old version wasn't ported over when we did the engine replacement.  It's been a while but iirc it was largely a question of screen space (there is none left in the corners on a 1024x768 resolution) and the performance cost of drawing all those blips was (believe it or not) kinda rough.  We've done a lot of work on the minimap in AVWW, though, so it's likely we could come up with a way of bringing it back as an optional display for folks with enough screen resolution.  Would probably need new graphics, though, to allow proper showing of planet grav-well, etc.

Anyway, I love the game and will continue to pour countless hours into it.  I just think there are a few improvements that could really polish and streamline the experience.

We appreciate the feedback   You'll probably stumble into a few suggestions where we'll be like "um, yea, we've had that discussion at least a dozen times, no" but in general our community's feedback is the single most important factor in the ongoing refinement of our games

[zoutzakje]

:O I completely forgot to welcome our new member to the forums. How unthoughtful of me.
Welcome to the forums

[Vinraith]

The shift-build complaint makes it sound like you are unfamiliar with ctrl-build and alt-build (to build 5 at a time and 10 at a time, respectively). There's not much need to continuously hold down shift when you can build clumps in a single click.

[clone]

I'm familiar with them, but I prefer to paint things in neat circles and lines, because I'm really weird like that.  In the end it still comes down to the same thing - you're very rarely building one thing at a time, so painting should at least be an option as the default.

Keith, I really like how receptive you guys are.  This is one thing I love about indie games.

I can understand the concerns with low-resolution monitors.  I myself play the game in a low resolution (1280x600) because of a crap old plasma TV, but also because I love big, easily-clickable buttons and icons (just like the old days).  Unless I'm overlooking something there still seems to be a ton of empty horizontal space at the bottom (I also checked it out in 1024x768) to add an extra button.  Heck, there's enough space there to double the bottom toolbar.

I also understand that the combo-button may only be there for new players, until they learn that your left hand should always be on the keyboard.  But my first impression of the map button was: "What the hell were they thinking?"  Quite an off-putting first impression.  A needless, awkward complexity in a game that is already hard to get a handle on.

If the mini-mini-map is not making a return in the corner, then there is also space up in the top right for interface buttons.

I hate to be that guy with photoshop, but:
http://chattypics.com/files/ai_war_maps_61e1a6sbvu.jpg

Although the vertically expanding ship-list may make that undesirable (but I guess it was a space occupied by a mini-map before).

But you're the expert, and I'm coming off as a bit of a prick.  I don't know how this thing goes together.

Like I mentioned in my original post, considering the generous zooming, the mini-map seems redundant to me anyway.  The only thing that makes it useful is checking to see what wormhole the warp sensor is lighting up, and checking to see whether my ships are leaving the planetary gravity well.  If that information was conveyed in the main planet view with subtle visual cues (something less subtle than a color I can only see when zoomed all the way in - like a glow around the wormhole or something) then there would seem to be no reason to even have a minimap anyway.  The gravity well, considering how ridiculously important it is, should have some kind of visual hint to it anyway.  Zooming out should BE the mini-map, that's why games with insane zooming are awesome.  Maybe you could have these elements show up at the maximum zoom-out levels?  Change the wormholes to icons (blinking for warp sensing), show the gravity well radius... Just get rid of the separate mini-map entirely.

I'll look at the Mantis bug tracker - but I'd rather you nuke that button at some point rather than waste time fixing a bug with it =P.

Another thing that may or may not be on the tracker - the mousewheel zooms in the planet view even when you're using it to scroll through lists in the stats screen and stuff (like in resource flow).  I'll dig through the submitted stuff and see what I can submit later today.  The alt-key also gets 'stuck' when tabbing out of the game.

Anyway, I don't want to sound entitled.  I didn't pay much for this game at all, what's here is pretty incredible, and I've barely scratched the surface.  I feel guilty!  What you guys have made is amazing and I'll buy any additional expansions without even thinking.  Now if I could only convince my friends (who purchased it when I did) to play it with me - or play it at all.  UGH.

[Cyborg]

Holding shift down to build multiple structures.

I'm not sure that I agree with this as a default, but as an option I don't object. I think Keith might have some trouble with this, though, because some of the turrets and units don't necessarily make sense for clumping. For example, sometimes you just want to place one unit: warp sensor, decloaker, gravity turrets, sniper turrets, heavy beams, and of course all of the structures in the game as single-click.

Getting to the galaxy map / mini map.

I remap all my controls. Just place your galaxy map and mini map on controls you are going to remember.

I play at 1024x768 because my eyes are bad, and the font in this game is so small. So the secondary purpose of the mini map is to be a viewfinder for the planet you are on. Just pull up the overhead display and use your mouse to drag the view around. I'm not doing this all the time, but it certainly helps on complicated planets. I don't really want another icon or more clutter on the screen, as it's already pretty busy. Anything that added should be able to be toggled.

Wave information.

Getting information needs to be improved overall. The reference journal should have an enemy filter for all known ships you have seen in the game so far and then your own filter can be adjusted to your ships, ships on the current planet, or turrets. Right now you can't do that, and you do have to scroll down that list, which is way too difficult.

There is a button to show win and loss on the ship display to the right of the screen. It's a little awkward, but I do use it sometimes. If I recall, you have to set that control manually. Not all controls in the game are automatically set, if you didn't know.

The Mini-Map

See above.


If you are looking for folks to play with, you could always join IRC. My general rule is, I will play with any stranger who:

• Isn't uptight
• has beaten the game by themselves at level 7 or above. I don't like training the basics.
• Has a decent computer
• Good schedule

You would not believe how hard it is to find all those characteristics! I'm training one of my friends right now on how to play, which I don't mind, but with strangers it's just a time investment that usually doesn't pay off.

[zoutzakje]

heh, I wouldn't be able to fullfill requirement #3
but yeah, playing with strangers is sometimes a bit odd. I once had a guy who seemed to enjoy the game a lot and we played it through steam, when suddenly he disappeared and never went online again. His steam status says he was last online 283 days ago lol. Unfortunately my real life friends are not interested in AI war :/ Maybe one of them will be soon though. I keep telling him stuff about the game and he seems to catch on and remember pretty quick.
as for the alt key getting stuck when tabbing out of the game, use the windows icon. problem solved. also if you're on planet view and you decide to search something up on the internet, you'll notice that your view has changed because you went to the edge of the screen sometimes. either press H to return to your buildings or go to the galaxy view before you decide to do something else (hope that made any sense, but I'm sure it will once you've experienced this yourself).

[Vinraith]

I'm familiar with them, but I prefer to paint things in neat circles and lines, because I'm really weird like that.  In the end it still comes down to the same thing - you're very rarely building one thing at a time, so painting should at least be an option as the default.

I see. We never did get back the whole turret template functionality, did we? In the old days you could have carefully drawn your circles once, then dropped that same configuration on every wormhole you liked going forward.

[Martyn van Buren]

The only thing that makes it useful is checking to see what wormhole the warp sensor is lighting up, and checking to see whether my ships are leaving the planetary gravity well.  If that information was conveyed in the main planet view with subtle visual cues (something less subtle than a color I can only see when zoomed all the way in - like a glow around the wormhole or something) then there would seem to be no reason to even have a minimap anyway.

That's a good point.  Is there a reason the wormholes only change color in zoomed-in view?

[doctorfrog]

I personally would really like the option to bring a minimap back. I've missed it ever since it became a temporary toggle.

You don't have to make it a permanent presence on the screen. Have an option for those who want it. For me, it would save a lot of zoom-in-zoom-out action.

The design could be identical to the full-windowed overlay (a translucent, white square), just tucked up in a corner, and possibly resizeable.

I've considered creating a Mantis request for this, but I get the feeling that it would be pretty quickly shot down.

The extreme version of this could be a series of minimaps that allow you to keep an eye on multiple systems, similar to how OpenTTD allows you to create a number of cameras to keep your eyeballs trained (pun not intended) on multiple aspects of your empire.

[keith.lamothe]

The extreme version of this could be a series of minimaps that allow you to keep an eye on multiple systems, similar to how OpenTTD allows you to create a number of cameras to keep your eyeballs trained (pun not intended) on multiple aspects of your empire.

The current minimap actually has a feature where you can hold your cursor over a wormhole (either its minimap position or its realspace position, iirc) and it will show the minimap of the system on the other side.  I forget if we had to take that out because it was confusing people.

[clone]

some of the turrets and units don't necessarily make sense for clumping. For example, sometimes you just want to place one unit: warp sensor, decloaker, gravity turrets, sniper turrets, heavy beams, and of course all of the structures in the game as single-click.

Yeah, it's really not as simple as I first thought.  Still, the majority of the building a player does is on a massive scale.  Right-clicking to cancel out of paint-build works, but that could get just as annoying.  This issue is certainly not the most important one on the list though, it's just me being a nitpick.

I remap all my controls. Just place your galaxy map and mini map on controls you are going to remember.

I have no problem remembering the controls, I just question why only two pieces of critical information (which wormhole is getting a wave, and the systems gravity well) should be hidden behind a hotkey that overlays a full screen map that otherwise reproduces the information I already have.  There's no reason for it.  The mini-map can still exist for people who want it, but those two pieces of information could easily be shown in the planet view.

Imagine my confusion, as a new player, when my ships suddenly stopped dead in their tracks.  Do you know how long it took me to figure out what was wrong?  There was no indication that the conditions had changed at all because the gravity well information is hidden behind a hotkey, not available at a glance (where all critical information should be available).  I had to experiment a lot to figure out what the pattern was - my 100% healthy ships were barely moving (when I'd only seen that behavior with damaged ships before).  I sent out my engineers to repair them, because I figured it might be hidden engine-damage, or something weird like that.  I finally consulted the wiki.

In a game that's already overwhelming there's no reason to arbitrarily hide important information like that.  It's already tough for a new player to digest everything.  I haven't played Starcraft in a while, but if players had to push a hotkey every time they want to see mineral deposits it probably wouldn't have had a very big audience.

as for the alt key getting stuck when tabbing out of the game, use the windows icon. problem solved. also if you're on planet view and you decide to search something up on the internet, you'll notice that your view has changed because you went to the edge of the screen sometimes. either press H to return to your buildings or go to the galaxy view before you decide to do something else (hope that made any sense, but I'm sure it will once you've experienced this yourself).

That's not really a solution, that's a work-around.  That's buggy behavior, and thankfully (incredibly) this game is still undergoing development.

This is some perspective from a new player.  I've sunk 20 hours into this game already, my two friends have sunk 40 minutes each.  40 minutes is about enough time to see everything that stinks about this game and nothing that's awesome.  What is an already overwhelmed player to think when they have to hit yet another hotkey just to see a mini-map (a complete break from convention)?  When their ships stop moving for what seems like no reason thanks to an invisible gravity well?  When they build the advanced warp sensor and it doesn't seem to do anything when a wave warning pops up?  When they shell out to read the wiki because none of it makes sense, and get back into their game to see the dark void of space instead of the colony they thought they were looking at (why is it even possible to scroll this far away from the planet)?  These things confused me.  It's a bad first impression, and I wonder if those friends will ever give the game another chance.

These issues limit the potential audience of the game, so I think it's at least  as important as discussions about balancing turrets and whatnot (something someone would only care about after they're hopelessly addicted).

You can "learn to live" with these things.  But learning to live with problems is something we do with old, out of development games, because we know there's gold to be found if we dig deep enough.  If I could go back in time and voice my concerns to those developers before the discs were pressed I'd be a fool not to.

[Wanderer]

I have to agree with a number of these concerns.  Even though I got used to it rather quickly, I was trying to get a friend of mine involved as well.  He's had similar issues with the interface and control schema, enough to be turned off to the game.  I mentioned to him to come here and voice his concerns as well, but I don't think he's found the time or the inclination.

[clone]

This Mantis Bug-tracker is fairly confusing to navigate.

At a glance I believe these issues of core usability are far more important than some things listed as Major Issues.

"Exogalactic Spire Fleet still not winning on its own in a timely manner."

This is possibly a major issue, but I've invested 20 hours into this game and I still have no idea what a spire fleet is. 

My first impression of AI War was the obtuse interface.  A good interface is critical to the enjoyment of any game.  You can't get away from an interface.  Ever.

Good interface design is about efficiency.  Displaying enough important information to the player at once without being overwhelming.  AI War displays reams of ship statistics and huge numbers that make absolutely no sense to me, so it has no problem being overwhelming.  But it fails in the most basic ways to communicate critical information that any new player would be looking for.

It's this kind of stuff that matters when you're trying to expand the appeal of a game.  These are demo impressions.  I doubt I would have fought through those first impressions if I hadn't already invested a measly sum of money into the game on a whim just because it went on sale.

Now I'm hooked - but I still loathe some very basic things about this interface.

It would also nice to have a slider for middle-mouse pan speed/sensitivity.  It's my favorite way to pan in most games that offer it as an option, but in AI war it feels so slow.

I know you guys are busy with "A Valley Without Wind".  That's cool, take your time, I hope it's awesome.  But please make interface improvements a priority for the next expansion.  It's far more important to the popularity and enjoyment of the game than additional content.  There are hundreds of hours of content already.