First Impressions

[netwulf]

First of all, thanks for giving me the chance to test this forthcoming, sure to be classic, turn based strategy game. As a great fan of the original panzer general I´ve been eager to get my hand on this one.
First impressions are quite good. No problems with installation. Gameplay is smooth and quick. Graphics crisp. What I´m missing is a kind of combat-animation (which could be switch on and off) as in the original.
The GUI is easy to understand, but I would prefer to confirm the orders by the click of the left mousebutton and a contextsensitive menu for the right mousebutton.
Nowadays this is standard. The actual GUI looks dated and gives your game no credit.
Further Impressions coming soon.

[Rudankort]

The actual GUI looks dated and gives your game no credit.
Further Impressions coming soon.

Could you please elaborate more in this? What exactly looks dated, and how could this be improved?

[netwulf]

I my humble opinion, every User Inteface which doesn´t utilizes a contextmenu if you press the right mouse button looks dated - almost archaic. The times of DOS games are long gone. So nowadays almost every pc user has at least one mouse as input device.


If you want to bring this game to consoles (ps3, xbox 360, nintendo ds, ipad (would be great), iphone) it maybe okay. But this is supposed to be for pcs.

Even if you only got a touchpad - you still have a second button.

It is much more convenient to hover your mouse over the selected object and give all orders and get all information by a pop up information window or menu where you can select the desired options.

So by now you if you don´t use keyboard shortcuts you have to move you mousepointer everytime almost across the hole screen.

I´m interested in computers since the days of the ZX81, ZX Spectrum, VC20 and C64, Atari VCS and Intellivision. For almost 20 years I´ve been selling video - and computer games.

The last few years I´ve been teaching CAD Software (like AUTOCAD, SOLIDWORKS, CATIA, PRO ENGINEER as well as MS OFFICE, COREL and ADOBE Products).

Let me tell you the most userfriendly programms are the ones which deliver a whole bunch of possibilities by pressing the right mouse button.

So please don´t restrict this mousebutton to only one function.

I agree, that using keys you are far more efficient, but who wants to learn keyboard shortcuts by heart?

I very appreciate your efforts to bring us the game we are desperately waiting vor

[Rudankort]

So, to sum it up, you suggest to add a right-click context menu? How will this work with existing mouse scheme (used by many other games too) - left click to select, right click to give orders?

[netwulf]

Yes - indeed I would suggest so. Maybe you could implement an option to change between your method and mine
As far as games are concerned -which games apart from yours have this control method?

You now NECTARIS, do you? First available on the PC Engine. Or Advanced Daisenryaku? Available for example on the Sega Mega Drive.

Otherwise you have to move your mouse hundreds of meters.

All "serious" software uses the method described by me. So maybe you should really consider it.

[lordzimoa]

If you want to bring this game to consoles (ps3, xbox 360, nintendo ds, ipad (would be great), iphone) it maybe okay.

For us this is exactly a point as Ipad/Iphone, Android, PSP porting etc... are very likely to follow after PC and Mac. So we have to consider to have an UI that is somewhat flexible for as many platforms as possible.

[netwulf]

As I own all of these apart from the iphone (too expensive in germany) - great news.
But as I ´ve already mentioned pc is different - as are touchsreen controlled machines.
So keep up the good work.
I´ve to check the campaign modus