The diplomacy interface is terrible >:(

from GalCiv2 Forums
I can't set the max credits/influence from an alien to me for a lopsided trade in their favor without manually fiddling with the number of credits one click at a time (or a typed guess, in the irritating text interface the game has)

I can't set the max credits/influence from me to the alien for deals that they would accept with a sufficient number of credits, again, I have to manually fiddle with the sliders

Even clicking on the slider bar for money/influence doesn't move the bar, it increments the amount by 1 (one!). Great when you have a max of 50k+ influence

The up down arrows by the amount also move it by 10... again regardless of total amounts possible, and you can't even hold the button down to speed up to a value (not that I'd want this anyway I suppose, why would I ever trade less than the maximum or minimum possible either way for influence or money?)

I can't tell if there's a tech an alien simply won't trade. Instead, I have to laboriously place each one in the trade window, then click through repeatedly to see if they're actually willing to trade it (related, though less of an interface frustration, is my bafflement when an alien won't trade a random tech for even all of my planets!)

I can't 'autofill' a trade (as in, tell me what you want for this, either in cash, influence, or techs)

I can't get rollover info on techs, and since I'm far from memorizing them, that means either vaguely guessing, or alt-tabbing to check a file, or leaving the diplo window to look at the tech tree. Ugh!

*sigh*

Just had to vent a little, several rounds of diplomacy with five races was starting to drive me batty.
9,083 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I can't get rollover info on techs, and since I'm far from memorizing them, that means either vaguely guessing, or alt-tabbing to check a file, or leaving the diplo window to look at the tech tree.


This at least you can do. Right click on the tech and you'll get a pop up with some of that tech's effects.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Swank, thanks. The popup is too small (have to mouse scroll, only takes up like the center inch or two at 1600x1200), but better than nothing

Now I'll just be grouchy about the others
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This is something I hope the devs adress, a 'max acceptable' button for the money slider. I can't think of a good reason not to have it, it get's boring to get to the exact number and after a while I just drag and end up losing a ton of money due to laziness.

I mean, I doubt that when Thomas Jefferson got his eye on the Louisiana Purchase, he had to sit at the diplomacy screen with the french and say '5 cents an acre? 6? 7? DAMN YOU TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU WANT YOU FROGS!!!!" Well...yeah...basically. Got a bit too into that there, but still.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I mean, I doubt that when Thomas Jefferson got his eye on the Louisiana Purchase, he had to sit at the diplomacy screen with the french and say '5 cents an acre? 6? 7? DAMN YOU TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU WANT YOU FROGS!!!!" Well...yeah...basically. Got a bit too into that there, but still.


That's the funniest stuff I've heard/read on this forum by far!
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You can click and drag the slider back and forth, though there isnt much fine control. I usually drag the bar up till text goes red then carfully back down till it just goes green. Then up by increments of 10 using up arrows till it goes red, then back down by 1 at a time using left arrow till it goes green. I do miss the "what will you give me for this" and "what will it take for this" from Civ IV though.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yeah, you're not alone... it's frustrating :o
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
A point brought up is how you can offer all your techs and a ton of money and the alien won't trade. And I mean for a simple tech. I wanted soil enhancement and offered 2 weapons tech and 1000 credits and he wouldn't do it. This guy even liked me. I admit soil enhancement is a useful tech but I know the techs and money I offered was way over the top. A Civ 4 type of exchange would be better.

Also you need to be able to tell somebody to stop flying around your space. I have a well established area and scouts or colony ships from other aliens zoom around all time. I'm not talking about around the boundries but deep inside my space. When a race plants a colony deep inside your space you should be able to tell them to leave or you will attack it. Even one right inside your boundry of influence should be a topic of conflict when you already have a colony at a planet there. If it's out in free space then it's up for grabs of course.

Also as far as diplomatic aspects when the galatic concil meets I feel along with a general topic to be voted on [which seems to be presented as of certain actions which have been going on in the game ex. pushing you sphere of influence out into space.] you and the other races should be able to present topics.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The lack of max baffles me, why is there even an option to trade some fractional amount?

Same goes for the non-trade techs - if they aren't tradable, why are they even in the interface?

I wish ui quirks didn't bug me so much, but they do