Some difficulties figuring out the UI

from GalCiv4 Forums

Various details of the UI left me confused for a while. These aren't exactly bugs in the game, but they did make it hard for me to move from Gal Civ III to here.

Ship designer:

   Under the design / equip mode choices, if the mode is design there are exactly two icons, one for hull, and one for parts. Since they exactly line up under the design / equip items, I thought they were icons for those two items. It took me a long time to figure out to click on equip.

   I didn't realize that parts would be automatically mirrored on both sides. I kept trying to rotate the ship so I could see the other side.

   I still don't understand the three different colored shrink/stretch handles. They all do the same thing for me. I assume that is because all scaling for all three axes is locked for me, somehow, but I haven't noticed how to change that.

   I haven't found an indication of the remaining weight capacity of a ship, or of the weight costs of equipment. I have ended up just trying and seeing when I can't add any more.

   I haven't found any way to alter color or other surface properties.

Other issues:

   It took me a long time to find the command to upgrade a ship. Starbases seem much more intuitive.

   I haven't found a way to find out how many citizens a base plant has, except by clicking on it.

galciv iv early access feedback
2,939 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv4 Forums Top

This is fantastic feedback.  

We'll see what we na do.

Reply #2 from GalCiv4 Forums Top

With that encouragement, I'll point out other things I've had trouble with. (This is all version 0.77)

   I had a hard time figuring out how to get a ship out of a fleet. I tried zooming in, clicking on a single ship and moving it. I tried double clicking on a ship, and moving it in the fleet display. I looked for an "eject from fleet" command. I finally found the ability to select individual ships in the lower left.

   I was surprised that dragging a leader candidate to the left bar was irrevocable and spent money. I had imagined that it was a way of selecting a candidate, and that I would only pay when I assigned them to a role. That drag is the only place in the system I can think of that spends resources without confirmation.

   Also on leaders, it is not clear from the UI that making a governor is irreversible, while other assignments can be changed.

   Some executive actions indicate how long a benefit or penalty will last. But others do not, making it hard to evaluate them.

   When a survey ship arrives at a defended anomaly and the prompt asks whether to engage in combat, I would like to be reminded how heavily defended the anomaly is. I may have sent the ship many turns ago, and forgotten.

   When a survey ship finishes surveying an anomaly, and the event comes up, it is not clear that it was caused by the survey being finished, or which one. The problem is that I requested the survey several turns ago, so I've lost context. Maybe it would help to show what ship did the survey and what kind of anomaly it was.

 

P.S. I'm enjoying the game so far. And I've done just enough UI work to know that it is really hard to make a good UI.

Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from GalCiv4 Forums Top

Quoting GeezerGuy5599, reply 2

   Also on leaders, it is not clear from the UI that making a governor is irreversible, while other assignments can be changed.
End of GeezerGuy5599's quote

If I understand correctly, you can fire or execute a governor and a commander.

Reply #4 from GalCiv4 Forums Top

My bad. I tried dragging a governor out of their spot, which works for most other leader roles, but not for them. I didn't think to fire or execute them.