[Discussion] Combat: what is going on? Why do I not have time to select a tactic?

drewitt

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 5, 2012, 1:04:37 PM

Nickolaeris wrote:
Good suggestion, I agree. Auto pause on card selection would be perfect.

I second the motion.

daveybaby

Newcomer

daveybaby

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 8, 2012, 12:56:31 PM

IMO there should be the config option to pause combat while selecting cards.

Not everyone cares about multiplayer.

Not everyone can read quickly (e.g. second language, or dyslexia).

Not everyone wants to have to rush through combat in a TBS game.

Chances are once people get familiar with the game we'll be able to recognise and select cards at a glance, but the having the pause as an option is pretty much essential IMO.

syn

Newcomer

syn

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 8, 2012, 12:45:43 PM

why its a problem to add an button for pause ?, in singleplayer this would work perfectly

in mutiplayer you could add two more buttons = finished but keep pause active for other players And finished but quit pause, or you add an option to configure a pause timer in game settings.

CountvanCount

Senior

Test

CountvanCount

Senior

27 600g2g pts

12 years ago

May 8, 2012, 12:28:19 PM

Im for a a speed system (you can choose between slow, normal and fast) in fights in the single player. So you can choose long enough and when your ready you can speed up to finish the battle faster than normal.

syn

Newcomer

syn

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 8, 2012, 11:49:30 AM

i hate the rush which the game has at the moment when i choose my cards/actions preparing for battle...

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

700g2g pts

12 years ago

May 7, 2012, 5:09:51 PM

VieuxChat wrote:
Tactical can give you a huge boost if played well when forces are equal or when you have a hero with you.

Why is that? It is a matter of selecting among four cards. Does the player AI (used in automatic mode) do such a poor job of this? For example, does it fail to use the hero cards at all? That seems like a bug. Although the tactical graphics are very pretty, to me it is a waste of time. There is a long delay while the fleets are approaching, delays while you select, etc. I just want the tactical to be over, so that I can get back to the interesting strategic part. If I have to guide the player AI through each card selection in each battle, it makes the game much longer and less interesting.

Madness

Newcomer

Madness

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 7, 2012, 4:51:59 PM

I love the current system however I wish the tactic you choose actually made the ship do something different. at the moment the ships just move side by side shooting... why not change directions? have an evade card? a RAM SHIP card?

MODVieuxChat

Chameleon

Truth is a chameleon. Herbert

MODVieuxChat

Chameleon

25 400g2g pts

12 years ago

May 7, 2012, 5:18:36 AM

Tactical can give you a huge boost if played well when forces are equal or when you have a hero with you.

davea

Newcomer

davea

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700g2g pts

12 years ago

May 6, 2012, 8:48:40 PM

Does it even give any benefit to play the tactical mode? It seems like the AI for the player can perfectly well pick among the three choices for each phase. I have played a number of turn-based strategy games and I rarely use the tactical screen. When the combat dialog first comes up, I just click "auto" and skip over all the slow tactical stuff. I did the same thing for Total War.

Argumentum_ad_Stultitiam

Newcomer

Argumentum_ad_Stultitiam

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 6, 2012, 8:46:09 PM

Joote wrote:
I hate to be rushed in games especially when there is no reason to be rushed. I like to take my time and mull over things. Auto pause on card selection please.

Agreed. I have no intention of ever "moving" to multiplayer; is someone going to be offended if I want to take my anti-AI combat at my own pace?

Moonbeam

in Disguise Face

Moonbeam

in Disguise Face

14 300g2g pts

12 years ago

May 6, 2012, 6:02:01 PM

Nickolaeris wrote:
Good suggestion, I agree. Auto pause on card selection would be perfect.

+1

I hate to be rushed in games especially when there is no reason to be rushed. I like to take my time and mull over things. Auto pause on card selection please.

CaptainTitus

Newcomer

CaptainTitus

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 6, 2012, 5:43:54 PM

If i may add i've never had any problems with this. i have a look at my battle cards periodically to see if i have any new one's just plan ahead

jsfetzik

Newcomer

jsfetzik

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 6, 2012, 2:27:18 PM

I have not yet purchased the game, but would like to put in another vote for a pause feature. I play games in order to relax, so I dislike any sort of timers in my games. Particularly turn based ones. I want to play the game at my pace.

I have absolutely no interest in multi-player, and from past experience would estimate that 10%-20% of the potential customer base for this game fall into the same category. Not having a pause of some sort will greatly impact the appeal of this game to these potential customers. Now maybe there is no desire to have these types of players as customers, but it would likely have a significant impact on sales.

In general I feel that more options are better in a case like this. So make it optional and off by default if need be. Those that do not want to use it will never notice.

hailander18

Newcomer

hailander18

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 6, 2012, 10:49:25 AM

At least +5 seconds to look at the enemy fleet in the AUTO-MANUAL selectin phase would be fantastic

Roawynn

Newcomer

Roawynn

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 6, 2012, 8:48:52 AM

I agree with VieuxChat especially when you fight other factions, battles can be tough, additional time will be great for a better overview.

drewitt

Newcomer

drewitt

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 5, 2012, 8:42:06 PM

I've just finished a number of battles with pirates where I had no time to pick any strategy, but as the arrival phase was underway, I had ample time to choose.

As you can see on the top left, you can click on the grey question-marks to choose your strategy. The screen shot was taken during the arrival phase.

Cheers

P.S. I smoked those pirates, by the way.

gunnergoz

Old Timer

"Things are getting better! Well, maybe not as good as yesterday, but definitely better than tomorrow!" - old Soviet era humor

gunnergoz

Old Timer

28 400g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 5:55:59 AM

I've tried manual battle management and I get about 5 seconds to read 3 or 4 tactical option cards...which I can't assimilate in time to make a decision. So the battle proceeds with "no selection made" or somesuch and I go into battle without having played any of the tactical options...and lose, most of the time. Heck, I don't even really know what the choices would have been, so quickly did the screen go past me before battle commenced.

For a turn based game to have this sort of lack of control over the tactical battle phase is inexplicable to me. If there is a "pause" button, I did not see it. Is there one? If there isn't, then I think the game needs it for those of us who like to think and play, and not twitch and play. So far this is my only real disappointment in the game. I'd sure hate to have to default to auto-resolve because the tactical screens look really interesting and have a lot of potential. But the whole thing just through and out by like yeserday's beer...

lurker

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lurker

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200g2g pts

12 years ago

May 5, 2012, 12:54:33 PM

I would also like to see a pause option added for single player mode.

For starters the assumption that everyone intends to 'move onto' multiplayer is false. Also, part of the reason I like TBS games generally is that I can take them at my own pace and multi-task them with what's going on around me, e.g. my young son who might potentially want attention at any moment. I can see why this time limit is essential for multiplayer mode, but forcing single play mode to match the pace of multiplayer would be an unfortunate design decision.

revlob

Newcomer

revlob

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 5, 2012, 8:38:28 AM

I don't see why auto-pausing the combat for single-player would give you a disadvantage during multi-player. Most people will learn the game via single-player, and after a few combat scenarios should be better prepared to make decisions quicker. As long as it is explained to the player, I don't see it being a problem, but I do think the time limit is a bit harsh on beginners. I fell foul of it, at least.

MODVieuxChat

Chameleon

Truth is a chameleon. Herbert

MODVieuxChat

Chameleon

25 400g2g pts

12 years ago

May 5, 2012, 6:19:19 AM

I think limiting time is needed for multi, and it adds a little pressure. But we have very limited time for each of the ranges. I would add at least 3 or 5 seconds to each phase.

dungeonhealer

Newcomer

dungeonhealer

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 10:52:12 PM

i seen same thing and i think its still in dev hands atm.

gunnergoz

Old Timer

"Things are getting better! Well, maybe not as good as yesterday, but definitely better than tomorrow!" - old Soviet era humor

gunnergoz

Old Timer

28 400g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 6:15:25 PM

I'm about the same age as GreyZOmbie's avatar looks, and believe me, I don't need, like or desire this RTS cr@p in a TBS strategy game. Its not like this is Total War, with tons of specialized units to move around a massive battlefield in real time - and even that game has a pause button. No, the tactical battle mode is just a trailer with some phoney buttons to jam in a hurry, as if doing that will affect the outcome of the cinematic. Sorry, I really like most of the game, but I'm not buying the tactical battle part of it one bit.

GreyFerret

Broken Lord

GreyFerret

Broken Lord

75 500g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 3:11:14 PM

Azrael wrote:
I think maybe not a pause button, so then it can be transferred to multiplayer, but just extra time. If it was 15 or 20 seconds long, it would be long enough to gain your bearings and prepare for attack.

I agree, this will be perfect solution. Or maybe do pause with option for single player? Not all gamers are hardcore enough to make quick decisions

Azrael

Newcomer

Azrael

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 3:01:10 PM

I think maybe not a pause button, so then it can be transferred to multiplayer, but just extra time. If it was 15 or 20 seconds long, it would be long enough to gain your bearings and prepare for attack.

MODNosferatiel

Informer

"God's in his heaven, all's right with the world." Nerv Motto, Neon Genesis Evangelion

MODNosferatiel

Informer

47 300g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 2:52:17 PM

Sharidann wrote:
Correct.

You can change as long as the phase doesn't go active...

I just have to add, that since I know the cards I can play by now, I simply play either a defensive card on first turn or the dust warhead card if I'm heavily relying on missiles. Then I see what the enemy does and what weapons he has got and react accordingly.

So far there has really not been any time stress, at least on me, once you know which card has which effects.

VIPSharidann

Newcomer

VIPSharidann

Newcomer

16 500g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 12:24:02 PM

Correct.

You can change as long as the phase doesn't go active...

Inquisitioner wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong. But if after you selected your first card and the first phase is playing. You still got the option to select your second card until that phase ends?

Inquisitioner

Officer

Inquisitioner

Officer

20 000g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 11:41:27 AM

VieuxChat wrote:
But 5 seconds are just... well... short ? Maybe add a way to change how many time you have.

And maybe a module that reduce that time for your opponent and force the AI to randomly chose ? :P

Correct me if I'm wrong. But if after you selected your first card and the first phase is playing. You still got the option to select your second card until that phase ends?

MODVieuxChat

Chameleon

Truth is a chameleon. Herbert

MODVieuxChat

Chameleon

25 400g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 10:55:29 AM

But 5 seconds are just... well... short ? Maybe add a way to change how many time you have.

And maybe a module that reduce that time for your opponent and force the AI to randomly chose ? :P

Inquisitioner

Officer

Inquisitioner

Officer

20 000g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 10:00:58 AM

Agree, if you add pause to single-player you'll get a big disadvantage when moving to multi-player. It's better to plan ahead simply if possible.

gunnergoz

Old Timer

"Things are getting better! Well, maybe not as good as yesterday, but definitely better than tomorrow!" - old Soviet era humor

gunnergoz

Old Timer

28 400g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 10:00:07 AM

I don't like "lively" games...but nevermind, I can see this is already a lost cause.

VIPSharidann

Newcomer

VIPSharidann

Newcomer

16 500g2g pts

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 6:48:31 AM

Not having the pause, I suppose, is in part for multiplayer.

Besides that, you can check out the cards beforehand and reflect on your strategy.

Also, you only need to decide on your FIRST card right away, you can decide for the SECOND whilst the Long range phase plays, then for the Short range whilst the middle range plays.

Keeps things lively I think.

gunnergoz wrote:
I've tried manual battle management and I get about 5 seconds to read 3 or 4 tactical option cards...which I can't assimilate in time to make a decision. So the battle proceeds with "no selection made" or somesuch and I go into battle without having played any of the tactical options...and lose, most of the time. Heck, I don't even really know what the choices would have been, so quickly did the screen go past me before battle commenced.

For a turn based game to have this sort of lack of control over the tactical battle phase is inexplicable to me. If there is a "pause" button, I did not see it. Is there one? If there isn't, then I think the game needs it for those of us who like to think and play, and not twitch and play. So far this is my only real disappointment in the game. I'd sure hate to have to default to auto-resolve because the tactical screens look really interesting and have a lot of potential. But the whole thing just through and out by like yeserday's beer...

Nickolaeris

Newcomer

Nickolaeris

Newcomer

12 years ago

May 4, 2012, 6:29:33 AM

Good suggestion, I agree. Auto pause on card selection would be perfect.