So I would really like to see battle pic in pic. Battles are pretty, but theres other things I can be doing at the same time. I find myself clickin auto battle most of the time, and in multiplayer you really shouldnt be doing that.



The second, more boring option is to send a fleet into battle with a preset card layout, or instead of pic in pic, just a basic screen with the countdown and the cards.



The largest benefit is to reduce multiplayer turn speeds, which i really think should be a major focus right now.

The second, more boring option is to send a fleet into battle with a preset card layout, or instead of pic in pic, just a basic screen with the countdown and the cards.

This is a great idea.

...Why? If you want to not bother controlling battles then use the auto resolve function and it'll play out almost exactly like battles in Civ do. I'm not sure that introducing any sort of extra interface element that basically does exactly what auto-resolve does accomplishes anything other than giving you another auto-resolve button.

Clicking Auto Resolve is like clicking a button that says, "Don't bother playing any cards." Go and fight a battle in multiplayer where your opponent auto resolved, and what happens is all of your cards get a checkmark and your opponent plays no cards. So not bothering to control battles is definitely not the same as auto resolve.



The real point here is that I want to control battles. But I don't want to stare at the pretty picture and twiddle my thumbs for 2 minutes while it resolves. You can't even send chat messages.



What I like the most about battles is that they are simple. There's debate over this, but I don't want to have players spending 20 minutes on a complex tactical battle while the other players wait. I'd like it even more if they were simple and didn't totally yank me away from the real game, which is the strategy screen.



Keep in mind that you wouldn't be required to use this feature, but I suspect that most people will.