Along the lines of others could we have the key information in battle reports picked out in bold. Thus battle reports will be easier to scan quickly for the relevant detail.
Is this going to be available across all formats or just 1650?
Gavin
What’s the key information in battle reports? Ie what would you like seen.
It will be 1650 to start then the other formats
Clint
Stuff like
Commander’s name
Army Morale (Calm etc)
Army Training (Battle Hardened)
Losses
Survival of the characters
New Nation owner of a pop centre
Additional character names casting spells
Gavin
Check this out - this is more how we perceive the “final” look to be.
Clint
>>>I just got a rise in the pants…
Whit
Clint
For what its worth, my feedback. I prefer keeping it as simple and short as practical. Hence while the updated version of character report is better I still think your got too much padding. If your going to include links to an army then why have the blocky icons giving details on those armies here? [Especially since you will still need to check the army description for details of armour/weapons]. Similarly I don’t see any point in the hex icon when you have the same details in the accompanying text? Also would prefer to have the old health status line rather the heart symbol.
I do like having the details of what the characters items do rather than having to look up in a separate location. Ditto having the previous turn’s orders here. Hope it’s not relevant that the values in the examples don’t seem to add up. What would you do here in terms of a character having an item they couldn’t use? Would it be possible to add into the line an E/G/N symbol?
On the previous version I must admit I found it way too bulky. Also there seems to be a lot of oddities, like one character down as having learnt 35 spells out of 13? [May be something wrong with the pdf or the way my copy of reader v7 is handling it as that is an incomplete entry merging with the one above him]. Furthermore a lot of the entries for characters or PCs say were split over two pages, which make them a bit difficult to read. [Also quite a number seem to be incomplete but hopefully that’s just because it’s a test sample]. Like I number of other people I prefer printing out the main data so I can cross reference things and am not tied to the computer. This can already get quite bulk but with a big nation [or two] it could really slaughter forests. [What out for those Ents!:D] Probably more concerned about the PC templates rather than the characters as they can really mount up and are a lot bigger than the current version.
Hope this is useful.
Steve
PS On a similar point one problem with coloured output is it will be a lot more costly to print because of the use of the cartridges. Unless like me you just use a b/w printer in which case those bits would be unreadable. Not particularly bothered about the character icons and hence prefer the old one.
I liked very much the “Your turn in glance” and that I can click on a topic to get a quick direction. VERY GOOD! The rest was OK too. Maybe it should have a printout version that is a little shorter than when we read it on the PC?
The art prints out well as b&w even if its colour.
Clint
Clint,
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All for the colored photos…the character section is fine by me…
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The “At a Glance” is nice…might consider putting the result of conflicts there…win w/ minor losses or defeated; Bolvag survived…also for the other side in that…
As an aside I saw requests for the morale in number, training, etc…if you’re going that route drop the battle description altogether and just give the numbers…or go the other route, using descriptors all the way…I wouldn’t hybridize this…
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All for the econ information and additional info on what pop centers might not produce for ya…“at a glance” economy if you will.
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Keep the mapping as it was…I rather like palantir though I have used archon I don’t have the time at present to play with it…as many of us are in that same boat.
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Keep the pop center information in the old format, it’s succinct enough as is…
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The overall length of document is overmuch. If anything I’d drop your frontsheet, the orders sheet for paper and the turn map/world map…we have current tech enough to do that ourselves…I’d also drop the orders from last turn sheet and messages from the Gm, etc etc…put that on the forum if you need us to do something or direct email as you have been…the other stuff is redundant.
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I’d say you have the right idea, providing more information turn by turn but need to prioritize what you’re spending time and $$$ on. An idea might be to send out a detailed survey to all current players and ask straight out what we want to see from the turn…
Other than the stuff about new pics, new battle modifiers like terrain or speciality troops like elven archers get a bonus or elven armies in the woods get a bonus…etc…that stuff we’ve talked out and it need not be brought up again unless you really wanna hear it again…
but in the survey you would ask on a scale of 1-5 you strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree…that the pop center info should stay the same in format and information given…etc…
It might be a few minutes long to fill out but it’s how you get a clear empirical look at what the players want…
it’s how we get started many times w/ doctoral level thesis writing/planning…
Anyway, I’m happy to keep going but it’s late and I’m sure you get the points.
thanks for asking about this! Good job so far, just needs some tweaking like all things will…
Jason M. Roberts
The character rank format is too wordy: the old way of showing it (Command: 50 (102)) was just as effective – you don’t need to spell out “base” and “actual” five times for every character every turn!
Tonyz - check out the new look. What do you think about that? (About 4 posts up)
Clint
Clint,
Could the line with the Stats on on be in the same column as the line with stealth in it. It just looks a little odd with it skewed further to the left. Also how will the new format cope with mammoth scout reports where there are 20+ characters in the hex?
Gavin
It could be moved but then you’d be squeezing the first line - and I suspect that the 4 stats there are the most pertinent.
Scouts: well there’s no simple solution to this. The info will be in the XML though or ask us as usual.
Clint
Can you make the page space allocated to any character expand to accomodate the additional text when it runs long, such as mammoth scout reports? It looks like you are moving away from the “fixed” box that borders each character now, and that would be the start…
I’ll see if we can do that. It might not be “simple” to do so and keep the spacing…
Another option is that if the size is greater than X in length to have it reported elsewhere. I’ll chat to the guy doing it and see if it’s simple enough.
Clint
The overall length of document is overmuch. If anything I’d drop your frontsheet, the orders sheet for paper and the turn map/world map…we have current tech enough to do that ourselves…I’d also drop the orders from last turn sheet and messages from the Gm, etc etc…put that on the forum if you need us to do something or direct email as you have been…the other stuff is redundant.
The problem I’ve got is that I need players to read the Frontsheet and suchlike. If it’s not in the turnsheet it’s much less likely to be read.
Clint
Feedback on turnsheets part 2
How about offering a choice between the old and new formats.
Don’t show accounting information, Toggle on/off
What I liked initially was the first page summarizing your characters, encounters and combat.
I also like the profit if all were sold, that is usually one of the first things I calculate anyway.
In battle reports, actually list if it is HC, LC, HI, LI, AR or MA rather than “Warg Riders” etc…
Compact the pop center information and place next to economy section.
Under economy section where you have anticipated cost & revenue for pop centers, what about combining them and showing costs on a column basis for port/harbor & fortification and revenue on a column basis for tax & gold production, and a Net Total column – all for each pop center? (If we do this then this is a decent idea).
Add “hostages held” to character report
In army report, show combat artifacts value next to Characters travelling with army
In army report, show total army combat value & constitution value
In company report, show nation of each character in company
If map: include a world economic summary too?
Like the summary, would add more to this page so you can do more without flicking through
Hold off on the map.
Also would prefer to have the old health status line rather the heart symbol.
Maybe it should have a printout version that is a little shorter than when we read it on the PC? Ie small printable version.
Can you make the page space allocated to any character expand to accomodate the additional text when it runs long, such as mammoth scout reports? Ed: If the size is greater than X in length to have it reported elsewhere. I’ll chat to the guy doing it and see if it’s simple enough.
Ed’s bits:
Alter granularity of space
White space
Make small PC reports
Svg in formatting object – space.
The above we’re intending to implement. How do players feel about that?
Clint
Inre Color: I recall when the map was initially colorized. The terrain symbols were removed. No need for them—right? Wrong. When you print them out in B&W it is hard to distinguish terrain. There were instances of me running armies through a patch of woods thinking it was rough terrain. Armies sometimes fell short movement wise. Now have to double check terrain all the time.
What I am getting at is the ‘law of unintended consequences’. This has bit Harley on the rump a lot. Get ready for some more.
Awwww Ed… lighten up.
New isn’t bad by definition. Your comments tend that direction.
Be constructive. You’re creative. Apply it positively.
Dave
Clint,
I like the new turn look!
I do think the PC info needs to be cleaned up a bit and maybe takes up to much room big nations with (old turn) 4 pages of Pops would be to much. Over all the new format is not as easy for me to find stuff becasue I’m so use to looking at the old format; but I think the older players need to move on and let the game get the much needed face lift it needs. One touble I’ve had when asking other friends of mine to play (that would be new to the game) is that it really looks old. It dose not pull them in like it should, for the new players the game looking up-to-date will help alot and widening the player poolis be a good thing for the game as a whole.
Ha and Dave Hold, I like the health heart and troop type “Warg Riders” info-flavor is a good thing, I’d like to see more of it.
Lets see more!
John Lamulle