I can't help myself ( just needed an ear for a rant, no offense to anyone )

Goddamn ..

( be warned, thread could contain coarse language and be offensive )

I thought I had enough with all the Space Empires bashing I read since I first logged in here.
I always played a nice game of Sim Empire, my goals are simple, run an empire build big ships and sphere worlds .. bash an A.I. or two on the way.

I don't play to win, I don't play to optimize, for me Space Empires is a Zen like feeling.

I don't care for the long turn rates .. It's great, I read while I wait, watch my favorite TV Shows or I learn.
Turn based is great to stand up in between to care for my daughter, follow the crazy ideas of my wife or do something completely different.

Everytime I read a good scifi book or watch a movie or show the urge to build a space empire overcomes me, try a new mod, do something different.

I like this game for the simple pasttime it is.

But sometimes I get annoyed.
Soon I am a Bachelor of Computer Science, maybe I want to be a Master.
I know some people who work in the Gaming Industry and did a few things myself.
I know about Software Development in general and golden Design rules.

Now I have played a view games of space empires most of them I broke up before any real battle happened ( I raped the AI by treatys and was superior in all ways .. so any fight would have been boring )
but now I played a nice game of balance mod ( also see thread "Using Fleets and Strategies" ) and I cant hold myself ..

THE GODDAMN INTERFACE SUCKS .. Big Time .. like a pornstar .. like like .. the gravity well of a neutron star and a black hole combined .. with all the suckiness of aol, ie, telemarketers, talk shows and politicians included

What did Malfador think by designing this ? .. The lead Designer, the betatesters .. everybody involved .. did they smoke crack laced with EAs latest game quality manifests and bullcrap ?
Did they play any Real Time Strategy game before ? Or any other game ?

A Game stands and falls with it interface .. how many of you played rogue-likes ?
or dwarf fortress ? the greatest dungeon crawls, the greates sim game ever ..
the graphik sucks, the interface sucks .. but there are great communities for both ( i really don't know why ) without graphics I can live .. I still play diablo II, starcraft and a lot of gameboy and super nintendo emulators .. oldschool graphics but the controls are great,
simple, easy to use ..

The Controls for the empire are quite usefull, I found many options I like, even if I have to click more than alot to really make use of them.

The Combat Controls are just not bearable .. and the sector view is nice, but lacks everything usefull, except placing units.

Most ships look the same, due to the use of the same hulltypes, or similiar enough, or to small do really seperate them. Thats would be no problem, if there where other ways to keep them apart.

But what really ticks me off is the lack of information, the lack of usefull commands, the lack of anything that resembles control.

Scrap the whole Real-Time battle interface and redesign it with care and some good rts-games in mind ..
I want to know how much fighters are left on my carriers ( surprisingly they are not listed as cargo in fight, but launch anyways every odd seconds )
I want to tell my carriers where my fighters should meet and build formations on their own,

I want to shout STOP .. ALL UNITS STAND STILL FOR GODS SAKE .. DON'T ADVANCE LIKE SOMETHING THATS ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN.

I would like pre battle placement

Steal from X-Com and Warcraft, from Homeworld and anything else.
New Ideas are so scarce in the gaming industrie so stop trying to reinvent the wheel and steal .. there is enough good stuff around thats just to good to pass ..

For gods sake .. hire somebody if you must who can slim down the interface without losing the depth .. at the moment its like a car with the controls of a plane.

Less buttons, less clicks, more control, and even the micromanagement addicts will notice the turns will go by faster with more accomplished ..

again .. no offense meant on anyone, just my pile of 2 cents
i had to get it off me.

ps. I want ingame formation editors .. at best with the actual fleet ( like the sector view .. )
Ship Tags like in Supreme Commander to present the different design types

again a big read button that cancels all fleet orders without breaking formation.
retreat in realistic form .. means scatter and reform at point X.

fighter wings .. the option to guard ships ( fighters and pds stay with bigger ships )

rally points in combat,

my only wish for SE:VI .. hands of the gameplay, the engine and all that.
No new features, components, supply system or what not ..

Just a working easy interface.

And I know what I wish for ..

Even an apprentice can perform a nearly impossible task.
The gift of the master is to make it look easy.