Getting past the interface. |
I played Space Empires IV a great deal, and I got very good at navigating the menus and controls to get exactly what I wanted from the game. One of the nice things about SE4 was that all the information I needed was available when I needed it. The menus were clean and functional and allowed precise control over a large empire.
I finally bought SE5 and it seems like everything takes three times longer to do, the information screens have so little actual data on them that I constantly have to flip between three screens to get the information that was previously available on just one screen. I feel like this is the Windows Vista version of Space Empires.
Do you have any advice for transitioning from SE4 to SE5. My feeling is that I am playing a dumbed down interface for people who need big shiny buttons and are scared of actual numbers.
The ship design interface for example has two information screens that could be displayed side by side if the buttons were shrunk 50%, but instead I need to constantly flip back and forth between them while searching through the Small parts list. Every interface I use seems more cumbersome and less intuitive then it was in SE4. What would be really nice is some way to skin the interface to get the functionality back into the controls; the way vista allows you to turn off Areo.
Re: Getting past the interface.
While you are at it ?
Is there any option to see my deployed units ?
I want to see on one page where I put my Sats, Mines and Stuff
in Systems
Re: Getting past the interface.
You can list all your unit groups (ie launched units) in the ship list window. It's one of the filters you can apply.
Re: Getting past the interface.
The very first thing I changed in SEV was to remap the shortcut keys for the info screens back to the ones I'd memorized for SEIV. (F6 = Ships, F8 = Research, etc.)
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"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily. "If it /is/ a good morning," he said. "Which I doubt," said he.
Re: Getting past the interface.
Thanks Alot 
And thanks for the great work on balance mod
Re: Getting past the interface.
It would be nice at least to have a quick close for the menus like right click or something. An alternative for Esc button. It is frustrating to close them from "close" button all the time.. (or keep your hand at Esc all the time)
Re: Getting past the interface.
You can shrink the images in lists/log by clicking on the column header. You can also make custom headers for each of the list windows, although there is no horizontal scroll, so you can't add too many columns in a custom layout.
There are lots of shortcuts with the right click button, particularly in the list screens where you can easily apply filters etc.
I also recommend in settings.txt to disable alpha sorting on components. You can use shift+click to place multiple components on a design.
You can reduce the size of the "tool tips" in the options menu.
It's difficult to get used to after playing SE4, but I've found over time that I can work quickly with the interface. There's still a few sticky areas, particularly with the display of units in cargo - but most of the worst offenders have been gobbled up in patches.
Space Empires Depot | SE:V Balance Mod