Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game which models a "living galaxy" with incredible options for replayability and customizability. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. Now greatly enhanced with the new Universe release, which includes all four previous releases as well as the new Universe expansion!

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WoodMan
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Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by WoodMan »

Hi all! I touched on this in another thread but decided to start a new thread as it could generate quite a lot of discussion/suggestions.

In RotS we were given a research speed slider, this is great. Here is my suggestions for other sliders that I think would be good, basically, my ideal Galaxy Setup screen.

Fuel Consumption Slider

I find the fuel system in the game fine. However, I have seen a lot of new players recently saying the fuel system should be scrapped, basically because their ships are running out of fuel and they think it requires too much management. The Fuel Consumption slider would perhaps have the following options:

100% 75% 50% 25%

100% is what we have currently, at the other settings this is the % rate at which all fuel across the galaxy is consumed. So someone who doesn't like managing fuel can set it to 50%, someone like me who thinks its fine can leave it at 100%.

Hyperdrive Speed Slider

Again, 100% is what we currently have. Other options could be 25%, 50%, 75% and 200%. People can then adjust the speed down (which is what most people have asked, in fact I've never seen anyone ask for it to be faster, but I threw in 200% just in case if for some reason someone wanted faster hyperspeeds.

Construction Speed Slider

I have seen a couple of people mention that construction speed is a bit fast. If I had the choice I would also lower it myself. Again 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% (current) and 200% would probably be good options.

Galaxy Size Slider

I know this is unlikely as its been requested for a long time and may cause performance issues on some computers. Also, Hyperdrive Speed Slider would somewhat compensate for the lack of this slider. But basically a way to increase or decrease the size of the galaxy. (Not number of stars). I'm also aware that this may lead to problems with the galaxy backdrop image. Overall, Hyperdrive Speed Slider would be better if we just get one, but this would be a cool slider if it was doable.

What do you think? Discuss and suggest away!

Also, sorry if all this was already covered elsewhere [:D]

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Simulation01
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Simulation01 »

I agree with all of it.  You took nothing away from the game and added choices, which is always a good thing IMHO. 

With regards to your last point ( Galaxy Size Slider ) I agree that should have been how the game worked from day one, however....as you said trying to add this would probably require a lot of work and may have to be part of a new incarnation of the entire game..something like Distant Worlds 2.  A mere patch may not be able to give us this.  However, when DW 2 comes out I would like it to be 3D and to incorporate a lot of the awesome idea's put forward in the wish-list thread.....there are too many to list and a lot can be implemented in a patch or expansion.

At any rate...as I said +1 to the entire list of suggestions Woodman.[:)]
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Raap
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Raap »

Excellent suggestions all of them, though I would add that they be like the research cost slider; i.e. not just a slider, but also a number you can input manually( say, between 1 and 200 % or something like that).
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OzoneGrif_slith
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by OzoneGrif_slith »

Those sliders are very good ideas. I think the game is slightly too fast to my taste too, and slowing down hyperdrive and construction would make decisions and strategy much more interesting.
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EisenHammer
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by EisenHammer »

I like all of the suggestions. the Galaxy Size Slider I would like to see the most.
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gmot
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by gmot »

WoodMan a very good list of suggestions and I like your approach of using sliders to allow players to customize the game experience to their own liking. I hope Codeforce looks into this.

I would definitely set the Hyperdrive and Construction speed sliders slower - the hyperdrive one in particular. I feel like it should take a lot longer to explore the whole galaxy!
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Data
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Data »

great ideea and range of options, did you put this on the wishlist also? wondering if we could also do some polling, as in the modder wishlist, to let elliot know what are the most desired features by the entire community....this should be one of them, especially as you said for new players (it will also make the game more attractive to them)
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Shark7 »

ORIGINAL: WoodMan

Hi all! I touched on this in another thread but decided to start a new thread as it could generate quite a lot of discussion/suggestions.

In RotS we were given a research speed slider, this is great. Here is my suggestions for other sliders that I think would be good, basically, my ideal Galaxy Setup screen.

Fuel Consumption Slider

I find the fuel system in the game fine. However, I have seen a lot of new players recently saying the fuel system should be scrapped, basically because their ships are running out of fuel and they think it requires too much management. The Fuel Consumption slider would perhaps have the following options:

100% 75% 50% 25%

100% is what we have currently, at the other settings this is the % rate at which all fuel across the galaxy is consumed. So someone who doesn't like managing fuel can set it to 50%, someone like me who thinks its fine can leave it at 100%.

Hyperdrive Speed Slider

Again, 100% is what we currently have. Other options could be 25%, 50%, 75% and 200%. People can then adjust the speed down (which is what most people have asked, in fact I've never seen anyone ask for it to be faster, but I threw in 200% just in case if for some reason someone wanted faster hyperspeeds.

Construction Speed Slider

I have seen a couple of people mention that construction speed is a bit fast. If I had the choice I would also lower it myself. Again 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% (current) and 200% would probably be good options.

Galaxy Size Slider

I know this is unlikely as its been requested for a long time and may cause performance issues on some computers. Also, Hyperdrive Speed Slider would somewhat compensate for the lack of this slider. But basically a way to increase or decrease the size of the galaxy. (Not number of stars). I'm also aware that this may lead to problems with the galaxy backdrop image. Overall, Hyperdrive Speed Slider would be better if we just get one, but this would be a cool slider if it was doable.

What do you think? Discuss and suggest away!

Also, sorry if all this was already covered elsewhere [:D]



+1 on all

Also

Galaxy size slider = Map Dimensions Slider. IE the current 10 x 10 sector is what we have, I'd like to see the options for 5 x 5, 10 x 10 (normal), 15 x 15, or 20 x 20. Anything larger than 20 x 20 would be too large IMO.
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Setekh
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Setekh »

20x20 would be mega,  that would give us fuel micro-managers some work to do.
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Shark7 »

ORIGINAL: Setekh

20x20 would be mega,  that would give us fuel micro-managers some work to do.

I don't think I'd be playing the 20 x 20, but some of you probably would. 15 x 15 would likely be big enough for me...hard to keep an eny on things when you can't even see half the map. [:D]
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PDiFolco
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by PDiFolco »

Hum let s add a "fuel range multiplier" slider then (25-200%)!!
Early tech ships able to cross the galaxy aren t my taste!
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J HG T
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by J HG T »

Agreed on all. galaxy size slider is what I want most.
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Igard
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Igard »

+1 on the above. Great suggestions.

I can understand not posting on the wishlists as I'm starting to wonder if the suggestions are getting buried. Remember the troop invasion debate had it's own thread and it's made it into the new beta patch.

I was thinking about starting a top 10 poll for the modders wishlist, but I think it would be nice to have a top 10 poll for the master wishlist as well. It would give Elliot an idea as to what the players want prioritised.
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Data
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Data »

most needed, indeed
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Hetulik »

I like these ideas +1
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adecoy95
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by adecoy95 »

i like the construction slider option, it seems that ships build in a month or two, and that's pretty fast considering it takes years to build ships today

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/ ... /index.htm
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Shark7 »

ORIGINAL: adecoy95

i like the construction slider option, it seems that ships build in a month or two, and that's pretty fast considering it takes years to build ships today

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/ ... /index.htm

Depends on the necessity and whether it is to merchant or naval standards.

During WWII, Kaiser shipbuilding set the record, producing 1 Liberty ship in 4 days...this was not the norm, but a time of less than 45 days was average. That is 45 days or less to build a cargo ship from keel up.

When it comes to warships, the USN could put a Carrier or a BB in commission in 2 years of the time it was laid down, faster for smaller combattants. Even the Japanese (whose shipbuilding program was horribly inefficient) could put a destroyer into commission in about 1 year from the time the keel was laid down. Both countries got faster (even with the Japanese being starved for resources) as the war progressed.

Basically, the civilian shipyards in DW are pretty good for the time it takes. Merchant ships are not hardened, compartmentalized or reinforced the way a warship is. 20 to 40 days for a freighter to build in game is not unreasonable. Where I do see a possible need for a slowdown is warship construction.
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by BigWolfChris »

ORIGINAL: Shark7

ORIGINAL: Setekh

20x20 would be mega,  that would give us fuel micro-managers some work to do.

I don't think I'd be playing the 20 x 20, but some of you probably would. 15 x 15 would likely be big enough for me...hard to keep an eny on things when you can't even see half the map. [:D]


Tbf, if the tech tree were extended good enough, I would happily play on larger than 20x20
Of course, aspects of the UI to help with navigating the map would be needed as well

But then, I love epic and would love to be able to play a single save for weeks if not months
And for giggles... 100 stars on a 20x20 maps = 1 star to every 4 sectors
Fun? who knows... but I'd defiantly try it for kicks haha

Edit: Just thought, with the 100 star map, it'd have to be in clusters as well, boy would that take planning to get from cluster to cluster haha
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by Raap »

Yeah, that's what would be so great about these sorts of sliders. They'd allow you to really try 'new' things with the game. There might be slight concern about how the AI would handle such settings though, but from what I've seen it's rather flexible. I suspect the only real problem would be that it( or the standard ship designs) might not handle fuel management well enough for such types of games.
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RE: Slider Suggestions for New Game Screen

Post by fflaguna »

More options NEVER hurt. I really want hyperdrive speed, fuel consumption, and galaxy size sliders. The current galaxy is waaay too small. This would add much more replayability... right now I colonize the universe too quickly.
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