Matrix Games Forums

Ok, now realise should never have put the French fleet here but I have an aborted French unit (the cruiser outside the naval boxes) and need to destroy it as it has no valid path back to a port.

But no idea how to do this? Can't return to the combat screen, game won't progress without moving this unit etc:

you have to fight though the other sea area (west med.) to get to ports in france.

or maybe you can reach Syria without going though a sea area with enemy naval units

If moving a naval unit into a sea zone where enemy units can intercept you need to use CTRL-left-click to go there. If the interception roll misses then you should be able to click the port you want to go to.

If a selected unit can reach a port then pressing F11 should show which ones it can reach. If it cannot, then with the unit selected, press Backspace to destroy it.

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

If moving a naval unit into a sea zone where enemy units can intercept you need to use CTRL-left-click to go there. If the interception roll misses then you should be able to click the port you want to go to.

If a selected unit can reach a port then pressing F11 should show which ones it can reach. If it cannot, then with the unit selected, press Backspace to destroy it.

I knew (most of) these options. But, in defence of the user and from the UX point of view, they are not discoverable. It would be nice for the non-expert user to discover how to do such pretty simple actions through the design itself.

PD: Working in the field of Human Computer Interaction and loving wargames, I have always wondered if there would be a possibility of combining both passions professionally. Although I'm afraid wargames developing teams are too small to integrate to add anything to the development process.

F11 appears not to be documented, I guess a small oversight considering everything that's built into the game. It has been mentioned in the forums here several times.

CTRL-left-click and backspace functionality are described under the main menu - Help/Keyboard commands/ which encompasses almost everything available except F11, AFAIK.

In any event there was no intent to attack the user, but rather to provide assistance.

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

F11 appears not to be documented, I guess a small oversight considering everything that's built into the game. It has been mentioned in the forums here several times.

CTRL-left-click and backspace functionality are described under the main menu - Help/Keyboard commands/ which encompasses almost everything available except F11, AFAIK.

In any event there was no intent to attack the user, but rather to provide assistance.

thanks to all above, the willingness to deal with pretty basic questions is much appreciated. I realise the left-click issue is in the videos but I have watched them all twice and dip into them as I play.

Its not a criticism (in the sense that its clear how MWIF is set up) but there are a few bits where replicating the board game onto a computer can sometimes make relatively simple tasks a real struggle in the early stages.

many thanks

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

F11 appears not to be documented, I guess a small oversight considering everything that's built into the game. It has been mentioned in the forums here several times.

CTRL-left-click and backspace functionality are described under the main menu - Help/Keyboard commands/ which encompasses almost everything available except F11, AFAIK.

I mean they are not discoverable, you can't discover it from the game screen unless you go to the manual, menus or forums.

ORIGINAL: paulderynck
In any event there was no intent to attack the user, but rather to provide assistance.

Absolutely. I meant that the best design supports the user against errors. Thanks for your help and support in the forums!

ORIGINAL: paulderynck
CTRL-left-click and backspace functionality are described under the main menu - Help/Keyboard commands/ which encompasses almost everything available except F11, AFAIK.

FWIW, I took a few minutes to capture screenshots of the Help/Keyboard and Mouse Commands and saved them to a PDF as a players aid. I'm surprised these aren't already available to print out? Perhaps Steve can include this as a file in the \Manuals folder, or he or someone else could improve upon it as a printable players aid. There's a lot of tricks to remember!

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ORIGINAL: pzgndr

ORIGINAL: paulderynck
CTRL-left-click and backspace functionality are described under the main menu - Help/Keyboard commands/ which encompasses almost everything available except F11, AFAIK.

FWIW, I took a few minutes to capture screenshots of the Help/Keyboard and Mouse Commands and saved them to a PDF as a players aid. I'm surprised these aren't already available to print out? Perhaps Steve can include this as a file in the \Manuals folder, or he or someone else could improve upon it as a printable players aid. There's a lot of tricks to remember!

Section 11.6 of the Players Manual volume 2 describes the mouse and keyboard commands in more detail than the 'forms' that can be called up from within the game. The 'forms' condense a lot of stuff onto a few pages, which require some deciphering on the part of the reader. The text in the Players Manual should be easier to understand.

The 'forms' are generated by software/code so I can modify them whenever necessary. Stuff in the manuals was prepared ~6 months before the game was released, so they could be printed in time for the game's release.

One of the banes of software is that as the software changes, the printed material doesn't. That has been a problem for me for the last 50 years.

F11 was a software development/debugging aid that I polished up somewhat and 'announced' its availability. Originally, only the beta testers had access to it. Note that not all keyboards support F11, so making it part of the game was something I did reluctantly - since some customers wouldn't be able to use it.