Player control indicators

[AntiHaze]

So this goes along with adding the ability to see the latest planet information for another player without having a ship actually being there (which has been mentioned in other threads):

The biggest problem I have with this game is that there are very poor visual cues. It makes it hard to flesh out a sweeping strategy when you have little visual information to go by. Think of the Civilization series. They show you clear boundaries where your civ ends geographically and another begins.

Obviously the way we think of boundaries in EotE is different because you can simply circumvent someone else's sector to get to your sector behind it. But I would like to be able to see some basic information about mine and another player's area of control. By using the information discovered as to who owns what planets, add the ability to click on a player from the Relations list and see which sectors they currently (according to the latest information you have gathered) have planets. This could be shown by having a zoomed out sector map (the 25x25 one) and flashing red on whatever sectors they have planets.

This could be made even more useful by adding another level of cooperation to the relations menu. By adding some kind of feature that allows players to share map data, it would allow a player to more accurately determine strategy based on current control of the map. This brings about a problem with people sharing data inadvertently with the wrong people (eg, A is friends with and shares map info with B and B is friends with and shares map info with C, but A and C are enemies and don't want their contributed map info to B being shared with one another), but the other way to do this would be some kind of higher tier tech that is accessible in each tree that allows you to always see who owns what (but not necessarily what ships and orbitals are at each planet). Think of the GPS technology in Civilization which gives you a constant view of the entire map. It may give away where you are, but at that point in the game, it is necessary to see what's going on to have a somewhat competent strategy.

But first things first: allow the ability to see the name and owner of a planet after you have been there. For crying out loud, this is the age of interstellar trade. I should be able to remember the name of the planet I just visited.

[zarkwizard]

Something we have in the game is what we call system sovereignty. This basically can tell us how owns the majority of a system. So if there are 6 planets and someone owns 2 and someone else owns 1 the player that owns 2 would have system sovereignty.

That could be used to color the map to a certain extent. Realistically we wouldn't be able to provide all players with their own color. I would think you might have a few colors, like - at peace, embargo, at war, and then a color for you. We could probably have some kind of display that could show sectors like that. Then the top level map would use those same colors, but it would show what there is most of in a sector area.

ie if you have 55% at war the galactic sector would show as the at war color, just as if you were the primary owner of a galactic section it would show you your color.

As for the planet names, you want to be able to look at a sector you went through and be able to click on the planet and see it's name, or are you referring to a list of "Encountered" planets that have basic information on the planets you have encountered in a specific game. So then you could create a colony ship, look at your encountered say terran planets, click on it and send your ship directly there?

Let me know your thoughts. I like the idea of both of those.

[GeeWhiz]

First step would be that a planet has a tag of the owner name based on last ship in that sector.

I would also like the abilty to color sectors myself or place a letter symbol (so I could place a C in a sector that I want to colonize or O for outpost or W for War

[AntiHaze]

That could be used to color the map to a certain extent. Realistically we wouldn't be able to provide all players with their own color. I would think you might have a few colors, like - at peace, embargo, at war, and then a color for you. We could probably have some kind of display that could show sectors like that. Then the top level map would use those same colors, but it would show what there is most of in a sector area.

What I'm describing is more of a temporary superimposition on the 25x25 map. I would select a player from my Relations list, press a button (called, say, "Known Empire"), and it would show you every place that player has known ownership of a planet on the 25x25 map with some sort of flashing indicator. You could then press 'cancel' to go back to the normal view or 'relations' to select another player you want to observe. I think it would be a useful visual measure of the approximate size of a player's empire, so you could keep tabs on them.

you want to be able to look at a sector you went through and be able to click on the planet and see it's name

Yes, and also the planet's output of minerals, the type of planet (sometime's I mistake a water planet for a terran planet; this will change with more experience, but it will make it easier for newer players), who owned it the last time I saw it, and whatever ships/orbitals were surrounding that planet the last time I was there. Basically, whatever information was available when I had a ship there, I want it available after I leave as a form of "snapshot". It may not be the same once I return to that planet, but it will give me a good idea of what to expect.

a list of "Encountered" planets that have basic information on the planets you have encountered in a specific game. So then you could create a colony ship, look at your encountered say terran planets, click on it and send your ship directly there?

This would be helpful as well. You could add it as a separate tab in the Planets menu, perhaps after the "Outposts" tab. You could also put an icon or summary next to every planet on that list which says if I currently have any trade routes with that planet. This would help immensely when trying to plan a new trade route because I currently have no idea which planets are trading unless I click on AI Ships and select each cargo ship/harvester to determine if it is a) harvesting or trading, and b) with which planet. Your idea to identify a terran planet and send a colony ship from that menu would apply perfectly to this situation, considering that currently we have to first send a cargo ship to the planet and establish a trade route once we are there.

[zarkwizard]

This thread has some great ideas in it. I like a lot of the stuff you guys are listing. It's a complex game, and anything to add functionality to the players it really what we want to do.

If you guys have any other thoughts let us know.

[GeeWhiz]

I think it would also help to have the factory list to have various colors.

Example: if have the right tech and you have the right amount of resources - then it is listed as yellow (player knows he or she can build it).

If missing just the tech a different color. The resource example is more important but any little indicators would help when flipping through the empire. I think as the factory list grows during the game - this would help a lot.

Right now an item is in white and I click on it only to learn do not have the right number of resources.

[Marked]

I agree with all of the above. The only one that worries me is being able to see all the areas a player has at the press of a button. As long as this is info from previous probing I'm okay with that but that info should not be updated as it changes unless there has been a probe update as it were. Fog of war is most essential in this game. There is no point to me trying to keep people out oif certain areas if they can pull up all my info on the fly.

[ChickenHawk07]

I agree with all of the above. The only one that worries me is being able to see all the areas a player has at the press of a button. As long as this is info from previous probing I'm okay with that but that info should not be updated as it changes unless there has been a probe update as it were. Fog of war is most essential in this game. There is no point to me trying to keep people out oif certain areas if they can pull up all my info on the fly.

Agreed! That's what I dislike about everyone wanting to see "Encountered" Players Stats. You can get a fairly decent idea of how strong someone is by their stats, if you have half a brain. You should not be able to pull up any info on any planet or system you have not actively scouted. Like Marked said, Fog of war is essential. As it is, if you souct an area, you already can see what they add. I personally think the area should only show what you saw last.