Post by anrdaemon on May 5, 2015 15:45:14 GMT -5
The ship designer doesn't make even the most basic sanity checks.
It is entirely possible to make a design in which the captain will have no idea, how to use the weapons and systems installed. And it is not possible to save design without a weapon, if you don't need one.
I suggest reworking the designer process as follows:
General layout:
Top row: The step count indicator at the top-left, followed by design name, and the button to edit the name after that, followed (given enough screen space) with the caption "Ship designer", which (caption) will truncate right before "Back" button on the top-right.
Bottom row: The ever present indicators:
"Level: X - Mass: Y/Z - Build: Acp + $B; Maint: $C" to the left, may be a little more compressed/abbreviated on the lower resolutions. I.e. "Lv. X; Mass Y/Z; Acp + $B; $C maint" followed by a Prev/Next pair of buttons.The right most side of screen: a talent-like indicator buttons to convey current design details, section help information (when the map is not "tutorial", it is assumed that the user is familiar with basics and don't need a constantly flashing reminder) and any mistakes detected - one button per issue (particularly flashing may be on help to draw attention to the issues).
I don't expect more than 3 buttons up at any time, so there should be no need to scroll or othervise interact with the buttons list itself. Only buttons needs to be clickable to instantly provide a tooltip, like is the ability was already selected.
Remembering the smallest screenshots I saw for HoS, even 4 buttons should fit with thinkering, but I think that 3 is a reasonable restriction for clarity's sake, considering that even with one error the design can not be saved, and 3 buttons allow you to let the user access design summary details and two additional informational notices at once.
Screen 1: Select ship design level.
Full-width, simple scrollback. The very top plate would be description of this step, that will scroll as part of the list to allow for arbitrary length (=plate height) of description on arbitrary device screens.
Selecting one of the levels available and clicking next (or double-tapping the desired level) will bring to a…
Screen 2: Select ship reactor.
Basically the same as Screen 1, with its own description and a simple list of reactors to pick from.
Screen 3: Ship primary armor. Should allow for "None" selection. See #2.
Screen 4: Secondary armor. See #3.
Screen 5: Ship primary weapon slot. See #4.
Screens 6+: Secondary weapon/utility slot. See #5. A set of screens, the actual number depends on the ship class.
Screen 7: Primary crew training (strong primary weapon attack).
Note for ability picking: Basic primary weapon attacks that use zero fuel must be always available, automatically added to the design and not shown in the list of abilities to choose from.Screens 8+: Secondary crew training (strong secondary weapon attack or special ability based on choice of utility modules). The list should be based on all previous selections. (Currently it allow to pick the same training twice. Which is… let's say, not quite right.)
Example of single-picking screen
Notes on side buttons.
The button "STATS" opens a tooltip listing current design stats, including, if exists, current selection.
The button "INFO" only appears if the map IS NOT "Tutorial", and when clicked, displays a tooltip with the information about current choice step. In tutorial, the choice explanation is listed atop the choice list as an additional item - for better clarity.
The button "ERROR" will only appear, if designer go back into previous steps, or a finished design have some major flaw (mass is out of reactor capabilities, for example). the button is flashing until clicked first time. then it should stay put and not annoy the user unnecessarily, unless condition that triggered the error has changed.
What has been missing so far in my post is the ship internal parts allocation, captain skills and the ship visuals.
All of them are not affecting the ship costs and mass as far as I understand it, and by far are the compliments of the previous steps, so I propose to set them for last 3 screens with the following modifications:
Screen 9: Ship parts allocation: all parts by default are assigned to "Durability" ("default pool") and can be spent from it to boost other subsystems. Only sunsystems relevant to ship design are listed (i.e. there will be no "torps" deck listed if the design does not contain torpedo launchers). You can't assign the points to "Durability" (or remove from) directly. All unallocated points automatically flow back into it, and points used to boost other subsystems will be spent from Durability. Durability can't go below 1 point (for the durability's sake!).
Screen 10: Captain's skills allocation. Much like ship parts allocation, pick one skill to be the "default pool" (Piloting comes to mind). Unlike ship parts, default skill can go to zero points, if you so desire.
Screen 11: Final screen that list the design stats (which were present on demand under the "STATS" button in a form of tooltip) and allow you to visually confirm your choice and select proper visual (skin) for the design.
The button "Save" MUST close the current design and return you to the list of active designs.
