Show allies on the HUD

[grävling]

I am finding it too much trouble to check the politics screen every time before I fulfil a commission. It's too full of irrelevant details. I'd like it if the HUD had a way to show 'whom we are currently allied with'. very tiny flags come to mind. 'Whom we are at war with' would be nice to know, it's who are our allies that is crucial.

Actually, I would be in favour of a different politics screen, arranged like a table. Columns of 'allied with' 'trade ban' 'trade war' 'total war'
and the like and then a little flag for each nation under the approprate columns.

Does this description make sense or do I need to draw a picture?

[En1gma]

I like it- it is so difficult to keep track of who is at war with who, trade banning who, etc, I think this would streamline the whole system if we were able to keep track at a glance! Keeping positive reputation is a pain as it is, mostly because it isn't feasible to check the conflict screen every time there is an encounter at sea or when you sell goods.

[fallen]

It would be a pretty complicated read out to put on the HUD I think, especially if you were talking about all conflict types.

[En1gma]

I just looked at the HUD and what popped out to me was the space between the wind indicator and the text where it says the map coordinates and area you are in... The text box could theoretically be squished slightly to add a shortcut icon directly to the conflict page. Wouldn't be too intrusive, not where anyone will accidentally press on it, yet easily accessible if you need it.

Personally I would use this page quite frequently. This game is a political beast sometimes and I know I lose track of the conflicts far too easily, especially when the toasts only last for a couple seconds, so you attack someone and burn their ship only to find out that negatively affects a faction I want to keep in good graces with.

[En1gma]

Unless there is a way to add a line to the commissions concerning the status of the factions involved. Just something quick if there is a total war. The same could be done on the merchant screen involving trade bans, or on ship encounters that involve commerce raiding etc. I'm sure that's quite a bit of work to coordinate everything, but could really help in the long run... If you knew that attacking a certain factions merchants would improve reputation with your own faction our your allies you might be more inclined to make a move, same with spy battles. Many other of the games finer points could be better utilized, imo

[grävling]

Here I have hacked up in the GIMP -- very rough work, just to get the concept across -- what I would like to see. I've added a new button with a cannon on it -- under the idea that diplomacy is simply war by other means. I don't own the rights to that image of the cannon, so you had better not copy it -- not that you would as you can make much more attractive art anyway. The flags aren't perfectly lined up, there probably should be more vertical space between the rows, etc. I just went paste, paste, paste and eyeballed it. The flags make no logical sense, this is just about how the display might look.

When you click on the new button, the screen looks like this. Click it again and the table goes away. People with small screens will get most of their screen eaten by the table, but people with large ones might even want to sail around with the table open, if it would update as the political situation changes. Maybe that is too much work.

I am not sure that covering the onscreen Dpad arrows is a good idea. I wanted to get the idea out quickly, not think about it some more.

As it stands now, despite the misleading flag of Kaihmer in the table under alliance, 'relative to my faction' is assumed in the table. These are the factions that are allied with me, at total war with me, etc. A real table would never show the flag of your faction. So there is no way on this table to show that the Cadari and Rueslanders are allied, if you are a Kaihmer captain. This would be fine with me -- what I really want to know is what ships I may not fire on right now without facing extreme penalties from my government, but perhaps others would like a way to show these relations as well on the table? I am fine with using the long screen for that, or the information you get when you meet them at sea. Hearing that the Cadari and Rueslanders have an alliance while I know we are allied with the Cadari will tell me precisely what I need to know about the desirability of sinking that Rueslander Pirate I just sighted ...

[hlo]

Please keep in mind many of us play on a smart phone. The lack of screen real estate will not suggestion an obstruction.....

[grävling]

I tried this on my Samsung Galaxy, and it fit. I wouldn't want to play with it visible all the time, but it fits a whole lot easier than the world/conflict screen, which you need to scroll.