FIRAXIS: How To Fix The Ministers

[Purple]

Very good thread.

I wish the Advisor screens were sticky when you reposition them.
On my monitor the advisor screens are sometimes shifted rightward just enough that when I pull down the menu, the scroll bar on the right is off the screen, obliging me to close the menu, move the advisor screen to the left, then reopen the menu. Tedious!

Also, stickiness would let you slide it the screen upward, revealing more map and hiding the advisors' pictures.

[Cesa]

Originally posted by Lucilla
histograph
- When selecting power or culture from the drop down, show the corresponding ranking on the right hand side.

I've been wanting this since I checked that screen for the first time!

[lockstep]

Re: FIRAXIS: How To Fix The Ministers

Originally posted by UberKruX
Assimilation Warning
every city should have 2 bars, the current one (culture build up) and a new one, "Risk of Revolting". It would have to be determined by a bunch of factors, namely according to the bordering civ. The total cultures of both civs would have to be compared, the cultures of bordering cities, the whole thing. You guys are the pros here, think up an algorithm.

Excellent idea. I just might add that Firaxis wouldn't need to 'think up' anything - the probability that a certain city defects to another civ in the next turn is already part of the game.

[civman2000]

you can reposition the advisors???

[wrylachlan]

Also in the foreign advisor screen -

Put embassy creation and espionage into the foreign relations screen. It's kind of stupid that I have to search around on the map to find the pentagon to do espionage. It should be linked right from the advisor screen, maybe you right click on the portrait and it gives you the option to establish embassy or plant spy.

Also, if there is a spy in another civ, you should see that in the advisor screen. In the same way that civ's with embassies have that little yellow dot, there should be something for spies. In a perfect world, the dot would be replaced by a small icon that looks like an embassy, espionage would be a spy icon, and your civ info screen could be maybe a scroll or something, and each of these icons would be at the bottom of the portrait. Click embassy for trade, spy for espionage, and scroll for info - simple, easy to understand, elegant.

In Military advisor -

I'm sure this is pie in the sky, but how about a "Set Staging Area" command, where you can choose a city, and all new military units automatically go there when produced. Especially in the late game this would save a ton of micromanagement.

I don't know if this can be done since the rumor going around is that the AI doesn't really understand borders, but... I would love to have the military advisor warn me when an enemy is massing on the border. Here's the scenario - it is the late game in a huge map, the ai turn takes five minutes. I go get a coke, play a game of solitaire, come back, take a quick look at my production, see how longevity is coming, etc. Turn over. What I didn't notice is that the AI during its turn had moved a stack of 100 units to just their side of the border. I could've seen them if I'd looked, but tracing every inch of my border on a huge map is a ton of micromanagement. If the military advisor was doing his job he would have warned me - "Sir, the Romans are massing near Hyderabad" and I could have taken appropriate action. Again, it just saves on micromanagement.

trade advisor -

being able to see who is getting what resources from whom. Amen brother. That would be increadibly useful. It would also make embargos very useful, less hit and miss.


There are a ton of really great suggestions in this thread.

[OldCharlie]

Would be nice on the Culture Advisor, where the buildings are shown with the total culture they have contributed to also show the rate at which they are currently adding to the total per turn number. Only way now is to try to count the "notes" on the domestic advisor screen. A little impractical when the number gets big.

Lot a good suggestions here.

[kring]

Originally posted by wrylachlan
Also in the foreign advisor screen -

Put embassy creation and espionage into the foreign relations screen. It's kind of stupid that I have to search around on the map to find the pentagon to do espionage. It should be linked right from the advisor screen, maybe you right click on the portrait and it gives you the option to establish embassy or plant spy.

I don't know if this can be done since the rumor going around is that the AI doesn't really understand borders, but... I would love to have the military advisor warn me when an enemy is massing on the border. Here's the scenario - it is the late game in a huge map, the ai turn takes five minutes. I go get a coke, play a game of solitaire, come back, take a quick look at my production, see how longevity is coming, etc. Turn over. What I didn't notice is that the AI during its turn had moved a stack of 100 units to just their side of the border. I could've seen them if I'd looked, but tracing every inch of my border on a huge map is a ton of micromanagement. If the military advisor was doing his job he would have warned me - "Sir, the Romans are massing near Hyderabad" and I could have taken appropriate action. Again, it just saves on micromanagement.

On Espionage, can't you use the "E" on the right side of the Unit Box? Also, how about some way to determine if they are planning a sneak attack? Massing of troops on the border is a great sign, ala Civ 2; even if they are polite. I can't recall how many times the Polite civ sends troops either to my borders or next to my cities and then attacks.

I agree on the Military Advisor. I keep units active along the various edges of my borders for this reason, as well as to notice when I lose some territory to another civ's culture.

Cultural Advisor:

Maybe just on the map: Our cultural influence is shrinking. This would help prevent trespassing when the border flips. I used to find this out when Cleo would say I was trespassing, and I would have to track down the unit.

[Alex]

Good suggestions.

What I miss the most is an informative intelligence screen. Something that could inform me how many cities the enemy has, what techs he discovered so far, etc.

I also support the trade advisor enhancements. I'd like to see who trades what resource with whom. That is simply one of the most important strategic information you could have in the game.

Let's hope Firaxis listens to this.

[Inverse Icarus]

i have sent a link to this thread to Dan Magaha... cause i like him the best out of all firaxis

sorry soren and mike.

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Sorry Uber, but Jeff is the guy you should send this to. I'm working on other projects now and he is "The Man" as respects all things Civ III...

Dan

[Steve Clark]

The problem, Uber, is that the last time "we" sent a list of fixes to Firaxis, "we" wanted them not make Civ 2.5 but a revolutionary game. Now you and others have been, over the past 6 months, imploring them to bring back many of the Civ2 features? How can they not respond by throwing their hands up in the hair and muttering under their breaths?

Excellent list, by the way.

[Purple]

Originally posted by civman2000
you can reposition the advisors???

Yeah. Just click and drag near the top of the box. But the next time it pops up, it will go back.

[Mikhail]

Well, I actually like the web myself, as it's pretty easy to get the jist of everything at a glance, however, I've been using the D - Diplomacy screen a lot recently too.

Unless they manage to fit 16 spaces on the web (so you don't have to switch out) I'd go back to the Intelligence screen.

great ideas uber

[Inverse Icarus]

the good ideas flow on.

[w0ot]

It annoys me to no end that the web isn't ever complete. I always play Huge civ games and even when I eliminate a civ, the others won't show up on the web (unless the game's down to say 8 civs). I recently went to war with the Aztecs and went to use my diplomatic connections to get everyone else to go to war with them. Turns out they were at war with 3 of those civs already. I didn't know who their allies were either. I'd have liked to know that....