First Impressions, from those who have the game

[Gedrin]

Minimize buttons are superfluous.
alt-esc sends the current app to the background so why bother?

Gedrin

[Dogbreath]

Really! I just use it for videos now! Amazing how long a TV can last (16+ years). Also amazing is how much time I have for games!!! :-)

[vlad]

Well my main point on the ICQ thing is intended for multiplayer applications and yes I would like to see it and the CTP screen at the same time,again chat between turns on MP is normal with civ2 which is the world I am coming from. The game itself is pretty good, actually better in some ways than I thought, but after a few hours play I can see it doesn't have the addictive draw that civ2 or classic games like Panzer General had.I doubt I will return it, but if some Aussie or Euro Apolytoner wants to buy it from me I will send it

[MarkG]

quote: Originally posted by meabbott on 11-17-2000 12:09 AM There is no obvious way to tell if there are any units that haven’t been given orders.

click on the terrain to deselect and hit "n" or hit "u"(i think)

quote: On a related note, there is no easy way to tell what units are in a particular square and what state (active, fortified, sentinel, etc).

at least for the first one, click on the little arrow next to the current unit's name on the unti tab of the control panel

quote: I don’t understand the purpose of the unit manager since all it seems to do is list the number of any given type of units you have.

some day you might need it

for unit managment on a tile use the army manager(right-click)

quote: The city manager is much better, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to list the cities and see who is building what – you have to scroll through each one individually.

empire manager(F2), status tab

quote: I further don’t understand why the minimize button is not on the screen. Is this not a Windows application?

how many games are not full screen and dont have a minimize button?
alt-tab, ctrl-esc work...

[Atahualpa]

Thanks Markos, answering the last one was really important!! If there was no empire manager where I would see all cities listed I wouldnt buy the game!

ATa

[Rainstorm]

Meabbot, I believe it has been said above, but the F2 key is the one I use almost all the time to manage production, the status tab will show you all cities, what they are producing, and how many turns to go. The other tab will show you current figures for production, science, etc, so you can compare your numbers.

[Tilemacho]

quote: Originally posted by meabbott on 11-17-2000 12:09 AM There is no obvious way to tell if there are any units that haven’t been given orders. If, for example, you do something on a city, there is no easy way to get back into the unit orders mode...

If you press "o" then the next unit available becomes selected no matter where you are! I don't remember seeing that somewhere but I remember it from CTP1

You must be careful because there are many things not spotted at first sight

[This message has been edited by Tilemacho (edited November 17, 2000).]

[Ralf]

quote: Originally posted by meabbott on 11-17-2000 12:09 AM Same thing with cities. I appreciate that the city names turn yellow,...

Two minor Yes/No type of questions that im almost embarrassed to ask, but its nethertheless important for a dedicated micro-manager, like myself.
I previously got the info that if a city doesnt have any orders left, the map will automatically re-center to that city (if auto-cycle is turned on) at the end of that turn.

1: Does the same apply to units without orders?

2: The name of the city/unit turns yellow, i know. How about blinking? Does "yellow" cities blink? Does units blink?

[meabbott]

quote: Originally posted by MarkG on 11-17-2000 02:08 AM Originally posted by meabbott on 11-17-2000 12:09 AM There is no obvious way to tell if there are any units that haven’t been given orders.

click on the terrain to deselect and hit "n" or hit "u"(i think)

Thanks, I will try it. It is not really an acceptable way for a game to handle turn to turn operations like this, but if it gets me through the game, good.

quote: On a related note, there is no easy way to tell what units are in a particular square and what state (active, fortified, sentinel, etc).

at least for the first one, click on the little arrow next to the current unit's name on the unti tab of the control panel

Again, this is a turn to turn operation. I don't see the purpose of pressing a button to get information that should be immediately displayed.

quote: I don’t understand the purpose of the unit manager since all it seems to do is list the number of any given type of units you have.

some day you might need it

for unit managment on a tile use the army manager
(right-click)

Need it for what? It only seems to do one useful thing. I will try the unit management function.

quote: The city manager is much better, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to list the cities and see who is building what – you have to scroll through each one individually.

empire manager(F2), status tab

Thanks, will try it.

quote: I further don’t understand why the minimize button is not on the screen. Is this not a Windows application?

how many games are not full screen and dont have a minimize button?
alt-tab, ctrl-esc work...