Turn messages

[Whitering]

This may be a really stupid question, but first, my introduction

I have been playing SMAC since release and dutifully pre-ordered the expansion way back when, it is one of the games I go back to over and over. Some of my other long term favourites:

1) Conquest of the New World
2) Master of Orion series
3) Warlords series
4) Fantasy General
5) Diablo series (sometimes feel the need to beat stuff up after work).

New to Apolyton, thanks for having me.

Now for the question, those little yellow messages that pop up onto the world map at the beginning of the turn, such as the Drones have signed a Treaty of Friendship with the Hive, or whatever...well those messages disappear too fast, I am normally cycling through dozens of maintenance screens as soon as my turn starts so I never get to read them.

Is there any screen where they are listed or any way to have them appear in the text box? I have never found a way.

[Ka Plewy]

Under the Game Menu, Warning Preferences you can mark Stop for Drone Riots...
If you meant the messages where it shows the faction dominance, click on the M to get back to Messages.

[Clear Skies]

I keep meaning to ask this too. Several times now I've had factions combine forces against me and haven't noticed until I clicked the commlink menu. It was fine on my old PII 233, but on this machine the end-of-turn pause barely lasts a second and then all the messages get obliterated by popup after popup. If I don't deal with all the popups in time, I don't get to find out what happened that turn :/ since some of the things that appear there (diplomatic messages, enemy terraforming, etc.) vanish before I get there.

[Petek]

One of the options under Game Preferences is "Pause at end of turn". If you check this option, the game will not continue until you hit the Enter key.

[Dis]

yep, I always configure it to only end the turn when I press the Enter key.

And after all the popups clear, press the M key (in the center window at the bottom of the screen) to see the messages.

[Clear Skies]

IIRC, don't the yellow messages occur during the upkeep phase, after the end of the turn? I mean, I have had turns end by disbanding a unit or whatever, triggering the 'Turn Complete' prompt, but that doesn't solve the problem - the messages appear after I hit the button. And Diss, I'm talking about messages that specifically don't appear in the Messages subscreen - interfactional diplomacy usw.

[Dis]

you might need to learn to read faster then

[Whitering]

You can't read them at all because of all the upkeep pop ups that appear right over top of them.

The end of turn thing, well, I suppose I will look at that, but my turns don't end automatically, I have to press that button. The popups of which I speak do indeed come onscreen at "the beginning" of my turn. You know the ones, formers have altered the rainfall patterns near Alpha Prime. Those little yellow ones do not appear in the message box you come to when you select the M, unless there is some option to put them there, which is what I am asking about.

[Clear Skies]

Originally posted by Dissident
you might need to learn to read faster then

Screw you too

I considered using the CPU killer I use to run WipEout2097, but that would just be annoying. especially since I like to have WinAmp running alongside SMAC :/

The only possibility I can really think of is to turn off all the popups (so the messages can be read) and thereafter use the 'message' screen to navigate the end-of-turn 'problems' (as previously popped-up). It'd be a hideous tradeoff, but, *shrug*, it's one way to do it.

[Ka Plewy]

I really don't find those messages all that useful.
If someone's formers altered my rainfall patterns, I really don't care too much (I usually have condenser farms by this time).

[Whitering]

They are more points of interest that I would like to catch but never seem able to. It would just be nice to know.

[BlackCat]

You can move the blocking popup with the mouse, but be quick - those damn messages dissapears quickly.

[Clear Skies]

Originally posted by Ka Plewy
I really don't find those messages all that useful.

Well, I admit they're not earth-shatteringly important, but it's nice to know if an erstwhile ally has suddenly upped and betrayed you. Sometimes I don't find out until one of my formers is happily wandering along and gets squished by someone I thought I was at treaty with.

If someone's formers altered my rainfall patterns, I really don't care too much (I usually have condenser farms by this time).

True, but it usually means someone's raising land. I hate the AI doing this - it seems to think 'ooh, goody, more territory!' and then go around raising every square it can get its greedy little paws on. I like to know who's doing it so I can a) find out where and b) shove a sea base next to the ersatz mountain so I can stop them.

...I need to remember to mod my alphatxt so as to push back raise/lower land a couple of miles up the tech tree

[Clear Skies]

Originally posted by BlackCat
You can move the blocking popup with the mouse, but be quick - those damn messages dissapears quickly.

...if that's the case, I am unutterably stupid

(As usual.)

[Dis]

Originally posted by BlackCat
You can move the blocking popup with the mouse, but be quick - those damn messages dissapears quickly.

I've never tried that. I believe the enter key also gets rid of popups quickly.