Suggestions for giving orders and menu navigation

I don’t see a whole lot of suggestions about these aspects of the game and frankly, I’m surprised. Not that giving orders and navigating menus confuses me. I know how to get from one menu to the next and how to tell my frigates to hump my cruisers etc. But, the methods for giving orders and getting to specific menus (particularly after a battle) are in desperate need of improvement.

Take, for example, escorts and formations. I highlight the units, click the order, set the target, then the distance. Why can’t I set the distance first? The option is there, but it resets when I set the target. That’s just a small gripe though. The whole system for giving orders is inefficient and uncomfortable. While it has depth, it lacks intuitiveness. Here’s how I’d much rather do things.

Do away with the whole add order thing, or at least supplement it. Just have a complete list of the orders visible at all times. The ones currently assigned to the selected ships(s) would be highlighted. To add or remove an order, double click on it. To edit an order, right click. Additionally, you should be able to mass deploy orders similar to how you place ships. Click on an order, edit it, then highlight/click on every ship you want to have that order. For target based orders, just click on a ship and drag towards the target. If multiple ships are selected then clicking and dragging from any of them will assign the target to all of them.

Selecting ships by order would be nice too. Right click an order, click select ships, and all the ships with that order will be selected. Additionally, I would like to be able to see a ship’s orders and edit them by right clicking the ship if I so chose.

The priority sliders really don’t work they way I think they should. When I make fighters a higher priority that frigates, I want them to attack the fighters first, then frigates. But no matter what I set it to, even 100%, they still attack whatever they see first if it’s given any kind of priority. What I want is for them to clear the screen of fighters before even thinking about the frigates. But now I have to delete the frigate order altogether if I want the fighters destroyed. But then they don’t attack the frigates at all afterwards.

I’d love to be able assign default deployments to missions. I haven’t yet figured out why it keeps auto loading some out-dated deployment that I’ve long since saved over whenever I start a mission. Also, can I please be able to delete deployments?

As far as menu navigation goes, why can’t I go straight back to the deployment menu after winning a battle? If I can, it’s not obvious. All I’m given are a few arbitrary options. Also, please don’t make me use the back button. Just give me a list of the menus so I can go anywhere from anywhere.

Oh, and fix the mouse. It’s just a small complaint but it’s really drifty and that can get annoying when I’m trying to make some quick and precise clicks. The sensitivity’s got nothing to do with it. High or low, I have to take a second to make sure the cursor is on top of what I want to click. When I stop moving the mouse, the cursor should just plain STOP, not slow down a bit first.

This game is fun and has great potential. I understand this is a WIP but unless the deployment and menu navigation get some serious make-overs, I will not be able to recommend this game for purchase.

Good feedback, cheers. The orders interface is something I’ve used so much I’ve just got used to it, and it does need some serious attention. One of the obectives is to make it not seem too com plex to casual users. This is tricky. Some peoples UI’s for a game like Eve or World of warcraft scare the hell out of newcomers :smiley:

Shift-E is very helpful, I saw someone mention that and just tried it.

I’d like to suggest once you’ve given an Escort order, the “distance” default to whatever it was on the prior order you gave. That way I wouldn’t need to move the slider each time. :slight_smile:

Oh wow, that is exactly what I thought of suggesting. This would be very useful and much easier.