Hi All,

Although my time is limited I'm still working on this(!) It will reach the light of day at some point, but I just don't know when!

This Youtube video https://youtu.be/UTo1viy2UOM?list=PLAWNvkDrHeDHNiw2YnT-p5mFwKZ7dOukb shows off its line of sight system as well as the current state of the maps and units including some fatigue and cohesion modelling (these latter two are covered in
other videos).

The main blog documenting the rather slow progress of this game is at: https://ancientarmies.wordpress.com

If you have any questions or anything ideas that you think could improve the game, then let me know :)

RobP
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On Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 5:32:02 PM UTC-7, [email protected] wrote:

Hi All,

Although my time is limited I'm still working on this(!) It will reach the light of day at some point, but I just don't know when!

This Youtube video https://youtu.be/UTo1viy2UOM?list=PLAWNvkDrHeDHNiw2YnT-p5mFwKZ7dOukb shows off its line of sight system as well as the current state of the maps and units including some fatigue and cohesion modelling (these latter two are covered in

other videos).

The main blog documenting the rather slow progress of this game is at: https://ancientarmies.wordpress.com

If you have any questions or anything ideas that you think could improve the game, then let me know :)

RobP

Watched your video and had a few ideas.

1) I saw how you plotted movement for your Leader unit. I would hope that there would be hotkeys to facilitate the process, as it seems to be a pretty common command. Constantly drilling down through a menu tree can be tedious, especially for oft-used
commands.

2) Kudos on the ability to block LOS with another unit.

3) You have a Check LOS function for leaders. It is especially handy feature since it allows the player to check the LOS from a position not currently occupied by the unit. Your Check LOS function appears as a line. What about simulating it as a
shaded area to depict all that can be seen from that position. This is probably more helpful than a single green/red line.

Also, LOS is probably checked often. A hotkey would be handy, instead of forcing a player to constantly sweep the mouse up to the top-left corner pull-down menu and then back to the map.

4) Units are either seen or not seen. As contact is lost with a unit, how about allowing it to fade from sight instead of just disappearing. Other games also use a 'zone of uncertainty' to show where a unit may have moved since contact was lost.

5) While demonstrating Side-based LOS, you had difficulty clicking on your unit and finally had to zoom in before you could click on it. I would hope that this constant zoom-in/out just to click on a unit is not so cumbersome. The unit was standing all
by itself on a hill, yet you were still unable to select it for a click.

6) You call one setting "No LOS", whereby all units (both sides) are shown. Why not just call it "See All"? Wouldn't this be clearer?
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 12:31:50 AM UTC-7, [email protected] wrote:

Thanks for the feedback. :)

Happy to help, all who ask. :-)

With regard to your feedback:
1. You are right about this one. Whilst filming the demo I was getting irritated with all the menu clicking. As a result, hotkeys will be introduced as well has a small toolbutton palette that will automatically become visible when a unit is

highlighted.

It is nice to see that you will try to accommodate other methods of play. Most games are very short-sighted and force players to only use the mouse, through clicks and right+clicks. While this is fully functional, it may contribute to Carpal Tunnel
syndrome due to the constant tiny mouse adjustments.

With regards to your tool-button palette, I hope that you will allow it to be customized by the players so that they can add or remove their preferred buttons.

Since you have yet to add any hotkeys, I hope you will allow me to make a few suggestions.

Here is a screenshot from your video when you issued movement orders.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h130/hermanhum/Ancient%20Armies%20Hotkeys_zpsp4veayyl.gif

Most of your commands seem to require mouse input on the map. I have added a dot beneath the letters of your various commands as suggestions for an appropriate hotkey. Please note that all these letters can be typed with the left-hand while the right-
hand remains on the mouse for map input.

Also, please note that each hotkey should be a single keystroke (whenever possible) as the requirement for Ctrl+Shift+hotkey pretty much defeats the purpose of a hotkey in the first place. :-)

Since you are starting from a blank hotkey slate, please consider (strongly) allowing users to map their own hotkeys.

Lastly, you might consider grouping your keys by similarity of function (or other rationale) instead of just alphabetical order.

For example,

Break Formation
Fast Wheel
Wheel

Charge
Move Forward
Surge

Others:
- The exclamation mark after "Charge!" seems unnecessary.
- There does not seem to be any other way to move, except Forward. Why not shorten it to just "Move"?

3. The shaded tool is one thing I do want, but I will have some technical obstacles to overcome to make it fast. I'm guessing that I could lower the resolution for this purpose.

Should you be unable to overcome the shading obstacle, a possible work-around solution might be radiating lines from a single point, not unlike a wagon wheel. This is not as aesthetically pleasing or accurate as a shaded area, but it might be more in
line with your currently available option. The lines could emanate every 5, 10, 15, (or user-defined) degrees.

5. I'm thinking of adding an OOB tree with hotkeys to navigate it. That plus a next and prev unit button. In the full game, once it's under way, you won't be giving out so many orders either which should mitigate things a little.

I understand that you do not feel players will be issuing many orders once a game begins, but I hope that you try to accommodate different styles of play so as not to penalize the ones who like micro-manage.

Personally, I have not had much use for OoB Next and Prev functions in the other games I play. Too often, the next unit selected has nothing to do with the local situation. For example, in WitP, you might be fighting in Guam with the next unit in the
cycle located in Seattle then China before coming back to Guam. Thus, I found no use whatsoever for such a function within that game.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Thanks for the feedback. :)

With regard to your feedback:
1. You are right about this one. Whilst filming the demo I was getting irritated with all the menu clicking. As a result, hotkeys will be introduced as well has a small toolbutton palette that will automatically become visible when a unit is highlighted.

2. Thanks :)

3. The shaded tool is one thing I do want, but I will have some technical obstacles to overcome to make it fast. I'm guessing that I could lower the resolution for this purpose.

4. Fading units are on the list :)

5. I'm thinking of adding an OOB tree with hotkeys to navigate it. That plus a next and prev unit button. In the full game, once it's under way, you won't be giving out so many orders either which should mitigate things a little.

6. "See All" is clearer! Us techies are quite poor at naming things :)

A lot of this feedback is going into my Jira system for action.

Thanks for taking the time to look :)

RobP

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 1:18:39 AM UTC, [email protected] wrote:

On Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 5:32:02 PM UTC-7, [email protected] wrote:

Hi All,

Although my time is limited I'm still working on this(!) It will reach the light of day at some point, but I just don't know when!

This Youtube video https://youtu.be/UTo1viy2UOM?list=PLAWNvkDrHeDHNiw2YnT-p5mFwKZ7dOukb shows off its line of sight system as well as the current state of the maps and units including some fatigue and cohesion modelling (these latter two are covered

in other videos).

The main blog documenting the rather slow progress of this game is at: https://ancientarmies.wordpress.com

If you have any questions or anything ideas that you think could improve the game, then let me know :)

RobP

Watched your video and had a few ideas.

1) I saw how you plotted movement for your Leader unit. I would hope that there would be hotkeys to facilitate the process, as it seems to be a pretty common command. Constantly drilling down through a menu tree can be tedious, especially for oft-

used commands.

2) Kudos on the ability to block LOS with another unit.

3) You have a Check LOS function for leaders. It is especially handy feature since it allows the player to check the LOS from a position not currently occupied by the unit. Your Check LOS function appears as a line. What about simulating it as a

shaded area to depict all that can be seen from that position. This is probably more helpful than a single green/red line.

Also, LOS is probably checked often. A hotkey would be handy, instead of forcing a player to constantly sweep the mouse up to the top-left corner pull-down menu and then back to the map.

4) Units are either seen or not seen. As contact is lost with a unit, how about allowing it to fade from sight instead of just disappearing. Other games also use a 'zone of uncertainty' to show where a unit may have moved since contact was lost.

5) While demonstrating Side-based LOS, you had difficulty clicking on your unit and finally had to zoom in before you could click on it. I would hope that this constant zoom-in/out just to click on a unit is not so cumbersome. The unit was standing

all by itself on a hill, yet you were still unable to select it for a click.

6) You call one setting "No LOS", whereby all units (both sides) are shown. Why not just call it "See All"? Wouldn't this be clearer?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)