Adding a green/yellow orb counter

[Helmet]

Neat, I have an idea an there is a place in the forum for posting ideas.

First off, let me say this game rocks my socks!

Second off, let me say that I tend to move my units in an order based on overall strategy and tactics, so the "next" function is not something I can employ when moving units.

Third off, I hate losing a game because I forgot to move a unit, so before clicking END TURN, I spend time checking and double-checking for green/yellow orbs.

Okay, here's my idea: I think it might be handy if there was a number on the screen somewhere that showed you how many of your units have green or yellow orbs, and if there was a way to force a unit's orb to turn red to remove him from the green/yellow orb counter.

I'm pretty sure that looking at a green/yellow orb counter would speed up my game and, consequently, the total time spent on a game for any person who is playing against me.

Is this a good idea?

[zookeeper]

I'm not sure if that's necessary.

I use the "next unit" shortcut (default is 'n', I think) to cycle through all my units that can still move or attack, and I consider that handy enough myself. I actually have never looked at the orbs, I only cycle through units to check their status.

[Gus]

Even though OAB, i like the idea of having a way to turn such a display on or off.

Still, before it gets implemented, i can already help you by telling you there's a way of having one unit's orb turn to red: select the unit and press "SPACE". This will remove the unit from the "next unit" cycle. It will of course retain any movement point it had before you pressed SPACE. I use that sometimes in scenarios with a lot of units, it's very handy.

[Helmet]

Thanks, guys. I just learned a couple things: that "n" cycles only through the units that can still move (which makes sense, but I had thought it cycled through every one, regardless); and that the spacebar turns an orb red.

I just tried the spacebar thing. After it turns an orb red, the screen jumps to the next unit in line, wherever that is. That can eat a few seconds, because it makes me go back to a previous area of the map where I was deciding troop movements.

Hmm. I'm guessing that adding a couple dozen more uses of the keyboard per turn ("n" and spacebar) probably adds 20-30 seconds spread out over my whole turn rather than adding 20-30 seconds spent searching the map at the end. So maybe there is no real benefit to "n" and spacebar over what I presently do, especially since I prefer to use the mouse as much as possible.

I'm thinking the green/yellow orb counter still seems like a time saver when coupled with a method of turning an orb red (a method that doesn't automatically jump to a new unit somewhere on the map).

Saving 20-30 seconds per turn may not seem like a lot, but those seconds add up to 6-10 minutes after 20 turns.

BTW, I'm a new player, so I'm a bit slow at everything. Maybe the "n"/spacebar combo will go faster after I'm experienced...

[Viliam]

Maybe the "End Turn" button should display warning if at least one unit is remaning in the "next" cycle. With question "Some units have not moved. Are you sure? Yes/No"

[Baufo]

Maybe the "End Turn" button should display warning if at least one unit is remaning in the "next" cycle. With question "Some units have not moved. Are you sure? Yes/No"

But then you should be able to turn it off. It already annoys me to get such a dialogue if I have not moved any unit (mostly for scenario testing) and often you have units you don't want to move (units sitting on villages for healing).

[Gus]

BTW, I'm a new player, so I'm a bit slow at everything. Maybe the "n"/spacebar combo will go faster after I'm experienced...

In general, units while cycling tend to be grouped by their position on the map. There may be rare cases where this is not the case, but generally speaking, it's how it works.
What i usually do is: move some units, then cycle through all the units using "n", "spacebar"-ing those i know i won't need, and then i use "n" again to reach groups of units i need to move.

[Helmet]

Maybe the "End Turn" button should display warning if at least one unit is remaning in the "next" cycle. With question "Some units have not moved. Are you sure? Yes/No"

A friend of mine said he wished the game had this feature, because he often hits END TURN too soon, allowing me to crush his army like a bug.

Me, I don't like those warnings so much. It's an extra click.

I'd prefer to have the data appear on the screen somewhere (maybe next to the icon with the number of units)...then I wouldn't have to click anything; I'd just move my eyes and see that I'm done.

[Helmet]

Oh, I just thought of another benefit for the green/yellow orb counter.

In multiplayer games on the server, I gather from reading the forum that people sometimes forget to click END TURN. If there were a globe counter and a player had redded all his globes, the game would know he was done. The game could then give him 10 seconds to click END TURN before reminding him, or the game could simply END TURN automatically.

Is there anybody out there who thinks the globe counter is a cool idea that would shorten a game by several minutes? Or am I the only slowpoke in Wenoth?

[Baufo]

Oh, I just thought of another benefit for the green/yellow orb counter.

In multiplayer games on the server, I gather from reading the forum that people sometimes forget to click END TURN. If there were a globe counter and a player had redded all his globes, the game would know he was done. The game could then give him 10 seconds to click END TURN before reminding him, or the game could simply END TURN automatically.

Is there anybody out there who thinks the globe counter is a cool idea that would shorten a game by several minutes? Or am I the only slowpoke in Wenoth?

That's a cool idea! You would just have to make sure the moves can't be undone.

[Leo]

May be we just have a orb on "End tun" button,
which is green when no unit are moved, yellow when some, and red when all?

[Helmet]

May be we just have a orb on "End tun" button,
which is green when no unit are moved, yellow when some, and red when all?

That's a neat idea!

Or maybe the END TURN text turns red or blinks when every unit's globe is redded. That way, if you're about to click it, if it's not red or blinking you can't help but notice and think, "Whoa! I missed somebody!"

[zookeeper]

Or maybe the END TURN text turns red or blinks when every unit's globe is redded. That way, if you're about to click it, if it's not red or blinking you can't help but notice and think, "Whoa! I missed somebody!"

That's a rather clever idea, actually. I'm not sure how useful it would be (as I never use spacebar to mark the unit as red), but it might be for someone. Anyway, it wouldn't interfere with anything either.

[Helmet]

That's a rather clever idea, actually. I'm not sure how useful it would be (as I never use spacebar to mark the unit as red), but it might be for someone. Anyway, it wouldn't interfere with anything either.

Thanks, zookeeper.

I'm sure it would speed up my turns because it would cut down on my doublechecking, so I'd certainly like something like that. My friend who clicks END TURN too fast would like anything that would alert him to unmoved units.

Another time-saver would be if the spacebar had a preference toggle: I'd prefer it to not jump to a new unit when pressed, so I could maintain my focus on small squads of units. If the spacebar did that, and the END TURN text turned red or blinked when all the units have been redded, I wouldn't miss a green/yellow globe counter at all.

I feel self-conscious about being slow and thorough, is all. If I could get the data I needed without having to scroll over the whole map looking for yellow and green globes immediately prior to clicking END TURN every turn, my speed would accelerate a great deal. Zoom!

[Eleazar]

Or maybe the END TURN text turns red or blinks when every unit's globe is redded. That way, if you're about to click it, if it's not red or blinking you can't help but notice and think, "Whoa! I missed somebody!"

That's a rather clever idea, actually. I'm not sure how useful it would be (as I never use spacebar to mark the unit as red), but it might be for someone. Anyway, it wouldn't interfere with anything either.

It's been suggested before, and it's a good idea.
The end-turn button should highlight itself when the player can no longer do anything. Blinking could be done tastefully, or another form of highlighting.