cwestbrook20

I get the feeling that the community for EoS will grow quickly. You have a couple of key factors that I feel will contribute to that success. -- An active development studio, AtomicBoy Sotware, that is creating patches, updating the game with features, and clearly passionate about it's success. A pretty good combination. -- You have a game that comes with the ability to *easily* customize not just the maps you play on, but the the game rules itself. This means that you can use community created Rules, with unique technologies, scenarios, or era's based units. Plus the fact that you can download and vote on these 'in game' is pretty cool. -- Even with the default settings you have game play that is fun, an interface that let's you focus on managing your 'empire' with ease, and enough ways to make each game unique. -- Being part of a community at it's beginning is not a bad thing and many of the benefits that you will find come from being able to have your voice seen, meet some like minded individuals, and give back, support a game that you enjoy. Take a moment to think about what made you go and search for a game like EoS, think about what type of era, map, scenario that you think others like you would want to play, and create it with EoS. It's easy to follow and hide amidst the crowd, but EoS sparked something for you, like it did me, to post here on the forums... So are you looking for "just the next game", or something more :cool:

@rich12545 - Agreed, after I have seen the intro for the first time, I really don't want to see it again. I want to play the game. I think that studios who force you to watch three game developer logos, the publishers logo, intro video, feel that their choices are more important that yours. It is a very mild form of control, but anyways... This is why I tossed out Consideration #3, which hinted at offering some way to 'skip' past the screens, once the required assets were done loading, regardless of what is being displayed to the user at the time. @Kelly's Heros - You have it right on the nose. Even seeing the image or logo for a brief moment, you are building and strengthening the connections in your brain that relate to that object. Those connections connect to other receptors so remember, it could be a changing things for good like brand awareness, and/or bad such as with @rich12545 response to being forced into watching something.

*lowers his head down in shame*

@Akiva Feedback from a single source is subjective by nature and I feel my only saving grace from smugness is making it very clear that this feedback are requests, handing full control over these to AtomicBoy Software. I also try to include references, if at all possible. (such as the book Designing the Moment) I already think it's a wonderful game, so if none of these enhancements make it into the game, it doesn't change my opinion of the game (or developers...lol) I do get a little forward with my suggestions, in part because I hope that it sparks constructive conversations. Are these suggestions the way that I would do it, probably... Does it mean it's the right way, not really, but it's the prompt to discussion. Some of these discussions are internal business questions for AtomicBoy Software. An example of this would be about if they consider having their name and logo in front of customers valuable. (reference, Brand Awareness) Others are good for external discussions with the community Would you rather have: A.) See a loading window with neat random pictures for less than a second, then another loading screen that locks the UI? B.) See neat random pictures, while loading, then go right into using the game. (And here is where options C, D, E, F can be added and discussed.) Some might be long term planning related Would you rather have A.) A UI locking popup, with multiple loading stages, such as 96 images, then another 5 for language files, then another 25 high-def pictures, etc. B.) A scalable way to load multiple types of assets, while following a recognizable design pattern. (and so on....) At my day job I get the luxury of working directly with Business Analysts whose job it is to sit down and pick out the 'important' (subjective) features and expected benefits. In the context of this thread, a very shortened version our process would be to look at all of the Competitive Intelligence(CI) that our marketing department has collected about the 'out of box' experience with out competitors. They would get what the minimum features that we need in place to remain competitive. Then we would look at how our market fits with those features, weigh in if we need to innovate or areas we could increase value (to the customer or business), and then with those in place we finally get to bring the developers in to share what technical requirements, level of efforts, and any legacy requirements. Then after all this takes place, the first line of code can be started or modified. Then comes all the QA, usability testing, etc... We then are constantly working with customers and other departments to perform A\B or would you rather type of testing, seeing which is more effective. I share this example because with a small company like AtomicBoy Software, you have very limited resources. Until you have enough capital to increase your internal resources, you must rely on your community. For EoS you can see that a great one exists. We get the chance to play some of those roles I mentioned above in the hopes of helping.

I will be the first one to agree that their is nothing wrong with the way the game loads today. The feedback touched on if their was a missing opportunity, a chance to increase value to the business through clear banding. @Slaver, I am sorry that you saw this feedback as nitpicking and it is not intended to be. I know a very thin line exists between nitpicking and polishing, my goal is to not cross this line.

Actually your mockup was was exactly what I was suggesting for the long term. It gives you more control over to what is presented to the user and the groundwork for getting your name/brand in front of users. Here is what I would consider a solid way to EoS, keeping some of those business goals in mind. 1.) User runs shortcut 2.) EoS loading window comes up (using the mockup you posted, just blank the image for the moment in your mind) (*See consideration #1) 3.) Two things happen: A.) EoS loading window displays something like, "AtomicBoy Software Presents" or "An AtomicBoy Software Production" in the center 'content' area and cycles through to the EoS logo, publisher, etc. B.) EoS loading window starts to run it's loading functions(hopefully OOP style...lol) This updates the loading message to display status and updated as needed on the bottom of the loading window. (*See consideration #2) 4. EoS loading window finishes the cycle A/B and loads the Main Menu (*See consideration #3) Consideration #1 When displaying your logo, your best bet is to have nothing else on the screen so that users are not distracted by anything else. It's fine almost everywhere else, but logo and your name should be isolated and front/center. To do this, make your logo take up the whole Loading Window, depending on your personal style (or your role models for games) offer a very small or simple animate gif. This whole window should only be seconds long before going to the next stage. Consideration #2 I didn't mentioned this earlier, but displaying the actual 0/96 or 201/201, is actually something you want to avoid. It is a mental distraction, it gives maybe a little too much insight into whats going on behind the scene. People might ask, why are their not any new images, why 96, when did this change, etc. It's too early in the game to start the mind down that ave. So stick with percentages or loading bars if you can. Also depending on what theme EoS is catering too, if you are going the serious 'simulator' route or the 'game' route, then you can include those fun or entertaining 'Loading World....", Sending Destroyers to the Pacific...", "Searching for spies...", "Breaking encryption codes..." and so on. I personally believe that humor in games make for stronger connections. If you take that route, you would want to make sure, if their is not already, some type of logging going on behind the screen, this way if it crashes during a load, you can raise an error that actually makes sense to the developers. Consideration #3 Moore's law in mind (ex. always faster computers), even after all current 96 images are loaded, the screen should not just transition to the Main Menu without input. At least five-seven total seconds before auto transition is good. (up to you if you provide the, click or press any key to continue before the auto transition.) During this total time, you would perform all of the steps listed above, such as loading the images. Once the actual loading is done, if you want, put up a countdown, "Invading US... in 5", "Airlifting Paratroopers in 5", etc. Plus countdowns are good, the often lead to something big, which in your case is the game. All ideas, you just have to work the ones you like into your style and vision.

Intro I mentioned in my review of EoS that I would take some time and provide feedback on areas that distracted from my great experience with the game. I spent the time to put my perspectives together because I do feel this game was one of best overall experiences that I have had with a game in the past year. I feel the developers deserve this game to become a major hit (or net them enough to meet their personal goals.) This feedback was based on version 1.01 (Build 8164) I used a 1-4 scale to rate what I felt was important or not important 4 - Very Small, Display Issue, Nice to have, the 1% 3 - Minor Issue, some missed value, not intuitive 2 - Distracted, Caused Confusion, Took time away from game, good value 1 - Must Have, Critical Feature Main Menu - Item Breakdown My time for tonight is running out, so this section is going to be a little less detailed. Single Player > New Game Rating: 2 Think of 1...2...3... It's logical grouping that helps make things often times, seem easier. Larger than normal numbers create the sense of simple (think of you childhood wooden cube number and letter blocks) Suggestion: Try to group the steps, even in the same layout, into some type of category. One idea might be: Version Beta, have a checkbox for "Advanced Settings", then hide everything but "Map Settings" and Players. Now the complexity of your game setup just dropped massively, Players feel like their is 'more' advanced content that they can explore later, basically it's all about perspective. Enhancements Please let me fill in my name on the Map Settings page, don't get me all excited and ready to play by clicking "ok", then giving me yet another popup window. Think of all of those clean web page forms that don't use popups any more for 'punishing' users. They tell you your password doesn't match by showing you on the same page, not in an alert box. As users, we are expecting this type of 'integration' now. Also, if I am logged into EoS, please use my name on file. Save me the time and effort, plus better for stat tracking. Some type of indication that "Generate Random Map" is actually a pull down menu. I didn't even know this was one until recently and noticed the slight black/gray onmouseover type function. If I "Load Map" and can see a preview of the map on the load screen, then I should see one when I am on just the normal "Map Settings" screen. Reason? So I don't have to click on "Load Map" to remember what map I am about to play. "Map Is Known" is not an intuitive option to me personally. Off the top of my head I could not think of something better, but worth a brainstorming session considering even the help doesn't cover this feature. The above could be addressed with a tooltip, similar to what you have when you hover over any of the "Resources" in a game. By hovering the mouse over a label field display a tool tip. This page is a form, just like any website might be. Please Please Please bold your label fields, it really helps the eye distinguish between label and value. "Add Random Number of AI Players" is confusing because you can have 9 AI players, and then think you can have 9 more random AI players. Since this is an either/or feature, some validation or pull down allowing you to select which one. You should be able to store your single player settings. Since I see we have the feature for "Restore Previous Settings" you already have the schema in place for capturing and restoring the settings. Allow us to Name, Load and Share single player game settings. Tie the random map generator to a 'seed' number that is editable. Helps with sharing, and this would be the start to a leader board feature I will mention in a later post. The "?" in game help should document all of the features and options. Heights and Width should not be 'text' boxes since you cannot enter data into them. Makes me question if this is a bug or expected, which you can tell by the 'step' value used by the arrows, this is expected. Heights and Width arrow boxes, when at the 'Min' or 'Max' value, they should disabled the button, no longer showing the act that it is being clicked. Bug - Cities/Resources: I loved the option, but not the interface, it seemed be hard to use. Also, the text label doesn't display all of the values, even if the popup window is expanded. Oil is cut off the label width. Geography - Again with trying to save me from thinking, give me a minimap or a representation of each type of 'land mass' so I know what the difference between Small Islands and Medium Islands within EoS. Give me a quick play button, reviewers eat this up, yes we all know that EoS is not a 'quick' game, but that is beyond the point. You will have yet again saved me from thinking and let me get right to the game. Make the "Ok" button on the Map Settings popup bold or something. Draw my eye to where I need to go 80% of the time. Single Player > Load Game Not much to say here Enhancements It's just a little UI change, but probably a lot of programming, but you should be able to filter columns when click on the name of the table, rather than clicking on the "Recently Saved" button (didn't even know it was a button at first), then filtering. I would love to see games sorted by game id, meaning that if I play a random map, all of my saved games are children of that one game map. I can then delete them all at once or load an AutoSave for any game map group, etc. Single Player > Start Tutorial Despite loving to play games that last forever, we do like to feel like were accomplishing something when starting out. It's why we to research short items towards the start, and willing to spending longer, once we are 'into the game'. Here is a quick Point of View to consider. Imagine this... Would you rather have a game that has:? A.) 5 Tutorials, that you can replay each one if needed, and tracks each one. B.) 1 Tutorial that takes 5x longer, and if you need to replay one part, you must play the whole thing. Ok, so a little leading with the questions, but it hopefully makes my point. Yes, the long term goal of taking over the world is great, but you have to start small. As a designer/developer wouldn't you want to reward a new player to your game 5 times, than just once? You might think that 5 little green check marks might not mean much, but remember it's all about perspective. Now with this multi-tutorial model in place, you can do a number of things. Add new Tutorials easily Consider creating 'Advanced Strategy Tutorials' which are included in the 'demo', which don't hide the features of the game (I disliked demos that don't let you experience the full game), but show that if you purchase, you get more... (Again, with it being locked until purchased your creating 'value' for your game, without much work.) You are engaging the player, they just got five green checks on each tutorial icon, the game shows that they have invested time, they want to purchase more now to prove that their time was well spent. This gets into psychology and much to deep for here. Single Player > View Old Game Couldn't get to work, not sure what this is. If it is legacy, then maybe move or add something to help users not feel like they are 'missing' out on something. In Summary Save me from thinking, Create Wizards or Sub Groups (easy as 1,2,3), Find ways to create value through changing the perspective, be consistent and complete, and again try to 'design for the moment' or watch someone 'new' play the game. I hope these are appreciated and feedback is meant to be constructive. Telling you how great feature x or y is doesn't help you get to your goal. I try to highlight little ones here and there, but overall I am focusing on the usability of the game. If EoS needs it to be said again, this is a great game, I wouldn't spend the time to do this if I didn't believe that.

Intro I mentioned in my review of EoS that I would take some time and provide feedback on areas that distracted from my great experience with the game. I spent the time to put my perspectives together because I do feel this game was one of best overall experiences that I have had with a game in the past year. I feel the developers deserve this game to become a major hit (or net them enough to meet their personal goals.) This feedback was based on version 1.01 (Build 8164) I used a 1-4 scale to rate what I felt was important or not important 4 - Very Small, Display Issue, Nice to have, the 1% 3 - Minor Issue, some missed value, not intuitive 2 - Distracted, Caused Confusion, Took time away from game, good value 1 - Must Have, Critical Feature The Game "Main Menu" Following up on Part 1, you will find yourself at the game menu. In short, it's empty, full of white space (and not in a good way), static, simple, and lacking any clear location for my eye to travel. Granted, personally I feel empty is better than cluttered. I am left in a new game, searching for what to do. Initial Main Menu Rating: 3 Yes, I know if we are playing this type of game we know what "Single Player" is where we go first, right? That's true, but I am talking about a total game experience here, every time you, the designer/developers, make me think, it's adds to the overall learning curve. We want to figure out the game, not the user interface, so lead me, tell me where I need to go through subtle hints and defaults in your interface. This can be something as simple as having borders, the use of colors, having default menus selected, and so on. So please, draw in my eye, visually walk me through where I want to go. I would estimate that most people that launch the game and go to single player 80% of the time. Update the UI to help draw my eyes there, so I don't have to think... other than to recognize that you are being helpful. The White Space Rating: 3 I know that I am probably on the extreme side of users, running 1900x1200. I don't even try to run EoS main menu at the level because it just looks off. (Great job with the scaling of the top image btw, nice little touch) But even at bringing the Main Menu window down to it's smallest, it seems so very plain, static, and not interactive. Think about it for a moment, I have not even got into the game yet, where the some of the real magic of EoS starts. You have an User Interface that is the road we must follow to get there, so what makes it more like an old country road than a new paved one? EoS as a webpage It feels just like a web page, a nice three column page, main navigation on the left, workspace and content in the middle, and extras on the left. Wait, if you select a menu item, illusion is lost, I don't really have a web page interface, it's sort of a menu > sub menu like. I still have this wasted white space to the right of each sub menu. To me, it's just not engaging, it feels misleading visually, and distinctive to the normal game menu, in a bad way. 1998 OnMouseOver This carries over to why I feel like I am on a web page, I have this neat little JavaScript like code that makes me feel like I am on an outdated AOL page. This may just be me, but it really feels like the old web 1.0 menu style. Even this current menu layout with some type of transition, animation, or effect would do wonders with making me feel like I am playing a game right from the start. Make it 'cooler' by being able to click on 'Single Player' and the left menu goes away and is replaced with a back button and the current sub menu. Then I can click on New game and see the settings directly in the center empty white space, without having a popup window. Mismatched Menu Items I am a very big voice for consistency, my work loves and hates me, all at the same time. What you have in your EoS main menu, right hand side, is mismatched menu items that cause different or unsure interactions. Example 1: I hover over "Single Player" I get a sub menu displayed, then can select a sub menu item, popup window. Example 2: I hover over "Updates and Downloads" and nothing happens, I click and I now have a popup window. Ok, so you have two different behaviors. The problem is with this is it's not consistent. The user has to either remember that they have to hover/click, then sub menu, or click to get popup directly. It's not intuitive behavior, it's inconsistent, and means you have to change things around later if you want to add more sub menus. Basically, it's bad UI to provide different behaviors, it doesn't cost much to sub menu top level items into sub menu items. You will often find that the little extra work makes extending things easier in the long run, cleaner interface, and users know exactly what to expect when navigating. Suggestions Possible menu changes Change "Report a Bug" to something like "Provide Feedback", then have two sub menu items, Report a Bug and Submit Enhancement. Change "Updates and Downloads" to Game Updates, with sub menu items for Game News, which just opens the same (dislikes) popup window onto the News Tab. New sub menu items for "Download Maps" or "Share Your Design". User Interface Design (testing) Ask one of your friends, or offer the game free to someone and sit down and watch them use it for the first time. Laugh, but do the 'Grandma' test, which means pull in someone who doesn't even play games to watch them use the interface. Let them know why you are doing this Let them know they they will probably get frustrated and that is ok (The mind really does not like to feel lost and unable to do something well.) Tell them how valuable their feedback will be to you Do short tests, give them an easy goal. Tell them I want you to click on this shortcut and play the tutorial, then talk about it with them. Watch See what takes the longest time Tell them that they can and should ask questions out loud, but that you wont answer it for them. Find out where they get frustrated, but don't intervene. Document, document, document... Studies actually show that visible cameras are counter productive, so try to screen record, take notes based on time stamps and compare with the capture. You really only get one chance per with a person per UI design to get this feedback, so be careful. In Summary I gave this a 3 because it really is a small thing. It really comes down to your goals for the game. An enhanced UI will help newer players, have another marketing item to reference in pictures, and increase appeal into your game to players outside your current focus. It often makes game reviewers happy too, because the tend to focus on the game, rather than the interface. Overall your direction and focus should play into your target market and how you plan to address and capture those segments. After Part two, I would like to point out a wonderful book that I reference often, so if you have not seen it, check it out if you have a moment. It's called Designing The Moment by Robert Hoekman Jr.

Intro I mentioned in my review of EoS that I would take some time and provide feedback on areas that distracted from my great experience with the game. I spent the time to put my perspectives together because I do feel this game was one of best overall experiences that I have had with a game in the past year. I feel the developers deserve this game to become a major hit (or net them enough to meet their personal goals.) This feedback was based on version 1.01 (Build 8164) I used a 1-4 scale to rate what I felt was important or not important 4 - Very Small, Display Issue, Nice to have, the 1% 3 - Minor Issue, some missed value, not intuitive 2 - Distracted, Caused Confusion, Took time away from game, good value 1 - Must Have, Critical Feature Initial Launch Rating: 2 What I consider the 'out of box' experience and the first opportunity at engaging the user into your game. I felt that I was not satisfied with the presentation. Click the shortcut to the game See a initial launch window (so quick that I cannot even see the picture) Then the game (menu) is up Then see a second loading popup for images (0/96), only a couple of seconds, then goes away The game is ready for input (ex. start a new game) To me this was a distraction, I expect to wait a small amount of time to get to the game. I know that things have to load before I can get started. A skipable intro video or two and I am ready to go, some asset loading, and so on. With EoS I sort of had two 'loading' screens, be that they were very quick, it seemed unordered and unpolished. It was enough to take me out of my 'ok cool, ready to play a game' and got that ? mark over my head for a moment, then moved on. The next time I went to play I found myself launching the game 2-3 times to try and see what the first picture was... Game Launch Flow I feel you are also at risk for 'scaling', if needed, to modify your game launch flow. Let's say you have 201 pictures to load than 96, let's say you have enough money to dedicate to an intro video, or your publisher will take a smaller cut if you put their logo at launch. (Think EA, Ubisoft, Activision, on AAA titled games, etc.) Some games are even putting a screen of their expansion during loading. Lastly, see my next heading about branding. Consider move the loading of game assets to before the main game menu is presented to users. Feature beta, use the same popup, Feature v1 integrate into the UI. Missed Value - The Brand This is the real reason why I gave this a rating of 2, you are missing out on some great branding opportunities here. AtomicBoy Software is an awesome name, it gives a sense of a company behind the product, it's witty, makes the nerds in us smile, and it's really who you are to your customers. Unless EoS is your one time college project, then you want to let people know who you are very clearly. Your game EoS, while important, is just one game... While AtomicBoy Software is the creator of many high quality games, or will be someday right? You want the reviewer, the gaming customer, or the friend next to them to know your name, your Brand. It doesn't take a lot to call this out as your game is loading and let the world know who makes great software. In Summary, ask yourself, "what is the goal?" for each interaction you have with your user. What is the impression you want your use to be left with, How does feature x help to engage the user, to connect with them, to increase the value. Work to provide ways to have users begin to know Atomicboy Software and transfer some of the trust they have with 'the next game' to 'the next gaming company'.

This is a long post... A little about me I am a 26 year old software engineer for a web based school software company. I only have time to play games about one to two nights a week. I enjoy turn based games, but usually find myself playing fantasy themed games, rather than realism based, such as Empires of Steel. I had never heard of this game until watching Band of Brothers with my wife for the first time. I started looking for World War II based games and came across this one...I was very glad that I had looking back Easy To Learn I think that foremost I would like to say that, for a turn based strategy, this has one of the smallest learning curves to get into the game and play that I have ever found. This is a truly a sign that the developers and designers pay close attention to the details of the game. An integrated tutorial, with a probably a bit more reading than should be, that walks you through the game. It's an interactive tutorial so you play and learn at the same time. This is a great method for adults and made it easy to get into the game quickly and have some fun. Integrated Updates and Maps You cannot believe how many enterprise software applications do not even have this feature. This alone made the value of the game go through roof and helped to encourage me to purchase the game. Very few games these days are static, they are updated, they have expansions, they have ways to modify, the developers of Empires of Steel saw that and created ways that make it easy to manage all of those areas, saving me time and often frustration that I have with even top tier games. Here are just a couple examples: Need to upgrade the game? Not a problem, just click a button in the game and it downloads all the files for you... No installer, no trying to log in to a website and track the latest patch. You just saved me time, which is very very important for me. Random maps are fun...but what about one that looks like Earth... not a problem, just load up the in game tool and you can download maps that others have created. Not just that, but it downloads it for you, which means no tracking down folders to load these five files into, from one of five websites. Ohh and you can vote on it so 'better' maps make it to the top. The Gameplay So far I have only talked about the systems that support the game itself. My first game I played was with the Demo of Empires of Steel which consisted of a random map with all of the features included. No pressure to buy, no real time limit, and let me experience the game. I had a blast, I love games that have research, trying to find that right balance between resource expansion and technology growth, I feel that this game has done a wonderful job with this and really sold me personally on purchasing the game. -- I was impressed with the A.I. in the game, challenging, not too predictable, and ok at offensive as well as good at defensive. -- Easy to group and move units around the map -- Micromanagement of your economy was really basic -- Great high level management tools, such as being able to view all city production queues, what units have been idle, idle +5 turns (love this one), and some helpful battle calculators when trying to weigh in on if you should engage. Game Updates As I mentioned before, I am a software engineer and know that if you don't stand behind your product, the market will not forgive you. If you take a look on the website you will find that the developers of Empires of Steel have support and improved their game over and over again. They must really have a passion for their game and its continued success because they are committed. All I can say is thank you very much for going beyond what is expected and continuing to update the game. In Summary While no game is perfect, having a solid core game engine to stand on makes any of the little things small in comparison. Knowing that the developers are focused on improving and fixing things, make me actually excited to write a review like this. I do have some enhancements that I would like discuss and possibly see worked into the future of the game, none of them distracted or took away from a very enjoyable experience I have had with Empires of Steel so far. I wish the team the best of luck and I am very excited to see what the future holds.