- tech-mockup.png (955.35 KiB) Viewed 757 times
Even new users will quickly find them self in a situation where they want to research something, e.g. automobiles, but for that they first need to research 3 other things. So they select the first one and research that. Then 30 minutes later the dialog pops up again and they have to search all over again for the automobile icon, select that, scroll up in the technology tree to see what technologies are missing that they can research and then pick one of them. Over and over till they reach automobiles.
The research dialog should have a current research and a research goal. Every time a research is done the research dialog pops up (or not if disabled in the settings). If any goal was set then the next research is automatically chosen from those needed for the goal. The automatically chosen technology might not always be the best choice for the user but it doesn't harm. I would suggest the goal icon also be selected (see 3) to only show a reduced tree on the right so the user can quickly see if they wants to research towards the goal in a different order.
2) Selecting research/goals on the left
On the left the currently selecting tech is shown. This should have two buttons: New Goal and Start/Change Research.
A technology that has missing prerequisites can only be set as a goal. But other technologies can either replace the current research or be set as the new goal. In that case it's basically a research queue with 2 slots (current and next).
3) The goal icon as filter
Selecting the goal icon should filter the research tree on the right to show only what's needed to achieve the goal. This reduces the information in the tree considerably and allows one to select the next/current research from those needed for the goal more easily. Selecting anything from the technology list would reset the filter as would selecting the goal icon again.
The goal icon should also show all the science bulbs needed accumulative. So while Metallurgy 1 only needs red science the goal also needs all the prerequisites.
4) Selecting in the technology tree
Currently whenever one clicks in the technology tree it centers on the technology selected. Even when double clicking. Meaning that after the first click the tree redraws and the second click doesn't work. The tree should recognize double clicks on icons even if they aren't the center icon.
Double clicking a technology that can be researched with double click sets it as new current research. Double clicking a technology with prerequisites sets it as new goal.
5) Cancel is misleading, no way to pause without loosing the selection
"Cancel" for many users means their current research progress will be lost. It also means that the technology selection and selected goal will be lost and must be chosen again later. I would therefore suggest to add a "pause" button next to the progress bar instead. This would make the science lab pause but doesn't have to change anything else. The research can then be resumed later.
5B) In place of the cancel button smaller icons for the technologies required for the goal can be shown. This could be an alternative to filtering the technology tree in 3 but wouldn't be a complete replacement. Selecting one of the mini icons would switch the current research if possible or select the first prerequisite of the selected mini icon otherwise.
6) Technology tier filter
The list of technologies can be overwhelming. Especially at the start most technologies are so far out of reach as to be irrelevant and just confuse when looking for something. My suggestion is to add a filter for the technology tier the user has reached. This would show as a button for every science pack in the game. When turned off any technology requiring the respective science pack is hidden from view. Per default only those science packs the player has researched or can research with his current tier are shown. So at the start only red and green are visible. I considered only showing red but also showing green gives a peak of what lies ahead, a teaser of things to come and encourages the user to research green science. The science packs icons can then be toggled by the user to give a narrower or wider view.
7) Goal queue
The ultimate feature would be a queue of goals. Like with the research queue the progress bar would have to go to make space. That also eliminates the space for the mini icons in 5. So option 3 would be the way to select the current research to reach a goal then.
One important feature the current research queue is missing is that the queue should allow reordering goals. I know that with researches the prerequisites make reordering difficult but with goals that is a non issue. The simplest way would be to allow drag&drop of goals (see below).
8) Drag&Drop
Currently there are only two way to select a research: The start button and double clicking. Both require that a technology is first selected updating the info box on the left and redrawing the technology tree. I suggest adding support for Drag&Drop. Technologies could be dragged from either the list of technologies or the technology tree directly into the current research slot (if possible) or the goal slot. With a goal queue new goals could be dragged and inserted before the queue, between items or at the end of the queue. The GUI engine already handles this for blueprints so it shouldn't be too hard to adapt.
Drag&Drop should not update the info box or technology tree to center on the selected technology.
9) Canceling research
I kind of like the little "x" when you hover over a technology in the queue. I think that should be kept to remove a goal or stop the current research for good. When a goal is set canceling the research should select the next (possible) technology for that goal in a round robin fashion. So if a goal needs both Automation and Logistics then canceling Automation would select Logistics next ad vice versa. Canceling an unrelated technology, e.g. Steel, would select either or.
I hope this inspires you.
