Left-click mouse to drag map???!!!!! WTH?

[Bullman]

Late to the party here as I just got this game (own several other AGEOD titles however so I kind of knwo what to expect/not to expect).....

...but there is a MAJOR UI issue I get when using the left button on mouse to drag the map around (a very common and standard method in a game like this). Rather than function like every other game/application that I have ever used to move teh map around, when I do so it moves the map in the most uncontrolled illogical way. Rather than the mouse pointer "sticking" to the point on the map on which you left-clicked on so that you can then move the mouse to position the map where you want it, instead it's like the mouse pointer "skids" all over the place in such a ridiulous way that I just cant see myself putting up with such nonsense and lack of control.

Please tell me it isn't so...what is this problem and how is it fixed?

I seriously will not bother with this game if this cant be fixed.

[epaminondas]

Being almost totally ignorant of things computonic, Bull, I'm going out on a limb to suggest that it this might be connected to your mouse settings - if there are such things. I've played for years now and I do very occasionally find my pointer heading north in defiance of all efforts to restrain it; but for 99+% of the time it goes where it's told provided I speak gently to it.

[Bullman]

....but for 99+% of the time it goes where it's told provided I speak gently to it.

OK, so you are definitely confirming that for you, when you left-click on the map and move the mouse, the mouse pointer "locks" on to the spot on the map you left-clicked, rather than slip/skid all over the place like it has for me?

[epaminondas]

Nope, sorry Bull, I've misread your problem. If you're looking to scan the map rather than set a movement destination things do get a tad wobbly.

When moving a unit the map will faithfully follow the path you trace with the left button depressed. Not so, however, if you're simply looking to scan the map. In that event things get quite choppy. What typically happens is that initially the map will display in the reverse direction to that in which you're moving the pointer, then spring back to follow the path you've traced. In the course of this out and back adventure you get the skidding effect you mention. This can be controlled (though not entirely) by slowing your movement of the pointer or by doing your recce in a series of bites.

Not a strong point of the system, but if all you're after is a terrain recce beyond the frontline, for example, you can get that by simply pushing the pointer to the appropriate map boundary and holding it there until the desired area comes into view.

[Durk]

Yes, the map can be touchy, so allow the scroll or mini-map to map big moves.

[Bullman]

Why oh why must/is this a problem in this game???? This is 101 of basic UI design failing at all levels.



How the heck did such a a TERRIBLE implementation of such a common, fundamental and common UI feature seen in so many other games end up being so wrong and poorly implemented in this game? How did it even get through beta testing?

It's not as if this was AGEODs first game of this type which makes it equally baffling. All the previuous titles I have (AJE, CWII) certainly don't have such a ridiculous implementaion of mouse point-hold click-drag controlled map panning.
Actually no game I know has the same disfunctional implementation as what I see in TEAW.

I am dying to hear how the designers and beta testers justified such a (for me) game breaking :feature". WHY is it like that? Please, someone explain and restore some sanity.

To be clear, the way you should be able to pan the map is essentially IDENTICAL to how you would relocate a window in Windows 10: mouse left click the window (in Win10 specifically the top task bar) hold down the button and drag mouse to where you want to relocate the window, then release the mouse. Full control, no issues.. Its so fundamentally basic and standard how can you mess it up?

[Pocus]

This part of the code is the same across all the games, same engine. If you experience an issue with one and not another, then it has to do with the frame rate and the complexity of EAW compared to other games. The AGEOD / AGE engine is a bit low on FPS ... But is discontinued in favor of another engine used in Empires e.g.

[Bullman]

This part of the code is the same across all the games, same engine.

To be honest it has been a while since I last played AJE or CWII (not installed via Steam) but have no recollection of the same mouse pan control issue I have with TEAW. I have reinstalled AJE (this time using Steam) just to see again for myself and compare the mouse map pan control and ws somewhat surprised to realise that it actually didi not behave as I expected. The mouse actually does slip around like in TEAW but not as badly. Is there anything different about the way this works if the game is installed from Matrix/Slitherine or if it's instaleld on Steam?

Is there perhaps a setting that could "tone down" the "slippery/uncontroleld" feel you get when you mouse drag to pan the map.

[Nikel]

What is your frame rate?

Are you playing in a laptop?

Could it be that the game is using the Intel graphic card instead of the second more powerful?

[epaminondas]

Let's face it, EAW is an unfinished game. So if you're looking for reasons not to play it there are plenty of candidates much more qualified for the task than a graphic inconvenience. For whatever reasons, it was pushed out into the market before it had been adequately tested and refined so there are a bevy of mechanics that remain quite clumsy, a few systems that are open to exploitation, and a bunch of procedures that remain under-documented and even entirely undocumented. Yet I play the damn thing over, and over, and over again and will continue to do so.

The reason I do is the complexity to which Pocus refers. There is nothing out there dealing with this era - and I suspect any other - that offers anywhere near the richness and 'texture' of the detail it provides and the demands it places on the player to juggle the myriad factors influencing play. Efforts are being made to fill in the gaps and these are slowly pushing it into better (i.e. less frustrating) shape, and though I doubt it will ever realise its full potential each improvement has disclosed new tactical or strategic opportunities for the player.

If you can bear serial aggravation for the sake of escalating self-satisfaction I'd recommend you stick with it.

[Bullman]

What is your frame rate?

Are you playing in a laptop?

Could it be that the game is using the Intel graphic card instead of the second more powerful?

PC, GTX 1060, default frame rates. Not too sure this is a graphics card issue, but could possibly imagine that somehow faster hardware could result in odd/unforseen behaviours, given this game/engine was designed to work on more simple/low end hardware.

... I'd recommend you stick with it.

As mentioned I've been around (and been a supporter of) AGEOD titles a while so I know what to expect. However, this simple UI mechanic I refer to that just seems to be particularly poorly implemented in TEAW is something rather unique to these AGEOD tities for some reason.

Using the mouse to drag and relocate objects on a screen (in this case a map) is a BASIC Windows UI design concept. Why would you ever design/allow it so that the object you are relocating DOESNT go where you smoothly move/drag/point your mouse, but instead slips around, jerking uncontrollably and skids off somewhere else? It really is very unsettling and makes you feel like there is something wrong with your mouse and/or the game.

Aw well...I will persist

[Nikel]

PC, GTX 1060, default frame rates. Not too sure this is a graphics card issue, but could possibly imagine that somehow faster hardware could result in odd/unforseen behaviours, given this game/engine was designed to work on more simple/low end hardware.

Then it is not the problem I was suggesting.

To check the frame rate in your PC activate the Full Debug/Error logging in the system tab (options).

Once in the game you will see it on the left in a red font.

[Pocus]

Memory starts to escape me on this one, but I believe the title was not 100% tested because the person in charge had severe IRL issues (health and day job). This was not a fully in-house game made by Philippe Thibaut and me, although we supported it with the time we had left for it, after the others projects.

In 20 years, an IA will be able to read the code of the AGE engine, fixes all bugs and adapt it to the new optronics or quantic computers we will all have on our wrist. Well in 20 years I will probably not have a super health though

[Nikel]

Most, even healthy and with all the time at their disposal, will never create anything.

So my salute to Altaris

[epaminondas]

I'm on board with that. His efforts to patch the holes in the game have been remarkable given the circumstances.

[Pocus]

Indeed, many would have thrown the towel and just concentrated on their IRL issues, but not him.