[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Slashdot gripes

[Mike Kaufman <mkaufman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Sep 11, 2001 at 08:18:17PM -0600, Josh Cogliati wrote:
> 
> 2.  It is very unobvious as to how get scientists and tax collectors in
> the city dialog.  I only figured this out because CivCTP has a tutorial that
> shows this.  Clicking on images is not obvious.  Same for how to change
> what tiles you are working.
 
a new city dialog is currently being readied for inclusion into the code
base. Perhaps you would like to take a look at it and come up with any
constructive criticism. There should be a updated version of it coming out 
pretty soon.

(speaking of which, why did new_city_dialog8a get pulled so quickly from
the ftp site? It didn't even get put in "scheduled_for_removal/")

> 3.  On that subject, there is no tutorial mode.  

I'm not sure that a tutorial "mode" persay is a good idea, but extensive
help in both the help menu and on the webpage would surely be a good
thing.
>
> 4.  What the heck are shields and how do you get them?  From looking at the
> source my conclusion in that it is production.  Why can't everything say
> either production or shields.  Choose one and change all references to the 
> other.

-snip-
> 
> 6.  Why are there no tooltips in the city dialog?  Or lacking that a 
> graphic with an explanation of every thing in the city dialog.
> 
> 7.  How do food, production, and trade turn into growth, gold, luxury and 
> science?  I figured this out through picking a city and clicking on 
> various tiles until I finally got it.  However this was after I had 
> given up on freeciv several times before.

I don't think that on the matter of clicking on images, a great deal is
going to change to alleviate your pain, however, certainly a better help 
file/webpage could somewhat address 2, 4, and 7.
As for tooltips, there is some functionality for tooltips in the new dialog. 
What, do you think should have tooltips? What should they say?

> 8.  No way to set a default worklist (if there is it is very unobvious).
> 
> 9.  No way to append something to every city's worklist at once.

I agree that these are worthy of being considered. I think that the new
dialog will make working with worklists much easier. As for the
specifics of 8 and 9, perhaps something added to the global worklists
dialog? Definitely post-CVS inclusion of the new dialog please.

your help would be appreciated.  Freeciv is a community project. You are 
certainly welcome to put some of your ideas in action. Why not try your hand at 
a tutorial for the new city dialog or the client since here is apparently where 
most of your issues are. The current one is languishing back at ver 1.8.1. I'm 
certain that knowledgeable people on the list will help with any questions you 
may have.

-mike