I was really hoping 1.2 was gonna fix the huge UI/UX problem - was hoping Geneology was gonna fill that gap in animal management. But nope - (and im sorry for saying this) its a completely useless window.
Lets try an example:
20 females, 20 males.
Lets say this is a non-pack species so I need 2 in each habitat, 1 male, 1 female.
Lets also say i have three habitats of this species.
Habitats 1 male just died.
However, all 17 other males are this ones offspring. But to know this i've either had to click through every single wolf in "Compare Mates" or basically do the exact same thing in this new "Geneology".
The problem lies in ive just cycled through 17 males, yet even if i were to find a good mate - I'd then have to leave geneology or compare mates, go back to animal management, apply filter (lets say i have 200+ animals in this zoo), remember the name of that male, click him, open up another window, click move, remember the habitat im placing him in (after several double checks and probably restarting this over a few times because where was that female again? Oh another one died, crap uh. which one was i comparing? Anyways - do this every 15 minutes. Lets not even begin to talk about exhibit animals.
Do you see what im getting at? It is a User Experience NIGHTMARE!!!! Im going between several windows (that automatically close), I have to remember the names and habitats of creatures, Oh - and this is a part of upkeep gameplay loop - not one of adding to my experience, literally just forcing my hand into micromanagement (not opposed, but when its this clunky...its infuriating). Its about 18 clicks to find a mate and move them, when it could potentially be 6-7.
And your geneology page has done absolutely NOTHING but present already available data in a bit more clear of a way, but with no actionable use for it.
The solutions are this:
1. Either, stop force closing UI windows (or make it a toggable setting so some people who dont want the clutter dont have to deal, but those of us who can deal with it, can)
2. Add additional interactivity into "Compare Mates" and "Geneology" - such as the standard Move/Trade/Wild buttons but maybe "Move to Habitat" for each mate, that would automatically send them to the compared mates listed habitat. Also, list the animals location in their little "info" row box in "Compare" and Geneology" - so easy to quickly see where these animals are.
Either/Or would work, but i think implementing both would be the biggest jump forward for the experience of managing animals over generations.
I absolutely love what you cats do at Fronteir. I just feel this is a glaringly huge problem in your User Experience, that any designer and developer should really care about fixing. It comes down to the "chores" of this game have literally become frustrating and unenjoyable to do - thats not right.
We gotta fix this.
Lets try an example:
20 females, 20 males.
Lets say this is a non-pack species so I need 2 in each habitat, 1 male, 1 female.
Lets also say i have three habitats of this species.
Habitats 1 male just died.
However, all 17 other males are this ones offspring. But to know this i've either had to click through every single wolf in "Compare Mates" or basically do the exact same thing in this new "Geneology".
The problem lies in ive just cycled through 17 males, yet even if i were to find a good mate - I'd then have to leave geneology or compare mates, go back to animal management, apply filter (lets say i have 200+ animals in this zoo), remember the name of that male, click him, open up another window, click move, remember the habitat im placing him in (after several double checks and probably restarting this over a few times because where was that female again? Oh another one died, crap uh. which one was i comparing? Anyways - do this every 15 minutes. Lets not even begin to talk about exhibit animals.
Do you see what im getting at? It is a User Experience NIGHTMARE!!!! Im going between several windows (that automatically close), I have to remember the names and habitats of creatures, Oh - and this is a part of upkeep gameplay loop - not one of adding to my experience, literally just forcing my hand into micromanagement (not opposed, but when its this clunky...its infuriating). Its about 18 clicks to find a mate and move them, when it could potentially be 6-7.
And your geneology page has done absolutely NOTHING but present already available data in a bit more clear of a way, but with no actionable use for it.
The solutions are this:
1. Either, stop force closing UI windows (or make it a toggable setting so some people who dont want the clutter dont have to deal, but those of us who can deal with it, can)
2. Add additional interactivity into "Compare Mates" and "Geneology" - such as the standard Move/Trade/Wild buttons but maybe "Move to Habitat" for each mate, that would automatically send them to the compared mates listed habitat. Also, list the animals location in their little "info" row box in "Compare" and Geneology" - so easy to quickly see where these animals are.
Either/Or would work, but i think implementing both would be the biggest jump forward for the experience of managing animals over generations.
I absolutely love what you cats do at Fronteir. I just feel this is a glaringly huge problem in your User Experience, that any designer and developer should really care about fixing. It comes down to the "chores" of this game have literally become frustrating and unenjoyable to do - thats not right.
We gotta fix this.
Though I wish the UI was as bad as it is.