See When is it just "makework"?
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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!
Micromanagement - Fun or Just Work?
An easy way (not the best way) to get rid of this would be: You get some guys over to an area, then select them, press a button and they become computer controled allies and build the new town themselves (while you give them orders like: Gather, hold territory and so on)
quote:Original post by ysotuff
I remember reading an interview with Sid Meiers not that long ago and he said that a developer had to make sure that the computer didn''t have all the fun. What he meant was that a computer shouldn''t be making all the decisions, the player should.
I like that.
To me micromanagement is a double-edged blade. On one hand it gaves the player a lot of control over his assets, whatever they may be. On the other hand, it makes the player do more work and all of us lazy gamers whine over that. The thing to consider really is whether micromanagement enhances the gameplay.
Also think about whether micromanagement really goes away when you let the computer do things. Say you have an economy to watch over and have to build farms. Well building the farms is too much trouble - let the computer do it. So okay the computer does it, but then you''ll still have to track and manage the expenses taken by the computer to build the farms. So you see, even tho you are no longer responsible for building the farms, you still have to watch to make sure the computer doesn''t make you bankrupt by setting budgets and such. So does the micromanagement really truly go away?
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Actually, you may need to look at micromanagment in terms of batch commands. Rather than select a unit and then select an action, you may need to do it in reverse, select the action, and then select all units that will take this action. To use ysotuff''s example, rather than grabbing an individual tree and throwing it, a set of options that make it clear that you want to throw every second tree, but not the tree in the middle. This needs some finely planned UI, but it''s doable.
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:: Inmate2993
:: William C. Bubel
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I think there should he a few guidelines that developers should try and follow when they are considering micromanagement.
1. Is this fun?
2. You have to do it 40 times - is it still fun?
3. Is the task directly related to what the player''s responsibility in the game should be? - e.g. commander of star fleet assigning janitorial duty.)
4. Is there any option for not doing it, if a significant percentage of the players won''t find it enjoyable?
5. It''s easily manageable with x units, but is it manageable with x * 20 units?
That''s a start anyway.
1. Is this fun?
2. You have to do it 40 times - is it still fun?
3. Is the task directly related to what the player''s responsibility in the game should be? - e.g. commander of star fleet assigning janitorial duty.)
4. Is there any option for not doing it, if a significant percentage of the players won''t find it enjoyable?
5. It''s easily manageable with x units, but is it manageable with x * 20 units?
That''s a start anyway.
quote:Original post by ysotuff
1. Is this fun?
This question is nearly impossible to answer comprehensively, as different people will consider different activities to be fun. Therefore, you should allow those who enjoy it to do more of it and those who don''t to delegate (or automate). You really should take a look at that link I posted earlier; it discusses this in full.
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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!
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