My 3 most wanted iPad features
famousringo
Member Posts: 28
So, the first iPad patch has landed, and it has brought a truly impressive laundry list of fixes for only a month of development time, both in terms of already-patched PC issues, and in terms of iPad-specific features and fixes. I know Overhaul isn't done, and you're already hard at work on more fixes, such as rewriting the rendering system so casting entangle doesn't cripple the game, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents for the features I'd most like to see that would make the game feel more at home on tablets:
1. Highlights for exits and other interactable objects in the background
The smart radius feature makes exits such as doors on the far side of a house easier to find if you're looking for them, but unless you're already looking for them, there's no easy way to tell they're there. This is less of a problem for BG veterans who know where everything is, but a big barrier for new users who might not realize that there are doors around that don't highlight in purple. I've actually never played through BG1 before, and I was alarmed when I discovered the sewers entirely by accident as I was walking through town! It may get worse in BG2 with all the objects in the background which can be examined and interacted with.
Honestly, it's hardly much better on PC using mouse hover and watching for a cursor change to detect exits and background objects. I think adding highlights to all exits and key objects would improve the game for users on any platform.
2. An easier way to select multiple units.
This one's more tablet-specific. Selecting multiple (not all units, multiple units while excluding others) units is a breeze on PC. Either draw a box, or shift-click on the portraits you want to select if the box selection is going to be too tricky. Using the box selection button on a tablet is incredibly cumbersome, and there is currently no way to use the portraits to select multiple units on a tablet.
I would suggest some kind of multitouch gesture in the portrait section for selecting multiple units. Perhaps ideally, simply touching several portraits at once would result in multiple selections. Or maybe rearranging party order could be relegated to a long touch and drag in the portrait section, while a brief touch and drag would select the units dragged across. I know I want to select multiple units a lot more frequently than I want to change party order.
3. Easy imports into BG2:EE.
This one's for the future. I know there are tentative plans to provide a cloud service for save games, but moving files around on an iPad can be a bit of a pain. So just a friendly suggestion that whatever solution gets put in place would ideally make it easy for me to move my BG:EE characters into BG2:EE.
1. Highlights for exits and other interactable objects in the background
The smart radius feature makes exits such as doors on the far side of a house easier to find if you're looking for them, but unless you're already looking for them, there's no easy way to tell they're there. This is less of a problem for BG veterans who know where everything is, but a big barrier for new users who might not realize that there are doors around that don't highlight in purple. I've actually never played through BG1 before, and I was alarmed when I discovered the sewers entirely by accident as I was walking through town! It may get worse in BG2 with all the objects in the background which can be examined and interacted with.
Honestly, it's hardly much better on PC using mouse hover and watching for a cursor change to detect exits and background objects. I think adding highlights to all exits and key objects would improve the game for users on any platform.
2. An easier way to select multiple units.
This one's more tablet-specific. Selecting multiple (not all units, multiple units while excluding others) units is a breeze on PC. Either draw a box, or shift-click on the portraits you want to select if the box selection is going to be too tricky. Using the box selection button on a tablet is incredibly cumbersome, and there is currently no way to use the portraits to select multiple units on a tablet.
I would suggest some kind of multitouch gesture in the portrait section for selecting multiple units. Perhaps ideally, simply touching several portraits at once would result in multiple selections. Or maybe rearranging party order could be relegated to a long touch and drag in the portrait section, while a brief touch and drag would select the units dragged across. I know I want to select multiple units a lot more frequently than I want to change party order.
3. Easy imports into BG2:EE.
This one's for the future. I know there are tentative plans to provide a cloud service for save games, but moving files around on an iPad can be a bit of a pain. So just a friendly suggestion that whatever solution gets put in place would ideally make it easy for me to move my BG:EE characters into BG2:EE.
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Comments
I like your first suggested feature too, +1 for that, sign me up. The important ones seem to have map markers now (like Kagain and Firebead in Beregost), but some kind of icon would be nice, like you said.