Here's my first feedback on the New Tech screen.
Firstly it is very confusing. The left hand side clearly splits the techs into categories and this works well. What's confusing is the right hand side, where the techs seem to be all jumbled together with no clear order or reason for placement. Some techs can be selected for research, some can't. No understanding as to which or why.
- There needs to be better highlighting as to researchable techs, already researched techs, and not yet researchable techs. I suggest 3 levels of brightness with already researched techs being fully lit, researchable techs being moderately lit and not yet researchable techs being either hidden or faded.
- There also needs to be a clear logic in the placement of the techs based on cost and availability. This definitely needs some work and possibly a small redesign of the screen to make it clear.
- There needs to be an easy an instant way to see what the next cheapest tech is within a category
- all available techs for research need to be side by side and clearly identifiable
Second point is that there needs to be a clear way of 'selecting' a tech to research and a reminder of what tech is being researched. A 'research' button would do the job. I don't want my current project to be changed just because I looked around the tech tree.
Third point is that the screen does not currently update the weeks remaining unless you click off a tech and back onto it. This leads you to believe you are researching nothing at first.
All in all though I like the potential of the new screen. Just a few tweaks and it will be very nice,
Paul.
