Generals and adventures

[Vrisitiggsy]

I do like the new upgrades for the generals.

Being able to send several at once, which was a while back, is much better.
Clear all, last week or the week before - great
And now we can type in the troops we want instead of faffing around with the sliders - fantastic.

But I think there are a couple more tweaks relating to generals, specifically when on an adventure:

1. It would be nice to be able to check easily how long a looter's general will be before he lands. I suggest these are added to the specialists' tab, maybe in blue so they look ghostly (lol) and don't get mixed up with your own generals. Or maybe with the looter's name plastered at the top. You could then just hover to find this out.

2. It would be sooo useful if you could recall a general you just sent to another space, if you do it, say, in the first 30 seconds. The number of generals I've sent and then realised I shouldn't have, or they need different troops or something is unreal.

3. On all adventures, but particularly those with uber-long walks, like vlt, it would be really helpful to be able to jump to the general's current position on the journey, so you've some idea when they will reach their destination (if you haven't obsessively been watching their progress), allowing you to make coffee or something without worrying.

4. I understand that they mostly have to walk so the troops keep up, but if you're sending just cavalry, could they not go faster? Surely they would trot, at the very least!

[Xibor]

1. It would be nice to be able to check easily how long a looter's general will be before he lands. I suggest these are added to the specialists' tab, maybe in blue so they look ghostly (lol) and don't get mixed up with your own generals. Or maybe with the looter's name plastered at the top. You could then just hover to find this out.

Go to the adventure island and check specialists in the start menu. It shows the time. If I don't want to do that, I set a timer (or look at the clock and write it down). It's going to be either 15 or 30 minutes.

2. It would be sooo useful if you could recall a general you just sent to another space, if you do it, say, in the first 30 seconds. The number of generals I've sent and then realised I shouldn't have, or they need different troops or something is unreal.

Oops - pays to double check I suppose. When sending them the screen shows how many troops are assigned, that helps me know which ones (plus they are all named and I know which ones I'm sending because of my notes). It does seem reasonable to me however that if they are still walking to the nearest location to depart they should maybe be able to be recalled.

3. On all adventures, but particularly those with uber-long walks, like vlt, it would be really helpful to be able to jump to the general's current position on the journey, so you've some idea when they will reach their destination (if you haven't obsessively been watching their progress), allowing you to make coffee or something without worrying.

Agreed to this - but I usually know more-or-less where they are and can find them easy enough (unless it's an island with lots of forests). Clicking on the general in the specialist menu and then have it jump to the location would be handy. That being said, if you are just relocating it doesn't really matter to watch them and you will know when they rebuild. If attacking, I always watch - you never know what might happen.

4. I understand that they mostly have to walk so the troops keep up, but if you're sending just cavalry, could they not go faster? Surely they would trot, at the very least!

The game is not designed to be that realistic and I wouldn't want it to start going that way. And if you think about military logistics you also need supplies, extra weapons, medial equipment, food, tents, all carried on wagons when moving a camp. And if attacking - I would never want that - think what it would do to the timing of attacks!

[Vrisitiggsy]

Go to the adventure island and check specialists in the start menu. It shows the time. If I don't want to do that, I set a timer (or look at the clock and write it down). It's going to be either 15 or 30 minutes.

No, actually it only shows my generals, not the looters'. I'm asking for the looters' generals to show up there as well (coloured differently or labelled with their name, as I said).

Agreed to this - but I usually know more-or-less where they are and can find them easy enough (unless it's an island with lots of forests). Clicking on the general in the specialist menu and then have it jump to the location would be handy. That being said, if you are just relocating it doesn't really matter to watch them and you will know when they rebuild. If attacking, I always watch - you never know what might happen.

On adventures like vlt (like I said) the looter has to walk for 15 minutes to get to a camp he/she can attack. If you think I'm going to watch his general for that length of time, well, it ain't going to happen...

The game is not designed to be that realistic and I wouldn't want it to start going that way. And if you think about military logistics you also need supplies, extra weapons, medial equipment, food, tents, all carried on wagons when moving a camp. And if attacking - I would never want that - think what it would do to the timing of attacks!

Yeah, but it's very annoying having to wait 15 minutes or so to get from where you land to where you need to attack, for example. I mean, this is supposed to be a game, hence entertaining. A 15 minute walk is not entertaining by my standards, don't know about yours. And surely the garrisons represent the position of the supplies etc, and they stay where they are when the general attacks.

[Xibor]

Ah - if you mean a 'looter' is someone coming for a loot spot on an adventure of yours, then I see what you are saying. I never heard it put that way before. Yes, you won't know how long they are taking. But it's going to be 15 minutes or 30 - the other player should tell you which kind of general and you can estimate. But it would be handy to see this somewhere on your screen since they don't have a separate in-adventure chat.

Yeah, but it's very annoying having to wait 15 minutes or so to get from where you land to where you need to attack, for example. I mean, this is supposed to be a game, hence entertaining. A 15 minute walk is not entertaining by my standards, don't know about yours. And surely the garrisons represent the position of the supplies etc, and they stay where they are when the general attacks.

As far as the walking time goes, it's standard - and partially (I think) to make adventures that give achievements for doing them under a certain amount of time more difficult and more of a challenge. Regardless, some adventures take a long time to do, level 5-6 buildings take a week, clearly settlers isn't meant for people who are in a hurry and feel 15 minutes is too long to wait for something. It's a game of economic balance and patience. Perhaps PvP would appeal to you more - things happen faster there.

[Vrisitiggsy]

Ach no. pvp doesn't appeal at all. I'm a Settlers fan from years ago, and in general I like what's been done. These little tweaks are just a suggestion, and not everyone will agree.

Although I'm not German, I do believe in efficiency - i can start a vlt in the morning and finish it before the end of the day. I used to have a life away from Settlers, but apart from work I seem to spend most of my time here now, which is probably not so good. But I'm an addict!

I also don't agree that waiting 15 minutes makes an adventure more difficult. It just wastes time.