ok, seriously, this is really annoying

[alarikf]

So...I get the message "Ship XXX is under attack from a giant kaltor"

Ok, I'm on it. I've got a fleet sitting around just waiting for this to happen.

So...I click the news message to find out where the attack is happening, as any leader of a glactic empire would ("Advisor, where is the attack?"). It selects the ship under attack and shows me where the offending giant kaltor is. Ok, righto, then I go to and select the fleet to attack the beast. So, the fleet is now selected....and I can't find the target anymore. So, I have to write down the system, then zoom back into it, and try and find the creature...? Really this gets very very tiresome. Why can't I right click pirates and critters, and select a fleet to attack them? Is there a way to simplify this that I am missing?

Ok, and, while I'm on it, it's stinking ridiculous that when I click on a message "Ship X is under attack" THATIT selects the ship, becaase half the time the ship has already escaped and so I end up looking at a ship zooming through the galaxy, and I have NO idea where the damned critter is. I want to know *where* the event happened, I don't care about much else.

I am trying hard, and maybe I am too set in my ways, but I am finding dealing with the interface to be a very uphill battle, constantly.

[Igard]

Above the display panel there are forward and back arrows. You can use these to select the previous ship/fleet/base/(and planet I think) without having to go find them.

You can also auto-assign a fleet to a hot-key (1,2,3....,9,0) by selecting the fleet or ships and holding left-control and selecting the key number.

Sometimes a ship will escape before you can zero in on the location. Just deselect and zoom out. The previous location should be near by. Send a ship there to investigate/eradicate.

[jpinard]

I have the EXACT same problem! I hope there's just something we're both missing because I can't imagine this was left as is on purpose.

[Pipewrench]

alarikf,

Here are 3 ways

if the military is outside of the system where the attack is happening....

unlock the view for all the examples so the viewpoint does not move when you select something.(padlock)

click on a object or planet or star where the attack took place.

now find the closest military fleet or ship you want to use
control panel right top button[z] below arrows

view has not moved , right click on an object or star and direct the fleet or ship to patrol the system ( or planet),

or

zoom out to sector view [insert key]

hover over the message to find the location. ping

now find a military unit you want to use.

select it to put it up in the selection panel.

go back to sector view and hover over the message to get your bearings again.

right click on the star and tell the ship or fleet to patrol that system.

The fleet or ship will travel to, enter in and attempt to clear anything that it encounters.


or


click on the message at the top, it will zoom in to the event.

select the closest planet or zoom out to sector view [insert key] and select the star the explorer is escaping from.

make sure you selected the closest object and not the actual threat.

now go and find the military fleet or ship you want to use
control panel right top button[z] below arrows

the destination you selected at the start is saved and so is the fleet or ship you want to use.

now simply click the previous order ( < key at the top of control panel)
and then click the name of the object in the selection panel to center

your military selection has been saved so use the ( > } key to bring up the destroyer , right click on the object your looking at and select patrol.

key point: if the fleet is far away and there is a chance you are going to lose sensor contact never click on the attacker. If sensor contact is lost the fleet will call off the attack after a short time.

[endoric_MatrixForum]

if i recall correctly, mind you i am not in front of my computer, if you go to the message list and select the message from there it will take you to the event location not the ship involved.

i then select my ship or fleet from the side list and send them there, when they arrive they will usually find the target when put on auto.

[jpinard]

They should just add a menu in the right-click mission window with "go to recent events #1". That would be way easier.

[WoodMan]

Um...

Zoom to the location like you did. Then when there, select your fleet from the left hand menu that alows you to select fleets (or any military ship individually) and right click the kaltor [:)]
If you ever get lost, there is the back and forward buttons that will go between the last and next things you had selected too.

Edit: Or press the f key to cycle fleets!

Edit: Or use the "select nearest military ship button" but this is not optimal, one ship proably no match for a kaltor unless it is a cruiser or bigger (or you have a high tech level).

[Bleek]

Yep it's pretty straightforward, I click the incident and then the relevant button (bottom left menu) to find the closet fleet or military ship.

[Algoritm]

I'm a new player to this game. The first thing I did before starting my first game was print the 'Hotkey' pages from the pdf Manual (pages 78-80) and highlight all the important buttons (especially the F key to cycle fleets, the I key to select idle ships that have finished their mission...)

I strongly recommend every new player to have the hotkeys at hand whilst playing this game.

[WoodMan]

Nice suggestion Algo! I've been using the hotkeys so long it becomes second nature. All the zoom keys and also the cycle keys. The ones I just can't remember are the ones for the buttons at thew top center of the screen. Hehe, I guess my memory only goes so far [:D]

Also, maybe some new players wouldn't know, but the "d" can toggle off the diamonds, circles etc around ships (one press toggles of health bars, two presses toggles off all that data) and the "t" key toggles off al the UI altogether. Can be nice if you just want to look at the ships and planets and relax [:D]

[Sithuk]

The constant barrage of Under Attack messages is well known. We can but hope that Elliot looks into it for the expansion.

All the usual suggestions that get made every few months are to have categories of Under Attack and then be able to filter them. Having the message include the system name and map grid coordinates would be good too.

None of this is new. None of the suggestions are new.

[Igard]

I don't know if it's just something you get used to after a while, but I've never had trouble navigating around the map and finding ships.

The game gives you lots of options to help. I really don't think there's a problem here.

It's probably also worth mentioning that most players seem to use the space bar alot. Pausing and un-pausing the game can really help when you need to organise a quick response to an attack.

[alarikf]

Ok, I will try all these suggestions, but from reading them I still find it silly that when I get an event of an attack, it focuses the selection on the ship that was attacked, rather than the attack location. 9 times out of 10, the ship has already escaped and is in deep space, leaving me to search for the darned event location. I get that I can do that and make it easier and I will try all these suggestions (keep pressing the darned space bar, etc) but still it seems in this issue and in general I am often at odds with the interface. Perhaps I am just set in my ways. But it does make the game less enjoyable too frequently for me...I fear it will be relegated to the "coulda been a contender" category of games for me.

[Igard]

You don't need to push the space bar, but it can help if you're dealing with other things.

All you have to do is zero in on the ship by hitting the event, then, if the ship has fled the system, zoom out to see where it was fleeing from and send a military ship there to investigate. I usually just zoom out further and find the nearest military vessel. Just send it to the system and it'll find any targets on its own.

I'd say the whole process takes me less than 5 seconds. More if there aren't any military ships nearby.

Also, if the ship has fled the system and there is nothing of any importance in that system. You can always leave it alone at your discretion.

[jpinard]

ORIGINAL: WoodMan

Um...

Zoom to the location like you did. Then when there, select your fleet from the left hand menu that alows you to select fleets (or any military ship individually) and right click the kaltor [:)]
If you ever get lost, there is the back and forward buttons that will go between the last and next things you had selected too.

Edit: Or press the f key to cycle fleets!

Edit: Or use the "select nearest military ship button" but this is not optimal, one ship proably no match for a kaltor unless it is a cruiser or bigger (or you have a high tech level).

Awesome! Didn't know this. But how do you get "more ships" to appear when that buttons has exceeded the limit it can show?

[Theluin]

Well, you can mouse over it and use the scroll wheel [:)]