Rule the Waves is a gem of game design. It's scope is engrossing, it's simplicity is a treat. You get yourself into building ships, fleets and navies with a few clicks. You them take your sailors and admirals into desperate battles for sea supremacy. You win, you lose, you are playing. My question is, are you taking this game to places where it can deliver its full potential?
If you are naval warfare junkie, I bet you are.
If you are like me, a total noob in naval affairs, I am guessing not.
Enter this fantastic book by Norman Friedman.
This book is available from
Amazon (US) and from the description you can see that its THE book to read while playing "Rule the Waves". The contents of the book look like the manual for the game ...
Cheers,
It actually hurts to look at that screen. If the authors made any money from the game, the first thing they need to buy is a book on UI design. Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Given how much information they are presenting on a single screen, any changes would mean having to switch between multiple screens, thereby losing the easy overview of everything. Also, the similarities to the standard Windows program UI means most people will already be familiar with this look.
ReplyDeleteBingo - it's not a game you get for the looks. I'll be the first to admit it's ugly to look at, but the point is that a lot of these menus allow you to spend as little time as possible looking at them, and as much time as possible progressing through the game and decisions you have to make. JC's point about it being a gem in game design is spot-on - for a game of its depth and detail, it's surprisingly intuitive and briskly-paced.
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ReplyDeleteI have to second the recommendation on this book, Just got it earlier this week and it is great...and puts a lot of perspective on the choices you make in this game. This book is quite large and I admit I figured it would be one of those books with lots of great pictures but medium to low amount of text...I was wrong in fact I have to wear me reading glasses as the text is pretty dense! Great, great info.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me started on the looks thing ... This game I like a lot, just let me have fun with it.
Gabeeg, it is a great book and I am glad you are enjoying it.
Cheers,