Finding Places and Hidden Spaces

[ajqtrz]

Problem: Even when I'm in the "move" mode I don't always see the empty spaces available. It may be they are hidden behind other buildings and even if you make those buildings more or less transparent they are, for me, hard to see.

Solution:

When you press the move icon all the empty spaces are changed to yellow (or some other easily seen color) instead of just having the thing green border you see when you actually hover over them.

Pros:
1) should be easy to implement as it's only changing 1 thing.
2) it would make finding empty spaces in your city easier and thus help you re-arrange things more efficiently.

Cons:
???? I really can't think of any except the time to make the code changes.

AJ

 

[Darielle]

I love that idea. It would help me, anyway.

 

[Evening Star Selene]

Good idea! It is time consuming enough to rearrange your city, any helps like this would conserve time.

 

[Sandstorm173]

Awesome idea! I just rearranged my city and it was so hard to tell if some spaces were empty or if there was a small building in them. This would make that so much easier!

 

[AtaguS]

Yes please! Some in-game tools to help make the "build" parts of a city-building game more accessible. I like it.

 

[StarLoad]

I support, is making them blink an option?

 

[Sir Squirrel]

+1

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I always thought something could be done about this, even with the buildings all being 2D and not rotatable. There are other browser and app games I have played or looked at that have an Edit function that makes the buildings invisible, so that you only see the bases, letting you see all the spaces available around them.

Here is an example from a game called Township. The left is normal and the right is showing just the footprints of all the buildings and the roads and empty spaces.

 

[shimmerfly]

Great idea @ajqtrz Plus one from me.
Very helpful suggestion!

 

[truelinor]

I love this idea! Only not blinking, please. I can't take blinking.

@Enevhar Aldarion - I have played similar games that did that very same thing. So nice!

 

[Aritra]

I like this idea. Sometimes I move stuff out of the way because I can't tell if there's another row of space back there, but too often there isn't enough real estate to shuffle to see. I have to hover and hope it's there. It's a bit frustrating. I support the color change option (and perhaps increasing transparency of existing buildings). I'm not keen on blinking.

 

[ajqtrz]

Can we vote on this or did we already and I've just forgotten?

AJ

 

[NightshadeCS]

No, it would show a different tag or show the voting results at the top if we had voted. You have to tag a mod and request the vote.

Is the final suggestion just to highlight empty areas? Or did it morph into more of what Enevhar said, to have the buildings all go invisible?

 

[ajqtrz]

For me it's just to tag the empty spaces. I think that's the original idea.

I'll ask the moderator for a vote.....is that what you mean by "tag?"

AJ

 

[BrinDarby]

Well, before you start your re-organization, why not pull up your city in E-architect ????
If you have empty tiles, they will pop out, and you can then better not miss them on ur re-org.

Any major re-org I do, I use architect 1st, then screenshot that, then use that as a template
for the actuall re-org in my city.... plus anyone with ltd space, knows this method allows for
easier moving around and less open space need'd for the re-org.....

 

[Aritra]

Well, before you start your re-organization, why not pull up your city in E-architect ????
If you have empty tiles, they will pop out, and you can then better not miss them on ur re-org.

Any major re-org I do, I use architect 1st, then screenshot that, then use that as a template
for the actuall re-org in my city.... plus anyone with ltd space, knows this method allows for
easier moving around and less open space need'd for the re-org.....

The Architect is a great tool. I use it for planning and I can see how it could be used side-by-side to assist placement, however, I think the highlight or color change ability is a more direct solution without requiring visiting another website. Even if the plans were in front of me and I used it, piece by piece, to move, I still have difficulty tracking its placement due the way the item jumps to the next available spot. Sometimes it is difficult to track on the screen itself, even if you know where things are going. It takes a lot of time to analyze and cross-check to make sure it is in the right place and I try not to blink during the process, lol.

 

[AtaguS]

For me it's just to tag the empty spaces. I think that's the original idea.

I'll ask the moderator for a vote.....is that what you mean by "tag?"

AJ

@ajqtrz to "tag" a mod you'd type their name with the @ symbol before it...I'd suggest tagging Xelenia since suggestions are her jam. I'd type it as an example now but want to make absolute sure the original post is as you want it voted on because once Xelenia or Nightguest open the poll you can't edit your post. But if it's how you want it and you're ready, just tag her and request a poll. She responds pretty quickly

 

[ajqtrz]

@Xelenia Having learned that a "tag" is, can we vote on this? No changes are needed as it's pretty straight forward.

Thanks.

AJ

 

[Palavyn]

This is a great idea. Let's vote.

 

[Risen Malchiah]

Hmm, voting is open and I am apparently the only one who has voted so far. Perhaps those who are interested in this idea have forgotten and need a bump to come back and take a second look.