In continuation of my post with ideas for improving on UFO's usability-issues, here are my thoughts about the functionality of base features - from the same point of view, that is. I still try to keep new features to a minimum, and work with what is already there to help the player be better at playing. Feel free to comment and add your own ideas!
BASE VIEW:
# If a hangar is occupied it could be indicated even when the craft is on a mission - fx show it as a grayed out or transparent craft?
* Such a change would make it immediately obvious to the player why he cannot dismantle a hanger facility that would otherwise appear to be empty, and that his craft still belongs in the base even though it might be on a mission.
# When exiting base view to geoscape OpenXcom does not remember which base was last viewed - it would be nice if it did.
* In UFO the feature makes it easier to interact with the same base repeatedly, and does not make it more annoying to choose another base, than it would when it defaults to the same every time.
BASE INFO:
# Change scale of defense strength bar in base information view screen to match actual numbers better.
* As is, even with a few of the weakest defenses, the bar goes way too far off the screen to make any sense. Changing it by about a factor of 10 would probably do the trick.
FACILITY CONSTRUCTION:
# When placing a facility chosen from the "build facilities" list in base view, don't abandon placement mode if the player (accidentally) attempts to place facility on top of an existing one and the "can't place here" dialog appears. Give the player another try and require manual canceling.
* Bothering the player with redoing the same sequence of clicks because of an accidental click is just evil.
# Let the player to dismantle facilities from within the "build facilities" menu in base view - don't make it the default action on facilities in the base view!
* The player is unlikely to want to dismantle his precious facilities as his first / default action in the base view mode. It would be beneficial to make it explicit that dismantling action is activated - this could be done as the default action when opening the "build facilities" menu. Perhaps making it into a more general "manage facilities" menu.
# In base view, when LMB click on facilities, the dialog concerning the facility should pop up (research for laboratories, manufacturing for workshops, buy/sell for general stores, base information for access lift). In this case dismantling facilities could be done in the "build facilities" menu (perhaps made into a more general "manage facilities" menu).
* Using the base graphics as a UI for accessing base functionality is likely to be as intuitive or better than the purely button / textual interface implemented at the moment. Also such a change would likely ease future redesigns of the base view in OpenXcom fx if you wanted to remove some buttons to make room for contextual information about facilities under hovering cursor or other such features.
BUY/SELL/TRANSFER:
# In buy/sell & transfer screens enable "click+drag" & key modifiers (fx CTRL for +10 and SHIFT for +100)on +/- arrows when deciding amounts.
* Would increase ease of use tremendously.
