v. 1.23 (tb) - questions and feedback

[kurmolke]

Hey Eric, 

I have seen a couple of changes that came along with v. 1.23 (testing built). I have a couple of short questions and some feedback.

1. The most obvious change is the frame around the mothly reports. With my resolution (1920x1080) it is way too small to see the bottom of a page. You have to scroll down - and I scroll down a lot in this game. This not only applies to the report, but also to "Gear City Monthly" and "Gear City news". How can I change the size of these windows? 
   
2. How can I change the fonts in the reports? I use the largest avaliable size (>> settings) and it is still not optimal. The fonts lacks contrast and simplicity. I do understand that you needed to pick a licence-free font.
   
3. My last question is not related to this version of the game but a more general one: I am always interested in what the competition does. Are there any more information avaliable besides what I can see in the yearly company overview, the stocks and on the world map (world map >> maps >> competition)? Maybe an additional page in the reports, which sums up some information about the competition, would be an idea?! Having one page with the most basic figures of each competitor would be such a great addition to the game (e.g. sales figures, profit/loss , number of branches, debt, market share, headquater, logo). Almost all of these information already exist. 
   

A feedback on the current version: I experienced some crashes on the latest versions, especially when opening the world map (maybe due to the fact that I am playing AI 300). On the newest version (1.23 (tb)) this only happened once. Which is good. The frame around the reports is a step back, though, imo.

[Eric.B]

[*]The most obvious change is the frame around the mothly reports. With my resolution (1920x1080) it is way too small to see the bottom of a page. You have to scroll down - and I scroll down a lot in this game. This not only applies to the report, but also to "Gear City Monthly" and "Gear City news". How can I change the size of these windows? 

Are you playing the game fullscreen or windowed? What is the actual resolution the game is running at? Window decoration, such as your taskbar can reduce the resolution of the game. Large report windows are displayed if the height of the resolution is above 1050px, otherwise it will use the small report window. If you upload your log file I can tell you what the game is running at: http://wiki.gearcity.info/doku.php?id=tr...e_log_file

A screenshot might also help.

[*]How can I change the fonts in the reports? I use the largest avaliable size (>> settings) and it is still not optimal. The fonts lacks contrast and simplicity. I do understand that you needed to pick a licence-free font.

You can not change the report fonts of the reports from in game. Since all reports are just webpages viewed in a web browser, you can edit the css files located in the ./GearCity/Sites folder.
If it seems that fonts have been made smaller, this is because fullscreen was disabled for DirectX.

[*]My last question is not related to this version of the game but a more general one: I am always interested in what the competition does. Are there any more information avaliable besides what I can see in the yearly company overview, the stocks and on the world map (world map >> maps >> competition)? Maybe an additional page in the reports, which sums up some information about the competition, would be an idea?! Having one page with the most basic figures of each competitor would be such a great addition to the game (e.g. sales figures, profit/loss , number of branches, debt, market share, headquater, logo). Almost all of these information already exist. 
[/list]

There isn't, and probably won't be a centralized report for AI like this. If a company is not public, then most of the information can be found in the stock report as you mentioned.

A feedback on the current version: I experienced some crashes on the latest versions, especially when opening the world map (maybe due to the fact that I am playing AI 300). On the newest version (1.23 (tb)) this only happened once. Which is good. The frame around the reports is a step back, though, imo.

Telling me the game crashes doesn't help any. Logfiles are the only things that help me with crashes. That being said, most likely the crash is related to alt-tabbing or otherwise the game losing focus (like Steam Overlay), especially if you are playing fullscreen.

[kurmolke]

Thank you for your reply, Eric. Your answers are precise and helpful. You had a couple of questions, which I´d like to answer.

Are you playing the game fullscreen or windowed? What is the actual resolution the game is running at? Window decoration, such as your taskbar can reduce the resolution of the game. Large report windows are displayed if the height of the resolution is above 1050px, otherwise it will use the small report window. If you upload your log file I can tell you what the game is running at: http://wiki.gearcity.info/doku.php?id=tr...e_log_file

A screenshot might also help.

1920x1080 is the resolution I use on my desktop as well as ingame. I play fullscreen (with the steam overlay). With the newest changes (SP4) the windowed versions of my reports look a little different. The navigation buttons are now on the right and everything is much easier to read. I have made some screenshots.  (files are attached)

As you can see, the navigation buttons are now on the upper right. They were below the text before. This allows more space for the report itself, which is now upright. Before these recent changes the window was much smaller and I had two scrollbars (horizontal & vertical). With only one scrollbar and upright layout it is much easier to read. Since it appears a bit smaller, there is less scolling. These changes are welcomed. 

Especially when reading "gear city monthly" the changes have helped making reading much easier.  

You also asked for a logfile. I uploaded it here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/13FuFNMt...sp=sharing) but can also send it via e-mail. 

You can not change the report fonts of the reports from in game. Since all reports are just webpages viewed in a web browser, you can edit the css files located in the ./GearCity/Sites folder.
If it seems that fonts have been made smaller, this is because fullscreen was disabled for DirectX.

I have located the files, but am not sure which changes I have to do to which files. I read the Gear City Wiki but couldn`t find any information on how to adjust CSS files. It is nothing urgent, but if you have a link or some advise, I would be thankful.  

There isn't, and probably won't be a centralized report for AI like this. If a company is not public, then most of the information can be found in the stock report as you mentioned.

Sorry to hear that - it was meant to be a suggestion from someone, who loves the game.

Telling me the game crashes doesn't help any. Logfiles are the only things that help me with crashes. That being said, most likely the crash is related to alt-tabbing or otherwise the game losing focus (like Steam Overlay), especially if you are playing fullscreen.

I wasn´t aware that alt-tabbing was the cause of the crashes. I did it frequently in the past, especially when listening to a podcast alongside or a friend who chatted with me via Steam. Good to know. Now I start my music or podcast first, then start the game and everything runs smoothly and stable.

The game itself is something special. I have played it longer than any other game in my life, even though it is a hardcore economic simulation. The early years are very challenging, especially with stiff competition. Even after so many new starts, I sometimes fail within the first ten years, especially when trying out something new. The possiblility of modding (changing logos, adjusting the AI) has enriched the game experience alot. I could spend hours in the creator - staring at long columns and lists. It isn´t a game that looks super fance but has a depth that I have seldomly experienced; plus, it puts a smile on my face.

[Eric.B]

1920x1080 is the resolution I use on my desktop as well as ingame. I play fullscreen (with the steam overlay). With the newest changes (SP4) the windowed versions of my reports look a little different. The navigation buttons are now on the right and everything is much easier to read. I have made some screenshots.  (files are attached)

As you can see, the navigation buttons are now on the upper right. They were below the text before. This allows more space for the report itself, which is now upright. Before these recent changes the window was much smaller and I had two scrollbars (horizontal & vertical). With only one scrollbar and upright layout it is much easier to read. Since it appears a bit smaller, there is less scolling. These changes are welcomed.

Ok, gotchya. Your complaint is with the web browser scroll bars and not the in game GUI.

There is no way to stop the webpages from requiring scrolling. They are designed this way.

There is also no way to change the size of the game GUI window for the web browser. This window has to be a power of 2 in size, thus it only supports 256px, 512px, 1024px, and 2048px.

You also asked for a logfile. I uploaded it here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/13FuFNMt...sp=sharing) but can also send it via e-mail. 

If you're on this forum, I would have preferred if you just attached it to a post. That being said, google drive is fine.

That being said, looking at the log file, it doesn't seem like it crashed? The log files overwrite every time you start the game, so you would need to send me a log right after crashing or which ever one of the previous session logs you have.

I have located the files, but am not sure which changes I have to do to which files. I read the Gear City Wiki but couldn`t find any information on how to adjust CSS files. It is nothing urgent, but if you have a link or some advise, I would be thankful.  

That is because these files aren't meant to be modded. Your changes will be overwritten with every update. That being said, I believe most reports use datatables.min.css, dropdown.css, and all the MagazinePage#.html and newspaper.html files. If you're editing .html files, be sure that you escape braces {{ and }} for every { and } you want. This is how you modify the files: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_font.asp

Sorry to hear that - it was meant to be a suggestion from someone, who loves the game.

Glad they're enjoying the game! And sorry for shooting down the idea. I'm on the tail end of development, so there won't be too many features added that aren't already on my list.

The game itself is something special. I have played it longer than any other game in my life, even though it is a hardcore economic simulation. The early years are very challenging, especially with stiff competition. Even after so many new starts, I sometimes fail within the first ten years, especially when trying out something new. The possiblility of modding (changing logos, adjusting the AI) has enriched the game experience alot. I could spend hours in the creator - staring at long columns and lists. It isn´t a game that looks super fance but has a depth that I have seldomly experienced; plus, it puts a smile on my face.

Thanks for the kind words! Hopefully with a little more work it'll get even better soon.