App takes control of the computer

[FrankParticipant]

On my mac, the app won’t let me access another app (such as textedit so I can read the instructions) or use Force Quit — if it locks up I have to use the Power button, which messes up other open apps & data.

It seems to not function correctly unless I have selected the screen resolution AND then “save & quit.”

I don’t have a joystick or mouse, only a trackpad. Need to be able to select the input tool(s) to be used.

Good luck, would be a great achievement.

[ww2t_BenKeymaster]

Hello Frank,

thank you for giving it a try. Most likely your are using the wrong .app for your OSX. Please download and install the 64bit version. All recent Core i3, i5, and i7 Mac computers have 64-bit processors. To be sure type into the terminal app/xterm

uname -a

and it will tell you what OSX is running on your computer.

Currently the screen resolution dialog is always popping up to let users play with those values. It is recommended to use the full screen resolution and at least quality “Good”. Don’t worry about Joystick, currently the game is played with keyboard commands for moving/zooming the map and mouse/trackpad for selecting things. After hitting “Play!” the game should come up.

Please let me know if it is the issue with the wrong 32/64 bit binary.

Besides: In case you are interested in playing one of the scenarios with me I will set up one or two. You could apply for one via the Online play option (after registering a user, please see the Manual in the Help board).

Ben

[FrankParticipant]

Running OSX 10.6.8. No difference with the 64 bit app. I cannot pop up the Dock to bring another app to the front, and the keyboard command to call up Force Quit does not work. Maybe cut a diagonal corner off the app window, so that a bit of the Desktop is always clickable.

The several steps for loading a scenario make me dizzy. Have to keep looking/clicking back and forth at the bottom then at the top of the screen. A popup menu style would be easier on the eyes.

A popup for the keyboard command list would be useful. And being able to click or tap on an object to call up a popup box with my choices for actions. But I can imagine its quite a task to program the interfaces for several different OS. OTOH I use a Mac precisely because it has the best human interface system.

[FrankParticipant]

I cannot get from my selected & loaded Scenario into the “play” mode.

I can find a way to get to “select Hotseat -> Play” but there is no scenario loaded.

Easier if the Type Of Play (hotseat etc) was selected in the same popup as the screen resolution & graphics quality. And why not allow selection of scenario (from the list or a Saved) at the same time?

[FrankParticipant]

OK here’s the fundamental problem. The user has no way of knowing the sequence in which things need to be selected. The “main menu” is at the BOTTOM. So naturally I think that selecting “hotseat” is the FIRST step. But it seems you want me to look up to the TOP of the screen and set it up in what I consider to be completely backwards order —

My presumption, from the layout I see, is:
1) select Hotseat
2) select & load the Scenario
3) option to save this as a Match or whatever that stuff is
4) play

And it seems that Scenario Editor is a not required at all. So why does it come up as the FIRST thing I see?

And all the above would be better organized within a window, instead of scattering buttons randomly all over the screen space and expecting the user to guess which order to do things.

[FrankParticipant]

To clarify the initial screen, make it say:
1) select a scenario and begin to play
2) create or modify a scenario in the Scenario Editor

As it stands, its obvious that you can’t play anything until a scenario is selected, so logically one must choose Scenario Editor.

[FrankParticipant]

It seems to me that the “create” button is superfluous. You could just include its two choices in that screen instead of the “create” button

Its not clear when “create match” becomes possible; seems like you have to select the scenario first.

And again, choices seem to pop up in random parts of the screen instead of progressing from top to bottom.

[FrankParticipant]

What about a flowchart presentation instead of multiple screens? That way the user can see where every choice leads. As it stands, backing up a step is impossible, you have to quit something entirely.

[ww2t_BenKeymaster]

Hello Frank,

thank you very much for your input, these are some valid point you bring up!

I cannot confirm what you said about the “blocking” of other apps. Once you have submitted the initial popup with the choice to select your screen resolution and you are inside the game (Main Menu: Exit Game, Play, Edit Map, Edit Scenario) you should be able to access a menu at the screen top by sliding your mouse pointer to the screen top as well as your docking bar by sliding the pointer to the screen bottom. It should also be possible to Cmd-Tab into other programs running. Once the top menu bar becomes visible it should contain the Apple symbol, “WW2T” and “Window”. Do you see that?

Now regarding the menu navigation: Yes, I agree, switching between the commands in the bottom bar and the bottons that appear in the top center is not ideal. Think of the latter ones as a dialogs with their own buttons. But the navigation should definitely improve.

The main menu sais “Play”, “Edit Map” and “Edit Scenario”. Those related to very different program parts, namely the Scenario Editor for creating and editing scenarios (has nothing to do with playing a match) and the Map Editor (same for maps). These work but the Player Manual in the Help forum does not explain them. I will add a description soon.

The confusion comes from understanding that you are playing a “Match”, not a scenario. You could play the same scenario “ViervilleRetaken” against Bob and against Bill, so in 2 different matches. So for you the way to play goes like this:

Select Play -> Hotseat -> Create ->

Now you are in the dialog to create a match (which references a Scenario), type in a

Match name
Select Scenario (button in the top bar) or type in the name
Choose which role you want to play (button is grey when selected)

then “Create Match” with the button in the top bar.

You have to do this only once for a new match. From now on you will see the newly created match in the list of matches. You click on it and hit the “Load” button.

So now you could always just Play -> Hotseat -> Click on match -> Load

and you are in the game.

You could also click on “Load from Autosave” which will load a match from the Start of the last phase entered (i.e. Prep Fire).

I will clarify this section in the Manual. I’m going to change the naming of the buttons so that it clearly says in the main menu “Play Match” and not just Play…

I could add a breadcrumb that informs you where you are in the menu flow.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by  ww2t_Ben.

[ww2t_BenKeymaster]

Ok, I’ve updated the “Hotseat” section of the manual. Indeed it did not really explain in detail what to do and that you are going to play a “match” and not a “scenario”.

[FrankParticipant]

There is a blue-grey bar at the top, on the left it has
WW2T Mode
version Menu

but clicking on the words does nothing, clicking in the bar does nothing. Pressing (option or command or control or shift)-TAB does nothing. Moving my cursor to the bottom of the screen does not pop up the Dock bar.

[FrankParticipant]

Note: there is no Apple icon within the WW2T bar at the top.

[ww2t_BenKeymaster]

The menu you are describing starting with “WW2T Mode” is the Infobar of WW2T. If you move your mouse cursor right up to the screen top (and wait a second the menu of the app itself should come up. But this is also not a must for playing the game…

Did you drag and drop the app from inside the DMG you have downloaded into your Application folder of the Mac? This way you install the app permanenty and this might be required instead of running it from the mounted DMG. So that you can see WW2T in your apps folder and run it from there?

Your OSX is Snow Leopard (10.6.x), I do not have a Mac for testing it under this OS. My Mac runs 10.9.5. But since you now get into WW2T and it seems you can also exit it correctly (via Exit Game) – it seems to be ok. Still it is strange you cannot switch to another app while running WW2T.

Were you able to start your first Hotseat match?

[FrankParticipant]

Infobar does not function. The buttons on the bottom of the screen change to green when I hover over them & I can click on them.

Also, my trackpad does not function in “right click” mode when WW2T is running. I should be able to tap the right side of the trackpad to bring up the “right click” menu.

EDIT: yes the app was dragged into the hard drive so is “installed.”

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by  Frank.

[ww2t_BenKeymaster]

Ok, sounds all good to me, WW2T is then installed correctly. If you find time please try to setup a Hotseat match and give it a try.

Right click: There is no “menu” for right click anywhere in WW2T, the only occasion where you could right click is when inspecing a stack instead of selecting it. Left click is to select a stack in the map and to select/deselect individual counters in the left hand Counter Inspector. Right click on a stack in the map view is to inspect without selecting a counter or changing the existing selection.

Here is a link on how to right click with a trackpad:

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/five-ways-to-right-click-on-a-mac-trackpad/

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by  ww2t_Ben.

[FrankParticipant]

How do I drag counters to move them?

[ww2t_BenKeymaster]

It doesn’t work like this: The way to move a Counter and for almost all other actions is like this:

First, you have to be in the Movement Phase (if you are playing your first Scenario it starts with a singular Setup Phase, then with the first Prep Fire Phase and so on). Just for trying: advance with “End Phase” until the Infobar at the top says “Phase: Movement Phase”. In order to advance to the next phase sometimes the approval of both players is required, this is the case for example for Rally Phase. “Switch Player” to play both sides alternating, so one player has to hit “End Phase” in Rally Phase, then Switch Player and the other has to “End Phase” as well. The game then moves on to Prep Fire. Since Prep Fire can only be played by the Attacker, only he has to “End Phase” in order to advance to the Movement Phase. In a LAN or Online game this is of course less cumbersome because you are just playing one side.

So, now to answer your question: You are in the Movement Phase, make sure you are playing the Attacker: The Infobar at the top states which “Player” you are currently playing, i.e. Russian. It also mentiones who is the Attacker and who the Defender in this Player Turn. Now you click on a stack of Units. On the left hand side all Units and their SW are listed. All have a yellow border which means they are selected. You can deselect individual Units or SW by clicking again on them in the Counter Inspector on the left hand side. Once you have selected the Units you would like to move you look at the Toolbar at the bottom which lists all the available commands: Move, Minimum Move, Assault Move etc. If those buttons are still not fully colored (orange) something is missing. Hover with your mouse pointer over a button to see a Tooltip. It will probably tell you that you also have to select a Hex to move to. So left click on a hex adjacent to those units. Once the Units and a Hex are selected (yellow border) the Move command should become available. Hover over it again (without clicking yet) and the Tooltip informs you about the cost in MF. Now click on the button to actually Move. This is how almost all commands work with the exception of Close Combat phase where you configure a special roster lining up the units and attack groups.

Thank you for your persistence, I know that it is mostly not self-explanatory yet. All players and testers so far have been introduced to the game by myself so it is good for me to get an idea of the learning curve involved. I will again update the manual with more details (Help forum: Player Manual).

http://www.ww2t.com/forums/topic/player-guide/

The reason not to drag&drop your units is, that you want to know the cost of certain actions before actually performing it and also whether a move/action is legal. If this would be validated only once you have dropped a unit into another hex you constantly would be frustrated because only afterwards you learn that this move is not possible and so on. I will probably add the possibilty to drag&drop units for moving later as well for experts who know the costs involved etc. and as a quicker way to get things done. But the game is halted anyway once you move a unit and the other player has to “Pass” or First Fire at the moving unit before you can move another hex.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by  ww2t_Ben.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by  ww2t_Ben.

[KarinaNuhParticipant]

50 years is a long time. Really long time to own a roadster. In August of ’66 I was a member of IAM out on strike against the airline. Actually we were striking 5 airlines at once. Nothing better to do so I went to Bonneville. See what was going on. Changed me I guess. I bought my ’32 in ’65. Didn’t actually get it to the salt until ’78

[Author]

Posts