Interface Kudos to KE Studios

[OTGamer]

I'd like to give some kudos to KE for the icon management and interface on the main screen.

1. Showing surface ship icon or carrier icon at ports.
2. Resizing to reflect size of fleet.
3. Anchor symbols to identify ships at anchor.
4. Raid, Patrol, and Invasion icons.
5. And the few others.

Even the best of games can be screwed up through a cumbersome interface or an interface that doesn't communicate well. In fact, engineers (and in particular, many software engineers) are often so busy adding all the bells and whistles to an interface that they forget the user neither needs them, nor desires them.
WPP's use of symbols with unique characteristics and contextual sizing is a superior interactive design method. A user is able to just gaze at the map, without having to focus on any particular point or read any information, and can pretty much absorb the overall picture.

These types of interfaces don't happen by accident. Unfortunately, the good interface is seldom "recognized". If you get it wrong, you will catch hell. But when you get it right, it just gets subsumed into the fun.

Good job KE.

[ScottWAR]

I have to concur. Very few games give you the ability to actually play without having to click on every single island/territory to see how large of a force is there. WPP is one example of a game where less is most definately better.