| Huh? The manual always said that esc was options. However, I agree that it would be good for space bar to close up every window, especially when you get four in one turn, and need to go through them all manually. |
Eh, you obviously haven't read the list of shortcuts in the PDF manual :
"Enter | End turn or close current window"
"Esc | Close current window or bring up options screen"
Problem is that neither key does the "close current window" bit. Other problem is that, from a UI design POV (and yes, I program / design UIs) it's retarded to combine two options that are so dissimilar. (It might be okay if hitting Escape closed a window if a window was open, and only if a window hadn't been open brought up Options - but better to have a dedicated key or button, considering that people don't need / want the options screen that often). But conceptually, having the same key
sometimes do something that has no effect on game play (closing a window) and
sometimes doing something that does something irreversible (proceeding to the next turn) violates all the principles of decent UI design.
Of course - since the Enter key _never_ closes a window.... *mutter*
Also, the PDF says :
"Spacebar | Pass" - WTF does that mean? Especially considering that the spacebar _either_ closes a window (some windows like the ship orders screen), or does nothing.
Okay - admittedly, the documentation is accurate. Escape _always_ brings up the options screen. Enter _always_ ends the turn. Given the "either - or" logic of the description, it's accurate, but misleading, and might be expected of game developer doing internationalization on their game. But not from a company that is based in an English-speaking area, and that actually is more of a user-interface company than a game developer.
