Tree View for Design Models

Add a button to the Research Window labeled “Add Model”. Clicking on this button brings up a small window that says, “Model Designation:” and a text field next to the colon. Below that would be Accept and Cancel buttons. The effect of adding a model would be to list the model name in a branch below the design that was selected in the Research Window at the time the Add Model button was clicked. The Add Model button would be grayed out for Specials.

Once one or more model designations have been added to a design, the Research button will become grayed out when the root design name is selected. The first model designation added is given the existing design. When additional model designations are added, the View Details screen will come up with the information from the root design filled in. The player can then make changes and it will be stored as the new model.

The player can click View Details when a model is selected to view it. Models can be researched as normal. Changes can be made to a model only if it hasn’t been researched yet. If it has been researched, the Add Model window will appear when the player clicks on the Redesign button. The player also has the option to delete a model at any time. If the last model is deleted, the design returns to being a single entry with no branches.

Clicking View Details on the root design will allow the player to view and make changes to the design, but clicking on the Submit button will only save the changes, not design it or research it. The root design serves as the template for any models added, so changes to the root design will be seen the next time the player adds a model. Lastly, when viewing the root design or any model, the options to choose a different Hull in the Hull Builder, to change the Hull Type in the Armor, Shield, Radar, Engine, and Weapon Builders, to change the name in any of the Builders, and to change the Weapon Type in the Weapon Builder will be disabled.

This tree view for designs and models would apply to the Research Window, the Build Window, the Colonial Research Queue, and the Colonial Production Queue. It would be a subset of the existing tree. Models could then be selected and added to a Build queue by pressing the + button. As with all tree views, it would be expandable/collapsible.

Lastly, the Prototype Builder would get new drop-down menus positioned just beneath and slightly indented for the Hull, Engine, Armor, Radar, and Shield drop-downs. These would be for choosing the model and would be grayed out for designs that have no models.

This would improve the player's ability to keep the list organized immensely. It would also have the effect of greatly expanding the available space for design names since players would no longer need to append model numbers to the name for all of the variations they create. For Hulls, one could easily make the model names the name of the material used to make the Hull. Then there would be the hull design name with each of the materials usable for making that hull listed beneath it.