Gamasutra - Feature - "Too Many Clicks! Unit-Based Interfaces Considered Harmful"

Gamasutra - Feature - "Too Many Clicks! Unit-Based Interfaces Considered Harmful"

This is a pretty good read. It may seem like this guy is just complaining about the Civ UI, but I think that it has farther reaching elements to it.

One idea that I came up with as I finished the article was that the game should "evolve". In some games it you almost have this ability. For example, in WarCraft III you can group units. This allows you to make "squads" that change the nature of the battles. As you play, you can direct these squads instead of individual units. A better example of evolving would be the game Spore. I have not played Spore, but you start out in a microscopic view and end with a view of the universe. Obviously you will not be controling the universe at a microscopic level.

The bigger thing to take from it is that 5-9 rule. It is normally true. Anything you do, you have to try and keep ~7 things happening for it. This does not mean that you can not be a general and a fire squad leader, but you will have trouble if you wear both hats at the same time.