All right, as people seem interested! My goal is to try to improve gameplay rather than get players currently, so please just try it if you want to give some opinions of the gameplay (and hopefully how to improve it!) as the game is still in early alpha it’s faaar from being completed. Especially considering that the game looked like http://i.imgur.com/jEtLU.png just a month ago (you can probably see the improvements that’s happened just the last few weeks).
Though remember it’s not the finished product and faaaar from being done.
If anyone are proud of their score you can always check your ingame score in the society tab and post said score here! If you hoover over the score you will see the score of all alien species’ you have recieved contact with.
Ok, just had a brief play and here are my thoughts.
The game is off to a great start.
Love the overall look/theme/music.
Love it’s simplicity (less is more)
Love that it started up in widescreen too (which is perfect for this type of game)
Suggestions:
The behavior of the tooltips was…erratic, especially on my first go as I was trying to figure out what was what.
The interface was a bit odd, personally I’d look at moving the buttons at the top right to be down at the bottom right? I found myself constantly moving the mouse diagonally across the map from the bottom left to the top right when playing. Definately keep the status/tally stuff at the top but maybe keep the controls in the lower half?
I was saddened that I couldn’t utilize the empty spaces between stars (had a burning desire to build or do something with them)
Also hoping that the solar system bar will allow us to click on the planets to see/do stuff later on.
I also lost a few stars but never received a message as to why I lost them.
Found the workings of the research screen to be a bit confusing.
[quote]Suggestions:
The behavior of the tooltips was…erratic, especially on my first go as I was trying to figure out what was what.
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Which ones? How were they erratic? Flickering?
[quote]The interface was a bit odd, personally I’d look at moving the buttons at the top right to be down at the bottom right? I found myself constantly moving the mouse diagonally across the map from the bottom left to the top right when playing. Definately keep the status/tally stuff at the top but maybe keep the controls in the lower half?
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I like the idea! Will test it!
[quote]I was saddened that I couldn’t utilize the empty spaces between stars (had a burning desire to build or do something with them)
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Am supposed to add “super” research later which let you create Stars, ring-worlds or other sci-fi structures later. It’s in the works.
[quote]Also hoping that the solar system bar will allow us to click on the planets to see/do stuff later on.
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Of course.
[quote]I also lost a few stars but never received a message as to why I lost them.
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When attacked?
[quote]Found the workings of the research screen to be a bit confusing.
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In what way? I agree with you and wish to change it later, though have you some concrete examples?
Thanks a lot!
Sorry, accidently missed an “o” at the end when I copied the link. Was away at work for a while so took me a while to notice/respond.
56mo !!! You have really put a lot of music in there ;D
Well, it is the first version so I will only say that UI graphic can be a little more fancy (but keep it as simple as it is, may be add some glowing effect to have something more SF)
It take me quite some time to find the right click to explore
I have a AZERTY keyboard… so scrolling with an QWERTY setup :-. Even so you should do a scrolling with the left click (or even the middle click). It is the kind of game that I play ONLY with the mouse. And smooth scrolling or should it hurt too mush performance ?
You should put a fullscreen / Windowed option (I do other stuff while waiting a task to finish)
You should put more feedback on the map : something to say that you own the star; something to say that you are settling it; …
In game the menu “Options”… doesn’t give options ;). It is more the system menu.
For the research, it take me sometime to figure out that there were categories. You should do something that look like a tabled pane.
I got a problem with tooltip too. One time, on the map, the tooltip was only a little black bar (something like an empty tooltip).
On the race creation screen, you should put a text to select 1 technology (I didn’t notice that you can do it the first time).
On the race creation screen, you should put some tooltips to explain the influance of the different parameters
At this point, I would say that it is quite good and the game only need some polishing here and there.
Did a little work for a musician so got a whole album from him to use in exchange, and then has recieved a few songs from random musicians in exchange for credits.
[quote]- Well, it is the first version so I will only say that UI graphic can be a little more fancy (but keep it as simple as it is, may be add some glowing effect to have something more SF)
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Working on it.
[quote]- It take me quite some time to find the right click to explore
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I will try to make all keys ingame changeable by the user later on.
[quote]- I have a AZERTY keyboard… so scrolling with an QWERTY setup :-. Even so you should do a scrolling with the left click (or even the middle click). It is the kind of game that I play ONLY with the mouse. And smooth scrolling or should it hurt too mush performance ?
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Not sure what you mean? Can you explain further?
[quote]- You should put a fullscreen / Windowed option (I do other stuff while waiting a task to finish)
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It’s already in place, if you start the game from command prompt with any kind of arguments then it will be in window mode. If you use multiple screens and want window mode without borders then send in “-noborders”.
[quote]- You should put more feedback on the map : something to say that you own the star; something to say that you are settling it; …
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A owned Star show with a square. A star which is being colonized by yourself will have a little dot at it’s side (currently a bug makes it not shown in case you colonize by clicking settle and not moving the map - it will be shown if you either click settle + move map or you hold in right mouse button on the star (which makes you colonize said star).
[quote]- In game the menu “Options”… doesn’t give options ;). It is more the system menu.
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Will change that, thanks!
Am considering rebuilding it.
[quote]- I got a problem with tooltip too. One time, on the map, the tooltip was only a little black bar (something like an empty tooltip).
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Have made a few errors with the tooltip and also Java has problems handling the tooltips when it’s in full screen mode (of some reason).
[quote]- On the race creation screen, you should put a text to select 1 technology (I didn’t notice that you can do it the first time).
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It’s actually not research but allowed policies. Generally things that are easily researched and any species reaching the Stars should know - though maybe not all species agree upon. All such policies gives special bonuses when expanding in space, though worsen the relationships with all species that has banned said policies.
If you change your mind ingame you can also change said policies ingame.
[quote]- On the race creation screen, you should put some tooltips to explain the influance of the different parameters
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Actually I have done an early mockup (not added all info yet). Hold your mouse over the description over Behaviour for example.
Thanks a lot!
It’s using pure Swing.
I usually go for quick and cheap expansion (early cheaper exploration costs and then engine).
Then when I meet the enemy I usually try to set up heavy ground defenses and start researching military fleets. I usually loose a few stars though when I finally catch up I can usually recapture those.
Then slowly build up defense nodes and expand outwards. Works fine.
I think you need to redesign the UI a little. As I said earlier, I think it’s too many mouse clicks to do common/repetitive things. You should try to compress it more. There’s slightly too little stuff on the different tabs, and too many tabs. xd I realize that this may be good for smaller screens, but as I have a 1920x1080 screen, the distance between buttons is huge. Generally makes it hard to micromanage, which the AI then will dominate you at.
I agree with more info in the tooltips. I also have no idea what the different race parameters did, so I just picked something. I think more information on the map would be good too. I thought it was hard to distinguish free star systems from the background, so a small frame or marker around them would be nice.
Finally: HOTKEYS x 10^99. Any hardcore RTS fan is gonna want them anyway. xD
Not sure what you mean? Can you explain further?
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To scroll the map (I don’t speak about the “minimap”), you use WS/AD which is really annoing since my A and W are not at the same place. So my first reflex, click and drag with the right button (so I have discovert how to explore ;D). Second try, click and drag with the left mouse button. Third try, click and drag with the middle mouse button.
Right now your scrolling is done square by square. A smooth scrolling is done pixel by pixel (or so), it will give a far better felling (a continuous space) but it may use more graphical power.
It’s already in place, if you start the game from command prompt with any kind of arguments then it will be in window mode. If you use multiple screens and want window mode without borders then send in “-noborders”.
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An INGAME options (even if you have to restart the game)
OK I give it a longer try… and loose in 1/4h :emo:
Game mechanismes are really confusing…
So I start with my little star.
I begin with some economic research while researching another star.
I found one and start to make a colony on it. All is well :).
Another Alien race contact me !!! Hooo ;D but there look like evil ! :’(. Don’t know where they come from…
I continue to search for star systems but now I research defence (planetary) and build some regular army.
Build some defences (mine field,…), but I have NO IDEA if there where really build I didn’t find anything about them on the star system info or fleet. And regular army are placed OUTSIDE the squares, really strange ???
Then Aliens attacks me… and win the planet. NO DEFENCE !?! What the #@!*# ?
Second attack, no defence… :cranky:
At least, I got 5 other stars. So I wanted to do research about war… can’t selected it. Ok research on spaceship then.
I build some small spaceship and fighters… they appear outside the squares in fleet. So now I can start an attack… well I can’t start an attack. I have no clue how to deal with fleet, it is totaly unintuitive. I click everywhere hoping that something append… and I manage to send some ship to attack (I don’t even know how many).
My ships arrived to the enemy star system and they WIN !!! Yahooo ! But they didn’t invade the planet and they are coming back :o… it is a monarchy, i will execute them all >:(
There is some work to do at the UI level, a lot of thing is unintuitive or difficult to understand. Well it is not too much surprising for a first version of this kind of game. People react differently and developpers are to much in it to notice this sort of problem.
I have fixed so that when accessing a star it will have the same menu open as the last star you clicked on. Went through hotkeys and shall see if I will fix that the next 7 days or so.
Tooltips will be extended slowly, will just have to figure out which tooltips which are to contain what info.
Will see if I can make the free stars more noticeable.
[quote]To scroll the map (I don’t speak about the “minimap”), you use WS/AD which is really annoing since my A and W are not at the same place. So my first reflex, click and drag with the right button (so I have discovert how to explore Grin). Second try, click and drag with the left mouse button. Third try, click and drag with the middle mouse button.
Right now your scrolling is done square by square. A smooth scrolling is done pixel by pixel (or so), it will give a far better felling (a continuous space) but it may use more graphical power.
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Will see if I can fix some kind of mouse movement. Probably won’t be by pixel by pixel though as it would need a bit of a change in the engine.
[quote]An INGAME options (even if you have to restart the game)
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Have considered it and think I will add something in that regards, sad problem is that I can’t save the option for the future without an option file (which I try to avoid until further notice) so you need to tell the game to do it every time you start.
[quote]OK I give it a longer try… and loose in 1/4h
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Nice that my AI works.
[quote]Build some defences (mine field,…), but I have NO IDEA if there where really build I didn’t find anything about them on the star system info or fleet.
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I know, that’s my mistake. Planetary research is quite new and I haven’t fixed it fully yet. That defense is to be hopefully shown in the info tab in the next version.
[quote]And regular army are placed OUTSIDE the squares, really strange
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Actually the things you see to the right are the units which are contained within selected fleet.
Where did you think the units should’ve been shown?
What would be a more intuitive way to show that?
[quote]Then Aliens attacks me… and win the planet. NO DEFENCE !?! What the #@!*# ?
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That’s really strange?
As you lacked star ships I’d guess it may state that your star lacked a fleet defense, though as you had armies, didn’t it say something in the line of:
“Defender killed 4 of 20 invading armies.
Invaders killed 5 of 5 defending armies”
And as you had planetary defenses it should said:
“Planetary defenses destroyed”
??
If it didn’t I haven’t been able to replicate your error and if you see it in the future, could you please make a screen shot there I can see the battle report?
[quote]At least, I got 5 other stars. So I wanted to do research about war… can’t selected it. Ok research on spaceship then.
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War tab is still in the works. Tabs that are red are currently not supposedly implemented (War and Planetary).
Use hull research until a future version is done as to use for war.
[quote]I have no clue how to deal with fleet, it is totaly unintuitive. I click everywhere hoping that something append… and I manage to send some ship to attack (I don’t even know how many).
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You send the fleet which is shown and you currently just send from one star to another star.
Will see if I can make the fleet handling more visual and easy to understand.
[quote]My ships arrived to the enemy star system and they WIN !!! Yahooo ! But they didn’t invade the planet and they are coming back Shocked… it is a monarchy, i will execute them all
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You need regular armies for the ground invasion. The star fleet can just break through the enemy space defenses and open up a siege of the planet, you still need groundies to do the heavy lifting.
[quote]There is some work to do at the UI level, a lot of thing is unintuitive or difficult to understand. Well it is not too much surprising for a first version of this kind of game. People react differently and developpers are to much in it to notice this sort of problem.
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Yes, it’s hard to both try to understand all users’ problems with the game and at the same time try to make a easy solution that won’t force the developer to change the engine. It’s quite hard sometimes as I know I did some errors in my early engine decisions (as I wanted to develop a game quickly rather than allowing more visual designs).
Will see what I can do! Thanks for the information and testing!
I thought the fleet management was pretty straightforward when I could see the paths. Controlling them was easy, as there were tooltips (right-click to send) etc. I don’t think it needs to be changed/simplified, but maybe I’m just awesomely smart or something (doubt it, but whatever).
Concerning the new layout, I think it’s better than before. No more pulling the mouse over the whole screen all the time. However, if you’ve decided to move the menu to the bottom, why not have it to the left, close to the other buttons? I can’t see any reason for not having it there, as it puts most buttons close to each others. =D
I had totaly missunderstood how fleet was managed…
If you don’t have any units, nothing should be shown (there is the base fleet).
The two button to split/regroup are the main action to manage fleets and there are very small.
The mouse over on the units in a fleet sudjest that they can be selected (they can’t right ?).
To my taste, I don’t like the icon (the sort of arrow) for fleet. You may even put different icons base on the size of the fleet.
If i have understant, you have no other choise that split in two a fleet ?
Where is added new units ? Are they added to the “base” fleet even if I have send them ?
Even if I agree with you the majority of all players has had this problem, so it’s something I need to fix.
Has done it that way, will post next version within 24 hours (I hope).
I think it’s empty if there are no units there? Or you mean that there should be no empty squares for fleets?
You suggest them to be bigger? As they aren’t used much I thought they would be better to be smaller?
[quote]The mouse over on the units in a fleet sudjest that they can be selected (they can’t right ?).
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They can be (right click currently). Soon options of armament, strategy and leadership will be included.
Love the size suggestion and I agree about the icon! Though couldn’t decide on a better icon (thought on painting a fleet of ships but couldn’t get it to look good), do you got a suggestion?
[quote]If i have understant, you have no other choise that split in two a fleet ?
Where is added new units ? Are they added to the “base” fleet even if I have send them ?
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If you want to move units between fleets then you right click on said unit (unit become green) and then right click on the fleet you wish to move the unit to.
Currently new units are added to the main fleet of the star (if you select another fleet which is not moving, new units will end up in that fleet instead). It’s a bit weird though I personally hated that I had to move all units that were built to the moving fleet repeatedly.
On time left click is to select (cf fleet), on time right click is to select (cf unit).
On time selected change the color of the icon (cf fleet), on time selected change the color of the button (cf unit).
Since sending a fleet to a planet is a right click and sending a unit to a fleet is a right click too, all selection should be a left click.
ps : since you have sounds + music, don’t forget to add a volume control in options.
(even if you have to restart the game)
