Forums » Suggestions
First impressions
Ok I'm running the trial and I thought you might like the input of someone seeing the game with compleatly fresh eyes.
First of all really nice work on the Tutorial.
Second this game is really newbie friendly which is great. Within an hour I was in a New ship (centurion) upgraded my weapons and power core and was actually feeling really comfortable. Ran a few missions and splatted a few bots.
In flight the graphics are nice. However one thing that struck me is that the blue circle to show where the ship is pointing is a nice idea, but it is really easy to get confused over which direction your ship is travelling particularly in free flight mode. You have the little dust particles flying by but they are too dark to see most of the time. I'm a big van of Independance war 2 and that game had little bright green lines that simulated the direction you were going (i.e. they blew past your vision to give you a reference) That might be an idea to try out.
In station I found the interface to be a little clunky. It was very difficult to find where everything was, and I wasted 10 minutes trying to find where to buy a new gun for my centurion when I had closed the window. Once you are used to it I'm sure its fine but its a bit frustrating when you are starting off.
Also I found the ship setupo screen awkward to use. Its layed out fine but its just the steps you have to go through. Selecting module, unequiping it, then selecting mudole 2 selecting port, pressing equip (once I have figured it out) it just seemed awkward. I found myself simple selecting the module I wanted and double clicking the port and waiting to the thing to be added. Likewise double clicking on a port to remove the module. What I'm saying is that I think there is a little too many steps to equipping your ship, and maybe it could be smoothed out a little.
Anyway these are minor things and I am trying to be consructive with the minor critisism. I am very impressed with the game, and I look forward to exploring more of it.
Oh and the community seems really nice. Respect :)
First of all really nice work on the Tutorial.
Second this game is really newbie friendly which is great. Within an hour I was in a New ship (centurion) upgraded my weapons and power core and was actually feeling really comfortable. Ran a few missions and splatted a few bots.
In flight the graphics are nice. However one thing that struck me is that the blue circle to show where the ship is pointing is a nice idea, but it is really easy to get confused over which direction your ship is travelling particularly in free flight mode. You have the little dust particles flying by but they are too dark to see most of the time. I'm a big van of Independance war 2 and that game had little bright green lines that simulated the direction you were going (i.e. they blew past your vision to give you a reference) That might be an idea to try out.
In station I found the interface to be a little clunky. It was very difficult to find where everything was, and I wasted 10 minutes trying to find where to buy a new gun for my centurion when I had closed the window. Once you are used to it I'm sure its fine but its a bit frustrating when you are starting off.
Also I found the ship setupo screen awkward to use. Its layed out fine but its just the steps you have to go through. Selecting module, unequiping it, then selecting mudole 2 selecting port, pressing equip (once I have figured it out) it just seemed awkward. I found myself simple selecting the module I wanted and double clicking the port and waiting to the thing to be added. Likewise double clicking on a port to remove the module. What I'm saying is that I think there is a little too many steps to equipping your ship, and maybe it could be smoothed out a little.
Anyway these are minor things and I am trying to be consructive with the minor critisism. I am very impressed with the game, and I look forward to exploring more of it.
Oh and the community seems really nice. Respect :)
i agree with most of your sugestions on the interface.
one thing i noticed from your post is that you say the tutorial is newbie friendly so i have a sugestion linked to this great news: advertise the game, get more people in.
i am a paying customer (again) and i don't want to cancel again after one month because of lack of player interaction.
cheers, and welcome to Himo.
one thing i noticed from your post is that you say the tutorial is newbie friendly so i have a sugestion linked to this great news: advertise the game, get more people in.
i am a paying customer (again) and i don't want to cancel again after one month because of lack of player interaction.
cheers, and welcome to Himo.
Welcome, Himo!
I agree with your points. There was a recent "revamping" of the in-station user interface that I'm not sure helped, and in fact you could argue made things even MORE user-unfriendly. It's a work in progress.
The tutorial has been greatly improved, and I'm sure Incarnate (a developer) will be jumping with joy to hear how much new players like the tutorial. It HAS been greatly improved, and is orders of magnitude better than what it was.
To avoid confusion with the whole "Which direction is my ship pointing" thing, try turning mouselook off. This will lock your viewpoint into looking straight out the front, and gives you a better feeling for how fast ships can turn around.
I agree with your points. There was a recent "revamping" of the in-station user interface that I'm not sure helped, and in fact you could argue made things even MORE user-unfriendly. It's a work in progress.
The tutorial has been greatly improved, and I'm sure Incarnate (a developer) will be jumping with joy to hear how much new players like the tutorial. It HAS been greatly improved, and is orders of magnitude better than what it was.
To avoid confusion with the whole "Which direction is my ship pointing" thing, try turning mouselook off. This will lock your viewpoint into looking straight out the front, and gives you a better feeling for how fast ships can turn around.
Good fedback, Himo, and welcome to the game. The wonderful PvP is actually just as newbie friendly, and what seems intimidating the first few fights, will seem familiar after just a few more... So don't be afraid to harass your fellow man and watch in awe as he reveals himself to be an alpha veteran and scatters your ship across the solar system ;-)
In regards to advertisment: the devs have purposedly put off advertising the game until they have implemented certain roadmap features. Don't quite know which, but when they feel that the game is ready for a larger audience, they will advertise. I've the feeling that VO's unique nature might bring in quite a lot of people (and by then, perhaps the Darkfall crowd should have realised that their dream of hardcore twitch-pvp dynamic fantasy online roleplaying is futile, the game will never be released, and settle for the same thing, but in space... wait, nah, those fellas will NEVER see clearly ;-) ).
Only problem, to my mind, is if it coincides with, or comes afterwards, the release of whatever online X game Egosoft is planning. X3's and VO's combat models are not quite dissimilar, the X series have already implemented a few features VO has yet to realise, and the X games have quite a good reputation. X Online might fill VO's spot in the rather niched world of online sci-fi ship combat hardcore PvP gaming...
In regards to advertisment: the devs have purposedly put off advertising the game until they have implemented certain roadmap features. Don't quite know which, but when they feel that the game is ready for a larger audience, they will advertise. I've the feeling that VO's unique nature might bring in quite a lot of people (and by then, perhaps the Darkfall crowd should have realised that their dream of hardcore twitch-pvp dynamic fantasy online roleplaying is futile, the game will never be released, and settle for the same thing, but in space... wait, nah, those fellas will NEVER see clearly ;-) ).
Only problem, to my mind, is if it coincides with, or comes afterwards, the release of whatever online X game Egosoft is planning. X3's and VO's combat models are not quite dissimilar, the X series have already implemented a few features VO has yet to realise, and the X games have quite a good reputation. X Online might fill VO's spot in the rather niched world of online sci-fi ship combat hardcore PvP gaming...
Lots of newbies praising the tutorials. This totally vindicates the Devs' decision to push some things back in order to make the game as newbie-friendly as possible.
I've not long finished with "That Other MMO Space Game" and I'm finding VO a delight. I've yet to have a go at PVP but from what I've been doing with the bots I think I'll enjoy it. I agree with Himo about the station interface, I too have had problems buying ships and fitting them - there is an upgrade button but that doesn't upgrade your ship - it seems very non-feng-shui if you know what I mean.
I also find the commerce screen a little bewildering. You have Unload, Unload and Sell and Unload and Sell All. Why unload and sell? Just Unload, Sell and Sell All would be a lot less confusing. You also have repair ship and refill ammo under Commerce and Ship, while I admit that its readily available it seems out of place.
The only other thing that I've found odd is that some missions have a timer, fine, and some say that you can carry on with it when you've logged off, fine. But some that state neither have to be canceled and then reapplied for before you can complete them (starting from scratch of course). I'd also like to be able to take on more than one mission at a time, eg Kill 10 bots and find the Orun Processors.
However the big thing for me is that the main aspect of the game (PVP) is accessible from an early point. Having done a few missions I now have enough cash to fit out a decent ship, if only I had the levels to fly one. This means that I will not be as frightened of taking losses as I was in "That other Game"
All in all, if the wife lets me, I'll be signing up.
I also find the commerce screen a little bewildering. You have Unload, Unload and Sell and Unload and Sell All. Why unload and sell? Just Unload, Sell and Sell All would be a lot less confusing. You also have repair ship and refill ammo under Commerce and Ship, while I admit that its readily available it seems out of place.
The only other thing that I've found odd is that some missions have a timer, fine, and some say that you can carry on with it when you've logged off, fine. But some that state neither have to be canceled and then reapplied for before you can complete them (starting from scratch of course). I'd also like to be able to take on more than one mission at a time, eg Kill 10 bots and find the Orun Processors.
However the big thing for me is that the main aspect of the game (PVP) is accessible from an early point. Having done a few missions I now have enough cash to fit out a decent ship, if only I had the levels to fly one. This means that I will not be as frightened of taking losses as I was in "That other Game"
All in all, if the wife lets me, I'll be signing up.
Well, it's nice to hear opinions of a fresh player. Hope to see you ingame sometime.
All in all, if the wife lets me, I'll be signing up.
i think it's time for you be become a real man, put your foot down and do some serious begging.
i think it's time for you be become a real man, put your foot down and do some serious begging.
"i think it's time for you be become a real man, put your foot down and do some serious begging."
LMAO!! Just signed up, she doesn't know it yet though >D
I've just done some trading guild missions and they seem to be a little better implemented than the combat ones. Much more... questy??
LMAO!! Just signed up, she doesn't know it yet though >D
I've just done some trading guild missions and they seem to be a little better implemented than the combat ones. Much more... questy??