Posted August 14, 2016
So I have been breathlessly waiting for this game like so many people, and here we are post release, and can I think summarize my experience thus far on one word:
Confused.
I am having fun, but the game feels really fragmentary like dozens of fantastic ideas done 80% of the way to complete.
Examples:
Resources on planets: Even Mass Effect has rudimentary planetary scans looking for resources, or old old games like Star Flight. (anyone else remember that one?) You could scan from orbit, see what was on the planet and then decide if if was worth it to land and hunt it out.
NMS thus far, I have the solar system scanner, which doesn't ID asteroids 10 meters off my bow, but will spot a random land feature/building/resource from literally 10 milllion miles away, yet doesnt actually ID what it is. As I am crafting (I will get to that UI in a minute) and need specific materials, being able to scan from orbit and see even a rough estimate of what was on the planet before I landed would be amazing.
Ships and upgrades - Granted, the UI is the same across tool/suit/ship, but what wierd UI for storing items, building upgrades or work with inventory. Its possible to move resources around inside each storage area, but upgrades cannot, even just to restack the sort order to make the listing cleaner? Just wierd.
New ships:: So.. I just spent 1 something mill on a new ship.. and got nothing for my previous one? Really? No materials, turn in credits, nothing? The old ship just apparently vaporizes.. odd. Let alone the barter screen if you refuse to buy a ship after inspection, dumps you out of the conversation UI entirely, so if you still want to buy or sell materials, you have to talk to the alien again.
Suit UI, or walking around - Did I miss the manual somewhere? Through guesswork and just seeing what happens when I get hit, fall, exposed to weather, radiation etc I have figured out MOST of the symbology on the suit HUD, but man is that a rough start. No explanation whatsoever, and there are STILL some I have no clue of what they mean.
Scanning for resources with the suit helps, but mouse over on some things like bulidings or (?) will give you an estimated time to target, but doing the same for resources wont? Doesn't make sense. I have also seen locations of interest, not throw up the (?) whatsoever when I fly over them, or even walk up to them, but then again will do so a moment later.
Speaking of flying: Wow flight controls are funky.. long long long long time flight and space flight sim guy here, Xwing vs Tie anyone? I could even throw down the entire Wing Commander series starting from the very first. Flight controls in atmosphere and in space are wonky to say the least. Sometimes at [press w] to launch, instead of flight, I get a ballistic missile shot straight back into space.. just crazy but I assume it is a bug. The rest of the time the flight is oddly sluggish, rolls are wierd, landing sequences are hit and miss at best. Good luck trying to actually land on a landing pad of a ground trading station, as you cannot see, have no approach vector and just guess.
Space flight isnt much better.. I am on a 3rd ship now and it drives like a whale in mud, though there is no way to be able to TELL that when you buy a new ship. The only characteristics we get are inventory space and what modules are preinstalled. Side note.. the sellers are JERKS.. love how they sell their ships with no fuel whatsoever, and you cannot move over what fuel you have, and for warp power, that really sucks.
Space stations: Stating the obvious, absolutely identical on the inside... really too bad.
Maps in general... lets break this into three sub sections:
planetary maps - no mapping feature.. really??!! A beacon will give you a brief top down look from almost orbit, but it doesnt save or store any of that info, and is essentially useless. The beacon and ship markers on the compass are the only thing that keeps probably all of us from getting helplessly lost forever.
Solar system maps - again.. really.. no map? No zoom in or out, no distant view to actually see the star system you are in and how it is laid out or the best way to navigate around in it? Just blind spnning, mashing C to "scan" and wondering what you might find;.
Galactic map - oh man.. where is the zoom OUT feature. Free look just lets you bounce from system to system, but yet no scan of each star system, no way of seeing number of planets or sense of context. Also zero ability to zoom out to even a quadrant view, and see more of where you are in the systems. Where is that massive pull back fade that was in the promo vids?
Submitting scan results - There really needs to be a SEND ALL button when turning in scanned items, places and critters for credits. Going through an entire planet full, with the same voice over again and again and again is enough to make me already run with my sound turned down. There needs to be a revamp of this UI.
Lastly graphics.. I have been lucky thus far and not had any of the launch or severe graphic stutter issue others are seeing. SSD and new nvidia 1080 probably crush those issues under pure horsepower. That said, I am still seeing odd graphic artifacts. Mine off an entire towering gold node for example, walk away.. come back.. and the (now former node) will flicker back into place for a moment even though I tore it all down. Doesnt happen all the time but definitely 5+ times in hours of play. Also, the really odd tiny fragments left hanging is just weird.. we have debris from mining that reacts to basic physics, but you can but the bottom off an entire node and leave it hanging in the sky. That isnt graphics per se, but graphics engine, but still weird.
So yeah.. and this is just the start.
I have high hopes for this game.. and still do! Hoping for the big patch that is coming will make more changes, and that there can be more to come. I think the game has MASSIVE potential, but at this point, it feels incomplete.
Confused.
I am having fun, but the game feels really fragmentary like dozens of fantastic ideas done 80% of the way to complete.
Examples:
Resources on planets: Even Mass Effect has rudimentary planetary scans looking for resources, or old old games like Star Flight. (anyone else remember that one?) You could scan from orbit, see what was on the planet and then decide if if was worth it to land and hunt it out.
NMS thus far, I have the solar system scanner, which doesn't ID asteroids 10 meters off my bow, but will spot a random land feature/building/resource from literally 10 milllion miles away, yet doesnt actually ID what it is. As I am crafting (I will get to that UI in a minute) and need specific materials, being able to scan from orbit and see even a rough estimate of what was on the planet before I landed would be amazing.
Ships and upgrades - Granted, the UI is the same across tool/suit/ship, but what wierd UI for storing items, building upgrades or work with inventory. Its possible to move resources around inside each storage area, but upgrades cannot, even just to restack the sort order to make the listing cleaner? Just wierd.
New ships:: So.. I just spent 1 something mill on a new ship.. and got nothing for my previous one? Really? No materials, turn in credits, nothing? The old ship just apparently vaporizes.. odd. Let alone the barter screen if you refuse to buy a ship after inspection, dumps you out of the conversation UI entirely, so if you still want to buy or sell materials, you have to talk to the alien again.
Suit UI, or walking around - Did I miss the manual somewhere? Through guesswork and just seeing what happens when I get hit, fall, exposed to weather, radiation etc I have figured out MOST of the symbology on the suit HUD, but man is that a rough start. No explanation whatsoever, and there are STILL some I have no clue of what they mean.
Scanning for resources with the suit helps, but mouse over on some things like bulidings or (?) will give you an estimated time to target, but doing the same for resources wont? Doesn't make sense. I have also seen locations of interest, not throw up the (?) whatsoever when I fly over them, or even walk up to them, but then again will do so a moment later.
Speaking of flying: Wow flight controls are funky.. long long long long time flight and space flight sim guy here, Xwing vs Tie anyone? I could even throw down the entire Wing Commander series starting from the very first. Flight controls in atmosphere and in space are wonky to say the least. Sometimes at [press w] to launch, instead of flight, I get a ballistic missile shot straight back into space.. just crazy but I assume it is a bug. The rest of the time the flight is oddly sluggish, rolls are wierd, landing sequences are hit and miss at best. Good luck trying to actually land on a landing pad of a ground trading station, as you cannot see, have no approach vector and just guess.
Space flight isnt much better.. I am on a 3rd ship now and it drives like a whale in mud, though there is no way to be able to TELL that when you buy a new ship. The only characteristics we get are inventory space and what modules are preinstalled. Side note.. the sellers are JERKS.. love how they sell their ships with no fuel whatsoever, and you cannot move over what fuel you have, and for warp power, that really sucks.
Space stations: Stating the obvious, absolutely identical on the inside... really too bad.
Maps in general... lets break this into three sub sections:
planetary maps - no mapping feature.. really??!! A beacon will give you a brief top down look from almost orbit, but it doesnt save or store any of that info, and is essentially useless. The beacon and ship markers on the compass are the only thing that keeps probably all of us from getting helplessly lost forever.
Solar system maps - again.. really.. no map? No zoom in or out, no distant view to actually see the star system you are in and how it is laid out or the best way to navigate around in it? Just blind spnning, mashing C to "scan" and wondering what you might find;.
Galactic map - oh man.. where is the zoom OUT feature. Free look just lets you bounce from system to system, but yet no scan of each star system, no way of seeing number of planets or sense of context. Also zero ability to zoom out to even a quadrant view, and see more of where you are in the systems. Where is that massive pull back fade that was in the promo vids?
Submitting scan results - There really needs to be a SEND ALL button when turning in scanned items, places and critters for credits. Going through an entire planet full, with the same voice over again and again and again is enough to make me already run with my sound turned down. There needs to be a revamp of this UI.
Lastly graphics.. I have been lucky thus far and not had any of the launch or severe graphic stutter issue others are seeing. SSD and new nvidia 1080 probably crush those issues under pure horsepower. That said, I am still seeing odd graphic artifacts. Mine off an entire towering gold node for example, walk away.. come back.. and the (now former node) will flicker back into place for a moment even though I tore it all down. Doesnt happen all the time but definitely 5+ times in hours of play. Also, the really odd tiny fragments left hanging is just weird.. we have debris from mining that reacts to basic physics, but you can but the bottom off an entire node and leave it hanging in the sky. That isnt graphics per se, but graphics engine, but still weird.
So yeah.. and this is just the start.
I have high hopes for this game.. and still do! Hoping for the big patch that is coming will make more changes, and that there can be more to come. I think the game has MASSIVE potential, but at this point, it feels incomplete.
