Posted July 19, 2022
Hello,
Here are some suggestions after 50 hours ingame.
First of all, this game is great, even in its early access stage. Great atmosphere, fun gameplay, gorgeous vistas, all in all it's a blast. A special mention goes to the secondary quests which provide nice mini stories, sometimes even adding to the lore of certain factions. It's a nice touch and rare in RPGs.
With that in mind, my following suggestions are just that - suggestions to make the game even more awesome and nothing more.
1/ UI
Generally, the UI design is solid. The only issue I have is that object and enemies markers can clutter the screen quite easily. In most combats, it is very hard to differentiate between the selected target and the myriad of other enemies, which can quickly get frustrating. Perhaps having a different colour for selected targets or using smaller icons for non-selected ships/objects might help in that regard.
Another idea would be to keep these icons in a zone closer to the center of the screen instead of having them lost in the borders of the UI.
2/ Quality of Life
Inventory management works fine generally, but I'd add a few options. For instance it would be easier to use a left or double left click to pick items in a container instead of F and to auto-close the container window when there are no more items in it.
Another QoL improvement would be to transfer consumables directly from the inventory to slot when you pick them up (for example: I have 2 Damage boosters in my consumable slots, I pick one up in a container, it should be added directly in the slot instead of sitting in my inventory).
Not related to the inventory, but could you also add an activation/deactivation sound for the inertial dampeners? Sometimes in the heat of battle I don't necessarily see the notification that it is on or off so audio feedback would certainly help.
3/ Sound design
Here is the important part. While there are some good sounds (jump gates, spatial bypass, devices), others like explosions, impacts, reactor and thunder sfx are a bit bland and dated IMHO. On the other hand, I heard the new weapon sounds in Erik's latest streams and they seem great. If you could improve explosion and weapon impact sounds and give them a more modern, beefier edge (as in Arkham Knight, Chorus or Elite Dangerous, for example) it would complement the nice graphisms and the new weapons a lot better.
Another thing is that in general the sound effects mix is quite heavy in the higher frequencies, which can be tiring. For example, the Okkar prime weapons (the mini black hole ones) have a very shrill sound which hurts a bit if you play with headphones. I think giving more presence to the basses (within reason of course) would provide a more pleasant sound overall. Again, the new weapon sounds seem to hit the right balance so they might be a good reference.
As for reactor, booster and cruise engine sounds, they too could use some love. I'm not asking for something as complex as in Elite Dangerous - although it can be a great source of inspiration - but more engaging and varied engine sounds and punchier boosters (again Chorus might be a good example in this regard) would be very welcome since we hear them often in-game.
It could also be interesting to add a fly-by sound for NPC ships, if it is feasible (something like the NPC weapon fire which already exists in game). I think it might add a little more spice to close quarter dogfights.
I hope you'll find these criticisms useful and constructive. Let me reiterate that I find the game quite fantastic as it is, so all I said in this post was in order to further improve it, not to attack your efforts.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and keep up the good work!
Here are some suggestions after 50 hours ingame.
First of all, this game is great, even in its early access stage. Great atmosphere, fun gameplay, gorgeous vistas, all in all it's a blast. A special mention goes to the secondary quests which provide nice mini stories, sometimes even adding to the lore of certain factions. It's a nice touch and rare in RPGs.
With that in mind, my following suggestions are just that - suggestions to make the game even more awesome and nothing more.
1/ UI
Generally, the UI design is solid. The only issue I have is that object and enemies markers can clutter the screen quite easily. In most combats, it is very hard to differentiate between the selected target and the myriad of other enemies, which can quickly get frustrating. Perhaps having a different colour for selected targets or using smaller icons for non-selected ships/objects might help in that regard.
Another idea would be to keep these icons in a zone closer to the center of the screen instead of having them lost in the borders of the UI.
2/ Quality of Life
Inventory management works fine generally, but I'd add a few options. For instance it would be easier to use a left or double left click to pick items in a container instead of F and to auto-close the container window when there are no more items in it.
Another QoL improvement would be to transfer consumables directly from the inventory to slot when you pick them up (for example: I have 2 Damage boosters in my consumable slots, I pick one up in a container, it should be added directly in the slot instead of sitting in my inventory).
Not related to the inventory, but could you also add an activation/deactivation sound for the inertial dampeners? Sometimes in the heat of battle I don't necessarily see the notification that it is on or off so audio feedback would certainly help.
3/ Sound design
Here is the important part. While there are some good sounds (jump gates, spatial bypass, devices), others like explosions, impacts, reactor and thunder sfx are a bit bland and dated IMHO. On the other hand, I heard the new weapon sounds in Erik's latest streams and they seem great. If you could improve explosion and weapon impact sounds and give them a more modern, beefier edge (as in Arkham Knight, Chorus or Elite Dangerous, for example) it would complement the nice graphisms and the new weapons a lot better.
Another thing is that in general the sound effects mix is quite heavy in the higher frequencies, which can be tiring. For example, the Okkar prime weapons (the mini black hole ones) have a very shrill sound which hurts a bit if you play with headphones. I think giving more presence to the basses (within reason of course) would provide a more pleasant sound overall. Again, the new weapon sounds seem to hit the right balance so they might be a good reference.
As for reactor, booster and cruise engine sounds, they too could use some love. I'm not asking for something as complex as in Elite Dangerous - although it can be a great source of inspiration - but more engaging and varied engine sounds and punchier boosters (again Chorus might be a good example in this regard) would be very welcome since we hear them often in-game.
It could also be interesting to add a fly-by sound for NPC ships, if it is feasible (something like the NPC weapon fire which already exists in game). I think it might add a little more spice to close quarter dogfights.
I hope you'll find these criticisms useful and constructive. Let me reiterate that I find the game quite fantastic as it is, so all I said in this post was in order to further improve it, not to attack your efforts.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and keep up the good work!
