Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

It can't be reworked if we don't tell Aaron what is wrong with it specifically, though. What features make it unappealing? What changes would make such features better? It's not constructive to just say its unappealing. Aaron has made numerous changes and enhancements at specific request in the past, but he can't do much more without more feedback.

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

I seem to recall that a great deal was said about SE5's appeal (for some) and lack of appeal (for others) around the time of its release. There were a lot of specifics back then.

SE5 is just a very different game with a very different feel.

This past weekend I almost downloaded the demo (again) with the idea of doing exactly what you suggest--coming up with a bunch of specifics. But I looked again at the screenshots and that was as far as it went.

With all due respect, I doubt that anything I personally could say would have any impact on any further development of SE5. I'm not an "insider." I was not a playtester. I've never created a mod for SE4. I *helped* create a race, and I've written some conversation and design name files, but that's it.

My assumption about SE5 when it came out and I played the demo was that Aaron just decided to take his game in a direction that I did not want to go. It's his product. He has the right to aim it at whatever section of the market he wants to.

I suggested features way back *before* SE5 came out. I was suggesting features for years. None of the things I wanted to see most in SE5 are there. Fair enough.

It may not be constructive to just say that the game is simply "unappealing." But who really--especially among us who were *not* playtesters to begin with--has the free time and the energy and the inclination to put together a detailed analysis of SE5 this far down the road?

What I would *love* to do is contribute toward the further development of some of the great mods for SE4.

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

Being an insider is irrelevant. Aaron constantly implements things that take the beta testers by complete surprise, often from suggestions of totally random players.

You don't need that detailed of an analysis... Surely you can spare a few minutes typing up the things that annoyed you the most? You don't think SE5 development has stopped, do you? Its an ongoing process, just like SE4 was for years after release. There obviously won't be any radical changes like getting rid of slot layouts, but there are still lots of things that could be done...

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

I have been playing SE 5 since the last update and aside from an annoying crash bug, (Addressed thankfully in the next update) I have to say the game is growing on me all over again. I love SE IV and will continue to play it until I get the Star Wars mod done, after that I want to try and get into SE V modding. I have a really interesting idea for a new mod and feel that it is about time that I move on.

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

In gratitude for the endless late nights playing SE4, i´ll try to analise what most annoy me in the SE5 interface....

First, just to make this clear, i´m pointing what annoy ME, you can agree or disagree with what i say at your hearts content, i don´t think my opinions are the absolute or even right...

Second, i´ll address my complaints mainly about the interface, since the "base game" of SE5 is mostly fine in my opinion, just the interface i think is clunky...

Third, this is only a preliminary analisis, i´ll add to it as i play along...

so, let´s go:

SEV Interface Analisis - Part 1:

1. Too much clickiness (does this word exists?)!, reduce confirmation dialogs, and, rearrange menus so the player needs less clicks to order what he want... i massively use shortcuts and even in this way i think there is too much clickines in SE5... SE4 was much less clickiness...

2. The ship design screen annoys me a lot... the 3 level ship design is completely useless gameplay wise, and the "ship schematics" also doens´t have any use since gameplay wise components are classified as Armor, External or Internal... i can´t notice the supposed "directional damage" implemented... maybe if you substitute it for only 3 "generic" fields of Armor, Internal and External components it would make more sense, or maybe an interface like SE4 but with 3 fields (Armor, Internal and External) instead of the single one that SE4 have. (i´m making sense?)

3. No problems with the hexagonal grid, but the top-view could be more streamlined... the main problem are the Flags... like a previous poster said...

4. More to come...

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

For reference, the 3 decks were added because some shipsets have narrow profiles. This lead to low numbers of slots, which in some cases prevented having enough space to actually fill out the hull's tonnage. Slots weren't meant as such a limiting factor. We lost the battle to get rid of slot layout entirely... alas.

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

I think SE5 really needs a way to identify it's mouse shortcuts better. A lot of player's don't know there's a bunch of shortcuts for applying filters in lists/ship design via right click or shrinking icons etc.

My main remaining peeve with the SE5 interface is mainly with queue settings - such as sending ships to waypoints etc. Secondary peeve is the single line listing for items in the construction queues list.

Overall, there's a lot more useful and customizable info available in SE5 versus SE4. Although I suppose a way to save custom sorts on lists outside of a save game could be my third most wanted item.

Unfortunately the demo is only v1.25 and is missing out on a ton of interface elements that have been put in place since.

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

You would definitely notice the directionality of the damage if you were playing my Gritty Galaxy mod. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif That said, I've changed all the slots to just "External" since I think the magic wall distinctions are silly.

Having 3 lists would hopefully work just like SE3. Given a "to-hit size" stat, that system would work really well. (If the shot randomly picks an already-destroyed component, then it penetrates to the next layer down without having killed all of the previous layer)

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

If it worked like it does in the table top SFB game, I would be all for how the slot layout works, or heck if it even worked like Starfury, with sectional shields and armor, I would like it more than it is now. Yet I would be completely satisfied with something similiar to SE3, and accept as easily what SE4 uses.

Re: Any One Still Playing This Game?
 

I still have no idea why Aaron was so set on having this cumbersome slot layout system. SE2's ship design system was the most elegant. The order in which components became damaged depended solely on the order in which they were added.