SE5 Demo Bug Reports & Annoyances/Requests

[VanderVecken]

Starting to really dislike that the "cancel" order for ships is on a different screen than main one ... this positioning of that order bugs me but what will a SE: newbie do. Maybe they'll learn the "WAY" SE:V does it. Or they may think that this along with some other UI issues just are not worth their computer time and they also might give bad word of mouth to their friends. (word of mouth is what sells games unless you are Sid Meier, a football game with Madden in the title, or WoW).
I'm still playing and I'm still liking what I see, I just had hoped that I could say I loved the experience. It's not there ... yet.

[Artaud]

In the main window, would it be possible to have some kind of border around the system when you are zoomed out?

If you are playing with the hexes switched off, as I do, zoomed out so you can tell your teeny tiny ship where to go, you cannot tell where the system ends until you click somewhere and your ship does not respond. Then you click closer to the center of the screen, and still your ship won't move. Then a little closer...and finally your ship begins to move.

If SEV is going to become all fancy with the graphics, perhaps a "plasma barrier" or something could be added to the system view so that you can see where the system ends.

And I'll say it again: ship icons need to be larger.

Planets, also, look much worse in the system map than in SEIV. Most of them just look like smudges of color. The planet images in the description windows look quite nice, but in the system maps they look horrible.

[VanderVecken]

Ahh, Phoenix-D. For the casual and the new SEers the feel of SE:V is not as intuitive as SE:IV was.
I'm very glad that with custom layouts you can do wonderful things; but most casual and new gamers will have dropped this title before they have enough experience to do those wonderful things, the same goes for keyboard shortcuts and slider bars because if these helpers are not WELL documented, they don't exist to them.

These people are the new Fan base ( and the people who can make this game a money-maker for MM as well). Some of you core SEers may have hundreds or even thousands of posts on SE alone. And the Mods and customizing that you can do are beyond belief .. but if a game can't motivate a new group to become Fanatics like most of us here who participate in this Forum, It has failed.
I hope this game was designed for success for both groups. I was a lurker here for ages B4 I ever replied to a post and UI elegance is a key in keeping most of those people who want to DO what <INSERT TITLE> game says it can do; whether its a Space 4X, MMO's, wargame, Shooter, or even a dance-dance-music game.

Bugs are fixable (usually), but UI issues either take patience, strong familiarity with possible work-a-rounds or shortcuts, or Superb documentation. or the casual gamer moves to something else before he/she becomes a Core - player. One 'extra click' keeps SE:V from acheiving the elegance of design my fondest games usually have. Since 4X space games are my favorite, I'll BE patient, DEVELOP a strong familiarity with the UI, and READ, and re-read, and reread, and ... the manual.

I hope that some of the new and casual gamers who decide to buy this title also do so because we need to keep growing this base. And if someday there's to be a SE:XII (in true hologramic display) with all the bells and whistles all the SE:XI players have been asking for, we'll need SE:V to be (and be perceived to be) a true level up from SE:IV. I' like what it can do but is it where it needs to be, or is it still climbing those step to get there (the next Level in 4X gaming experience)

[Phoenix-D]

Don't put too much hope on reading the manual. The SE4 manuals were useful for..nothing, really.

And yeah, the shortcuts aren't obvious and should be. Hence why I keep repeating them to people.

[Dizzy]

Phoenix-D said:
Don't put too much hope on reading the manual. The SE4 manuals were useful for..nothing, really.

W/o that online manual I woulda not figured out the game and quit... Mb that would have been better. Damned addictive game.

[Dizzy]

VanderVecken said:
Ahh, Phoenix-D. For the casual and the new SEers the feel of SE:V is not as intuitive as SE:IV was. I'm very glad that with custom layouts you can do wonderful things; but most casual and new gamers will have dropped this title before they have enough experience to do those wonderful things, same goes for keyboard shortcuts and slider bars because if these helpers are not WELL documented, they don't exist to them. These people are the new Fan base ( and the people who can make this game a money-maker for MM as well). Some of you core SEers may have hundreds or even thousands of posts on SE alone. And the Mods and customizing that you can do are beyond belief .. but if a game can't motivate a new group to become Fanatics like most of us here who participate in this Forum, It has failed. I hope this game was designed for success for both groups. I was a lurker here for ages B4 I ever replied to a post and UI elegance is a key keeping most of those people who want to do what <INSERT TITLE> game says it can do. Whether its Space 4X, MMO's, wargames, or even dance-dance-music games. Bugs are fixable (usually), UI issues either take patience, strong familiarity with possible work-a-rounds or shortcuts, or Superb documentation. or the casual gamer moves to something else before he/she becomes a Core - player. One 'extra click' keeps SE:V from acheiving the elegance of design my fondest games usually have. Since 4X space games are my favorite, I'll BE patient, DEVELOP a strong familiarity with the UI, and READ, and re-read, and reread, and ... the manual. I hope that some of the new and casual gamers who decide to buy this title also do so because we need to keep growing this base. And if someday there's to be a SE:XII (in true hologramic display) with all the bells and whistles all the SE:XI players have been asking for, we'll need SE:V to be (and be perceived to be) a true level up from SE:IV. I' like what it can do but is it where it needs to be, or is it still climbing those step to get there (the next Level in 4X gaming experience)

good god, man, didnt you ever finish jr school? PARAGRAPHS!!! PLEASE!!! Your post is too painful to read.

[VanderVecken]

Dizzy, Someday I want to become a Writer (really), but for now I'll just practice to write better. You are absolutely right.

I type very slow and think really fast .. same issues that a powerful modern Graphics card would have going thru a old Pentium II chip and board set. Still, I'll try to do better.