SE V demo Interface

[Phoenix-D]

Just look for the flags, not your ships. Definitely annoying that you can't see them but you don't actually need to.

[Santiago]

Yes actually I do at least. It's not a geography game or capture the flag. It's Space Empires and I would like to see my ships not some miniature dot off in the distance that is impossible to find. To me that is just one point of many that makes playing SEIV more worthwhile than SEV; at this point in time.

Just an observation not anything personal. You have given out a lot of good info on SEV which includes shortcuts, insights and workarounds. And keep the info coming, but there are too many workarounds for a demo this close to release. Workarounds usually sounds like justification to push a game that hasn't gotten a stellar reception by the community.

Then again maybe I expected too much.

[Suicide Junkie]

Santiago said:
It's Space Empires and I would like to see my ships not some miniature dot off in the distance that is impossible to find.

It should be almost trivial to scale up the ship models. Just multiply the scaling factor on the models and presto, the ships are big and visible.

[frightlever]

"I'm starting to notice there's an interesting lean now against anybody not rampantly in favor of the new SEV game. "

I'd say opinion is about 50/50 but the beta-testers are weighing in with a greater knowledge of the game and what it's really capable of, in their opinions.

I uninstalled last night. I'm getting absolutely nothing from the demo that I don't get from Adamant (Fyron's mod, right? Nice work whoever!) except frustration. Playing the unlocked game may help but I have to see the UI improved first.

And I guess it's just possible this game is no longer right for me. Take away the 3D system view and the "improved" tactical battles, none of which I use, and while there's undoubtedly a deeper game potential I'm being held back from it by: the speed of strategic battle resolution which is a joke (and probably necessary because it's just running a tactical simulation without the fugly grafix) and the system display I'm having to constantly adjust.

Like the guy said a day back or so - I'm recloaking and going back into lurker mode.

[Santiago]

Suicide Junkie said:

It should be almost trivial to scale up the ship models. Just multiply the scaling factor on the models and presto, the ships are big and visible.

I will certainly try but what seems trivial to an experienced modder is not so trivial for some of us

[Santiago]

Finally found where to change it. the scale factor for all ships is at .01. Each shipclass is different and has to be set individually and then checked to see if you personally like it for each race and each ship class. Very time consuming and convoluted .02 or .03 seems best to start at- no big changes or you get a giant ship. File is Ships_Xfileclasses.txt under Empires/race specific folders

[Captain Kwok]

It might be faster to encourage MM to add a settubg under the Display System options for the system ship icons.

[Noble713]

Santiago said:
Finally found where to change it. the scale factor for all ships is at .01. Each shipclass is different and has to be set individually and then checked to see if you personally like it for each race and each ship class. Very time consuming and convoluted .02 or .03 seems best to start at- no big changes or you get a giant ship. File is Ships_Xfileclasses.txt under Empires/race specific folders

Does that only affect the size of the ships in system view, or in tactical combat as well?

[Captain Kwok]

I've requested a system display option in have small-medium-large for the in-system ship display. Cross your fingers.

[Artaud]

Phoenix-D said:
Just look for the flags, not your ships. Definitely annoying that you can't see them but you don't actually need to.

Yeah, you could just use the flags, but I have to agree with Santiago: it's pointless to play a game about Space Empires and starships and not be able to see the ships. I, for one, NEED to see my ships. There are a lot of races with a lot of different ship styles, and with the modder community hard at work there will be many more. One of the coolest things about SEIV was/is the huge number of gorgeous ship sets available to play with.

When the Borg invade my system I want to see those cubes clearly. When I play the Klingons, or the Terrans, or whomever, I want to see my beautiful starships sweeping across the system. I want to know at-a-glance what enemy has entered my territory. This is a very, very, very basic thing, IMHO. It should have been brought to Aaron's attention by the beta testers, and dealt with early on.

I like the new planet information and ship information panels, and I even enjoy the new ship design screen and ship design "philosophy."

But how can we consider SEV a step forward in graphics if it's so bloody hard to see your spaceships in the main system view?

And the fact that modding can take care of something so basic as the ship-size problem is not good enough. It should be taken care of by the game designer! Not every game buyer searches out mods and feels comfotable installing them. The game should be playable and not headache-inducing right out of the box. The AI should be of rudimentary competence, and you should be able to look at the screen and play the game without your eyes watering. Period.