Growing concern - but optimistic

[Artaud]

Phoenix-D said:
I'm going to repeat this again. You don't need to see the ships!

Why not?

Maybe you don't, but I do. What's the point of playing a game about space empires and conquering the universe with fleets of ships if you can't see the ships? Half the reason for downloading the myriad of shipsets available for SEIV is playing with those beautiful ships!

One of the coolest things about playing the Klingons in Atrocities' Star Trek mod is...the ships! I grew up watching Trek in the 1960s and I'll tell you, I always thought the Klingons had better ships than the Federation. The Romulans too.

Now that I'm all grown up I'm tickled pink that I can come home from work and move Klingon (or Illuminati, or Crugarian, etc.) battle bruisers across my computer screen and have a few moments of fantasy relaxation far from the RL world. I love watching my ships pass through a new system. I love watching them fight!

What's the point of "3D" graphics and warp points that undulate and rotatable system views when you no longer have the pleasure of watching your ships? They might as well just be represented by a couple pixels of light.

If you don't think it's important to see the ships, that's perfectly fine. To each his own. But perhaps you should say "I don't need to see the ships" (meaning you yourself don't need to see them). For me, seeing my ships is a big deal, and not seeing them any more is a step backward, and a game-breaker.

But if that's the way it's going to be for SEV, that's a design decision and that's OK. My opinion is just my opinion. This is not a debating society. I'm not going to change your mind and it's not my place to even try. You certainly are not going to change mine. Everybody is free to buy the game or not.

And here I am repeating things I've said before in other threads...

[Phoenix-D]

I get that you dislike not being able to see the ships on the system screen (never mind that they're bigger in combat, and in the sector view).

The point is that is NOT a UI issue. Its a bit like saying the game is bugged because Null Space Projectors are seekers.

[Artaud]

I get that you dislike not being able to see the ships on the system screen (never mind that they're bigger in combat, and in the sector view).

The point is that is NOT a UI issue. Its a bit like saying the game is bugged because Null Space Projectors are seekers.

That is ONE thing I dislike. And I'm not a complete idiot, Phoenix; I know that ship size itself is not a UI issue.

But the need to zoom in and out to see them IS a UI issue. And there are other things about the UI that I strongly dislike.

But others have said everything I could possibly say, in great detail.

I don't like the game. Maybe you do. More power to you. I don't want to argue about it.

[Captain Kwok]

I've made a suggestion to Aaron to allow for a display setting under Empire Options to make the ships bigger on the system map. Combined with a reduction in the flag size - it would make a big difference.

But it is a valid concern... I certainly like to see the ships.

[Black_Knyght]

Bug or not, he has an interesting point.

What's the point of playing a game about "space empires", with "spaceships", if your not able to see them in space.

Might as well just use an icon to represent them and not bother with shipsets at all, IMO. But then, that kills some of the fun of the game.

Kind of like not being able to see the ships does....

[AMF]

Everyone is entitled to their opinions.

SO here's mine: if the Demo is any indication of how the final release will be, there is no way I am buying it. I know that I won't play it, and that I would just be aggravated by it. Why would I want to do that?

[Suicide Junkie]

Final release?

It sounds like you probably won't be happy with the initial release unless something surprisingly big happens.
But Aaron is well known for continuing upgrades in the long term. Mods won't be out for a few months anyways.

[Matryx]

Sorry if I'm totally missing the point here but I'm not quite getting the "can't see the ships in space" point?

I'm at work at the moment, but I'm fairly certain the ships were in their hexes last time I looked? Or is this not quite what you meant.


Ooo, better yet, could you explain with screenshots?

[Captain Kwok]

At lower resolutions, it becomes harded to see the ships in the system view - and in particular some of small ships like Frigates and Destroyers are very hard to see - especially when you throw in the default-sized flags/icons.

[Santiago]

For example in 1024x768 resolution,

In SEIV its a top down view of the entire system and you can see where your ships are at any time just by glancing at the screen.

In SEV the star system is much bigger . In a top down view (comparing to SEIV) and you zoom out to see the entire system- actually just 3/4 just to make it not too small, the ships are virtually non- existant. Flags were too big and the mini-flags help, but its still just frustration. Where are my ships? I waste time trying to find where they are currently at.

The bottom portion of the UI is too big in relation to the main game screen and hides part of the main screen where I like to have it at a particular playable size. It should be made individually to minimize.

Since I am restricted to playing in safe mode and not primary display adapter, it ends up being windowed and cuts off a small portion of the game even moving the window for maximum visibility and the scrolling of the game screen (this needs to be user selectable to on/off) results in scrolling of only 2 directions

There are other issues brought up by others. If it was only a few items, then maybe it could be looked over. Seems more like mid beta than near release.

Don't get me wrong, I'll probably cave in and buy it eventually, and I like a lot of things in it, but I think it really needs lots of work. Just my opinion. Now I came in at SEIV after it was already well patched and MM has a great reputation with the players and I'm hoping for the best.


@ Fyron Thanks for the email addy, this post or the other one.