First Impressions

[Cyberis]

I just got my copy of WW and I'm quite excited. I am one of those rare nerds that reads the instruction book/additional material before I play to game, usually while installing it. I noticed that the instalation instructions say to click on __TBD__.exe to start the install. A place holder no doubt for the actual install executable which is named wierdworld_setup.exe. Just thought I would point that out in case you are going to create a second production run of the manuals.

Secondly, on the disk was a whole fleet of demos. I was quite surprised that the SAIS demo (or better yet, the full game) wasn't on there. Any thoughts about that?

As far as game play, graphics, etc. All I can say is WOW!!! The graphics are beautiful, the play is even more addicting than SAIS. You really put the spit shine to this one.

Now, please, PLEASE, PPPPLLLLEEEAAASSSE create some starter mod documentation. I want to create a few mods for this and perhaps even that TC I've been thinking about.

Excellent job Digital-Eel. WTG

[Cyberis]

So now that I've played a few games and got my a$$ whooped I have a few more comments/observations:

1. Having to keep mousing over moving ships during combat to get status on how they are doing is VERY TEDIOUS. It would be nice to have an option for the status of all ships in combat to be displayed along the bottom, side or top of the screen. Any possibility of adding that option to the settings dialog?

WARNING -- SPOILERS FOLLOW -- DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT SPOILERS

2. I have noticed that while in Tutorial mode, when you view an unexplored planet that happens to have Klakar presence, a tutorial dialog announcing that fact shows up. Is that what was intented? That seems to provide too much of an advantage. Any thoughts?

END SPOILERS -- END SPOILERS -- SITUATION NORMAL

[TaoLibra]

Cyberis said:
1. Having to keep mousing over moving ships during combat to get status on how they are doing is VERY TEDIOUS. It would be nice to have an option for the status of all ships in combat to be displayed along the bottom, side or top of the screen. Any possibility of adding that option to the settings dialog?

I agree, that is somewhat annoying -- especially when there are many things on the screen all moving at once.

However, since the full ship outline (with all the system icons shown) isn't always necessary anyway, I might prefer to have simple Damage Bars over each ship -- or under, or beside, or wherever -- a smaller version of the same bars that appear at the bottom of each ship outline display (one for shields, one for the hull). I would save the full outline display for hover only, but give the small Damage Bars an Always On/Off optional setting.

I also must confess that I miss having the ability (as in SAIS) to set a "path" for my ships: telling them to move to Point A, for example, and then to turn toward the target ship. If that is possible in Weird Worlds, I haven't figured it out yet...

[zircher]

Try right clicking, I seem to remember fire and turn buttons popping up.
--
TAZ

[Cyberis]

Yeah damage/shield bars at a MINIMUM over each ship as an option. Small versions of each ship status box along the side would still be nice so I can see where their weapons are and what systems I have destroyed.

[nihilix]

Regarding the lack of onscreen-permanent info in combat - several of the Fearless Testers pitched it, but it didn't make the grade... we'll have to see if the community pressure makes for a patch with the elegant solution that Tao Libra suggested.

[Ripcord O'Reilly]

I'm always listening.

The idea is to keep the combat screen free of clutter and anything that might break you out of the experience. I think it's kind of an extreme reaction to games that just display too much, too many little menus and bars and so forth. Dunno about you guys, but I want to see the ships.

So, those are some of the reasons we implemented it the way we did, with a mouseover for reviewing each ship's status.

Still, as I said at the top, I'm always listening.

[ZylonBane]

Ripcord O'Reilly said:
Dunno about you guys, but I want to see the ships.

If this were a screensaver, I'd agree with you. But since the status of each ship is the most important thing in a battle, of course people are going to be constantly mousing over each ship to view their status, because that's the only means of obtaining that information you've given us. By attempting to declutter the combat display, you've forced the opposite effect.

So yeah, your testers were right. Mini hull/shield bars should have been in there.


A few more suggestions/bug reports:
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There should be an ENGAGE button on the system view window. It got so tedious going through the VIEW, CLOSE, wait for map to zoom back, ENGAGE cycle that I eventually started skipping the VIEW button entirely.

When you add a ship to your fleet, the ship display always switches to firing arc mode.

I found it really frustrating that you have to abandon leftover credits if you don't make a precisely equivalent trade. Obviously a standard currency exists in this universe. Let me just take my change and go!

Once I tried to board a derelict, got attacked, escaped, came back, and this time the ship really was derelict. Seems like the state is being rolled randomly every time you enter the system instead of being persistent.

I think it'd be a nice addition if mirror-translocated ships would head back to their home systems.

After you've used a trader ship in combat and they ask for payment, it's confusing that the button to refuse payment is labeled CANCEL. You're not really cancelling anything. I think it would make more sense to have a REFUSE PAYMENT button (or just REFUSE if that's too long).

When mousing over items in a store, I think it would be better if the descriptions appeared at the bottom of the window, where the items are, instead of way up at the top of the window, in... the title bar???

The ship status display says "Lightspeed" next to the Deep Space and Nebula speed bars. But the speed of light is a constant. This label should be just be "Speed".

[Combat Wombat]

ZylonBane said:
Space and Nebula speed bars. But the speed of light is a constant. This label should be just be "Speed".

For the record the speed of light is not constant

[ZylonBane]

Pfft, fine Mr. Wizard. The speed of light in a vacuum is constant. Happy now?