Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => General Discussion => Topic started by: BobHound on January 14, 2012, 09:34:56 AM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWno9UISZaU&feature=g-u&context=G2fc4077FUAAAAAAAAAA
I guess this might generate a pre-order or two!
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Oh wow! :o Welp, bring on the new people, awesome!
That was pretty cool, and I think a lot of his concerns will be resolved in the next few versions as Alex keeps tweaking and improving the interface, etc.
Already over 300 views, very nice indeed.
;D
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Yeah watching his vid right now, it's got alot of views so hopefully it will exploade preorders
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Yeah watching his vid right now, it's got alot of views so hopefully it will exploade preorders
Same haha I'm watching it now :P
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Excellent!
Anybody else shouting at the screen "You're doing it wrong!"?
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Very much so. Someone should have forced him to read the manual before playing the game publicly.
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Very much so. Someone should have forced him to read the manual before playing the game publicly.
Yeah lol! Main thing that bothered me is how he rarely used Autofire, psh. ;D
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I just bought the game after watching TB's WTF. When do I get my code to play the game? :3
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Maybe we should get some videos up showing more of how the game is meant to be played in the current build. While I agree with TB on preferring right click for contextual menus, the functionality of the UI is the same on left click, and he obviously didn't quite get how to use the command structure anyways.
If no one else wants to I can try, but my setup always seems to give me difficulties when I have tried.
Delamay: you should receive an email with your code shortly. I think it says it can take up to 5 hours to process but didn't take nearly that long for me.
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I just bought the game after watching TB's WTF. When do I get my code to play the game? :3
Looks like you got it just now :D But yeah, sometimes it can take a while.
Anybody else shouting at the screen "You're doing it wrong!"?
It's still the fault of the UI for not steering him in the right direction. It *does* look like RTS-style controls ought to work, so that's a problem. Tooltips on the context menu (which are in now) would have helped a lot, imo. I'm just happy that it was overall very positive!
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Maybe we should get some videos up showing more of how the game is meant to be played in the current build. While I agree with TB on preferring right click for contextual menus, the functionality of the UI is the same on left click, and he obviously didn't quite get how to use the command structure anyways.
Great idea! Post it as a video reply of a battle with some big ships! Even the official videos on the homepage shows battles with destroyer. At least the ones I remember. If I saw some gameplay videos of the cruisers and battleships I would have preordered even earlier!
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I just bought the game after watching TB's WTF. When do I get my code to play the game? :3
Looks like you got it just now :D But yeah, sometimes it can take a while.
Anybody else shouting at the screen "You're doing it wrong!"?
It's still the fault of the UI for not steering him in the right direction. It *does* look like RTS-style controls ought to work, so that's a problem. Tooltips on the context menu (which are in now) would have helped a lot, imo. I'm just happy that it was overall very positive!
Of course the feedback was positive, it's a great game :D Has a lot of potential too :P
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If I can get it all working, ill try to capture beating predator or prey 100%, just because I know I can do it and so I must at some point. Might as well record it so other can see my strategy in action.
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I just bought the game after watching TB's WTF. When do I get my code to play the game? :3
Looks like you got it just now :D But yeah, sometimes it can take a while.
Anybody else shouting at the screen "You're doing it wrong!"?
It's still the fault of the UI for not steering him in the right direction. It *does* look like RTS-style controls ought to work, so that's a problem. Tooltips on the context menu (which are in now) would have helped a lot, imo. I'm just happy that it was overall very positive!
I just became aware of the game via his series and it looks super promising. Many games controls have been poor because the devs get used to them, and they become "obvious" to them, without thinking about new people to the game. It's definitely good to get outside opinions in sometimes.
Once i hear the words, single player, sandbox and space combat. I'm pretty much sold so i'll be following developments closely.
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Just wanted to say that I just bought the game thanks to TB's video. Hope it's as good as it seems :)
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I also have seen TBs video and it was an instant buy. :)
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Yeah, he definitely would have benefited from reading the manual (I know I did!) but overall, it was a pretty positive video, and I found his reaction to the increasingly FUBAR direction the last mission took hilarious. :D
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And i must wait 'till 26th of january to buy this game - have no money on my card yet :'(
Anyway, from what i've seen in TB's video, either he just did not understand the game controls (as usual) or it really would be better to make a classic RMB-control style.
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or it really would be better to make a classic RMB-control style.
All TB-related newcomers to Starfarer should probably read this (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/07/27/fleet-control/) blogpost first.
TL;DR: Starfarer had more direct RTS-like fleet controls before. They were abandoned for reasons explained in the blogpost.
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I also have seen TBs video and it was an instant buy. :)
This, cannot play enough space games! :D
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Official I want my damn code already post. Damn TB, hyping me up to play this so much.
<3
Edit: Oh hey, within 2 mins of writing this post I got it, thanks <3
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Wow, so many new faces already ...
It's still the fault of the UI for not steering him in the right direction. It *does* look like RTS-style controls ought to work, so that's a problem. Tooltips on the context menu (which are in now) would have helped a lot, imo. I'm just happy that it was overall very positive!
You're the dev, Alex, stop being so reasonable! You're supposed to be blinkered and stubborn, throwing absinthe around the room decrying the people who are finding fault in your masterpiece! :D
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Just found out about this game from TB's video. Instant buy for me as well.
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Going to buy this game, looks awsome ;D
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Yeah, it's great to see all the new faces around here - thank you all for your support!
You're the dev, Alex, stop being so reasonable! You're supposed to be blinkered and stubborn, throwing absinthe around the room decrying the people who are finding fault in your masterpiece! :D
Roger that. Love how you worked the absinthe in there, makes me feel so artsy - in a brooding, tormented, and slightly psychotic way :)
... I found his reaction to the increasingly FUBAR direction the last mission took hilarious. :D
That was totally awesome :)
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Argh! Just came here from TB's video, i wish i knew about this game two days ago when it was my birthday! Would have gotten someone to buy it for me, Damned gametesters pay doesn't last long saddly, but i will be getting this game as soon as i can haha.
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I first heard about starfarer from a post in RPS, I was tempted to buy it but didn't because I wanted to keep some money for the winter sales in Steam
I forgot about it and then I saw TB's video, and by the end of it I was once again struggling wether to buy it or not, but in the end I just went "awwww *** it" and bought it anyways. Although I have to say that the payment method put me a little off, I would strongly suggest incorporating paypal in the future. If it is possible to you, of course.
Anyways, I really want to start playing now but first I would like to ask you for a little favor, Alex: could you please show us the pre-order numbers of before TB's video and say, a week or two afterwards? I have been following him on youtube for a while and I am a big fan of the WTF is... formula for promoting indie games, but I have allways been curious about just how much to their videos influence a game's sales, and since I have seen in this forum that you have had no problem in saying how much you guys have sold before I think you might help me out on this one
Anyways, less writting, more space-shooting!
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Although I have to say that the payment method put me a little off, I would strongly suggest incorporating paypal in the future.
I bought it with Paypal a few hours ago. It was an option in the payment method dropdown. Maybe you overlooked it?
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Although I have to say that the payment method put me a little off, I would strongly suggest incorporating paypal in the future.
I bought it with Paypal a few hours ago. It was an option in the payment method dropdown. Maybe you overlooked it?
Nope, I just hit the "Preorder Now" button and it just redirected me to the BMTMicro payment page, no drop-down menu or anything
With that being said, I do run chrome with a javascript blocker, and even though I have set it up to allow scripts in that page I know that sometimes it stills blocks some, so that might be it.
My apologies for the complain, in any case
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Nope, I just hit the "Preorder Now" button and it just redirected me to the BMTMicro payment page, no drop-down menu or anything
The dropdown is on the BMTMicro page. Down at the bottom in the Payment Information section.
Although, I just want to point out that it is slightly unintuitive that the option to use Paypal comes after the contact information fields, which then disappear once you choose to use Paypal. The option should probably come before the contact information fields so you don't waste time filling out fields that aren't going to be used. It would also make it more obvious that the option to use Paypal exists (I almost missed it too). A relatively minor issue, but maybe worth changing if the Starfarer devs have any control over the layout of that page.
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I come from TotalBiscuits video as well o.o. I bought it and it seems pretty interesting. for some reason it makes me think of Gundam Seed with all the spaces battles happening, and when the captain of the archangel is all like Fire The Gottfrieds! xD
~Rose @->--
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Nope, I just hit the "Preorder Now" button and it just redirected me to the BMTMicro payment page, no drop-down menu or anything
The dropdown is on the BMTMicro page. Down at the bottom in the Payment Information section.
Although, I just want to point out that it is slightly unintuitive that the option to use Paypal comes after the contact information fields, which then disappear once you choose to use Paypal. The option to use Paypal should probably come before the contact information fields so you don't waste time filling out fields that aren't going to be used. A really minor issue, but I thought I'd point it out.
Ok I see it now, thanks to point it out!
Even though, some kind of clear indication of the different payment methods would be very helpful, I almost did not buy it becaus the payment method looked so much "alien" to me, I wouldn't want the developers losing sales because of a detail like that.
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Hi,
I also bought the game after watching TB, and also had to pause for thought on the payment menu.
Anyhow, I cannot wait to see how this game progresses.
;D
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Anyways, I really want to start playing now but first I would like to ask you for a little favor, Alex: could you please show us the pre-order numbers of before TB's video and say, a week or two afterwards? I have been following him on youtube for a while and I am a big fan of the WTF is... formula for promoting indie games, but I have allways been curious about just how much to their videos influence a game's sales, and since I have seen in this forum that you have had no problem in saying how much you guys have sold before I think you might help me out on this one
Anyways, less writting, more space-shooting!
I can share some info now - ever since the WTF video went up (and after the subsequent website crash!), pre-orders have been coming in at a surprisingly steady rate of about one per minute. It seems like it's starting to slow down a bit now. Given that the video has been up for about 8 hours, you can do the math :) I'm very curious how it's going to affect preorders in the next couple of weeks, but regardless of that, it's already amazing.
January's been a *very* good month even before this video - mostly because of that blurb that went up on RTS a couple of weeks ago - but today alone has doubled the number of preorders for the month. This is incredible, especially right after a couple of really dry months at the end of last year.
So, to everyone that's preordered, a huge thank you! I truly appreciate your support and faith that we will deliver a complete game, and your help is what makes it possible for me to be working on this full-time.
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Watched TB's vid, registered here. I will buy this game for sure. I was going to buy now but I'd like to have it on Steam when it comes out and if it will be sure that the pre-ordered versions will eventually get to Steam, I am buying it the hour I hear this. I suspect that there are a lot of people holding only for the game to be on Steam.
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Congrats, Alex. You've well and truly earned it.
I imagine RPS will follow up once 0.5 is out, so there should be more to come soon enough.
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Congratulations, Alex.
Very good to hear that you have the required financial backing to continue development.
I bought the game the day before TB's video went up after hearing about it for the first time through an article on RPS.
First I was thinking I'd wait until the Demo of the 0.5 version or until it's released on Steam, but then I thought why wait - It's already DRM free and when I buy it separately I have something to play when Steam is down and offline mode is not working. :)
I'm really looking forward to the next versions, what I heard about so far about the things to come really brings a big smile to my face.
Happy to support you.
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Watched TB's vid, registered here. I will buy this game for sure. I was going to buy now but I'd like to have it on Steam when it comes out and if it will be sure that the pre-ordered versions will eventually get to Steam, I am buying it the hour I hear this. I suspect that there are a lot of people holding only for the game to be on Steam.
you do know you can add pretty much any game to steam right? You wont get all the steamworks features if it ends up being a steamworks game, but given that the developer seems to support DRM-free-ness that isn't likely(which I applaud). You'll also have the added bonus of being able to play even when steam wont open up in offline mode(more important for some than others) as well as all three versions(Win,Mac,Linux).
I will probably be making a purchase pretty soon, and I must thank you, Alex, as there are not nearly enough games on Linux these days.
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It's great seeing Starfarer enjoy some time in the spotlight, considering it's current state and all.
I know I imagined it might have to wait another 6 months to a year before it started getting a lot of attention, but nice to see it now and well good praise for it. It's well deserved.
Now, if we can get some relief to the website and forums! ;) So many people I don't think it knows what to do! For the first time I'm having to wait to actually get the forums to come up... but I can deal with that for what it means to Alex and this game... so here's to slow forums!
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AHA! So you are the creator of this interactive medium Al-ex. I demand you create a sandbox mode at once! My position as Spacepiratecaptain awaits!
Got it and its the best 10 bucks I spent in a while. Just happy with it now. Your blog and change notes make me drool though.
THANKS FOR THE AMAZING GAME! (ONLY ALLCAPS CAN EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE!)
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Wow, so many new faces already ...
It's still the fault of the UI for not steering him in the right direction. It *does* look like RTS-style controls ought to work, so that's a problem. Tooltips on the context menu (which are in now) would have helped a lot, imo. I'm just happy that it was overall very positive!
You're the dev, Alex, stop being so reasonable! You're supposed to be blinkered and stubborn, throwing absinthe around the room decrying the people who are finding fault in your masterpiece! :D
Right, that's my job. ;D (the being unreasonable and stubborn, not the creating a masterpiece)
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Wow, so many new faces already ...
It's still the fault of the UI for not steering him in the right direction. It *does* look like RTS-style controls ought to work, so that's a problem. Tooltips on the context menu (which are in now) would have helped a lot, imo. I'm just happy that it was overall very positive!
You're the dev, Alex, stop being so reasonable! You're supposed to be blinkered and stubborn, throwing absinthe around the room decrying the people who are finding fault in your masterpiece! :D
Right, that's my job. ;D (the being unreasonable and stubborn, not the creating a masterpiece)
That has just made my day haha xD I'm so easily amused q.q
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Did you guys request the WTF..? or did TB do it on his own ?
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Did you guys request the WTF..? or did TB do it on his own ?
Totalbiscuit has had his eye on this one for a while and has been lightly plugging it at somethingawful.com
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hello everyone.
i came here from TB's video and immediatly purchased \o/. im a pixelart designer and i plan on modding some nice things for everyone.
Thanks for making good games!
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Thank you guys!
THANKS FOR THE AMAZING GAME! (ONLY ALLCAPS CAN EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE!)
YOU ARE WELCOME! Ahem.
Did you guys request the WTF..? or did TB do it on his own ?
We didn't request it, but knew it was coming (hence the server upgrade).
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I've known about this game for months, but I've been waiting to be sure that there was enough game here to make it worthwhile, since I knew it was still in alpha. That video was enough to convince me. I know it gets inevitably compared with SPAZ, which is unfortunate since they don't seem to share a lot outside of top-down spaceships. But that's gamers, we like our obvious comparisons. (cf. L4D and Killing Floor, or Orcs Must Die and Dungeon Defenders; never mind if the games involved aren't at all similar, they look like it if you squint and turn your head just right, ergo they get lumped into the mental cage match together) That said, I'm still going to end up comparing them even after explaining why I shouldn't ;). I bought SPAZ back when it came out and had good fun with it, but the repetitive nature of the game and lack of strategic depth led to me losing interest in it a while back. So here's hoping that Starfarer is the thing I'm looking for. Now if the 'Buy' page would just load...
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TB brought me here. ;D Just pre-ordered it.
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I recently preordered because of his video, and can't wait to see future updates of this game!
Is there an in-game update tool?
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I recently preordered because of his video, and can't wait to see future updates of this game!
Is there an in-game update tool?
There is no such functionality yet.
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I have to say, I also came here by TBs vid.
This game looks amazing, I mean that and I also am hyped enough that I bought it. However, I am a little worried, that your goals are set a little too high, because when I read about a campaign with economy, character progression, officers for your fleet, meaningful goals, own property and so on, I fear it will either take very very long to develop or it will only be rudimentary implemented.
Not that I want to say I dont have trust in the development team here :D I just hope everything works out.
Regardless: Keep up the good work, what we can see so far, looks really promising!
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Another Soul who found the game after TBs "wtf is". Preordered aout 3-4 hours ago still no key, but i suppose you've been a little swamped with preorders after TB posted the vid (if this thread is anything to go upon:) ) so i'll wait.
Im really enjoying SPAZ at the moment but its a bit arcady (not necesarry a bad thing but im craving something with a little more depth) and Starfarer seems to fit the bill in that regard.
Cant wait to play it :)
*EDIT*
Got the activation code :) and messed about a bit with the game...all i can say is THANKS to Everyone at FractalSoftworks for creating and working on such a gem of a game, and also bringing it to linux!!!
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I've been looking for this kind of game for a long time and I never heard of Starfarer before the TB WTF the other day. Good move Fractal Works. You got another pre-order.
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I have been looking for space combat game that also has an economic/political game behind it. This looks like it can cover all of the areas that could make such a game interesting. Even if it just turns out to be a series of customizable battlefields the variety and depth of the combat system would seem to be worth the cost. I saw the WTF is? and came on over to get it and so far I am not dissapointed at all, but I may need to read the manual.
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Another guy from TB's video checking in. Preordered and loving every minute of it!
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I saw the WTF is? and came on over to get it and so far I am not dissapointed at all, but I may need to read the manual.
Highly advisable. It made a huge difference in my ability to win missions.
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He's the reason why I joined the Starfarer family ;p I love space games. Anyone also play X3?
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He's the reason why I joined the Starfarer family ;p I love space games. Anyone also play X3?
Yep put over 300 hours into it.
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TB really disappointed me with his video of Starfarer, it was blatant that he didn't knew what the hell he was doing and blamed it on the interface.
As someone said, someone should have forced him to read the manual before making the video.
Still, I'm really happy that this same video helped with the pre-orders!
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Came from totalbiscuit's video as well, brilliant space game, preordered.
Now to go destroy that Onslaught Dreadnought XP
Thanks for the awesome game that will become progressively more awesome Alex, hope it turns out to be a very popular game.
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Thanks TB for letting me know that this great game exist.
And it is not even finished but already a lot of fun.
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TB really disappointed me with his video of Starfarer, it was blatant that he didn't knew what the hell he was doing and blamed it on the interface.
As someone said, someone should have forced him to read the manual before making the video.
Still, I'm really happy that this same video helped with the pre-orders!
Well you have to admit the interface is less than ideal. It could use some streamlining. But hey! It's an alpha :D Plenty of time to hammer out the kinks.
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TB really disappointed me with his video of Starfarer, it was blatant that he didn't knew what the hell he was doing and blamed it on the interface.
As someone said, someone should have forced him to read the manual before making the video.
Still, I'm really happy that this same video helped with the pre-orders!
His videos are a first impression series, and that's precisely what you got with that one. He started the game, did the tutorial, and then dove right in to some missions. Nowhere in the game does it say 'you should go read this manual to know how to play'. A new player should not be expected to know that. I wouldn't have known such a thing existed without seeing the stickied post when I came to these forums. And even then, I remain pretty unclear on how the strategic control of the game works. Reading through old posts here is helping me, but again, that's me. When I watch a TB video, I expect to see what someone who is playing a game for the first time is going to see. He is quite right that the interface isn't quite intuitive, and that the tutorial does little to help with that.
Not that I'm hating on the game. It's an alpha, of course there are rough edges. Things like a well rounded, fully functioning tutorial are the sort of thing you put in after your features are finalized, otherwise you'll be teaching people to use tools that may not exist in the next release. But for the moment, it is a valid issue. A new player will expect to get their how-to from playing the game and then from intuition based on the way the UI works. If the manual is required reading before playing, there should be a link to it on the game's menu screen. Otherwise a first time player is going to be doing exactly what you saw in that video.
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Nowhere in the game does it say 'you should go read this manual to know how to play'. A new player should not be expected to know that.
I don't know. I think it depends heavily on what kind of game you're talking about. For Casual games I don't think manuals are necessary, for everything else, what intuitive means and whether it's possible to make what the game is trying to convey intuitive is up for debate.
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I don't know. I think it depends heavily on what kind of game you're talking about. For Casual games I don't think manuals are necessary, for everything else, what intuitive means and whether it's possible to make what the game is trying to convey intuitive is up for debate.
Maybe a decade or more ago it would have been normal to expect a manual for a game. Modern games are much more likely to have an in-game tutorial. If you're expected to look elsewhere for help, the game will mention it somewhere. The old days where you would expect to read an inch thick book before you knew how to control your game are long gone. It just doesn't happen any more. Manuals, if a game has them, are generally just command quick reference lists.
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I don't know. I think it depends heavily on what kind of game you're talking about. For Casual games I don't think manuals are necessary, for everything else, what intuitive means and whether it's possible to make what the game is trying to convey intuitive is up for debate.
Maybe a decade or more ago it would have been normal to expect a manual for a game. Modern games are much more likely to have an in-game tutorial. If you're expected to look elsewhere for help, the game will mention it somewhere. The old days where you would expect to read an inch thick book before you knew how to control your game are long gone. It just doesn't happen any more. Manuals, if a game has them, are generally just command quick reference lists.
Maybe I am too old school but I still expect everything including games to have a manual of some sort.
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Most games don't require manuals these days because a large number of them are simpler/streamlined. In my opinion, learning the game's systems and logic is part of the game itself, and if it is complex enough to warrant a manual then I will read it and enjoy thinking about how to apply what I learn in game.
However, I will agree that it is not convenient to have to track down a manual via forum post to get that information. In the game's codex section there should be a copy of the manual that you can read in game, with all of the information set up in chapters for quick access and ease of use.
Not everything needs to be covered in a tutorial, but the information not covered needs to be made readily available.
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Just wanted to say that I'm the first to admit that the UI needs some improvement, and that the way TB played it is likely to be representative of a first-time player. Yeah, it's not the "right" way to play - but it's the game's job to teach you the right way, and it clearly did not.
I don't want the player to have to read a manual to know how to play, either - right now, the manual is functioning as sort of a band-aid. The next version has plenty more tooltips for context-sensitive help, so I think that will improve things quite a bit. Having a manual is all well and good, but you certainly can't count on players reading it.
Things like a well rounded, fully functioning tutorial are the sort of thing you put in after your features are finalized, otherwise you'll be teaching people to use tools that may not exist in the next release. But for the moment, it is a valid issue. A new player will expect to get their how-to from playing the game and then from intuition based on the way the UI works. If the manual is required reading before playing, there should be a link to it on the game's menu screen. Otherwise a first time player is going to be doing exactly what you saw in that video.
Yeah... that's the thing, really - a polished, good tutorial is a *lot* of effort, and it's not practical to do for every release. Still, that doesn't mean things won't get better along the way - they definitely will, and I think the dev build is already miles better in terms of usability.
All that being said, I firmly believe that the current command mechanics are a much better fit for the game than RTS-like mechanics.
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Exactly, and we should be HAPPY that we have this conversation. Happy that game UI and context sensitive controls have progressed so far that the need for a manual is almost gone.
It is far better to be able to play a game and learn by doing, with the help of tooltips and information directly in the game, than reading a manual on the side that often does not display the exact correct image to go with the text etc.
Heck, even old games like Alpha Centauri had an ingame encyclopedia with relevant game info, a manual within the game :)
I don't think it is just a case of games becoming easier and dumber, i think that is part of it in some games but i think the biggest deal is the massively improved user interfaces in most genres these days.
If in the olden days (SE4 as one of the most atrocious examples of poor explanation, nice gameplay though), you had rows and rows of buttons with no tooltips, no explanations, nothing.
Today in most games we have every single button and function explained to us right as we are about to press it. If a random event happens, there are clearly visible stats and effects visible as opposed to just "Plaguuu hits!!", leaving you puzzled until you flip to page 291 in the manual.
Frankly, it was not better in the past in this regard. :)
But it also means that an unfinished game really do need a little note in the main menu referring to the manual for things that have no been implemented in tooltips yet.
(looks at Sword of The Stars 2, with angry eyes)
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Yeah, I love tooltips - recently spent 2-3 whole days just adding tooltips *everywhere* :)
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SOPA! HUZZAH FOR IDOTS RULING THE US!
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Yeah, I love tooltips - recently spent 2-3 whole days just adding tooltips *everywhere* :)
Even on the ships' captain's quarters bathroom tissue paper? :O Captains gotta know how to wipe after all :3 PRESS HANDLE TO FLUSH.
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Yeah, I love tooltips - recently spent 2-3 whole days just adding tooltips *everywhere* :)
Even on the ships' captain's quarters bathroom tissue paper? :O Captains gotta know how to wipe after all :3 PRESS HANDLE TO FLUSH.
I think we've just inadvertently hit on the real reason for limited command points - toilet breaks for the commander!
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Brought the game thanks to TB as well, didn't get to play for more than one hour yet, but i love what i have seen so far.
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Exactly, and we should be HAPPY that we have this conversation. Happy that game UI and context sensitive controls have progressed so far that the need for a manual is almost gone.
It is far better to be able to play a game and learn by doing, with the help of tooltips and information directly in the game, than reading a manual on the side that often does not display the exact correct image to go with the text etc.
Heck, even old games like Alpha Centauri had an ingame encyclopedia with relevant game info, a manual within the game :)
I don't think it is just a case of games becoming easier and dumber, i think that is part of it in some games but i think the biggest deal is the massively improved user interfaces in most genres these days.
If in the olden days (SE4 as one of the most atrocious examples of poor explanation, nice gameplay though), you had rows and rows of buttons with no tooltips, no explanations, nothing.
Today in most games we have every single button and function explained to us right as we are about to press it. If a random event happens, there are clearly visible stats and effects visible as opposed to just "Plaguuu hits!!", leaving you puzzled until you flip to page 291 in the manual.
Frankly, it was not better in the past in this regard. :)
But it also means that an unfinished game really do need a little note in the main menu referring to the manual for things that have no been implemented in tooltips yet.
(looks at Sword of The Stars 2, with angry eyes)
I agree.
One game I still play hours and hours of... with mods these days... is Civilization IV. In my opinion, the way they implemented and used the encyclopedia function in-game and had it tied throughout most everything was great, unlike SE4 (love that game as well) as you said. It is just so much nicer being able to play and get the information you want with just a click or hover rather than having to dig through something else you may have put in a drawer or have to load up your PDF viewer for...
Granted, you may still need a manual for things that you can't simply explain in a tooltip, but yeah you won't need the 500 page manuals to go with it.
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Watched the video and purchased the game, just the type of game I love to play :)
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Just another one of the TB horde signing in here, bought the game soon after watching the video, would never have known about this game. Just want to say that I am really enjoying the game mechanics so far and judging by the upcoming patch notes, things certainly look like they are going to be getting better and better.
Thanks for the great game Alex! The only thing I am having trouble with at the moment is your method of issuing some macro orders, sometimes I just want to be able to select a ship and say escort / defend me, but the ships seems to rather go off to the capture / assault orders rather, I wish there could be a button like your 'All search and destroy' button that would allow me tell every single ship (on the battlefield now an future deployments) to rally / escort around me at all times / permanently?
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Just another one of the TB horde signing in here, bought the game soon after watching the video, would never have known about this game. Just want to say that I am really enjoying the game mechanics so far and judging by the upcoming patch notes, things certainly look like they are going to be getting better and better.
Thanks for the great game Alex! The only thing I am having trouble with at the moment is your method of issuing some macro orders, sometimes I just want to be able to select a ship and say escort / defend me, but the ships seems to rather go off to the capture / assault orders rather, I wish there could be a button like your 'All search and destroy' button that would allow me tell every single ship (on the battlefield now an future deployments) to rally / escort around me at all times / permanently?
I can get behind this because it can be balanced with personalities.
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Flew by after a RPS review but didn't decide to buy the game until the WTF video. The game's looking great and the final product with all the sandbox elements sounds like it could teach professional studios a thing or two about game design.
Just curious Alex, what are your plans to promote Starfarer as it approaches beta/final version? It seems like you would've missed out on a lot of extra sales if it wasn't for TB and I bet there are plenty more space nuts out there just waiting for someone to tell them about Starfarer.
Keep up the good work! :D
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TB really disappointed me with his video of Starfarer, it was blatant that he didn't knew what the hell he was doing and blamed it on the interface.
As someone said, someone should have forced him to read the manual before making the video.
Still, I'm really happy that this same video helped with the pre-orders!
That's TB for you :D Have you EVER seen him play Terraria? Ugh, I still shrug when I just think of it... Yet I still follow his youtube channel and I actually like him. Maybe because he's such a noobcake and makes me feel better when I get to play the game he's just WTFed and sucked at, or simply because of his lovely British accent^^ One thing is certain though, because of that guy's popularity, Starfarer got some nice attention from the right kind of people, GAMERS!!!
Here's to Starfarer and to us, gamers, who make it possible for more games to come out and to Alex for his amazing work!
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TB really disappointed me with his video of Starfarer, it was blatant that he didn't knew what the hell he was doing and blamed it on the interface.
As someone said, someone should have forced him to read the manual before making the video.
Still, I'm really happy that this same video helped with the pre-orders!
That's TB for you :D Have you EVER seen him play Terraria? Ugh, I still shrug when I just think of it... Yet I still follow his youtube channel and I actually like him. Maybe because he's such a noobcake and makes me feel better when I get to play the game he's just WTFed and sucked at, or simply because of his lovely British accent^^ One thing is certain though, because of that guy's popularity, Starfarer got some nice attention from the right kind of people, GAMERS!!!
Here's to Starfarer and to us, gamers, who make it possible for more games to come out and to Alex for his amazing work!
FPS does seem to be his better genre, but as others have said it is a first impressions series(WTF is... that is), and his first impression from an average gamer I'm guessing was pretty accurate. Very few people seriously read manuals(mostly because in most games these days it's nothing more than advertisements), so I'm not surprised he didn't. But I think he did a decent enough job to garner some serious attention(the servers were crawling for awhile lol).
I mainly watch for the accent and to laugh when he fails hard(that TD game today was a decent example lol, I think it's mainly that he doesn't pay attention when he talks).
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Just curious Alex, what are your plans to promote Starfarer as it approaches beta/final version? It seems like you would've missed out on a lot of extra sales if it wasn't for TB and I bet there are plenty more space nuts out there just waiting for someone to tell them about Starfarer.
Nothing concrete - I'd rather focus on development as much as possible. I think that spending my time making the game as good as possible will do more to promote it than me actively trying to promote it ever would.
One thing is certain though, because of that guy's popularity, Starfarer got some nice attention from the right kind of people, GAMERS!!!
It sure did! I'm certainly not complaining, and as I think I may have mentioned earlier, I think his quibble with the game is perfectly fair coming from a "first look" perspective.
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Is "quibble" what you get when you boil "squabble" and "quarrel" together, and season with "i"'s?
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It's a nice video, and he seemed to enjoy it overall! Although I noticed he never used auto-fire, which I think could've made his life easier in a couple of spots.
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Bought the game because of that video, can't wait for .5
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Is "quibble" what you get when you boil "squabble" and "quarrel" together, and season with "i"'s?
I think so, yes. :D