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If you don't get it via email in the next few hours, you can check it out here.
Mostly recap from the last few months, with a few mention of other things that are in development. I'll get into more specifics in the next newsletter, I don't want to make each newsletter too long to quickly read.
On the iPhone front, we have actually done a small-scale Testflight run in the last few weeks, and we're doing a larger one soon. I know a lot of people have been waiting for that. Make sure you're signed up for that if you want to participate (requires and iOS 10 capable phone).
Mostly recap from the last few months, with a few mention of other things that are in development. I'll get into more specifics in the next newsletter, I don't want to make each newsletter too long to quickly read.
On the iPhone front, we have actually done a small-scale Testflight run in the last few weeks, and we're doing a larger one soon. I know a lot of people have been waiting for that. Make sure you're signed up for that if you want to participate (requires and iOS 10 capable phone).
10/10
Incarnate & team ++! The recent updates have been extraordinary to see, and any mention of the steam release development is cool.
Nebulae clouds, fog volumes.
Didnt know that was a thing - is that one of the active developing things right now? I totally wanna see that!
I don't want to make each newsletter too long to quickly read.
Its a newsletter, not a tweet - I'm okay reading every little thing that gets sent out! :3
Nebulae clouds, fog volumes.
Didnt know that was a thing - is that one of the active developing things right now? I totally wanna see that!
I don't want to make each newsletter too long to quickly read.
Its a newsletter, not a tweet - I'm okay reading every little thing that gets sent out! :3
Not sure if this is asking too much, but are we talking about a free named expansion? :-)
Hows the new HUD/GUI coming along :P
Nebulae clouds, fog volumes.
Didnt know that was a thing - is that one of the active developing things right now? I totally wanna see that!
It's actually been in development since 2015. There were big performance problems for awhile, which we really improved more recently. It's pretty neat, but I don't think it looks cool enough, so we're still looking at various technology options and to see what will serve my intended use-cases the best.
Not sure if this is asking too much, but are we talking about a free named expansion? :-)
We don't charge for expansions, this will be free, yes. For us, the expansion is more about celebrating a major milestone of the game's evolution.
Hows the new HUD/GUI coming along :P
Umm. Pretty well, I guess? I mean, we recently made the VR cockpit a bit cooler (not shipped yet). I'm not sure exactly what aspect of the HUD or GUI you're referring to.
Didnt know that was a thing - is that one of the active developing things right now? I totally wanna see that!
It's actually been in development since 2015. There were big performance problems for awhile, which we really improved more recently. It's pretty neat, but I don't think it looks cool enough, so we're still looking at various technology options and to see what will serve my intended use-cases the best.
Not sure if this is asking too much, but are we talking about a free named expansion? :-)
We don't charge for expansions, this will be free, yes. For us, the expansion is more about celebrating a major milestone of the game's evolution.
Hows the new HUD/GUI coming along :P
Umm. Pretty well, I guess? I mean, we recently made the VR cockpit a bit cooler (not shipped yet). I'm not sure exactly what aspect of the HUD or GUI you're referring to.
Is there anywhere on the site that shows the VR cockpit?
the iPhone version is well done, anyone with an iPhone I recommend signing up.
I have the smaller SE and it still looks good
I have the smaller SE and it still looks good
" I'm not sure exactly what aspect of the HUD or GUI you're referring to."
Are you planning to ship to Steam without updating the GUI?
Are you planning to ship to Steam without updating the GUI?
well, uhh, whats wrong with the current GUI on PC?
yer joking right?
No? I mean sure Ore, it isn't perfect, but there are a lot worse UI's out there. I mean at least the font scales nice with VO. At least Guild realise that I may want a slightly larger font when I am playing at 3840x2160 as opposed to someone who is playing in 800x600. Most games get this badly wrong, even AAA titles.
We get it, the UI isn't perfect at all, and even 1 pixel can set some off, but really? It isn't that bad.
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If you are spending more time watching the UI and not pretty explosions, you are doing it wrong.
We get it, the UI isn't perfect at all, and even 1 pixel can set some off, but really? It isn't that bad.
--
If you are spending more time watching the UI and not pretty explosions, you are doing it wrong.
I could think of about a million things I'd prefer to see BEFORE a ui rewrite happens... eg, trident S/P, meaningful deneb combat, improved AI, universe redux, pretty much everything/anything noted in the newsletter, more ships/weapons/content, improved graphics, list goes on and on.... maybe then after all that, a shiny new UI might be ok (also, UI changes would break more then a few plugins, not like that's a roadblock but certainly should be taken into consideration).
The trouble with terms like "User Interface" is that they basically mean everything about an interface. Which can be interpreted to mean the HUD or whatever else.
I think Ore is mostly talking about the menu system, based on his previous feedback.
I think Ore is mostly talking about the menu system, based on his previous feedback.
Sounds something like a plugin could handle.
No, it really couldn't, Mi5. The menu/station interface isn't designed to be modular and so it has direct hooks into lots of things and a lot of very specific code written directly into button callbacks instead of callable functions.. There's no easy way to replace parts and reuse other parts.
Even the HUD is very tightly integrated.
You would have to do a complete rewrite of the interface, but then you couldn't properly swap the new and old interfaces without rewriting the entire client interface.
Even the HUD is very tightly integrated.
You would have to do a complete rewrite of the interface, but then you couldn't properly swap the new and old interfaces without rewriting the entire client interface.
VO GUI has more issues than a newsstand. The menu system and the ridiculous maligned bounding boxes, font scaling fails, duplicated buttons and tabs, wasted space with longwinded paragraphs, dated appearance from 2003.. this makes me sad Incarnate.
You've got more commands with less interface. There is no interface for capship pilots, so you gotta have an IRC chat with your capship to get it to do your bidding. I hope this is what is holding up the launch of the Type S and P.
I'm starting to think you don't know how to fix it. Even more worrisome, that you don't care about it. At any rate, its not fit for publishing to Steam.
You've got more commands with less interface. There is no interface for capship pilots, so you gotta have an IRC chat with your capship to get it to do your bidding. I hope this is what is holding up the launch of the Type S and P.
I'm starting to think you don't know how to fix it. Even more worrisome, that you don't care about it. At any rate, its not fit for publishing to Steam.
That's harsh. Considering VO has a lot of moving parts I think the station interface is fine, although I'm willing to accept I may have become inured to its quirks over years of use. I'm not aware of any duplicated and redundant functionality; if a button shows up in two places it's on different screens where it makes sense under each context. I can't comment on the cap ship interface, although I would agree it needs more work (I couldn't figure out how to rename the cap ship unless I totally missed it).
Suggesting Steam is the gold standard for UI design is a bit funny. Some critically acclaimed games also have UIs that are stunningly opaque compared to VOs (e.g. Dwarf Fortress).
I think VO has a better in-flight UI than Eve's, which is on Steam.
Suggesting Steam is the gold standard for UI design is a bit funny. Some critically acclaimed games also have UIs that are stunningly opaque compared to VOs (e.g. Dwarf Fortress).
I think VO has a better in-flight UI than Eve's, which is on Steam.
"That's harsh." Yer right. It was a bit harsh. I'm not confident it will change. I had to look up Dwarf Fortress, thats hideously awesome
Ore, please keep it positive / constructive, or don't post.
I mentioned some of the challenges back when I responded on your older thread, and I've commented elsewhere: Our current UI system is terrible from a development standpoint. It can take Ray days to implement relatively simple changes.
A complete overhaul of our entire menu system would probably take 2-3 months; particularly given Q/A, highly varied device scales, VR, and other use cases.
(that doesn't include redoing many of the tutorials, across N platforms and UX cases, and re-recording a lot of voiceovers, and other related things that would also have to happen in a menu-rewrite).
If I burn that much time on the menu, it will probably preclude releasing on Steam this year.
If I don't release on Steam this year, it definitely hampers a lot of other things we have going on, timed plans, finances, and so on. And it might hurt us much worse in the long run, on other aspects of the industry, partnerships, and so on.
You have the luxury of grumpily assuming that I don't want to do this development, or don't know how. When it's more like, I'm stuck with certain realities, and I do the best I can with them.
Now, we have made some UI improvements over the last couple of months, notably with font scaling. I hope to also improve some areas that I think are some of the "worst" aspects, prior to a Steam launch.
Still, I don't know how it'll actually end up by Steam launch. I imagine it won't be what you (or I) would ideally prefer.
But, I accept that as a development reality. Especially with a miniscule dev team, a huge game, and 1232142 different platforms. Hell, I'm happy the UI works..
It's also notable that everyone has their own personal frustration point of "obviousness" in the game.. Deneb is unbalanced, or Convoys/Blockades/CtC are stupid, or there are graphics that need updating, or the economy is dumb, or the UI is a mess, or why aren't there any NPC pirates or Trident Type S's or 9546392 other things.
But just because each person sees how "obvious" their particular pet problem is, does not mean that they have unique insight into the relative priority of issues as a whole, or what the challenges are in addressing that issue (or all the issues).
We do what we can.
I mentioned some of the challenges back when I responded on your older thread, and I've commented elsewhere: Our current UI system is terrible from a development standpoint. It can take Ray days to implement relatively simple changes.
A complete overhaul of our entire menu system would probably take 2-3 months; particularly given Q/A, highly varied device scales, VR, and other use cases.
(that doesn't include redoing many of the tutorials, across N platforms and UX cases, and re-recording a lot of voiceovers, and other related things that would also have to happen in a menu-rewrite).
If I burn that much time on the menu, it will probably preclude releasing on Steam this year.
If I don't release on Steam this year, it definitely hampers a lot of other things we have going on, timed plans, finances, and so on. And it might hurt us much worse in the long run, on other aspects of the industry, partnerships, and so on.
You have the luxury of grumpily assuming that I don't want to do this development, or don't know how. When it's more like, I'm stuck with certain realities, and I do the best I can with them.
Now, we have made some UI improvements over the last couple of months, notably with font scaling. I hope to also improve some areas that I think are some of the "worst" aspects, prior to a Steam launch.
Still, I don't know how it'll actually end up by Steam launch. I imagine it won't be what you (or I) would ideally prefer.
But, I accept that as a development reality. Especially with a miniscule dev team, a huge game, and 1232142 different platforms. Hell, I'm happy the UI works..
It's also notable that everyone has their own personal frustration point of "obviousness" in the game.. Deneb is unbalanced, or Convoys/Blockades/CtC are stupid, or there are graphics that need updating, or the economy is dumb, or the UI is a mess, or why aren't there any NPC pirates or Trident Type S's or 9546392 other things.
But just because each person sees how "obvious" their particular pet problem is, does not mean that they have unique insight into the relative priority of issues as a whole, or what the challenges are in addressing that issue (or all the issues).
We do what we can.