Forums » General
Being a new player I thought I would post my thoughts and questions concerning the game. Just a few things to keep in mind as you read. I come from Earth and Beyond (played it for a year and a half) so I might make some comparisons. Also these are just my thoughts and opinions, they are only to show you what a new player might think.
My overall impression of the game is a very good one. I’ve had very few crashes. The only times I have gotten stuck is a few times when I get pulled into a storm. Even after two years that would happen in Earth and Beyond, so I really don’t think too much of it. There isn’t any lag. Of course there aren’t many players, but there also isn’t any graphical lag. So in general I’m very impressed with the game. So on to specifics.
Flight.
I can’t comment on the physics mode as I haven’t tried it yet, so this is going to be about the arcade mode. So far I like it. It was incredibly easy to learn how to fly and operate my ship. It reminds me of freelancers flight model. There are a few things that bothered me (which I talked about in chat in game). First is that my regular thrusters once started stay on. My warp doesn’t. It’s inconsistent and having to keep hitting tab and holding it get rather annoying. I know you can bind a key to make it stick, but I wonder why it isn’t that way be default with the ability to change it.
Trade & Exploration
First off, I know this part has a long way to go. I still want to give my thoughts on it.
First thing is the map. It would be really nice if tooltips appeared when you move your mouse over things instead of having to click on them. It would also be nice if you could zoom in to get a map of a part of a sector. Right now you can zoom into the 16X16 grid, it would be even nice if you could zoom in and have the map focus on that one box. What would be really cool is if that one box opened up and allowed you to enter your own notes about the area. Another nice addition would be if there were some way to right click on stations and find out what they buy and sell, and for how much. If you didn’t want to make the information that easy to obtain, at least allow the player to right click and open a place to enter notes about the section.
Space and sectors.
Again I know there is much more to come, but I still want to express my opinion. I took some time to fly through all 3 nations regions in space. I found myself thinking the same thing that when I played Eve. It’s all the same. There were different backgrounds and stations, but that was about it. In Earth and Beyond each system had a distinct look to it. Some examples:
61 Cygni was a Terran mining sector. The stations were mining outposts. The planet had a terriformed look to is and you could see a mining colony. The main feature was a giant ice field.
Arudinne (not sure of the spelling) featured a gas giant, pirate outposts, a moon that had exploded.
Antaries was filled with gas pockets and electrical storms. There was an unfinished base because it was a new frontier.
The Races
Refering to Earth and Beyond again. They had three races. The Progen which were warriors, the Jenquai which were explorers, and the Terrans which were traders. Each one had a specific background and set up. I choose to be a Jenquai Explorer. When I played that I felt like a Jenquai and an explorer. In Vendetta no matter what nationality I choose I felt the same. It would be nice if there are specific advantages to being one race as opposed to another. Something like the Itani having great weapons, but lousy speed. The Serco having so so weapons, but are fast and have stealth capabilities.
Object information:
When I had to pick a nation it would have been real nice to have a short paragraph telling me about the nation, it’s benefits and disadvantages. Also with equipment and ships, especially ships. When I wanted to go from the starter ship to the EC-98, from reading there was no difference. Asking around I found out there was a speed difference. It still would have been nice if it told me that when I went to buy it.
NPC’s
This is one thing I hope is planned, and if not I beg you to rethink it. The game needs more than the NPC’s you kill. It really needs civilian ships flying around. It needs border guards. It needs ones that will come up and talk to you. Basically it needs friendly or neutral interactive NPC life. That sort of stuff is what makes the universe come alive.
And finally the thing that drives me nuts, shields. Please, please, please change it so that they regenerate without having to return to base. Or at least let us have the possibility of buying equipment that allows us to have that feature. Every space game I have ever played has auto regenerating shields. It’s standard in pretty much all space combat games. If you don’t address this you are going to have a lot of players that will get frustrated.
So those are my thoughts. Again they are simply my opinions and views. I want to make sure it’s understood I am amazed at what I have seen so far and that I’m not knocking the devs work in any way.
My overall impression of the game is a very good one. I’ve had very few crashes. The only times I have gotten stuck is a few times when I get pulled into a storm. Even after two years that would happen in Earth and Beyond, so I really don’t think too much of it. There isn’t any lag. Of course there aren’t many players, but there also isn’t any graphical lag. So in general I’m very impressed with the game. So on to specifics.
Flight.
I can’t comment on the physics mode as I haven’t tried it yet, so this is going to be about the arcade mode. So far I like it. It was incredibly easy to learn how to fly and operate my ship. It reminds me of freelancers flight model. There are a few things that bothered me (which I talked about in chat in game). First is that my regular thrusters once started stay on. My warp doesn’t. It’s inconsistent and having to keep hitting tab and holding it get rather annoying. I know you can bind a key to make it stick, but I wonder why it isn’t that way be default with the ability to change it.
Trade & Exploration
First off, I know this part has a long way to go. I still want to give my thoughts on it.
First thing is the map. It would be really nice if tooltips appeared when you move your mouse over things instead of having to click on them. It would also be nice if you could zoom in to get a map of a part of a sector. Right now you can zoom into the 16X16 grid, it would be even nice if you could zoom in and have the map focus on that one box. What would be really cool is if that one box opened up and allowed you to enter your own notes about the area. Another nice addition would be if there were some way to right click on stations and find out what they buy and sell, and for how much. If you didn’t want to make the information that easy to obtain, at least allow the player to right click and open a place to enter notes about the section.
Space and sectors.
Again I know there is much more to come, but I still want to express my opinion. I took some time to fly through all 3 nations regions in space. I found myself thinking the same thing that when I played Eve. It’s all the same. There were different backgrounds and stations, but that was about it. In Earth and Beyond each system had a distinct look to it. Some examples:
61 Cygni was a Terran mining sector. The stations were mining outposts. The planet had a terriformed look to is and you could see a mining colony. The main feature was a giant ice field.
Arudinne (not sure of the spelling) featured a gas giant, pirate outposts, a moon that had exploded.
Antaries was filled with gas pockets and electrical storms. There was an unfinished base because it was a new frontier.
The Races
Refering to Earth and Beyond again. They had three races. The Progen which were warriors, the Jenquai which were explorers, and the Terrans which were traders. Each one had a specific background and set up. I choose to be a Jenquai Explorer. When I played that I felt like a Jenquai and an explorer. In Vendetta no matter what nationality I choose I felt the same. It would be nice if there are specific advantages to being one race as opposed to another. Something like the Itani having great weapons, but lousy speed. The Serco having so so weapons, but are fast and have stealth capabilities.
Object information:
When I had to pick a nation it would have been real nice to have a short paragraph telling me about the nation, it’s benefits and disadvantages. Also with equipment and ships, especially ships. When I wanted to go from the starter ship to the EC-98, from reading there was no difference. Asking around I found out there was a speed difference. It still would have been nice if it told me that when I went to buy it.
NPC’s
This is one thing I hope is planned, and if not I beg you to rethink it. The game needs more than the NPC’s you kill. It really needs civilian ships flying around. It needs border guards. It needs ones that will come up and talk to you. Basically it needs friendly or neutral interactive NPC life. That sort of stuff is what makes the universe come alive.
And finally the thing that drives me nuts, shields. Please, please, please change it so that they regenerate without having to return to base. Or at least let us have the possibility of buying equipment that allows us to have that feature. Every space game I have ever played has auto regenerating shields. It’s standard in pretty much all space combat games. If you don’t address this you are going to have a lot of players that will get frustrated.
So those are my thoughts. Again they are simply my opinions and views. I want to make sure it’s understood I am amazed at what I have seen so far and that I’m not knocking the devs work in any way.
Very well written and presented, raynes.
I know that a lot of the features you mention are planned for the commercial release and a few of the problems you encountered are actively being persued and repaired. Remember, E&B is a commercial release and Vendetta is still a closed Beta.
That being said...
I think it is perfectly consistant to keep your momentum on regular thrust. The fact that turbo releases when you stop pressing the key is how most of us prefer it. When you get more into PvP combat, you will see the reason for this choice.
The decision to make you go to a station to figure out the prices for widgets is purposeful also. The buying and selling prices are based on standing and economy, hence, they change constantly. I do agree and it has been suggested that note pages be accessable via the HUD or Nav screen for the purposes you mention. I'm not sure if a decision on that has been made by the Devs. Zooming in on a sector to get a better look or to display more detailed info has also been suggested.
The skybox in all sectors has been generated by a program. I'm not sure if individualization in the skybox is advisable without getting into lag problems. As it is, the sectors in a system are the same, as they should be, and individualization through content is the way to go.
The 3 races will offer different advantages and disadvantages as the Beta evolves. The storyline, which has just been generally refered to so far, will provide the final product races their history as well as availablity of certain materials, technologies, ships and weapons.
The ships we are playing with now may not make it into the release and new ships and descriptions as well as new weapons will be forthcoming.
NPCs which interact with players is planned. Some will do as you suggest and others will perform other background or support functions.
This is the state of the closed beta and what is planned as I understand. Devs, If I have omitted anything or am mistaken on any given points, please correct me.
I know that a lot of the features you mention are planned for the commercial release and a few of the problems you encountered are actively being persued and repaired. Remember, E&B is a commercial release and Vendetta is still a closed Beta.
That being said...
I think it is perfectly consistant to keep your momentum on regular thrust. The fact that turbo releases when you stop pressing the key is how most of us prefer it. When you get more into PvP combat, you will see the reason for this choice.
The decision to make you go to a station to figure out the prices for widgets is purposeful also. The buying and selling prices are based on standing and economy, hence, they change constantly. I do agree and it has been suggested that note pages be accessable via the HUD or Nav screen for the purposes you mention. I'm not sure if a decision on that has been made by the Devs. Zooming in on a sector to get a better look or to display more detailed info has also been suggested.
The skybox in all sectors has been generated by a program. I'm not sure if individualization in the skybox is advisable without getting into lag problems. As it is, the sectors in a system are the same, as they should be, and individualization through content is the way to go.
The 3 races will offer different advantages and disadvantages as the Beta evolves. The storyline, which has just been generally refered to so far, will provide the final product races their history as well as availablity of certain materials, technologies, ships and weapons.
The ships we are playing with now may not make it into the release and new ships and descriptions as well as new weapons will be forthcoming.
NPCs which interact with players is planned. Some will do as you suggest and others will perform other background or support functions.
This is the state of the closed beta and what is planned as I understand. Devs, If I have omitted anything or am mistaken on any given points, please correct me.
There are no shields in Vendetta, just your hull. If you take damage you have to dock to repair it, though in the most recent interview there was a mention of a "repair bot." Shields would be nice, I guess, but then I'm used to knowing that if I've hit someone, they've taken permanent damage so long as I can keep them from docking.
As for the rest of your points, I think you'll find that most people here agree with you in the main.
As for the rest of your points, I think you'll find that most people here agree with you in the main.
I just have a few comments.
> It’s all the same. There were different backgrounds and stations, but that was about it.
Yes. It wasn't like this before we created the new universe, because it was all done by hand. Now it's generated. But we definitely plan to change this. In fact, there are screenshots which show mining stations which aren't in the game anymore but will reappear as we continue developing the beta. I'm fairly sure there will be a reintroduction of the more interesting elements of our old universe (but I'm not doing this work myself, so I will defer to Waylon).
> The game needs more than the NPC’s you kill.
Yep, we're still kinda debugging these but they will exist. It does have border guards, such as they are. If you enter a monitored sector of a nation which hates you, a team of fighters will launch from a nearby station and warp out to meet (and shoot at) you, and then follow you around until you leave the territory.
Except there are some bugs with that which we're working on now.
> It’s all the same. There were different backgrounds and stations, but that was about it.
Yes. It wasn't like this before we created the new universe, because it was all done by hand. Now it's generated. But we definitely plan to change this. In fact, there are screenshots which show mining stations which aren't in the game anymore but will reappear as we continue developing the beta. I'm fairly sure there will be a reintroduction of the more interesting elements of our old universe (but I'm not doing this work myself, so I will defer to Waylon).
> The game needs more than the NPC’s you kill.
Yep, we're still kinda debugging these but they will exist. It does have border guards, such as they are. If you enter a monitored sector of a nation which hates you, a team of fighters will launch from a nearby station and warp out to meet (and shoot at) you, and then follow you around until you leave the territory.
Except there are some bugs with that which we're working on now.
Yeah, when a1k0n was talking about the sector images and the backgrounds, they definitely need some work. Waylon is awesome enough to get the backgrounds looking better than they are now. Most of us remember the old universe, but for those people with accounts made before the new universe but never played until now, it was much more of an individualized map. The sectors all had their own feels, and now they do (as a1k0n said) run together some. Take the old s18: It was dark, you could hardly see, everything was red, roids were green, and there were some crazy-ass bots to shoot. Now, look at the old s11: it was much brighter than s18, had a safer feeling about it, and the average player could pass through it without dying. 18, on the other hand, needed experienced pilots with good ships. After you would go there, you'd live for about 10 seconds before dying, if you sucked. (I sucked, if no one noticed) Finally I got more experienced, and I could go there.
raynes, thank you for your post. It makes many good points. Most players do agree with you, and the devs have heard once again what players want.
raynes, thank you for your post. It makes many good points. Most players do agree with you, and the devs have heard once again what players want.
Wow, so unusual not to get flamed to death for expressing and opinion! I'm glad people didn't take what I posted the wrong way. As I said I just really wanted to give my view point. I know this is still beta and there is lots more to come. I plan on playing a supporting this game all the way.
Very well thought out post raynes, I wont comment on everything indivisually, since as others have noted most of the points you covered are frequently brought up and fairly well covered in other threads. (if you are truly interested in reading them, and there are some very interesting comments and thoughts that you might wish to look at, we now have a search function on the boards, its new as of, umm yesterdayish :) )
I will comment on the races however, just to expand on the point that Relayer made. The backstory (what we know of it anyhow) marks the three races as offshoots of humanity that were trapped on the far side of the universe from earth when a wormhole collapsed, so none of them are aliens. There are some differences planned for the three races, but as of the present the only real difference is in the high end ships availible. (that and the serco pilots get a special combat mission, at least i dont think any other nation can do the assasinate mission)
The ground has been laid for a Serco/Itani conflict with the border patrol mission that is availible to both of those nations, But much of the content that will differentiate the races has yet to be implimented.
All that said, Welcome to the vendetta community. Please continue to post your thoughts on anything you like, even if you bring up 99 old topics out of 100 posts, that 1 new idea might just be exactly what everyone has been wanting without even knowing it.
As to not being flamed, well, the Devs have been kind enough to provide us a place to discuss the developing game, and mostly you will find that as long as you post a thougtful, creative suggestion or comment, most people will respect that. We only flame the whiny argumentitive and egocentric posts. :) (and then our beloved Forum Moderator deletes our flames and locks the thread)
[EDIT - For an example of this please see below]
I will comment on the races however, just to expand on the point that Relayer made. The backstory (what we know of it anyhow) marks the three races as offshoots of humanity that were trapped on the far side of the universe from earth when a wormhole collapsed, so none of them are aliens. There are some differences planned for the three races, but as of the present the only real difference is in the high end ships availible. (that and the serco pilots get a special combat mission, at least i dont think any other nation can do the assasinate mission)
The ground has been laid for a Serco/Itani conflict with the border patrol mission that is availible to both of those nations, But much of the content that will differentiate the races has yet to be implimented.
All that said, Welcome to the vendetta community. Please continue to post your thoughts on anything you like, even if you bring up 99 old topics out of 100 posts, that 1 new idea might just be exactly what everyone has been wanting without even knowing it.
As to not being flamed, well, the Devs have been kind enough to provide us a place to discuss the developing game, and mostly you will find that as long as you post a thougtful, creative suggestion or comment, most people will respect that. We only flame the whiny argumentitive and egocentric posts. :) (and then our beloved Forum Moderator deletes our flames and locks the thread)
[EDIT - For an example of this please see below]
I agree completely with your views on Notes and other features in the map screen, although I would only like to see a detailed 'Sector Map' if it's in a sector i've already visited.
Also, I think this game needs shields. Not simply because every other space game has them, but for other tactical reasons in PvP combat. Shield recharging allows smaller crafts the ability to, through proper hit/run tactics in a dogfight, survive against much stronger opponents whom may be higher level then them. It also adds another dimension to combat. I dont think the shields should be big... but they should be able to withstand a couple volleys.
Also, I think this game needs shields. Not simply because every other space game has them, but for other tactical reasons in PvP combat. Shield recharging allows smaller crafts the ability to, through proper hit/run tactics in a dogfight, survive against much stronger opponents whom may be higher level then them. It also adds another dimension to combat. I dont think the shields should be big... but they should be able to withstand a couple volleys.
[rude post deleted]
Let me just say, excellent post Raynes. IMHO your tone was perfect. Normally, we have no problems with (we == the community) people coming in with suggestions or ideas. However, if someone comes in with "You MUST fix/do XXX NOW" that tends to be greeted a bit differently than your post. :)
Frankly, i'm surprised there *was* a rude post... whoever it was that wrote it sure didn't have their head on straight.
It was me. I expressed my opinion of the general redundancy of the first post in an unmannerly fashion, for which I apologize.
I blame it on alcohol and Lemming.
[I watched you concoct the message on IRC. You were not drunk and Lemming is blameless - Forum Moderator]
I blame it on alcohol and Lemming.
[I watched you concoct the message on IRC. You were not drunk and Lemming is blameless - Forum Moderator]
n00b! I'm disappointed! You're supposed to be the amiable one!
By tooltips you mean something like the "alt" command in html?
Actually, NPCs used to interact with players, although minimally. Back when the mission system was first "accidentally" implemented, you could '/msg "[NPC] Blah" mission' to recieve a short combat mission of killing several easy, medium, hard, or "badass" bots, which gave you medals. I actually haven't tried yet to see if the code still exists. >:D
By tooltips you mean something like the "alt" command in html?
Actually, NPCs used to interact with players, although minimally. Back when the mission system was first "accidentally" implemented, you could '/msg "[NPC] Blah" mission' to recieve a short combat mission of killing several easy, medium, hard, or "badass" bots, which gave you medals. I actually haven't tried yet to see if the code still exists. >:D
it doesnt, now if you /msg a bot you get a binary response. I'll let you translate it for yourself. :)
Tooltip are the little bits of text that appear when you run your mouse over something in windows. For example if you move your mouse over the back button in IE, it tells you where you would go back to.
Tooltips would be a nice bit of help for new users. I'll think about adding it.
Please make it so tooltips can also be turned off once it has outlived it's usefulness for that user.
If you do that, make it so that we can turn off the "Press F1 to see help" message. I freaking HATE that message.
So yes, tooltips == the alt function in html
I haven't seen the "Press F1 to see help" message in ages...
edit*--guess you're right, spell. I seem to fly with my eyes closed half the time, sadly.
edit*--guess you're right, spell. I seem to fly with my eyes closed half the time, sadly.