Forums » Suggestions
to make it cooler....make a "video scanning device" for the players to have, and they send it to the station :D
Hi. A couple of things:
I've always thought a spectator mode would be pretty cool. I've also thought an actual closed "dueling" system might be a good idea, to get rid of all of the problems of people interrupting and things. Which kind of goes back to the whole "simulator" type proposal, which is also something I've had in the back of my head for many years, but that's beyond the scope of this post. It suffices to say that I'm cool with the general idea, but I'm not entirely sold on how to go about it, and I'm not at all sure that it's a critical short-term thing (I think Shape's points are correct, but I think it's more important to add more non-PVP stuff rather than simply emphasizing PVP.. since a lot of the players we lose are just not interested in PVP in the first place).
On a second commentary-related note. Just because we're "working on the UI" right now does not mean that every possible UI thing must be implemented "Immediately!".. or it never will be.
The next client release with the UI redux will include a lot of obvious, immediate changes, especially to the station menu. But, strictly speaking, it won't include "most" of the real changes we're intending to make as time goes on (cap ship interface, yadda yadda). What we're doing here is replacing the old UI and menu system with one that is easier to modify. The emphasis is on replacing the menu *system*, not the specific menus. The old system was basic and functional, and a pain in the ass to add anything to. The point of the "new UI", more even than any visible change, is the fact that it will be much *easier* to add new stuff as time goes on. So, case in point, the topic at hand. An interface for spectator mode would be much easier for us to add *after* this work is done than *before*. But it doesn't have to be done immediately. The new UI work will benefit it either way (there may be even merit in delay, since we'll be getting used to working with the new UI and debugging client issues for a little while, most likely).
The new UI will be a work in progress, just like everything else ;). It won't ever be "done", not as long as there's new gameplay to add or new interfaces to add to existing gameplay to make it more fun and accessible. So, people should not be disappointed in what *isn't* there at initial release. We'll need further feedback and refinement on it, just like the rest of the game.
I've always thought a spectator mode would be pretty cool. I've also thought an actual closed "dueling" system might be a good idea, to get rid of all of the problems of people interrupting and things. Which kind of goes back to the whole "simulator" type proposal, which is also something I've had in the back of my head for many years, but that's beyond the scope of this post. It suffices to say that I'm cool with the general idea, but I'm not entirely sold on how to go about it, and I'm not at all sure that it's a critical short-term thing (I think Shape's points are correct, but I think it's more important to add more non-PVP stuff rather than simply emphasizing PVP.. since a lot of the players we lose are just not interested in PVP in the first place).
On a second commentary-related note. Just because we're "working on the UI" right now does not mean that every possible UI thing must be implemented "Immediately!".. or it never will be.
The next client release with the UI redux will include a lot of obvious, immediate changes, especially to the station menu. But, strictly speaking, it won't include "most" of the real changes we're intending to make as time goes on (cap ship interface, yadda yadda). What we're doing here is replacing the old UI and menu system with one that is easier to modify. The emphasis is on replacing the menu *system*, not the specific menus. The old system was basic and functional, and a pain in the ass to add anything to. The point of the "new UI", more even than any visible change, is the fact that it will be much *easier* to add new stuff as time goes on. So, case in point, the topic at hand. An interface for spectator mode would be much easier for us to add *after* this work is done than *before*. But it doesn't have to be done immediately. The new UI work will benefit it either way (there may be even merit in delay, since we'll be getting used to working with the new UI and debugging client issues for a little while, most likely).
The new UI will be a work in progress, just like everything else ;). It won't ever be "done", not as long as there's new gameplay to add or new interfaces to add to existing gameplay to make it more fun and accessible. So, people should not be disappointed in what *isn't* there at initial release. We'll need further feedback and refinement on it, just like the rest of the game.