feedback from playing demo

[evilC]

Seeing as I cannot sign up for the official forums (Limited # of signups per day exceeded) I thought I would post my gripes here.

This could be a great game I think but at the moment the interface brings it down somewhat.

TrackIR / Head look:
Not a bad implementation, certainly WAY better than X3.
However, the fact that when you look away from center, many HUD elements disappear is quite annoying.
Also, when you look slightly off centre, the pitch ladder gets clipped.
IMHO, the ladder should probably stay in the center of the FOV wherever you look, along with a targetting reticule so that you can look at any ship and hit the "target under reticule" to select it.
You can only look 90 deg left or right. This should be more like 150deg.

Navigation / Map.
EASILY the most annoying part of the game I came across. You either have "Text On" mode or "Highlight" mode. "Text On" mode is almost unusable as the screen becomes a jumble of text.
"Highlight" mode is OK, but why do we have to choose? Have "Text On" as a toggle, but whenever you hover an object you always get tooltips.
The appears to be no HUD element pointing to the NAV marker. The NAV box is coloured yellow, why not colour it orange and have an orange arrow pointing to it like you do the offscreen indicators for target etc.
Sometimes, right clicking in a sector does not go to that sector (or something, not sure what is going on). ie I right click on a planet and it zooms in to an empty sector.
If I click on "Back View", then "Top view" (ie do nothing) then this seems to fix this "bug".
"Back view" is an awful description. "Side view" is much better.

Misc
If you are mid-contract and hit save, it says "Saved OK" in the save menu, but in the chat log window it says "Cannot save mid contract". Well it shouldn't say "Saved OK" in the ESC menu, should it now?
A time compression function would be nice.

HUD / Instrumentation:
The HUD elements are way too chunky and obscure too much - way too stylized. Boxes within boxes within boxes it just looks so cluttered.
The text is obscenely big and often in a spaced font.
Ship targeting boxes are not clipped by the cockpit, so sometimes you cannot read the instrumentation panels because of all the targeting boxes.
The menus (eg Nav, Inventory) are too transparent. I sometimes have to look around with my trackIR to get a clear background so I can read the menus.

[Ausguy]

So no redeeming qualities at all??

[FubyDoo]

Copied from customizing kits readme file.

To use a different font with the game, create a text file with the name setfont.txt in the same folder as the EXE and use these options for each line:

Font Name
Font Size
Font Bold (0 = off, 1 = on)
Font Type (character set, 1 = default)
Font Position Offset X (below 0 moves to the left, above 0 moves to the right)
Font Position Offset Y (below 0 moves up, above 0 moves down)
Font Size (display/HUD text)


The custom font options are used for two different modes. The first mode is for chat, message, console, and menu text. The position offset options will not impact this mode, so you can adjust them without effecting how the text is rendered. Button and menu graphics can be modified to accommodate different sizes and placements for the text as needed. The second mode is for the cockpit displays and parts of the HUD. This text can be adjusted to align with various 3D object positions using the offset options above.

You can also import a custom font into the game using the adjustable options above with an installed font, or you can also replace the 'evochronfont.ttf' file in the game's install folder and the game will apply the default scaling and appearance parameters.

Get the customizing kit at bottom of page and all will be understood...
Looks like about everything and anything can be adjusted in this game..
http://www.starwraith.com/evochronme.../downloads.htm

[paul1290]

Originally Posted by evilC

Sometimes, right clicking in a sector does not go to that sector (or something, not sure what is going on). ie I right click on a planet and it zooms in to an empty sector.
If I click on "Back View", then "Top view" (ie do nothing) then this seems to fix this "bug".

Usually when this happens it's because the sector you zoomed into was above or below the sector you wanted to zoom into, which is why switching views fixes it.

This thread explains this issue in more detail:
http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=7580

Originally Posted by evilC

HUD / Instrumentation:
The HUD elements are way too chunky and obscure too much - way too stylized. Boxes within boxes within boxes it just looks so cluttered.
The text is obscenely big and often in a spaced font.
Ship targeting boxes are not clipped by the cockpit, so sometimes you cannot read the instrumentation panels because of all the targeting boxes.
The menus (eg Nav, Inventory) are too transparent. I sometimes have to look around with my trackIR to get a clear background so I can read the menus.

While this might not address all your complaints about the HUD, the HUD can be modified.

Here's one example of an alternate HUD:
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/...lien1/img1.jpg
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/...lien1/img4.jpg
You might not like this particular HUD, but there others you can try download and try.

[92Hotel]

Because of the awesome look of the trailer and appeal of the style of play I'm on the verge of wish-listing this game. Your review was useful to me, since I think I should hold off and at least try the demo, or even see if the game gets patched.

[evilC]

Originally Posted by Ausguy

So no redeeming qualities at all??

If it had no redeeming qualities, I wouldn't waste my time posting.
I posted because I see potential, but it is a little rough around the edges.

It has I-War style slipping and you can descend to planets / fly inside asteroids. That alone is enough to pique my interest. Chuck in x-wing style power management and you have a recipe for awesomeness!

Originally Posted by paul1290

Usually when this happens it's because the sector you zoomed into was above or below the sector you wanted to zoom into, which is why switching views fixes it.

This thread explains this issue in more detail:
http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=7580

Ahh, that makes some sense, thankyou.

Originally Posted by paul1290

While this might not address all your complaints about the HUD, the HUD can be modified.

Here's one example of an alternate HUD:
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/...lien1/img1.jpg
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/...lien1/img4.jpg
You might not like this particular HUD, but there others you can try download and try.

That looks MUCH better!

Thanks for all the replies peeps.