SE:V, I'll be honest

[Slick]

I've played the demo a few times and tried out as many things as I could. I've looked at the data files. I've read the opinions of others. I've really worked at trying to like this game. I want to like this game. But it is just missing something intangible. I just don't get that "just one more turn" feeling. I have come to the realization that having to work at liking this game means that I just don't find it fun. I'm a huge SE fan and it hurts me to say these things but I think honesty is the best policy. I want so badly to like this game that I actually stopped playing the SE:V demo and started a new game of Starfury just to cheer me up a little. I'll give it some time to sink in.

I see huge potential for "funness" in this game but it's just not there yet. There's no single thing that has taken away the fun for me but here's a list of some things that I find disappointing:

- the UI. Enough said in other threads.

- the bugs; there are waaay too many at T-minus-one-month to release. I am hoping that MM will live up to past expectations and fix these but they will surely turn potential buyers off permenantly.

- the overall cumbersomeness of the game. This partially overlaps with the UI issue but there is more. Things are not very intuitive. Yes, once I figure it out, I know how to do it, but there is still a lot of cumbersomeness. Information that I want is there but not readily accessible. Too many of the things that I think should be options in-game are only modifiable in the data files.
This may sound trivial to most people but I know several people who won't mod the game based on the principle that they shouldn't need to for changing basic options - and they are very "turned off" as potential customers and won't be buying the game over this issue alone.

- the great unknown of what will be fixed after release. MM has a great reputation for continuously improving the game. I give him 100% credit for that. Without getting into an argument over the possibility of bug-free games here, there is a customer expectation of a certain level of performance at the time the game is installed. Frequent, hard crashes are unacceptable. Many of the issues are not fatal (software) flaws; many are just the cumbersomeness issues, so how many of these will be fixed?


I really want this game to be good, but it's just not there yet. Will I buy it? I am still not sure. I know it's too late, but I'll say this anyway: I am willing to wait as long as it takes for the release if the time is being spent to improve the game.

[RonGianti]

Well, there was quite a learning curve going from SEIV to this demo, but I'm over the curve and LOVING this game.

The demo is broken. Resources disappear, Neutral AI is basically disabled, etc. But have you looked at all the new treaty options? The fleet options? I even like the UI myself, now that I figured out how to customize it.

I wish this was called an alpha demo myself, but I have no doubt that I'll get the game on release day, and no doubt that it will be fun and playable right out of the box, and no doubt that patches will come regularly too.

[Captain Kwok]

Slick,

What options do you think should be in-game settings?

[Slick]

A long list, without listing every item, a lot of the things in "settings.txt" would be a great start. Some of the other data files have some items that would be great too. Being able to save them off as a "preferences" file would be better. I'm not talking about the whole file, just the ones that would make sense to be in-game. I guess "make sense" is subjective, though...

A couple of examples would be how "sight" is handled, default number of systems, etc. Those kinds of things.

[Santiago]

I guess one of the big questions is how close is the demo to the finished product?

I know MM is only one guy. But if I was the developer I would be all over the forums wanting to know people's reactions, bugs, ideas etc. Not working thru a few dedicated beta testers. That's just me.

[Fyron]

Aaron is rather reclusive.

[tmcc]

I love the game so far, but that being said I have to agree with slick to some degree. There is something missing that keeps me from the "just one more turn" syndrome. I have been analyzing why I feel this way and I think I've identified a couple of things:

1) It feels tedious. No stacking, clicking and dragging components, multiple menus to get the data you need, etc. etc. At times I just have enough.

2) Compared to SEIV the turns process much more slowly.

I think between being tedious and slow it saps my energy. with SEIV I'll often look at the clock and say "oh crap it's 2:30 AM and I have an 8:00 AM meeting". That has not yet happened with SEV and I can say for sure that it did with the SEIV and SEIII demos.

[Black_Knyght]

I have to go with Slick & Possum here.

While I respect the interestes and opinions of those who are enthusiatic about SEV, it just doesn't "GRAB" me the same way the other version did. Too many things to work at, too many fixes needed, I don't want to have to mod a game to play it, just a lot of different things combine to suck the interest in out of me.

I know this is an unpopular opinion overall, but it's still how I feel.

On an additional note, I have to agree with Santiago about what Aaron should be doing.

Reclusive or not, if you release a product you need to stay alert and on top of your customers points of view and concerns, rather than just sticking to a few chosen opinions. This forum is a golden opportunity to do just that, and would be a treasure trove for improving what wrong with the game..

[Fyron]

Aaron does read all of the emails you send in...

[Santiago]

Imperator Fyron said:
Aaron does read all of the emails you send in...

What's a valid email address?