Any One Still Playing This Game?

[Fyron]

The 3d rendering of system objects has nothing to do with the interface, which is still essentially static 2d (and can be entirely customized via bitmaps, unlike se4). I'm not sure if the Data\HUDSettings.txt file actually works, but it might be possible to create a more-sane button panel with it. AFAIK the button panel and some excessive confirmation dialogs (for general "clickiness") are the main issues left with the interface, other than possibly the ship design screen that we are stuck with. There are little things that could be done like double clicking on a sector with a planet automatically selecting (the first) planet in that sector, but those tend to be not unique to SE5 (could improve SE4 as well). The interface has come a long way since release.

[Atrocities]

Ya, what Fyron said. Well said.

[Xrati]

I think it may just be time to wait for SE6. Hopefully all the issues about initiative, defenses vs offenses and interface will all be addressed.

I think that the total number of people who play SE5 is less than the number who played SE4. I never went past the SE5 demo, but there are a lot of SE4 players who purchased SE5 because of SE4.

I know that this outlook at SE5 is not shared by all, but there are enough that agree to the point that they will not play SE5. That is a MAJOR LOSS for the SE series! If the SE series is to continue you have to develop a game that is playable, mod-able and will keep you coming back for more.

[Captain Kwok]

It's nothing different than the SE:III players that never continued on to SE:IV etc.

[Artaud]

Fyron said:Luckily, it is absolutely not a "flashy 3D game." Instead, its just as deep a strategy experience as SE4, if not deeper in some ways.

As with many things, that a matter of opinion. When I played the demo of SEIV waaaaaaay back, I was completely sucked in. (The same way I was sucked in previously by Stars!, and before that by the original Reach for the Stars, and before THAT by Empire )

SEV, I'm sorry to say, just did not make me even the slightest bit interested.

[Fyron]

Its fairly baseless to say that it is just a "flashy 3d game" (or little more than). "Flashy 3d game" connotes a lack of depth, a lack of solid game mechanics. These are things SE5 does not lack. The fact of SE5 being just as deep of a strategy game as SE4 is pretty hard to dispute in a supportable manner. Whether or not you are willing to weather its UI quirks to get to the gameplay is another matter entirely, and is where opinion on it being a fun experience comes into play.

Potential assertions of SE5's UI suffering _because_ it is a 3d game are rather speculative (I'd wager that its just more of Aaron not being good at designing UIs in the first place). Luckily, it is obvious that the game mechanics and the moddability suffered naught for the 3dness.

[Suicide Junkie]

Fyron said:
The 3d rendering of system objects has nothing to do with the interface, which is still essentially static 2d (and can be entirely customized via bitmaps, unlike se4).

Its the blurry 3D rendering of pixellated text and floaty banners that really make me sad. 2D overlays of sharp text would be golden.

That, and whatever loser convinced Aaron that SE5 needed more confirmation clicks instead of maintaining a slick command system.

[Xrati]

Whether or not you are willing to weather its UI quirks to get to the gameplay is another matter entirely,

Fyron, playability, as Artaud stated

SEV, I'm sorry to say, just did not make me even the slightest bit interested.

is what will be the ultimate gauging of the game. It just does not hold up well to it's predecessor (SE4)!!!

What you have is a game for modders, NOT PLAYERS. In the end it's the players who will purchase the game to PLAY! You just can't sit there and say that the game mods well, but it's hard to play. It's not going to sell product.

[Fyron]

That doesn't really invalidate anything I said, and I agree that the game is not as fun to play as SE4 (in spite of SE4's own mediocre UI). I was merely addressing the assertions of it being just a "flashy 3d game."

The UI has improved a lot over the last year, but still has issues that Aaron doesn't seem willing to address. Maybe we need to gather an actual succinct list of issues that contribute to playability issues, rather than just constantly bemoan its lack of fun-ness... Then, we can make a concerted effort to barrage him with specific, unified requests so he sees that there are indeed still some wide-spread problems. Here's a start:

1) Too many confirmation dialogs for orders. Perhaps add an "expert mode" option in Empire Options to skip all but the most important of these.
2) Blurry 3d rendered text names in system display should be replaced with crisp 2d text.
3) Revamp the bottom right button panel. Make a set of tab buttons at the top, rather than have some buttons within the panel randomly function as tabs.

[Black_Knyght]

Fyron said:
I agree that the game is not as fun to play as SE4 (in spite of SE4's own mediocre UI).

THAT was the gist of what I, and I think many others, have been trying to say.

I was merely addressing the assertions of it being just a "flashy 3d game."

The point for me, in SEV being a "Flashy 3D game", is that more effort seems to have gone into the all new graphical appearance of the game, and the POTENTIAL moddability of it, rather than the interests of the "straight-out-of-the-box" player

Maybe we need to gather an actual succinct list of issues that contribute to playability issues, rather than just constantly bemoan its lack of fun-ness...

There's a VERY valid point. The number of playability issues and the lack of "fun-ness" is the killer for me.

When I first started playing SEIV, it grabbed and held my attention, and the improvements that arose over time just made it that much better. SEV just never had that "grab" that made SEIV so much fun. Straight off the street, SEIV turned out to be much more interesting and entertaining than anything delivered by SEV so far.

I never Beta-tested it, I have no vested interest in it's outcome, and I'm nobody community-wise. I'm just another average person, trying a new game based on the reputation of it's predecessor and finding it lacking.