SE5 Demo Bug Reports & Annoyances/Requests

[StarShadow]

Did you try changing the video from 'Auto' to 'Safe'? Also, what version of DirectX does your laptop support?

[Possum]

Phoenix-D said:
Ship design not withstanding SE5 doesn't have that many more clicks than SE4- and if you use shift-click, ship design is tolerable.

\

That's just not true, Phoenix.

[Phoenix-D]

Possum said:

\

That's just not true, Phoenix.

Aside from ship design and retrofitting, give me an example.

Construction que? Same. Report screen? One extra click, less if you setup a custom layout. Movement? Same. Selecting ships and planets? Same. Research? Arguably less clicking (click on the slider itself, not the buttons to either side! Much faster.). Cargo transfer and retrofit take one extra click to access.

You do have to scroll the system screen a bit, but nothing too major. Canceling orders is burried for some bizzare reason, but keyboard shortcuts help there..and you don't need to cancel as much, since orders can be edited now.

[Fyron]

Attack order takes what, 5 clicks? SE4, you hit a, click target, click ok (or hit enter). Retrofitting? Easy, simple in SE4. SE5, its some 5 or 6 clicks _per ship_.

[VanderVecken]

Starting to really dislike that the "cancel" order for ships is on a different screen than main one ... this positioning of that order bugs me but what will a SE: newbie do. Maybe they'll learn the "WAY" SE:V does it. Or they may think that this along with some other UI issues just are not worth their computer time and they also might give bad word of mouth to their friends. (word of mouth is what sells games unless you are Sid Meier, a football game with Madden in the title, or WoW).
I'm still playing and I'm still liking what I see, I just had hoped that I could say I loved the experience. It's not there ... yet.

[CRM114]

That fixed it! Thanks, man.

[Artaud]

In the main window, would it be possible to have some kind of border around the system when you are zoomed out?

If you are playing with the hexes switched off, as I do, zoomed out so you can tell your teeny tiny ship where to go, you cannot tell where the system ends until you click somewhere and your ship does not respond. Then you click closer to the center of the screen, and still your ship won't move. Then a little closer...and finally your ship begins to move.

If SEV is going to become all fancy with the graphics, perhaps a "plasma barrier" or something could be added to the system view so that you can see where the system ends.

And I'll say it again: ship icons need to be larger.

Planets, also, look much worse in the system map than in SEIV. Most of them just look like smudges of color. The planet images in the description windows look quite nice, but in the system maps they look horrible.

[Phoenix-D]

Imperator Fyron said:
Attack order takes what, 5 clicks? SE4, you hit a, click target, click ok (or hit enter). Retrofitting? Easy, simple in SE4. SE5, its some 5 or 6 clicks _per ship_.

In SE5 you hit a, click target. End.

Yes, retrofitting is borked. But only if you need more than one ship- otherwise SE5 takes exactly ONE extra click. Yes, the cancel button is in a wacky spot. The keyboard shortcuts are tolerable though, which makes both those issues livable.

[wrongshui]

Cystaline Armor doesn't do anything either, thats both crystaline and organic, do the other armor types work?

[VanderVecken]

Ahh, Phoenix-D. For the casual and the new SEers the feel of SE:V is not as intuitive as SE:IV was.
I'm very glad that with custom layouts you can do wonderful things; but most casual and new gamers will have dropped this title before they have enough experience to do those wonderful things, the same goes for keyboard shortcuts and slider bars because if these helpers are not WELL documented, they don't exist to them.

These people are the new Fan base ( and the people who can make this game a money-maker for MM as well). Some of you core SEers may have hundreds or even thousands of posts on SE alone. And the Mods and customizing that you can do are beyond belief .. but if a game can't motivate a new group to become Fanatics like most of us here who participate in this Forum, It has failed.
I hope this game was designed for success for both groups. I was a lurker here for ages B4 I ever replied to a post and UI elegance is a key in keeping most of those people who want to DO what <INSERT TITLE> game says it can do; whether its a Space 4X, MMO's, wargame, Shooter, or even a dance-dance-music game.

Bugs are fixable (usually), but UI issues either take patience, strong familiarity with possible work-a-rounds or shortcuts, or Superb documentation. or the casual gamer moves to something else before he/she becomes a Core - player. One 'extra click' keeps SE:V from acheiving the elegance of design my fondest games usually have. Since 4X space games are my favorite, I'll BE patient, DEVELOP a strong familiarity with the UI, and READ, and re-read, and reread, and ... the manual.

I hope that some of the new and casual gamers who decide to buy this title also do so because we need to keep growing this base. And if someday there's to be a SE:XII (in true hologramic display) with all the bells and whistles all the SE:XI players have been asking for, we'll need SE:V to be (and be perceived to be) a true level up from SE:IV. I' like what it can do but is it where it needs to be, or is it still climbing those step to get there (the next Level in 4X gaming experience)