[Mark]

Hi all,

I've finally reached a point with the move to Xenko and the addition of a mod scripting API that I'm happy to push on with development of the "vertical slice", a version of the game which has fully playable Engineering and Tactical roles. This build of the game will give us a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of our game design, and we can use video and screenshots from it to seek funding.

My first goal is to finish Engineering, and to do that I need to complete the UI design for it. The first part of that is some refinements to the "Power Wheel", to make it easier to read and better incorporate the Technician slots.

That refinement is not yet complete, but I have two concepts that I'd like to get feedback on:



I have moved the Integrity/Health (green), Heat (red), and Instability (orange) bars out of the "slice", they are now floating on the black background which gives them a greater contrast. They are also slightly larger, with the Integrity bar being the largest of them.

In the top image the Technician slots floats outside of the "slice", just above the system's power node. In the bottom the slot is inside the slice, beside the system's icon.

I will probably work on better integrating the "power node" (the circle which you make power connections to) into the system's "slice", at the moment it is floating on it's own.

I'd love to get your feedback on all of this.


Thanks for reading!

Mark

[Mark]

I just had a thought, I should link to the previous version to allow for comparison: http://i.imgur.com/Q8wkdg7.png

I also snuck "Instability" in there, which is a new concept that I haven't explained.

Previously when a system's heat went over capacity the excess heat would burn away the system's Integrity. This was punishing people who pushed their ships to (and beyond) the limit, which wasn't what we wanted. Now excess heat adds to the current Instability. When a system is operated (like a weapon being fired) Instability can cause an event, like an overload, explosion, fire, or reduced performance. Many of these events will require a Technician to be assigned to the system to prevent further damage or ill effects.

The only way to remove built up Instability is to "cycle" (turn off and on) a system. When a system is turned off it's Instability starts to reduce at a set rate. The system is disabled (cannot be turned back on) until Instability hits zero.

This Instability system means that instead of being punished directly for pushing a system to the limit, you are increasing the risk of a negative/punishing event occurring.

I'll do a proper write up on Instability soon, we're still ironing out some details on it.

[BusNicke]

Hello there

I like the version:
"In the bottom the slot is inside the slice, beside the system's icon."
You can se a little bit more clearer who is assigned to what system.
I'm not fullt aware how that system is going to work? is it like in FTL so that you assign workers for different systems and they level with that system so that it is operated more efficiant?

and just wanna say.... daaaaaamn that looks good. I just want to play it now and forever.
Can't wait for more updates.

[Mark]

Hi BusNicke,

Welcome!

I was concerned that moving the Technician slot inside of the "slice" would make the UI less clear overall, but feedback (including yours) has favoured it.

Yeah Technicians work like, and was in part inspired by, the crew in FTL. You can assign a Technician to a system by dragging him/her into a slot. Once assigned the Technician will give a boost based on his/her skills, and can take actions like repairing and fire control.

Thank so much for your support.

[BusNicke]

At first glance i too thought it was alot clearer with the first one, but then when i started to understand its purpose it seemed better to have the portrait as close to the symbol of the system to really se them at the same time.

A little side note about these Technicians (Just a personal thought). It would be awesome to kind of "push" the technicians, and resolv textrelated(with multiple choices) personal problems, like stress if you push your people to hard, or inkompetense if you have replaced your worn out personal for new recruits.

Keep up your amazing work!

[Mark]

I think that's a good way of looking at the slot placement, thanks.

I love your suggestion on giving Technicians personal issues. One of our goals with Technicians is to use them to generate narrative within the game, to have them enrich the game through procedural events which the player could react to. But we never considered having events of a personal nature, or having Technician events where the event is resolved through multiple choice.

It's a little out of date, and a long read, but here is a write-up Pádraig did of our Technician plans: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fP9-Yy4EGDE1t4lrkH-EgcIyEAmNYiY9tWsaRzq-nco/edit?usp=sharing

[Grey]

Hi Love the new design for the Power Wheel. So glad to finaly see some new stuff on the forum.
Personaly I liked the portrait outsite the slice, but I could see the other option work too.

Please keep us updated.

[Mark]

Hey Grey, it's good to hear from you.

I'm really delighted to be back at a place where I can push on with the development of gameplay (instead of working on the engine). The work on the engine is very important, but it tends to take quite a while and it doesn't really give me much to post about.

I'm planning on making use of the space saved by moving the slot into the slice, I need to add visual status indicators, so I'm glad that people aren't opposed to the change.

Thanks for sticking around! Your support really means a lot to us.

[Grey]

You guys are making an awesome looking game. I will stick around until I can play it.. if it is as awesome to play as it looks, I'll stick around even longer.
Keep up the good work.

[Mark]

Thanks!

[Blaze]

"Game of Chance" or "Game of Change"? Which is it?

In the previous version, there was on option to put two technicians on a node, but now it can only be one. Why is that?

I also think that having the technician next to the node's icon looks better, but I think it should be a little smaller. The main thing is still the node, not the technician.

I like the small changes, as well, such as a higher contrast bar for shields, hull integrity and energy signature, blue operations menu icon, highlighting of the menu,

[Mark]

Hah, yeah "Game of Chance". That was a mistype on my part. It's been like that for ages, but you are the first to have spotted it.

Yeah I am quite pleased with the changes, I feel like the power wheel is pretty much where it needs to be now.

I have a new version of the UI almost ready to show. It has tweaks to the wheel and I have done a few iteration passes on the colour palette, to make it brighter in general (I feel it is too dark as it was) and to make clickable/interactive items more distinct. I have also begun building out the "Equipment Status" pane, adding performance information to it. I will post it tomorrow evening, after I finish some work on it.

Thanks man.

[Mark]

I realised I hadn't addressed your question on the second technician slot.

I felt that two Technician slots were an unnecessary complication, one slot does the job and keeps things clear.