Hey guys,
I'm sorry if my suggestion is there somewhere, but I couldn't find it with some simple searches so just to be sure, I post it here. :)
Could it be possible to remake builder in a way to use a 3-step-selection mode for shapes, materials and block tpyes?
... and get rid of the "building inventory" all together, as it is very hard to use effectively now, in my opinion. :)
Here is how I imagine it would work:
1) First you select one from list of shapes
2) Then you select one from a list of materials
3) Then if you want you can select the special block type
All 3 should have a default at first, like: 1) Cube, 2) Iron 3) Windowed hull
The first would be the most commonly used one, because when you build a ship, you usually use one material but many different shapes.
This could save a lot of space for the UI, because if you have chosen your material and block type, you can close those parts (minimize it or something) then you have more space on your screen to build with only the shapes list opened.
My goal here is that be able to easily swap between shapes on a simple UI that doesn't cover much on the screen. So it should be something with 1-2 rows on the top or bottom of the screen with a thin and wide "hide" button under each row or something.
- The shape list should show the shapes with that green, semi-transparent method you use in the builder now with the edges highlighted.
- To choose the material a simple, color-coded list with the names is enough I think.
- After choosing a material the special blocks should be colored to match the choosen material, as you already have these in the building inventory.
Now the most important part: Weapons
I imagine it as a simple, color-coded list with their names that can be filtered and sorted:
Color-coding is always by Rarity.
Filters are:
- Material
- Rarity
- Type
- Civil or Armed type
Sorting are:
- Damage (dps)
- Damage (single hit)
- Efficiency (salvager/miner)
- Range
- Rarity
When you hover over anything in a list with your mouse, you can see the tooltip of that block/weapon to further examine what will it do when you equip it.
On another note I would make the "stat list" part in the builder hideable as well, so when you are building something that you wanna make to look cool, not just be useful, then you would have more screen space.
I know these are not the main focus for you guys, I just wanted to share these, maybe you can get some ideas out of it so you can make the game better. :)
Thank you for reading,
-Ravic.