Most annoying UX problems and quick fix proposals

[TsunamiFM]

I've played for a few days now, and really liked the game (and I am old space-sim fan ;]), but there are a few annoying UX problems I've encountered that are taking lot of fun away for me. I am listing them below, with quick fix proposals.

 

#1 No information about selected turret in in Building Mode

Use case: replacing weakest turret, when 5 or more with the same look are mounted to the ship. Currently it's very hard to identify right one and replace it. Multiple tries, then finding it again in inventory full of other turrets - can be a real nightmare.

FIX: display information about selected turret in Building Mode. Could be something alike hover window we have in Ship Menu, Ship tab.

 

#2 Ship turning when leaving Building Mode

Very annoying, often leads to collisions with stations.

FIX: Camera should get back to old position player had when entering the Building Mode - ship wouldn't turn, then.

 

#3 Building Mode favorite blocks (10 icons on the bottom) not remembered

Every time I start the game I have to setup it again. And when client crashes so often in Building Mode it can be really enraging.

FIX: remember player-selected blocks in Building Mode.

 

#4 No sorting in Building Inventory

Looking for biggest gun in Building Mode is currently pretty painful, when you have like 100 or more turrets in inventory (which will happen time to time, if you fight here and there).

FIX: add sorting to Building Inventory. Could be the same we already have in Player Menu, Inventory tab.

 

#5 No filtering in Building Inventory

It should be possible to quickly find only those items I am interested in, for example only Mining Turrets made of Xanion.

FIX: add filtering to Building Inventory, at least by item type and material.

 

o7

[koonschi]

I basically agree with each one of those. #1 will be in the next patch.

[h0yer]

A few additions to your ideas:

 

An option in the setting menu where one could set camera behaviour.

 

Snap view to last viewing angle, snap view to dead ahead, maybe even as an addition to the F2 and CTRL/STRG freelook mode.

 

The freelook mode could use a toggle function, maybe even some combined stuff, like tapping the key shortly will toggle, while holding it will do what it already does.

 

And maybe certain keys for aligning the camera to the velocity vector or aligning the velocity vector to your current view, while in freelook mode.

 

I like the HUD display of overheated turrets and the highlighting when selecting groups and selecting their mode, I think a similar mechanic could be used to highlight turrets one hovers over with the mouse in the 'P' menu, and vice versa, hovering over a mounted turret in build mode could highlight it in the overview, when having it open.

 

Peace