Feedback, with some small suggestions

[Razorjack]

First off,

 

THANK YOU, i already wrote on steam that this is the game i basically always dreamed of. Second, im seriously stunned what you achieved by only yourself and/or that small team.

 

Third: Some Feedback

 

Great all in all game mechanics, very intuitive in game controls, the builder is pretty much self explanatory, very powerful and just sooooooo creative!!!..most of the games alike or in the range of the same theme (Space engineers i think is an example) start off imo a little too complex.

good replayability, though timeconsuming (especially when you have to build that design thats in your mind RIGHT NOW ;) ;D), but still very playable just for 1-2 hours daily...not at all a game where you have to think "will i be able to be that much online?" before you purchase it..i love that about avorion..i hope you keep it that way. Also a big plus imo are the sys requirements...you dont need those high end gamer pcs for 2 full monthly loans for avorion!!! also A thing i hope you keep at least in some manner (i understand that nicer graphics are important to alot of young folks today). Actually thanks again that there is a SP mode, i dont mind playing online, but most of the time im using avorion as a cooldown from work and i love that i have the option to just chill, build, do stuff and dont have to be stressed about other players killing me etc!

 

Some deeper thoughts: (this is ONLY SP experience 200hours +)

 

# as said above, love the build mode, love that it features a creation mode, ship and template sharing (btw templates are fucking awesome!!) one small point: i dont know how its possible but sometimes i wish i could place blocks diagonally (i.e. place a square hull on the diagonal surface of an edge)

 

#weapons: nice variety, cool looks, already pretty balanced considering the overall stage of the game. Some of the things i dearly miss are already in progress or planned (changing turret looks/size) BUT..

 

imo: Chainguns: good jack of all trades

        Bolter: jack of all trades but hit a bit harder

        Laser: *love*, good jack of all trades

        Cannons: never found/researched or produced something that was really punching it and justified their slot takeup. their huge

                                range  make them imo pointless, because without a zoom option even manually you miss half the time above 20km

                                range..id love to see their dmg buffed and range cut (getting them into some kind of shotgun role)

        Railgun: late game viable option, the only one in my opinion..though its a bit the same "zoom/target reticle" problematic as with

                                cannons, but independent ones almost hit like their accuracy describes them ingame.

        Tesla: never found/researched/produced one that would justify their use, pretty obselete imo, good as a selling/making money

                              thing

        Lightning: same as tesla

      Force: same as Tesla and lightning

        Repair: kind of obsolete in SP, my fleet ships are built to def themselves properly ;)

      PDC: wonderful addition, although they may be a bit tooooo good in Torp defence :D, but that may be an issue of my  difficulty

                        setting  (normal)

        Launchers:...WELL...launchers...id love to make a missile cruiser, but in fact im sadly better off with other weapons. IMO the

                                  rocket travel speed is way too slow. unless your ship is "missile only", enemies die faster from the ships laser, chain or

                                  railguns..often missiles are just fired for nothing and travel for millions of years into the depths of space^^

        Torpedos: love the mechanics, love the idea, they sound/look good, building launcher tubes for em is fun, BUT, at the current rate

                                theyre getting PDCed by the AI AND regarding their price, more a money sink..again..mowing down pirates at 10k with

                                lasers is much more efficient..STYLE WEAPON!!!  8) 

        Fighters jeez i have fighters everywhere...Love em..LOVE it to design and build my own fighters.. need a very good turret to

                                efficiently deal damage in the same area your big ship does (when im ready to use a red or purple weapon for a fighter i

                                have mostly 20k or more omicron and again, kill 5 ships in the time 36 fighters take out one! they DESPERATLY need a

                                function to keep on killing after the first attack order, otherwise the micro management is tooo heavy if youre in a

                                dreadnought with 0,09 yaw/pitch^^

                                Mining and SAlvaging drones completely replaced mining turrets imo. i only have mining carriers now..i like it...some

                                may not. (letting sectors be mined while you do other stuff is GLORIOUS!! )

 

Stations, Economy, Trading

 

Good things and bad alike, station building is fun, prices are okish if you have 50 million and dont know what you want to spend your credits on. the time and credits required until youve set up chains and your investment returns is...well...out of space unless youre a dedicated trader.

Trading was never my thing but i guess ppl like it..at least some. prices, the trading system upgrade..all good imo. Most of the time killing pirates, selling stuff, missioning and mining gives you enough recources to build ships and pay shit and i LOVE that..so many space games rely on the player to HAVE to trade...i love the freedom youre giving us..KEEP that ;)

i absolutely HATE the cargo permitions..its ok if you want to be a smuggler..i.e Stolen cargo/suspicios..but i hate it everytime i have to search one for dangerous cargo, because i JUST managed to find rockets or warheads, just to get them taken away and being fined, just because i couldnt get a license in time (sometimes youre just unlucky and cant find a trading post in time, or you have to straighten relations first...both imo a hinderance in fluid gameplay) Solutions: turret materials are not dangerous anymore OR if an AI destroyer hails me and wants to fine me, give me options to comply, refuse, AND buy a license for an increased price, for example 250k)

 

Stuff i dream about:

 

#Self jumping fleet ships (you give them the order to jump to system x and sell their goods and come back) and fleet warp (works already, but to build and equip every ship to have same jump ranges and a kind of same cooldown is a bit of a hassle).

 

#more boss events and spawns like the A.I...im fine with the rest (the four, botan etc). i just wish there would be more random dangerous and rewarding encounters.

 

# weapon like a particle beam: like a mix between laser and railgun..firing a "thicker" beam, but just for 1 or two seconds before the "fire rate" ticker comes in..(auf deutsch gehts besser^^...ich meine damit das das feuern eine gewisse zeit dauert damit es wirkt wie ein schuss aber eben ein beam bleibt..) Has a very high energy demand, fires a bit more often than railguns, has a huge slot demand (i think of it as a "main" battery where you have just 1-3 on your ship) and does medium to high damage. perfect broadsider

 

# torp blueprint and on ship prodution

 

#more engine trails, nothing too fancy but atm theyre really tiny (eve online does it good), also a more effective way to change its colour (holos and glows work imo just "meh")

 

# REAL DOCKING SHIPS...just think of it...you have this huge dreadnought but theres this asteroid field with 3 claimables...hop in your shuttle and get em without crippling your main ship with crashes..or a splitable ship like the Star trek prometheus.

 

#a diplomacy UI.. where you can get more interaction with factions youre in good relations (request combat assistance, ask for a trade convoy) or bad (bribe them to straighten relations, intimidate to give you stuff, provoke them into a fight or). maybe even to manipulate factions towards each other or work together.

 

Thats enough now, i didnt really plan to get it this big, so sry if this may even has to be in the suggestions forum^^

 

 

BIG THANKS TO THE DEVS FOR MAKING AN AWESOME GAME, I HOPE YOU KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

 

 

[Perq]

Chainguns, bolters and lasers are actually pretty bad late-game wise. :V

 

They hit wimpy-soft. :( TBH I can never justify having lasers given their low range and quite low damage.

 

Tesla/Lightning obliterate shields. Looking at their DPS will not give you a good idea on how fast because the DPS tooltip ignores their increased damage on shields.

 

Cannons/Railguns share the tooltip DPS problem with tesla. The point is - they do AoE damage. They can hit more than one block at once, meaning they do far more damage (but not always). Tooltip DPS chaingun is unlikely to do the same damage as same tooltip DPS cannon (minus the overheating, which is not calculated properly in the tooltip).

 

Some of my Xanion cannons can hit for 20k with one burst, when they're hitting hull.

 

As for trouble with aiming - I prefer my cannons to have auto-aim. With that they can quite easily snipe down targets at 20km range, given I'm not moving and the target is not changing their flight direction too much. Cannons are actually pretty damn accurate. :P

[LughC]

one way I know the guns in this game are pretty well balanced is how many people say rails/cannons are useless/bad and how many people say anything other than lasers/bolters are bad. shows the guns are pretty balanced and playstyle/ship design play a bigger role than x gun is always better.

 

for me I love the repair guns. though they are kinda crap considering if you turn it into a fighter there is no penalty so you can turn one really strong rep into 120 with practically infinite range