I like it… but there are a few things I would change / add.
I managed to play a few rounds last night. So these really are just my first impressions:
Controls:
-The interface wasn’t too hard to figure out, but then again us people that apply for beta invites typically are more experienced than the average player. As such I believe you should include a basic tutorial on the overall controls for flight and targeting. I still don’t know how to target a hostile without shooting at it, or how to swap targets without first destroying my current target.
-You need to add controls for vertical thrust. My suggestion would be to perhaps go with what so many other Space Flight Games use for this: W and S. Once you have W and S for vertical, A and D for horizontal and then Q and E for roll… perhaps allow mousewheel to cycle a throttle setting… and you’re all set. This is space after all. We should have complete freedom of three dimensional flight.
-The dead zone in the mouse look turning is too large or needs to be made a variable option in the controls menu. Another way to do it is to perhaps have the dead zone be dependent upon the class of the ship. Larger on the bigger ships, as they are less agile and rely more on their turrets for aiming, and perhaps very tight on the interceptor class.
-Drift… is there any? The most basic law of motion is that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. We’re in space… where’s our drift? It may not be right for a game of this type, but those of us whom are space sim buffs come to expect it. This allows use veterans to pull off more elaborate maneuvers. I could see a decision made to keep this feature out… to make the game more user friendly to those whom aren’t veterans at space sim style combat.
Skill Trees:
-More like vines really. In short: Too linear. The skill trees are simply too linear… in appearance at least. I’m sure the development team has done some testing and I could be completely mistaken. I obviously don’t have the XP to say one way or another with any certainty if they need a change in this department.
-The ability to learn everything? Again, I obviously don’t have the XP to confirm this, but it looks as if a pilot can literally learn every skill. Would this not prove a problem? I’m indifferent to this in either case, but have you considered putting an artificial cap on just how many individual skills a player can have trained at any one time? I’m only mildly concerned about a player having every single skill and overall game balance.
Overall, if these really are the only first concerns I’ve had (after an hour of game play), then I obviously like the game. I do like the art style. Yes the hangar needs a bit of an overhaul but the basics are already in place. The weapon selection seems a bit limited… but I don’t have the XP yet to play around with the customization options / mods.
I like what I see so far… keep up the good work. And please don’t go the route of most game devs and not listen to your beta community.
Regards,
~Steve