I have openly questioned your honesty, and for that, I sincerely apologize.
I don't want you to feel this will cut at your work, but as I have already sung your praises elsewhere and continue to do so, I will keep this post to constructive criticism.
My strongest impression from the video... good god man, go get some sleep, you re-recorded it over and over, and you still sound absolutely exhausted the entire time. whatever your solution is, I hope it allows you to sleep more.
My second strongest impression, still avoiding multiple systems in the videos.
My third strongest impression, The warp rails look only vaguely what I expected. To be honest, I'm not keen on the "magical" energy orb look, and think a fancy space-toaster would be more appropriate. However, that is just aesthetics speaking, the best option would be to have both and more, and let it vary by region/tech tree specifics. Perhaps magic-orb warpnodes are faster while space-toaster warpnodes can have a greater distance between them, and pseudoasteroid warpnodes are easier to hide, etc.
An additional thought on warp rails, I think that they should exert at least a small force on all ships along their pathway, pushing ships slowly away from the rail to keep the area clear. Lane allocation is great, but that wont stop you from hitting a barge that's sitting in the way. And as a similar suggestion, something has to be done about asteroids on the rails too.
For ship and station design, your "Creatures of the Deep" inspiration is showing. I like it. However, the texturing still bothers me, the black and white, all metal, overlapping rectangles makes all the ships look incredibly samey. I have noted this before, but since rapid generation is so easy for you now, it's worth mentioning again. I would really like to see some hexagons and circles and large solids mixed in with those rectangles. Additionally, I think you really ought to try tweaking some of the materials, could we get some matte ceramics and plastics and some windows? Again, purely aesthetic touches, that don't deserve too much time just yet, but if things are so quick, an hour or 3 wouldn't hurt.
The lighting created by weapons and beams and such should probably have a greater falloff too, I was seeing a distant flickering numerous times, and it took me a while to realize what was causing it, as it looked like a graphical glitch at first.
Finally, I disagree with the return to the more traditional boxy UI windows as shown in your market interface... But, I can live with it.
Post
Sat Dec 13, 2014 11:41 pm
#16
Re: Development Update #21
Challenging your assumptions is good for your health, good for your business, and good for your future. Stay skeptical but never undervalue the importance of a new and unfamiliar perspective.
Imagination Fertilizer
Beauty may not save the world, but it's the only thing that can
Imagination Fertilizer
Beauty may not save the world, but it's the only thing that can