My thoughts

from Sins Forums
I've had alot of fun playing the beta so far, the game is incredibly bug free and runs silky smooth on my modest system.
here is a list of things i feel need to be addressed:

-The camera controls need to be reversed or at least have an option to reverse them. After a couple hours of playing i had adapted to the controls with no issues but when i first started playing it seemed very counter-intuitive and would be likely to turn me off playing the game if it were a demo and i was trying the game out.

-the way the camera is focused on ships or objects needs to be adjusted, for example when i click on an object (when in focus mode with the 'm' key) and zoom in with the scroll wheel it the camera needs to lock on to the object throughout the zooming motion until i click on something else or deselect the unit. i do however like the "zooms to the point where you hold the mouse" concept when im not trying to select a unit, it allows me to zoom quickly to different points without having to select/unselect objects.

-when i highlight a unit with the mouse and that info card pops up it obscures anything under it (im running a screen resolution of 1280*1024), it would be be nice if it were further to the right hand side of the screen as even at that resolution it partially obscures objects behind it.

-i think overall the camera controls need to shift closer to that of the homeworld, in my opinion the homeworld series set the bar as far in the 3d rts space genre and people will always compare SoaSE to it.

-the scale of units compared to planets and resource asteroids needs to be adjusted. Planets don't have to be to scale but they should be a size that still gives me suspension of disbelief. when you throw the orbiting (it would be cool if they actually orbited too) resource asteroids in it feels less like im controlling a fleet of starships and orbitals around a planet and more like im playing a boardgame.

-have orbitals actually orbit around a planet. it would add some interesting strategy to the game as far as timing entry to a planets gravity well i.e. entering the gravity well while the enemy's fleet has orbited to the other side of the planet. for an example of what i mean by having orbiting objects, structures and ships check out the rts game pax imperia eminent domain. its old school (from like 1996) i think rts that is similar to the masters of orion series but in realtime.

like i said at the beginning, the game runs great on my system at full everything, no crashing bugs (though i had to reinstall the stardock software as it kept crashing on me) and game installed fine. i see alot of potential with it and it's only in its first beta, hell this game has better performance than many commercial releases.

Athlon 64 3500+
1GB pc3200
Radeon x850 xt
5,635 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
I agree about the scale of planets and orbitals, I hadn't checked that. After playing Orbiter you get used to seeing a wall of planet when you look out of the window in low Earth orbit.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
-have orbitals actually orbit around a planet. it would add some interesting strategy to the game as far as timing entry to a planets gravity well i.e. entering the gravity well while the enemy's fleet has orbited to the other side of the planet. for an example of what i mean by having orbiting objects, structures and ships check out the rts game pax imperia eminent domain. its old school (from like 1996) i think rts that is similar to the masters of orion series but in realtime.


I disagree. Doing this would make it pretty much pointless trying to use static defenses to guard a phase lane exit, among other things.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I disagree. Doing this would make it pretty much pointless trying to use static defenses to guard a phase lane exit, among other things.


Agreed. The way orbitals work for this makes sense at the moment. As far as it playing like a board game, thats what I expected and I think its awesome. GalCiv 2 plays like an intergalactic game of Risk. This game looked somewhat similar.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
-The camera controls need to be reversed or at least have an option to reverse them. After a couple hours of playing i had adapted to the controls with no issues but when i first started playing it seemed very counter-intuitive and would be likely to turn me off playing the game if it were a demo and i was trying the game out.

Yeah this should be optional. I found it natural the way it is, but lots of people seem to like it the other way around.

-the scale of units compared to planets and resource asteroids needs to be adjusted. Planets don't have to be to scale but they should be a size that still gives me suspension of disbelief. when you throw the orbiting (it would be cool if they actually orbited too) resource asteroids in it feels less like im controlling a fleet of starships and orbitals around a planet and more like im playing a boardgame.

I agree. The planets could be a bit bigger. The resource asteroids should also be a tad bigger, but not be increased quite as much as the planets. The gravity well zone around planets should also be a bit bigger IMO. Right now I think it's a bit too small of a playground for homeworld style play.


Having resources and fleets actually orbit isn't very important to me. It may even be a bad thing (I like being able to defend an exit point from phase space).
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
yeah when i think about it again it would invalidate the use of static defenses to defend a planet and blockade entry to a planet, it would probably make trying to click on the moving orbitals kinda a challenge too. well scratch that idea

other than those few things the game is amazing and i only regret that i have yet to play through it to completion
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
"the way the camera is focused on ships or objects needs to be adjusted, for example when i click on an object (when in focus mode with the 'm' key) and zoom in with the scroll wheel it the camera needs to lock on to the object throughout the zooming motion until i click on something else or deselect the unit. i do however like the "zooms to the point where you hold the mouse" concept when im not trying to select a unit, it allows me to zoom quickly to different points without having to select/unselect objects."


Completely and totally agree with this statement. Very well written.

For a beta1 - I'd say things are looking really good.

Great job Ironclad/Stardock.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Camera options are forthcoming, they just didn't make the beta. The sizes of planets and asteroids were scaled back for gameplay reasons. Defense placement and the time to travel around the object being only a couple of the factors. We'll continue to evaluate their size based on everyone's feedback. Kryo accurately described why having orbital movement was removed. Thanks for the detailed comments

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
A thought on my part, maybe its just me but do units seem a bit dumb on pathfinding the shortest way to a destination IE. 'im going to the repair station, but i wont take the path through the group of asteroids im going to go all the way around them'
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
I would like to get everyone's feedback on both camera options - attached and strafe-enabled mode. Click on the camera (or lock) button beside the menu button at the top center. Thanks!
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
I would like to get everyone's feedback on both camera options - attached and strafe-enabled mode. Click on the camera (or lock) button beside the menu button at the top center. Thanks!


I like the attach camera its very good to follow the action a little closer, as for the strafe camer, its a little hard to keep up with units when your zoomed out even just a little bit.

Also a question is there any plans for a more cenimatic camera such as Empire at War, hiding the UI and just watching the camera fly through the battle.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
Yes, absolutely! Just go to Menu > Options > User Interface > Cinematic Camera. At one point we had this in-game, but we decided to take it out to clean up the UI. If there is sufficient demand we may consider bringing it back. In the meantime you can use Ctrl+Shift+Z to hide the UI. Enjoy!
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
Yes, absolutely! Just go to Menu > Options > User Interface > Cinematic Camera. At one point we had this in-game, but we decided to take it out to clean up the UI. If there is sufficient demand we may consider bringing it back. In the meantime you can use Ctrl+Shift+Z to hide the UI. Enjoy!


Will asking for it many times suffice?    
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

I would like to get everyone's feedback on both camera options - attached and strafe-enabled mode. Click on the camera (or lock) button beside the menu button at the top center. Thanks!


I personally got thrown for a loop the way rotating works in strafe mode. I can't quite place my finger on what it is exactly that's wrong, though. It just feels...off. Like the rotating pivot point should be further away from the camera, so you actually rotate around something. The current method just gives me the impression that everything is spinning.

The zoom follows mouse pointer in strafe mode is...offsetting. I find some times it's incredibly handy, other times exactly the opposite. In the long run, I think there should be a key (control, alt, etc) you could hold down to toggle its behavior, as well as a way to set the default in your options.

I'd also second the option to reverse rotation.

I would really like to see a 'drag' mode to the camera. (say...middleclick) Basically, something that allows you to 'grab' the solar plane, and pull the camera closer to it. So you can move the camera in either direction, without having to move the mouse all the way to the edge of the screen. It also allows a bit more granular movement. I think this is a relatively common feature in some other RTS's, but let me know if you need a better description.

I would kill for a hybrid mode between strafe and follow cameras. Something where I can strafe around at will, find something I like, and double click it to go into follow mode. Then break free by scrolling via the edge of the window, or double clicking empty space. I think this is the overall way I'd want the camera to work.


--LordPixie