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Various Observations


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#1 Tarogato

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Posted 28 August 2015 - 11:30 AM

I haven't been able to download the PTS, but I've been watching some community recordings of the tutorial sequence so I figured I'd note some of my observations. I'll be linking to exact timestamp examples from community recorded runs.
  • Dropship sounds don't always persist on the drop sequence example
  • Dropship glitches on camera changes, example
  • Why do I hear gauss? Also, the mech animation looks kinda messy (weird bounce) and the sound effects of it colliding with the ground aren't lined up properly example.... another example
  • More details on that animation: here's a GIF somebody made. It might take a second to load. You can see that the arms clip at the elbows, the knees clip with the torso, the mech falls (clips) below the ground and bounces back up quickly, and the mechanic on the right keeps walking in real time even though time was supposed to be slowed down. This all needs cleaning up because it just looks messy and broke immersion for a brief second.
  • Augmented Training HUD in my opinion should be be slightly more opaque - it seems to bleed into the background a little too easily and can be hard to read
  • "Here you've got buttons for game settings..." where? They're tucked away in a corner and I didn't notice them at first. Perhaps flash them quickly to bring attention to them, otherwise it's not clear what Adams is talking about. example
  • The Field Manual is nice, but it throws WAYYYY too much information at the player at once. It's a good "field manual", it's a good "reference", but it's not good for a tutorial. I feel like a proper tutorial should talk more specifically about individual components of each section of the HUD - divide things into more digestible chunks and perhaps, at first, present it linearly. Otherwise the new player gets completely overwhelmed by all this information at first thinking he has to remember it all.
  • While viewing the Field Manual, Adams says to "Hit ESC again to get back in control...". A new player might hit ESC now before exploring the rest of the HUD elements. Adams should wait to say this until the player has finished learning all the HUD elements, or else he should say "Hit ESC at any time..." instead.
  • Music is very nice throughout. I like the choice here. HUD sound effects are also very nice and not irritating or repetitive despite being frequently triggered.
  • Not enough physical space to complete the Basic Controls section - I feel like the new player should be encouraged to walk around more and explore the WASD controls if he wishes before moving on. HUD elements appear and disappear faster than they can be read: example
  • Adams bothers you to press R if you shoot mechs before even targeting them. THIS IS GREAT, THANK YOU!!!!
  • Adams' narration doesn't line up with the animation on screen - this is confusing: example Also, the gold looks more like a green, no?
  • Some mechs might glitch/rotate when destroyed: example
  • If you friendly fire in Basic Targeting, mechs will shoot you after you respawn. example
  • In Basic Targeting, there's no mention of XL engines, neither Clan or IS. Will this come in a later installment? I think it should be mentioned.
  • Basic Targeting only lets you shoot 5 enemies before dragging away. You can see there's more targets to choose from: here. New players want to start shooting things, and the practice would always be nice. Let them wander around and find more targets to shoot before forcibly dragging them away and to the next objective.
  • "Stand here to change the time of day" ... stand where? It's not really clear. Maybe add a yellow light beacon? example Also, time passes very slowly, so it takes a while to see the changes. Maybe it should be 10 to 15% faster?
  • Didn't seem clear at first you could jump into other mechs. Maybe Adams should say a quick line about it. (also, missing HUD bug when you switch mechs)
  • Destroying turrets is really loud and outrageous. example They're just turrets, it shouldn't be that obnoxious.
  • example: It wasn't clear that we were moving on to a "Round 2" and what's the difference between the rounds? It's not clear, they all seem to be the same. If the difference is turret health, then there should be a bigger difference. Otherwise I think the placement of the turrets should vary. Also, it's not clear how to exit the challenge if you don't want to continue. Perhaps Adams should mention that it's an option: "You can press ESC at anytime and cancel an event."
  • "Disabled for 9.000000000000 seconds" why the gratuitous decimal point? :P
That's all I've got for now. Thanks to the folks who've uploaded videos of this, esp. Kanajashi who did a full run-through. Tutorial looks great so far - most of this is nit-picking. With some bugs ironed out, it'll be perfect. Great work at PGI!

Edited by Tarogato, 28 August 2015 - 12:21 PM.






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