Post by kate on Apr 15, 2014 11:35:47 GMT -5
Hi,
I am new here and just got the Star Traders game. I am a web designer with an emphasis on graphics so I think a lot about user interface issues and retaining an audience. I have had a lot of fun playing it but I think it could really reach a bigger audience and be more addictive if a few things about the user interface were changed. If the appeal of the game is the old school text driven feel of it then some of these are irrelevant. Obviously the designers have put a ton of effort into it and created an amazing world (Thank You!). I think that the complexity and coolness of the game could be more apparent though.
Here are the biggies:
In general more graphics
- I love the descriptions of the outposts that are landed on but it would be great to actually see the seediness or prosperity that is described. It would also make it easy to grasp the feel of the place with no eye strain. I find I have to take a break from the game every couple of hours because its so much reading, for me its just not emmersive enough. By emmersive I mean like Civilization which I can play for hours on end without looking at the clock.
- The same thing could be done with the palace, star dock, spice hall, and exchange - it would really give people of a feeling of the diversity that I think you are trying to capture (think "Out There" style graphics with "Star Trader" complexity) - even the wild could have different plants, animals, etc. to look at or ancient cities or crash sites
- to start with things like stardock sections (i.e. engine repair) could be generic but they could also be eventually "personalized" for each planet
- I know its cheesy but allowing folks to construct their own character's look seems to draw in audiences/users as well you know with the hair, eye, clothing colors, etc. - of course when you repeatedly loose body parts on explorations you could make them into scars or have folks that loose parts get cyborg limbs or eyes etc.
- more diversity in the look of potential officers
- create large views of the ships
- I won't append sketches since I don't even know if this is welcome yet but just the ideas have my creative juices flowing
Smaller things but still important:
- make it easier to shop for and compare ships - as it is now you have to click on each one and sometimes write down the stats to compare them - why not let users sort them by their stats and give a ranked list - so you could sort by say size of cargo hold and crew size - it would be simple to just add them together - then have the ships available at that post highlighted or just show the ships available at that post - kind of like the updates to the ship where you can see them all or just the ones that are available
- on the map when you look at a planet/outpost it should not just tell you how far away it is not just the coordinates and the affiliation - it would be great to have the flag of the syndicate or house in the background here again to get info across fast without as much reading - you could do this on the popup navigation in the map too
- create a better tutorial system to ease users into the game - Newbies like me get confused - I would have it done by the first mate with popups
Details
- what does the ship button on the map waypoint map do??
Possibilites:
- make the map a limited one at first so you discover more detail about it as you go (part of what hooks users is discovering new things all the time)
I could probably go on but I won't now because I have to run errands.
Thanks for listening. Sometimes I just have to get new ideas out. I would love to have feedback.
Kate
P.S. sorry for the stream of conciousness writing it could definitely be more organized
I am new here and just got the Star Traders game. I am a web designer with an emphasis on graphics so I think a lot about user interface issues and retaining an audience. I have had a lot of fun playing it but I think it could really reach a bigger audience and be more addictive if a few things about the user interface were changed. If the appeal of the game is the old school text driven feel of it then some of these are irrelevant. Obviously the designers have put a ton of effort into it and created an amazing world (Thank You!). I think that the complexity and coolness of the game could be more apparent though.
Here are the biggies:
In general more graphics
- I love the descriptions of the outposts that are landed on but it would be great to actually see the seediness or prosperity that is described. It would also make it easy to grasp the feel of the place with no eye strain. I find I have to take a break from the game every couple of hours because its so much reading, for me its just not emmersive enough. By emmersive I mean like Civilization which I can play for hours on end without looking at the clock.
- The same thing could be done with the palace, star dock, spice hall, and exchange - it would really give people of a feeling of the diversity that I think you are trying to capture (think "Out There" style graphics with "Star Trader" complexity) - even the wild could have different plants, animals, etc. to look at or ancient cities or crash sites
- to start with things like stardock sections (i.e. engine repair) could be generic but they could also be eventually "personalized" for each planet
- I know its cheesy but allowing folks to construct their own character's look seems to draw in audiences/users as well you know with the hair, eye, clothing colors, etc. - of course when you repeatedly loose body parts on explorations you could make them into scars or have folks that loose parts get cyborg limbs or eyes etc.
- more diversity in the look of potential officers
- create large views of the ships
- I won't append sketches since I don't even know if this is welcome yet but just the ideas have my creative juices flowing
Smaller things but still important:
- make it easier to shop for and compare ships - as it is now you have to click on each one and sometimes write down the stats to compare them - why not let users sort them by their stats and give a ranked list - so you could sort by say size of cargo hold and crew size - it would be simple to just add them together - then have the ships available at that post highlighted or just show the ships available at that post - kind of like the updates to the ship where you can see them all or just the ones that are available
- on the map when you look at a planet/outpost it should not just tell you how far away it is not just the coordinates and the affiliation - it would be great to have the flag of the syndicate or house in the background here again to get info across fast without as much reading - you could do this on the popup navigation in the map too
- create a better tutorial system to ease users into the game - Newbies like me get confused - I would have it done by the first mate with popups
Details
- what does the ship button on the map waypoint map do??
Possibilites:
- make the map a limited one at first so you discover more detail about it as you go (part of what hooks users is discovering new things all the time)
I could probably go on but I won't now because I have to run errands.
Thanks for listening. Sometimes I just have to get new ideas out. I would love to have feedback.
Kate
P.S. sorry for the stream of conciousness writing it could definitely be more organized
