Things in the game that seem strange to me

[paulahb]

1. HARD START
When I started the game I thought I followed the instructions and it took me to get a job to deliver a package to somewhere. On

the way I was attacked by a man and his dog. They were reasonably easy to dispatch. The game told me to avoid downtown so I made

sure that I didn't go there and the taxi delivered me straight to the door for the delivery. I completed the mission and then I

was attacked by 2 drones and a bunch of guards with automatic weapons. I died. From then on every combat was just a matter of me

being wiped until I gradually became powerful enough to brute force my way through them.

I wonder whether the cause of the rapid difficuly change was becuase I chose to accept a mission in the wrong district. If this

is the case then I think that there should be some more warnings to new players about which districts to accept missions in.

Also there was no option but to accept the mission as there were no other missions that could be accepted so even if I did want

to avoid it then that would mean that I would have not done anything.


2. MARS HATES ITS DIRECTORS
I have been playing for a little while and I filled the rep bar green for Mars but when I was walking around MARS territory I was told that some men were intent on reaching me when I confronted them it turned out to be some drones and mars corporate soliers. Why are these guys attacking me when I am a "Zone Director" of MARS?


3. WEAPON POWER
I am not sure if this is intentional but I have found that the most powerful weapons are the melee weapons and in fact the taser glove is extremely powerful because of the huge number of attackes that you can make. My character can currently make 12 attacks if neccessary. But compare this to the heavy weapons weapons that can't do as much damage in a round. I realise that they are supposed to have superior penetration but this doesn't seem to have a significant effect in game.


4. GOOD CONTACT ON STREETS
I read that I can get v-cards by people contacting me on the street but the only things that I have ever seen happen are an encounter, being sniped, or someone giving me money because they are afraid of me.


5. ANNOYING NAVIGATION
When I use the onscreen dpad I find that it is annoying that sometimes it doesn't know how to get there because of the walls.

Also maybe it would be better if the dpad showed the multiple ways that you can go out of a region based on wall separation. ie there may be three was to go out the southern exit and only on will give you access to the area that you want in the region. If regions are walled off from each other then I woudl like to see the wall represented in both maps to save me from accidentally going into the region on the wrong side of the wall.


6. UNNECESSARY TAPPING
There seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary tapping when the next tap is the only option anyway. (I am getting finger cramp)
EG:
a) when navigating on the map I have to tap twice. Why? Nothing happens when I click once so why not make 1 tape take you there? Not only that but when my character gets there I have to tap on the door. Why not open the door for me. Three taps could be replaced with one.
b) when ordering a taxi I have to connect to a taxi driver then tap "I need a ride" then navigate to the mission location (several taps) and then tap twice on the place that I want to go to. Instead of this if there could be a second option on the taxi driver v-card "Take me to Mission Location" then several taps could be replaced with one.


7. CANT SEE WHERE I NEED TO GO WHEN ORDERING A TAXI
When I have a mission that want to take a taxi to I have to memorise the relative location of the job compared to where I am now so I can tell the taxi how to get there. If I forget or I am unsure then I have to tap all the way out to confirm and then go all the way back in again. If there was a button to automatically drive me to mission location then this would not be necessary.


8. GATHERING INFORMATION
this might be too hard but I would like it if when I visit a place that the information is remembered by my character. eg. I remember that I could buy a nano-medkit but I can't remember where I got it from. I would like to be able to look at my characters database to look up equipment that he has seen in shops to be able to go back and buy it. Maybe there could be variability of availability for some items making them harder to find. for now I am using and updating the online spreadsheet docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj5-txFmNCWgdHFpVHdKUjZ0SURtTWpNdmZSdk9MeUE#gid=0

I think that is enough for now

Paul

[grävling]

Aug 29, 2012 20:38:26 GMT -5 paulahb said:

1. HARD START
...

I wonder whether the cause of the rapid difficuly change was becuase I chose to accept a mission in the wrong district. If this is the case then I think that there should be some more warnings to new players about which districts to accept missions in.

Yes, your problem was that you didn'r realise that you are weak and helpless at
the start of the game. At the start you should be only taking missions in LosV,
Streets and Fennian territory.

But see also this thread:

startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ckrpgtalk&action=display&thread=2570

So it is more accurate to say that after day 1, you shouldn't leave ganger land until you
are way more skilled than you are at the start of the game.

Also there was no option but to accept the mission as there were no other missions that could be accepted so even if I did want
to avoid it then that would mean that I would have not done anything.

You can accept missions and then cancel them for a small loss in rep. But you are generally better off just getting a different job from one of the other connectors.

MARS HATES

There are plans to fix this in the future.

3. WEAPON POWER
I am not sure if this is intentional but I have found that the most powerful weapons are the melee weapons and in fact the taser glove is extremely powerful because of the huge number of attackes that you can make. My character can currently make 12 attacks if neccessary. But compare this to the heavy weapons weapons that can't do as much damage in a round. I realise that they are supposed to have superior penetration but this doesn't seem to have a significant effect in game.

Yes, the Taser glove is still the best weapon in the game.

It has good penetration, as well, of 5.

Armour manufacturers in the NBZ have been specialising more in protecting from bullets, rather than in doing the same for mental damage. And that is why the taser glove is so effective -- apart from those grey drones, everything in the NBZ has either the same amount of mental points as physical ones, or signficantly more physical points than mental ones. And the taser glove does mental damage.

4. GOOD CONTACT ON STREETS
I read that I can get v-cards by people contacting me on the street but the only things that I have ever seen happen are an encounter, being sniped, or someone giving me money because they are afraid of me.

That's odd. I've found the 'you see three enforcers terrorizing an innocent' encounters to be the most fruitful source of v-chips.

5. ANNOYING NAVIGATION
When I use the onscreen dpad I find that it is annoying that sometimes it doesn't know how to get there because of the walls.

It's not because of the walls. Cory is working on this.

...

6. UNNECESSARY TAPPING
There seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary tapping when the next tap is the only option anyway. (I am getting finger cramp)
EG:
a) when navigating on the map I have to tap twice. Why? Nothing happens when I click once so why not make 1 tape take you there? Not only that but when my character gets there I have to tap on the door. Why not open the door for me. Three taps could be replaced with one.

I don't understand this. Single tapping on the map is working for me, indeed sometimes
when I wish I wouldn't as I am standing on the tram and don't really mean to make a tap.

b) when ordering a taxi I have to connect to a taxi driver then tap 'I need a ride' then navigate to the mission location (several taps) and then tap twice on the place that I want to go to. Instead of this if there could be a second option on the taxi driver v-card "Take me to Mission Location" then several taps could be replaced with one.

You obviously haven't discovered the joys of a multiple job holding computer.

7. CANT SEE WHERE I NEED TO GO WHEN ORDERING A TAXI
When I have a mission that want to take a taxi to I have to memorise the relative location of the job compared to where I am now so I can tell the taxi how to get there. If I forget or I am unsure then I have to tap all the way out to confirm and then go all the way back in again. If there was a button to automatically drive me to mission location then this would not be necessary.

If the taxi knows about the location you are interested in, then it will show up in Bold on
the taxi map screen. But he might not. As part of the general decay of the NBZ, the map database is not being updated as frequently as it ought to, and certain locations (Fennian HQ) have never been published on the public database anyway.

8. GATHERING INFORMATION
this might be too hard but I would like it if when I visit a place that the information is remembered by my character. eg. I remember that I could buy a nano-medkit but I can't remember where I got it from. I would like to be able to look at my characters database to look up equipment that he has seen in shops to be able to go back and buy it. Maybe there could be variability of availability for some items making them harder to find. for now I am using and updating the online spreadsheet docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aj5-txFmNCWgdHFpVHdKUjZ0SURtTWpNdmZSdk9MeUE#gid=0

There are plans to make your computer more useful, but I don't know if the plans include making it as useful as all that.

Thanks for writing and welcome to the forums.

ps what difficulty level are you playing?

[paulahb]

Yes, your problem was that you didn't realize that you are weak and helpless at
the start of the game. At the start you should be only taking missions in LosV,
Streets and Fennian territory.

yeah, in hindsight I can see this. I think it would be a good idea if the game held your hand more in this regard at the start. I can imagine many people putting the game down because it is just too hard with no obvious reason. Depending on your stats maybe the NPC could say something like "Whoa don't you think that you are getting yourself in too deep with this, are you sure that you want to do this job?". Just a thought.

You can accept missions and then cancel them for a small loss in rep. But you are generally better off just getting a different job from one of the other connectors.

There is plans to fix this in the future.

This is a good tip to work around a problem in the game but I Think it would be nicer if the connector offered a list of jobs ranging from safe to dangerous that you could choose from.

Yes, the Taser glove is still the best weapon in the game.

Armour manufacturers in the NBZ have been specialising more in protecting from bullets, rather than in doing mental damage. And that is why the taser glove is so effective -- apart from those grey drones, everything in the NBZ has either the same amount of mental points as physical ones, or signficantly more physical points than mental ones.

Maybe the problem is enhanced by making it so easy to get into melee and the AI pushes the enemies very close to melee before shooting hteir weapons

That's odd. I've found the 'you see three enforcers terrorizing an innocent' encounters to be the most fruitful source of v-chips.

I almost never intercept these as I didn't think that is what the manual was referring to. I thought that he enforcers were the local police and I didn't see the need to annoy them. I think that I also noticed that if I interfere in a region that I have good rep in then it starts a fight. where as I would have thought that my rep would mean that I would be able to convince the enforcers to leave them alone without a fight.

I will have to start kicking some enforcer cyberbut

I don't understand this. Single tapping on the map is working for me, indeed sometimes when I wish I wouldn't as I am standing on the tram and don't really mean to make a tap.

sorry I wasn't clear. I mean when you are in the "tap for map" map and when you click on a business to go to on the right hand side.

You obviously haven't discovered the joys of a multiple job holding computer.

If the taxi knows about the location you are interested in, then it will show up in Bold on the taxi map screen. But he might not. As part of the general decay of the NBZ, the map database is not being updated as frequently as it ought to, and certain locations (Fennian HQ) have never been published on the public database anyway.

you are right, I have not purchased a multiple job computer yet

I know what you mean about the location not showing up on in the region but for it to even have a chance I must browse to the the correct region first and that is the step that I am finding unnecessary long. If the taxi driver doesn't know where the particular building is then he could just deliver you to the data terminal on the map.

ps what difficulty level are you playing?

easy

Thanks for your response. I appreciate your help and i hope that I will be able to contribute some useful ideas when I get up to speed

Paul

[grävling]

But if you have 3 active missions, and you think that now would be a great time to buy some nicer armor, plus your stim collection is getting low -- how is Benni the Taxi Driver supposed to know where you want to go?

There is a relatively inexpensive 3 job computer for sale at Mars Importers in Charlesbank,
and a quite reasonable 2 job one sold at Bay Bay Importers in Old Kenmore, or the S-Mart in Old Church or Fairlight Outfitters in the West End (and maybe some other places I forget). I suggest you purchase one of them and see how it goes.

[fallen]

paulahb - thanks for the all the feedback. One of our highest priority items is a Tutorial Story, which is well on its way to being done. This story "holds your hand" through most of the game concepts, from contacts to V-chips to all the job types and how to use a phone, and what all the different types of armor and weapons are for and how to fight dogs, and more.

It's a complicated game, with a ton of systems to complete and add still, so yes--a tutorial is really critical to get and keep players! Thanks!

[scared]

on the other hand: on easy, you still have the possibility to "grind" your way up. I did and it wasn't horrible. but sure, a tutorial would be better for the broad masses out there.

[fallen]

scared - in that respect, it plays a lot like Star Traders. You leave a trail of blood, sweat, tears, and a heaping pile of dead Runners until you learn the ropes.

[LordofSyn]

Is there any other way?

[paulahb]

Aug 30, 2012 3:21:49 GMT -5 grävling said:

But if you have 3 active missions, and you think that now would be a great time to buy some nicer armor, plus your stim collection is getting low -- how is Benni the Taxi Driver supposed to know where you want to go?

I agree that there are times when you want to go to places other than missions. however given that missions are a common place to go to I was hoping for an easier way to pass this information to the taxi driver. Even if there was a goto mission location sub-menu if you had more than one mission would make life easier.

At the moment, I have to:
1. memorize that the next mission is up two squares and right three,
2. go navigate through the taxi communication menu
3. get annoyed that he taxi that I chose is too busy for me and have to go back to get another one.
4. navigate my remembered two up and thee right.
5. look for the bold mission location
6. Cant see the bold mission location, think to myself "maybe it was three up and two right" or maybe this one doesn't have a bold marker
7. navigate all the way out and check mission location again
8. repeat until I get it right.

I just want to order a taxi and tap to goto the next mission which is going to expire first. maybe that is just me.


I have now bought a three mission computer but I don't see how that helps. it still doesn't let me see where I need to go when I have the taxi navigation screen up.


I am still enjoying it, I just wish I could get through he administrative side of the game faster.

Paul

[grävling]

The minimap will have the squares where you have missions highlighted in red, so you do not have to memorise this, just read it off the minimap. What you should be memorising -- or at least remembering -- instead is which taxi driver you used last, at least if you use them freequently. Given that using a taxi takes 2.2 hours, no matter where it is that you want to go, I have found that the game plays better if you walk from mission to mission unless the next one is on the other side of town/other side of the wall. The idea is to collect missions -- quite possibly from multiple sources -- that all take place in the same zone, or in zones that are very close to each other. Then you might possibly take a taxi to that area, where you do the missions and then you look for more jobs. Thus the memorisation is all about 'what sort of jobs to what sort of areas does this Connector hand out' and 'which buildings that are not marked with the Connector symbol have a Connector inside' not to mention 'where do I get this piece of armour/cool weapon/safehouse I want to buy' but not where to go with the taxi.

It would be nice if you could sort your missions by time. The problem with automatically sorting them as you receive them is that it makes it harder to know which mission you should cancel when it is cancelling time. It is the most recent one I took from this Connector, so it should be the last on the list ... except that it is due the earliest of all the missions, so is it actually the first? Having your missions say something other than 'type of mission for faction', such as 'type of mission due X days, Y hours from now, in Zone Z, for faction' would be one way to get around this difficulty.

[paulahb]

Sept 3, 2012 2:30:16 GMT -5 grävling said:

The minimap will have the squares where you have missions highlighted in red

I can't see the minimap when I am ordering a taxi.

Paul

[Cory Trese]

I need to re-do the "Jobs" page in the Computer pretty much from the ground up.

I also agree you should be able to see the Minimap on the Taxi page -- tough with so many screen sizes but something I am planning on figuring out ASAP

[anvil]

On my HTC sensation, on the combat screen that shows abilities, I only see the first two columns. It was intermittent on the last upgrade before this, but consistent now.

[Cory Trese]

Sept 5, 2012 12:15:31 GMT -5 anvil said:

On my HTC sensation, on the combat screen that shows abilities, I only see the first two columns. It was intermittent on the last upgrade before this, but consistent now.

Is that the screen that shows HP and MP?

It is probably driven by the name of the monster more than anything at this point -- we haven't changed it in the last several releases.

[anvil]

Yes, that's what is, and I discovered the name length is the culpret.