Hello,





I stated playing through the Endless Space Alpha and though the game has no lack of graphic or audio quality it still has fundamental flaws that would need to be addressed.





Below is a list of what I believe should be taken into consideration by the development team.





Hardware/Software



I am sure you know this but every game should aspire to have a flawless convergence between hardware and software. As it stands now, the game cannot be played with proper resolution on some machines.







Tutorials



It’s never easy to make a good tutorial; in fact it seems downright impossible. However, some developers have done it. Be it through wit or sheer dedication EVE Online and others did just that, they made a great and easy to understand tutorial despite the insanely complex gameplay and have still managed to cram nearly every aspect of the game within it. I had to log back in my old EVE account to make sure but from my own perspective, it appears as though having the information read in the soft and comforting voice of some pretty AI is much more appealing and easy to understand than the already confused and lost voice of my own taughts.







Starting a game



When it comes to turn based strategy, Sid Meier's games have set a certain standard in the industry that needs to be respected no matter the developer. One such aspect is the ability to choose your perks and your looks. The race and its visual aspect should never limit the player on his path to victory. If I prefer my Science victory to be upheld by a pack of flesh-eating insects, than that should reflect in my stating perks and looks without slowing my early game progress.







Alignment



If you remember back in Alpha Centauri there was no race inherently evil or good and with good reasons. Instead, each race had its mentality and would object to another races trough what actions they performed or research they pursued. For example, Gaia’s Stepdaughters would object to the University of Planet’s research of any polluting technology as it went against their beliefs.







Research



Research trees have always been a hassle to make and confusing to understand at first glance but a lot of developers have found ways to work against the odds and made clear and practical research trees. Here are a few things I noticed about research trees:



- The bigger the research tree the more complicated it is to understand

- The more complex the vocabulary is the harder it is to understand

- The less practical the design and layout are the harder it is to understand



For the same reason you don’t read a book from its center and outwards it’s much simpler to read a research tree from left to right and even simpler when you don’t need a double doctorate in bio engineering to understand what is written within it. When both the design and vocabulary are clear, the length of the research tree no longer hinders the player but offers more choice and options to play with.







Design and Interface



Imagine you wanted to read an email on your laptop but when you tried to log in your Email account, you had to go through three web links and after entering your information, you had to search trough the page for the hidden Log-In button because pressing return on your keyboard did nothing. Did that sound appealing? I didn’t think so, and yet, it would still be less of a hassle than going through the Endless Space interface. You have to remember that you are making a game for the PC and should use a similar control pattern. For PC users, some actions are literally burnt in their genes now; Right click brings out more options and dragging a left click expands a selection box. These are but two of the missing controls amongst dozens.



If you don’t have the time, funds or knowledge to make a proper interface, there are plenty that have already fought the battle and proven themselves worthy and all you need to do is replicate it. The game you made is already good, but the lack of a practical interface may very well be the downfall of Endless Space.





So remember controls and interfaces are not a challenge to be overcome but a tool to help the player.







Goals



The general goal is very clear, conquer the galaxy trough whatever means you can. Simple, I like it. There is a problem however; it’s no enough for someone who just started playing. I like it that one of your fist goals is to colonise a planet in your solar system but after that your goals get fuzzy and instead you wonder aimlessly learning what you should do through defeats or pure chance.







Naming



It’s much better to name fraction according to their aspect or function rather than inventing names. It’s much easier to remember a fraction name from words you know than from names that were invented.



GOOD Example:



-Cloners

-Human Hive

-University of planet

-Spartan federation

-Caretakers



BAD Example:



- Zendora

- Kathalonda

- Malron

- Cleptsii







Spying

Just like guns and food information is indispensable when you are trying to conquer the galaxy. I would love to see the possibility to spy and gather intelligence from your foes.







Overall

The most important part is fixing the interface, everything else is passable and worth my 30$.

The game's not finished, and it's not perfect, so there's plenty of stuff you can point at that could use tweaks. But .. the UI? That's your main complaint? Really? Endless Space has the smoothest, most intuitive, least intrusive UI I have seen in a 4X game, ever, period.

Quite the post... I thought I would touch on this little bit here as a person looking in from the outside...

Oggy wrote:


Naming



It’s much better to name fraction according to their aspect or function rather than inventing names. It’s much easier to remember a fraction name from words you know than from names that were invented.



GOOD Example:



-Cloners

-Human Hive

-University of planet

-Spartan federation

-Caretakers



BAD Example:



- Zendora

- Kathalonda

- Malron

- Cleptsii

... I'd have to completely disagree with you. Those names you list as "Good" are boring and lame. They have no uniqueness to them, and just sound like bad sci-fi. The "Bad" names you listed are interesting, and draw you in to the background (if they're given). I'd want to know more about them than the "Human Hive".

Yeah, I have to say the UI is fine. Some controls could definitely use tweaks though (ESC for bringing up/closing menu)

Personally i like Endless Space's tutorial over EVE's hands down. From what i hear, EVE has the hardest tutorial out there.

A lot of what you have brought up has been touched on by official posts, many of them were not able to be included or polished to the point they wanted for this first version of the Alpha test.



Cheers,

It’s never easy to make a good tutorial; in fact it seems downright impossible. However, some developers have done it. Be it through wit or sheer dedication EVE Online and others did just that, they made a great and easy to understand tutorial despite the insanely complex gameplay and have still managed to cram nearly every aspect of the game within it. I had to log back in my old EVE account to make sure but from my own perspective, it appears as though having the information read in the soft and comforting voice of some pretty AI is much more appealing and easy to understand than the already confused and lost voice of my own taughts.

While I agree on your point that the tutorial in this game needs a lot of work, I must disagree with your example. The only thing that Eve Online does differently than the tutorial already in this game is that VO, which doesn't help me at all when I don't understand what she's talking about. A good tutorial should show, not tell. It should be more of a visual affair, that engages the players so that they can have fun while learning how to play.