Hi all,
Short note: I never, ever intend to flame or merely critisize. I offer the list here to enable Stardock to make their game even better than it is.
I will not react to any type of pointless argument and respectfully ask that you only add what is useful to the well-being of the game Sins of a Solar Universe. Please do add any and all bugs or problems you encounter.
Problems then.
1) Too many warnings; at some point in anything over a medium-sized game there is an avalanche of continuous warnings that really just makes the game sound like a bad radio station. It would be smart to allow peeps to toggle warnings in a comprehensive list I think (reachable from a separate Game Settings menu item).
For instance: the game may give me over 10 different warnings all about one single fleet jumping out of a gravity well (‘Jump sequence initiated’). In the meantime, it fails to inform me (the sound is overridden by the jump-warnings I guess?) that a Cap ship elsewhere is 50% health.
Also, specifically: I can do without all the ‘discover planet’ warnings (I have eyes); I do not need the jump warnings (I told them what to do); and I most certainly do not want a warning every time a single ‘enemy’ scout enters a system. If it is not attacking me, do not warn me - sound about right? (auto-attack is OFF by default on Scouts & Colony ships right?). (Slight complication here when enemies use non-scout ships to scout…).
My basic notion is: the feedback can be very useful, but the useful stuff gets drowned out by superfluous messages. Admittedly, it is fun to hear my friends, over voice chat, commenting ‘whine whine whine’ about the AI’s feedback 
.
2) Impulse. The very first thing it did is: it split my Sunday RP group in two. Do you realize what happens if people who play games online, after years of MMORPG (where this works, no hassle) finally get themselves talked into (by yours unruly 
) buying a PC Game again, and the first thing that happens is 3 of them cannot update?
We go back to gaming together (other game), and four of them will never (read: another 5 or 10 years probably 8-) ) buy another PC Game. And they are *not* happy with Stardock. Very bad publicity. These folk used to play Stars & MOO2 etc. And now they cannot even update their 2008 game (and no 'revert' option so bye-bye multi).
On any given day, if I look at the ‘last 10 posts’, there are an average of 2-3 threads there on Impulse problems. I personally feel you are shoving a mutility down my throat that does 999 things where I only want *one*: update my game with the key I have bought. Like NeverWinter Nights did, perfectly.
I think for all your advertisements in Impulse, it very clearly costs you oodles of customers (the word is spreading) and in any case, it is in direct violation of the essential character of your own rather well-conveived Bill of Rights: you force players into using something they never asked for.
Just let us update our games, m’kay?
3) Cursor keys seem to mess up other functionality. I hope you forgive me I did not write down which specific interference I got (my bad). It was after 1.095 I think. I do not refer to the fact 1.095 no longer saves key bindings. I mean I had to stop using the cursor keys (which I used for Ally Attack, Defense & Cancel Ping) because they no longer functioned right.
NOTE This is an MS Naturalf (split) Multimedia 1.0A keyboard; the cursor keys have their own little pad.
4) I often see how ships that are in a gravity well (a fleet that is) end up on the very rim of the well and at that point no longer react to gravity well status changes. Specifically: ships with ‘Colonize’ on AUTO will not use the ability (unless you put them much closer to the planet) - for instance when Culture drops to the point where the planet becomes colonizable. They just hang there (must be a pretty view ).
5) Is it realistic to get the ‘Keep spending credits on bounty, fool’ message when pirates are Inactive? I know there are still some dynamics that work in the same way as Pirate Bounty - but must admit I have no real clue as to what still does or does not function (did not find in manual; maybe overlooked it?)
6) I get Stardock spam in the mail. I had gotten it before, then unchecked all my ‘notifications’, but still got spam. I have been forced to put Stardock on the Spam list (in fact, you are the only one on that list).
Not good. The second I fail to get something that actually matters (key, account info) I will be forced to leave. Please fix this so I can un-spam Stardock with my ISP. It appears as another violation of the intent of your own Bill of Rights: you say one thing, you do another. Bad…
Note please that I tried to respond but got an error that said your quotum had been reached.
Now that is aggravating: this is like AoC where for a good while I was unable to cancel my account. I fear scary publicity is all what you will get this way - and you mean well so please stick with your own style 8-) .
You do realize some types of ‘promotions’ (‘No crying in the red circle’ - PotBS) can actually cost you a lot more than they deliver, right?
7) What is the deal with Fabricators and Phase Stabilizers? Maybe someone already mentioned it: I cannot seem to get them to prioritize this. They do a few % then typically get a tea-break; finish it whenever the hell they feel like it. Fabricator Unions hmm?
8) The problem I hear from all (!) players I have done this game with that aggravates them most is the sometimes very erratic movement behavior in the game. I have only been able to find that sometimes it is the result of having selected a fleet then clicking in another spot, having forgotten your selection. This is a player’s own fault of course. However, I also notice that when I tell a ship in a fleet to move to a planet (I often have to leave a Col - not Kol…Colonizer Abil - ship behind until culture drops for instance) it will do so, but 5 secs later (without me ordering anyone anywhere) it decides that planet is not cool it feels lonely hey I will follow my buddies after all. Worse: if a ship is Flagship (fleet leader), and I try to save it (severely damaged), I have found no way to make it move out of the gravwell and leave the rest of the fleet behind, other than first peeling it off said fleet (while I really want it to remain in). I cannot seem to find a way to simply promote (I know I can cycle the units) another ship to Flagship. I have lost hundreds of ships due to this 'behavior'.
And there appears to be a completely unpredictable movement ‘dynamic’ as well, where too often we see groups of ships moving back to places where they just came from, without being instructed so.
I wish I could be more specific on the last one, but it happens a lot and it is not just me - everyone I play with comments on it.
9) I like the fact the AI can give me a hard time but some behavior is very erratic - by the time this becomes predictable, it becomes exploitable.
Specifically: Allies tend to ask me for help when the planet they need help on is 1 or 2 jumps from the planet they have a really big, completely passive fleet on, and have had there for 30 minutes. They should not need me to go Ally Defense Ping their own darn planet for them .
Often baddies have a good fleet hanging in front of my planet and just sit there and do nothing. I think some of it is related to waiting for specific (mostly Planetary Attack Frigs) ships, but often this takes so long any advantage they had will be lost (in fact, their fleet will be MIA ).
I see too many instances where fleets hang around doing nothing. Fine (!) for easy or even normal play - on hard no fleet should ever be doing nothing, no? And most definitely not go planet A to B to A to B to A to (etc. ad infinity).
Let me stress though that I have quite a decent challenge in the AI and that is meant as a high compliment (since I am really an ‘Atomic: Close Combat’ kinda guy).
Well ought to keep you busy for a bit,
Thanks for a wonderful game.
Lucas aka Sinful
PS Edits by me never on content, only style/typo’s etc.
PPS I realize this is too late for the 1.1 but I am guessing and hoping you will keep fixing stuff as the expansions come out. Would have posted in Beta feedback but it is more general than that; hence here.
* Since the more fair and crystal is the sky,
* The uglier seem the clouds that in it fly
-
* Richard III
