Prerelease Up

[DeepspaceMechanic]

I didn't check things in-game yet, but after reading through the news post, I'm excited and very glad that these changes were made! - The new advanced build tool set and its layout looks awesome, can't wait to build with it, and some of the listed bug-fixes were much needed.

Congrats for the team for this latest milestone! - We're looking forward for what comes next with great enthusiasm!

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Update on my opinion... I checked every change in-game and I'm very pleased. The new Build Helper menu is especially nice. But I'd like to recommend a similar change: it's a really minor thing, but the pop-up windows of the "Load" , "Save" and "Create Docking" functions retained the previous GUI style and they're kinda buggy when it comes to scrolling (there isn't any need for scrolling at some places there, while the templet drop-down list doesn't become taller when you make the "Load" pop-up window itself taller).

 

[Comradecolonel]

I'm so happy that we have these build features now. It'll go a long way to helping less patient players make more interesting shapes and designs. I'm definitely going to start tinkering around with it more to see what possible. Adding the ability to copy paste things like turrets and fighters would take a lot of tedium out as well. I look forward to more of these types of changes.

 

[Lancake]

Update on my opinion... I checked every change in-game and I'm very pleased. The new Build Helper menu is especially nice. But I'd like to recommend a similar change: it's a really minor thing, but the pop-up windows of the "Load" , "Save" and "Create Docking" functions retained the previous GUI style and they're kinda buggy when it comes to scrolling (there isn't any need for scrolling at some places there, while the templet drop-down list doesn't become taller when you make the "Load" pop-up window itself taller).

Most, if not any popup dialogues seem to suffer from that. The content is seen as too big, most likely due to some padding changes, and results in a scrollbar that is unnecessary. In case of the "Load" template, the drop down bar seems to be mis aligned too and too small to what it should be. All of that would be a bug.

Integrating the "load", "save" and "create docking" into the new build mode panel to get rid of the popups, might be possible in a short amount of time. If not, then it's better to focus on the bug fixes and have this done at a later stage, most likely the next release.

Edit: fixed a typo

 

[DeepspaceMechanic]

Integrating the "load", "save" and "create docking" into the new build mode panel to get rid of the popups, might be possible in a short amount of time. If not, then it's better to focus on the bug fixes and have this done at a later stage, most likely the next release.

Yes, it's really just one of those miniature "problems" that at most are a minor aesthetic imperfection, with no urgency to it. I must say, I have a huge appreciation for the new layout, its functional improvements will make a few things much easier and it's just a joy to look at. The bug-fixing of the aforementioned pop-up windows and drop-down lists and making them match the rest of the current UI graphics is necessary only for the sake of OCD-level perfection (which I like/need)

 

[Malacodor]

The selection of non-cuboid shapes won't really profit from the new method. Any plans for that?

 

[Lone_Puppy]

I love the build tools!
I have better understanding of the load/unload rails and can see much potential for automated cargo transfer for both cargo and mining vessels along with NPC interaction.

On that note, any additions to the fleet command system and command chairs?

 

[Valiant70]

The selection of non-cuboid shapes won't really profit from the new method. Any plans for that?

True, but it's a start. What we need is a way to "bump" the size and position of bounding boxes in different directions. Some have suggested hotkeys for that in the past. It's one possible solution.

 

[Blodge]

Someone once suggested colour-coding the axis symmetry buttons to match the colours of the grids they project for ease of reference (unfortunately it escapes me who said it so I can't give credit). Now that the Advanced Build tools are being looked at, it seems like a suitable time to implement this simple but excellent idea.

 

[Lancake]

Someone once suggested colour-coding the axis symmetry buttons to match the colours of the grids they project for ease of reference (unfortunately it escapes me who said it so I can't give credit). Now that the Advanced Build tools are being looked at, it seems like a suitable time to implement this simple but excellent idea.

Yes, no idea who originally suggested it but it's something that we're still going to do. As it's only changing out button sprites, nothing game breaking could be introduced with that and should be safe for us to fine tune the build mode's appearance a bit more.

 

[Groumpf]

The new build tools are a very fine addition, I love them ! (And they come just when I need to paint my default grey block ship and will need the unload/load rails. Nice of you to give me the right tools at the right moment ) . Not sure if the ctrl+middle mouse shortcut is new or if I just noticed it, but that's really helpful as well.

Just a question related to the build UI, though. The display tab is the lowest one and is masked by other tabs when they are open, while I think we all need to often switch from build to remove mode. So, could a shortcut to toggle build/remove in the controls be considered ?
Same for reseting the xyz box' dimensions : you can be in a situation where you place single blocks, clusters, single blocks etc. To reset the three bars each time is not that tedious (especially with the nice mouse wheel control), but a shortcut would be comfy as a pair of fur crocs.

Nice update in any case !

 

[Lancake]

Just a question related to the build UI, though. The display tab is the lowest one and is masked by other tabs when they are open, while I think we all need to often switch from build to remove mode. So, could a shortcut to toggle build/remove in the controls be considered ?
Same for reseting the xyz box' dimensions : you can be in a situation where you place single blocks, clusters, single blocks etc. To reset the three bars each time is not that tedious (especially with the nice mouse wheel control), but a shortcut would be comfy as a pair of fur crocs.

I'm sure some of these could use their own shortcuts, but that would depend on the player's preference. A system where you could assign a hotkey to any build mode panel functionality seems to be better in that case, although that would not be happening for this current release as pre-build is not meant to add more big stuff to it ^^

Personally, I don't think a few keyboard shortcuts for these 2 functionalities is worth it, as people would request more to be added and you would end up with a long, unclear list of all these shortcuts.

 

[Groumpf]

I'm sure some of these could use their own shortcuts, but that would depend on the player's preference. A system where you could assign a hotkey to any build mode panel functionality seems to be better in that case, although that would not be happening for this current release as pre-build is not meant to add more big stuff to it ^^

Personally, I don't think a few keyboard shortcuts for these 2 functionalities is worth it, as people would request more to be added and you would end up with a long, unclear list of all these shortcuts.

Well, I will partially agree with you. I was mentioning :
- The XYZ box, because, let aside the single block-cluster toggle, it is the central selection tool used with most of the functions (would it be adding, removing, changing, C/Ping). To reset the sliders feels more or less like "unselect" in other softwares for me, which is always a one click or key command.
- The add/remove, because whenever you work with solids (would it be game or CAD/CAE), it's the toggle you flip all of the time in my experience.

Now, you're right on mentionning personnal habits : the way I build in the game and my work habits probably influenced me when I was looking for the 2-3 major toggles of the bar. But it goes without saying that if the majority of the players use 2-3 other toggles, they shoud have the priority. That could be an interesting discussion and a poll could be interesting as well, if it does give clear results. I guess it won't hurt if I or someone else make such a poll one of those days.

It's also worth to note that I used "consider" on purpose. Granted, the last time I messed with an actual UI, dinosaur extinction was still on the breaking news sections of our stone newspapers. So, I can be out of the loop.
But as far as I can remember, when the keyboard mapping UI and a function are already on, to add a line of keyboard entry and a new input is a rather quick job. The kind of thing you keep in mind and quickly do the day you have to mess with this section for a more serious matter. That would be a nice feature for at least part of the community for little to no effort. I stand to be corrected about the implementation difficulty, though, as I only did work on easy modular systems.

I also have to say that the "suggestion" part of the forum seems to be rather civil and constructive, while explanations are given by the team about why so or so can be done or can't. With that in mind, I don't think they have to fear a "give them a hand, they'll take the arm" effect : if there are new requests or suggestions which can be discussed, I'd think that would be for the best.

Edit : not totally sure wether the "give a hand they take the arm" expression is aggressive or not in english. Our equivalent is rather neutral and I used it in this way.