Before I get started, allow me to say I really like the game so far because I can see that it has potential. Over the last 30 years I have seen a lot space themed games get it all wrong. Because this game is still in alpha I wanted to let you know my opinion while it could make a difference. There are some common aspects of modern video games (not just space themed games) that defy logic. Here is a short list of the ones I see in StarMade and why I think they they are illogical and should be changed. If you use your imagination you can easily see how they will have a negative impact on the game and how easily they can be transferred to a lot of failed or failing space games.
1.) Pirates Stations: There are more bad guys in space than anyone else. This wouldn't be a problem if they weren't trying to kill everyone else, but they are. So how does Polite Society (That is to say the Trader's Guild, Players, and their factions) not jut survive, but thrive and build all these nice ships and space stations? One would think that if the Pirates are this ruthless and evil that long ago they would have not only wiped out almost all of Polite Society but also a good portion of themselves since they don't seem to have anywhere to get new recruits from. Without recruits to fix up the Pirate space stations the critical systems would fail and the people have died or left. Ask yourselves: If technology reached a point where nothing ever breaks then why are there Derelict Stations (or even Pirates) in the first place? Who does the Trade Guild trade with other than me? Why doesn't the Trade Guild change it's name to Not Pirates and put cloaking devices on all their ships and stations?
2.) Every planet I have found is devoid of intelligent life. There should be at least one planet with other civilized people on it, especially in the starting solar system. After all Polite Society had to come from somewhere. People aren't just born in space with a spacesuit, a log book, a helmet, etc. Even if they were, a lot of those lucky enough to survive the Pirates would have settled on these planets to get away from the Pirates.
3.) There are not enough asteroids (compared to the number of stations and planets), and there are no comets.
4.) The scale of objects in the game is all wrong. Space Stations are bigger than any asteroid and planets seem to be around 1/10th the size of the largest asteroids (Ceres) in our solar system. I understand that you want a game that is simple to develope and that our computers need to be able to run it. Just don't forget that my Core i7, my 12GB of RAM, my GTX 970, and my SSD all agree that even though this game is in alpha you have a long, long, long way to go before you can make them break a sweat. My AMD Athlon 5150, 8gb of RAM, and GTX 750ti would most likely agree but they are busy with Folding@Home trying to cure a disease or two. My AMD laptop might agree, but Ubuntu gets pissed off at me for wanting to install the proprietary AMD drivers (Maybe someday I'll do that BIOS update but people keep releasing such fun games to test). My Nexus 7 (2013 edition) just wants to do something besides play movies. But I digress.
5.) On Earth we can detect celestial bodies from millions of kilometers away. In StarMade, I can't detect them if they are more than a few kilometers away. What? No telescopes? No Problem! Isaac Newton worked it out hundreds of years before anyone flew into space. You see the gravity of a reasonably sized asteroid or planet will have a measurable influence on the orbits of larger, more massive objects nearby...WHAT? Things DON'T orbit in this game? They just SIT there? Oh, by the Sauce of the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
6.) I do understand that there are reasons why the game doesn't allow for ship speeds greater than 75m/s. Please work on this. Don't sweep it under the rug like so many other titles have. I know that everything is limited in a video game but arbitrary speed limits (and I don't think the Speed of Light is arbitrary, we don't know why it is what it is) have almost no need to exist when I have a CPU that can do billions integer and floating point operation per second, not to mention what the unused parts of my GPU could do with OpenCL and/or CUDA. Besides, it will give you and me and everyone else a reason to think about fuel consumption and thruster efficiency and the effect fuel consumption has on the enemy ship's center of mass. > : - )
In conclusion I would like to thank you for reading this and say that I love to use my brain for fun far more than I like playing games that don't require a brain.
May the Sauce be with you,
Lazarus Long
1.) Pirates Stations: There are more bad guys in space than anyone else. This wouldn't be a problem if they weren't trying to kill everyone else, but they are. So how does Polite Society (That is to say the Trader's Guild, Players, and their factions) not jut survive, but thrive and build all these nice ships and space stations? One would think that if the Pirates are this ruthless and evil that long ago they would have not only wiped out almost all of Polite Society but also a good portion of themselves since they don't seem to have anywhere to get new recruits from. Without recruits to fix up the Pirate space stations the critical systems would fail and the people have died or left. Ask yourselves: If technology reached a point where nothing ever breaks then why are there Derelict Stations (or even Pirates) in the first place? Who does the Trade Guild trade with other than me? Why doesn't the Trade Guild change it's name to Not Pirates and put cloaking devices on all their ships and stations?
2.) Every planet I have found is devoid of intelligent life. There should be at least one planet with other civilized people on it, especially in the starting solar system. After all Polite Society had to come from somewhere. People aren't just born in space with a spacesuit, a log book, a helmet, etc. Even if they were, a lot of those lucky enough to survive the Pirates would have settled on these planets to get away from the Pirates.
3.) There are not enough asteroids (compared to the number of stations and planets), and there are no comets.
4.) The scale of objects in the game is all wrong. Space Stations are bigger than any asteroid and planets seem to be around 1/10th the size of the largest asteroids (Ceres) in our solar system. I understand that you want a game that is simple to develope and that our computers need to be able to run it. Just don't forget that my Core i7, my 12GB of RAM, my GTX 970, and my SSD all agree that even though this game is in alpha you have a long, long, long way to go before you can make them break a sweat. My AMD Athlon 5150, 8gb of RAM, and GTX 750ti would most likely agree but they are busy with Folding@Home trying to cure a disease or two. My AMD laptop might agree, but Ubuntu gets pissed off at me for wanting to install the proprietary AMD drivers (Maybe someday I'll do that BIOS update but people keep releasing such fun games to test). My Nexus 7 (2013 edition) just wants to do something besides play movies. But I digress.
5.) On Earth we can detect celestial bodies from millions of kilometers away. In StarMade, I can't detect them if they are more than a few kilometers away. What? No telescopes? No Problem! Isaac Newton worked it out hundreds of years before anyone flew into space. You see the gravity of a reasonably sized asteroid or planet will have a measurable influence on the orbits of larger, more massive objects nearby...WHAT? Things DON'T orbit in this game? They just SIT there? Oh, by the Sauce of the Flying Spaghetti Monster!
6.) I do understand that there are reasons why the game doesn't allow for ship speeds greater than 75m/s. Please work on this. Don't sweep it under the rug like so many other titles have. I know that everything is limited in a video game but arbitrary speed limits (and I don't think the Speed of Light is arbitrary, we don't know why it is what it is) have almost no need to exist when I have a CPU that can do billions integer and floating point operation per second, not to mention what the unused parts of my GPU could do with OpenCL and/or CUDA. Besides, it will give you and me and everyone else a reason to think about fuel consumption and thruster efficiency and the effect fuel consumption has on the enemy ship's center of mass. > : - )
In conclusion I would like to thank you for reading this and say that I love to use my brain for fun far more than I like playing games that don't require a brain.
May the Sauce be with you,
Lazarus Long
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