Some questions/critique for v0.3.2.
Sept 8, 2016 23:50:21 GMT
Moopli, The_Wayward_Admiral, and 1 more like this
Post by Mouthwash on Sept 8, 2016 23:50:21 GMT
1. Why can't we zoom out more? This can't be a technical limitation. One of the devs compared the behavior of predator AI in the game to Slenderman, but it's kinda pointless if having the slightest advantage in speed is enough to vanish any pursuer within seconds.
2. I really think that pressing the mouse button should be enough to make the cell move. This worked just fine in Spore. Why are we forced to use both the mouse and the keyboard?
3. I recall a conversation a while back where the devs talked about replacing the current blocky text in the tutorial and GUI. Why did nothing come of this? It's clearly not the best font.
4. Why is the nucleus, not the cell wall, responsible for absorbing compounds? As it is, a cell's size doesn't affect its ability to gather resources. Maybe this just hasn't been implemented yet, but I thought I'd bring it up, just in case.
5. The soundtrack is done completely wrong. I mean, from the composer's perspective, the cell/microbe stage is the least interesting and the simplest, so perhaps they think it ought to go with serene or ocean-themed music. But from the player's perspective, they're kicking off an epic journey. There's nothing more downing than for this to be greeted with a dull ambience (I'm referring here to editor themes 1 and 5, and all of the normal themes). This is made even worse by the fact that the microbe stage really is the least interesting and simplest. It needs music to carry it, much more than the other stages.
By comparison, listen to Spore's cell stage soundtrack. Immediately after exiting the meteor, the first thing you hear is a peppy, exciting tune, like you're exploring a jungle. Who wouldn't want to play a game that greeted you like that? As the cell grows in scale, the music tones down, eventually reaching an oceanic ambience by level six. It stays this way until level nine, when it launches into an even more active version of the first soundtrack. This is because you've grown enough to see a sandy seabed in the background, and you apparently are progressing to become a large-scale creature. The game wants you to be excited about your progress! Once you reach enough points to move on to creature stage, the ambience returns, since there isn't much more to do.
Finally, as well as replacing the dull soundtracks, I think that there is absolutely no reason to use more than one for the editor. It's how Pavlovian conditioning works: a single memorable tune is enough to set the brain into 'microbe editor mode,' but this is less effective with multiple triggers. In my opinion, the current editor theme 4 is the best fit (also because it doesn't work well as a gameplay track).
2. I really think that pressing the mouse button should be enough to make the cell move. This worked just fine in Spore. Why are we forced to use both the mouse and the keyboard?
3. I recall a conversation a while back where the devs talked about replacing the current blocky text in the tutorial and GUI. Why did nothing come of this? It's clearly not the best font.
4. Why is the nucleus, not the cell wall, responsible for absorbing compounds? As it is, a cell's size doesn't affect its ability to gather resources. Maybe this just hasn't been implemented yet, but I thought I'd bring it up, just in case.
5. The soundtrack is done completely wrong. I mean, from the composer's perspective, the cell/microbe stage is the least interesting and the simplest, so perhaps they think it ought to go with serene or ocean-themed music. But from the player's perspective, they're kicking off an epic journey. There's nothing more downing than for this to be greeted with a dull ambience (I'm referring here to editor themes 1 and 5, and all of the normal themes). This is made even worse by the fact that the microbe stage really is the least interesting and simplest. It needs music to carry it, much more than the other stages.
By comparison, listen to Spore's cell stage soundtrack. Immediately after exiting the meteor, the first thing you hear is a peppy, exciting tune, like you're exploring a jungle. Who wouldn't want to play a game that greeted you like that? As the cell grows in scale, the music tones down, eventually reaching an oceanic ambience by level six. It stays this way until level nine, when it launches into an even more active version of the first soundtrack. This is because you've grown enough to see a sandy seabed in the background, and you apparently are progressing to become a large-scale creature. The game wants you to be excited about your progress! Once you reach enough points to move on to creature stage, the ambience returns, since there isn't much more to do.
Finally, as well as replacing the dull soundtracks, I think that there is absolutely no reason to use more than one for the editor. It's how Pavlovian conditioning works: a single memorable tune is enough to set the brain into 'microbe editor mode,' but this is less effective with multiple triggers. In my opinion, the current editor theme 4 is the best fit (also because it doesn't work well as a gameplay track).
