Improvements Needed
Dtere
Join Date: 2004-01-15 Member: 25349Members
Join Date: 2004-01-15 Member: 25349Members
After playing about 5 games of NS, i got pretty familiar with comm, marine, and skulks. However, there are some majorly needed "quality of life" improvements that are needed.
1.) It is hard to tell who you are next to as an alien. Where are nametags? Also, possibly an easier way to tell where your alien buds are on the map (without pressing C).
2.) Marines on the minimap should not be the same color as the buildings. Wow is it sometimes hard to tell the difference.
3.) As commander it is almost near impossible to see the resource nodes. Please make them more visible to the comm. This should be the easiest thing on the map for the comm to see.
4.) Grenade Launcher needs a "path of grenade" visual.
5.) Some type of hit detection for aliens. I can't tell if i'm hitting a marine until it dies. A sound the marine makes, or blood that sprays out, or SOMETHING that gives me info on hitting a marine.
6.) Flashlight mode for aliens is almost to the point of good. It is really hard to play the whole game using it though.
7.) Sentries are difficult to place correctly. I'm not sure if this is by design, but sentries do a pretty crap job of defending a room. It's very hard to tell how worthwhile they are. You can't see the hit animations from them.
8.) Resource node HP seems bugged when attacking as a marine. HP does not register correctly.
9.) Need health bar and armor bar for Exosuit.
1.) It is hard to tell who you are next to as an alien. Where are nametags? Also, possibly an easier way to tell where your alien buds are on the map (without pressing C).
2.) Marines on the minimap should not be the same color as the buildings. Wow is it sometimes hard to tell the difference.
3.) As commander it is almost near impossible to see the resource nodes. Please make them more visible to the comm. This should be the easiest thing on the map for the comm to see.
4.) Grenade Launcher needs a "path of grenade" visual.
5.) Some type of hit detection for aliens. I can't tell if i'm hitting a marine until it dies. A sound the marine makes, or blood that sprays out, or SOMETHING that gives me info on hitting a marine.
6.) Flashlight mode for aliens is almost to the point of good. It is really hard to play the whole game using it though.
7.) Sentries are difficult to place correctly. I'm not sure if this is by design, but sentries do a pretty crap job of defending a room. It's very hard to tell how worthwhile they are. You can't see the hit animations from them.
8.) Resource node HP seems bugged when attacking as a marine. HP does not register correctly.
9.) Need health bar and armor bar for Exosuit.
Comments
I couldn't agree more.
<!--quoteo(post=2005898:date=Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM:name=Dtere)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dtere @ Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2005898"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->5.) Some type of hit detection for aliens. I can't tell if i'm hitting a marine until it dies. A sound the marine makes, or blood that sprays out, or SOMETHING that gives me info on hitting a marine.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually, there is. The red blood you see on the screen means you've gotten a successful hit, as aliens have green blood.
<!--quoteo(post=2005898:date=Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM:name=Dtere)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dtere @ Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2005898"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->6.) Flashlight mode for aliens is almost to the point of good. It is really hard to play the whole game using it though.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That would probably be because it's only for dark rooms.
<!--quoteo(post=2005898:date=Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM:name=Dtere)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dtere @ Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2005898"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->7.) Sentries are difficult to place correctly. I'm not sure if this is by design, but sentries do a pretty crap job of defending a room. It's very hard to tell how worthwhile they are. You can't see the hit animations from them.
8.) Resource node HP seems bugged when attacking as a marine. HP does not register correctly.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They seem fine to me. :/
<!--quoteo(post=2005898:date=Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM:name=Dtere)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dtere @ Nov 2 2012, 12:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2005898"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->9.) Need health bar and armor bar for Exosuit.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Exos do have a health bar. (Technically an armor bar, but then they 'technically' don't have a health bar.)
I'm always playing the whole game with alien vision. Why is it hard for you?
2.) Marines on the minimap should not be the same color as the buildings. Wow is it sometimes hard to tell the difference.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The nametags show up if you look at the alien somewhat directly. And your buddies should see to it that they sometimes tell you where they are via the microphone.
I do agree on the minimap marine coloring, though.
<!--quoteo(post=2005898:date=Nov 2 2012, 06:38 AM:name=Dtere)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dtere @ Nov 2 2012, 06:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2005898"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->4.) Grenade Launcher needs a "path of grenade" visual.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Meh, it's simple enough to do the thing intuitively I think.
<!--quoteo(post=2005898:date=Nov 2 2012, 06:38 AM:name=Dtere)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dtere @ Nov 2 2012, 06:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2005898"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->7.) Sentries are difficult to place correctly. I'm not sure if this is by design, but sentries do a pretty crap job of defending a room. It's very hard to tell how worthwhile they are. You can't see the hit animations from them.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is by design. You don't get to defend a room with only sentries. Just like you don't get to defend a room with whips or hydras. This is a player-vs-player game, not a bidirectional tower-defense game.
<!--quoteo(post=2005898:date=Nov 2 2012, 06:38 AM:name=Dtere)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dtere @ Nov 2 2012, 06:38 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2005898"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->8.) Resource node HP seems bugged when attacking as a marine. HP does not register correctly.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I ran into this, too. The health bar went down to 0, then disappeared, but we had to hack at it for another five to ten seconds for it to actually die. It was growing at that moment, so that may be part of the problem?
HTH
Secondly, the buildings show up as the same color as marines. It would be nice to have some variance.
Re: grenade launcher
What i was finding yesterday (and note i only used the GL 3 times), is that the grenades did not explode on contact, but sometimes continued to bounce down a hall even after making contact with an Onos. I believe in NS1 the grenades made an explosion at direct contact. Possibly this is by design and I just need to get used to it. But still, a "path of grenade" visual when aiming would be great.
Re: Sentries
I had a difficult time as comm defending a room correctly. I tried setting it up in a corner or against a wall, but in all cases there was about 30% of the room unprotected. For the cost of minerals that you need to pour into a base to have sentries, i would expect more coverage. A sneaky skulk can take down a base with 30% unprotected room quite easily.
Re: Exosuits
I did find it very difficult to know when my exosuit needed welding. It's hard to decipher when you do not know the maximum hp or armor your exosuit has. This is a problem for newbies... but not for someone who is used to the game.
The main disadvantage you lose with Alien Flashlight is knowing the lighting state. This usually isn't a huge deal, but definitely comes into play so you know when you're exposed or not. Also, identifying features in the room can become harder, as you mention buildings are all the same color, as are Alien and Marine lifeforms.
I mostly switch to Alien Flashlight to spot the Marines, then aftewards to land the hits switch it off. Just my 2cts