Lupus-Mechanicus
commented
4 years ago Hello there! Thanks for your feedback! Even if I'm not a dev I'll try to answer to most of them to the best of my abilities. So, here we go:
(1) The Graphics/Video thing is a bit confusing, there have been talks of renaming them to sort out accordingly.
(3-4) Yes, the tutorial is a bit bare-bones. We'll take a look at it in the not so distant future to enhance it with some more explanations.
(5) The campaigns are in ascending difficulty. The objectives explanation will be in (6).
(6)You're being immediately thrusted into the mission because you don't have the 'sequences.wz' aka in-game cutscenes downloaded. You can usually check if you have them by going into:
~/home/user_you/.local/share/warzone2100-xxx - xxx being the version of Warzone 2100 that you are using.
The .local folder may be hidden, but it's nothing a CTRL+H won't solve.
If the 'sequences.wz` file is missing, you can download it from here: SourceForge.net - Warzone 2100 Videos The one in 'high-quality-en' folder being the recommended one, as it's a bit better in terms of quality than the original cutscenes.
(7) The Beta wiki is somewhat incomplete, as of right now, containing mostly Multiplayer info regarding stats and counters. It will updated accordingly with Singleplayer info as the time passes.
(8) A thing the tutorial doesn't explain is the various unit behaviour, you can check that by selecting one or multiple units and Right-Clicking on them.
(9) Refer to (3-4).
(10) Yes, the repair tech comes a bit later during the campaign, but until then, you can Recycle your units using that unit behaviour menu described above(keeping the veterancy and gaining some ~50% of the energy value back). Also, another yes, it should've been in the wiki or in the tutorial described.
edit: before I forget, you can find most of the active devs, and more community members on our Discord server here: Warzone 2100 - Discord Server
Cheers! ;)
xeruf
bjorn-ali-goransson
highlander1599
vaut
OS: Linux (KDE Neon based on Ubuntu 18) Game version: Initially 3.2.1, now 3.4.1
I started the game, went through the tutorial and started the campaign, but I was pretty confused along the way. I will number my points to make responding easier. (1) Why are there different options in the menu for "graphics" and "video"? I am not quite sure where you draw the border there. (2) Oh my gosh, changing the resolution after updating is a pain! I need to click it so many times, and every time my cursor jumps because it updates the resolution instantly. How about debouncing the update by a second or so, or at least ensuring the cursor stays on that setting so you can just keep clicking?
The tutorial was fine, but afterwards I still didn't feel that I even had a grasp of how the basics of the game work. (3) How do I navigate around the map? Mention arrow keys on the side, I tried WASD and mouse first. (4) Furthermore, the last text box should point the user to further actions, instead of leaving him alone in the playground, wondering if there's anything else he can do here. I would suggest a prompt like: "Congratulations, you successfully completed the tutorial! You are now ready to start a campaign (clickable - quit and go to Singleplayer > New Campaign; if there is a clear difference in difficulty immediately start the easiest) or play with friends (link to Multiplayer)." Below two buttons "Back to Main Menu" or "Keep playing" (also thought about texts like "Keep exploring" or "Keep dabbling" to make it clear that there's nothing worthwhile left on the map; I will also question whether that possibility makes sense at all).
(5) I then wanted to start a Campaign, but the New Campaign Screen provides me with no info except the name. Are they in ascending difficulty? How long do they roughly take? What are the objectives? At least, there is info on that in the wiki: https://warzone.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/wzpedia/pages/7635463/Campaigns (6) I click on a campaign, and am immediately thrust into it. No overview, no information about objectives, just a few tanks. After a while I found out that the objectives are hidden in a tiny menu on the bottom left. At least a prompt with the objectives before I start would be nice. (7) From my experience with other strategy games, I thought a Command Center is the first thing I need to build. Turns out, from what I know so far, that its main purpose is changing tank design, so it is not really essential. I also start wondering about how the other buildings work - should I build multiple power generators? Does proximity matter? I found no explanations of these seemingly most basic entities in the wiki. (8) I put my tanks to the front and let them destroy some stuff while I do some work in the back. As I look to them, they stand around, not even defending themselves? A concept of different stances (passive, defensive, aggressive) might be nice here (if it doesn't already exist ^^), as they seem to be quite passive by default. (9) Okay, so how do I produce new units. Ah right, the factory. But how do I know my limits? After a few circles around the screen, I find the power bar - aah, so these power plants actually produce currency. Now it all makes sense. Something that should have definitely been mentioned in the tutorial imo. (10) My tanks are damaged, how do I repair them? In my eyes an elementary action. After some stumbling around in the wiki, it seems it is some later technology. Alright then, time for my veterans to die :/
Despite my harsh words, I want to thank you all for your hard work. I know from personal experience that open source development can be fun but also frustrating, and that many things that are not addressed are a lack of time rather than ill will, so keep at it :) I am fascinated by every usable open-source game (so far I enjoyed Mindustry, OpenTTD, Battle for Wesnoth, 0 AD and this) and hope that we can make a positive impact on the whole gaming ecosystem! Thus, I merely want to give you some feedback and thoughts as an unbiased first-time user.