Better Suit Computer/UI
Malsqueek
United States Join Date: 2016-05-17 Member: 216835Members
United States Join Date: 2016-05-17 Member: 216835Members
You, the good folks of Unknown Worlds, are getting so many things right with this title. Thank you for your hard work.
One thing that I think would dramatically improve the overall game would be a little more work on the suit/UI stuff. Most specifically, the way that Waypoints and Signals are handled.
Signals:
In general, I like that the suit has a limited number of slots and that we have to make mutually exclusive choices regarding what we put into our headset depending upon where we are going. The one thing that drives me bonkers, though, is the handling of Signals in this game. Our suit is clearly a very advanced computer that is linked to our tablet.
Rather than have the signals be literal inventory items, why is there not a third implicit module (a Comms Unit) that acquires and stores all signals in a way that we can catalog them just like the Logs and Notes, and mark them resolved once we have searched them? It would feel way more realistic (for, you know, a science fiction game about crashing into an alien aquarium), and would better facilitate the collection and exploration of those spaces that the signals are clearly meant to guide us towards
Waypoints:
Currently, the Augmented Reality provided to us by our suit is very one dimensional. Specifically, there is no depth to most of the waypoints or vehicle markers. We get distances from the Signals we slot into our helmets, but not for things that we construct and manually place.
I would like to suggest two changes to this. First and foremost, that the single closest visible waypoint be the clearest and most solid, and that the further away a waypoint is beyond that, it becomes slightly fuzzier and more transparent. Even in the absence of an actual distance counter, that would give us a clear indication of what we could expect to see first, when heading in the direction of several known (and stacked) waypoints.
Additional Augmented Reality Features:
I'd like some helmet slotted chips that give us a few more choices, as right now we can have the compass, scanner room, and temp chips so long as we don't have a signal. Not really things you have to be all that concerned about most days.
- Low-Light Processor: Slot the chip for 30% better low light vision
- Relative Position Sensor: Build a unit in the base to create a 0:0 and slot the chip to have an X/Y/Z on your HUD. Add a second Relative Position Chip to allow the creation of a handful of waypoints without building beacons (good for short term exploration of an area)
I'm sure there's a few other reasonable AR slots that could be devised without compromising the challenge of the game which would add a few more good choices.
One thing that I think would dramatically improve the overall game would be a little more work on the suit/UI stuff. Most specifically, the way that Waypoints and Signals are handled.
Signals:
In general, I like that the suit has a limited number of slots and that we have to make mutually exclusive choices regarding what we put into our headset depending upon where we are going. The one thing that drives me bonkers, though, is the handling of Signals in this game. Our suit is clearly a very advanced computer that is linked to our tablet.
Rather than have the signals be literal inventory items, why is there not a third implicit module (a Comms Unit) that acquires and stores all signals in a way that we can catalog them just like the Logs and Notes, and mark them resolved once we have searched them? It would feel way more realistic (for, you know, a science fiction game about crashing into an alien aquarium), and would better facilitate the collection and exploration of those spaces that the signals are clearly meant to guide us towards
Waypoints:
Currently, the Augmented Reality provided to us by our suit is very one dimensional. Specifically, there is no depth to most of the waypoints or vehicle markers. We get distances from the Signals we slot into our helmets, but not for things that we construct and manually place.
I would like to suggest two changes to this. First and foremost, that the single closest visible waypoint be the clearest and most solid, and that the further away a waypoint is beyond that, it becomes slightly fuzzier and more transparent. Even in the absence of an actual distance counter, that would give us a clear indication of what we could expect to see first, when heading in the direction of several known (and stacked) waypoints.
Additional Augmented Reality Features:
I'd like some helmet slotted chips that give us a few more choices, as right now we can have the compass, scanner room, and temp chips so long as we don't have a signal. Not really things you have to be all that concerned about most days.
- Low-Light Processor: Slot the chip for 30% better low light vision
- Relative Position Sensor: Build a unit in the base to create a 0:0 and slot the chip to have an X/Y/Z on your HUD. Add a second Relative Position Chip to allow the creation of a handful of waypoints without building beacons (good for short term exploration of an area)
I'm sure there's a few other reasonable AR slots that could be devised without compromising the challenge of the game which would add a few more good choices.
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