Gave this to a friend, got feedback EDIT: now with full 1st impressions review from @MicroMacXPX

0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
edited February 2017 in Ideas and Suggestions
Keep in mind this is his initial reaction to the Out-of-Box-Experience, so this may change etc:

Hey. So I had a chance to play through the tutorials last night, but that was as far as I got.

I can see why the game is a little difficult to play. They did make it artificially complex. Although the game is relatively simple to play and in construction, the RTS UI is largely based on standard RTS games, and is not optimized for the fast-paced nature of the FPS side of the game.
They should have used more of a C&C UI versus StarCraft, since that would enable rapid response, particularly for new players or those who have a hard time with memorization.

That's also where a lot of the complexity comes in. Since the FPS side of the game is CQC, doing RTS on such a small scale requires quick responses. Hunting for which building you need to upgrade or clicking through the UI options to find what you need takes time, of which you won't have on a CQC scale. It doesn't take much to for a commander to be ineffective. The game also requires very tight and active communication among the team.
Commanders will need to describe what they see and give clear descriptions of the overview, while players need to be clear on what they see and help the commander by signaling if they need something and helping in coordination. For example, some players want to push to the next room, so while the commander is focused there, other players need to be aware of this and react accordingly. As a result of this, although it promotes teamwork which is an improvement over BF4, there may be uncomfortable clashes as hardcore gamers meet casual gamers, which couldn't really happen with BF4's design.

So the game needs a little work, or a lot of practice with patient players. Also, I wish they had a single player mode. Overall, the game is fun and a great concept.

Due to the nature of the game, I can't help but feel this game would have been better on the Xbox or PS4 versus the PC. This is due to the need for communication, and headsets are not built into PC gaming but is out-of-the-box for consoles. I also wish the game was on a larger scale, but that is me. Be nice if we could get a group together and go in to play. That would probably be the best experience. Can't wait until our schedules sync up. Be nice to try this together.

EDIT: I didn't tell him I was passing the feedback along, so now he's writing up a more descriptive feedback, I'll update this post when he adds it.

EDIT2: Full first impressions review is up, here

Comments

  • cooliticcoolitic Right behind you Join Date: 2013-04-02 Member: 184609Members
    edited January 2017
    Good luck getting any, and i mean ANY, sort of accuracy on a controller. It's already hard enough to do so with kb/m. Also, that is not the correct definition of "artificial difficulty".

    I agree though, a proper SP mode would have improved things if we had it at launch, but it's too late for that now.
  • RevanCoranaRevanCorana Join Date: 2015-08-14 Member: 207125Members
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    coolitic wrote: »
    Good luck getting any, and i mean ANY, sort of accuracy on a controller. It's already hard enough to do so with kb/m.

    Heh. I'll just leave this here:

    http://xim4.com/ (Accurate translation from KB/M and / or joystick to controller input, while still being able to use the controller as well.)

    I have one, it's actually pretty cool. It has different profiles for different games and the different aiming modes (shoot from hip vs aim down sight etc) that you can select from an app on your phone (or from the computer).

    But yeah, straight controller is ridiculous. You can sort of get better after a while, but trying to control that much movement with just two thumbsticks, while still being able to aim accurately... you'd have to be a machine, and even then the controller itself isn't that accurate, especially after a bit of usage.
  • MephillesMephilles Germany Join Date: 2013-08-07 Member: 186634Members, NS2 Map Tester, NS2 Community Developer
    Wow I am honestly impressed by this feedback. @0x6A7232 is ther a chance for me to get to talk with your friend? That analysis made me curious about him.
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    Mephilles wrote: »
    Wow I am honestly impressed by this feedback. @0x6A7232 is ther a chance for me to get to talk with your friend? That analysis made me curious about him.

    I can ask, will post back.
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    @Mephilles He's interested, just busy at the moment, haven't forgotten about this. Are you on the NS2 Discord channel as well by any chance? (link if you aren't)
  • MephillesMephilles Germany Join Date: 2013-08-07 Member: 186634Members, NS2 Map Tester, NS2 Community Developer
  • .trixX..trixX. Budapest Join Date: 2007-10-11 Member: 62605Members
    0x6A7232 wrote: »
    ... Also, I wish they had a single player mode. ...

    Yes, this would be really helpful for new players... even a short & simple campaign would do
  • ArchieArchie Antarctica Join Date: 2006-09-19 Member: 58028Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Supporter
    edited January 2017
    Due to the nature of the game, I can't help but feel this game would have been better on the Xbox or PS4 versus the PC. This is due to the need for communication, and headsets are not built into PC gaming but is out-of-the-box for consoles. I also wish the game was on a larger scale, but that is me. Be nice if we could get a group together and go in to play. That would probably be the best experience. Can't wait until our schedules sync up. Be nice to try this together.

    If you don't have a microphone or a headset on your desktop machine, you're either not inclined for gaming, or you just are too shy/new to gaming, either way you can be really good at games and still be a team player without a microphone, hell some of the best comms in NS2 have no mics, or refuse to use them.

    I've played NS2 with PS3 Controller, Xbox Controller, cheap chinky controller, steam controller, VR headsets, used numerous different methods of input and programs to change those inputs and it completely wouldn't ever work in a console environment, the amount of movement required (or atleast at one stage was required) is immense to the point where you cannot ever react fast enough with sticks or even a steam controller.

    At one point the original UWE team were planning to put NS2 on a console (from memory, i remember Flayra or someone talking about licensing and not being able to get it for anything other then PC at the time due to contracts with one huge investor(unnamed investor) - :)
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    @Archie did you see my post about the XIM4? Not that it would matter for most players (the ones who resist anything not bundled with their iPhone console), but I like being able to use whatever I want with a console as well as a PC.
  • ArchieArchie Antarctica Join Date: 2006-09-19 Member: 58028Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Supporter
    0x6A7232 wrote: »
    @Archie did you see my post about the XIM4? Not that it would matter for most players (the ones who resist anything not bundled with their iPhone console), but I like being able to use whatever I want with a console as well as a PC.

    Most people buy consoles to get comfy on a couch or share a game with mates, buying a console then buying this unit is defeating the purpose for putting it on consoles. Besides it doesn't balance well for console gameplay, it just wouldn't

    With that said, NS2 can't even get optimized enough on a PC let alone at the time PS3/Xbox 360, hell it would run like a turd on PS4/xbox1 the best bit about playing NS2 on a controller is nothing at all.
    Natural Selection 2 System Requirements:

    1.2 GHz Processor,
    256MB RAM,
    a DirectX 9 level graphics card,
    Windows Vista/2000/XP,

    :D ^hahaha imagine if that was even nearly close to true at the time of release.
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    Archie wrote: »
    Natural Selection 2 System Requirements:

    1.2 GHz Processor,
    256MB RAM,
    a DirectX 9 level graphics card,
    Windows Vista/2000/XP,

    :D ^hahaha imagine if that was even nearly close to true at the time of release.

    I imagine that would be highly dependent on the resolution you're playing at. What's the NS2 min res? 1024x768? Ok, just checked, apparently it goes all the way down with no min, so I'll just say 1024x768 or 800x600 has to be the minimum, and you should be able to run the game at those resolutions using that potato you mentioned from the min specs.
  • ArchieArchie Antarctica Join Date: 2006-09-19 Member: 58028Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Supporter
    0x6A7232 wrote: »
    Archie wrote: »
    Natural Selection 2 System Requirements:

    1.2 GHz Processor,
    256MB RAM,
    a DirectX 9 level graphics card,
    Windows Vista/2000/XP,

    :D ^hahaha imagine if that was even nearly close to true at the time of release.

    I imagine that would be highly dependent on the resolution you're playing at. What's the NS2 min res? 1024x768? Ok, just checked, apparently it goes all the way down with no min, so I'll just say 1024x768 or 800x600 has to be the minimum, and you should be able to run the game at those resolutions using that potato you mentioned from the min specs.

    Nope even today with all the performance enhancements, you are barely even able to run the game, back then it was even worse the game didn't even run at 10fps. about 2 years back i had built a joke computer 1.2ghz celeron and even bumped up the ram to 512mb with windows xp with an okayish AGP gpu and it was only giving me 5fps, same goes for the engine test, it just didn't work.

    Hell a 1.6ghz amd laptop with a radeon HD integrated card was only getting 15fps, that's why my hive score was so low, i was using a shit laptop when i moved to Australia from New Zealand for about 1 1/2 years.
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    Maybe they mean with the res turned down to 320x200... lol (yes it does go down that far).
  • SantaClawsSantaClaws Denmark Join Date: 2012-07-31 Member: 154491Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    @MicroMacXPX You're awfully generous in this review. I hate to bash on the developers, I too think they did an amazing job with the game. However, when you describe it as "thinking ahead", I think it's worth mentioning that UWE have continued development after release for roughly 3 years. The game didn't look like this at release.

    Many of the things that you praise here, are in fact reactionary changes, not from "thinking ahead". -ie. the rookie only servers. Which in my opinion is no shame - it's easy to forget that UWE is, or at least was, an indie gaming developer with little prior experience of this scale. So to have a company that does try to improve based on feedback, is probably just as valuable as if they thought of everything themselves. That said, even though there's a number of things that we probably all would have preferred were implemented at release.
  • RevanCoranaRevanCorana Join Date: 2015-08-14 Member: 207125Members
    Great feedback. A single player campaign would definitely be a nice thing to have for newer players, but you know its costy and stuff and I think the devs with their limited ressources prefered to focus on the actual game (they at least added tutorials and survival modes later on) and if you want to train the normal game mode you can always play with bots (there are commander bots as well) so there is the possibility to practice that way, yes its not super noticeable, you have to search a bit in the menu and maybe its not as fun maybe or thriling like a CoD campaign but if you never played against other people and youre like a bit nervous it gets the job done.
    Also I believe the engine itself is a technical limitation for a single player campaign. However a more basic co-op mode may be possible who know.
    What I always thought was awesome in the earlier CoD multiplayer was the killcam, this lets you learn so much faster, about your mystakes, about the map, how the weapons and abilities work and so on and it was already suggested but again engine limitation.

    You know theres another game more hardcore that also didnt have any campaign but sill thrives, the Counter Strike series. The difference being that they have a much larger playerbase and with matchmaking and skill seperation in tiers it make it so that casual gamers dont ever cross hardcore gamer and so while they may still feel nervous if its their first game vs real people etc, they can still have a fair challenge, you know they can do something about it. Which in NS2 just doesnt happen outside of the comfy realm of rookie server, you know its binary, once you hit a certain number of hours you cannot go there anymore and you have to join the same 2-3 servers that everyone of any skill plays on.

    And it gets worst because there is no other games like NS2 meaning that more people stick around and put up with the problems more than in any other game because its good and unique, there is no remotely similar game to migrate to. It is almost a monopoly for us players who like this game genre. Bottom line there is a uncommonly high concentration of high skill person per low skill person, a small community and and consequently a brutal skill gap once dem newbs lose access to rookie servers. :disappointed:

    There used to be a intermediate category called "rookie friendly" servers but it was busted as the playerbase dwindled.


    I extremely agree about what you said on commander UI, while it works perfectly it is very much overly technical and the requirement to select every building to access its research menu forces commanders to use the CTRL+ 1-9 shorcuts constantly but yea I dont think everyone even knows about it. So direct result we end up with an incredible amount of near incapable commanders and most of which not trolly folks simply too slow, and learning the correct mechanical pattern, muscle memory and such takes away their attention from the actual game and their actual role, learning the different build orders, common strats etc (which I can count on the fingers of 1 hand) it's not that complicated what is more complicated is lanes securing and ressource tower (RT) defense/attack and rotation (because yes this game also has moba dna)

    For alien commander they improved it a lot before you had to research lifeforms upgrades from support structures (shift, crag, shade) now its almost all made from the hive directly, but for marines its still armory > arms lab > proto lab > command station > observatory all have reserachable tech and sometimes must be selected to activate crucial abilites.

    There is 1 thing also with marine called recycle, they can sell their structures to refund some res but you must select the structure, then press the recycle button. there is no recycle tool where you just click on a structure to recycle it with 1 click to recycle several in a quick succession, for example if the aliens attack your base or something, instead you must select every single structure seperately and do 2 actions for each and the selection is sometimes a bit weird like it doest register properly but the important is that many commander ui elements are not optimized very much if at all.

    Anyway great reading you. I hope you keep enjoying the game even after youre forced out of rookie servers
  • SantaClawsSantaClaws Denmark Join Date: 2012-07-31 Member: 154491Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Why is this, otherwise excellent thread, being derailed by this garbage? Who cares who got which idea from who. We got a really excellent review from a fresh pair of eyes; talk about that. Not this stupid shit.

    NS2 is the shit, end of discussion.
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    Quoting the relevant part of this post as it's relevant:
    Nordic wrote: »
    What more is there to say? He left great feedback. There is not much to respond to about it.

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