Suggestion: Suggestion Forum!!! and 2 UX things

[iknowkungfu]

It makes sense

#1: Default Autofire to on, I'm sure data analyzing would show the majority of people using Autofire

#2: Jump path display when beacon is hovered over, too many times you aren't sure whether you can make the jump and corner yourself or waste fuel, you should be able to plan a general path out

[barsooma]

#1 is silly.
If you are using autofire all the time you are missing out on most of the strategic possibilities of your weapons.
Not to mention every time I use autofire, I end up killing my boarders at some point.
Pause is there for a reason.

#2 is decent.
One time I got stuck at the top of the map and caught by the fleet, I was expecting to make the exit in two jumps, instead I had to backtrack through about 8 occupied beacons. This was near endgame so I was fine, but it was so frustrating that I nearly axed that run.

[delink]

#2 doesn't make sense in the larger concept of the game unless you have visited that particular beacon before. You shouldn't be able to see the jump paths of every beacon. Perhaps I read the idea incorrectly and that's what you meant?

[Mataza]

#2
Main menu
Options
6. Show Beacon paths on Hover: Enabled

Don´t suggest things that are already in the game. It actually sounds like you didn´t even try.
Also Autofire only makes sense if your weapons are same speed or you have Ion weapons. With everything else autofire does more bad than good.

[UltraMantis]

Well the discussion forum is a suggestion forum also. Many ideas and discussions get buried but at some point the devs take a look at the feedback they get from gamers. That's partly how the beacon paths option was added to the game in a post release patch. Bugs and technical issues take priority but all ideas are welcome.

As for Autofire being enabled by default, i think it would suggest to players that autofire should allways be used, but that is a big mistake in most cases. Sometimes it's ok to leave weapons on auto but most of the time, timing wapons is crucial. You allways want to ensure your shots land on their targets in the correct order. Since all weapons recharge differently, autofire is very innefiecient. At least your opening salvo should be manually assigned.

A good example is the Kestrel with a slower missile and a faster burst laser. On autofire the burst laser will be stopped by shields and the missile will hit later and do its normal damage. But if you wait for the missile to recharge, you can shoot it first, destroy the enemy shields, then fire the burst laser when there are no shields to stop it.

[roguerpi]

I came here searching to see if Autofire by default had been suggested.

I hadn't considered that it wasn't a good idea!

Got the game on Friday and have been playing on Easy all weekend, and I'm an autofire whore. I'm fully aware of the different charge times but my thinking was always to keep the shots coming, doing as much damage as fast as possible rather than letting a weapon sit fully charged for even a second.

I'd redirect fire in between bursts on different targets, maybe keeping Ion on the shields and moving my guns to the weapons or engines...

Now I'll have to turn autofire off and play it right.

[boa13]

Yes, it's a bit of a chore, but timing your shots is the most efficient way to do battle.

Typically I keep an eye on my slowest weapon, pause as soon as it is ready to fire (inevitably, my other weapons are also ready at that point), and then fire them in the best possible order.

I also often unpause the game just long enough for my first weapon to fire (for example, I let missile fly half-way to the enemy) before pausing the game again to aim and shoot my lasers. The end result is that the missile destroys the shields and right after that the lasers land on the shieldless enemy.

Depending on your weapons, and also on your opponent, you do not have to always be as meticulous. If the enemy cannot damage you much (if you have good shields for example), then you can afford to be a bit more sloppy and/or turn on autofire. But in the most crucial battles, don't be surprised if autofire is not good enough.

[Number43]

In my opinion, the interface needs two additions: a keyboard hotkey that activates cloaking, and a button you can click with the mouse to pause.

[roguerpi]

In my opinion, the interface needs two additions: a keyboard hotkey that activates cloaking, and a button you can click with the mouse to pause.

Where the heck is your left hand?

The spacebar seems more than adequate for pause... though I guess maybe there were times I was drinking my beer... okay, you have a point.

[UltraMantis]

It would be great to have the game playable with mouse only or keyb only. That and setting individual weapons autofire on/off would be great additions.