Design Decisions

[Iversithy]

Hi,

kinda of a rant but there are so many things that (in my opinion) are working against the player fun or health of the game.

1. Lack of Crafting
Why is it only possible to craft 2 Guns?
Why can't we at least craft the BRAIN Version of these 2 for Single/Multiplayer (2p etc.). Or at least in form of a BRAIN Mod.
As of right now ressources beyond a certain point are just dumped into Frigate Spamming.

2. Skill Trees & Skill Points
First of, the skill trees are rather generic. +% DMG here, +%Speed there, etc.
The EVA Boost Speed/CD or the Strafe/YAW Speed Talents are example of good ones.

Also, there need to be slightly more skill points available. With 2 Players you can't cover Mod & Module Upgrades while also having the required (especially later) Captain Skills.
This leads to a bigger question: why are T2 & 3 Mods and Station Upgrades Locked as "Special" of skill trees...
They feel mandatory, or at least it feels like a loss not having them and it further intensifies Point 1.

These are just easily adjustable ones before coming to

3. Why is there no Save/Quit/Continue feature. So many "good" runs I had to cut short because of time constraints etc.

4. Why is there no Pause Option, or at least make Interceptions limited to the first few seconds of Jump Drive.
During Missions you can hardly AFK for a longer period of time, ones you are spotted you are on a time until death.
After you finished and Jumped you are at risk of interception and can't afk either.
The ONLY Save time to AFK for a prolonged period of time is after clearing a bonus Event and sitting in Jump, as apparently you can't trigger another Bonus Event (such as Interception) while one is already active on the map.

In regards to 3 & 4, I get that it's supposed to be a roguelite and they are usually designed for quick In & Out Runs but it feels bad having to stop runs while above 95% Hull simply because you can't pause properly otherwise.

Now there would be other things that could be addressed but those would be bigger Game Changes which require more Dev Work.

[Pentele]

Haha, I just commented your other post about reliably getting b.r.a.i.n turrets that you should make a post about things you'd want to see, but I did not notice that you already made one :D

1. I agree, would be great to have more things to craft.

2. The game is designed around it being 4 player co op, so I kinda understand why they did it so, but it would be really helpful to have some leeway when playing as solo or with one other crew member. Can't really have every useful gene thing without 3 or 4 player crew and even then every player needs to have sufficiently high level.

3. Totally agree. Some sort of saving & loading feature would be great but not in a way that you can just re-try bosses over and over. Missions should still be played in ironman mode. And if this gets added, maybe some design changes to missions so that longer runs becomes more of a thing. I know many people liked to have one or two mission runs, but for me, it has always been a test of how far I can get.

4. Yes, this would be really useful. I play solo most of the time and some runs tend to extend to well over a two hour mark, so being able to take a breather usually only happens in jumps after I clear an interdiction mission. Actually, most of the time I get interdicted, I'm just happy because I know I can have a safe "pause" in few minutes :D

[Kuikka]

2) I agree about the boring skills part. I think +x% to skill y is the most boring perk/talent reward ever invented. For example I would rather see skills opening new ammo types for gunner (temporary with cooldown - Flak burst, Armor piercing, incendiary with DoT damage, ion stun energy etc) or mechanics like quick U-turn for pilot, autopilot zigzag maneuvers etc that would allow pilot to exit the seat once in a while. These and many more already suggested in the Discord feedback.

3) Endless mode without saving feels like being robbed any sense of achievement, and those with job & families can't really afford to spend more than a couple of hours per day for playing. Granted, the game misses lot of content from mission types, loot, reward to base/structure variety to make the Endless truly worth of Endless title, would it allow saving. Currently there's content to about 3-5 hours of gameplay.

I'll add my rant here as well. Just a sidenote, I only rant about games I care about and hope would succeed - otherwise I won't bother giving suggestions or feedback.

The game would be ideal Survival Crew Sim instead of some quick lobby shooter you start new again and again. It's a small team, I give them that, but I don't really get what their end goal is. The effort they put on emotes could be used in content that matters.

Would it be more survival/ship management orientated, it would need the following things.

Base/wreck interior randomization (see one, see all currently), chance for enemies in ruins/bases (turrets, drones, traps and of course means to counter them etc), enemy variety and randomization (perhaps there's an enemy carrier or larger capitals patrolling instead of the same old fighter squadrons)

Ship types, it would be nice to find blueprints for new ones and built those with resources. Blueprint system would also work in improving the current ship imo. Maybe there could be chance to find them from small ship wrecks, as currently those offer little to none loot. This way it would be a loot & reward.

Random, rare friendly locations and/or safe zones, where you could repair the ship and craft stuff without time limit or enemy attacks. Maybe such map markings could be found from data logs to make them useful, even warn about certain dangers (= 0 chance for intercept for x jumps). For the Endless with saves, some forms and ways to repair otherwise unrepairable damage is needed, be it repair stations, expendable repair kits or so.

Modules and ship upgrades: Give us more options to upgrade our ship along the way, with item type variety and item variations. Ship hull improvements (for example weaker hull but nimbler ship, expendable self-seal repair system that would repair hull damage while in combat, armor plates that can be destroyed etc). Sensor improvements (range, speed, counter measures). Shield types (effective against x, weaker against Y, . Thruster/ engine types (faster but weaker turn speed etc. Weapon types and variations (kinetic small, medium, large caliber, dmg, range, accuracy RoF - Energy beam, pulse, RoF, dmg, effect, heat - Missiles - Rockets - Torpedoes - Mines. Give us launchable & controllable drone/fighter with a fighter hangar module. Give us unique stuff we can find and install to our ships (cloaking device, exotic weapons, improved exosuit like with a personal shield).

There are good roguelites with saving options, and this game than the most need it - but it also needs a strategy for the endless, and currently (like mentioned) i dont really understand the goal.

[Ivins]

There is Craftable BRAINS mod.
There is a Pause Game on Jump mod.

Otherwise a lot of good points. I want more craftable guns, currently you're a brain lover or a Beam-caster lover.

I want T4 Guns that drop from boss fights, And multiple drops from bosses when I'm on my 2nd pass of that boss.

Currently there is 3 bosses, and you rotate through them.
Boss 1, 2, 3 Drop 1 item, Next rotation is the same bosses over again for 4, 5, 6. And that 2nd run into them should drop twice the loot as a reward for making it that far.

Turret stats being capped really ruining the theory crafting part of the game, I want to try 3 MkIII fire rate mods, or 3 Dmg MkIII mods, but we cant cause its limited, we are double limited by having 3 Weapon mod slots. This limits the amount of theory crafting we can do. We also can't see the limit of Brain stats.

I want a Gold Rarity Data shard that calls in a repair ship that can fix your ship up X% that would be somewhat rare so its not to over powered.
Currently the "No Unrepairable Damage mod" Just seems like a complete cheat repairing up to 100% just from doing the minor hull repairs.

I want modules on the inside of the ship like one on each side of the destroyer's fabricator, Not even module needs to access the outside. This would give spots to use Life-Support and Thruster Modules.