I really want to like the game...

[Elpximso]

But it just feels like it's fighting against you all the time.

UI is a bit clunky. Tool usage is a bit unintuitive with using either the hotkeys (being ctrl+number) or the selector wheel.

The hotbar setup is also a little annoying, with it using multiple hot bars with function keys and then having each slot numbered, I tend to press the wrong keys cause im just not used to using the function keys for gaming. I would much rather have the hotbar switch use ctrl and number.

Deleting stuff is unnecessarily difficult.

The tutorial is also not much of a tutorial. You are told to do something, but not more than that. I was told to delete something off the space station, what is the space station? Is my platform the space station? I tried to delete railing, but I can't cause i don't have it researched.. so what am i supposed to delete? And to even delete something you need to ctrl+right click.

I could probably continue but i dont want to write all the stuff i could mention.

The game looks great and i do belive it could be really good and be something i enjoy a lot. Im just having a hard time getting into it with the mentioned problems im running into

[AstroColony]

Hi, thanks for the feedback.

The mouse scroll was also going to the next hotbar item and looping, but right now the mouse scroll is used for item variants - like conveyor ramps. Maybe going to the next item will be back with another hotkey.

Deleting stuff was simpler, using just RMB, but players suggested that better would be to use Ctrl+RMB to make fewer mistakes.
Anyway, there are two other ways to delete stuff:
- selection of elements by dragging, then pressing Remove
- using box selection - construction menu (functions)

Tutorial is there to just tell you about some topics, but it is not required for you to follow. The next missions are activated when you discover the next technologies. You can always switch between missions by just pressing R on the bot itself. You can also get rid of the bot if you find him annoying by pressing F (sleep) or removing the bot in the game settings.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to improve things. Right now the game is compatible with Steam Deck, but I want to implement full controller support, so the hotbar will be improved then as well.

[Elpximso]

Originally posted by AstroColony:

Hi, thanks for the feedback.

The mouse scroll was also going to the next hotbar item and looping, but right now the mouse scroll is used for item variants - like conveyor ramps. Maybe going to the next item will be back with another hotkey.

Deleting stuff was simpler, using just RMB, but players suggested that better would be to use Ctrl+RMB to make fewer mistakes.
Anyway, there are two other ways to delete stuff:
- selection of elements by dragging, then pressing Remove
- using box selection - construction menu (functions)

Tutorial is there to just tell you about some topics, but it is not required for you to follow. The next missions are activated when you discover the next technologies. You can always switch between missions by just pressing R on the bot itself. You can also get rid of the bot if you find him annoying by pressing F (sleep) or removing the bot in the game settings.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to improve things. Right now the game is compatible with Steam Deck, but I want to implement full controller support, so the hotbar will be improved then as well.

Thanks for the response! My experience right now is also really early, i will try and keep at it to see if it gets better. Might just be because im so used to how many others in the genre do it :D

Also credit to the look of the game, the machines look awesome and i love how much you can do with building!

[AstroColony]

I believe it gets better, since players can spend hundreds of hours with the game. :D

Also, you are not the first player to have a rough start. I try to understand how I can make early stages easier, tutorial more intuitive and less bothering.

[Elpximso]

Originally posted by AstroColony:

I believe it gets better, since players can spend hundreds of hours with the game. :D

Also, you are not the first player to have a rough start. I try to understand how I can make early stages easier, tutorial more intuitive and less bothering.

I also wanna believe it gets better! from what i have seen other people build!

[Elpximso]

Originally posted by AstroColony:

I believe it gets better, since players can spend hundreds of hours with the game. :D

Also, you are not the first player to have a rough start. I try to understand how I can make early stages easier, tutorial more intuitive and less bothering.

Uh actually just fought of an idea that might be interesting. So from the look of the steam page i first got the sense that its was a birds eye view so to say, with a feature of being able to also play in first person.

Think it could be cool for building, but it might not be feasible to add

[Metal]

the game can feel alittle grindy, but I really did not feel the game push back on fun untill the 4th star gate, then it got silly grindy with some insane numbers.

but I really like my Planet Eater ship build, the issue I really have is that I have to re make some of the lay outs to get to the grinding, it is part of the game but the game is so chill and the music is awesome and really makes it a stress eater, I can relax and still work towards something, I am not looking forward to the 5th star gate atm if thats a thing, not seeing how it wont be a monster grind

[Elpximso]

Originally posted by Metal:

the game can feel alittle grindy, but I really did not feel the game push back on fun untill the 4th star gate, then it got silly grindy with some insane numbers.

but I really like my Planet Eater ship build, the issue I really have is that I have to re make some of the lay outs to get to the grinding, it is part of the game but the game is so chill and the music is awesome and really makes it a stress eater, I can relax and still work towards something, I am not looking forward to the 5th star gate atm if thats a thing, not seeing how it wont be a monster grind

I played it a little more yesterday and got a more into it than i did at first. So it seems to be something that needs to grow on ya. Still something that i would like to see changed but its more just for convience

[Klandor]

Originally posted by Elpximso:

Originally posted by AstroColony:

I believe it gets better, since players can spend hundreds of hours with the game. :D

Also, you are not the first player to have a rough start. I try to understand how I can make early stages easier, tutorial more intuitive and less bothering.

Uh actually just fought of an idea that might be interesting. So from the look of the steam page i first got the sense that its was a birds eye view so to say, with a feature of being able to also play in first person.

Think it could be cool for building, but it might not be feasible to add

The problem with Birds-eye view for construction is that this game is 3D. Belts can go over or under, power cables can go over or under. One needs to be able to view things from lots of different angles, sometimes, to access the actual space where one may be trying to place a Belt that is immediately adjoining or under something else.

[Elpximso]

Originally posted by Klandor:

Originally posted by Elpximso:

Uh actually just fought of an idea that might be interesting. So from the look of the steam page i first got the sense that its was a birds eye view so to say, with a feature of being able to also play in first person.

Think it could be cool for building, but it might not be feasible to add

The problem with Birds-eye view for construction is that this game is 3D. Belts can go over or under, power cables can go over or under. One needs to be able to view things from lots of different angles, sometimes, to access the actual space where one may be trying to place a Belt that is immediately adjoining or under something else.

You could have camera controls? And i was actually more wanting it for building and teraforming

[Tony]

I'm with the original poster, here... I really want to like this - I can see a ton of potential. The biggest problem I'm having is with progression, 'instruction', and the UI.

I got stuck in the same place, and it took me awhile to understand that I need to delete something I created. It sounds like you're a small team, so this makes sense - and you've done a great job with that - but I would consider hiring a writer. Specifically, a technical writer that can make it fun.

My reasoning for that is that A-Bot says "Now make 3 oxygen tanks" - but nothing in the documentation says how to do that. It was all trial and error. Once you unlock some advanced mechanics, the hand-holding can go away. By then people understand the game-play or technical designs... but until then, you really need someone to say "connect a water line from the hydro machine to the whatever-machine to make oxygen tanks" I can't tell if some things are inputs or outputs. Before the water maker thing, I thought that first thing was making water and it just wan't working because I didn't know what I was doing.

Honestly, I'm not trying to rag on the game, but this is a major point of struggle for me. I get kind of lost and have to quit for a bit.

This is where progression comes into play. In my opinion, you should start with a very focused tech tree. We need oxygen, so the first tech tree should be walking you through the process in simple terms. You basically have that idea, but the tech tree does very little to explain anything. Maybe have the the tech trees place items in the hotbar. Having to search for items to make in the 'k' menu - whatever that is, adds more frustration - again, this is for me. I'm sure many others out there pick up on it much faster, but I'm definitely struggling.

The game does look great - though some things scale kinda weird... are we as big as we are or in some kind of machine... cause the ladder on the recycler looks kinda tiny versus the desk in the research lab.

I'll definitely keep an eye on this and continue trying to progress, but I need a break for now.

Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to seeing your continued work.

[phoneticdecay]

The biggest challenge I face with Astro Colony is the overwhelming and broad tech tree, which hinders focused progression until you fully understand the game.
Requiring each article to be unlocked individually feels as if it is a way to make it feel more robust.. or drag out gameplay.

The game is pretty awesome on a foundational level, and blends elements from several games / genres that I love.

But survival progression feels to be slightly off in more ways than just polish.
I understand my recommendation isn't for all.. but I think Reasearch Nodes would be a good way to approach this

- Each Node would have a slightly higher cost to unlock and would grant a major asset related to production chain.

- This would initiate a tutorial related to that process chain.
- Each sub tutorial stage would be tied to a sub component unlocked within the Node.
- Stand Alone and Brodging Technologies can Bridge the nodes amd grant access from a couple different progression paths.. similiar to some now.

I think overall.. putting a think group together of select players, personal gamer friends, and have a closed group thay can produce good feedback without having to sort through a ♥♥♥♥ ton.
After implement a few qol changes let the hordes discuss.
It feels as if the tech tree / tutorial aspect needs a bit of something.

If you could get it refined I feel it would offset the grindiness I felt while meandering and not really teaching for resource collection.

[Remnar]

When it comes to documentation or tutorials, I am seeing this problem in various places; where, it just tells you an apple is an apple.

You can't assume every one has the same common sense. Sometimes you need to know what kind of apple it is, or what kinds of apples there are, or even what a apple is.

In a game like this, not every one is well versed in sci-fi terminology or architecture. Assume people are just ignorant, and make a tutorial idiot proof as possible.

If you're using a tool bar for the UI, learn how other games have done it. Also play your own game, so you can get a feel for the jank you keep tossing at people; and hopefully make a better game from what you learn yourself.

[phoneticdecay]

Originally posted by Remnar:

When it comes to documentation or tutorials, I am seeing this problem in various places; where, it just tells you an apple is an apple.

You can't assume every one has the same common sense. Sometimes you need to know what kind of apple it is, or what kinds of apples there are, or even what a apple is.

In a game like this, not every one is well versed in sci-fi terminology or architecture. Assume people are just ignorant, and make a tutorial idiot proof as possible.

If you're using a tool bar for the UI, learn how other games have done it. Also play your own game, so you can get a feel for the jank you keep tossing at people; and hopefully make a better game from what you learn yourself.

This is a wonderful comment that I wonder how many people actually observe. There is a significant difference between QA testing and play testing.
Not saying it applies here, but it is definitely relevant in today's EA model.

[ClayburnGriffin]

The game has a lot of potential but they need to overhaul the UI and make some of the process stuff clearer.

It also seems like research should be reworked a bit to have a more sensible progression.