Fundamental issues from the start

[garry619]

This is my POV, so I'm not telling anyone else what to do, but, some things are usually fundamental to every game.

Firstly, a tutorial. Now some people might like to flay around with no plan or idea how to do things, but the majority prefer to learn the basics so they have an idea of what to do. This game throws you in with no help at all.

Quests. These appear on your readout, but you have no idea how to complete them. You are expected to search through all your abilities blindly to figure out how to complete them.

Multiplayer. At the start there is no point in playing with someone else, there is not enough for the both of you to do. One person can do it all easily while their colleague stands around admiring the scenery. Also when you aren't within line of sight you can't find them again unless you manage to see the small name printed over their mech. Where they are should be on the compass allowing you to locate them easily.

The tools should be labelled. Right now there is a picture of what tool you have attached, but it would be easier if it was labelled so you didn't have to try and remember what it did.

Picking items up. You have to literally be on top of something it seems before it goes into your inventory. I mean you are basically standing on it!! Things should not need you to be that close, especially if you are trying to pick something up from the edge of a cliff.

Tools. They make no sense. Why do you need to use a chainsaw like an axe?! Why is the sweep of the arc so big you cut down literally everything in front of you as well as the one thing you were aiming for?

Night time. Why does it physically take you out of the game to tell you another day has dawned? What possible reason is there for that?

Movement speed. Now this might be upgraded later in game, I don't know, these are just things I have found in the first hour of play. But your mech is soooooo slow, even when 'running'. It feels like it takes forever to get anywhere.

Tipping over. Why? What is the point of this in game? To frustrate players?

Basically these are all things I have noticed within my first hour of playing. For most game developers they want players to be sucked in and enjoy the game right away so they don't ask for a refund. This game seems to go in the opposite direction. Frustrate and annoy players right out the gate.

[Phoenix Cat]

You sure you are playing Lightyear Frontier?? Really I had no issues with knowing and finding out what to do. You can turn off the morning opening scene I believe and just get important messages. Tripping is ok, we are a big awkward Mech. If you learn to drive it and slow down accordingly it is not an issue. The vacuum attachment will pick up almost all items. No need to get close to them to pick up. If you have only played an hour, you're not even giving it a chance. LOL. Happy Gaming. Edit. If you hold Q you can pull up your attachments. They are labeled. For the saw. You have a left hold and a right hold mouse button. One sweeps the other is straight ahead. Try that. Also some attachments use the R key to switch to different ammo. All is in the instructions.

[The Big Brzezinski]

Sounds to me like OP just did not understand what the game is before buying it. LF is a low-intensity sandbox game centered on exploration and creativity. It doesn't have a lot of technical mastery or skill challenges.

[Hotklou]

I was also a little bit confused at the start, but I got the hang of things pretty quickly. I wouldn't say no to some better tutorialization though.

[garry619]

Originally posted by The Big Brzezinski:

Sounds to me like OP just did not understand what the game is before buying it. LF is a low-intensity sandbox game centered on exploration and creativity. It doesn't have a lot of technical mastery or skill challenges.

It shouldn't then be challenging to figure out what to do, lol. Low-intensity does not mean guide less and random. Even, as you say, sandbox games still have to give you the bare minimum tutorial of how to proceed before letting you get on with things. This game does none of that. And how exactly was I supposed to know the game from what little they show you or the description the developer gives? Until you play it you don't know how basic it really is.

Yes, its in early access, which is usually where people make excuses for a game. 'Oh, its still in early access, you can't expect it to be perfect' ... well I don't expect that. After 40+ years of gaming I expect it to be solid enough to play without wondering why you have two blueprints in front of you when you only want to build one thing. Why the 'build' button is labelled 'add' rather than build to remove all misunderstanding. Small things like that, fundamental things that all games share, or should.

[Phoenix Cat]

Originally posted by garry619:

Originally posted by The Big Brzezinski:

Sounds to me like OP just did not understand what the game is before buying it. LF is a low-intensity sandbox game centered on exploration and creativity. It doesn't have a lot of technical mastery or skill challenges.

It shouldn't then be challenging to figure out what to do, lol. Low-intensity does not mean guide less and random. Even, as you say, sandbox games still have to give you the bare minimum tutorial of how to proceed before letting you get on with things. This game does none of that. And how exactly was I supposed to know the game from what little they show you or the description the developer gives? Until you play it you don't know how basic it really is.

Yes, its in early access, which is usually where people make excuses for a game. 'Oh, its still in early access, you can't expect it to be perfect' ... well I don't expect that. After 40+ years of gaming I expect it to be solid enough to play without wondering why you have two blueprints in front of you when you only want to build one thing. Why the 'build' button is labelled 'add' rather than build to remove all misunderstanding. Small things like that, fundamental things that all games share, or should.

Wow intolerant much? Yes it is everyone else fault for getting and understanding the game. LMAO.

[garry619]

Originally posted by Phoenix Cat:

Originally posted by garry619:

It shouldn't then be challenging to figure out what to do, lol. Low-intensity does not mean guide less and random. Even, as you say, sandbox games still have to give you the bare minimum tutorial of how to proceed before letting you get on with things. This game does none of that. And how exactly was I supposed to know the game from what little they show you or the description the developer gives? Until you play it you don't know how basic it really is.

Yes, its in early access, which is usually where people make excuses for a game. 'Oh, its still in early access, you can't expect it to be perfect' ... well I don't expect that. After 40+ years of gaming I expect it to be solid enough to play without wondering why you have two blueprints in front of you when you only want to build one thing. Why the 'build' button is labelled 'add' rather than build to remove all misunderstanding. Small things like that, fundamental things that all games share, or should.

Wow intolerant much? Yes it is everyone else fault for getting and understanding the game. LMAO.

If you thought I was being intolerant you need to get out more from under your cosy rock, lol. And it isn't just me going by the discussion list. I am also playing with my wife and she is having as much trouble as me .... now if you want to try your luck by insulting her then come at me :)

[Phoenix Cat]

Originally posted by garry619:

Originally posted by Phoenix Cat:

Wow intolerant much? Yes it is everyone else fault for getting and understanding the game. LMAO.

If you thought I was being intolerant you need to get out more from under your cosy rock, lol. And it isn't just me going by the discussion list. I am also playing with my wife and she is having as much trouble as me .... now if you want to try your luck by insulting her then come at me :)

Wow. Now I have to report you. Acting like a child and making threats.

[garry619]

Originally posted by Phoenix Cat:

Originally posted by garry619:

If you thought I was being intolerant you need to get out more from under your cosy rock, lol. And it isn't just me going by the discussion list. I am also playing with my wife and she is having as much trouble as me .... now if you want to try your luck by insulting her then come at me :)

Wow. Now I have to report you. Acting like a child and making threats.

Hey, you started it with your child like response to a comment not even aimed at you. You came to someone elses defence accusing me of something that I hadn't done, but that you had taken offence at because you are so thin skinned. And how exactly is that a threat?! Am I going to reach through your monitor and bop you on the nose or something?!

[Phoenix Cat]

Originally posted by garry619:

Originally posted by Phoenix Cat:

Wow. Now I have to report you. Acting like a child and making threats.

Hey, you started it with your child like response to a comment not even aimed at you. You came to someone elses defence accusing me of something that I hadn't done, but that you had taken offence at because you are so thin skinned. And how exactly is that a threat?! Am I going to reach through your monitor and bop you on the nose or something?!

See, so damn angry. Get over it.

[kiitteh]

Hey Exofarmers!

Remember to discuss respectfully with each other and stay on topic in discussions. We moderate our community hub following Steam's rules and guidelines .

For Gary: Thank you so much for sharing your feedback! We are in early access so feedback is very important to us as we continuously try to improve the player experience. Some things you've mentioned in your post are things we are working on or already have prepared for the next update.

[Nekogod]

It's been a while since I started a new game, but I distinctly remember getting on screen prompts early on to help. It's not a full on tutorial, but certainly not no help at all.

As for tools, there's a vacuum that sucks up items, a water cannon, a seed cannon and a chainsaw/pick, there's not much to remember there.

[garry619]

Originally posted by Nekogod:

It's been a while since I started a new game, but I distinctly remember getting on screen prompts early on to help. It's not a full on tutorial, but certainly not no help at all.

As for tools, there's a vacuum that sucks up items, a water cannon, a seed cannon and a chainsaw/pick, there's not much to remember there.

Yes, there are items that pop up on the left of your screen, but how to attain them, how to build or create them is not explained. Telling someone they must do something, but then not telling them how to do it is not a tutorial in any sense of the word.

As to the tools, what is the difference, on screen, between a basic saw and and improved one? I can not tell them apart, and even if you press Q to select a tool it doesn't tell you there either which model of tool you are using, a basic, or an improved one. There should be visual differences or if they aren't prepared to do that at least label it so when selecting you can see if you have the improved tool you need for a particular job.

[Phoenix Cat]

Originally posted by garry619:

Originally posted by Nekogod:

It's been a while since I started a new game, but I distinctly remember getting on screen prompts early on to help. It's not a full on tutorial, but certainly not no help at all.

As for tools, there's a vacuum that sucks up items, a water cannon, a seed cannon and a chainsaw/pick, there's not much to remember there.

Yes, there are items that pop up on the left of your screen, but how to attain them, how to build or create them is not explained. Telling someone they must do something, but then not telling them how to do it is not a tutorial in any sense of the word.

As to the tools, what is the difference, on screen, between a basic saw and and improved one? I can not tell them apart, and even if you press Q to select a tool it doesn't tell you there either which model of tool you are using, a basic, or an improved one. There should be visual differences or if they aren't prepared to do that at least label it so when selecting you can see if you have the improved tool you need for a particular job.

Again, I went over how to select your tool. They are labeled. So idk why you keep bringing up this point???

[garry619]

Originally posted by Phoenix Cat:

Originally posted by garry619:

Yes, there are items that pop up on the left of your screen, but how to attain them, how to build or create them is not explained. Telling someone they must do something, but then not telling them how to do it is not a tutorial in any sense of the word.

As to the tools, what is the difference, on screen, between a basic saw and and improved one? I can not tell them apart, and even if you press Q to select a tool it doesn't tell you there either which model of tool you are using, a basic, or an improved one. There should be visual differences or if they aren't prepared to do that at least label it so when selecting you can see if you have the improved tool you need for a particular job.

Again, I went over how to select your tool. They are labeled. So idk why you keep bringing up this point???

As I said, you cannot tell an improved saw, for example, from a normal one. Its the same for all the tools and considering the tools have several upgrades available it should be either visibly different (the tool looks different on your arm) or its labelled as saw 2, saw 3, etc, etc.

[The Big Brzezinski]

Constant awareness of the upgrade state of your spikesaw isn't useful. It doesn't have to be monitored. You expend resources to advance its upgrade state, and never think about its previous one again. Its basic functionality doesn't change.

Subtle visual indicators may provide a feeling of increasing capability, but that's presentation, not practicality. It's less important.