We are learning...

[Accurus]

Hey All,

I wanted to follow up with you all on some updates for this week. I am sure many of you have noticed that hotfixes have been slower and we talked about this in our recent developer update article.

There are going to be some practices that we are learning as we moving from a private tester base with slower updates to a larger base with more frequent updates. In particular validating code fixes in builds is critical. We are noticing some different behaviors in editor vs build and some people's systems are just configured a bit different and some of our code is not liking that. We will be focusing on validating fixes before we post a hotfix and are in that transition to that.

Why are we transitioning with Hotfix #11? Because there are several "show stopper" bugs that we have fixes for that are validated along with some other fixes that are not validated. We want to get these fixes out there so that at least some of the behavior is better and we are going to be focused moving forward on a couple different areas of the game that need refactoring due to bug fixes only exposing other bugs. One of the areas players should expect improvements is ground combat. It should be not only more reliable, it will also consume less system resources to load and run, along with post combat working better for troop transport usage and garrisons.

Next on our list is refactoring build queue menu as we are hearing from many of you that this is a sore issue and an obvious critical area in the game for users. This system too will be rewritten and should not only provide more reliable operation, but additional quality of life features for the build queue and housing that should make things easier. This update will likely come out in phases as it is fairly large and currently complex system will take some time to simplify. From there we will start looking at getting refitting ships and some better automated ship design rules in place and quality of life features like moving from colony to colony from colony view.

As always thank you for the support and keep the feedback coming!

[johnbigboy]

i dont know where i can give my feedback, i tried to play initially by running the tutorial but got stuck at the fleet operation part, so frustrating that i give up, today, i tried it again and this time got a bit further. the reason i got stuck is because the prompt message is not complete, the tutorial expected me to do a step but it was not mentioned, that step was to establish a output post on t.. prime. did not mention that i need to click on one of three option, option not highlighted at all. that took a bit of time fiddling around with much frustration, after that, a wrong prompt message give the impression that the tutorial has ended and i am on my own to explore to finish the game but it seems the tutorial is still active and wanting me to complete more steps. later after completing those steps, it did not clearly specify further action to be taken, so unsure what to do, meanwhile, the fleet screen do not show any fleet or ships at all, even those newly created. no indication or advice on what is happening, give up in frustration. i wonder how many tried initially and give up and refunded due to this. before anything else, please make sure, at least the tutorial is function properly even if it is a bit sparse or else it is turning potential customers off.

[Ace]

Hi Johnbigboy what issue exactly were you having with the planets menu prompt?

Also while the main tutorial does complete and lets you know the game is more open the goals do remain up with optional tasks to help guide you to a military victory.

Specific feedback on this can help us rework portions to make it clearer to the player that they're not making a mistake and that the later tutorial portions are optional guides.

[Accurus]

@johnbigboy thanks for the feedback and support. I am sorry to hear that the tutorial was frustrating. Regarding where to leave feedback feel free as others have to simply make a post on the forum and share that feedback. We are responsive to these posts and can record your concerns and get them answered or prioritized for a fix. I would encourage you as Ace has to be as specific as possible in the feedback. It helps take an idea from "I don't like" or "I don't have a concern" and operationalizing it into "Item A text is not displaying properly and needs to be clearer" etc.

You will find lots of posts on the forum where we engage in this practice and have gotten some amazing feedback and made updates based on that specific feedback.

Thanks you again for the feedback and the support and keeping checking in with us as to your experiences. It will help us make the game we all want to play.

[Retro]

i love this game visually i wish it had the game mechanics of Song of SYX but with the visuals of your game = $$$$

[Accurus]

Thanks for the positive feedback on our visuals! I looked up Song of SYX and it looks like we are a bit different games in scale but their game also looked very interesting.

[Mourdeeb]

Great game! In the tutorial when you get to the part where you can design a new ship, it is impossible to do so.

The overlay for the weapons comes up Behind the design que, making it inaccessible. You cannot select any weapons to be placed on your New Ship Design.

Out of necessity, I had to stop there.

(Also had one heck of a time trying to get a fleet to just go to a random location I selected on the map, within their fuel range.)

Thank you for your time.

[Ace]

Hi Mourdeeb we've been doing some refactoring of the ship designer over the last few patches. If the issue persists with the next patch please let us know!

[Accurus]

@Mourdeeb, thanks for the support and reaching out. I just fixed this issue and you should have a patch soon.

[Mourdeeb]

Originally posted by Accurus:

@Mourdeeb, thanks for the support and reaching out. I just fixed this issue and you should have a patch soon.

Refreshing to see active admins and developers!

[Ace]

Well we can't fix things if people don't report bugs, so we do really appreciate it when you guys do reach out about specific issues so we can address them :-)

[Mourdeeb]

Customizing the selected race isn't functional atm.

There are several of the races that are only showing white blocks and have no avatar.

[Ace]

These issues were introduced during one of the recent refactors and should be addressed in the next patch!

[Mourdeeb]

Originally posted by Ace:

These issues were introduced during one of the recent refactors and should be addressed in the next patch!

Excellent! Can't wait!

[Ace]

To clarify custom species are going to be unlocked during the last EA stage. We also have two greyed out species which will be in the next EA stage.

The white blocks with no avatar is a bug that will be fixed next patch.

[Mourdeeb]

Originally posted by Accurus:

@Mourdeeb, thanks for the support and reaching out. I just fixed this issue and you should have a patch soon.

The issue with the Design tab is still an issue.

If you go into the Design tab from the Planet build selection and choose a ship to alter Design on, it works, however, if you are in Galaxy, then select the Design Tab and attempt to Add Weapons, the Window for the Weapons appears Behind the Design Window and is inaccessible.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mourdeeb