Alpha Testers
I'm just curious... How many Alpha players do we have here? And how has your experience been?
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Comments
Lots of neat little features that I really enjoy. Such as the comms, only being able to load or raise shields unless yellow or higher alert.
The game ran pretty good.
Did the main scenario two times and the waves about 2 times, getting to wave 4 I think before we quit.
The guy on flight didn't like 3 d, but that is not a real bug, said he had a hard time telling where he was oriented and couldn't tell where he was turning to.
Another was how hard it was to see ships from afar on the main screen.
we had 7 players, so a few people were just watching screens. The setup was quick.
Familiarity was the biggest problem. Was some concerns about graphics, but they understood since it is alpha. I will try and get more feedback tomorrow. We played late so everyone bugged out pretty quick.
The distance to get to things was a bit long for some of the players, but I don't if that's because I don't know how to jump or whatever yet.
But most say the game is promising in the long run and will play again.
A new training video is on the way, which should help first time players. Issues with familiarity is understandable until you've learned the ropes. A lot of Artemis players have a tendency to be uncomfortable with certain aspects of Horizons. That's OK ultimately as we are trying for more of a simulation than the simplified arcade-action style of Artemis. In fairness you could have that in Horizons as a Mission style but it has not been a focus for us.
For distances, we feature the 'On Screen' button for targets, which is closer to Star Trek style of gameplay. It's the monitor icon that is visible in the Target Intel section.
And distance is an understandable game-balancing topic. Since we are going for more of a galactic scale, distance becomes a whole different topic. The BURST concept will evolve, certainly.
We are at the content and game balancing stage for the existing functionality as we get into the late Alpha. Look for more of everything coming as we continue.
Yes Bearing will be included for any target/waypoint. Just haven't gotten that off the list yet
Still, I applaud the effort that you ARE doing 3D. The added difficulty can also be seen as a positive challenge.
Experienced players use the 2 circular 'fish eye' radars in the top corners of their console. One is dead ahead and one is straight to the rear. so you know where things are relative to you. This style is often referred to as the 'X-Wing' radar style.
I think the X-Wing style radar works for short range "knowing where stuff is". But the "homeworld" style works better for getting an idea and overview of what is where and how far.