Let's talk about the Feb 2016 Update! - ### Critters/Planet Surface ###

Exploration

Not sure if top-down here is better. The system in the vid feels too compact. Or the ship speed too great?...

    I, personally, would prefer like to check out the option where my ship is locked in the middle of the screen bottom facing north and controls would move the system around it. Accelerating and "breaking" would result in a slight pitch change of the ship. Turning, in a slight roll. I assume that's what the planet exploration is gonna be like judging from the terrain_concepts.jpg Why not have it in the star system too?.. It would also allow for a smooth transitions between screens/views mentioned below.

Planet Critters ideas

All looks good and sexy here. Love, love, love what's in terrain_concepts.jpg

PlanetScan.mp4 --- The star spinning around planet is cool, but pointless. First of all it's hidden 90% of the time. Second of all, it moves so fast, you can't admire it's beauty. I'd rather see it stationary with cool graphic effect of its corona, be it a protuberance or some pulsation/breathing effect etc.

    Not a fan of a separate screen for scanning and landing purposes. Yes, it mimics original, but it's not the best possible UX. It is year 2016. How hard is it to make your ship come to a planet from system exploration view  and orbit it in a non-interrupted manner without switching to another dam screen? Orient your ship as the lander oriented in terrain_concepts.jpg and make the planet spin horizontally, representing your ship orbiting and scanning the planet. Zoom into planet when the lander is out and start driving around. All in nice, smooth transitions. I understand that it's easy programming wise to just switch to the scan screen from system exploration and then switch to landed on the planet view, but again, if Steve Jobs didn't do half of all those small things he's done with iPhone, it wouldn't be here as a mobile phone benchmark today. Do you want your SC to be a Windows phone or an iPhone?..

Ship concepts

All is cool here. Love the single vertical wing ship with a black sphere and purple glow in the middle. Love the spinning nubs human cruiser. Tywom ship looks better than Tywom themselves.

This has actually been my single favorite part about this whole project so far: the huge variety of very distinctive and beautiful concept renderings you guys are producing for the planetary landscapes. I'm also a fan of driving and racing games, and this is like the best of that genre combined with stellar exploration. I enjoy modifying and upgrading cars in other racing games and seeing how it improves their performance and I am very interested to see how that plays out in the planet landing experience here.

It would be hugely fulfilling to start off with just a basic lander that isn't much more capable than the stuff we send to Mars, limited to very slow land travel without severe changes in elevation, and eventually upgrade it to something that can go super fast over mountains, skim over non-solid surfaces (and not just oceans of water, there are worlds where condensed gas like methane turn to liquid at extremely cold temperatures like on Titan) and eventually dive underneath them for submersible exploration. Would be so happy to see that as it would literally open up a whole new level of exploration besides just surveying the top surface of a planet. And what about taking flight to cruise around in sub-orbit to collect gases in the stratosphere, or flying alien biospecimens? Also an extremely cool notion.

I still remain concerned over scale. The topic has been brought up and I know the original games were hardly to scale but games have evolved in a quarter century and many space games render planets truer to scale. Can't help but feel there will be a potential disconnect if ships are modeled at virtually the same scale as planets for navigation or combat, and then they suddenly grow to hundreds or thousands of times their size once we enter orbit around them. I'm willing to accept whatever becomes the ultimate outcome but I am simply voicing concerns that I think might be applicable to a modern gaming audience.

Talking about Critters, i wonder if the Founders Program will allow fan concepts for critters, anyway, the critters so far are amazingly balanced between fantasy and reality (i mean, i can imagine a creature like this, even being improbable)

My ONLY problem with the Planets are that they seem to have structures Leaving the Atmosphere, which i find odd, BUT, They are Amazingly Alive, the colors and forms makes them so Fantasy-like AND sci-fi-like

the Ships are kinda of the old-school models meets new technology, which is AWESOME! these ships can have a poll to determine the best ones, but for now, the concepts are amazing!

 - Shade A.I

I really enjoy what I've seen so far, though there seems to be a consensus about scale being slightly off, one way or another. I understand that this is an early iteration, so I won't harp on that. 

CRITTERS

Good god, I love those critters. I just hope that there are MORE critters (I figure you'll have more, just wanted to have my thoughts recorded). My only real feedback would be that there be less...gooey, slimey...gross critters. Not that I don't like them (as I just said), I just feel like having a bit more variety, maybe some more wacky ones to compliment the serious ones. I wouldn't want them to be too off the wall, but part of SC2's charm (specifically in terms of planetary exploration), was that some of the critters were just...weird. For example, the slot machine tree and the chicken. Also the "totally not a spathi, but might be a spathi" thing.

PLANET SURFACE

The biomes are very closely matching what we've seen in the concept art, something that I appreciate immensely. I can't wait to see these expand further.

Yes, the critters were very cool.  I particularly like the page the grid of like 9 different landscape scenes.  Those seemed to me to be kind of concepts of what you will during the lander game and it really is a great cartoony look that is very appropriate for Star Control in my mind.  I know others have a different vision of Star Control, but these landscape shots especially really match what I have in mind as a look for a new SC.  Just seeing those really makes me want to play the lander part of the game, which I can see being a very cool mini arcade game if it is done in a way that is cool and fun (there being an infinite number of ways that match that description).

I really like the look they are working towards, it really seems very appropriate for Star Control too me.

...and it sure would make for a nice looking space hockey rink:-)

Planets and critters get my thumbs up.

 (in case you thought I wasn't serious)

I like the critters, but I am hoping (and I know it is only concept), that the planets will not look so cartoonish.

Quoting Hunam_, reply 1

Exploration

Not sure if top-down here is better. The system in the vid feels too compact. Or the ship speed too great?...

    I, personally, would prefer like to check out the option where my ship is locked in the middle of the screen bottom facing north and controls would move the system around it. Accelerating and "breaking" would result in a slight pitch change of the ship. Turning, in a slight roll. I assume that's what the planet exploration is gonna be like judging from the terrain_concepts.jpg Why not have it in the star system too?.. It would also allow for a smooth transitions between screens/views mentioned below.




Planet Critters ideas

All looks good and sexy here. Love, love, love what's in terrain_concepts.jpg

PlanetScan.mp4 --- The star spinning around planet is cool, but pointless. First of all it's hidden 90% of the time. Second of all, it moves so fast, you can't admire it's beauty. I'd rather see it stationary with cool graphic effect of its corona, be it a protuberance or some pulsation/breathing effect etc.

    Not a fan of a separate screen for scanning and landing purposes. Yes, it mimics original, but it's not the best possible UX. It is year 2016. How hard is it to make your ship come to a planet from system exploration view  and orbit it in a non-interrupted manner without switching to another dam screen? Orient your ship as the lander oriented in terrain_concepts.jpg and make the planet spin horizontally, representing your ship orbiting and scanning the planet. Zoom into planet when the lander is out and start driving around. All in nice, smooth transitions. I understand that it's easy programming wise to just switch to the scan screen from system exploration and then switch to landed on the planet view, but again, if Steve Jobs didn't do half of all those small things he's done with iPhone, it wouldn't be here as a mobile phone benchmark today. Do you want your SC to be a Windows phone or an iPhone?..

 

Ship concepts

All is cool here. Love the single vertical wing ship with a black sphere and purple glow in the middle. Love the spinning nubs human cruiser. Tywom ship looks better than Tywom themselves.

And here goes Hunam_, making sense again. I endorse this entire post (except the stuff about Apple =P; I also don't mind the separate screens for scanning/landing). I really love the planet surface art. I mean, it's perfect.

^ Hey, I've never owned an iPhone. Android user here through and through, but you can't deny the fact that iPhone UX is the best out there.

Feedback re planet scan:

1) I think it makes no sense to orbit planet in such a way that the star is visible and etc. Waste of time and resources as nobody is going to care after firs two-three encounters. Planet-centric view with planet rotation in the middle of the screen makes more sense.

2) It would be great if anomalies-minerals-other points of interest could produce "radar blips", flashes, or something similar in terms of attention attracting. Or one could go even further, like during a scan you do not get the exact location, but rather an indication of area where the point of interest-mineral might be located (one can get some false positive too btw). With equipment A) one cannot differentiate between, say, different types of anomalies, ruins, minerals, gases and etc. + one gets just an idea on the area; with equipment one can differentiate between different types of anomalies-minerals and etc.; type C) gives exact location and etc. + one could have additional equipment on lander too.

Do you guys like my ideas?

Quoting Lone_Utwig, reply 10

Feedback re planet scan:

 

1) I think it makes no sense to orbit planet in such a way that the star is visible and etc. Waste of time and resources as nobody is going to care after firs two-three encounters. Planet-centric view with planet rotation in the middle of the screen makes more sense.

 

2) It would be great if anomalies-minerals-other points of interest could produce "radar blips", flashes, or something similar in terms of attention attracting. Or one could go even further, like during a scan you do not get the exact location, but rather an indication of area where the point of interest-mineral might be located (one can get some false positive too btw). With equipment A) one cannot differentiate between, say, different types of anomalies, ruins, minerals, gases and etc. + one gets just an idea on the area; with equipment one can differentiate between different types of anomalies-minerals and etc.; type C) gives exact location and etc. + one could have additional equipment on lander too.

 

Do you guys like my ideas?

 

I do like #2 very very much!!!

Stardock, I must echo my comrades here - you nailed creatures and planet design!  The creature variety is amazing.  I like the collections by function too.  They really capture the creativity of SC2's creatures, while being completely original and distinct.  They are a great mix of cutesy-cartoony and real...it's hard to explain, but it really works!

Give whoever is doing those a raise!

I like the green and the purple colors for the Quixel better than the red, but they're all wonderful.

I can't wait to land on a planet full of gooey creatures!  A swamp or volcanic or toxic planet with them would be so fun.

As for the planet scan, I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for in that clip.  The planet itself looks great.  The trees, smaller rocks, and especially the ripples in between the sand dunes are exquisitely detailed.  Details like that are amazing (I'm running out of unique adjectives for all this stuff - such a bang up job!!!) and really make me like the desert planet - something that could otherwise be very forgettable...that's it!  They make the world memorable!  Good job!

As for the 9-grid of landscapes...guess what? AMAZING!  I really like the crystalline one.  It's my favorite so far.  The scale on those seems much larger than anything in-game that I've seen so far...will the lander end up being on vast planets, as the artwork indicates?

My only criticism here is the actual lander in the 9-grid.  I don't mean to be "that guy" and I'm totally serious...it's a bit phallic, especially from the angle that it's shown.  I'm wracking my brain for a better alternative, but with twin 2-year olds running around in the room with me, I can't think up anything better...It's not a big deal, but I'm sure jokes would happen at some point that would detract from an otherwise engrossing experience on the planets.  Thank you for taking this comment seriously, and again, I apologize for noting it, but that's why you selected us.

For the planet scan, I'm excited to see minerals/points of interest/artifacts.  Are any of those the reason for the glowing white dots on the planet video?  I also note that there were 4 materials listed in inventory...will there be only 4 minerals in the final game?  I suppose it's not a big deal, but I loved the varied levels in SC2. Radioactive, precious, and Exotic made my day every time I found a new planet with some...don't take that away, please!

If the rest of the game design follows this kind of creativity and execution, then we have a bright future ahead of us.