To reiterate an earlier comment I made, I really am enjoying this! Yes, people draw similarities to the more recent SPAZ which I've played a little of, but this game reminds me a LOT more of Escape Velocity on earlier Macs from the '90s. The "newer" incarnation is currently/still EV Nova, which I haven't yet played but is also sprite-based. In fact, I've been craving a top-down space explorer for a while that I haven't been able to satisfy by more recent 3D/cockpit games (too slow to explore) nor even SPAZ. (Oh wow, I just remembered this is also similar to Epic Megagames' "Solar Winds" series back in 1993.)
Anyways, after gaining some levels and cash, I've ventured out a little recently. Originally, I noticed the starting system's star to be quite a bit smaller--and bluer/whiter--than adjacent systems' stars. (Nice corona effects, btw!) I understand the sizes aren't anywhere near realistic, but I still thought, "Cool, a white dwarf. I wonder what else is out there." I found a system with a much smaller dot of a star on the galactic map--and sure enough, the way it didn't emit much light being gray, it seemed like a neutron star! I was honestly hoping for something like that since there aren't too many other star categories smaller than white dwarves--and the dot on the map wasn't red (for the smaller red dwarves). Not only that, when I was trying to mine one of its orbitting rocks, my mining beam kept disengaging, so "what the heck?!" I was impressed to find out I was actually being pulled in by that dense star, since other stars around the map didn't seem to do that. Nice touch with the gravity. Now I would love to see if you included any super/hypergiants or pulsars!
Now for my questions regarding some issues I ran into. I'm not sure if they are minor bugs, so I didn't put it in the bugs board. And before I forget, this is for version 0.9.5.
1) While navigating, I jumped into a system that was a bit dustier than typical, and my minimap froze. At first I thought it was a bug, but leaving the system restored minimap functionality and re-entering it froze the minimap again. Entering and exiting a station in the system left the minimap in "Offline". Is this behavior intentional? Might this "dusty" system be in a nebula, which has ionized gasses that interfere with sensors/electronics? (If so, kudos here, too!) Perhaps instead, could the effect on the minimap be made a bit more obvious, such as laying static over it? Or you could just make it go offline whence jumping in; however, I think the static effect would clue the player more to an intended game mechanic rather than a bug, and hence contribute more to immersion. I'm glad the system map still works, although it is strange how one would be affected but not the other in this situation.
If you think it might be a bug, here's my savegame + logs (http://www.mediafire.com/download/myc50vnzm552apt/Logs_Save_VoidExpanse_2014-08-13.zip). Exit and re-enter this "Simdenoden" system to see the minimap freeze.
2) While trying to get a better yield from mining, I regularly jettisoned the lowest valued Glepsite ore to make room for better ores. Unfortunately, doing so dropped the crate within my shield bubble, draining it and eventually damaging my hull--all while I was still in the inventory UI. Could it be possible to have the crate dropped a few pixels further away from the player ship so it doesn't inadvertently destroy the ship while the inventory UI is still up? Is this intentional behavior? I guess this could be minor because at least the following workaround exists: jettison while moving. Unfortunately, that's dangerous due to possible collisions with other debris--also while locked in the inventory UI!
Anyways, I just wanted to express my appreciation for the simple, yet nice, astronomical* touches! (* The astronomy-related definition, not the "immense" definition.) Sorry for the wall of text.
Anyways, after gaining some levels and cash, I've ventured out a little recently. Originally, I noticed the starting system's star to be quite a bit smaller--and bluer/whiter--than adjacent systems' stars. (Nice corona effects, btw!) I understand the sizes aren't anywhere near realistic, but I still thought, "Cool, a white dwarf. I wonder what else is out there." I found a system with a much smaller dot of a star on the galactic map--and sure enough, the way it didn't emit much light being gray, it seemed like a neutron star! I was honestly hoping for something like that since there aren't too many other star categories smaller than white dwarves--and the dot on the map wasn't red (for the smaller red dwarves). Not only that, when I was trying to mine one of its orbitting rocks, my mining beam kept disengaging, so "what the heck?!" I was impressed to find out I was actually being pulled in by that dense star, since other stars around the map didn't seem to do that. Nice touch with the gravity. Now I would love to see if you included any super/hypergiants or pulsars!
Now for my questions regarding some issues I ran into. I'm not sure if they are minor bugs, so I didn't put it in the bugs board. And before I forget, this is for version 0.9.5.
1) While navigating, I jumped into a system that was a bit dustier than typical, and my minimap froze. At first I thought it was a bug, but leaving the system restored minimap functionality and re-entering it froze the minimap again. Entering and exiting a station in the system left the minimap in "Offline". Is this behavior intentional? Might this "dusty" system be in a nebula, which has ionized gasses that interfere with sensors/electronics? (If so, kudos here, too!) Perhaps instead, could the effect on the minimap be made a bit more obvious, such as laying static over it? Or you could just make it go offline whence jumping in; however, I think the static effect would clue the player more to an intended game mechanic rather than a bug, and hence contribute more to immersion. I'm glad the system map still works, although it is strange how one would be affected but not the other in this situation.
If you think it might be a bug, here's my savegame + logs (http://www.mediafire.com/download/myc50vnzm552apt/Logs_Save_VoidExpanse_2014-08-13.zip). Exit and re-enter this "Simdenoden" system to see the minimap freeze.
2) While trying to get a better yield from mining, I regularly jettisoned the lowest valued Glepsite ore to make room for better ores. Unfortunately, doing so dropped the crate within my shield bubble, draining it and eventually damaging my hull--all while I was still in the inventory UI. Could it be possible to have the crate dropped a few pixels further away from the player ship so it doesn't inadvertently destroy the ship while the inventory UI is still up? Is this intentional behavior? I guess this could be minor because at least the following workaround exists: jettison while moving. Unfortunately, that's dangerous due to possible collisions with other debris--also while locked in the inventory UI!
Anyways, I just wanted to express my appreciation for the simple, yet nice, astronomical* touches!
(* The astronomy-related definition, not the "immense" definition.) Sorry for the wall of text.
