1. General impressions of the gameplay

[shell grail]

Good day. I've spent about 60 hours in the game. Of those, about ten hours were spent in multiplayer and the rest in single-player. Now I'd like to share my thoughts on the game's future development. And yes, I know the roadmap, but I'll still be writing my wishes regardless.

Let's start with performance. It's quite pleasant, but unfortunately, my computer isn't particularly powerful: RX 580, Xeon 2667 v4 3.2 GHz. I played on minimum settings and generally had no issues, except for a few spots where the FPS dropped to 30. There were also occasional freezes, but oh well. I understand that this may be my problem, that I have a weak computer, so this is not a complaint, but just a message about how the game looks on my PC.

Next, the multiplayer. When I first started playing with friends, I had multiple connection issues with the host, but fortunately, after the fix, I haven't encountered anything like that. There was, however, an annoying bug where targets wouldn't appear for destruction or capture. Don’t know name of location, but it’s a huge red ring in dark space, where you clear platform, interact with console and fight enemy ships. Otherwise, I have no complaints. Playing with friends is fun, there are plenty of activities, and you have the potential for roles: pilot, gunner, engineer, raider, and a gunner with a railgun or rocket launcher.

The hub is not bad, considering the game is still in development. Among the things I'd like to see here are the following:

1. Traders, of course. I'd also like to note that it would be great to be able to buy Mk0 weapons. This would allow you to continue playing with your favorite weapons, as it's currently quite painful to lose everything and go into a mission with a pistol or a crafted SMG.

2. Reactor assembly directly from the hub. Also, the display of modules as a display stand is fine for now, but in the future, it might be too cumbersome. A menu for modifiers should probably be added.

3. Access to the ship and, likely, a small training ground for it. It will be easier to change and test maneuverability and gun fire without starting and canceling missions.

4. Some activities while friends gather. A bar, a pizza restaurant, a short challenge at the shooting range, an obstacle course, etc.

The gameplay itself is already quite varied. Of course, I can already see some repetition, but it still doesn't feel like a drag. Ship battles are no longer difficult, but still dynamic (I play on a dart). Ground missions, however, can still be challenging if you're not paying attention. However, that's a topic for another article. I'd like to see the following:

1. Modifiers can add a lot of variety even to already repetitive maps. Increase enemy speed, HP, and damage, or make all enemies missile ships. You can even add a failure of additional generators. It would be funny to change the reactor circuit, just to fly and shoot. Such modifiers can increase the amount of loot and materia.

2. More radiation-type effects. EM field, which disables shields for both the ship and the character, with interference in the HUD. Thermal radiation, which damages the character and sometimes causes fires during afterburners on the ship. Hypothermia, which will slow players down and sometimes jam the ship's weapons. Radiation itself, in my opinion, is too insignificant for the players themselves. You can add a reduction in the maximum HP of the character, which will only be removed by a med station on the ship or location.

3. Locations with the permanent effects mentioned above. Within reason, of course, so as not to kill players simply for being in the location, but keeping in mind the essence of the phenomenon. This can refresh an old location.

4. Levels with nebulae. This is not only beautiful, but can also impact gameplay by obstructing scanner visibility. You could even add a scanner that will ignore it or assign a characteristic such as visibility to all scanners.

5. Alien life. Not necessarily creatures, but plants, fungi, and so on. For example, a jungle planet with a former human colony. A planet with mysterious bioluminescent growths. Or even something like roots entwining asteroids in outer space.

6. Space and on-foot locations are large. Navigating them can become tedious over time. Therefore, I propose adding the ability to significantly increase ship speed without turning. For example, the maximum speed could simply be doubled outside of combat, and turning would return it to normal. This would allow you to quickly reach your destination. Something similar would be suitable for on-foot locations; I hope sliding would solve this problem.

Thanks, Google Translate.