13 September Update

Actually this is a good idea! there could be a "neon sign" type item that can be placed on the walls like the posters and you can put custom text into it that would scroll!

 

Why not just have an arrow pointing in the direction to go and have the locker slowly shine to make it obvious?

 

I definitely think it's a little texty. I like the idea of the tutorial giving the player a tour of the ship and maybe highlighting each of the points of interest in turn, perhaps when the tutorial is informing the player about the locker it can temporarily glow.

 

Bit too texty for me also. Most probably people didn't really explore the ship's interior properly since they were in a rush, due to having limited time with the game etc.

Perhaps an icon in place of text would work. Like say a lock for the locker, some lit gas icon for the fuel tank, and I guess a beam of some sort for the teleporter.

The mouseover thing works too.

Or even disable the teleporter until the items are removed from the locker.

 

Am i the only one who thinks a bullet proofed tutorial isn't a must have for a beta?

And srsly take ppl who played for some time on a convention (under hurry and in an noise enviroment, so they dont read some lines of tutorial quest) as a measure isnt the brightest idea.

If someone decides not to read the instructions he/she must figure the game out by themselfs. A lot of folks stated way better ideas than the texts already. I prefer the "disable the teleport until one finished the first quest" idea. And making the lokcer more lockery. It realy looks more like some window blends than a locker.

 

My brother brought up a good counter-point to this idea, however: What if someone wanted to leave the ship without taking any items, as sort of a challenge? I think just opening the locker once should be a sufficient kind of activator for enabling the teleporter. Or perhaps give it its own little power button on the wall, so walking onto it doesn't automatically trigger beaming down? Maybe an "are you sure you want to beam down to this planet? do you have all the items you need?" window with a "yes/no" option for beaming down would be a better solution as well.

I just... really don't like the text in its current state. Breaks the immersion in a way. It also seems to only be present now because of some idiots who didn't bother to read the quest text. That's basically the definition of "hand-holding".

 

I think that if many of the things in the bases are labeled or can be labeled, ( i think it would be cool to be able to make large screen signs like that in a house) that there should be an option to reduce the size of text screens. Other than that, this has looked better than a finished game for a very long time, and this isnt even in beta yet.

 

Regarding tutorials and hand holding, i think CF would do well to watch this video. The breakdown they do of the "hidden tutorial" in super metroid is incredibly detailed and very correct. I think it would be a fantastic idea to have something akin to this to get people off the ground.

 

One thought that I had is maybe it can be made so that after few times of being on the ship and activating the respective objects the labels can be made to go away for that specific player (on their ship or another's). That would work, best of both worlds. It could be made so that it isn't a sign on the ship at all, but rather a little text box with an arrow that floats like it's "tutorial mode".

 

I don't mind the text as a tutorial to help new players find things, but I think it would be nice if it reverted to the old look after the tutorial missions, or at least have the option to change it back.

 

You're right, it's a little hand holdy. And though people should read quest descriptions etc, they often dont. Either through being rushed or excited or even bored (thinking of mmos) Generally solutions should be simple as possible, and work for as many people as possible without causing problems.

It's not ideal that we need solutions for problems like people rushing, though I feel it's nicer looking and less hand holdy than the neon text above the objects. Anyone wanting a hardcore kind of challenge by starting empty-handed, could empty the locker, and then trash the items or replace them in the locker after the teleporter becomes active.

 

Keep the text big and obvious, but add an option to disable the labels and have that option enabled by default on first start, that would make everyone happy.

 

http://community.playstarbound.com/...mprovement-to-ship-labels.29876/#post-1180131
THIS^

 

In addition to some kind of visual queue at the locker itself, having a confirmation upon leaving the ship for the first time that asks if they wish to leave the ship without checking the locker first should fix the issue.

 

You can make the text appear only when the character is near it or when you pass the mouse over it. So one simply has to "explore" the ship with the mouse and understand instantly what is what^^

 

What about adding icons instead of the text? Would look nicer, and I think people would know there was something there to do, even if they don't recognize the icons at first.

 

This is an awesome idea, I personal dislike the text a LOT, it messes up the otherwise cool aesthetics for a super early game issue that will only happen once for a player, another option might be to have a quest pop once after loading a new character/account ect showing pictures of the locker beaming platform ect.

 

I thought the major problem at i49 was the game breaking crash that kept happening its the world gen. Am I outdated on my bug info? Also, the text seems distracting, I liked the super blank interior, gave more of a creative freedom edge to the player. But hey, this works too, loved the update!

 

What if you did some sort of system like Diablo that pops up the text when you press alt?

 

Oh god, no. Maybe something more like a toggle function instead?