v1.5 EXP: Robinson Protocol 1+2 (new)

Discussion in 'Experimental Features Discussion' started by Hummel-o-War, May 18, 2021.

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  1. Craterz Playz

    Craterz Playz Ensign

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    Maybe I'm misunderstood.
    I did not do a clean install of the game. However, I did start a new default tutorial save but not a new survival game or scenario, as the tutorial and the (quote) normal (unquote) survival game have been separated for some time.
     
    #21
  2. Foofaspoon

    Foofaspoon Commander

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    I think what he's directing you towards is there is now a mini tutorial put back into the main survival game, like the old Robinson protocol
     
    #22
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  3. Thorwine

    Thorwine Commander

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    Naaa, @Craterz Playz is right. If you click on "Start Tutorial" in the Main Menue of 1.5 EXP, you crash on A01 Gamma training site (Swamp planet). Captain Hyde welcomes you to the "basic survival training" on the ground. After the second dialog, you have to "accesss the Escape Pod inventory (F)". But if you do so, the Escape Pod is empty and all the stuff is already in your inventory.

    Tutorial_2021-05-20_18-20-57.png

    That leaves the task "Gear up" open until you put one item back in the pod and pick it up again or move it to the inventory.
     
    #23
    Last edited: May 20, 2021
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  4. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    As far as I know only the Default Survivor / Temperate Starter Planet has the Robinson Protocol starting after crash landing.
    The other Planets - Snow, Arid and Swamp - for the more 'Experienced' Players start with no Tutorial and some may even have still this kind of start that prompts you to take all stuff out of the Escape Pod
     
    #24
  5. Ente

    Ente Commander

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    I think as far as new player experience goes this is a huge step in the right direction.

    As a somewhat experienced player I find it really confusing. I had to manually skip several steps or rebuild stuff because I already did do the required (or an alternative) action before the quest requirement went active.
    For example (iirc), right at the start it took me a few minutes to realise the game did not like the survival tool i just picked up since it did not yet tell me to do so. I had to drop the tool and pick it up again for the mission to register it. The detector i had already built beforehand and had to destroy and rebuild it for the mission to continue. The salvaging action wanted me to salvage 41 metal plates when I already had more than enough raw materials and plates salvaged. Possibly a few other objectives I dont remember anymore right now.
    It left me with a strong sense of "do exactly like you are told or the quest will break and potentially get you stuck". That is a terrible feeling, especially in an open world setting.
    I think I could also have manually completed the mentioned objectives, but I really try to avoid that as I want to read the associated messages, and the game seemingly does not log any entries from the dialogue system (or at least I still havent found out where to look for them).

    I would argue there should be a way for experienced players to opt out of the robinson protocol, or run a less "detailed" version instead. Or the whole thing should at least be made more robust in recognising when an objective is already fulfilled. As it stands you can only abort the tutorial at the beginning, which seems to lock you completely out of the story missions.
     
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  6. Thorwine

    Thorwine Commander

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    I'm stuck after "Robinson Protocol II". Mission not updating...
     

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  7. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    Thats the new 'trick'. It does no longer update by itself but by exploring your surroundings but you can always open the PDA Log or the Journey Book to see if you may have missed something.
     
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  8. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    At least on Arid Starter you crash land and get only a prompt to open PDA. All other things work by Exploration.
    You can always say no to when a mission pops up.
     
    #28
  9. Thorwine

    Thorwine Commander

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    The last entry in the PDA Log / Journey Book at this stage is "To activate the base, stand on any of the blocks and hit Y until the base powers up". Not very useful for Newbies. The only indicator is the waypoint to the "Small Settlement" on the map, but the beginner wasn't even introduced to the map (M) at this point. This is a bug. My start yesterday continued here with mission points for crafting the Shotgun and Assault Rifle.
     
    #29
  10. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    #30
  11. Thorwine

    Thorwine Commander

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    Damn, it seems to be intended! Played it again to this point and it works out in the same way :D
    Not a bug, a feature... I see!
     
    #31
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  12. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    After getting back from the Large Wreckage with enough components to craft the fuel tank, core and generator, there is a text pop up telling the player he can point at any block while pressing P to open the control panel.

    I did not think of taking a screenshot, but there's a small typo error there : the text reads " point at an block" instead of "point at any block".
     
    #32
  13. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    Jep.. so for testing 1.5 EXP please do not use THAT button but start a default random game and play through the Robinson Protocol :)
     
    #33
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  14. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    IDA and the text messages WILL tell you EVERYTHING you need to know. If you pay attention of course. :D And the markers for the "next" mission are set as well, in case you are in the same playfield (cannot have this to work beyond one playfield I am afraid)
     
    #34
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  15. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    Thx. Fixed. :)
     
    #35
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  16. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    Since the 1st "real" mission involves sending the player in a pyramid where it can be difficult to get out without a jetpack (ex. sideways jumps from a ladder and some platforming elements), I dare to suggest that the player gets instructed to craft the light armor prior to being even sent to the Talon settlement.

    The requirement to have an armor locker to be able to put the armor on is quite unintuitive for new players, and may be a complex step they have to tackle on their own while in a safe situation, for example after adding the core + gen + fuel tank to the Damaged Comm POI they could be "strongly advised" by IDA to get enough points and materials to unlock and craft the armor and armor locker, then get some tips regarding environmental hazards (temperature already drops significantly on hills and at night) and the jetpack, which will be very useful in the Pyramid POI after talking to the Talon chief.

    There are a lot of resources available to the new player all around the Escape Pod's location but very little emphasis is put on the importance to gather these and store them somewhere. When I got to the damaged comm station, being a "false noob", I had already mined enough copper, silicon and iron to build all what I needed, but I really doubt new players will understand the importance of doing so before dashing towards the Talon settlement.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I don't know how hard it could be to achieve this, but I think it would help immensely to be able to insert small images (with limited dimensions) with tags via the PDA, so they appear in the same display box with some text. In fact it would also allow to skip text formatting altogether and instead use an image to fill the box with big message like "Warning! Enemies detected!" or similar, to circumvent the actual lack of proper text formatting (bigger fonts) to achieve same effect. This could then be used to display images of rock types (ore), or specific objects in a POI to search for, etc.

    A simple example :

    NewGame_2_2021-05-21_17-13-24.png

    NewGame_2_2021-05-21_17-41-48.png

    NewGame_2_2021-05-21_17-44-21.png

    I think this would help new players a lot, and even experienced players in some POIs or "mazes" to show specific objects. It could also be used for dialogs, like showing a picture of a target for bounty hunting missions...

    .
     
    #36
    Last edited: May 22, 2021
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  17. Space Ghost

    Space Ghost Commander

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    Maybe I just got lucky with the loot table, but the first alien container in that "Ancient tower" had light armor in it. (score!) However, as you pointed out, you are not told about "base building" (including the armor locker) until later on. Requiring some super-mario jumps around the lower areas of the tower to get back out. Lots of goodies in there so when I went back once I got the suit on, of course, that was MUCH easier, lol. Alas, still no princess to save. :-D
     
    #37
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  18. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    I think I got the armor too, but new players might just miss many containers (and some of the half buried "sacks"). If any item is required to be picked up during a mission, especially in the first stages of the game, it could be made very obvious or at least not put among many other similarly "random" containers in a maze with branching corridors, because players can easily miss it.

    The fact that the player has total freedom to choose what he can unlock in the techtree can become problematic if certain items are required in the first missions.
     
    #38
    Last edited: May 22, 2021
  19. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    Edit : I need glasses...
     
    #39
    Last edited: May 22, 2021
  20. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    The Suit-Constructor have Bandages which restore a limited amount of Health and heal broken legs
     
    #40
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