Mongrol

quote: So even if your comments go unused, do not think that they go unconsidered. Don`t encourage me. *Mongrol bends over, his back hissing, smoking, green bubbles arising... he lets out a gurgling throat clenching roar... oh no.. its the return of... InterfaceCriticismMan Gonna play with Tacops tonight. Mongrol, NewCommander, InterfaceCriticismMan.

I have to disagree. The new interface has a "theme" running through it that`s very modern and works well. My only gripe is with the menu that looks like its from some old dos game from 1993 ( ). It shouldn`t be blue, it shouldn`t be bas-relief, and it should scale with your screen-res. This is a tool in the game that you use all the time and IMO detracts the player from the game. One minute your in a starship, the next, your using a little OS menu from a bygone era. Kinda ruins the atmosphere for us Newbies. A point to SC. Betatesters do not complain about the interface. This is because they are seasoned players of BC, probably for years and have gotten used to it. Time moves on though, and design, in terms of accessability in gaming develops over years. Lessening the learning curve and making BCM more accessable to newbies (of which I am one) should be a priority. Mongrol, NewCommander.

I think I can go to Earth, Jupiter, the moon and Barnards Star (which has nasties in it). How do I target bases on planets? I fly down to earth and I know theres things there by looking at the map, but can`t seem to target any to go there and have a look. [This message has been edited by Mongrol (edited 03-09-2001).]

I remember trying V1.0 when it was released free a couple of years ago. Couldn`t get anywhere, but since BCM is due soon I thought I`d try it again. This time I d`loaded the 2.09 demo but I`m still up against this brick wall. My problem seems to be a complete lack of understanding where this "rich and dynamic" galaxy is... The manual does reasonably well at explaining all the various systems and so forth but doesn`t really give you any clues of how to get started at all. I launch from GalcomHQ... then what? I fly down to the planet... oh wait.. there`s nothing down there, can`t target anything, fly back up.... play with the systems, totally fail to see any perception of a populated universe, can`t find any systems for communicating with anyone. Ah wait, I can click on that space station and get another BC to follow me, cool.... Fly to Jupiter, land, still nothing, hmmm, not very good at exploring am I... take off... Insurgent enters the system absolutely miles away, then warps out... Give chase... go to another system, get battered with no warning, no communication.... am I missing something here or is this how everyone started? With any luck the hardcoreness of this game has been tamed a little in BCM with a gentler slope at the start, or at least a manual rewrite, and/or tutorial. In the meantime I refuse to give up till I understand how to interact with this thing. Any tips for a complete newbie?