Strafe is ment to be used in fight, so if player suddenly presses it it locks turning. It can be cause of damage of Banshee. Maybe it should be moved to WASD or even binded to Shift? Did you like to use it? How often did you use it? Would you use it more if it was in toggle mode?
I mostly moved forward and backward to the target while being rotated correctly. I didn't use it in combat for the most part. I think a toggle switch would have been more helpful. Binding it to shift would also be a good idea, I think. The space and ctrl keys are also good candidates for this kind of stuff.
but there is no auto turn to pickup items and not planned to do. Maybe you fast pressed A or D while ending to move? It causes to turn almost without controlling aircraft.
Hmm, strange. Maybe some collision effect? I don't know.
I will try to understand this material in video, in my level of english =)
Most of it is about using special games to teach at schools. But it has some relevance for us, too, I think.
I will try to summarize: Same as you have to learn the letters to read books or forum posts, you have to learn how to play games. In this case it is about how to use a controller for example, or what terms like XP or HP mean. Using WASD for movement is also a common case of game literacy, many, many games use it for movement control, but not every player is literate enough to try this first.
I played through dark souls on the WASD + IJKL combination for the two hands. I am literate in double hand keyboard control. Many players won't be, because they didn't play games like dark souls without a mouse or actually use a game controller for it.
Ok, I suppose the tabbing explains a lot. No hard feelings.
Cycling in the watchcom I probably wouldn't have found on my own either. I knew it due to Trievas review and deltrons video.
What I was meaning to say is, that despite this the watchcom is set to the first objectives by default, so you have two flags which stand out on the map... Ok I suppose these could also mean anything... I guess I can concede this point.
So I read the first few comments, then watched the first ten minutes of deltrons playthrough and then tried it myself.
I am with glorn, in that this discussion started shamefully.
Loadscreen: It even has the "waiting to press key" option enabled in order for the player to read what is written (almost complete rundown of controls!). I can only rant about players at this point, because: hey there is a loadscreen and the creator gives us an opportunity to read it all ... maybe we need to know this stuff?! Same for bnet tutorials. I know that most players don't look at those, but I don't really ahve a lot of respect for those. Are they expecting to get a full tutorial on every startup of the game, possibly delaying other players experience with it (this is not only about banshee strike but in general)? Ok, done ranting...
Next thing is the watchcom: well, if you don't know what to do, you can press the two keys suggested at the start: W - Lift Off and tab - Watchcom. The watchcome has a map with two nice markers on it which you could (maybe?) check out? Shoot these two and you get dialogue on how to continue.
Maybe this is an example of game literacy, I dont know...
edit: [In regards to game literacy: To me the controls felt intuitive (except in A/D in watchcom). WASD are move controls in sooo many games. JKLIOP is not so common, but also a reasonable option for putting your other hand. They are nicely grouped, which makes it easy for me to remember what is what: JKL row: attacks from strongest to weakest. IOP row (I would have preferred UIO) is the 'others' grouping. Strafe might have had a nicer place on 'space' you can use either thumb while pressing multiple buttons and because it is a movement control.]
Now to the actual critizicm of the map:
- As people have pointed out before, there are controls which are unusable for some (numpad) and some which are hard to find (A/D in watchcom)
- I would prefer the strafe to be a toggle instead of a hold button. If it isn't have to grab something like: two move keys + hold 4 + 1/2/3 to shoot what I try to target
- a targetting reticle would be nice (could it change color if over an enemy? I am asking because of the battlecruisers for which it is not directly clear where to shoot), maybe also have it as a toggle. An alternative solution could be a lock on as in dark souls and then you switch through the targets with some keys (although I suspect this is not the preferred solution since it is in an arcade tradition)
- The controls are not that bad (then again, I am someone who played through dark souls on keyboard only, so who am I to judge usability of controls). Maybe reduce the effect on the controls a little. Also, something people might have missed: there is an automated turn towards items to pick up. Maybe increase the range on this a little.
- The Watchcom (tab) is a good design in that it is economic to make and still looks quite nice! But as others pointed out, I also would have preferred minimap/ammo/fuel to be on the mainscreen in some way (maybe arrange them as togglable on the edges of the screens as if they were displays in an actual attack helicopter).
- What would have been great is a log, which let you display all previous communications. In addition to above suggestion, you could put the other half of your UI (unit stats, item decriptions, etc.) together with the log into a briefings screen.
- I didn't end the map in victory, because I couldn't figure out where to bring the orange container, before running out of fuel+lives, which I presume is the last thing you need to do before winning. (log for communcation pls. Or another method of making (some) objectives easier to look up)
- since tutorials were brought up, after the initial check sequence you could have like a mini-mission, which makes the player check his systems before starting. This means like a prompt: check that fuel and ammo are loaded [hint to press tab for watchcom or the respective key to turn on ammo and fuel hud in my above suggestion]; check briefing link is working: prompt player to use A/D to toggle through targets and 1/2/3 to display info on it.
- The controls are easy to remember, but you are probably gonna have to give people a screen where the controls are listed Banshee Field Manual! let them feel they are being unprofessional pilots by being unprepared (meaning: do NOT make them feel unprofessional, it is gonna come and bite you, as satisfactory as it may feel at first).
In conclusion: Coyc, if you are reading this, I feel your pain in having to spoon feed players and make sure they never get unconfortable, sadly this is part of the audience and you kind of have to design for it (ok, now I am really done ranting). What would actually keep me interested at this point, would be more difficulty. I feel like I don't have to worry about being shot down (even without banshee cloak). I think what is there actually is nicely crafted for the most part!
I mostly moved forward and backward to the target while being rotated correctly. I didn't use it in combat for the most part. I think a toggle switch would have been more helpful. Binding it to shift would also be a good idea, I think. The space and ctrl keys are also good candidates for this kind of stuff.
Hmm, strange. Maybe some collision effect? I don't know.
Most of it is about using special games to teach at schools. But it has some relevance for us, too, I think.
I will try to summarize: Same as you have to learn the letters to read books or forum posts, you have to learn how to play games. In this case it is about how to use a controller for example, or what terms like XP or HP mean. Using WASD for movement is also a common case of game literacy, many, many games use it for movement control, but not every player is literate enough to try this first.
I played through dark souls on the WASD + IJKL combination for the two hands. I am literate in double hand keyboard control. Many players won't be, because they didn't play games like dark souls without a mouse or actually use a game controller for it.
Ok, I suppose the tabbing explains a lot. No hard feelings.
Cycling in the watchcom I probably wouldn't have found on my own either. I knew it due to Trievas review and deltrons video.
What I was meaning to say is, that despite this the watchcom is set to the first objectives by default, so you have two flags which stand out on the map... Ok I suppose these could also mean anything... I guess I can concede this point.
So I read the first few comments, then watched the first ten minutes of deltrons playthrough and then tried it myself.
I am with glorn, in that this discussion started shamefully.
Loadscreen: It even has the "waiting to press key" option enabled in order for the player to read what is written (almost complete rundown of controls!). I can only rant about players at this point, because: hey there is a loadscreen and the creator gives us an opportunity to read it all ... maybe we need to know this stuff?! Same for bnet tutorials. I know that most players don't look at those, but I don't really ahve a lot of respect for those. Are they expecting to get a full tutorial on every startup of the game, possibly delaying other players experience with it (this is not only about banshee strike but in general)? Ok, done ranting...
Next thing is the watchcom: well, if you don't know what to do, you can press the two keys suggested at the start: W - Lift Off and tab - Watchcom. The watchcome has a map with two nice markers on it which you could (maybe?) check out? Shoot these two and you get dialogue on how to continue.
Maybe this is an example of game literacy, I dont know...
edit: [In regards to game literacy: To me the controls felt intuitive (except in A/D in watchcom). WASD are move controls in sooo many games. JKLIOP is not so common, but also a reasonable option for putting your other hand. They are nicely grouped, which makes it easy for me to remember what is what: JKL row: attacks from strongest to weakest. IOP row (I would have preferred UIO) is the 'others' grouping. Strafe might have had a nicer place on 'space' you can use either thumb while pressing multiple buttons and because it is a movement control.]
Now to the actual critizicm of the map:
- As people have pointed out before, there are controls which are unusable for some (numpad) and some which are hard to find (A/D in watchcom)
- I would prefer the strafe to be a toggle instead of a hold button. If it isn't have to grab something like: two move keys + hold 4 + 1/2/3 to shoot what I try to target
- a targetting reticle would be nice (could it change color if over an enemy? I am asking because of the battlecruisers for which it is not directly clear where to shoot), maybe also have it as a toggle. An alternative solution could be a lock on as in dark souls and then you switch through the targets with some keys (although I suspect this is not the preferred solution since it is in an arcade tradition)
- The controls are not that bad (then again, I am someone who played through dark souls on keyboard only, so who am I to judge usability of controls). Maybe reduce the effect on the controls a little. Also, something people might have missed: there is an automated turn towards items to pick up. Maybe increase the range on this a little.
- The Watchcom (tab) is a good design in that it is economic to make and still looks quite nice! But as others pointed out, I also would have preferred minimap/ammo/fuel to be on the mainscreen in some way (maybe arrange them as togglable on the edges of the screens as if they were displays in an actual attack helicopter).
- What would have been great is a log, which let you display all previous communications. In addition to above suggestion, you could put the other half of your UI (unit stats, item decriptions, etc.) together with the log into a briefings screen.
- I didn't end the map in victory, because I couldn't figure out where to bring the orange container, before running out of fuel+lives, which I presume is the last thing you need to do before winning. (log for communcation pls. Or another method of making (some) objectives easier to look up)
- since tutorials were brought up, after the initial check sequence you could have like a mini-mission, which makes the player check his systems before starting. This means like a prompt: check that fuel and ammo are loaded [hint to press tab for watchcom or the respective key to turn on ammo and fuel hud in my above suggestion]; check briefing link is working: prompt player to use A/D to toggle through targets and 1/2/3 to display info on it.
- The controls are easy to remember, but you are probably gonna have to give people a screen where the controls are listed Banshee Field Manual! let them feel they are being unprofessional pilots by being unprepared (meaning: do NOT make them feel unprofessional, it is gonna come and bite you, as satisfactory as it may feel at first).
In conclusion: Coyc, if you are reading this, I feel your pain in having to spoon feed players and make sure they never get unconfortable, sadly this is part of the audience and you kind of have to design for it (ok, now I am really done ranting). What would actually keep me interested at this point, would be more difficulty. I feel like I don't have to worry about being shot down (even without banshee cloak). I think what is there actually is nicely crafted for the most part!