Observations and Suggestions

[Mantis_5tyle]

Howdy Klei team and ONI community:

Just a few observations and would appreciate some feedback as there could be something I have missed while trying to keep up in the forums.  Very well aware that this is an Alpha... like I said just some observations.  I've put about 80 hours into the game since I got it two weeks ago with 7 or 9 bases ranging from day 30 on up to 150+ as I have tried different things, tech tree progression, layouts... etc.

I seem to be having more issues with dupes refusing stress relief on this new Thermal patch.  Additionally... the water physics seem to be a little outta whack with previous versions.  Example... had some dupes digging diagonal and above an initial water res and one just let the yellow rain flow... the resulting splash of his little tinkle shower hitting the water res ended up getting tsunami like reactions where I ended up with so much water splashed out that it created a bit of a mess leaving me with noticeably less water in the reservoir than before the great urine disaster of 2017.  Wish I would have recorded it, but srsly... are we still working on a mechanic to differentiate between the weight and flow of of a dupes golden shower versus a dig that unleashes 100000kg of water from overhead?  Not the first time I've seen  what I would call "magic large flow water generation from the ether" either.  Anyone else seeing this kind of action?

Also... The temperature that dupes find "too frigid" or "too hot" seems to be a little narrow IMO.  50 deg F isn't frostbite territory and 90 deg F heat stroke territory.  Or not enough that I would thing that it would be stress inducing.  Perhaps I don't fully understand the clothes versus temperature mechanics. Little help here would be appreciated. 

I'm not exactly sold on the two tiered research mechanic as it currently is...  I think there should be some more hard(er) choices to make or require some extra (more difficult to acquire) resources for higher level tech...   I usually push to complete every thing by about ~cycle 35.  and then done. nothing else to worry about in the tech tree... just how I'm gonna put stuff together.  

The initial learning curve is fairly steep considering random map generation... has there been a discussion about an easy-medium-hard-brutal toggle on first dupe selection screen that will adjust scarcity/location of necessary early game resources like algae, sand, and copper?  As players get better and better at understanding all of the nuanced mechanics they can challenge themselves to harder and harder opening scenarios.  I like the fact that each level of tech requires its own level of understanding and mistakes can be made later in the game... but its the first 30-40 cycles that usually make or break a base.

Finally, I'd like to say that this is one of the most polished Alphas I've ever seen and the community seems to be one of the most mutually helpful and idea sharing/debating ones that I've ever come across in my 25+ years of gaming.  So many awesome light bulb moments for me reading what other people are trying and debates in the forums... with very few knuckleheads.  I'm glad I opted in and can't wait to see whats next.  So much potential here for a game that can be enjoyed for a very long time.

 

Fair winds and following seas.