I've been playing the latest (March 7) Alpha build, and am having a blast! I just wanted to post a list of suggestions/issues/bugs based on my experience so far. The suggested changes to gameplay may be too much to implement this late in the development cycle, but in my opinion, would greatly improve the game overall. As for the suggested changes to the user interface, many focus on the inventory and trading systems, which I think have a lot of room for improvement.
Anyway, I'm sure some of these suggestions and issues are already being considered or have been mentioned elsewhere on the forums, but take 'em or leave 'em. Thanks, Larian!
GAMEPLAY SUGGESTED CHANGES
--No more randomized loot - all loot found on enemies, in the game world (especially in containers such as crates, barrels, and chests), and (to an extent) in merchant trading inventory should be hand-placed to make sense with the surrounding context - see also my more detailed post later in this topic
--A crafting recipe book/log (containing only recipes learned by reading in-game books) would be cool
--An in-game bestiary (possibly updated the more a player encounters each enemy type) would also be cool
--The NPC crime reaction/hearing range system needs work - I killed Cecil and Victoria with spells, then went outside city hall and massacred 5 guards and a citizen on the doorstep, and the only reaction from the citizens in the nearby plaza was a -5 attitude adjustment; these people should be fleeing, cowering, alerting guards, etc. - I also robbed the harbor warehouse by sneaking (with no points in the skill) only a foot behind the back of the guard; I can almost understand how he can't see me, but it's unbelievable that he can't hear me
USER INTERFACE SUGGESTED CHANGES
--An inventory "junk bag", where the player can place items for later sale - see the later Avernums/Avadons
--A key ring to store all keys within a single inventory slot
--The ability to stack more item types - especially lockpicks, but pretty much anything really
--A function to auto-sort inventory by type, value, etc., perhaps through an icon/button in the "All" inventory category
--The inventory screen size should be expanded to allow easier management
--The player's standard inventory display should be arranged/sized identically to the player's inventory trading display - this would make it easier to determine which of several similar items (one of which may be hotkeyed) you're actually selling
--Left-clicking (rather than left-clicking-and-holding) on an item should allow you to pick it up to enable easier inventory sorting
--The ability to scroll up/down within the inventory screen while "holding" an item with the mouse pointer - if you try this currently, the item is no longer "held"
--Merchants should be able to repair currently equipped items
--All weapons should include a note as to whether they are one-handed or two-handed in their tooltips
--The order in which you scroll through inventory/character screens should follow the currently selected character portrait order - i.e., if Roderick's portrait is at the top of the left side of the screen, followed below by Jahan, then Scarlett, when clicking through inventory/character screens, the order should be Roderick-Jahan-Scarlett, not Roderick-Scarlett-Jahan
--Showing the "base" value of all stats/skills/abilities in parentheses next to the current total value would make it easier to judge the effects of other stats and equipped gear on these values, though the detailed mouseover tooltip info should also be left as is - see Avernum: Escape From the Pit for an example
--Left-clicking an unreachable location or unusable object shouldn't re-center the camera on the player
--ALT should be more consistent in its highlighting of items - valuable items such as keys and diamonds are consistently displayed via ALT (which I personally really like, though this should definitely be an optional feature to please other players who enjoy pixel-hunting), but less valuable items such as skulls, empty bottles, and shells aren't
--All custom map markers should be fully editable/delete-able
--Objects/containers/items "owned" by NPCs should be very clearly marked as such
ISSUES/BUGS
--Very high memory usage (per Task Manager process list) may be the cause of periodic Windows 7 crashes (every hour or so)
--Some items don't stack with other identical items as they should - e.g., some - not all - skulls, apples, herrings, roasted pork dishes, mugs of beer, etc.
--All items in merchants' trading inventory should already be identified - or when not, should allow player to attempt to identify merchants' unidentified items without having to purchase them first
--Quests in the quest log shouldn't revert to "flashing" (to indicate the addition of new information) every time you load a game
--Player "experience" and "next level" values sometimes change arbitrarily after reloading a game
--The two main players often have more vitality points than their maximum after reloading a game
--"Level-up" icons sometimes incorrectly appear over player/companion portraits after reloading a game
--Pathfinding for companions/henchmen needs work - e.g., when leaving a city gate, the door often closes behind the controlled player, leaving companions stuck behind
--The player can no longer talk with Cecil after he goes upstairs to the library
--Sam's collar isn't removed from the player's inventory at the end of the related quest
--Sometimes there are two copies of Arhu in his studio at the same time - the human and cat "versions"
--It's possible to interact with "hidden" NPCs by targeting spells, moving environment objects, etc. - e.g., Billeh Gahr before he officially reveals himself, the skeletons in the Pontius Pirate battle before they emerge, etc.
--Characters shouldn't be able to block attacks while fallen - this happened once when I attacked a Cyseal guard
Last edited by Mikus; 09/03/14 06:35 PM.
