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Hiya all, kudos, first impressions, and the inevitable suggestions

*Ayjona* Edgerunners Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Contributors Posts: 515 Joined: Dec 6, 2006 Greetings, Darkwind community. After a few days in Somerset, I'd thought it only fair that I present the fella you'll be running into, over, through and beyond, shoot at with great pleasure regularly, laugh at daily with a hint of sometimes kind-hearted, caring contempt, but mostly just humiliating scorn, and perhaps, one day, eventually, come to fear out on the roads of Evan, once you have stopped doing all the above-mentioned things, and once I've stopped giving you cause and opportunity to do them... Anyways, this game had me hooked after two days like few others have. I'll be staying, and paying, and playing for a long time. My name is Ayjona (because we are never more real than our internet handles), and I'm a 26-year old writer, journalist, singer, actor, and fighter from somewhere in the vicinity of Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Sweden. I figured that with the pleasure and joy this game has already given me, it's only fair if I try to give something back. Perhaps most of these suggestions have already been suggested, implemented, taken out, rehashed, put away, and deemed improbable, impossible or just silly, but I'll have a go at it anyways. A rather lengthy go, so be prepared. Also, of course, many of these suggestions are low-priority, and I am in no way suggesting that the devs take time from implementing necessary additions and fixes or adding new car models to work on these. But perhaps the list can be saved for the future. (I hear these newfangled forum systems of the new millenium feature persistent threads that do not go away towards the end of the day. The things those nerds can do with php and SQL...) Website functionality * Gang management: I would really like to be able to move my characters in and out of the hospital from ANY character info screen (such as "My Gang" or when you register for an event). I usually find myself clicking the register button in the Darkwind client only to remember that poor Frances Adams still hasn't healed that broken elbow, and off I go to the Somerset map, when I could have saved some time just dragging him out of the hospital directly from the Event registry screen. * Site navigation: This is really, truly nitpicky, I know ;-), but I'd like to be able to access my gang, the events diary and the other Gameplay links from anywhere on the site. I'd like an additional sidebar that always displays the "Gameplay" links, so that if I access the Community menu or spend my time staring at the images of all the cars I will never be able to afford, my Gang pages links are still right there, in that other sidebar. Yes, I know, they are only one click away, but I'm big on click economy ;-) Darkwind client * Spectator mode improvements: Laugh at me and call me that silly noob guy ;-) , but I find it a bit hard to find the action when I spectate large wilderness combat maps.  I usually scroll in a random direction and hope to find torn-off car parts and tracks to navigate by. Small arrows situated at the edge of the screen, pointing the way to participants in the event, would be nice, though a mini-map would be far more luverly. * Another take on the arrow idea: the arrows pointing the way to off-screen opponents might perhaps be a good idea for all kinds of races and events, especially if the maps get bigger, and we get smaller as we start riding bikes and exiting our cars. (The Vault Dweller always leaves his car before doing his combat. Who are we to question the ways of the most post-apocalyptic man around?)  Small (toggle-able, of course) moving arrows, colour-coded in one way or another, attached to the edge of the screen, with the player name and distance displayed next to them, EVE and X3-style, could be especially useful for wilderness combat and large race tracks, and even more so if the game starts to attract a larger following, and we start seeing large-scale battles and prolonged wilderness adventures. * Game lobby: The current spectating info screens for wilderness events are a bit spartan (not as in rampantly aggressive and barely restrained, on the verge or breaking out into random violence, but as in a bit uninformative and bare).  Perhaps they could contain similar info as the normal events screen, with a picture of the map, a list of the participants, and the same information text on the NPC gang that comes up once you join the event. * Chat improvements: The ability to filter the different chats freely. I like to chat a bit in the lobby in slow races. So, I'd like to be able to filter the different chat tabs, so that relevant information from the race (such as damage to my driver and car, and messages from other players) will appear in the lobby chat as well. Jumping between the two tabs might not be a pain, but it's not as elegant as not having to switch tab at all. * Chat improvements: It would be useful if the player names in the chat windows were right-clickable, just as the names in the Users in Lobby list are. Another one of those nit-picky, one-click economy things (no-click, in this case, but several centimeters of mouse movement), but one I'd find useful, nonetheless ;-) * Chat improvements: I'd prefer if the instant messages from other players could also be displayed in the chat window instead of in windows of their own. Differently coloured, of course. Perhaps some /reply [player] /msg [player] chat command functionality as well, to be used in events and other unlikely situations where you can't access a player list. * Possibly redundant chat notifications: I'd like a few toggle-able notifications in the lobby chat. At the moment, all I can think of is a message in the chat area that informs me that other players have joined an event that I am currently registered for. Not really very useful, but very informative ;-) Perhaps similar notifications for information related to traveling between towns, selling stuff on the marketplace, etc. * General right-click functionality: I'd like, for example, to be able to choose to spectate or register for an event by right-clicking that event in the Upcoming Events list. The "register button" is many pixels away, after all. Whenever there are options, there should be right-click ;-) Maps This is one of the areas where it should be easy to come up with suggestions, but I found it one of the hardest, since I found myself liking all the maps. But what I would want to see would be a non-circular race track, stretching the whole lengths of three normal laps, or more, that runs its course from one point to another without circling back. Perhaps one that runs along the bottom of a canyon, through a gargantuan, immense concrete pipe, across a small stretch of land with water on the sides, or through a broken, walled-in town. Off-road racing, kinda thing. Stands to reason some racers should do their racing off the beaten path, especially those that would be unpopular, too good, or too unskilled for the normal town events. It'd be funny, and very unfair to everyone involved, which is always a good thing, if NPC gangs occasionally could interrupt those races, given their proximity to the badlands, and turn the race into a direct race for survival. It would be realistic, and add another dynamic and random aspect to the game. Most of todays MMOs feature too much systemization of gameplay, too many chances for reliable prediction (ever seen a WoW player plan raids or practice for PvP? "Well, if I use these 3 abilities, drink two health potions, use this item, these 16 abilities, drink another potion, jump three times, and finally run around a tree twice while using my ultimate ability, it is statistically and mathematically impossible for me to lose against a Death Knightlock Warmagebard..." ;-) ), and far too little sudden, unexpected danger and unpredictability. --------------------------------------------- As you can see, most of my suggestions deal with convenience and anal details, but Sam seems truly big on innovation, so I thought I'd concentrate my suggestions on those small details that the larger and more evil game companies has scores of people working on all the time, (and that Blizzard probably uses child labour for), and not try to come up with revolutionary ideas for a game that seems to be revolutionized every week ;-) Kudos, and many thanks for that, Psychic Software. Frequent updates (with more content than just balancing fixes) makes an online game feel truly alive and supported. I'm also curious if the website functionality will eventually be added to the Darkwind client? While the current solution is truly nifty, and while I like to be able to access my gang (mainly to drag Frances Adams into and out of the hospital) from other places than the security of my home (home, in this case, being my MacBook Pro and laptop bag), I'd really prefer to be able to do all of it from directly within the client. I know this kind of goes against the concept of Darkwind, but after turning it over a few revolutions in my head, I see no real advantage to using the website for gang management from a user's perspective (though I see quite a few from the perspective of the dev). Ideally, I'd like both, reciprocally, kinda thing. To be able to do it all from within the client, and to be able to access the client from the webpage without downloading, for those quick sneak runs at work. Bang Howdy (www.banghowdy.com) has this functionality, and while downloading the client is infinitively preferable, being able to play directly from the webpage is a nice touch. And, I figured, since Darkwind is written in Java, just like Bang Howdy, it might be possible. Or, did I just embarrass myself, and is Darkwind not written in Java at all? Well, embarrassment or not, redundant suggestions or not, I'm here to stay, and so far, I've had nothing but good experiences out on the roads of Evan, though I was a bit freaked out when one player's gang apparently ate my driver after killing him. But hey, t'is the wastelands, the things we do for kicks in a world where everything is ashes, nuclear waste, broken buildings and flaming (and still moving) car wrecks... ......................... vet marshal wv Posted Aug 14, 2007, 3:24 am Last edited Aug 14, 2007, 3:26 am by Ayjona

*JD_Basher* Gearjammers Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Storytellers Posts: 2,728 Joined: Feb 11, 2007 WOW! I must say, "Wink-Wink---Nudge-Nudge" You have Monty Python comedy down pat! All I could think of while reading your post was the 1970's Monty Pyton group doing their skits! Sorry, I know you were serious..........Slightly. trying to hold back a laugh as I re-read your post! JD ......................... vet marshal wv cont Posted Aug 14, 2007, 4:05 am

*Ayjona* Edgerunners Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Contributors Posts: 515 Joined: Dec 6, 2006 *JD_Basher* said: WOW! I must say, "Wink-Wink---Nudge-Nudge" You have Monty Python comedy down pat! All I could think of while reading your post was the 1970's Monty Pyton group doing their skits! Sorry, I know you were serious..........Slightly. trying to hold back a laugh as I re-read your post! JD You know, it's probably just another subtle hint of my dark and twisted mind, but I am inclined to take your post as a compliment EDIT: And, really, anything mentioned in the context of wink-wink-nudge-nudge becomes positively charged. If my best buddy came up to me and said "Well, today I've lost three close friends, been dumped, crashed the car, and taken up WoWing again... but hey, at least it's not raining, know-whatta-mean-wink-wink-nudge-nudge...", I'd smile and reply with something inane and jovial, not hearing a word he said except for wink-wink-nudge-nudge... ......................... vet marshal wv Posted Aug 14, 2007, 4:12 am Last edited Aug 14, 2007, 4:26 am by Ayjona

*JD_Basher* Gearjammers Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Storytellers Posts: 2,728 Joined: Feb 11, 2007 Then you took it as I meant! You probably are Mad, I know I have tendecies toward it. Great minds think............well......we think! ......................... vet marshal wv cont Posted Aug 14, 2007, 4:33 am

*viKKing* Skulls And Bones Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Contributors Posts: 4,249 Joined: Oct 12, 2006 Thanks Ayjona for your enthusiasm. oh no! another long term subscriber! I will never win a league then...  Being the map guy, I'm very happy you like them all. About the chat system, we came to that system, which IMHO is working rather well, I'm just hoping we could have a quick key to switch between all on the fly. Tab key maybe? Before we had all the events displayed in one window, and it was not very convenient... We are open to suggestions anyway, and has you mentionned it, you are not in a hurry. Site navigation, there are certainly improvements to be made in the navigation system. I do agree it is sometime quite a length to achieve some simple tasks. Client integration of web site management, would be a serious knock-out into the game development, and it is not planned until a while - maybe we will all get old and white haired by that time?  Seriously, it would require around 2 months of work to do so, better keep the game going on, isn't it? The game client is not Java, but C++, the auto-updater is Java though. This is something people are generally getting confused about. It means we must write it clearly. Thanks for this nice writing, again.  ......................... vet cont zom slay2013 marshal wv Posted Aug 14, 2007, 9:35 am

*sam* The Salthill Sluggerz Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Lead Developer Posts: 16,780 Joined: Jan 19, 2006 Thanks ayjona, the great enthusiasm from you and the other players is really a great motivation for us I will be revisiting website navigation sometime soon, I'm aware that it should be better. RE in-game navigation, I'll look into a mini-map. I'm working on another little wilderness GUI improvement (team flags so you can point out somewhere to your team-mates) so I'll be nearby the right places in the code today. Your other suggestions make good sense too, and I'll hopefully get around to them soon. Variations of most of these have been requested before.. anyway I'll note them all down and probably do them some time or another. ......................... marshal vet deathrce1 paintladder combat1 wv ped1 cont slay2013 Posted Aug 14, 2007, 9:48 am

*viKKing* Skulls And Bones Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Marshals + Contributors Posts: 4,249 Joined: Oct 12, 2006 Quote: RE in-game navigation, I'll look into a mini-map. I'm working on another little wilderness GUI improvement (team flags so you can point out somewhere to your team-mates) so I'll be nearby the right places in the code today. I think a compass would rather make sense instead. ......................... vet cont zom slay2013 marshal wv Posted Aug 14, 2007, 10:02 am

*sam* The Salthill Sluggerz Darkwind Guru Renegade Group: Lead Developer Posts: 16,780 Joined: Jan 19, 2006 A compass won't show you where things are though..? ......................... marshal vet deathrce1 paintladder combat1 wv ped1 cont slay2013 Posted Aug 14, 2007, 10:19 am

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