Pioneer dev forum

Brian Rubin of the SpaceGameJunkie fame did a two hour long livestream of Pioneer a couple of weeks ago.
He practically plays the game for the first time, so it is a nice glimpse onto the first impressions and what might be confusing for a new player.

I took some notes:

• The paused state of the game upon loading a save isn't clear. Neither is the fact that pause disables the BBS. Maybe we could flash the pause button to draw attention to it?
• Passing mention about the ugly portraits :P
• He discovered the RMB radial menu Autopilot on the body list quickly, but didn't realize that it works on the target name and on the target itself too.
• The cargo capacity bar on the station screens is confusing (cargo/overall capacity) indeed. Maybe we should show cargo capacity only, and the full capacity on the upgrade screen? Or put an indication on the bar that this is where the cargo room ends?
• The classical/piano music seems feel quite out of place. He mentions that quite a few times. I agree, although I usually play without music anyway. With the new music contributions, maybe remove those?
• The hyperpsace range calculation was a bit confusing (more fuel meant shorter range). But I think he figured it out in the end that it is a "mass thing"
• On that note, the knowledge that a bunch of shorter jumps is faster than a singe jump isn't clear. But I think that's not a problem
• The need to select Star A/B/C seems to be understandable from the UI
• The need to add the destination star onto the route wasn't that clear at first, but he figured it out quickly. (While flying and hitting the ground)
• I don't think he noticed it, but it is bugging me for a while now: The hyperspace route is not saved (or loaded) when you save the game.
• Filters for economy and population would be useful for the sector map.
• The function of the trade computer might not be that clear
• Autopilot once crashed into the destination orbital station. It arrived nicely on the second try.
• I noticed that he sometimes left the thrust lever on full after landing, and then slammed into the ground station upon takeoff. Not sure if that counts as a user error or UX issue though. If we consider it an UX issue, a solution could be to ignore any axis inputs upon takeoff until the axis value changes?

I just finished watching the stream. the TL;DR is: "Pause confusion" and Cargo indicator are probably universal pain points. The rest is not so serious/need not be addressed necessarily.

The cargo capacity bar on the station screens is confusing

Absolutely. Is what we have now somehow close to your mockup? Or perhaps no use to try to improve it if sturnclaw has total-cargo/equipment rework on the list anyway.

The classical/piano music seems feel quite out of place

That saloon song ("The Sting") is maybe fitting if we get a an actual bar (sorry to sound like a broken record), but yeah, I think that song can get quite tired too quick. (played 1h37m in the stream)

The hyperpsace range calculation was a bit confusing

That's only for empty ship that you see that effect, right?

On that note, the knowledge that a bunch of shorter jumps is faster than a singe jump isn't clear

Agreed. There are in-game "advice" on the BBS about it. Plus FAQ & manual on the wiki.

He also didn't click any of the grayed out missions to understand why they were grayed out. Had nothing to do with cargo, but lacking reputation/standing.

Also, should our Hyperspace count down be in green? We did replace some of the green UI with orange (like navigation tunnel).

Thank you for watching this all and taking these notes!
What struck me:
- I think classical music is absolutely appropriate here.
- you need to choose a specific star, depending on which planet you want to fly to.

Generally agree with the rest.