Habitat and PRT Suggestions and BUGS

Okay, first off, I just want to say smashing good job on everything.

I'm about to make some suggestions and possible bugs all in one post. If some or all have already been suggested and/or pointed out, fair enough... if not, this is me just vomiting everything out.

Currently on SOL 36

All waypoints found...

3 habitats found

18/20 achievements found (missing SOL50 and hidden~ bloody hidden ones XD)

Habitats

First, I would like to suggest that the airlock have some cabinets and slots for tanks.

Currently, the airlock has empty lockers that is not functional (I'm guessing as of right now). If there is a plan to work with this area, that is cool. I'm only suggesting it, because I've pretty much scavenged perhaps 90% of the land and I'm running out of places to store stuff. Like seriously, both habitats are packed with materials and food (more of the former than latter), and my person is encumbered all the time.

Second, I would like to suggest being able to run inside your habitat.

Slow... so slow, especially moving between your materials and crafting station. In the Navy, I was stuck inside the belly of the ship as an engineer and was able to move from one side of the engine room to the other in less than a minute. Yes, it was because I was very familiar with the space... but so should the astronaut XD

Third, survival beyond SOL 40 or 50...

I know I'm not there yet, but you can say I'm getting close. Eventually, I WILL run out of food. Is there plans to create bigger pop tents used for cultivating food like potatoes, beans, and the like? Kind of like in the movie "The Martian"? I like the prospect of being able to sustain myself, especially since I've explored the entire map.

Finally, habitats have wheels?

Could this be an indication of being able to move the habitats closer together? If being able to cultivate your own food, and possibly gearing up for a long haul of survival until the powers that be back home send help, you'll have to work on securing an area all for yourself. It would be a slow, painstaking, and resource driven process to move the habitat closure to another. It would require extra battery packs for your PRT, it'll probably take several charges, a day to tear all the equipment down and store it on the sides of the habitat and planning a route that won't cause you to go down or up a steep hill and over large rocks.

It's just a thought XD

PRT

First, it's certainly NOT a workhorse...

I'm not sure why it is that I can carry more than my PRT, even when I'm NOT encumbered? Carrying while encumbered is at 75Kg and my PRT is static at 40Kg. I damn near broke a keyboard because I'm trying to transfer 5 filled air tanks and it kept telling me there's no room. I don't feel like calculating, I'm in a hurry, traveling long distances to find some supply crates when I'm already encumbered and PRT is damn near packed, and all I want to do is get to my habitat and eat/drink/sleep... I also think it take too long telling me that there's no more room, like 5 seconds. It would be nice if it can could hold 80Kg and can be upgraded... which brings me to my second suggestion...

Second, upgradable PRT...

Your PRT is certainly useful, probably the MOST useful asset you acquire... whenever that was for you (SOL 16 for me). But it's so bare bone and limited in its ability to store items. If anything, 80Kg would be nice for capacity, with the possibility of being upgraded to hold another 80Kg (20Kg bags on either side of the PRT, and an extra 40Kg box/bag on top) and all accessible from the back door. In the movie "The Martian," good old Matt the Martian astronaut was able to modify is PRT/rover and I think it would be a wonderful implementation, if possible.

The biggest suggestion I could possibly make for the ability to place solar panels. If you'd implement being able to put things on your PRT (like bags on sides, or box/bag on top), then certainly they can be used to power charge your PRT. So, it would be up to the player on what they want to install. Maybe bags on both sides of the PRT (where you can put 1 small solar panel on each side) and leaving the top for a one large solar panel, providing power to charge your PRT batteries, just like it would to a habitat?

So, configurations would be like this

PRT - Empty - 80Kg Total Weight Limit (Going from the 40Kg you set to perhaps my suggested 80Kg)

PRT - Two Side Bags (One Left and One Right) - Total 120Kg Weight Limit (80 main and 20 per side)

PRT - Two Side Bags and One Top Box/Bag) - Total 160Kg Weight Limit (80 main, 20 per side, 40 on top)

OR…

PRT - Two Small Solar Panels (One left side, One Right Side) - Supplies a total of 60 power to battery

PRT – One Large Solar Panel (On Top) – Supplies a total of 50 power to battery

So, essentially, you can have the side bags and a large solar panel on top… or have a small solar panel on either side of your PRT and a box/bag on top. Obviously, you cannot have two different components occupying the same space.

Third, PRT maneuverability...

I'm sure you're working on it, I just wanted to point out that dodging rocks isn't 100% guaranteed. There have been many occasions where I had to ALT+F4 out of the game and start all over again from the last save point because I got stuck on a rock and the game wouldn't let me hit "B" to get out of the PRT... effectively causing me to be stuck. And going up inclines are very troublesome. If I made sure I was going the same speed, I could have gotten over this one hill... but stupid me leaned over to fart, taking my finger off the go key and ended up slowing down. When I got to the top of the hill, I pushed the go key again... but couldn't get over the lip... stared at the sky for a good 4 minutes with the PRT still sounding like it was grudgingly moving forward but wasn't. Maybe also an auto drive feature like the auto walk. I didn't really fart, by the way (just making you smile during this long drawn out mess I’m writing) XD

Finally, hooking the PRT up…

Not like you think, no tricking it out with flames/spoilers and what not… I’m talking about being able to hook your PRT up to your habitat. If by chance, you do decide to implement my suggestion for moving habitats, you’ll have to use the PRT to pull the habitat. If you don’t want to move habitats, at least allow for hooking up the PRT to the habitat for the ability to slowly charge over time. What I’m really getting at, is it is overly painful to have to continue to charge batteries and walk over and fill up my PRT. I know this is supposed to be a tedious game bent around survival… but it does take the fun out of playing the game.

Aesthetics

Visually it is good… but it could be better. Mostly in the scenery at night. When I was in the Navy and aboard ship, out in the middle of the pacific, at night, where there was no light pollution… the scenery was breathtaking. It was the single most beautiful scene I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Picture this… Out there at night, our lights were off running dark as any Navy ship does. The water was not moving save for slight ripples as we rolled through at less than 5 knots… No cloud in the sky, the mirror finish water was reflecting the entire night sky… it was if our ship was sailing through space itself. Space, that was a beauty all in itself… It wasn’t black with white dots and a whiteish milky way (which mind you, was 5 times bigger then the one you put in the game), but there was hints of slight pinkish/blueish hues and other soft cool colors mixed in, not enough to be obvious with it… but you can tell it was accented in with the white stars... as if they were airbrushed slightly in by some all-powerful creator or whatnot… it was certainly awe inspiring (I'm sure you already know this as making a space survival game certainly means you have knowledge in that area, but there are different colored stars up in the night sky, depending on their size/life-cycle). I think if you upgraded the night sky, it would certainly give the player pause and have some eye-gasm every time it turns night XD

And I'm not knocking what you've done with the night sky... but with all that you've done with the game so far, the space scenery feels bland...

BUGS

When I leave the habitat, the loading continues to flash until I get to a loading spot on the map and removes it.

Loading from a save, and I hit “v” for vitality or “I” for inventory, and I close out of it… it has my character pull up a pick-axe or hammer with claw thing, like I’m wielding it as a weapon. Hitting either of those will cause it to go away, but I won’t be able to click on anything with the mouse. Not until I hit “E” to bring up the main HUD and hit “E” again to close it. Once I do that, THEN I’ll be able to click on things.

The PRT is too loud, I cannot hear the exploration music (when it does play)

When it does play… Yes, the music doesn’t play all the time… I would be exploring in dead silence until whenever the music starts up again, only to stop playing after a certain amount of time.

Sun disappears well before it even reaches the horizon, cannot get a nice shot of the sunset… and the sun is kind of tiny. I know that Mars is further away from Earth, but do you think the sun would be that small in the sky?

Alright, sorry this was soo long… but I really had a lot to say after playing your game non-stop all day yesterday and today… I’m gonna go take a nap XD