[feedback] Space Trader

[cam]

Hi,

We've updated our website and demo, and we're looking for some feedback. Our format is a little different so I'm really curious what you guys think. I Haven't posted here before, but I've been reading it for a while and there's always some good feedback so here goes:


website: http://www.playspacetrader.com

It's an action-trading game, so the goal is to make money buying and selling commodities, traveling to different planets and doing combat missions. You can play with up to 8 players where you compete to see who makes the most money.


screenshots:

Buying and selling with one of the merchants:
http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/userimages/b/be980f08712418cd97c50c1008dabe52_m.jpg

Some merchants won't deal in the black market:
http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/userimages/3/396fde31d26720920b838434cd1c6e16_m.jpg

Planets orbit over the course of the game so planning the proper route can help a lot. Each challenge has a certain amount of time to complete:
http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/userimages/e/e59a97a42a7208893899ba058d2740f5_m.jpg

Combat missions earn you money for capturing fugitives:
http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/userimages/4/461caf98bdb05a777d42a226004e0ef3_m.png

Thanks,
cameron

[Sybixsus]

Looks very interesting, but your web host appears to be down.

[cam]

Yes, that was bad timing. I didn't realize our site was being updated when I posted. Should be up now. :)

[Sybixsus]

Yep, it's fine now, but it won't let me play the demo. It says my plugin is not installed or up to date, but it doesn't tell me what plugin I'm supposed to have, it just offers to install it, which I would rather not do until I know what it wants. What exactly is it wanting?

[Sirrus]

Looks very interesting but hate the browser based demo.

Its too small, the loading times as way too long, and took too long to get into.

I'd love to play it more, but can we get a download? ;)

[cam]

it just offers to install it, which I would rather not do until I know what it wants. What exactly is it wanting?
Its wanting to install its own plugin to be able to play the game. You should see the name of the company on the plugin etc. What do you suggest to make this easier to understand, maybe a flat out explanation in the plugin box?

[cam]

Looks very interesting but hate the browser based demo.

Its too small, the loading times as way too long, and took too long to get into.

I'd love to play it more, but can we get a download? ;)

You can use alt-enter to go fullscreen, we haven't made that clear at all! We are working on a download version as well, we're trying to get the size down to something reasonable.

[Kaos]

seems to only load in IE?

[adamqkane]

Wow, looks like a very deep experience! If you get the wrinkles ironed out, I'll bet you develop a dedicated fan-base.

Quick suggestions:

Loading Screen: Take advantage of the time while the game is loading to display instructions, or info about how cool the game is and why it's worth sticking around while it loads.

Cursors: With the ActiveX control you're using, can you control the cursor? The finger cursor should be used when over buttons.

Tutorial: Needs a tutorial mode for new players.

Character Bug: After naming my new character, it says "Click on a player to start game", but nothing happens when I click on the character.

Guest Account: It'd be nice to be able to try out the game without having to create an account. Maybe support a guest account feature.

[adamqkane]

Wow, looks like a very deep experience! If you get the wrinkles ironed out, I'll bet you develop a dedicated fan-base.

[cam]

seems to only load in IE?
It should work for Firefox and Safari too. Can you give any details?

[cam]

Wow, looks like a very deep experience! If you get the wrinkles ironed out, I'll bet you develop a dedicated fan-base.

Thanks for the suggestions, very helpful. If anyone would like to try some more of the game, or compete on the ladder pm me and I can create a beta account for you. -cam

[Kaos]

It should work for Firefox and Safari too. Can you give any details?


I tried in opera and I even set the compatibility panel in the browser, identify as IE or mask as ie/firefox, etc.

Just does not like opera for some reason, I love browser games in opera, a few extra settings that you do not have in other browsers.


ah well, loaded the terribly slow, POS IE to take a look anyhow. pity on the opera thing though.