Initial feedback from a bots game, before PvP starts.
New HUD is awesome! Art team continues to do a great job (there and other places).
Noticed a few odd bot behaviors. (Replay G741f6946c2964de7b044657ad5aa70c9.) Bots tend to plant multiple observer wards (sorry don't remember the right name for them) in the same place or nearly the same place; happened on multiple occasions. I also noticed similar behavior with some other active abilities, e.g. Emberfiend, where the bot released three AOEs in almost exactly the same time/place. Finally, just as an FYI, bot chats still refer to the "Nexus" instead of "Archive".
Not sure if it's just my settings (1080p monitor, 50% resolution iirc) but the minimap seemed like it was much worse resolution than the rest of the screen / than previously.
I'll add more feedback here after playing some PvP.
Noticed a few odd bot behaviors. (Replay G741f6946c2964de7b044657ad5aa70c9.) Bots tend to plant multiple observer wards (sorry don't remember the right name for them) in the same place or nearly the same place; happened on multiple occasions. I also noticed similar behavior with some other active abilities, e.g. Emberfiend, where the bot released three AOEs in almost exactly the same time/place. Finally, just as an FYI, bot chats still refer to the "Nexus" instead of "Archive".
Thanks cdiss!
Yea bots arent good at picking unique locations for abilities right now, thats something will take a look at in the future for sure.
(1.1) - I didn't entirely grok the new interface with the few games on it so far. Just need to get used to it, but initial feedback was that it seemed like a lot of the numbers blended together, in part because of uniform size, and because in some places it felt like they were in different areas. Like, in one box it was in the top right, and in another the top left. As I say, though, I think it is just getting more time on it.
(1.2) - I liked the fog of war better, felt hazier and more obvious when it would clear. This in hind-sight, though, thinking back.
Balance
(2.1) - I'm still really enjoying the challenge of working through the progression system, and having just junk match-ups which necessitate different play-styles and relying on my teammates more.
(2.2) - I definitely exploited Juggernaut unit blocking tonight. I feel like they should have unit walking for T1s (maybe they do?), but like that another juggernaut can body block them. Amazingly, makes them almost defensive.
Looks like levels could be divided by five. (useless multiples are a slight pet peeve of mine) If this pattern sticks, a visual representation of basic/ult upgrades might be clearer yet.
UI: I have to search for my current level a bit. May improve with familiarity.
Might be some habit, but I miss having the resources right next to the action grid. I'm comparing them both for which generators I need, and for costs of things.
Terapin dash is hard to use against opponents in critter regions; the critters end up blocking most good lines.
Yea, I'm not a huge fan of moving the display of what I have selected to the bottom right. It seems less clear/harder to parse.
The UI seemed a little too big @ 1440p, but overall I like that it provided a lot more feedback. It seems a little cluttered, maybe 5 steps forward 2 steps back in my book <3 (EDIT2: If I had to choose between the last UI iteration and this one, I would take the last simply because of a few basic layout details [maybe for people who like the minimap on the left?] I like the art of the new one, but it doesn't parse nearly as well.)
The game overall feels like it's in a better place than any previous build. Here are my current thoughts:
The Ion Cannon and Juggernaut seem a little redundant, Just as a side suggestion, has the engineer building forward juggernauts instead of ion cannons been tested? I really like the engineer's defensive utility but that alone is usually not worthy of a slot, but I like the way juggernauts force teams to be all over the map. But I don't know. Maybe they're fine.
The Terrapin change to 5 energy seems significant. They seem pretty fragile right now in general, with their main utility being more for surrounds and picking off retreating units than dedicated tanking... This isn't a horrible role, they just seem a little weak at the moment. Or At least they just fall off hard. Slight buff to their upgrade? lol.
I'm enjoying the progression system overall. I feel like it does cause some balance trouble when a hard counter becomes necessary to kill a group of aquadillos for example, and no one has one unlocked, let alone in their deck.
I look forward to be able to play more often. It's difficult to get enough games to form an opinion by the time you change everything. I enjoy the improvements, but I'm usually slow to really finalize an opinion. I hope to provide better feedback as things slow down. I feel like I'm still just getting a handle on thing.
<3
EDIT:
Also, one of you made the big announcement in discord. I didn't see who, I was in a game. but Congrats guys! I'm really excited.
But a few questions/things I wasn't clear on.
Are you closing PvP to restricted times? I didn't catch the reasoning behind this other than concerns about long queue times. I hope those of us who have been willing to endure 8hr queue times will still have the opportunity to do so, or some solution.
Will there be a progression reset?
How "open" is "open"? Open as in NDA free, or open as in free to play?
Will it be the same client, or will there be another layer similar to staging, where the daily testers can play during the closed pvp time (if not can I get on staging? lmao I love you.), or will it be all on the same server?
idk <3 I assume you'll let us know all of this. Just putting the curiosity out there.
@Motiva I think PVP will be restricted at the open alpha. This is to create times when people reconvene. Hopefully we get a few games in the dedicated times rather than 0 games 24/7 (which will usually lead to a gradual reduction of playerbase). You can still create custom games for PVP outside of the times.
Everything is subject to change, if playerbase is high enough to maintain queue times throughout the day then they will probably be really quick to move away from the restricted times.
@TokOwa said:
Motiva I think PVP will be restricted at the open alpha. This is to create times when people reconvene. Hopefully we get a few games in the dedicated times rather than 0 games 24/7 (which will usually lead to a gradual reduction of playerbase). You can still create custom games for PVP outside of the times.
Everything is subject to change, if playerbase is high enough to maintain queue times throughout the day then they will probably be really quick to move away from the restricted times.
I gathered as much, though I thought I heard them say that they -think- we should be able to do customs outside of that time. I just figured this is a good place to bring it up.
Furthermore, I'm just curious because if people like the game and anyone can come play some, then it just won't be a problem. I know if most of the daily testers could just invite all their friends to play we would probably have a game or two going most afternoons and evenings.
We're not far off from being able to get games most weekdays with the dedicated few we have. I'm just curious on the details because I like just randomly checking at 3pm on a Tuesday and seeing that I can actually get a game. It's great
Yeah, hopefully they will react fast when circumstances arise. It seemed like they expressed that they are no changes to custom game availability as well as no plans to make any changes, so I wouldn't worry too much.
It will take me a while to adapt to the new UI to provide good feedback. Right now I'm looking in all the wrong places for information.
I think there needs to be a prominent UI element for finished production. Currently it is difficult to know when units finish if you aren't glued to your production queue or listening to the audio cue. Maybe something similar to the warp gate availability element in SC2. As Protoss you would develop a sense of when to warp in since the gate CD never varied. In Atlas warp in time differs by unit build time and the time the unit was queued so more feedback would help players macro.
Treisk
Member, Administrator
Comments
Initial feedback from a bots game, before PvP starts.
New HUD is awesome! Art team continues to do a great job (there and other places).
Noticed a few odd bot behaviors. (Replay G741f6946c2964de7b044657ad5aa70c9.) Bots tend to plant multiple observer wards (sorry don't remember the right name for them) in the same place or nearly the same place; happened on multiple occasions. I also noticed similar behavior with some other active abilities, e.g. Emberfiend, where the bot released three AOEs in almost exactly the same time/place. Finally, just as an FYI, bot chats still refer to the "Nexus" instead of "Archive".
Not sure if it's just my settings (1080p monitor, 50% resolution iirc) but the minimap seemed like it was much worse resolution than the rest of the screen / than previously.
I'll add more feedback here after playing some PvP.
Thanks cdiss!
Yea bots arent good at picking unique locations for abilities right now, thats something will take a look at in the future for sure.
Great catch on the Nexus thing!
New Interface
(1.1) - I didn't entirely grok the new interface with the few games on it so far. Just need to get used to it, but initial feedback was that it seemed like a lot of the numbers blended together, in part because of uniform size, and because in some places it felt like they were in different areas. Like, in one box it was in the top right, and in another the top left. As I say, though, I think it is just getting more time on it.
(1.2) - I liked the fog of war better, felt hazier and more obvious when it would clear. This in hind-sight, though, thinking back.
Balance
(2.1) - I'm still really enjoying the challenge of working through the progression system, and having just junk match-ups which necessitate different play-styles and relying on my teammates more.
(2.2) - I definitely exploited Juggernaut unit blocking tonight. I feel like they should have unit walking for T1s (maybe they do?), but like that another juggernaut can body block them. Amazingly, makes them almost defensive.
Looks like levels could be divided by five. (useless multiples are a slight pet peeve of mine) If this pattern sticks, a visual representation of basic/ult upgrades might be clearer yet.
UI: I have to search for my current level a bit. May improve with familiarity.
Might be some habit, but I miss having the resources right next to the action grid. I'm comparing them both for which generators I need, and for costs of things.
Terapin dash is hard to use against opponents in critter regions; the critters end up blocking most good lines.
AlderBot ruined me with his ult a few times.
Yea, I'm not a huge fan of moving the display of what I have selected to the bottom right. It seems less clear/harder to parse.
The UI seemed a little too big @ 1440p, but overall I like that it provided a lot more feedback. It seems a little cluttered, maybe 5 steps forward 2 steps back in my book <3 (EDIT2: If I had to choose between the last UI iteration and this one, I would take the last simply because of a few basic layout details [maybe for people who like the minimap on the left?] I like the art of the new one, but it doesn't parse nearly as well.)
The game overall feels like it's in a better place than any previous build. Here are my current thoughts:
The Ion Cannon and Juggernaut seem a little redundant, Just as a side suggestion, has the engineer building forward juggernauts instead of ion cannons been tested? I really like the engineer's defensive utility but that alone is usually not worthy of a slot, but I like the way juggernauts force teams to be all over the map. But I don't know. Maybe they're fine.
The Terrapin change to 5 energy seems significant. They seem pretty fragile right now in general, with their main utility being more for surrounds and picking off retreating units than dedicated tanking... This isn't a horrible role, they just seem a little weak at the moment. Or At least they just fall off hard. Slight buff to their upgrade? lol.
I'm enjoying the progression system overall. I feel like it does cause some balance trouble when a hard counter becomes necessary to kill a group of aquadillos for example, and no one has one unlocked, let alone in their deck.
I look forward to be able to play more often. It's difficult to get enough games to form an opinion by the time you change everything. I enjoy the improvements, but I'm usually slow to really finalize an opinion. I hope to provide better feedback as things slow down. I feel like I'm still just getting a handle on thing.
<3
EDIT:
Also, one of you made the big announcement in discord. I didn't see who, I was in a game. but Congrats guys! I'm really excited.
But a few questions/things I wasn't clear on.
Are you closing PvP to restricted times? I didn't catch the reasoning behind this other than concerns about long queue times. I hope those of us who have been willing to endure 8hr queue times will still have the opportunity to do so, or some solution.
Will there be a progression reset?
How "open" is "open"? Open as in NDA free, or open as in free to play?
Will it be the same client, or will there be another layer similar to staging, where the daily testers can play during the closed pvp time (if not can I get on staging? lmao I love you.), or will it be all on the same server?
idk <3 I assume you'll let us know all of this. Just putting the curiosity out there.
@Motiva I think PVP will be restricted at the open alpha. This is to create times when people reconvene. Hopefully we get a few games in the dedicated times rather than 0 games 24/7 (which will usually lead to a gradual reduction of playerbase). You can still create custom games for PVP outside of the times.
Everything is subject to change, if playerbase is high enough to maintain queue times throughout the day then they will probably be really quick to move away from the restricted times.
I gathered as much, though I thought I heard them say that they -think- we should be able to do customs outside of that time. I just figured this is a good place to bring it up.
Furthermore, I'm just curious because if people like the game and anyone can come play some, then it just won't be a problem. I know if most of the daily testers could just invite all their friends to play we would probably have a game or two going most afternoons and evenings.
We're not far off from being able to get games most weekdays with the dedicated few we have.
I'm just curious on the details because I like just randomly checking at 3pm on a Tuesday and seeing that I can actually get a game. It's great 
Yeah, hopefully they will react fast when circumstances arise. It seemed like they expressed that they are no changes to custom game availability as well as no plans to make any changes, so I wouldn't worry too much.
It will take me a while to adapt to the new UI to provide good feedback. Right now I'm looking in all the wrong places for information.
I think there needs to be a prominent UI element for finished production. Currently it is difficult to know when units finish if you aren't glued to your production queue or listening to the audio cue. Maybe something similar to the warp gate availability element in SC2. As Protoss you would develop a sense of when to warp in since the gate CD never varied. In Atlas warp in time differs by unit build time and the time the unit was queued so more feedback would help players macro.
Also, kingpin nerf? You monsters.