Quality of Life Improvements for New Players
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 11:19 pmHi Devs!,
New Player here. I love sandbox games, and greatly enjoy Minecraft, Terraria and Starbound. I have never heard of Junk Jack until very recently by accident. I just recently bought JJX for iOS and via Steam, since it looks like a great game!
Steam says I've played for 12 hours now, but I'm feeling that I hit a "bump" in the game that is shunting the enjoyment I initially had for the game. Here are the issues I feel are holding the game back in terms of new players who love the sandbox aspect of JJX ( Keep in mind I'm talking as a beginner, who only has access to Terra via Adventure mode - total newb. who wants to play "Normal" game mode instead of kiddie/creative mode ) :
1) There really needs to be a low-tier option to teleport back to your spawn/base. A consumable would be nice at first, then maybe a goodie trinket later in the game as I progress ( think Magic Mirror in Terraria ).
2) The many crafting stations looks sensible but I have to say initially I'm overwhelmed by all the choices. Maybe group them more together or have tiers of upgrades? Also there is no way to tell what I can make with one (so I can prioritize gathering resources to build them.) Perhaps a way to navigate to a list of items I could build with the station IF I had it (maybe act like I'm at the station and show all the grayed out recipes if I, say, right click on the station
3) Related to #2, the crafting system is familiar (I like the Simple mode vs Standard) but unlike many sandbox games the progression is a bit confusing for me. It's hard to tell how to progress through the armors, for example. Perhaps I have to get used to the recipe gathering, but it's very frustrating to see that a Wooden (storage) Chest needs Nails, but I had no indication of HOW to build Nails. By chance, I stumbled across right-click on the item. Perhaps have some newb/tutorial tip that informs you that you can RIGHT click on an ingredient to see its recipe?
4) Platforms (aka "Wooden Bridge"s) in this game is a little frustrating, Nails are not easy to come by, so the platforms I have are very scarce and precious. For me, this goes against the whole purpose of them. I end up using dirt for platforms while exploring, which forces me to do stairs instead of vertical shafts ( and put down temp blocks just to dig them back up again so I can move in a different direction, etc. ) Please consider removing Nails from the Wooden platform recipe.
5) While exploring, it seems like I have to put down torches every 5/6 blocks when going horizontally, otherwise I cannot mine and/or mob spawns overwhelm me. Holding a torch to navigate in the dark is extremely ineffective. When I'm not interested in going backwards/establishing a permanent route, it would be nice to have some way to better see a larger area around me and not get completely overwhelmed with mobs (while I'm wearing wooden armor). Perhaps holding a torch could be more effective?
6) At this point in the game, I've barely crafted Copper armor, but mobs are still tough. I'm still using at-best stone tools, as metal is EXTREMELY SCARCE. Combined, this means that mining for ore is VERY VERY SLLOOOOOOOOOW, and is very hard to locate even before trying to mine it. Please increase ore frequency some reasonable amount for Terra. And perhaps increase the speed of mining with Wood/Stone tools a bit. This point has really knocked the wind out of my desire to continue playing this game ( and getting friends/family into the game with me. )
7) Related to 1, 2, 3, and 6, I knew about the portal stones, and very much wanted to explore the multi-world aspect of the game (if only it was ONE more planet only). I did find TWO portal chests, but imagine my frustration when I used up the last of my precious copper for a hammer (because I was unable to break it with stone tools), only to be told again I needed a "better" tool. Please provide some indicator of WHAT I need specifically, so I can prioritize and plan better. If I need Gold or better tools to break the block I'm whacking, tell me in that message please!
I realize some of these issues can be mitigated by using the wiki, but the wiki is pretty sparse (comparatively speaking) and it is very jarring/offsetting of the immersion in the game. While playing JJX, I don't want to spend half my time reading web pages as a new player! (Not to mention potential spoilers, I like to explore, that also means discovering cool things about the game WITHIN the game as I encounter them. )
Thanks for your consideration!
New Player here. I love sandbox games, and greatly enjoy Minecraft, Terraria and Starbound. I have never heard of Junk Jack until very recently by accident. I just recently bought JJX for iOS and via Steam, since it looks like a great game!
Steam says I've played for 12 hours now, but I'm feeling that I hit a "bump" in the game that is shunting the enjoyment I initially had for the game. Here are the issues I feel are holding the game back in terms of new players who love the sandbox aspect of JJX ( Keep in mind I'm talking as a beginner, who only has access to Terra via Adventure mode - total newb. who wants to play "Normal" game mode instead of kiddie/creative mode ) :
1) There really needs to be a low-tier option to teleport back to your spawn/base. A consumable would be nice at first, then maybe a goodie trinket later in the game as I progress ( think Magic Mirror in Terraria ).
2) The many crafting stations looks sensible but I have to say initially I'm overwhelmed by all the choices. Maybe group them more together or have tiers of upgrades? Also there is no way to tell what I can make with one (so I can prioritize gathering resources to build them.) Perhaps a way to navigate to a list of items I could build with the station IF I had it (maybe act like I'm at the station and show all the grayed out recipes if I, say, right click on the station
3) Related to #2, the crafting system is familiar (I like the Simple mode vs Standard) but unlike many sandbox games the progression is a bit confusing for me. It's hard to tell how to progress through the armors, for example. Perhaps I have to get used to the recipe gathering, but it's very frustrating to see that a Wooden (storage) Chest needs Nails, but I had no indication of HOW to build Nails. By chance, I stumbled across right-click on the item. Perhaps have some newb/tutorial tip that informs you that you can RIGHT click on an ingredient to see its recipe?
4) Platforms (aka "Wooden Bridge"s) in this game is a little frustrating, Nails are not easy to come by, so the platforms I have are very scarce and precious. For me, this goes against the whole purpose of them. I end up using dirt for platforms while exploring, which forces me to do stairs instead of vertical shafts ( and put down temp blocks just to dig them back up again so I can move in a different direction, etc. ) Please consider removing Nails from the Wooden platform recipe.
5) While exploring, it seems like I have to put down torches every 5/6 blocks when going horizontally, otherwise I cannot mine and/or mob spawns overwhelm me. Holding a torch to navigate in the dark is extremely ineffective. When I'm not interested in going backwards/establishing a permanent route, it would be nice to have some way to better see a larger area around me and not get completely overwhelmed with mobs (while I'm wearing wooden armor). Perhaps holding a torch could be more effective?
6) At this point in the game, I've barely crafted Copper armor, but mobs are still tough. I'm still using at-best stone tools, as metal is EXTREMELY SCARCE. Combined, this means that mining for ore is VERY VERY SLLOOOOOOOOOW, and is very hard to locate even before trying to mine it. Please increase ore frequency some reasonable amount for Terra. And perhaps increase the speed of mining with Wood/Stone tools a bit. This point has really knocked the wind out of my desire to continue playing this game ( and getting friends/family into the game with me. )
7) Related to 1, 2, 3, and 6, I knew about the portal stones, and very much wanted to explore the multi-world aspect of the game (if only it was ONE more planet only). I did find TWO portal chests, but imagine my frustration when I used up the last of my precious copper for a hammer (because I was unable to break it with stone tools), only to be told again I needed a "better" tool. Please provide some indicator of WHAT I need specifically, so I can prioritize and plan better. If I need Gold or better tools to break the block I'm whacking, tell me in that message please!
I realize some of these issues can be mitigated by using the wiki, but the wiki is pretty sparse (comparatively speaking) and it is very jarring/offsetting of the immersion in the game. While playing JJX, I don't want to spend half my time reading web pages as a new player! (Not to mention potential spoilers, I like to explore, that also means discovering cool things about the game WITHIN the game as I encounter them. )
Thanks for your consideration!
