I preface this with saying that the game is quite a lot of fun so far. It’s beautiful, and the writing is, as with all Failbetter productions, superb. Still, it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil, so here’s some thoughts for improvements:
Disentangle Advancing Attributes from Officers[li]
Why? Simply put, at the moment there is a sort of artificial roadblock. Before I, as a player, can spend Secrets to improve my character, I have to first get an Officer that can let me improve the relevant attribute. This has proven troublesome, for several reasons:
- First, it means that I need to spend echoes to get the relevant officers, who aren’t necessarily cheap for a character in the early game.[/li][li]And the cost is made worse by the fact that until you hire them, there is no way to tell which Officer improves which attribute.[/li][li]And the whole system is random, in that which Officer is available for hire is randomly selected.
So, if you want to improve a specific attribute, you end up visiting Fallen London an awful lot, or doing save scumming. Which is… not ideal.
Terror Balance
I believe others have commented on this before, but I’ll reiterate here. Right now, reducing Terror anywhere other than Mutton Island is ruinously expensive, expensive enough to swamp any profits your voyages make.
Hotkeys/Auto-Dock/Autopilot
I would very much like some hotkeys to be available for, at the least, the docking function of the vessel. More broadly, the ability to automatically dock would be very nice. And more broadly still, many trading games have some sort of auto-pilot function (I’m thinking things like Freelancer right now), at least between locations that have been thoroughly mapped and explored. Essentially, if the player is going to be making lots of trips between Fallen London and Venderbight, say, it would be nice if they could, say, hire a pilot or what not to do the few minimal turns required, as however intriguing the location, it becomes less intriguing somewhere around the twelfth journey.
Requested Feedback
To answer the specific questions posed in the original email…
- I do in fact use the half-speed feature quite a lot. It’s useful for maneuvering in tight corners, especially when docking.[/li][li]I hardly ever zoom in… though since my mousewheel is busted, that may be why. Still, in general whatever benefit the zoom-in function provides in terms of aesthetics is more than countered by the loss of the ability to tell where I’m going. [/li][li]I do save manually, though less so now that I’ve got Terror under control. [/li][li]I have no problem with visibility or atmosphere right now? I think it’s all good.
Hope this helps!