Easy Build Needs A Redesign

[Salbris]

(Mostly copy-paste from Reddit)
After every day since release I think there is a serious design flaw with easy mode. Disclaimer I'm one of the few people that had some limited success with easy mode and I'm not aware of the exact intentions of the mode. Also this is not a complaint about easy mode bugs but it's overall design.

First off, I'm assuming that easy mode is designed as a quick way to get started and not intended to be used after the "early game". A way to allow players customization without going too deep into building mechanics. I think it clearly succeeds at this but fails to teach players any skills they need later in the game. Correct me if I'm wrong but easy mode seems to basically be three things. 1) A collection of "modules", prebuilt sections of a ship, that can only be crafted not traded. 2) The ability to snap these modules (and nothing else) onto your ship without welding or bolting as it's done automatically. 3) Auto configuration of common components such as mapping thrusters to the flight computer.

I think the second aspect of easy mode is bad because it avoids teaching players about bolting and welding to save only a few seconds of time that you would normally have to spend connecting parts together. Bolting and welding has been one of the few things in Starbase that actually works really well so I'm really confused why the devs felt it necessary to avoid teaching this to players and making it mandatory.

The first aspect isn't even unique to easy mode. You can in fact create "modules" by picking up parts that are connected to each other but not connected to your ship. In fact the easy build modules are worse in every way because you can only place them while in the easy build area while I can create a module anywhere and put it in my station inventory. Why can't we just use modules everywhere?

With all this in mind I find it odd that the devs decided to implement easy mode when existing game systems already cover all the bases or are worthwhile to teach to the player instead. Why invest more time trying to fix easy build mode when instead you could just:
a) Replace all easy build modules with modules you can use anywhere.
b) Improve snapping so it's as good as it is in easy build (and then also everywhere).
c) Remove the easy build mechanic and probably eliminating all bugs associated with it.
d) Add bolting and welding modules to the tutorial.
e) Change the easy build area to just be a general build area with a crafting bench. Once I didn't need easy mode it was annoying to have to turn it off when all I wanted was he crafting bench.
f) Make configuring thrusters easier so we don't need easy mode to make it reasonable.

Perhaps I missed something obvious but it seems to me that continuing with easy build mode as some separate special mode is a bad idea.
Thoughts?

 

[Sublime]

(Mostly copy-paste from Reddit)
After every day since release I think there is a serious design flaw with easy mode. Disclaimer I'm one of the few people that had some limited success with easy mode and I'm not aware of the exact intentions of the mode. Also this is not a complaint about easy mode bugs but it's overall design.

First off, I'm assuming that easy mode is designed as a quick way to get started and not intended to be used after the "early game". A way to allow players customization without going too deep into building mechanics. I think it clearly succeeds at this but fails to teach players any skills they need later in the game. Correct me if I'm wrong but easy mode seems to basically be three things. 1) A collection of "modules", prebuilt sections of a ship, that can only be crafted not traded. 2) The ability to snap these modules (and nothing else) onto your ship without welding or bolting as it's done automatically. 3) Auto configuration of common components such as mapping thrusters to the flight computer.

I think the second aspect of easy mode is bad because it avoids teaching players about bolting and welding to save only a few seconds of time that you would normally have to spend connecting parts together. Bolting and welding has been one of the few things in Starbase that actually works really well so I'm really confused why the devs felt it necessary to avoid teaching this to players and making it mandatory.

The first aspect isn't even unique to easy mode. You can in fact create "modules" by picking up parts that are connected to each other but not connected to your ship. In fact the easy build modules are worse in every way because you can only place them while in the easy build area while I can create a module anywhere and put it in my station inventory. Why can't we just use modules everywhere?

With all this in mind I find it odd that the devs decided to implement easy mode when existing game systems already cover all the bases or are worthwhile to teach to the player instead. Why invest more time trying to fix easy build mode when instead you could just:
a) Replace all easy build modules with modules you can use anywhere.
b) Improve snapping so it's as good as it is in easy build (and then also everywhere).
c) Remove the easy build mechanic and probably eliminating all bugs associated with it.
d) Add bolting and welding modules to the tutorial.
e) Change the easy build area to just be a general build area with a crafting bench. Once I didn't need easy mode it was annoying to have to turn it off when all I wanted was he crafting bench.
f) Make configuring thrusters easier so we don't need easy mode to make it reasonable.

Perhaps I missed something obvious but it seems to me that continuing with easy build mode as some separate special mode is a bad idea.
Thoughts?

a) You can make your own modules in Ship Designer. The point of Easy Builder is to be "easy" for new players.
b) Snapping is the same everywhere, it seems better in EB because you are snapping prefab modules.
c) No. Easy Build is a good idea that needs time to get the bugs out.
d) Reasonable (although it's not exactly complicated), and likely planned for future updates.
e) Craft your own Crafting Bench to use anywhere. That is your graduation from Easy Builder!
f) No, it is part of shipbuilding. Let's not start "dumbing the game down" already! Also, you can put a thruster together in Ship Designer and save it as a module yourself to use over and over.

 

[Salbris]

a) You can make your own modules in Ship Designer. The point of Easy Builder is to be "easy" for new players.
b) Snapping is the same everywhere, it seems better in EB because you are snapping prefab modules.
c) No. Easy Build is a good idea that needs time to get the bugs out.
d) Reasonable (although it's not exactly complicated), and likely planned for future updates.
e) Craft your own Crafting Bench to use anywhere. That is your graduation from Easy Builder!
f) No, it is part of shipbuilding. Let's not start "dumbing the game down" already! Also, you can put a thruster together in Ship Designer and save it as a module yourself to use over and over.

a) I suppose that's a fair but that actually gives me an even better to tie the design mode together with crafting. We should be able to create recipes that we can craft at a bench (limited to say 16 parts or something). Also you are not addressing the problem that modules can't be used outside of ebm. Players are basically forced to sell their modules as they quickly become useless wastes of space.
b) Odd thing to say, I've been working outside of ebm for several days now and even after learning "tricks" it's still incredibly frustrating. Even basic things like lining up a mining laser with its mount (on the only valid spot it can go) is strangely difficult.
c) Need to see more reasoning than that. What's in easy build that can't already be done elsewhere? (Assuming the game actually let's you)
f) Imho, this kind of thinking is going to destroy the game. There are no interesting mechanics to preserve by keeping thruster management annoying and tedious. The fact that I can't tell if my thrusters are uniquely named in some panel is insane. I have no problem keeping complex systems complex but this is just tedium for no reason.


Overall you haven't really answered the underlying question as to why ebm needs to be a special second mode and why it's features can't eventually be made more holistic.

 

[Foraven]

Easy ship building is fine, having prebuilt ship parts can greatly help beginners assemble ships and enjoy the game sooner. However, the easy builder should allow the use of welded / riveted ship parts without bricking the design. We should be able to modify easy built ships once we grasp the use of welders and nail guns. Right now it doesn't take much to brick a ship design for good, I have one right now in my storage that I can't remove parts from it and is critically compromised structurally so It's unusable. Heck, damaged parts can brick a design as well as it's damaged state become part of the blueprint...