Hi, first off I want to thank you all for a wonderful game! Since the launch I have written down everything that I felt could be improved, and I’m happy to say that it’s mostly QoL fixes. I’m not gonna list obvious bugs, those will surely be fixed.
tldr;
- new Antialiasing
- Remove Depth of field.
- Option to remove HUD elements individually.
- Better inventory and loot management.
- More sound sliders.
- More hotkeys.
- Less adrenaline.
- More indoor threats.
Graphics settings
This is one of the biggest issues. The game looks beautiful so It’s a shame that everything is covered by blurry filters and effects that make it look, well, bad (In my opinion).
The biggest issue is TAA which makes any game using it a blurry mess, sure it is fast, but I hope you can implement some other AA-algorithm as well so the average user can enjoy crisp graphics. This issue at least have a workaround, and you can use a 3rd party program to force the game to use another AA.
Some of the other effect could be accessed in the settings file, but there is currently no way that I’m aware of to removing the DoF shader. At least your implementation of DoF is not as bad as some games, the issue I have with DoF is that it is unrealistic and breaks my immersion. I’m not keeping my eyes fixed on the crosshair when I play, I keep them moving and scanning the environment, so it makes no sense that that area should be blurry.
User Interface
A suggestion that I have seen already is a “hardcore” mode, where one would usually strip away nearly all GUI elements. I hope you can implement this as well, but instead of a simple on/off function break it out so we can control all elements individually. I for example would like to remove the crosshair and the “detection indicator” in the middle, but keep the rest.
This next one is probably the most annoying one, the inventory management. I’m not really sure what to do here, I will list a couple of ideas I had but there is probably other ways to take and they might not all work together.
First, remove the “hold E to…” part, just let me press E and do what I want to do. I think this part makes looting feel like a chore. If you want to keep it for light switches, collectibles and such that is fine, but the regular looting should be quick.
And while on the subject of looting, I think that when you have a container open you should be able to just press E again to loot all instead of enter, also to speed things up. And for PC at least, you should see the details of a item by just hovering over it with the mouse, and clicking on it should loot that item directly. This would also help somewhat with another issue which is when your inventory is full. Right now it is hard know how many spots you need to clear out to loot everything, because it is not clear what will stack with what, and how big the piles can get. Again, I’m not really sure how to handle the inventory part, but it needs to be less cumbersome.
A loot filter would be great, so if I don’t want anymore of ammo X, radios or whatever I can just right-click the item and select “ignore loot” from the meny. now the “loot all” function should ignore all of these items until I choose to change it. you could even give them some small red icon so it’s clear. Manual looting should still work.
Other basic functions like a auto sort / combine button on the inventory screen. and a question if I want to re-attach weapon attachments to a new weapon (when i drag the new one over the old one) would be nice.
When it comes to the sound of the game I’m impressed, but I miss a few sliders in the options menu when it comes to the sound levels. I would like it if at least the gun shots could be it’s own slider, right now if I put the volume where I get a comfortable and satisfying shotgun blast I can barely hear stuff like opening containers, menus or footsteps. I do hear them, but very vague and would like them to be louder.
Gameplay
I would love a few more hotkeys. Like the flashlight, I feel like there are other items that are useful enough that they are always on the hotbar, which limits the items you have equipped and force you to fiddle on the inventory screen more.
The 1st is binoculars, lets me just press B or something and bring them up. I often find that I would like to use them, but don’t bother in the end because I have other things equipped and don’t feel like changing.
The 2nd one is a hotkey for equipping the first medical item in your inventory, right now I think everyone have a medkit equipped for obvious reasons. So in effect we only have 3 free slots to do what we want with, which limits your flexibility in combat.
A button to cycle ammo types without going into the meny would also be handy.
I also find that Adrenaline is too plentiful, they should either drop less frequent or have smaller stacks. Right not I don’t care at all if I die.
The following is feedback regarding features I wish will come later on, they are not QoL fixes and would take a lot of work.
I feel very safe when indoors, sure you have gas, and you can be shot through windows. Sometimes a machine do get inside a barn, but it feels like it is a bug and they usually clipped in or got pushed. Make runners able to enter all buildings, and preferably walk on stairs. With this you can even have runners that are on patrol search inside houses, right now I feel 100% safe when i enter a house and is not in combat.
It would also be cool if the tick had the same behavior and could also navigate walls and ceilings.
That is it so far, thank you for reading!