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[ukulele]

Tutorial is pretty helpful, given trying to first navigate around all the menus. the basic menu is the key one to get chugging.

General Impressions of a first run:-

> I was really happy the arrow keys were allowing a single move (cautiously does it).

> It was a lot of fun right-clicking things and getting info: "What's this?" ; "Does this do anything?" and the feedback is good here.

> I found some terminals and immediately wanted to press some buttons. Though I did not find it easy to know what they do at first.

> I was doing well sneaking around and ensuring all the slots were being filled up and I had spares in my inventory... when,

> Suddenly a mini war broke-out which I'd tried to avoid: It was fun as a host of items appeared.

> Gobbling up items was very rewarding.

> I got stuck later on with trying to add a bigger inventory slot thing and it would not automatically fit into the other slots like the weapons, propulsion and utilities did automatically by drop&drag (I already looked at the sea of keyboard commands and mentally tagged "for later..."!) I know having a bunch of storage for replacing burnt out bits is going to be vital, so this was a bit annoying wondering what to do...

> The "one more move/decision/what's this?" aspect of the game is very very addictive/'moreish'

> The intel on enemy robots hostile status or otherwise is v useful. However it was not clear to me if the scouts could see me or not and hence if I'd been detected which was something I'd like to be more clear on a first play-through: "vision field?"

> I really liked all the context-menus eg the calc, the announcements log etc. Useful and immersive given the sheer number of stats everywhere is swamping in detail for a 1st run.

> My second run-in with a bunch or robots, I ran away from scouts and then some mercs came after me: Fortunately I'd quickly learnt to equip weapons and replace degraded stuff for fresh stuff (green) so it went well enough. I tried to hack more things but got detected and watched the trace rise after a couple more hacks.

> Found more stash but was stuck with the small (4 items) storage still... I found it a bit annoying having to drop things then equip then pick up again: Which was due to low storage and not knowing how to get more storage going I guess.

> Having spent a lot of time in the F1 mode looking at info and all the above events, after downloading, installing and making everything work, I decided to save+quit at this point and grab some dinner.

=

Good thing is the game seems really chilled given you can deliberate and take your time and there's plenty to think about, and the game world is really vibrant too (the tile mode is really good).

I'd say if any of the mistakes made by me above are spotted and are simple to avoid, then those might be good areas to tweak if possible for the new player experience to really bounce eg storage headache I was having might be one? Hope that is helpful feedback. The other area I was perplexed, is that I ran out of slots (obviously lower at the beginning) but was wondering how that is to be resolved and also the energy usage: I tried to use a fire-thing to burn through walls (before I later saw "mining claw") and it ended up expending a lot of energy...

I guess in part these are "learning the roguelike way" tbh. Maybe that is the expectation component on the part of the player to the game design /tutorial component.

[ukulele]

So, picking up on where I left off, fed and refreshed things became a little easier to pick up on:-

> Storage goes in utility slots

> Robots do a "!" when the see you along with the distress chatter in the log, so pretty good actually. Got better at seeing the robots "call for back up methods" too which needs nipping in the bud somehow.

> Turning components on/off is really cool function.

> The hacking thing is a lot more clear, you can cause interesting effects and interacting with the environment directly is v satisfying.

> Still getting to grips with energy, which I just started to notice after experimenting with melee (claw + data-jack). It meant I could not even slot things which seemed fairly drastic. 

> I came up against a couple of combat robots guarding directions and looked for the "wait" command, it's the scroll-wheel on the mouse as per the manual. I was not sure if my mouse's scroll-wheel was working... it seemed to be working but I was wondering if there was an alternative command... probably is in the keyboard somewhere given my mouse-wheel is temperamental.

> So after 2 small sessions the game is already fairly playable and the whole set-up is becoming more familiar and ease of use. Need to work on streamlining the slotting weapons, which is involving plenty of clicks/drops and drags.

[Kyzrati]

Welcome to Cogmind (after hanging out and having talked for a while . Most of what you say is within expectations, which is good.

> I got stuck later on with trying to add a bigger inventory slot thing and it would not automatically fit into the other slots like the weapons, propulsion and utilities did automatically by drop&drag (I already looked at the sea of keyboard commands and mentally tagged "for later..."!) I know having a bunch of storage for replacing burnt out bits is going to be vital, so this was a bit annoying wondering what to do...

You mean a Storage Unit? Those are just utilities (as labeled) and you attach them in the same way as other items. Were you trying to drag it to your inventory space or something? Not sure what you're describing here, but if you just attach storage to your utility slot you'll expand your inventory which will help.

> The intel on enemy robots hostile status or otherwise is v useful. However it was not clear to me if the scouts could see me or not and hence if I'd been detected which was something I'd like to be more clear on a first play-through: "vision field?"

When they spot you it flashes a '!' on them, and the Scan window in the HUD always shows a red '!' if they can currently see you.

I guess in part these are "learning the roguelike way" tbh. Maybe that is the expectation component on the part of the player to the game design /tutorial component.

True. While I could explain everything, I prefer to leave most of it to exploration, and provide only the really important usability info that enables the player to further explore for themselves. Tools, really. All the (listed) hacking features are pretty easy to figure out, so that's definitely one of the areas I left for the player to discover gradually. It's mostly secondary features, anyway, not mechanics you absolutely need to survive (though they become increasingly important as you advance towards the surface, by then you're getting good ).

Your storage dilemma is something I haven't heard of anyone encountering before, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of this and other issues quickly.

...

And yeah in your second post I now see that you figured out Storage . Really almost everything in the game is equippable (or activated by equipping it), unlike other roguelikes.

Apparently you also figured out the '!'

When it comes to energy, if you don't have enough power you might have to turn things off to restore it. Balancing energy needs is definitely a very important part of the game.

The keyboard wait command (as found in other roguelikes) is '.' or Numpad 5. Scroll wheel waiting is just a convenience for mouse users.

> So after 2 small sessions the game is already fairly playable and the whole set-up is becoming more familiar and ease of use. Need to work on streamlining the slotting weapons, which is involving plenty of clicks/drops and drags.

Sounds good! Cogmind benefits from really only needing to know a handful of things that can be learned in a few minutes, while the rest of the mechanics are many and deep, but you don't need them right away and can learn at your own pace.

[ukulele]

Thanks for the feedback straight from the horse's mouth, too!

My aim was to be frank:-

1. Get playing as fast as possible
2. Get playing using the laziest route possible
3. Use the minimum amount of overhead of "looking-things up".

I tried for example to use "PlayOnLinux" as that sounded even easier than Wine, but the "installing" phase never progressed and their "manual installation page" on their wiki is "tbcompleted...". I also did not touch a PC game in about a year for various reasons, hence the lazy approach.

Also the "stupid newbie approach" (!):

1. What threw me without taking care to read the utility slot was that you start the game with 4 storage slots which don't have a direct correspondence to a function in the above categories (energy, propulsion, utility, weapon), so purely looking at visuals and that useful drag & drop (and a fatigued brain) that was where I got lost. Of course after a break and taking a bit of care, it was obviously only going to be utility slot and none of the others! Also managed to confuse matter storage with item storage, I think on one occasion. So all in all you start the game with a baseline 4 storage option and can equip a utility storage to store more items.

2. Energy is a big deal, and it's pretty cool once you realize it has to be kept a careful eye. Those pest swarms sucked up a lot of my energy as I was trundling along really well in some mines/caves and then "swoosh!" out of nowhere I was not being careful, got swamped and died - ugh. It's two newbie lessons:-

(1) Items get shot to bits and need frequent replacing and replacements (available!).
(2) You can be lulled into a false sense of security picking off the odd robot feeling cosy - then turn a corner and run into a "gawd-dang town meeting of robots"  and start shooting: game over.

> On my second run after my 1st demise, I already experienced plenty of new ways of playing with different items eg flying propulsion dropped off some pests, so that was really positive to get out of the game already that sense there's number of ways of playing the game.

> The items and ascii art are huge hooks to keep progressing, very "gimme, gimme".

> Another mistake I made, I assumed (again stupidly) that going through the stares I'd be instantly healed of everything so went on a binge or shooting the floor up (I thought I'd max out finding useful stuff to take with me/leave a calling card..) and then found I was not in the best shape after the evolution screen.

Yeah I think progress is going to be as much space explored as paying more and closer attention to the info presented and then using it better. So after the rush of just wanting to give cogmind a quick and fun spin, time to attempt to work out things and test decisions.

[ukulele]

So 6th and 7th run (I think 4th/5th both ended v quickly):-

> Managed to resolve the energy issues and the storage issue - again worked out a good strategy for the storage issue.

> Devised a strategy of avoiding major "highways" that made me feel like a genius (premature no doubt). And it worked like a charm.

> Still a bit confused that some utilities once slotted if unslotted are discarded, which seems strange?

> Learnt some more "good gameplay" tricks eg avoid no energy and no weapons in a shoot-up; a bit of robot hacking and machine/terminal opportunities, retreat and hope a few robots don't follow and deal with any that do...


Well that should do for newbie impressions. The learning curve feels very good at this stage of experience, and the visual UI feedback for decision-making makes all the difference I'd attribute to what is making the game immediately fun to want to learn more (I'm sure assessing the stats more carefully, will become critical (which robots are more vulnerable to what etc) but for a beginner that can come later) All good considering I've failed a number of times to get into true roguelikes previously.

[DDarkray]

> Still a bit confused that some utilities once slotted if unslotted are discarded, which seems strange?

Check to see if the item is a processor or hackware. (You can right-click to check, or you can look for a colon at the left-side of the item name in the equipment HUD.) Processor and hackware are different because they will be destroyed if you try to remove them, i.e. signal interpreter and hacking suite. You should get a warning message when you try to detach them.

[ukulele]

> Still a bit confused that some utilities once slotted if unslotted are discarded, which seems strange?

Check to see if the item is a processor or hackware. (You can right-click to check, or you can look for a colon at the left-side of the item name in the equipment HUD.) Processor and hackware are different because they will be destroyed if you try to remove them, i.e. signal interpreter and hacking suite. You should get a warning message when you try to detach them.

Thanks for the tip. That explanation actually makes it sound logical in-game reason for why they're destroyed/discarded. I think the stem of the problem is that I'm probably cack-handed rearranging items between equipped and stored, and "thrown on the ground" and then selecting from all those sources when you can't pick up an item when your storage is full.

That probably needs more reading of the adv. commands to work more effectively: And of course you can't easily rearrange like that when the utility is one of the above and is destroyed after detaching.

> I got to level 2 on my very first run which was cool. Now I almost got to the next level after that (3) on about my 8th run while learning even more, particularly the types of robots.

> Had a few rooms explode too!

> Lots to learn about weight and power and speed.

> Also have to keep my eye on when items are destroyed instead of going trigger-happy and reconfiguring a couple of turns later.

[Kyzrati]

> Devised a strategy of avoiding major "highways" that made me feel like a genius (premature no doubt). And it worked like a charm.

This here can be really important for survival. Bottleneck/highway areas (I usually refer to them as "thoroughfares") can be extremely dangerous because multiple patrols can happen through while you're already in the middle of combat.

Identifying those areas is not always easy, but after playing for a while you'll start to get a feel for it. Also, seeing a whole bunch of non-combat robots filing through an area is a big clue


The manual (spoiler free) explains a bunch of mechanics you might've missed, so eventually you'll want to browse through that to expand your understanding. That can usually wait until you're consistently reaching the mid-game, though (around -5).

[ukulele]

The manual (spoiler free) explains a bunch of mechanics you might've missed, so eventually you'll want to browse through that to expand your understanding. That can usually wait until you're consistently reaching the mid-game, though (around -5).

Well my last run since, I actually got another Evolution Level in progress, which was a break-through. However, with such nervy progress, I came to realize I have to make use of everything and see anything as a potential resource: Now the terminals, which pop-up with regularity, I decided I must maximize my use of them (already got that into my head about robots!) - so as you say instead of instantly jumping into continuing my current run, I'm going to read the manual for a good while!

It's gonna hurt when my 'current most successful run' ends but not without preparation! 

[ukulele]

So it must be my 8th run about which I've paused, and I decided as above to stop and read the manual. I'm half-way through and it's a lot of info to take on board; in particular the stats of combat which will need a little pen and paper thinking time: Which is great, because having played and enjoyed the game, I'm suddenly seeing a lot of depth opening up on how to further optimize my approach in combat in particular so far.

I'm reading the terminals atm, and probably need to do a few "terminal-focused runs" to improve at working out how to use these to the max. effect as the manual describes them and leaves the rest for the player to experience and learn in game, so that may be a good approach to dedicate a few runs to doing, next.

So, results are, for me:-

1. Good pick-up-and-play experience, just want to have some fun.
2. Good learning curve in game, patching up stupid mistakes and making more successful decisions.
3. Manual is necessary next step to keep finding that extra edge and maximizing use of resources (robots and environment)

I still have a lot more to read! Also now I've done a few evolutions, I notice that these pts can massively elaborate the approach being taken. I think that alone will be a goodly number of runs per approach.