Some more feedback on ports :
Playing a bit more, I have found the mecanism very interesting, but hard to grasp.
What I did not understand :
- The silo needs to be close to a river if you want to use deconstruction pylons. (Because they need a port)
- A remote port needs a port close to the silo to work.
- Calcifier and pump block the path to the silo (untill you have had a port working, you don't know that a boat will sail between the 2 locations)
EDIT : Testing more, I realise that pump don't block the path... Another confusion... - It took me a while to understand that the error signal next to a port means that it can not connect with the silo
- From the description, I thought that the first goal (rocket) would normally be achieved before the second goal (restoring the weather). It actually is the other way round
Annoying things (which did not help understanding what was going on) :
- Deconstruction pylons need ports, ports need water. So it is very annoying when buildind pylons, you remove the pump and water with it...
I understand the challenge. But it is a bit too much to understand and master at the same time when you first see the mecanism. (and illogic storywise...)
Maybe should not the water disappear when a pump is removed ?
- The bug where polyns don't connect unless you relaod. It makes that mecanism feel very broken and hard to grasp.
EDIT : Is it a bug though ? If intended behaviour is to build the port after the pylons (but why ?), the fact that they connect after on undo is a bug...
Suggested improvements :
- At stage 3 start, reverse the phrasing of the goal. (and maybe switch the display). For 2 reasons :
- Storywise, restoring the weather is more important that the material recylcing (if you were to leave without restoring the weather, everything you have done would have been useless).
- The players NEEDS to restore the weather first to finish the recycling. All that port / conveyor system is just a way to get some cash before you can do the proper cleaning. (Unless a mecanism is added so that pylons and ports can scrapt themselves. Which would be fun - But maybe that's the case in later levels...)
- Add the requirement to the silo that it must be nearby a port.
- Solve that pylon connection bug. (whichever it is)
- Reverse the pylon / port placement logic : Add the port as a requirement for the pylon placement, and make the pylon connected to the port, rather than the other way.
- When placing a port, highlight the reachable rivers. Make it red if it doesn't reach a port connected to the silo. Dark green when it does.
- If the river path between the silo port and the port you are trying to build is blocked, highlight (and flash ?) the blocking object.
- Tell in the port description that a remote port needs to be able to reach another port, close to the silo
Well, I hope that this feedback will help ! (And also give hints to other players who couldn't make ports/pylons work...)