Patch: September 1st, bug fixes + Steam free weekend coming soon

lamster · #1 09-01-2010, 07:46 AM

Just a minor bugfix and maintenance patch. We've updated the welcome screen to provide more info for new players, and we'll be running a map making contest soon.

CCN · #2 09-01-2010, 07:49 AM

May I recommend making most official servers for the period 1-59 to stop some old timers from crushing hopes and dreams?
More then enough private servers for elitists to go to for the period >_>
Dojo,Ladder,PL,SL,Arr etc

Echo Mirage · #3 09-01-2010, 08:22 AM

It's important to not make Altitude a +/- 60 elitism game, but this is a good idea for a short while.

Seadog · #4 09-01-2010, 08:54 AM

Thumbs up for map making competition.

Wok3N^ · #5 09-01-2010, 12:06 PM

Is acid going to stack now?!?

Cpt. Slow · #6 09-01-2010, 12:40 PM

Hurray for uber-ugly big buttons on menu screen

Bukem · #7 09-01-2010, 12:56 PM

First impression on welcome screen is do not want. Huge screen obstruction is annoying. Option to disable please?

-MH-CaptainVogez · #8 09-01-2010, 12:59 PM

I second CCN's idea - great way to keep the servers clear

How about putting two of the servers Max lvl 40, and the others at max lvl 59
(even for 2 weeks) - that way, the newest players will have a more restricted playing field and won't be entirely dominated.

Also, I was wondering with the welcome screen, I rather liked that it opened up just to the friends list before, so is it possible to have an option in the options menu to not have the big bulky buttons pop up?
I think it is a great idea for beginners, I'm just not so sure I'm into it, and through servers it would sound like a few other people aren't very keen on it.

But otherwise I think you've certainly covered all bases on ensuring GUI user-friendliness!

Kudos from Australia guys!

Evan20000 · #9 09-01-2010, 01:37 PM

Lets face it; being rank 60 does not make you good. Also, the oldest, best and most experienced players would likely want to help the newbies along instead of mindlessly stomping them. I'm all for letting everyone have free reign as we did the past 2 steam releases. By helping them early, we prevent bad habbits from forming, and hopefully get another productive member of the community.

Jayfourke · #10 09-01-2010, 02:07 PM

New welcome screen is hideously juvinile. The font alone makes me wince.

[Y] · #11 09-01-2010, 03:46 PM

I was hoping for a button to the guides forum, especially with the free weekend and rush of new players coming up :<

And the buttons don't really go with the srs transparent gray GUI.

MajorPayne257 · #12 09-01-2010, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan20000

Lets face it; being rank 60 does not make you good. Also, the oldest, best and most experienced players would likely want to help the newbies along instead of mindlessly stomping them. I'm all for letting everyone have free reign as we did the past 2 steam releases. By helping them early, we prevent bad habbits from forming, and hopefully get another productive member of the community.

Yeah but the problem is there's only ~.5 people who seem to want to help the newbies. Most people seem to enjoy beating them down and making fun of them. At least that's what I got from the last free weekend. I rarely saw anyone giving helpful tips, etc.

Ajuk999 · #13 09-01-2010, 05:17 PM

Nice update lamster!

While the graphics aren't to my liking, I like the idea of being able to chose what you want to do instead of opening altitude and going straight to training!

Good Work Guys.

adjahe · #14 09-01-2010, 05:33 PM

Welcome screen is garish at best and downright offensive if you're reasonable. Granted, it will make the choice to play training or online very clear to new players, but please take it down after this free period or let us disable it. thanks

buffalosoldier

wolf'j'max · #15 09-01-2010, 06:04 PM

its cool to have these links but its just a bit.. overwhelming -_-

Zombi · #16 09-01-2010, 06:07 PM

Steam free weekend coming soon ?

Prepare yourself for the EMP storm

Good Work.

Ajuk999 · #17 09-01-2010, 06:30 PM

As I said before, the graphics aren't that good but the idea is wonderful - especially for a free weekend!

mikesol · #18 09-01-2010, 06:47 PM

Ya the welcome screen is horrific imo. It's just so much being thrown at you at once - without looking terribly pretty. The ideas are good but I think I'd prefer if the whole thing was smaller and maybe not so animated.

lamster · #19 09-01-2010, 06:55 PM

Thanks for the feeedback. The Altitude Ladder button has been changed to Expert Guides to better address the needs of new players.

Haters can edit ~Altitude/config/options.xml and set showFriendsListOnStartup="true" to avoid the new welcome screen altogether.

Unfortunately we don't have time to clean up the graphics before the weekend, but the core idea is to give a shiny hard-not-to-click tutorial option, but still communicate that the core of the game is online multiplayer, and that there's more to explore (guides, map contest). The old auto-launch-into-tutorial could give the impression that Altitude was single player only; this change should help us attract more multiplayer gamers.

Pieface · #20 09-01-2010, 07:19 PM

I actually don't have a huge problem with the new screen - obviously large graphical changes take a while to get used to but I feel like overall it's not badly done. I just have a few nitpicks with it:

- Text is in a garish font that makes it a bit hard to read for me. Even taking away the little dots around each letter would be a big improvement IMO.

- "Expert Guides" button still has a picture of a ladder on it.

- No way to quickly see patch notes anymore, but that's not a big deal.

You're probably right that it will be much clearer to newer players that the core of the game is multiplayer.

argonide · #21 09-01-2010, 08:53 PM

If you ignore the dots, mohawks and spiral O's the font looks good.

nesnl · #22 09-02-2010, 04:23 AM

When I click on the LWJGL in the credits it tries to bring up the website http://lwjgl.org/ which it says:

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access / on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Boko · #23 09-02-2010, 05:49 AM

When I saw the welcome screen I thought they implemented teletubbies, srsly.

I'm sorry but, what the **** were you guys thinking?

Ajuk999 · #24 09-02-2010, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boko

When I saw the welcome screen I thought they implemented teletubbies, srsly.

I'm sorry but, what the **** were you guys thinking?

They're thinking this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamster

Thanks for the feeedback. The Altitude Ladder button has been changed to Expert Guides to better address the needs of new players.

Haters can edit ~Altitude/config/options.xml and set showFriendsListOnStartup="true" to avoid the new welcome screen altogether.

Unfortunately we don't have time to clean up the graphics before the weekend, but the core idea is to give a shiny hard-not-to-click tutorial option, but still communicate that the core of the game is online multiplayer, and that there's more to explore (guides, map contest). The old auto-launch-into-tutorial could give the impression that Altitude was single player only; this change should help us attract more multiplayer gamers.

Pretty sound logic IMO.

Considered · #25 09-02-2010, 06:10 AM

BAD FONT, BAD! go back into the corner with comic sans!

but seriously, why not just the same font that's all over the game already? (you know, the press f to spawn font, etc.)

^^^^^my knee jerk reaction, otherwise it's a good change.

DiogenesDog · #26 09-02-2010, 12:47 PM

That font is truly horrifying. Ughh.

I think it's a good UI change overall, but man is that some ugly ****. You guys are really good at making games, but you should consider hiring an actual human being to help you make your aesthetic decisions.

lamsbro · #27 09-03-2010, 03:33 AM

UI design is hard, but I think 3 simple principles are helpful.

1) Minimalism - keep it as simple as possible, every extra element adds complexity and distraction. Image processing requires a lot of brain power, so complex things (like exotic fonts and text on top of complex and poorly contrasting textures) add a lot of extra work.

2) Communicate - images and graphics remind us of different things. Use them to form a coherent message.

The font used in the "Altitude" logo makes the characters look like they were cut out of a plate of steel. I associate this with powerful machines like planes and tanks. The color is like the sky, further reinforcing the message that this is a game about powerful planes.
The font used in the new menu is exotic and playful. I associate it with exotic things like jungles and chameleons and playful things like toys. The colors are bright and neon, reminding me of festive times like birthday parties, news years eve, and childhood. The message I get is that this is a goofy, fun, exotic game for children (possibly involving chameleons).
The "Skins", "Expert Guides", and "Map Contest" buttons have background images that have no clear meaning to me. This communicates messiness and unnecessary complexity.
The "Expert Guides" and "Map" buttons have an image of a ladder, and pen, respectively. Again, it is not clear to me what these items have to do with their respective buttons.

3) Be Functional - the UI should make it easy for people to do the things you want them to do.

One of those things is to be able to read the options you have put in front of them. Although the font is exotic I find it fairly readable. The lack of contrast between the text and background pictures for the "Play Online", "Unlock Skins", "Expert Guides", and "Map Contest" buttons adds eye strain and makes the text harder to read (the contrast for the Training button is excellent).

Quick Summary:
I like the new menu items but I'm not a huge fan of the fonts, colors, and images associated with the buttons (except for the Training button, which I like).

classicallad · #28 09-03-2010, 06:37 AM

good analysis lamsbro, sorry im not going to be as thorough but to add my two pennies, i approve of the new menu as it gives new players access to altitudes modes, functionalities and affiliates quickly, lol when i bought the game it took me 2 months to find out about the forums!

good patch but i would like a disable mode as i like to log into my friends list upon login.

=)

Hagnot · #29 09-03-2010, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamster

haters can edit ~altitude/config/options.xml and set showfriendslistonstartup="true" to avoid the new welcome screen altogether.

1234567890

-MH-CaptainVogez · #30 09-04-2010, 02:10 PM

I don't think I've ever seen so many players on at the same time before...
nice!

Danielle · #31 09-04-2010, 06:44 PM

That's not anything to do with the update though, it's to do with the free steam weekend....
I'm assuming they'll do a half price sale again after the weekend. Lets see how many of them stick around..

Beagle · #32 09-05-2010, 05:10 PM

Or maybe it's because it's father's day in Australia and lots of Dads got Alty as a present

Geez Danielle, don't be so assuming

Danielle · #33 09-05-2010, 06:53 PM

I really wish you wouldn't troll me so much, by copying my font colour (to the best of your ability, although as discussed yesterday, it's slightly off) and copying everything I say in mumble.

This is for you sir:

It matches your pretty pink font, that suits you oh so well.
<3

asparagus · #34 09-05-2010, 06:58 PM

!!!
the font is called joker on microsoft word ?
plz after free weekend change back to the more informative patch screen

Beagle · #35 09-05-2010, 07:40 PM

I don't believe you own the colour pink, and for the record I am not a gremlin

Danielle · #36 09-05-2010, 08:02 PM

A. It's a troll.
B. You admitted you started doing it because I did.

GGQ · #37 09-06-2010, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danielle

A. It's a troll.
B. You admitted you started doing it because I did.

Om nom nom troll food.

-edit to add some value to an otherwise worthless post

It's always fun going into a server full of steam newbs and going 50-2 and getting worshipped like a god. Glad there are some 60 only servers though. Hope the new kids stick around.

The new opening screen is a great idea, but I'll echo the sentiment that it's been horribly executed. I'd make the buttons a lot less... flamboyant and more functional.

Demuyt · #38 09-06-2010, 06:46 PM

Altitude is #1 selling Mac game on Steam, in front of Counter Strike, TF2 and the orange box!!!

Pieface · #39 09-06-2010, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demuyt

Altitude is #1 selling Mac game on Steam, in front of Counter Strike, TF2 and the orange box!!!

Wow, just saw that too. Congratulations guys! That's a huge achievement.

Ajuk999 · #40 09-06-2010, 07:14 PM

Congrats Nimbly!