Does the planning menu need to be better introduced to new players?

[Professor Paul1290]

I am somewhat concerned that new players aren't using the planning menu as much as they should.

I think they're getting the idea that they don't need to explore every room in every building, but I'm not so sure they're getting the idea of how that applies in a larger sense as well.
More specifically they might be treating non-mission trips out into the world as a "quest to grind stashes" and boring themselves going from building to building to find the yellow rooms.

This is a somewhat pessimistic perspective I know, but honestly I would be surprised if most new players aren't doing that right now.


Something I've seen again and again elsewhere is that if it looks like a grind then the players will grind it, and they will continue to grind it until they get bored or are explicitly told otherwise. I'm somewhat worried that this could be happening here as well.

Admittedly, between this and the other thread I'm probably sounding rather pessimistic. I could very well be worrying about nothing. 

[DesiQ]

This is indeed what I am doing now. I'm aware of the planning menu and how to use it, and I'm aware of how to use the dungeon map (it is way too small, by the way), but what's not made clear is how the materials are immediately relevant, and how much of the stuff is enough. The planning menu tells you how much you should have, but if having ten is good, then having twenty or thirty is better, right?

Perhaps getting people to build something in the settlement before sending them out to the overworld would help?

[Hyfrydle]

With a starting character the reason I grind a few stash rooms is to collect enough upgrade stones to improve the health of my character which I feel is an important first stage. Also by doing this I tend to collect a few enchants which then means I'm ready to set out on missions to improve myself in other areas.

After this initial stage things tend to accumulate naturally as the game is played so it's only the start when a little bit of grinding is required.

[Kemeno]

Personally, I'd really like to see some kind of sidebar where you can push things you want to/should do. Kind of like you see in a lot of MMOs, except you pick them yourself (maybe the "things you should do" get added automatically"). So for instance, I'd go through the spell/ingredient/achievement  catalog, and push a button ("I want this!"), and it would pop up on the side of the screen with a list of ingredients, which ones you have, where to find them, etc.

The ingredient lists for a lot of things is kind of obscure and I find it hard to keep track of exactly what I need to craft what I want (and if I want to do multiple things, forget it). You could also add in the achievements here - I think that'd be nifty too. Something like this would do a lot for me in terms of the exploring-the-world-myself aspect of the game.

[Hyfrydle]

I'm sure at some time the devs were discussing a kind of shopping list idea where you could select a spell and it would create a list of required ingredients showing how many and where to find them. It would be cool to incorporate this into the GUI some how.

This would make planning expeditions interesting and help new players understand how the mechanics of the game work.

[Mánagarmr]

Personally, I'd really like to see some kind of sidebar where you can push things you want to/should do. Kind of like you see in a lot of MMOs, except you pick them yourself (maybe the "things you should do" get added automatically"). So for instance, I'd go through the spell/ingredient/achievement  catalog, and push a button ("I want this!"), and it would pop up on the side of the screen with a list of ingredients, which ones you have, where to find them, etc.

The ingredient lists for a lot of things is kind of obscure and I find it hard to keep track of exactly what I need to craft what I want (and if I want to do multiple things, forget it). You could also add in the achievements here - I think that'd be nifty too. Something like this would do a lot for me in terms of the exploring-the-world-myself aspect of the game.

That is actually not a bad idea.

Iron Ore x 1: Caverns <region> lvl 2
Cherry x 3: Surface <region>

That would actually be fairly bad ass. Have you made a mantis suggestion for it? If not, make one now! (Link in my sig)

[Kemeno]

Looks like one already exists from a while ago!

http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=6269

[Mánagarmr]

Awesome. Supported it and linked here.

[zebramatt]

Hooray!

[x4000]

In for 1.007, thanks to Keith!

* When you're looking at spells in the Big Honkin' Encyclopedia, there is now an "Add To Loot Goals" button whenever you click into the details for a spell.
** By adding spells to your Loot Goals, they will show up in a little sidebar whenever the escape menu is being shown.  On your main loot goals listing you can then quickly see a list of all the remaining components you need to find in order to craft the spells you were interested in.
** This can save you valuable time in opening up the Big Honkin' Encyclopedia, as well as give you a constant reminder of the goals that you set for yourself.  Hovering over items in your Loot Goals list shows you lots of information such as where to find the needed loot.

* When looking at supply-type enchants in the Where To Find Stuff You Want or Big Honkin' Encyclopedia, there is now an "Add To Loot Goals" button whenever you click into the details for an enchant.
** By adding supply-style enchants to your Loot Goals, they will show up in a little sidebar whenever the escape menu is being shown.  On your main loot goals listing this will show the enchant in question until you acquire it.
** This can save you valuable time in opening up the Where To Find Stuff You Want section, as well as give you a constant reminder of the goals that you set for yourself.  Hovering over items in your Loot Goals list shows you lots of information such as where to find the supplies.

* When looking at general supplies in the Where To Find Stuff You Want or Big Honkin' Encyclopedia, there is now a slider that lets you choose how many of that type of item you want to have on hand, ranging from 1 to 9999.
** Using this slider, you can set for yourself how many of this kind of supply item you wish to have in your inventory.  Whenever your supplies fall below this value, your Loot Goals list will remind you to get more.
** This can save you valuable time in opening up the Where To Find Stuff You Want section, as well as give you a constant reminder of the goals that you set for yourself.  Hovering over items in your Loot Goals list shows you lots of information such as where to find the supplies.

* Once you have added stuff to your shopping list, you can see the details simply by hitting the Escape key to bring up the escape menu.  We don't have it showing all the time in your HUD because frankly that would just be clutter and it's only a keypress away anyhow, now.