Spiral Knights - Low Energy Warning

Low Energy Warning

12 replies [Last post]

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 20:26

Kupoo

Take the following scenario: You have just enough energy to make it through most of a Clockworks run, but need to buy a one tiny bit more at the end. So you put up an energy buy offer on the market and go on down toward the center of Cradle. Several floors later... "You do not have enough energy to continue!" What happened? Well, your offer got buried, and in the meantime, you've completely forgotten about your need for energy! Now that you're already on the lift, all that's left for you is to buy energy immediately at prices higher than you'd like, or hope that a party member is nice enough to tab you for that floor.

I can't be the only one who has had that happen before, right? It's easier to notice when other players are low on energy than it is to notice that you're low on energy yourself, thanks to the rather conspicuous red bar right next to the party HP numbers that never appears for yourself.

I'd like to propose the following method of alerting players when they don't have enough energy to proceed:
When you get to the lift without enough energy to continue down, instead of displaying the required energy amount in the usual blue numbering, change the display to red instead. It's non-intrusive and takes into consideration the possibility of gaining mist during a floor, but still noticeable enough to remind players of their situation.

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 20:56

Gfjmember

Umm

Your energy interface already gets a purpleish hue when low

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 21:02

Kupoo

Energy Interface

Who actually looks at the energy interface during a Clockworks run? You're paying more attention to your health. Personally, I'm more likely to look at the HP bars in the top left (party menu) than I am to look at the one on the bottom. It's much more out of the way on the screen, you're not likely to have to check the bottom-left corner every floor, and by the time someone gets to the lift, it's easy to forget about it even after checking it during the floor after going through a large battle.

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 21:05

Gfjmember

*raises hand*

To answer your question, I do.

When looking at your health at the bottom, the low energy colouring should at least catch your eye, or when looking at something at the bottom right.
It's kinda like driving, you need to keep cycling your vision between different places.

I should point out that the top left health display only goes to 20, and health can go above that.

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 21:23

Kupoo

Heatlh at the bottom

I don't particularly feel the need to look at the full health bar, as everyone knows that the last pip of health is what really matters, and it's easier to keep an eye out for dead teammates by looking at the party menu.

When you're driving, you're constantly cycling your vision between different places because it's important to be aware of your surroundings, and lots of details can be important during driving. The energy interface is not important during combat, nor is it particularly useful when you're navigating a dungeon.

How often does someone actually need to look at something in the bottom right? Preferably, you'd have most of your enemies at the top to take advantage of the isometric view, and I prefer not having enemies just below my range of vision.

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 21:17

Gfjmember

You don't even give it a

You don't even give it a quick eyeball when you start a floor?

And please, no links to TV Tropes. It's already 4am here T_T

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 21:23

Kupoo

Teehee

Well, not really... normally I keep a moderate reserve of CE (not applicable at the moment because ELEVATOR PASS), and I'm not terribly picky about running on CE as long as it doesn't end up being playtime at a loss, so I'm used to having a decent supply of energy for Clockworks running. That ends up biting me in the behind after some major crafting projects, which is ultimately why I figured I'd bring it up here. Maybe every couple of floors, perhaps, but by the time I'm actually out I always forget about it again.

I've had a couple of friends who also occasionally don't notice that they're out of energy while I do, so I can't be the only one with the problem, right? :V

Fri, 12/23/2011 - 21:33

Malware-Exe

I check how much enery I have

I check how much enery I have a few before getting on the elevator just to be sure I have mist. Haha it's easy to get carried away with energy. This low enegy warning is a good idea. Maybe there could be a triangle warning thing like when you are alerted that a recon is near like in lockdown.

Sat, 03/17/2012 - 12:42

Espil

This sounds like it would be very simple to include, and anything done to make things more user friendly should be a worthwhile endeavor. This is not the only source of frustration from the imperfect interface. Recent suggestions have included problems with clicking "join" instead of "invite", picking up tools instead of attacking (or visa-versa), and of course, being unable to tell when a downed player has been given health. In my opinion, the time spent adjusting these bothersome irritants would serve to make the game far more enjoyable.

-espil

Sat, 12/24/2011 - 13:39

Juances

Just a warning beep that can

Just a warning beep that can be turned on/off and plays every x seconds

Sat, 12/24/2011 - 14:05

#10

Nacho

I play just with mist but for

I play just with mist but for those who pay it would be pretty helpful

Sat, 12/24/2011 - 14:12

#11

Asukalan

Pointles. We already have low

Pointles. We already have low energy indicator in party staus and another one in energy bar.

Why have more?

And if you are in haste of getting CE us "SELL" offers instead of posting another "BUY" offer...

Besides, up to this poin i though everyone DO CHECK their energy, when they can chillout at the exit elevator

-1

Sat, 12/24/2011 - 20:16

#12

Kupoo

@Asukalan

Not to sound rude or anything, but I have to ask: Did you read through the posts? I believe I've addressed most of what you brought up.

Pointles. We already have low energy indicator in party staus and another one in energy bar.
As I've mentioned, the former only appears for party members other than yourself (quoted directly from the wiki: "There is no energy icon for your own knight."), and the latter is much too inconspicuous during an actual Clockworks dungeon run (which I've addressed above).

And if you are in haste of getting CE us "SELL" offers instead of posting another "BUY" offer...
Except that is not the situation that I described, because if I knew that I needed energy right then, I would choose to purchase some from a fellow party member, rather than buy in bulk - especially if it is for the last floor or two of a stratum. I put up a buy offer because I enter the Royal Jelly Palace gate at D10 with 50 energy, with the general expectation that I'll get the transaction completed sometime within the 45 minutes it takes me to reach the boss stratum, and the resolution that, should the transaction not go through, to buy from a fellow knight. Except by the time I've reached the boss stratum, I'm quite happy with the success of the current group, step on the lift, and... whoops! Too late now!

Besides, up to this poin i though everyone DO CHECK their energy, when they can chillout at the exit elevator
Is there a point in checking your energy when you have around 100+ CE available in your account? I would assume not. Given that plenty of players probably do play with a fair reserve of CE, that means that they become accustomed to tuning out the energy interface due to its general disuse during Clockworks diving. What I'm suggesting shows up as something which doesn't display all the time - thus eliminating the previously mentioned issue - and is immediately noticeable yet non-intrusive to players.

Are you also claiming that you've never gone into a party with a player that you noticed lacking energy (via the party menu, through which they can't tell their own energy status), who then proceeded to step on the lift and try to proceed (as opposed to flat-out leaving and dumping all their vials behind on the lift) before having to bail out to Haven? Some may be new to the energy idea, and simply not know that they need energy, but I am doubtful that that applies to all such players. And even noobs may hesitate when a once-blue number above the lift suddenly turns into a shade of red.

Now, I expect that you might bring up the issue of players who don't want to run on CE, and only mist. My counterargument is that, provided that you are already in the second stratum of T2 or T3, you will still be playing with a profit - especially in a boss stratum. If I have, say, 20 mist left, I'm not going to settle for 500 crowns from it; I'll get better use out of it by using mist to bring myself into profitable stratums so I can still make a decent amount despite not having mist left. And as such, provided I have enough mist for a couple of floors, I'm perfectly fine with using CE for the rest, which loops all the way back to the point I made at the beginning of this section. What if I have some mist (or CE) and expect to acquire more CE by the time I get to a point where I'd surpass my current energy capacity, but... don't? The only warning available now just isn't quite enough.

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Low Energy Warning