Initial impressions NPE and contracts

Initial planetside gameplay:

Art and Design: The art design in this game is in a really great direction. The character model, movement animations, blocks, planet, atmosphere, effects all just looks -good-! The marker system to each objective is super simple to use, and I was able to move from point to point without issue. The initial Hopper was interesting to look at, I found myself trying to move around it and see what all the things 'do' in it. It was intriguing to try to see the thought behind the design. Having extras on hand was also a good idea. The Base's design was fun to explore for the first time, and seeing the hydrogen plumbing display was -super- helpful. Add more buildings with this concept for new players! Include more buildings or places that have the 'basics' of SE2 explicitly lined out, so you can see a visual example of how they work. Including a voice over from someone, to answer questions new players would probably be asking such as...

"Why does the hydrogen engine require conveyors?" "Because they need hydrogen, from the tank, which comes from the generator, which is tied to the cargo. Atmospheric thrusters are electric, so they don't."

"Why does the battery block works all by itself?" "Because it powers whatever it is attached to, even the floor"

"Why do I need components if I just mine ore?" "Because your backpack assembles the needed components automatically, just with drawbacks, from your inventory of gathered ore. Later components and manufacturing blocks will do this faster and more efficiently, and make things your backpack cannot."

...and etc, something along these lines. More buildings that set up these mini tutorials would be -extremely- helpful, as they are visual and interactive to the player to see the underlying principles of all the systems needed to build your first base/mine/flyer/rover or ships. In fact, a building that somehow illustrates or displays what goes on in the plumbing for making your first ship or rover would be awesome.

Ships: I really like the mouse flight control, Freelancer style of movement. The circle with a vector dot is intuitive to use. Question, can you orbit? I went max speed, put my travel vector just above the planet while outside of the gravity's sphere of influence, and pressed 'z'...and I was traveling 'around' the planet. A problem, though, is when docking, It tends to move my ship around as when making fine adjustments, scrapping things. The 'Alt' key enables a repositioning of the view, but it doesn't snap back to default view when released. I did send a suggestion of making the 'Alt' key a toggle between mouse flight control and keyboard control (with mouse freelook), as a possible solution, until possible control customization comes along in a later patch. The current mouse flight control just makes docking difficult to fine-tune movements.

Combat: Dunno, looking forward to it with the new controls though. Curious how much like Freelancer it will be like, if that is good or not.

Contracts: The bubble around the station is weird, seems gamey in how it effects the player. The actual contracts are fun to progress through, even in it's Alpha state, there is so much potential there. The initial starter base was easy to jump in, plenty of ice and iron, and good setup. The first time you find gold, with the cave and light from the ceiling, was super cool. The other bases were fun to explore as a new player, I appreciate how things were laid out to reward curiosity and exploration, such as glass floors to see the plumbing, mines built out to see how they are developed, etc. It almost feels like the colonization contract system in the Alpha is an extended NPE, in that as you progress you are still unlocking more and more knowledge of SE2's different loops.

At completion of current contracts, I am still sitting at the starter base, I still have my Sled, and I have built gearforge, assembler, and refinery. Some cargo, some conveyors, some some solar panels. No reason to do more, I've only used them to upgrade my tools once and make a large drill. The Sled is meeting all my current exploration needs, and I did try to steal the Frog, but it disappeared from my base for some reason after Kemik. I do wish I had a reason to build a ship in the NPE, but I did not. I did destroy my Sled by accident(was trying to look around when going through atmo for the first time, and pressed 'F' by accident), was looking forward to modifying a Hopper to break atmo, but the game crashed and when I reloaded, I was back in the Sled. I was looking forward to actually being an Engineer and solve the problem of getting to space due to my mistake. It felt like a tutorial graduation test, to start the game 'proper', almost. Although, with no gps markers, it was hard to find the different tutorial bases, mining spot, crashed ship, after the contract markers were off. I was lost on the planet. I tried to go into map and create a gps marker, but it was not ready for use yet. If new players really screw things up progressing, a way to find previously visited locations on the tutorial would be very helpful, maybe a log of some sort.

Story: The brother up in space...he should be helping explain tutorial systems as you go, or just shut up. If he is helpful, but has a bad attitude, that's funny, like the game Portal. But if he is making fun of you, when you as a new player are struggling to try and figure how SE2 works, and not being helpful as well...and while I'm trying to save the colonists still in cryo!!! I did not like his character. ...Unless Keen is setting him up as the Antagonist of the story. If he can't help a new player in the tutorial, then there should be another person who does. A robot, text wall, or more bullet points on the contract notification popups. Also, saving the lives of helpless frozen colonist stranded alone in space far from home, is a good motivation for the player, I think.

Overall: I can't get over how good it looks and feels, and seeing the things being tested out in Alpha are fun to try. I look forward to experiencing the continued development from Keen.