Is there a better way to convey information to player, "You are out of motes"

[billcorr]

More information to the gamer.

Yesterday, I was playing in a multiplayer game in Stellaris. The game has resources called "motes'. The player's military-economic system collapsed during the middle of a war because he did not realize that he had no motes.

• "How do you get vital information to the customer so that their space empire doesn't collapse for want of a mote."

There's a science to ensuring gamers get the information they need. A very tricky science (perhaps one of you will specialize in this aspect of gaming and become a millionaire.)

How do you not know you have no motes? There is a notifier the moment you run out, and there is a 12-month notifier if you are within 12 months of running out of any resource. The tooltip will tell you what is short on the notifier.

I mean, I'm all about information to the player, but that information is right there. The notifier even has an icon that makes sense in context.

The player did not realize that he was out of motes.

For want of a mote a castle was lost;
For want of a castle a city was lost;
For want of a city a region was lost;
For want of a region a planet was lost;
For want of a planet an empire was lost, and all for the want of a mote.

@Bunnytob, that was funny!

 

[AlanC9]

We'd need to know why the player didn't realise this. Is it just a PEBCAK issue, or has the game somehow taught him to ignore alerts?

 

[Methone]

We'd need to know why the player didn't realise this. Is it just a PEBCAK issue, or has the game somehow taught him to ignore alerts?

It's also possible he, at one point, turned that alarm off. Though I can't imagine what thought process would lead someone to deciding the "YOUR PEOPLE ARE STARVING AND DYING IN THE STREETS!" alarm is unimportant.

 

[Less2]

It's also possible he, at one point, turned that alarm off. Though I can't imagine what thought process would lead someone to deciding the "YOUR PEOPLE ARE STARVING AND DYING IN THE STREETS!" alarm is unimportant.

It is easy to accidentally turn it off and not know how to get it back.

 

[Marconius]

As people have pointed out, there is an alarm for when you are close to running out of resources.

I do hate the fact the strategic resource display is hidden inside a dropdown though... I wanna see the +/- numbers AT ALL TIMES, especially for such crucial resources.

 

[MichaelJanuary]

Stellaris is a bit weak in the area of notifications.

You can dismiss important notifications too easily, and there isn't a notification history you can review.

With regards resources like motes or minerals or energy, the simplest would be to just set the relevant status bar icon to blink when the resource gets low, rather than mixing it in with all the other notifications.

That way its pretty obvious and cant be easily ignored or missed.

 

[Acheron]

Must say, I am not entirely happy with motes/exotic gases/crystals right now. Feels to me like a roundabout way for extra, mostly mineral, maintenance. Or do I miss the point?

 

[Tavior]

My biggest issue with the strategic resource drop down list is that I have a ultra-wide resolution (2560 * 1080) and plenty of wasted UI on the top to fully expand the list including research and strategic resource.

 

[HugsAndSnuggles]

As people have pointed out, there is an alarm for when you are close to running out of resources.

Are you sure there actually is one for motes? Don't think I ever seen one trigger for strategic resources, and food.

 

[DrNukeLear]

There is - but it'd help if the notification icon displayed the relevant resource you were short of (which it doesn't). In fact most of the notification icons are a little off. Especially the War Effort exceeded icon... which is a circle.