Sector 324 instant effect

[Killham]

Have i misunderstood a rule here, or is something not working properly?
In https://boardgamearena.com/3/spacestati ... ayFrom=310, I built sector 324, which has an instant effect of two pink aliens.
So I was expecting the first two slots to instantly get populated with those two new friends, but there's no sign of them.

[Killham]

oh ok, I've seen this bug report now which pointed me in the right direction - https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=67057.
There are indeed no pink aliens left in the supply in my game.

I don't _really_ agree with the decision not to have a warning (we're not all skilled players ok), but fair enough it's not my game to decide on.
A log message would really have helped though (I'd still have messed up, but at least i'd be able to learn from my mistake without having to search the forums).

[Kayvon]

The developers have been very generous with the availability and utility of undo throughout your turn. If you find the result of an action isn't to your satisfaction, just undo your turn and try it again. Isn't that what you would do in the physical game anyway?

(Actually, you'd probably first look at the supply in either physical/online games to make sure there are enough aliens, but supposing it was your first time you'd just take back the move.)

[Zero_1627]

Well, it's all personal "feel" whether something is intuitive or not.

Having said that, Space Station Phoenix has quite good "let's retry" options - certainly above BGA average. I have only praise in this regard. Log is quite informative as well.

As for assigning aliens to slot - they're auto assigned if there is no choice, otherwise player is given choice to assign them (has to click appropriate button).
Button mechanic itself might not be very intuitive for the first game, but it's also constant throughout entire game - so if You play it, You will get used to it very quickly, there are no exceptions like "look here for X but there for Y".

Also, remember it's computer version of _board game_ - so somewhat lower level of automation than is expected in true computer-intended games seems acceptable (IMO).

[Killham]

So perhaps this is only a first-time player problem, but the undo options did not help me: I didn't know that it had gone wrong until it was too late.
I could see that the bonus pink aliens weren't on my board, but thought that perhaps they'd appear after I confirmed my building selection. This is the point where a log entry would've been critically helpful - if i'd seen anything telling me that I couldn't get them because of the empty supply, I would've take back my move there and then.
I have indeed found the conversion very good in general, and I'd say that the row of buttons for reward/alien assignments works great and is generally intuitive and helpful for learning. I don't think I'd've bothered raising this issue if the standard wasn't generally so high.

Appreciate that expecting everything fully automated isn't really appropriate in an adaptation of a board game, but I'd say this is a special case where the automated nature actually makes it easier to miss the problem: in real life, I'd reach for the pink aliens, realise that there are none there, and then probably undo my turn. But that bit of feedback doesn't exist digitally.

[Kayvon]

I see what you're saying. You didn't notice until after ending your turn. The thing is, you actually did confirm construction and were then given a chance to undo, but you chose to end your turn instead.

Maybe it's a new player issue since you'd understand the interface better after the first play. It's also an issue of not knowing the game well, since you should have glanced over at the supply when making your choice. I think the game has a good balance as it stands now: It shows you the results of your action and lets you undo the entire turn or confirm that everything looks fine. (Incidentally, there's also an option to automatically end your turn without asking, which I highly recommend once you know the game.)

It's impossible to please all players. If the game asked for even more confirmations, it would frustrate players after their first time. BGA has a helpful tutorial system, a link to the rules, and a How to Play section beneath each ongoing game. Nevertheless, BGA is not really intended to teach the game to players as they play. If this is your first game ever of SSP (or anything else!), go in expecting to make some mistakes.