SLOW DOWN should be SLOWDOWN

[Nadreck]

I think a lot of players probably made the same mistake I did. When you see a bright red warning message saying "SLOW DOWN", you tend to hit the brakes! And when you do, the message disappears... which reinforces the assumption that you were going too fast, for some reason. Also if you DO go too fast, and end up zooming past a planet and having to do the "loop of shame", you probably did notice the "SLOW DOWN" message as you shot past.

It wasn't until I came on here that I discovered that it was a warning that I was experiencing a gravitational slowdown effect: passing through a gravity well slows your top speed, and if your current speed exceeds the new top speed, you get slowed down and the warning appears. You don't have to slow down, just leave the throttle alone and keep going! (...and maybe try to swing out around intervening planets if you spot them).

It could be a little clearer if that space is removed: you don't need to SLOW DOWN, you are experiencing a SLOWDOWN. And surely this would be a very trivial fix!

 

[Marra Morgan]

+1

Very simple change that improves the feedback we get through the UI [up]

 

[dogsolitude_uk]

...it was a warning that I was experiencing a gravitational slowdown effect: passing through a gravity well slows your top speed, and if your current speed exceeds the new top speed, you get slowed down and the warning appears. You don't have to slow down, just leave the throttle alone and keep going! (...and maybe try to swing out around intervening planets if you spot them).

Strewth, all this time I genuinely thought it was the ship warning me to "slow down"!

"SLOWDOWN" makes so much more sense

1000x thanks Nadreck

 

[Nagual]

Well colour me educated.

 

[Braandlin]

Well colour me educated.

me too!

 

[Komemiute]

I think a lot of players probably made the same mistake I did. When you see a bright red warning message saying "SLOW DOWN", you tend to hit the brakes! And when you do, the message disappears... which reinforces the assumption that you were going too fast, for some reason. Also if you DO go too fast, and end up zooming past a planet and having to do the "loop of shame", you probably did notice the "SLOW DOWN" message as you shot past.

It wasn't until I came on here that I discovered that it was a warning that I was experiencing a gravitational slowdown effect: passing through a gravity well slows your top speed, and if your current speed exceeds the new top speed, you get slowed down and the warning appears. You don't have to slow down, just leave the throttle alone and keep going! (...and maybe try to swing out around intervening planets if you spot them).

It could be a little clearer if that space is removed: you don't need to SLOW DOWN, you are experiencing a SLOWDOWN. And surely this would be a very trivial fix!

O.
M.
G.


No sarcasm- this makes so much more sense!

 

[Non Grata]

Bug report it (again).

 

[Lucius-Darcia]

LOL that is surprisingly easy to a problem many have asked about. I need to rep+

 

[trollson]

Yes the wording or way this information is ambiguous and needs to be improved.

But perhaps "SLOW DOWN" to "SLOWDOWN" would still be too subtle - could still be interpreted as a command rather than an observation.

I would go with something like "GRAVITATIONAL DRAG DETECTED" or similar. This would appear to be an accurate description.

 

[Prorokpl]

Huh I guess I never thought about that. For me it was always this: when you see SLOW DOWN messege it's already too late.

 

[Frank Craft]

Or just have no message.

 

[ick]

Change "Frame Shift Drive" to "Friendship Drive" whilst you are at it....

 

[Cliché]

People complaining about this since 2014 and still no change. And I still see new players throttling back when they see the message and it is still frustrating.

I'd prefer "SLOWING" or "GRAVITATIONAL BRAKING" or some such - and maybe not in red.

 

[Sysmon]

The message comes up because you are passing close to an orbital body with too much velocity to interact with it safely. It doesn't matter if you are pointing at it to go there or just skirting it going somewhere else, and I'm not sure how the game is supposed to know the difference. So it is assuming you are wanting to go there and warning you to slow down to be able to do so. Why otherwise would you be following that route?

Maybe the message should be something akin to "GRAVITY WELL DRAG" instead. But the "SLOW DOWN" seems appropriate, as it is correctly indicating that your set speed is too high to interact safely with the planet or sun you are passing.

S

 

[VR StarLightPL]

Huh I guess I never thought about that. For me it was always this: when you see SLOW DOWN messege it's already too late.

Yeah I was like "oh, they fudged that feature also? Silly devs, don't they know that you slow down around 0:07s on timer, by the moment this appears it is way too late! ;-)

I know this for a while but it still raises a chuckle out of me

OP: Your solution is brilliant, someone should pass this to the devteam...

 

[Factabulous]

This buggers me from the early days on. What buggers me even more is that no one ever actually has cared - which is just said. And so I expect this thread will fall into oblivion as the other few attempts...

What about a simple "you are SLOWED DOWN", basically just two extra letters.

(Loving all the typos in the post about a typo )

Agree with the OP - that small change might make things clearer [up]

 

[VR StarLightPL]

(Loving all the typos in the post about a typo )

You surely are "nitpickey" about grammar lately ;P Ever occurred to you that someone can be non-native speaker?

And it is no ordinary typo, it is misleading user interface message - bug known for ages now. From pre-horizons age, actually

 

[Lestat]

Best idea Nadreck. When you get closer to your destination set your throttle into the blue zone.

 

[Eukanuba23]

Maybe the message should be something akin to "GRAVITY WELL DRAG" instead. But the "SLOW DOWN" seems appropriate, as it is correctly indicating that your set speed is too high to interact safely with the planet or sun you are passing.

S

+1 for "GRAVITY WELL DRAG" or "GRAVITATIONAL BRAKING" or similar.

If you're heading for a collision with a planet, you get the red warning triangle and then the IMPACT warning in the top right by the clock, so SLOW DOWN is redundant in that context.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Maybe the message should be something akin to "GRAVITY WELL DRAG" instead. But the "SLOW DOWN" seems appropriate, as it is correctly indicating that your set speed is too high to interact safely with the planet or sun you are passing.

That only applies if you're pointed directly at it, though - in which case explicit collision warnings already get shown.

It's possible (and much quicker than a 75% approach!) to safely decelerate to drop-out speed - for an orbital station, or into orbital cruise to a planetary site - with the SLOW DOWN warning permanently on and throttle always in the 99-100% range.

Indeed, that sort of curved approach is often *safer* than a straight-line one, since it throws off interdictors. 75% is a technique encouraged by pirates to make their targets possible to catch.