Just a game review

General Discussion
1

The game is incredibly engaging and well-developed. I spent several days straight playing it without a break. It’s simple, but the interface was designed by a sadist who hates people and probably wants players to kill themselves. At least, that feeling never left me throughout my entire time getting to know the game.

It’s not even about the lack of any descriptions, or the fact that it’s not my native language. It’s about the lack of logic, the workarounds, and the bugs.

  • The first problem came when trying to set up a cycle: extracting fuel from a gas giant and transporting it to the colony. Turns out you need to build a mining station and use a tanker for transport. The game can’t handle more complex logic than that.

  • Next: constant cancellations of orders if they might cause recursion. And the log info about this is hidden by default. Why is there even recursion in your script in the first place? I’ve written much more complex logic without any issues. Later I realized that the two command windows are simply incompatible.

  • Next: two command creation windows. The first, where you need to list actions step by step and loop them. The second, which has a condition‑action format. When the condition in the second window triggers, it completely erases all commands in the first. Meanwhile, the commands in the second window are limited and don’t let you realize the full potential of this method. Even Dwarf Fortress does this infinitely better. At this point I realized that in the main window you also have to script refueling and other things. But before that, I simply couldn’t understand what exactly wasn’t working and how these commands were intended to function.

  • Why can’t a ship’s crew rest if the ship has orders, even when it’s doing nothing? What’s the point of the second command window if, to let the crew rest, you have to delete all commands from it? Thank goodness you can convert 99% of ships to commercial engines. This feature simply doesn’t work — in this state, it should be ruthlessly cut.

  • Events: why not just make a settings menu with all events where you can toggle time‑stop on or off? Though I can understand this one — it’s a crutch that forces the player to figure out where the game’s logic doesn’t match expectations. I’m so fed up with searching for where to disable notifications about general appointments — generals I never even used, yet they kept stopping time.

  • No one explains that you can’t build “Stargates”, and that you have to stabilize jump points, from both ends! And the term “stabilization” doesn’t even imply opening a gate.

  • Why on earth do you need to mark ships as “Tanker” when the game could figure it out from the presence of a fuel transfer device? You don’t know about this option at first, and you’re left trying to figure out why refueling commands are missing.

  • Again, why hide unavailable commands? At least give me a menu option to see what commands exist at all. Instead, the player has no idea whether a feature even exists in the game, or why it’s unavailable.

  • There’s no information on what MSP is made from, even though it’s an important resource that you need to stockpile on your colony. And why can’t I transport finished MSP?

  • The button to disable fuel refining — you only find out about it when you run out of ore for that fuel. It’s needed for construction, so you start searching for where to turn it off.

  • Information about private companies is split across three windows. And to buy resources from them, you have to find the right tab in one of those windows and tick an inconspicuous purchase checkbox.

  • Too often you’re greeted by an empty screen, where information doesn’t show up until you perform a certain sequence of actions — the order of which is known only to the developer himself.

2

Good morning, and welcome to the forums!

While your post here raises many valid points (and you’re certainly not the first or last player to crash into some of these pain points in the UI), the tone of your post comes across as extremely negative. This may lead many readers to react negatively in turn, making it harder for the points raised here to be received well and taken into consideration. Given that, if I may be so bold I’d like to offer a few suggestions that might both improve your own play experience and help your suggestions be better-received:

  • First of all, this new forum software comes with an online chat feature which can be useful for asking quick questions about confusing UI elements or how to perform tasks when there isn’t an immediately obvious solution. There are also some forum threads where quick questions may be asked and answered. For better or worse, a significant part of the Aurora experience is community engagement, and leveraging our helpful community can both support your own gameplay and also help separate one-off UI confusion issues from more systematic pain points when offering suggestions.
  • Also, this forum has a dedicated category for suggestions, including a persistent thread for quick suggestions. This is the best place to drop specific, actionable suggestions including explaining the issue and your proposed solution. On one hand, posting in this thread or category is the best way to get visibility and generate discussion about your suggestions. On the other hand, phrasing suggestions in this more helpful, collaborative format is likely to be received better than a lengthy “review” post which many users may perceive as more of an angry rant.
  • Finally, please keep in mind that Aurora is the work of one man (Steve), and while he does work hard and take community feedback into account he is still only one man. The UI for Aurora has never been a strong point for most players, but Steve has made great efforts to improve the UI over the last several years and it is much better than it used to be in many ways. As such, while complaints about UI and UX are often valid, please do try to have grace for the one-man development team and perhaps reserve the benefit of the doubt for Steve.

Again, you’ve raised many valid points, and I don’t want to create an impression by not directly addressing them that they are anything less than that. I am simply hoping to suggest some thoughts on how you might engage Steve and the community most productively to address some of these concerns. :slightly_smiling_face:

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3

Maybe tone down the rhetoric a little bit? It might play well in a different game forum but this one is pretty laid back and polite. The game developer, who reads most forum posts and regularly takes player input into account when updating the game, probably doesn’t take player input from people who accuse him of wanting the players to kill themselves.

With that out of the way, you’re right that there’s no tutorial to speak of and very little guidance on how to play the game baked in. It’s a super steep learning curve with no handholds (or footholds) other than reading the wiki, watching let’s play on youtube, or asking questions on this forum. The game is a pet project of the developer, and he’s kind enough to share it with us with no compensation. Historically the best way to get changes made is to provide specific, well thought out suggestions on one or two items at a time in the thread for that topic.

Edit: Slurpee said it much more eloquently than me.

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I think the first thing to bear in mind is that the game has been under active development for twenty-two years, with an active community giving feedback and suggestions for almost all that time. Many, many people have bounced off the UI or the mechanics and made suggestions to improve them, although usually in a more constructive way.

Secondly, its a part-time hobby and a freeware game, so development priority is given to the most interesting elements of the game. UI is a long way down that list :slight_smile: so any necessary UI elements usually get tagged on at the end anywhere they will fit. Over time, the UI starts to resemble sedimentary rock as more layers are added. Occasionally, I go through a window where the UI has got particularly obtuse and try to improve it - you are seeing the improved versions in most cases :slight_smile:

Orders are complex. There are currently 117 different orders and each one has movement requirements and restrictions and some have destination requirements. Working out every potential combination of effects in any situation is complex and would be even more so if orders could be re-arranged at will, or random orders tagged on the end. So there is a strict precedence to orders issued and any conditional orders triggered will replace the current list.

The alternative is for me to spend endless hours calculating and debugging all those potential situations. That is never going to happen because I’ll never generate the level of enthusiasm and perseverance required :slight_smile: and I would rather spend my available free time adding new features.

Shore leave is required for game balance and to add an extra layer of decision-making to ship design and deployment considerations. When the ship is actively carrying out orders, the crew is not on shore leave.

Toggling events is in v3.0: Aurora v3.0.0 Patch Notes - Unreleased

The tanker flag covers more than just movement orders. Also, there are too many potential movement orders to show them all, especially as many would be irrelevant and and even the relevant ones result in a long list. Instead of adding logic to deal with the player issuing irrelevant orders, I exclude them in the first place.

The various questions about stabilisation, purchasing minerals, fuel production, etc. are really “Why is there no tutorial or manual”. The game is very complex and has hundreds of buttons and other controls, so that a manual would obviously help, but again it comes down to enthusiasm and priorities. This is a hobby so having fun is the priority rather than being focused on increasing accessibility or maximizing the number of players. However, the community has created many excellent tutorials and let’s plays and is very responsive to question on here and on the Discord.

However, having said that, if you have specific constructive suggestions about how to improve the game, along with the rationale as to why it would improve gameplay or QoL, then please put them in the suggestions forum. I’ve added hundreds, probably thousands, of players suggestions into the game over the last couple of decades.

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5

I’ll share just one more perspective. I have no coding ability and no inclination to learn - I am just a gameplayer, one who likes complex crunchy strategy games. I have sunk several hunderds of hours into this game over the years - and from a value to entertainment perspective, it is the best investment I have made because it scratches a very specific itch of mine.

I am not dismissing your perspective here - the UI is obtuse and there are a number of idiosyncrasies that even after playing for long as I have still hem me up and occasionally cause me to grimace. If this was my project, I would have likely emphasized different things - I am a big fan of the ground game and also more government/faction play. But this is a passion project of a single person and what may be odd to me obviously makes sense to the designer and well, back to the getting it for free comments articulated above. If this was a commercial game I purchased with a developmental staff, I would obviously have a different perspective and expectations about responsiveness.

End of the day, this is a great game and the posters above aren’t lying about suggestions being incorporated - there are at least two things I have suggested that are part of the game today. But I would also say there are other space 4x games out there with other philosophies - I play Stellaris and Distant Worlds in addition to this and enjoy them as well.

Anyrate, welcome to Aurora and I hope the upcoming UI changes among other things in 3.0 help address some of your concerns.

P.S. I want Air Forces!

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Didn’t mean to be rude. Though frankly, I don’t see anything rude about it. I described a fresh pair of eyes on the modern version of the game – a newbie’s perspective. And the main problems they run into. Even suggested a couple of solutions. I hope these issues help lower the barrier to entry. But it looks like they’ll just be dismissed as ‘not constructive’. Yet it really does come across as contempt for new players – ignoring the same problems for a couple of decades.

What I’m trying to say is that the interface is killing this game. In my country, only one YouTuber tried to make a guide for it, but he ended up burning out and turning to drink. He started looking like a laborer who just pulled three shifts at a factory.

I know plenty of people who’d love to play this game. But I don’t know anyone willing to spend dozens of hours just to get started, let alone hours more figuring out every little problem – problems that could be solved with even basic interface tooltips, like the ones that exist in the technology research screen.

As for the mantra ‘it was made by one person’ – that’s meaningless. Years of development deserve respect. But that doesn’t excuse neglecting simple things like tooltips and descriptions.

Why, for example, restrict an order to a condition like ‘Fuel < 50’ when you could let the user enter any number and any condition, the way Dwarf Fortress does it? And there are hundreds of such small issues.

Overall, minimal changes to the game – just adding descriptions, step‑by‑step guidance in certain windows, and warnings (like incompatibility between two command panels) – would lower the entry barrier dramatically. In this game, you essentially sit in just a couple of panels, issuing orders to fleets, while everything else exists as optional clutter. It reminds me of Victoria 4, where they piled on a ton of buttons, but all you really need are three of them to play peacefully.

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I think all points raised here are valid, but I also think what @AuroraSteve said to be always put upfront. We are close to a 3.0 iteration of a game I personally play since 2008 maybe 10, can’t remember.

I for instance play Football Manager as well, and beside the colossal mess done in the last iteration, there is simply NO tutorial what so ever available around. We are talking about a triple A franchise.

We all want the community to grow and we all appreciate having more people hearing about Aurora and also play it, however, the game is free but the price tag in terms of time and understanding is very high.

You mentioned for instance problems with conditioning and standing orders. We, as community, have spent 15 years asking for the changes you just saw a few days ago, and they cheered like when Caesar marched over Rome after crossing the Rubicon.

While your points are valid and from a fresh pair of eyes respected, they cannot be backed by the history of the game as whole. It would be like complaining for the 3 seconds rule under the basket without understanding the Shaq rules introduced by NBA because of him.

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Also note the old forums and wiki had a lot of information on playing the game that is no longer as readily accessible.
A major difference is that Dwarf Fortress has been a game providing or attempting to provide its developer’s income/livelihood. This game is a hobby so the development is not even closely comparable. One thing I like about this game and liked about older versions of dwarf fortress is user interfaces without a focus on fancy graphics.
I do think I might be helpful to newer players if some of us player fans collaborated on some text based how to guilds. Perhaps on a wiki or else. But these forums as they collect more connect will also likely provide much more of a guild.

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When I first played Aurora VB waay back in the day, I felt like half the difficulty of the game was the game itself. Just figuring stuff out.. But to be honest, I found that kind of fun. C# Aurora is a huge improvement from VB in features, speed, difficulty, customizability, and yes even the UI is much better. It has a very high learning curve and is like DF in that way. I personally don’t think it’s harder to learn than DF though.. There is a knowledgeable and friendly community on here and in the Discord so help is pretty easy to get.

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Just a reminder for everyone - You can’t know a commentator’s age. Also note that their comments were probably written in another language, then got heavily edited with AI.

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I have been playing Aurora for 20 years, yet I find dwarf fortress much more clunky and obscure in many parts (steam modern version), after many try I abandoned it coz it is just frustrating and that’s a fact.

Please do not touch my Aurora!!!

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Didn’t mean to be rude. Though frankly, I don’t see anything rude about it.

Well, that didn’t work out.

Yes, Aurora has a steep learning curve and it’s certainly not for everyone.

If your frustration is stopping you from enjoying the game, give it some time. Perhaps in a few years’ time it will be a more mature ‘product’ for you.

Some of your criticisms are understandable, especially regarding UI clarity. That said, the tone of your post comes across as more of a vent than constructive feedback, which may make people less receptive to the points you’re making.

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So much passive aggression over just a few words of criticism from me. It’s like a cult where you can’t even mention the game’s interface. Probably because of that kind of attitude, they haven’t fixed the interface for 20 years in a row.

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Something I have learned over the years, dealing with all sorts of people, in all sorts of situations.

If you want to accomplish what you wish to accomplish, if you want to be taken seriously, if you want to negotiate in good faith, if you want to be a well respected member of your community.

A base level of politeness, respectfulness for the other party, understanding and empathy, is required.

Even if you want to raise a ruckus, that ruckus is meaningless unless you establish a level of credibility.

90 times out of 100, you will be better served speaking with the other party in mind.

Politness is a valuable weapon to wield in modern society.

My suggestion, learn to wield it, it will serve you well later on in life.

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I’ve always enjoyed learning games. Don’t follow any guides, copy other people’s methods and turn your game into a mix of other people’s games. Learning and creating by yourself. Aurora provides a wide scope for learning its mechanics, ship design methods, and so on. If you don’t like the interface, treat it like some form of puzzle that you need to understand. Look at the problem from a different angle.

Aggressive sounds of game interface cultist.

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And Politeness costs nothing…

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that’s a wild claim

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Yes you did, be honest.

Yes you do, stop lying.

You wrote a rant to amuse your buddies on whatever forum or discord server you came from, with zero intention to help with anything.

Blatantly false but lying is all you’re capable of.

One, it’s not a commercial project, it has no need to “SELL MORE COPIES” or anything like that as others have already explained. So nothing can kill it.

Two, Aurora now has more players than it ever has had in the past, based on the activity here, on Reddit, and on Discord. There is a steady stream of new players asking questions across these three platforms. So that’s another lie.

No you don’t, you’re a liar.

It isn’t. Especially since this is not a commercial project and it isn’t putting food on Steve’s table. Dwarf Fortress provides the livelihood for Tarn and Minecraft provided the livelihood for Notch but Aurora does not do the same for Steve, nor has he ever even attempted to make it so. It is a 100%, pure hobby project.

Because Aurora is not coded the same way that DF is and DF allows you to create nonsensical orders that never do anything, whereas all orders and order templates in Aurora always need to work.

Not minimal, stop lying.

But that’s not necessary because this is not a commercial project. Steve has limited time that he can devote to Aurora and obviously all existing players prefer that he spends his time squashing bugs and adding new features rather than putting in guard rails for people without the patience to learn the game.

Pretty amazing that Aurora reminds you of something that does not exist. Yet another ridiculous lie.

Go fuck yourself.

…

Oh damn, I just realized that it does not matter what we write here, you’re just going to screenshot all these replies (maybe doing some creative snipping and cutting) to amuse your buddies elsewhere, and I’m just providing you with more ammunition. Oh well, it was at least cathartic to write this.

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I’ve closed the topic as I doubt further replies will add a lot of value :slight_smile:

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