The Quantum Console QuickStart is Unnecessarily Frustrating for New Users

ISSUE 1 - README is buried deep in the Asset folders

After importing the Quantum Console package, there is no obvious documentation or help on how to use the product. As a first time user, the first thing I look for is the documentation.

I had to search under Assets > Plugins > QFSW > Quantum Console > Source to finally find readme.pdf

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ISSUE 2 - [Getting Started Section] First paragraph is inaccurate

The first paragraph of the “quickstart.html” page reads:

In order to get started as quickly as possible, simply navigate to Assets/Plugins/QFSW/Quantum Console/Source/Prefabs and add the Quantum Console prefab to your scene. After this, you are ready to try out Quantum Console!

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I created a new project, followed these instructions, and then spent a few minutes clicking on the inactive command input field, and wondering why I couldn’t type anything. It occurred to me that it was odd that there appeared to be UI Objects but without Canvas nor EventSystem objects. However the quick start instructions assured me that I should be now “ready to try out Quantum Console” at this point. I took this instruction at face value and assumed the problem laid elsewhere.

I figured it might be a Unity issue, so I exit unity, saved all my applications running on my computer and rebooted. 15 minutes later, I tried Quantum Console running again but was again frustrated with an unresponsive command field.

I now understand that I need to manually add an EventSystem object to the scene to use Quantum Console. I also had to add TextMeshPro as well. The quick start guide should warn the user of these steps before saying “You are ready to try out Quantum Console”… not after.

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ISSUE 3 - The Links in README.PDF are fake

Frustrated, I assumed the quick start instructions were out of date, so I clicked on the “full documentation” link, but nothing happens. Clicking on the other links (email, discord, issue tracker, twitter, demo) in the readme also does nothing. So now I try to cut-and-paste the full documentation URL, but find I cannot even select any text in the quick-start guide.

Frustrating…

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ISSUE 4 - [Adding Commands Section] - The second paragraph in is inaccurate

The next section describes how easy it is to add a command to the console, saying that:

To do this, you will need to use the [Command] attribute.

So you simply need to add a “[Command]” attribute to your function. This instruction is also incomplete. You need to add “[QFSW.QC.Command]” or include “using QFSW.QC;” at the top of the file.

The fact that you have to use the “QFSW.QC” namespace appears nowhere in the online version of the quickstart guide (https://qfsw.co.uk/docs/QC/articles/quickstart/quickstart.html)

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ISSUE 5 - [The man Command Section] First sentence is inaccurate

It reads:

The man command will generate a user manual for the specified command. By itself, it will be able to display all the available signatures of the command

Following along your quick start tutorial, I had just created an integer version of “Add”. So to test how additional signatures are documented, I did the most straightforward thing and added a “float” version of the “Add” function:

public static float Add(float a, float b)

The new signature is not added to the manual. Instead a orange warning message is output:

Could not add GameManager.Add to the table as another method with the same alias and parameter count already exists

I feel you should mention that only certain additional signatures are supported, not “all”. It would have saved me some time and frustration.

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SUMMARY

You have an awesome product. I’m very impressed by my initial impression of it.

I feel like I’m reading marketing literature instead of documentation. Telling the user how a feature can be used with only a single step sounds great… Until he finds out that the documentation author left out a several other steps, or that the feature is only partially implemented.

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