Robert4222 on 21/8/2013 at 19:01
Being hunted... Like a sir
The game's looks interesting, but I wouldn't call it a "Survival-horror" at all, in fact I find it quite funny because of the noble robot hunters animations, they're like "let's get this over with gentleman, so we can be at home in time for supper".
Also the overall atmosphere is normal: just chasing your hunters and getting your way through the forest in a foggy day
PigLick on 22/8/2013 at 03:24
Eagerly awaiting Muzmans review.
Muzman on 22/8/2013 at 11:44
Too busy playing it :p
But it's really good so far. Which is something considering how many more AIs they will eventually insert. It'll just about be a different game by them. Tangling with Hunters and their hounds is pretty entertaining though as it is.
It's really quite hard. And then it starts to dawn on you, after a few aborted attempts at driving some dudes away from a machine fragment or good lot of stashes, that you just used a lot of food, bullets and bandages and they're never coming back. Even if you survive, you will eventually die if you don't actually win.
You feel like its familiar FPS territory at first, even that its pretty quiet and easy (or I did anyway). But long term dread can settle in. It's interesting. (I'm not actually sure if that's exactly what they want the game to be, but it's pretty cool in this version, if also likely to frustrate a lot of people).
I did actually give up on the first lot of islands I had generated. Too hard. The second lot have given me a bit of an easier time at first and I've skilled up in the mean time.
If you dug in to Stalker and didn't just play that like a large scale FPS, a lot of it will feel familiar: the large scope, the soldiery use of landscape and keeping your distance and lots of wandering about exploring without a lot of help. (whether or not the environment hooks you the same way is another thing).
Quite enjoying the storybook style and very English mixture of eccentric levity and seriousness too. A can really imagine this scenario as a seventies TV series, or a Tom Baker Dr Who story from back then.
More later. Meanwhile more screenie parade!
Inline Image:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ragtag/sir_alpha_1.jpgInline Image:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ragtag/sir_alpha_4.jpgInline Image:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ragtag/sir_alpha_3.jpgInline Image:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ragtag/sir_alpha_2.jpg(might put up ginormo versions at some point)
faetal on 22/8/2013 at 11:53
That's looking nicely atmospheric.
EvaUnit02 on 23/8/2013 at 04:03
1. My copy was a reward for donating to their Kickstarter.
2. Go back to school and take more ESOL classes, because your reading comprehension is terrible. Where did I say I was boycotting games that use the alpha-funding model?
henke on 23/8/2013 at 05:25
1. Kickstarter-copy, Early Access, does it matter? You're still playing the game in alpha and by your own account helping to make sure that "enthusiasm wanes for a project ages before it's even close to being finished".
2. Where did I say that you had said that you were boycotting them? You realize the irony in your admonishing me for my reading comprehension over things that I did not even write, yes? All I said is that you were against them. I was wondering if you'd care to own up to the hypocrisy of calling other people who play alpha games "OCD suffering consumers" while not blinking an eye when you do it yourself.
Muzman on 24/8/2013 at 11:22
Quote Posted by faetal
That's looking nicely atmospheric.
Yeah it is. It could use a few more sound passes and such, but it's alpha so whatareyagonnado.
I think anyone interested in terrain generation would want to take a look at it, even if they don't like this sort of game. It does a very impressive job arranging the spaces and placing stuff in the proper way to give an old English ramshackle feel without things being obviously 'wrong' very often at all. It's a subtle but I suspect difficult thing to blend in human influence like this and still have it flow well. Something Minecraft and Cubeworld etc don't really try, or others don't worry about all that much.
(that was one of the things that put me off 7 Days to Die. The game sounds alright, but the landscape just looks terrible so far.)
Renault on 1/9/2013 at 06:19
Been playing this a bit. Enjoying it, but...the difficulty is steep. Frustratingly so at some times. I probably need to adjust my typically indoor Thieflike strategies to something different for the outdoors environment. You seem to have almost no chance in a direct fight with the robots, even with a gun, because ammo is so sparse. Sneaking works to degree, but it's not too likely that you'll be able to sneak all the way up to a "piece," grab it, and get away without being detected at some point. Or maybe I just suck? In any case, the only strategy so far that seems to work for me is to distract the bots with a stone or bottle and then just make a mad dash for the piece and run like hell. Usually you end up taking some buckshot in the backside on the way out, and have to bandage up, but hopefully you live.
They added a lean function in whatever the recent build was (take note, EM), it's definitely a useful ability to have. I would love the ability to go prone too, maybe at the cost of not being able to move, but it would give you near instant invisibility (except at very close range). The inventory system needs to be fine tuned too, you spend a decent amount of time doing the puzzle piece bit with all your items just so new items can "fit" in your bag. There's a lot of junk items in the game too which seem to serve no purpose, so I don't know why they're there. Still trying to get a good feel too for the bots and their range of vision and all that. Sometimes it seems like they "saw something" and come to check it out while other times they just go about their business. I wish the bots didn't just essentially stand watch over the pieces and would patrol a bit more in the general vicinity instead, I think it would make the game a lot more fun.
All that aside, the game is fun, and the difficulty while frustrating is also refreshing in a way, compared to all the hand-holdy type crap that's out there today. I've only been to 2 islands so far, so I haven't seen all the biomes, but that ones I've seen look good, and give you some realistic terrain to run around in. All in all, the game is a cool idea, it just needs some more fine tuning - considering it's in alpha, I guess that's what's going on atm.
Jason Moyer on 1/9/2013 at 13:42
That "immobile prone" suggestion is actually really awesome. I'd post that on the Steam forum or the official game forum to make sure a dev sees it.
Psychomorph on 1/9/2013 at 17:04
I've been completely out of loop with this. What's goin on, when they plan release and is there going to be a playable demo for all people, or all backers? Does it shape up nicely?
Oh and I've been playing outdoor environment military games like Ghost Recon and ArmA and a prone is an absolute must, especially if you have grass to hide in. A lot of (unnatural) difficulty is probably coming from the fact that you can't go prone.
Stealth must be seen in relation to the environment. In the night you hide in the shadows, in the open you hide in grass or behind objects. Surprising they did not addressed this right away.
