KickStarter INSOMNIA: The Ark - dieselpunk sci-fi action-RPG set on a decaying space station

[Black Angel]

A lot of this just seems like publisher PR smokescreen to try to eek a few more sales out of the game, rather than a genuine attempt at fixing the many problems with the game, which is exactly what has been bothering me about this game since a month after it's release. Something smells rotten here, and it's only gotten more rank with the decay if an entire year.

Like I've said before, you might as well just play it now. You'll have fun for 10-15 hours before it starts to sink in how poor character progression, combat mechanics, itemization, and exploration really is. These things will never be fixed. Just go for it. The bugs are easy to deal with.

Unless you don't own it yet, in which case, don't give money to this scam.

EDIT: To be clear, I don't think this game started as a scam. I think it inadvertently became one because extenuating circumstances.

"It's alright guys, we're still working on it. Go ahead and buy a copy sometime on sale! Maybe one for your friends and family too. We will not give up on FIXING THIS GAME WE PROMISE!"

EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] - Jinn was once a genuine, pure admirer of the game. But all the time wasted by the developers, with severe lack of communication on top of that, has completely obliterated every bits of admiration and even support he once had for the game and its developer.

 

[toro]

Hi Zerotix,

Its good to hear that you've been enjoying your Insomnia experience so far! And many thanks for the words of support, they do help.

Most members of the 12+ team have moved on to other projects, but the original core creators are still working on improving the game. Our current plans are to fix the remaining 50% of high-priority bugs on our list (in the 1.7 update) and then potentially localize the game in a few languages that keep getting requested in the comments

As always, the best way to learn about upcoming changes is via the News section on Insomnia's Steam page.

Have a great day!

 

[fantadomat]

LoL it got released on GoG. Maybe it is time to give it another spin.

https://af.gog.com/game/insomnia_the_ark?as=1649904300

 

[Skdursh]

LoL it got released on GoG. Maybe it is time to give it another spin.

https://af.gog.com/game/insomnia_the_ark?as=1649904300

Just saw that myself. I'm really curious if the game is actually worth playing at this point because the criticism was pretty heavy at release.

 

[fantadomat]

Ahh fuck it,bought it. If i manage to finish it will write a fast review here.

 

[Tweed]

Is this worth playing yet? I was waiting for keybinds.

 

[DalekFlay]

Ahh fuck it,bought it.

I thought buying games was against your religion? Anyway, I'm also looking forward to hearing if this is worth a damn.

 

[fantadomat]

I thought buying games was against your religion?

What? I am honourable bastard,if i like it,i buy it.

 

[Abu Antar]

I thought buying games was against your religion?

What? I am honourable bastard,if i like it,i buy it.

How do you like it if you haven't bought it?

 

[Murk]

Apparently it's 40% off on GOG so eh, why not, I'll give it a spin. What gameplay I saw of it seems okay enough, and if it's fun for 10ish hours then I'd say that's fine.

 

[JDR13]

Unique setting with a cool atmosphere. It was pretty buggy when I played the first few hours, but that was several patches ago. I'm looking forward to giving it another try when I can find the time.

 

[Murk]

So far no bugs in the hour or so I played, though I am heavily triggered by the fact that I can't look up/down (there just seems to be no Y-axis) and by the "can't walk over tiny rail on ground", but otherwise... good atmosphere and settings looks interesting. Has some light survival stuff (hunger/thirst, it seems), and I like the general vibe.

Not sure if I'm doing combat wrong or if it's just pretty brutal, but the robot area is quite a pain in the ass to get through.

edit: Man, some of the interactable stuff (buttons, containers) is really obnoxious to target -- you have to keep moving back and turning around to highlight it. Not sure if it's just me or this is common.

Got a bit further in and the game _looks_ great, though it seems like the actual gameplay is light. Also, whenever a repair robot is nearby don't ever go near it, the flashes of light from it are absolutely blinding.

 

[fantadomat]

So far no bugs in the hour or so I played, though I am heavily triggered by the fact that I can't look up/down (there just seems to be no Y-axis) and by the "can't walk over tiny rail on ground", but otherwise... good atmosphere and settings looks interesting. Has some light survival stuff (hunger/thirst, it seems), and I like the general vibe.

Not sure if I'm doing combat wrong or if it's just pretty brutal, but the robot area is quite a pain in the ass to get through.

edit: Man, some of the interactable stuff (buttons, containers) is really obnoxious to target -- you have to keep moving back and turning around to highlight it. Not sure if it's just me or this is common.

Got a bit further in and the game _looks_ great, though it seems like the actual gameplay is light. Also, whenever a repair robot is nearby don't ever go near it, the flashes of light from it are absolutely blinding.

It is hard,but you just have to get it. The robot areas is about using grenade on the turrets and then just shoot it.

 

[Murk]

So far no bugs in the hour or so I played, though I am heavily triggered by the fact that I can't look up/down (there just seems to be no Y-axis) and by the "can't walk over tiny rail on ground", but otherwise... good atmosphere and settings looks interesting. Has some light survival stuff (hunger/thirst, it seems), and I like the general vibe.

Not sure if I'm doing combat wrong or if it's just pretty brutal, but the robot area is quite a pain in the ass to get through.

edit: Man, some of the interactable stuff (buttons, containers) is really obnoxious to target -- you have to keep moving back and turning around to highlight it. Not sure if it's just me or this is common.

Got a bit further in and the game _looks_ great, though it seems like the actual gameplay is light. Also, whenever a repair robot is nearby don't ever go near it, the flashes of light from it are absolutely blinding.

It is hard,but you just have to get it. The robot areas is about using grenade on the turrets and then just shoot it.

Yeah, found some armor piercing rounds that helped too. I took a few reloads to just learn the attack patterns and it was easier after that, though things would be much smoother if the game had a hotkey for quicksave/quickload.

Is there a free/cheap source of water/food? I don't want to spend 400 credits on bottled water, but I don't want to drink the filthy stuff I found that causes damage either.

 

[fantadomat]

So far no bugs in the hour or so I played, though I am heavily triggered by the fact that I can't look up/down (there just seems to be no Y-axis) and by the "can't walk over tiny rail on ground", but otherwise... good atmosphere and settings looks interesting. Has some light survival stuff (hunger/thirst, it seems), and I like the general vibe.

Not sure if I'm doing combat wrong or if it's just pretty brutal, but the robot area is quite a pain in the ass to get through.

edit: Man, some of the interactable stuff (buttons, containers) is really obnoxious to target -- you have to keep moving back and turning around to highlight it. Not sure if it's just me or this is common.

Got a bit further in and the game _looks_ great, though it seems like the actual gameplay is light. Also, whenever a repair robot is nearby don't ever go near it, the flashes of light from it are absolutely blinding.

It is hard,but you just have to get it. The robot areas is about using grenade on the turrets and then just shoot it.

Yeah, found some armor piercing rounds that helped too. I took a few reloads to just learn the attack patterns and it was easier after that, though things would be much smoother if the game had a hotkey for quicksave/quickload.

Is there a free/cheap source of water/food? I don't want to spend 400 credits on bottled water, but I don't want to drink the filthy stuff I found that causes damage either.

Not really,but the money is not a real problem if you sell the more expensive weapons and armour. I do drink the bad water also,-10% of health is irrelevant when you die from 2-3 hits/shots. I am running a rifle build and find it pretty fun and effective,you just have to stay in cover and kind off count the enemy shots,the come out and shoot them. Also use bad food and water when you are about to get patched for free. The docs in the base and the viper's nest do patch you up for free.

 

[Murk]

Ah, guess I didn't get to where the docs patch up for free. Noice.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

I thought buying games was against your religion?

What? I am honourable bastard,if i like it,i buy it.

How do you like it if you haven't bought it?

Oh thats easy. He likes it first, THEN buys it

 

[Murk]

So the 'loot disappearing' bug is still in, apparently. I had dumped a bunch of spare ammo I wasn't using in the Player-Locker at the vulture's nest and it got emptied/cleared.

Guess I won't be doing that again.

 

[fantadomat]

So the 'loot disappearing' bug is still in, apparently. I had dumped a bunch of spare ammo I wasn't using in the Player-Locker at the vulture's nest and it got emptied/cleared.

Guess I won't be doing that again.

LoL don't use that,use the three chests in the garage mate. The disappearing bug is not really a bug,but a shortcut for the devs. The things disappear because that is where some quest rewards appear or something. The garage ones are a lot more practical and never saw any problems with them. You just leave all the parts in the one next to the work bench,one for quest/interesting items and the third for all the other shit you don't want to sell.

Also the easiest doc to get access to is in the base,when you visit it a second time a bunch of parts of it get unlocked. He is in the barracks next to the main road.

 

[Murk]

Yeah got there, and the robo-doc at the station with Thyper also does it for free.

Just figured the locker with my name on it was the safe one, especially since the tool tips during loading even talk about no items disappearing. Feckin' LUL.

 

[Murk]

Multi-posting here, but:

I'm like 20ish total hours in and while I'm enjoying the game enough to keep playing it, the missed opportunities that are rife throughout are unquestionable.

First, I learned why the camera can't be panned up/down and that's a damn shame. I think I'd have preferred a "fade to black" ceiling than the current compromise -- or just the choice to play it in 3/4ths top down camera like in ATOM.
The game looks, feels, and sounds great -- the actual gameplay is light and often broken up by frequent and too-long-for-what-it-does loading screens. The RPG elements are relatively light, with things more focused on which disarm/repair/unlock skill you have.

Combat is simple, and the gunplay is okay, but very popamole.

I feel like the game could have been a lot more and a proper RPG with much more freedom than what it currently is. Everytime I look at the big 'world' map, all I want to do is explore the corners of every busted up alien-fungus covered hole I can like in a PB game but... railroading (both on a macro and micro level) stops that from happening. The few random encounters that let me go through residential areas -- and seeing what the domiciles look like, and the sheer attention to detail (the sliding bathroom/washroom thing was stupendously creative) -- it all leaves a hunger for more 'exploration' which is so railed off that you don't get enough to really satisfy the urge.

I do appreciate that sometimes people die, including potential party members, but everything else is so very sparse.

I'd say 6/10 on a non-IGN scale, worth it for the 16 bucks I paid, but if I was a backer to a kickstarter I'd be upset at what could have been.

 

[toro]

Multi-posting here, but:

I'm like 20ish total hours in and while I'm enjoying the game enough to keep playing it, the missed opportunities that are rife throughout are unquestionable.

First, I learned why the camera can't be panned up/down and that's a damn shame. I think I'd have preferred a "fade to black" ceiling than the current compromise -- or just the choice to play it in 3/4ths top down camera like in ATOM.
The game looks, feels, and sounds great -- the actual gameplay is light and often broken up by frequent and too-long-for-what-it-does loading screens. The RPG elements are relatively light, with things more focused on which disarm/repair/unlock skill you have.

Combat is simple, and the gunplay is okay, but very popamole.

I feel like the game could have been a lot more and a proper RPG with much more freedom than what it currently is. Everytime I look at the big 'world' map, all I want to do is explore the corners of every busted up alien-fungus covered hole I can like in a PB game but... railroading (both on a macro and micro level) stops that from happening. The few random encounters that let me go through residential areas -- and seeing what the domiciles look like, and the sheer attention to detail (the sliding bathroom/washroom thing was stupendously creative) -- it all leaves a hunger for more 'exploration' which is so railed off that you don't get much of it.

I do appreciate that sometimes people die, including potential party members, but it's all very... sparse.

I'd say 6/10 on a non-IGN scale, worth it for the 16 bucks I paid, but if I was a backer to a kickstarter I'd be upset at what could have been.

They fucked up, there is no doubt about it ... but I'm happy that more people are playing this game and are able to appreciate its hidden qualities. Respect.

 

[toro]

https://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791461982085/announcements/detail/3093344592976698702

Hello Insomniacs!

Brace yourselves for a few quick updates =)

Our team has made progress on ~25% of the bugs that we wanted to address with update 1.7. Current plans are to begin testing this initial batch of fixes in February, while the dev team is busy working on the remaining issues. As a quick reminder - v1.7 is meant to introduce 100+ most requested/high priority fixes and changes to the game, including things like companions going berserk and arbitrarily attacking NPCs, issues with unlocking certain achievements and other bugs of varying difficulty.

In addition to that, INSOMNIA was released on GOG last week which means we will soon begin sending out DRM-free keys to our Kickstarter backers.

One more thing - as requested by a few members of our community, we’ve updated the game’s soundtrack in the Deluxe Set and OST DLC’s, so that the tracks are in both the MP3 and FLAC formats.

Until next time!

 

[Lord_Potato]

Bought this game recently on GOG, hoping that they've managed to fix the game. Now I will definately wait for the next patch (hoping they don't break anything more with it) before starting my playthrough!

 

[fantadomat]

Bought this game recently on GOG, hoping that they've managed to fix the game. Now I will definately wait for the next patch (hoping they don't break anything more with it) before starting my playthrough!

Hmmm the game is fine in its current state,or at least the part i have played.