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SOMA (Frictional Games)

Don Peste

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Playing this for the first time. Based on what I've read here I guess Safe Mode is the way to go? A bit surprising that the Codex isn't more adamant about playing on tough guy gotta prove I'm hardcore mode.
Do you think Firewatch would have benefited from sections where you had to run and hide from a monster (or some kind of lurking entity?)?
I'm usually not interested in that kind of games (checkpoints + unarmed player + invincible enemy), but there are dozens of them, so some people must be (specially Youtubers)... And some titles are considered very good: Amnesia, Alien Isolation, etc.

Whatever you choose, after Soma, you might want to try this:
 

Ivan

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Firewatch had a fantastic moment I'll never forget.: there's an instance in the game, I don't remember the details, where you get the feeling that you're being stalked. There was so much tension in that moment, it's something that I won't forget. It leads up to you being knocked out eventually. But yeah, that was a great moment in an otherwise satisfactory title.
 

Ivan

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Playing this for the first time. Based on what I've read here I guess Safe Mode is the way to go? A bit surprising that the Codex isn't more adamant about playing on tough guy gotta prove I'm hardcore mode.

WTF? Hell no, what the hell? Play it as it was intended.
 

Wunderbar

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Playing this for the first time. Based on what I've read here I guess Safe Mode is the way to go? A bit surprising that the Codex isn't more adamant about playing on tough guy gotta prove I'm hardcore mode.
it was perfectly fine in normal mode.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
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Black Goat Woods !@#*%&^
Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Regular mode has a few frustrating moments, but it generally felt good to me. But i haven't played safe mode to compare.
WTF? Hell no, what the hell? Play it as it was intended.
it was perfectly fine in normal mode.
Yeah. I'll need to replay the first couple hours since it can't be switched mid-game, but I'm finding it unsatisfying to be able to laugh off enemies when they catch me. Thanks for the input friends.
 
Joined
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Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Playing this for the first time. Based on what I've read here I guess Safe Mode is the way to go? A bit surprising that the Codex isn't more adamant about playing on tough guy gotta prove I'm hardcore mode.

I finished the game, when it didn't have safe space mode and overall while sometimes you could die it was normal. If you finished Thief you shouldn't have a problem. Building tension with some tight sections here and there was excellent and without it SOMA won't be so fun. Good luck on your journey.
 

Wirdschowerdn

Ph.D. in World Saving
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https://frictionalgames.blogspot.com/2018/10/hiring-project-based-3d-artist.html


Hiring: Project-based 3D Artist




Title: 3D artist
Focus: Polishing environments and props
Type: Full-time, project-based (approx. 1 year)
Last day to apply: 4th of November 2018


After 3 years of hard work, we are now close to finishing one of our new games. We want it to look amazing, and to accomplish that we need more (hu)manpower.

This is where you come in.

We are now looking for an experienced 3D artist, who will focus on environments and props for our upcoming horror game. Our ideal person loves horror, and is able to convey atmospheric environments and terrifyings scenes through 3D art. The position is full-time and project-based, lasting for about a year until the new game is ready to be shipped.

This is quite revealing. The next project is about one year away from release.
 

Starwars

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He mentions a game that he can't remember the name of in that video, where there was irl interactions. Like you would receive "real" emails from the game developers that was related to the game and stuff.
I also can't remember the name of this game and have been thinking about it for the longest time, does anyone else know or remember that one? I always loved that concept. Probably late 90s.
 

Jaedar

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Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Yeah. I'll need to replay the first couple hours since it can't be switched mid-game, but I'm finding it unsatisfying to be able to laugh off enemies when they catch me. Thanks for the input friends.
In normal mode you just respawn a few rooms back, so I don't know how they could make it even less punishing.
 

Atrachasis

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Apr 11, 2007
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The Local Group
He mentions a game that he can't remember the name of in that video, where there was irl interactions. Like you would receive "real" emails from the game developers that was related to the game and stuff.
I also can't remember the name of this game and have been thinking about it for the longest time, does anyone else know or remember that one? I always loved that concept. Probably late 90s.

I remember there being some buzz about such a game as well in the early 2000s... I believe it was called "Majestic".

Two links down from the Wikipedia article on "Majestic", there's info about another game of that type, "The Beast".
 

AN4RCHID

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Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Messages
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Always a pleasure listening to this guy talk. I disagree about gameplay making horror too fun though. Games like Resident Evil and Alien: Isolation are scary in part because the gameplay systems reinforce the sense of danger. In SOMA the stakes of your actions are lower because you can't mess things up, there's always a safety net if you let the monster catch you or whatever. It still works because the atmosphere is top notch, but I don't think the minimalist approach to gameplay helps. Imagine SOMA but it's an FPS, but some of the enemies are nearly undefeatable so your only option is to run or hide. I think that could have been even scarier.
 

AN4RCHID

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Jan 24, 2013
Messages
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I agree, but the intent was to create a scary game, right? That's what Grip seems to be saying. I mean, there are a lot of sequences involving the monsters that don't serve the narrative at all but are meant to rachet up the tension. SOMA is a great walking simulator, one of the best, but I don't think it's entirely successful in those parts where it tries to be a horror game. I wouldn't want those parts stripped out, because they do help to make the experience more engaging. I just don't think it goes far enough.
 

Starwars

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Amnesia scared the living shit out of me when it came out. It's not that bad now any more but it's easilyup there when it comes to "most scary games when they were released" as far as I'm concerned.

When it comes to "narrative focused" games, I think SOMA hit a pretty nice spot. It's definitely not perfect but I think that, for what they were trying to accomplish, they were right in moving a bit more towards the walking simulator route. More atmosphere, less horror, more story/narrative, less gameplay. I hope they won't continue moving in that direction personally but SOMA did what it did really well. Even with some hiccups, it's far and beyond most games when it comes to the story, acting and fleshing out the game world without serving everything on a silver platter.

But yeah, personally I hope for a bit more gameplay heavy experience for their next project. But whatever it is, it's likely to be a day 1 purchase for me.
 

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