Preview Colony Ship gets some SplatterCatting

[AbounI]

Such a jubilant occassion, the honour of paying to beta-test will be bestowed on the daring few

At least it's for a worthy cause, and it's a morally superior decision to make as opposed to, say, pre-ordering shit like Cyberpunk.

I preordered Cyberpunk.

Spoiler

Didn't you learn from His Most Radiant Holiness Miltiades the First, Glory of a Thousand Suns to pick your choices wisely ?

 

[Mortmal]

Looks promising but its only first chapter, it will take ages before full release again.At this point i fear its just a demo.

 

[Drowed]

In a way it is. I mean, it's contradictory to imagine that a game in Early Access would be complete and have the whole story, right? If that were the case, it would be the full game. If your definition of a demo is "a piece of the game" or ,"a limited version of the game," then every game in EA is essentially a demo.

The difference between EA and downloading a demo (which, by the way, is already there to be downloaded if you want) is the fact that demos do not usually receive gradual updates that add new areas or receive tweaks. Yeah, there are many companies that use EA as a glorified pre-order. But when used in the right way, EA essentially allows the company to get feedback from a large group of people to make the necessary adjustments to the game. Yes, in a sense you are paying to be a beta-tester (and help the company), but also, you are doing it while having fun and helping to get a better end product for yourself.

If playing an incomplete version of the game does not sound appealing to you, or if "working for free" to help the game be better seems absurd, by all means, it is best to wait for the final version.

 

[MurkyShadow]

Shiny! Will buy to support Iron Tower and play when it leaves early access.
...and inevitably throw a critcal failure on my patience cause I got no impulse control.

 

[Elhoim]

So Vault Dweller how much content are we getting in this "first chapter"? When I'm neither frantically clicking away the dialogue nor fiddling with party creation for two days how many hours, ballpark number?

If you are reading the dialogue, I'd say something between 5 to 7 hours. Of course, it might be more if you go full combat, and less if you avoid combat.

Also is the game complete feature-wise? No major gameplay elements will be added with subsequent chapters?

Pretty much. We have some minor improvements planned to stealth and implants, but all the systems are in. It's getting feedback, adding content and polishing.

 

[Jaedar]

If you are reading the dialogue, I'd say something between 5 to 7 hours. Of course, it might be more if you go full combat, and less if you avoid combat.

Is that counting replays to see all the content? Teron had 5 questlines (iirc) so a lot of the content there required multiple runs.

Of course the csrpg combat demo might be said to be 1-2 hours long, but I played it for around 8 and didn't even beat the final optional fight.

 

[Elhoim]

Is that counting replays to see all the content? Teron had 5 questlines (iirc) so a lot of the content there required multiple runs.

No, that's for a single playthrough. Apart from doing a different questline, what I enjoyed replaying was doing full combat and full speech runs, stealth "suave" and stealth "assassin" runs (stealth mixed with speech or combat), solo runs, different combat builds.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Here's a guy clocking 14 hours in 2 playthroughs:

 

[Jaedar]

Is that counting replays to see all the content? Teron had 5 questlines (iirc) so a lot of the content there required multiple runs.

No, that's for a single playthrough. Apart from doing a different questline, what I enjoyed replaying was doing full combat and full speech runs, stealth "suave" and stealth "assassin" runs (stealth mixed with speech or combat), solo runs, different combat builds.

That's longer than I expected. Very nice.

 

[Rieser]

Does this guy get paid depending on how many words he can cram into a video? Fuck me, I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk so god damn fucking ALWAYS.

 

[lukaszek]

stealth "suave"

how it compares to aod glorious non fighting ascending thief?

 

[Drowed]

So... At what time will the game be available?

 

[Alphons]

So... At what time will the game be available?

Steam says that it will be available in 16 hours.

 

[Grotesque]

This game needs

- better death animations
- way better gun firing sound design
- neutral npc that react when a gunfight happens around them

 

[AbounI]

This game needs

- better death animations
- way better gun firing sound design
- neutral npc that react when a gunfight happens around them

In other words, more time and money

 

[Lady Error]

- neutral npc that react when a gunfight happens around them

Yeah, that part needs to be improved. Right now people are dining peacefully next to a gunfight.

 

[Alienman]

Maybe it's part of the daily routine.

 

[MRY]

- neutral npc that react when a gunfight happens around them

Yeah, that part needs to be improved. Right now people are dining peacefully next to a gunfight.

This seems vastly more expensive, and with much less bang for your buck, than things like better death animations or gunfire sound effects. NPCs ducking and covering will still leave open all sorts of questions like why aren't they running, why aren't they getting involved, why aren't AOE weapons hurting them, why aren't missed bullets that seem to be flying in their direction hitting them, etc. I would put this in the category of either the player needs to suspend disbelief or fights should just be staged away from neutral NPCs.

 

[Lady Error]

Maybe them just running away and then returning after the fight is over is the way to do it. I guess in this case you need sitting down animations only - and maybe those are already implemented.

 

[Alpan]

I would put this in the category of either the player needs to suspend disbelief or fights should just be staged away from neutral NPCs.

I feel that the former won't work because the game does not look janky enough. IOW the presentation is too sleek to not have casual diners be an eyesore in gunfights. The latter is the correct approach, but obviously has ramifications for how the locations and quests are designed.

Lady Error's idea is good, too.

 

[MRY]

Maybe them just running away and then returning after the fight is over is the way to do it. I guess in this case you need sitting down animations only - and maybe those are already implemented.

I just think this whole thing is a slippery slope. Because like some of those diners are the type who wouldn't run away, they'd return fire (we're in a Wild West saloon, after all!). I guess you could have some kind of stylized thing where there's a fade before the combat starts and just have the NPCs disappear. But I think this is all the kind of simulationist mess you need to stay out of when you have limited resources. You just need the fiction that fights involve only the combatants. It's like why an errant haduken in Street Fighter II doesn't hit a bystander in the ground cheering on the fight; just not part of the game.

 

[Lady Error]

I just think this whole thing is a slippery slope. Because like some of those diners are the type who wouldn't run away, they'd return fire (we're in a Wild West saloon, after all!).

The tough ones could just slowly walk away a little bit and watch, while the panicky ones run away further. That would add some realism without being too complicated to implement.

 

[Jrpgfan]

VD this time make sure you don't release it the same year as Underrail: Infusion so you don't lose the GOTY again because of Styg's asslicking fanboys sabotaging the poll just like they did in 2015.

 

[jackofshadows]

Maybe it's part of the daily routine.

There was no shooting of course but still...

 

[CappenVarra]

time to colonize this ship, one section at a time
next: the world