Game News Colony Ship Update #36: Combat Demo Update #3 - Yet More New Screenshots

[ArchAngel]

I hope they take in consideration, when tweaking the difficulty, that most people won’t start with all those hours replaying the game nor will they invest as many hours playing it. Make it too difficult and only manageable to those who play dozens of hours and they’ll alienate most people but the hardcore ones.

This. They made this mistake with Dungeon Rats. They rebalanced the whole game before release because Goral thought it was too easy. This was a stupid move because he spent hundreds of hours playing Age of Decadence and knew the combat system inside out.

There were 3 (three! not one, not two, but THREE!!!) difficulty modes. Yes, we made the hardest difficulty mode appropriately hard based on the feedback of the most experienced players, which is how it fucking should be because the goal of the hard mode is to offer challenge to experienced players. Sadly, some players felt that they too deserve to beat the game on the hard mode and that it was 'humiliating' (direct quote) for a man with 300 hours in Skyrim to play on easy.

Sounds just like 1/3 of negative reviews on Steam for Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Kids today..

 

[HeatEXTEND]

YOU ARE ALL WRONG

FIGHT ME!

 

[Feyd Rautha]

- portraits: we're making progress, but still behind; we'll probably need 8-10 weeks to finish all portraits needed for the demo but we can start earlier with some placeholders.
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use some of them wicked portraits from Age of Decadence

 

[StaticSpine]

- portraits: we're making progress, but still behind; we'll probably need 8-10 weeks to finish all portraits needed for the demo but we can start earlier with some placeholders.
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use some of them wicked portraits from Age of Decadence

 

[naossano]

M

There are indeed people who feel insulted when they can't beat the game on hardest difficulty, but fortunately they can be safely ignored.

I can beat the game on the hardest difficulty. It's not about me, it's about other players expectations.

Should we follow the industry's trend then and make hard easy (or at least easier) because that's what some players expect?

Maybe compensate this by making the easy difficulty harder than the hard difficulty.

 

[Country_Gravy]

What are your plans to make the game more appealing to women with club feet?

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

AoD was impossible, I'm sorry but I played Dragon Age and NWN on hard back in the day so I know what I'm talking about.

 

[hivemind]

will this be open or closed demo?

if its closed inv me tbh

 

[Rivmusique]

Is this game going to have difficulty options, then? Assumed it would be like AOD, where you didn't put them in because people could just not fight if they wanted. I hope the difficulty select screen has decent descriptions (like Dungeon Rats did).

x - lowest difficulty y - normal difficulty z - Ultra hard for veterans = useless descriptions, would probably pick y for a first playthrough, but could be fucking myself over.

x - -50% To-hit for enemies y - -25% To-hit for enemies z - No malus for enemies = Nice, now I know exactly what I want to play.

 

[Vault Dweller]

will this be open or closed demo?

if its closed inv me tbh

We'll start with 15-20 people, then release it to general public.

Is this game going to have difficulty options, then?

Haven't decided yet; the question above was rhetorical and not meant to be taken seriously.

I hope the difficulty select screen has decent descriptions (like Dungeon Rats did).

If we go with difficulty options, we'll explain the difference in detail.

 

[cherry blossom]

Let's not call them "difficulty levels" and create "artificial" divisions where there is no need for one, but instead, "game modes" to differentiate between "different play styles" without hurting the egos of snowflakes.

We don't offer difficulty levels but instead, different playstyles that accomodate different player profiles each.

"The Classic Adventure": Keeping in with the golden traditions of the genre, the focus is on overall game balance and story; the go-to option for Role-Playing enthusiasts everywhere.

"Adventurer's Challenge": For those seasoned adventurists, where survival alone is the ultimate reward.

"Jaded Veteran": For lost souls cursed by glittering gems of hatred, all life is punishment and there is nothing but despair. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

Which would, of course, correspond to Easy, "Normal" and Proper, with not a word of lie in it. You can't go wrong with this PR-ey approach. And you can add detailed explanations in a drop-down or pop-up dialogue.

 

[Grauken]

Instead of difficulty descriptions, you should just show a bell curve and show where each of the difficulty would fall in terms of most players, I assume normal would be the middle, easy and hard either end of it.

Usually it annoys me when I play on normal and find out its super-piss easy, instead of just a modicum of difficulty that won't allow me to waltz over everything in may way and throw me the occasional game over (especially when I did something stupid), but also not so hard that I have to reload constantly

 

[cherry blossom]

Or maybe put in the names of other games (is that even legally possible, though?) as comparative points of reference.

 

[hivemind]

Which would, of course, correspond to Easy, "Normal" and Proper, with not a word of lie in it. You can't go wrong with this PR-ey approach. And you can add detailed explanations in a drop-down or pop-up dialogue.

man imagine quitting a high powered marketing job to make video games and ending up like giving bullshit marketing names to your difficulty modes

that has to be some next level circle of hell, HONESTLY

 

[Whisper]

will this be open or closed demo?

if its closed inv me tbh

We'll start with 15-20 people, then release it to general public.

Is this game going to have difficulty options, then?

Haven't decided yet; the question above was rhetorical and not meant to be taken seriously.

I hope the difficulty select screen has decent descriptions (like Dungeon Rats did).

If we go with difficulty options, we'll explain the difference in detail.

Hello, how do you choose this 15-20 people?

I played Dungeon rats a lot, made solo run with 4 dex hero and solo archer (pre-ammunition changes). If this new game will have similar mechanics as Dungeon rats - i would like to test it, where do i apply?

 

[Vault Dweller]

You just did.

 

[Jaedar]

Please notice my application, VD-senpai.

 

[Goral]

You just did.

If there are still some slots open count me in.

 

[Vault Dweller]

You just did.

If there are still some slots open count me in.

You were #1 on my list after your DR feedback.

 

[Invictus]

Love the art style, especially the Wasteland 2 style icon for cover... simply great
VD you should make Miltiades the unofficial pet of your studio; in the same way some concepts like the moonlight sword or Patches show up in all the From Software games
As for difficulty... how about unlockable difficulties? One you beat the game you get the option of choosing a “Path of the Damned” difficulty which has rebalanced encounters for the “hardcore gamerz”

 

[Tavernking]

So, is it pronounced Tight Ass or Titties?

 

[Haba]

Energy shields, distortion fields, cyber visors... and guys wielding... pipe guns.

Welcome to the future where Hillary won.

 

[Vault Dweller]

There are 5 weapon tiers:

Tier 1 - crappy weapons made from available parts: pipes, hydraulic cylinders, air pumps, and such. Homemade weapons, basically.
Tier 2 - slightly better weapons: same available parts, better tools and craftsmanship.
Tier 3 - good weapons made from machined parts.
Tier 4 - great weapons made by engineers with access to proper workshops.
Tier 5 - Earth-made energy weapons.

“What’s wrong with pipe guns?” The gunsmith stands a little straighter, as if offended. “A bullet from a pipe gun will kill you just as dead as any other kind of bullet.” He sighs. “But if you want to waste your money on something fancy, go ask around the Habitat. They’ve got all kinds of fancy over there.”

“Why not make better guns here, in the Pit?”

“You see anyone around here who’d pay a hundred credits for a high quality piece? You take your pipe gun, shove it in someone’s face and pull the trigger. It will do the job just fine. Providing it doesn’t explode.”​

Weapons we posted before:

Most of our tier 1-3 weapons are inspired by or directly copied from homemade weapons used in modern conflicts. I mean why reinvent this particular wheel when there are hundreds of real life weapons that show what's possible and filter it out by skill, materials, and tools.

Serious gun for serious work, effective range 1 meter. Satisfaction guaranteed. Sadly, we don't have it in game (can't have everything)

^ Tier 2 multi-barrel pistol: Fashioned from a discarded hydraulic cylinder, this weapon calls to mind the ancient 'pepperbox' pistol, at least in appearance. With almost zero muzzle velocity, you'll be wearing most of the blood it spills.

^ Tier 3 rifle: The same M16 rifle that freed the United States from British rule in the 18th century. It's been the bane of the Redcoats ever since.

^ Tier 4 assault rifle: A precisely calibrated bullpup assault rifle. This deadly firearm was assembled by a real gunsmith from machined components instead of spare parts. Must have cost a fortune.

^ This gilded energy pistol was an officer's side-arm before the Mutiny. A sign of authority, it was designed for marksmanship rather than rapid fire. Today it's a very expensive memento of a long-gone past, unless you have spare energy cells to burn.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

There are indeed people who feel insulted when they can't beat the game on hardest difficulty, but fortunately they can be safely ignored. There are several successful franchises with exceptionally tough hardest difficulties (eg, Civilization, NBA 2k), and their fanbase just take it for granted that they won't be playing on hardest difficulty. It seems to me that it is only the RPG genre that feels pressure to make the game easy on all difficulty levels.

pathfinder: kingmaker had this, the steam forum was full of people crying it was too difficult but refused to turn the difficulty down

^ Tier 4 assault rifle: A precisely calibrated bullpup assault rifle. This deadly firearm was assembled by a real gunsmith from machined components instead of spare parts. Must have cost a fortune.

how difficult is it to obtain ammo for this?

 

[Vault Dweller]

It's not as common as 9mm but it's much more expensive. I doubt anyone would be able to use it all the time without running out of ammo and money.

Edit: Politician Why decline?