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

[anvi]

Judas maybe try using a flight stick with your left hand, and keyboard with your right hand. Then use the mouse with your face.

 

[Saduj]

It is no more complicated than using a keyboard and mouse. There are better opportunities to feign shock around here....

 

[Jimmious]

The worst part is that the game actually plays better like that, not that you do it

 

[Jenkem]

Amateurs. Everyone knows the best way to play is with a steering wheel, a controller, a pedal system (with clutch) and trackball.

 

[Ismaul]

Fondling your trackballs is always good for Insomnia.

 

[Saduj]

I'm a couple of missions into the 2nd act and am starting to really enjoy this game. The plot is interesting and the I'm actually enjoying the combat now. The bigger battles are especially well done, IMO.

Haven't hit any major bugs since character creation. Had a funny one where I saved during stealth mission and reloaded in an area where I had killed the guards after half of them walked away. When I reloaded, the guards who had left were back in their original places and my character was standing in their crossfire. Insta-death. The companion I have is a little buggy too. Sometimes he's very useful and sometimes he disappears for long stints during missions only to re-materialize at some later point.

My one major gripe is that inventory management is a pain in the ass. Eating, drinking, maintaining weapons and armor, crafting bullets, opening doors, hacking, etc all require different types of junk. Managing all that stuff gets tiresome. And it is impossible to carry it all around so going back and forth to the the locker becomes necessary.

 

[toro]

I'm a couple of missions into the 2nd act and am starting to really enjoy this game. The plot is interesting and the I'm actually enjoying the combat now. The bigger battles are especially well done, IMO.

Haven't hit any major bugs since character creation. Had a funny one where I saved during stealth mission and reloaded in an area where I had killed the guards after half of them walked away. When I reloaded, the guards who had left were back in their original places and my character was standing in their crossfire. Insta-death. The companion I have is a little buggy too. Sometimes he's very useful and sometimes he disappears for long stints during missions only to re-materialize at some later point.

My one major gripe is that inventory management is a pain in the ass. Eating, drinking, maintaining weapons and armor, crafting bullets, opening doors, hacking, etc all require different types of junk. Managing all that stuff gets tiresome. And it is impossible to carry it all around so going back and forth to the the locker becomes necessary.

The companions have different support skills. I think Morte is the best for experience gains and trading.

The Power Armor is absolutely bonkers. Probably the best implementation I've encountered in any game.

Spoiler

Have you reach the Judge Dreed tower?

 

[Jenkem]

any idea when the 'new content' and ''''''''''''''bug fixes'''''''''''''' will be? it's been almost a fucking year since release and I still haven't played it yet

 

[Saduj]

The companions have different support skills. I think Morte is the best for experience gains and trading.

The Power Armor is absolutely bonkers. Probably the best implementation I've encountered in any game.

Spoiler

Have you reach the Judge Dreed tower?

Spoiler

No. I just found Thyper. So I've fought against power armor but haven't got to use it yet.

So far the only companion I have is Gosp. I did Lashta's mission but haven't gone back to base to pick her up yet. Found Morthe but haven't completed his quest yet.

 

[Alienman]

Anyone get walking to work in the game?

It says:

\ - Toggle walk/jog (walk mode disables run)

But I can't seem to get it to work. Has walking been completely disabled in the patches?

---------------------------------------------------------------

Edit:

No matter, got it working through this guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1529392710

Downloaded the Input.ini file and changed "walk" to MiddleMouseButton
https://pastebin.com/jPg1nbyt

Seems to work now.

 

[Jimmious]

Man this game... One guy uses a combo of controller and mouse to play... The other, needs a guide to toggle walk mode... Awesome stuff

 

[anvi]

 

[Saduj]

So I've noticed a few bugs lately but they are more annoying than game altering:

The experience meter doesn't update properly. It doesn't seem to delay when I actually level up. But it doesn't update and show progress every time I gain XP so at times it is hard to tell how close I am to leveling.

I've seen Russian text a few times, usually for item descriptions. One time it was an entire quest description in the quest log. The quest ended up being "Go to newly added location and kill stuff" so, luckily, it ended up causing no harm.

Since adding a 2nd companion, the companions are buggy as shit. Sometimes they go MIA, sometimes one doesn't follow, sometimes when I go to the character screen I can't switch from one companion to the other. So far, saving and reloading seems to fix it.

 

[Jenkem]

I thought all these bugs were going to be fixed by updating to a newer engine somehow?

 

[Jinn]

The experience meter doesn't update properly. It doesn't seem to delay when I actually level up. But it doesn't update and show progress every time I gain XP so at times it is hard to tell how close I am to leveling.

I've seen Russian text a few times, usually for item descriptions. One time it was an entire quest description in the quest log. The quest ended up being "Go to newly added location and kill stuff" so, luckily, it ended up causing no harm.

Since adding a 2nd companion, the companions are buggy as shit. Sometimes they go MIA, sometimes one doesn't follow, sometimes when I go to the character screen I can't switch from one companion to the other. So far, saving and reloading seems to fix it.

Hahaha. I can't believe they haven't even fixed these issues yet. These were all problems present on release too. I bet they didn't even add a numerical representation for accrued experience points yet either? These guys don't know what they are working with at all.

I have a very strong feeling you are essentially playing the same version of the game I played almost a year ago now. Hopefully you won't hit that game-stopping bug near the end too. They say they fixed that at least in the latest patch notes, but I wonder...

I thought all these bugs were going to be fixed by updating to a newer engine somehow?

They were either hoping for this themselves, or using this extremely long "engine upgrade" to squeeze a few more dollars out of the game by giving potential buyers hope of it getting fixed someday.

 

[Saduj]

I bet they didn't even add a numerical representation for accrued experience points yet either?

Nope. The only time I see any numerical representation of experience is when reading books. Apparently 10 xp per page is a decent chunk because I was able to gain a couple of levels by reading a few books early on.

Along the same lines, there is no gauge for Somnia. I honestly thought the early Somnia incidents were just flavor until the first time the Somnia warning popped up. By that time, taking a wrong turn while exploring can be lethal, which I found out the hard way. The early game consumables for reducing Somnia carry negative effects. There should at least be a general indicator of how affected the character is so the cost/benefit of using consumables can be weighed. A certain, free consumable that becomes available later makes it much less of an issue. But there is really no reason not to have a Somnia bar somewhere.

The bug where I can't view the 2nd companion's character screen is more annoying than I thought. Last time it happened, reloading didn't fix it. Had to exit and restart the game to get it to stop. And it seems like this bug will trigger every time I play the game for a decent amount of time too.

Hopefully you won't hit that game-stopping bug near the end too.

Yeah, if the bugs continue to fall under "annoying" rather than "game breaking", I'll have a positive overall impression of the game. But nothing can make up for being roadblocked.

 

[Jinn]

Yeah, if the bugs continue to fall under "annoying" rather than "game breaking", I'll have a positive overall impression of the game. But nothing can make up for being roadblocked.

The bugs and the roadblock weren't even the main reasons I walked away from it with a negative impression. It was the slip-shod mechanics, poor character progression, rudimentary and extremely breakable combat, simple (and often artificially drawn out) quest design, mostly bad itemization, and overall clearly unfinished state of the gameplay as a whole. The reason I draw attention to the fact these bugs haven't been addressed yet is because if they can't even manage simple bug-fixes, they're never going to be able to address the myriad issues with the actual gameplay mechanics.

What made me WANT to walk away from the game with a positive impression was amazing art direction, gripping story, unique setting, and absolutely THICK atmosphere. These all blinded me to the deeper flaws of the game for the first 1/3, but it became very apparent the cobbled together gameplay elements were holding together just enough to get me to that (near) finish line. The reason I emphasize this - particularly on the codex - is because the majority of people around here are looking for RPGs with solid gameplay. This just doesn't have it. It's a mediocre game that's great for people who are mainly interested in story/setting, but beyond that it doesn't have that much to offer.

 

[Saduj]

It was the slip-shod mechanics, poor character progression, rudimentary and extremely breakable combat, simple (and often artificially drawn out) quest design, mostly bad itemization, and overall clearly unfinished state of the gameplay as a whole.

I'm probably around the part of the game where you quit. And I agree with some of this and disagree with other parts. The character system is shallow - character class + skills and perks that come from same resource pool. . But it does seem like the intent is to support different play styles and there are plenty of options. Whether they are all effective and there is content to support it, I don't know because I have only played my one character. It would not surprise me at all to find out a tech focused character gets access to some areas my character can't but basically has to fight all the same enemies with a less ideal combat build. Just haven't tried.

Itemization is another area where it is hard to tell for sure because I'm using rifles almost exclusively. The grenade launcher looks cool but I have no idea how it plays. I do know that trying to throw grenades without investing any points into it is a waste of time.

The combat is simple but I'm not sure that having a complicated third person shooter would be a good thing. So far the game is doing a pretty good job at throwing in new twists - rocket propelled grenades, molotov cocktails, enemies rushing in from multiple directions, enemies in power armor, long range snipers with laser guided rifles, etc. To me, the combat has become much more interesting in the last few plot critical fights because of enemies bringing new weapons to the fight. The non-human enemies don't do anything so far to differentiate themselves other than how hard they hit and how much damage they can take. The AI is definitely hit or miss. Some enemies behave uselessly before being executed. Other will hunker down in a perfect spot so that you can't advance without taking some bullets.

Edit - As far as "breakable" goes, I assume you're referring to the ability to retreat in the middle of certain fights, heal up (sometimes for free) and then go back because enemies will rarely chase you.

I don't know if game play is unfinished so much as they just made some bad choices with the UI and controls. But either way it detracts from the quality of the game.

Found a new bug last night. I completed Morthe's quest. Reloaded and his mask was gone and his dialogue indicated that the quest was not complete. In the quest log, the quest was still completed. This is another annoying one but my intent was to keep the two companions I had already started leveling.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I can't wait for this game to come out of early access
GOTY 2020 for sure

 

[PsychoFox]

First impressions of the game are... mixed at best. This is definitely more Euorjank. Here's what i've seen so far:

- The vertical camera lock is really bothersome (and specially to me who easily suffers from all sorts of motion sickness). Basically, the game will not allow you to vertically adjust the angle of the camera. It's a bit of mind boggle consider how the areas do in fact have detailed ceilings. Makes you wonder.

- Character creation is bad. Specially for a game that does not have a voiced, fixed protagonist, the options are very limited. I always like to see at least a gender option, but if not that, at least make what's there look good. Here not only do the face/hair options all looks dumb (literally the characters all look degenerated), the character creation system is buggy and constantly randomizes your choices for no reason. You want to change hair type? Well lets change your face and skin color as well. Funny thing is, IT IS possible to get any combination of hairstyle, face, and skin color, only getting what you want requires either great luck, or great tenacity.

- The animations are stiff, but this doesn't matter as much to me. The combat seems basic, though its too early to tell for certain. It does have a nice punch to it though.

- The game's world is quite interesting and unique. It certainly has charm and character.

- So far there has been very little actual roleplaying involved. I haven't had a single instance where my dialogue responses meant anything, and the prologue is completely linear. I expect the game to open up, though again, it's too early to tell.

- I don't know anything about the story yet. The actual writing of it does seem to be technically competent though.

- Lot's of clipping issues, absence of lip sync, all that Eurojank jazz you'd expect from a game with this production budget.

TL;DR: Not a perfect first impression, but enough to be worth putting more hours into it.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Is the performance still really bad with the engine update?
Takes at least an hour of playtime to get to the areas where it really tanks.

 

[PsychoFox]

It seems to be running well enough. I'm more than an hour in. Got the riot zone.

 

[PsychoFox]

okay well... HOW THE.FUCK. Do i disarm bombs? I get the gist of the minigame but it's shit. Gimme some practical tips pls.

EDIT - OKAY WELL. I figured it out. It is not at all how you think it would be.

 

[Saduj]

Need some help from someone who has finished the quest "What Is the Price of Freedom?"

Spoiler

I have the cloak and ID but once I get to the mission location, I can't do anything. All open doorways are blocked by guards who have very limited dialogue options and aren't budging. I can find one item that I can interact with - A generator on the bottom floor that requires level 4 in Mechanics.

Does this quest require a 4 in Mechanics in order complete? I can't find anything else to interact with on this map. And I'm about to turn level 12 and have zero points there so getting up to 4 seems unlikely - plus that's a ridiculous investment.

More importantly, is this quest plot critical? Based on what it is, it seems like it should be. But I also have the plot critical quest Thyper gave me.

 

[Abu Antar]