Arkane PREY - Arkane's immersive coffee cup transformation sim - now with Mooncrash roguelike mode DLC

[Durandal]

Personally I'd change the idea of inventory size being tied from skill tree upgrades to upgrade items you find in the field instead, so people playing on No Neuromods runs won't feel as restricted, and it could replace other items like neuromods and grenades so you don't end up with a surplus of them towards the end.

 

[DemonKing]

I played around a bit with the demo - definitely got a bit of an SS2 vibe out of it.

I'll probably pick it up once it's <$20 and I finish off some of the other games cluttering up my HD.

 

[Ash]

Well, this thread is pretty positive by the Codex standards, and if you remove cyberp's ramblings (many of which are justified, mind it), game's overall score would go up immensely

There has been just as many people expressing disappointment as there have been perfectly content with the game or middling. Don't be disingenuous.

Overall it's a 7 or 8/10. Good for what it is. Don't let any cuck tell you otherwise.

Not really, it's just that the folks who disliked the game have been far more active and vocal in this thread (you being an example).

I don't dislike the game. In fact I state that often, and a number of my posts have given overall positive analyses, like my breakdown of level design on the previous page. Even the post you quoted gives a rating of "7 or 8/10".
I just expect a game equal to or better than games that are 20 years old, and thus I am disappointed and critical of the lacking design.

And no, again, there has been just as many disappointed players as there has been middling or positive. This is just your attempt at fanboy-appointed damage control. Also consider that "disappointed" is not equal to "dislikes".

 

[RoSoDude]

Methanhydrat, author of the excellent Dead Space Mouse Fix and Dark Souls Input Customizer (formerly Dark Souls Mouse Fix, not to be confused with the mediocre DSMfix) has come up with the "Prey Interface Customizer":

What is this?
The Prey Interface Customizer (PRIC) is a HUD/UI customization mod for Prey (2017). It provides an easy to use GUI that allows fine-grained control over many aspects of the interface, including the visibility of the individual elements, as well as the option to only show them with a hotkey. Additionally, it offers additional bindings, such as scrolling through the quickbar or the direct usage of a medit.
Overview
Description
Similar to Dishonored, Prey per default shows a lot of information on the HUD. But contrary to the former game, it does only provide very limited options to customize or disable elements of the UI. Many of those elements can be distracting or outright immersion breaking for some people, especially when they show quite gamy information, such as awareness markers or enemy health bars. Additionally, many of those elements are unnecessary, because the information is already conveyed in other ways.
Although there already are some great mods out there that let you disable certain parts of the HUD, they usually work on the basis of replacement files. Unfortunately this type of solution is rather restrictive in what can be disabled and also static, because you just replace the HUD texture with a transparent one.
This mod approaches the problem from a different direction and allows fine-grained control over almost all aspects of the HUD. Additionally, it provides the option to use non-standard bindings, such as directly using a medkit without having to open the spiral wheel or to scroll through the items in your quickbar. All this is configurable with an easy to use GUI.
Features

• Control the visibility of individual HUD elements, including the health/armor/PSI bars, objective markers, the pickup log as well as the button and tutorial prompts
• Very fine-grained control, such as only disabling side-mission markers while keeping the main-mission markers visible
• Option to set HUD elements to dynamic mode, which shows them only with a hotkey instead of disabling them completely
• Option to change the crosshair style (currently only offers dot style but this can theoretically be changed to anything else)
• Option to use non-standard bindings, such as scrolling through your quickbar items or directly using a medkit without having to open the spiral wheel
• Includes XInput fix for the controller issues that were introduced in patch v1.05
• Easy installation and configuration via a GUI

If there is enough demand, there is also the potential of extending the list of features extensively.

He also has a simple Xinput Fix for degenerates folks that somehow prefer using a controller for their PC games.

What is this?
This fix attempts to resolve the controller issues in Prey that were introduced with patch v1.05, by forcing the game to use XInput instead of the Steam Controller API by Valve.
Overview
Description
While Prey offers good controller support, patch v1.05 introduced various issues. Instead of choosing either XInput or the Steam Controller API based on the user settings, the game always uses the latter. This results either in problems with the movement as well as certain controller settings or in the controller not working at all if the user has disabled the usage of the Steam Controller API in game's properties in Steam.
This fix re-enables XInput support and forces the game to use it, regardless of the settings.

Syynx combined some of Jvarne's mods, including the Prey For Death Hardcore Mod, and made some other changes in his Prey Survival Mod. The weapon wheel not stopping time greatly pleases me in particular. Syynx is the goofball in charge of some infinite ammo mods [1][2] and the hilarious "mimics squek" mod, but he seems to have a good head on his shoulders besides.

ABOUT
Combines multiple mods and adds many new features and adjustments for a deliberately difficult experience. Enemies are much more aggressive, loot and crafting are more interesting, abilities have been changed, and much more. Read the changelogs below for more information.
~ requires a new game to fully function ~
FEATURES

• Terrifyingly aggressive phantoms
• Fabrication plans are limited and found by exploring and looting
• New neuromod perks
• New traumas and revamped existing traumas
• Rebalanced nightmare difficulty
• New graphics options
• Weapon wheel doesn't stop time
• New cut traumas and limited fabrication licenses from 'Prey Immersion Mod'
• Removed fancy reticle for a dot reticle on weapons and no reticle on everything else from Jvarnes/Jravens personal mod
• Simplified HUD
• Markers no longer appear on the screen, if you're tracking a mission you need to use the PDA map
• No more ugly filters on the scope from 'Better Scopes'
• Screen no longer darkens when you're crouching
• Food now heals Health and Psi slowly over a long period time
• Food is now big and doesn't stack but the WellFed effect lasts much longer
• Loot is now more diverse and interesting
• Looting any organs from Typhons now requires Necropsy
• Looting any parts from service operators now requires Dismantle
• Many tweaks to existing traumas and status effects
• Stunning an enemy with the stungun will make them more vulnerable to the Q-BEAM
• Bigger less blinding flashlight with dynamic shadows
• Flashlight requires a battery module to charge
• Bigger initial inventory
• Suit repair kits heal more and are rarer
• Player starts with more Health but a damaged suit protects less
• Much more!

INCLUDED MODS

• PREY for Death by Jvarnes
• Recycle More by Jvarnes
• Better Scopes by Jvarnes

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MODS

• Prey Interface Customizer by Methanhydrat

Your move, Arkane.

 

[agentorange]

Was very impressed by the demo. From what I've seen it could potentially have better exploration than SS2, given Arkane's use of vertical space and the presence of the glue gun-- after all most of SS2 was spent running through low, narrow corridors, areas like the shopping plaza were an exception. My only worry is the difficulty that other people have already brought up, namely how trivially easy the game will get as you acquire more powers, which is a problem in seemingly every one of these first person RPGs. But a lot of these mods seem to address that.

Could someone try the Prey Survival Mod and report back. Some elements like wheel not pausing the game is attractive, but balance changes like "Terrifyingly aggressive phantoms" read to me like he just edited the agro range so they notice you through walls or something.

 

[RoSoDude]

Was very impressed by the demo. From what I've seen it could potentially have better exploration than SS2, given Arkane's use of vertical space and the presence of the glue gun-- after all most of SS2 was spent running through low, narrow corridors, areas like the shopping plaza were an exception. My only worry is the difficulty that other people have already brought up, namely how trivially easy the game will get as you acquire more powers, which is a problem in seemingly every one of these first person RPGs. But a lot of these mods seem to address that.

Could someone try the Prey Survival Mod and report back. Some elements like wheel not pausing the game is attractive, but balance changes like "Terrifyingly aggressive phantoms" read to me like he just edited the agro range so they notice you through walls or something.

I'm doing my first run of the game on the Prey Survival Mod right now. I'll let you know how the rest is, but here are my first impressions based on playing both the demo and the mod up to the Hardware Labs:

• The mod author has done a great job with some simple tweaks to the food. It takes up 2x2 slots in your inventory, doesn't stack, and heals a small chunk over time with the WellFed status. I feel like I'm actually scavenging for food because I'm hungry, not because I want to hoard some weak healing items. The feeling that I need to eat to keep from going hungry, but also don't want to get stuffed is simulated abstractly with simple changes.
• I encountered my first Phantom in the Transtar Exhibit in the lobby where you can get your second neuromod, rather than in the Trauma Center on the second floor. I asked the mod author about it and he said that it was probably because the Phantoms are more likely to roam in his mod, but he wasn't certain. In any case, engaging the Phantom ended up with it aggressively warping right up in my face and forcing me to take evasive or defensive action. I fumbled to stun it with my GLOO canon and stun gun, alternating with wrench hits, but I ended up dying in my first attempt. In my second attempt, I did a better job trapping it, and was successfully able to take it out 1 on 1 without taking much damage. The main differences in behavior seem to be how much it moves in combat (a lot), where it moves (right up in your grill, commonly, but also at range to perform its charge attack), and the fact that it now won't lose track of you when you engage it in combat.
• Combat with Mimics also felt tougher, I think just due to the health buff enemies receive -- I believe the AI behaviors are the same. One aspect that made it tougher was that the stamina bar has been removed, so it was tougher to budget my wrench hits with sprinting (which is now more important, since I think base movement speed is nerfed). This may actually be an oversight, since the mod author removed his previous HUD changes to make way for Methanhyrdrat's Prey Interface Customizer. For reference, I played the demo on Nightmare and only took damage from very large groups of Mimics, while playing the mod on Hard made facing more than one Mimic at a time a riskier endeavor.
  
• Skill tree changes seem good so far. Neuromod costs are increased across the board. Standard and Tech weapon upgrade skills are separated, reminding me of SS2's weapon skills. The wrench tree in Engineer is still linear, but provides different effects for each skill. There are some entirely new skills too. I'm uploading some videos mousing over all of the default skills (before acquiring the Pyschoscope), will edit my post later with it.
  
• There are a few minor issues with the mod, but the mod author is still working on it and was very responsive to feedback. I complained about the first Wrench skill being named "Wrench Fu", and he said it was a development name and was open to suggestions. Anyone got a more fitting and less cheesy name for the skill?

EDIT:
Scientist Skill Tree: https://my.mixtape.moe/bxuptl.mp4
Engineer Skill Tree: https://my.mixtape.moe/enwdyb.mp4
Security Skill Tree: https://my.mixtape.moe/rthfgl.mp4

 

[ciox]

The weapon upgrade skills were already separated in vanilla, the problem is that there's no weapon skill for the "tech weapons", that's what would make it more similar with SS2.
I also don't like that many of the descriptions are now vague when they had proper info and stats before.

Otherwise looks like an alright mod, I like that backstab goes up to 3x now and that there's more stealth neuromods than before, in general it makes stealth seem like more of a route.
I'm curious how that Tinkerer neuromod works, it generates chipsets or something?

 

[RoSoDude]

The weapon upgrade skills were already separated in vanilla, the problem is that there's no weapon skill for the "tech weapons", that's what would make it more similar with SS2.
I also don't like that many of the descriptions are now vague when they had proper info and stats before.

Agreed, and some of the tooltips are inconsistent (one skill tree will list the individual bonus for each skill, while others will list cumulative bonuses). I'll have to let him know.

Otherwise looks like an alright mod, I like that backstab goes up to 3x now and that there's more stealth neuromods than before, in general it makes stealth seem like more of a route.

Stealth seems more important as a supplementary mechanic, if one so chooses, because enemies are more dangerous and Phantoms stalk the levels more threateningly. I'm not yet sure if this mod makes the problem of it not being worth fighting enemies worse, since Mimics no longer give a resource that can be picked up by default (I think). But it's also possible enemies will drop fabrication plans now, IIRC?

I'm curious how that Tinkerer neuromod works, it generates chipsets or something?

"All robotic npcs now have a small chance to carry a suit mod or a psychoscope mod that you can only loot if you have Tinkerer. Engineering operators have a higher chance to drop the amplified battery module"

 

[Zakhad]

I encountered my first Phantom in the Transtar Exhibit in the lobby where you can get your second neuromod, rather than in the Trauma Center on the second floor. I asked the mod author about it and he said that it was probably because the Phantoms are more likely to roam in his mod, but he wasn't certain.

This is usually where I encounter it on vanilla? At least on nightmare. The two in medical are a thermal phantom and a named phantom, from memory. It patrols the exhibit, from near the neuromod back to the opposite door.

 

[RoSoDude]

I encountered my first Phantom in the Transtar Exhibit in the lobby where you can get your second neuromod, rather than in the Trauma Center on the second floor. I asked the mod author about it and he said that it was probably because the Phantoms are more likely to roam in his mod, but he wasn't certain.

This is usually where I encounter it on vanilla? At least on nightmare. The two in medical are a thermal phantom and a named phantom, from memory. It patrols the exhibit, from near the neuromod back to the opposite door.

You may be correct. In that case, they may have not included the Phantom in the exhibit for the demo? I swear I didn't have to fight one...

 

[RoSoDude]

Annnnd I can't recommend the Prey Survival Mod in its current state. I had a good time up to the Hardware Labs, but the huge balance issues are coming to a head.

I have made it to G.U.T.S and have picked up 22 Neuromods. Due to prohibitive costs, I have only purchased 2 skills, and could purchase 1-2 more. I understand that people were frustrated with the accelerated progression in vanilla, but this is way too far in the other direction, since Neuromods have not been increased in the world to compensate. All I can do is lift the first tier of heavy objects and sneak a bit better. At this rate, Necropsy (or the other new Neurojunkie skill) seems basically required.

I was having a good time with the trauma systems, the changes to food, removal of cheese like time-stopping weapon wheel and fountain healing, and the increased tension due to more aggressive and stronger enemies, but at this rate I'm not even able to create a character build and experiment with the game systems. The problem Ash identified as a potential issue with the earlier Prey For Death Hardcore Mod is still here, where it's not worth fighting enemies unless you have the skills to extract exotic material, because they no longer carry lootable items. Fabrication plans are exceedingly rare, so expect to only make one or two of any particular item (maybe Neuromod plans come up a bunch more later).

There are some good concepts here, and I appreciate the effort to redress Prey's balance issues and ability to be cheesed, but this swung way too far in the other direction mostly due to numerical oversights. The point of a survival or hardcore version should be to amplify the game's systems and challenge without breaking the core idea, which this unfortunately does. I hope the mod author can bring it back around and give us something closer to what Prey should have been (even if lackluster weapon/enemy variety and other weird choices still plague us).

Back to vanilla (or maybe Prey for Death) I go...

EDIT: Mod author has changed a few things due to my feedback:
"Typhons now carry more fabrication plans
Moved the neuromod cost tiers down from 3-5-8-12-17 to 1-3-6-10-15"

Still not sure how the experience scales now, though I hear it takes a nosedive in vanilla so I have no clue which version to restart with. Any advice would be appreciated (and I guess I can still be guinea pig for the updated version of the mod for you guys).

 

[udm]

So anyway I bought Prey even though I'm already on a Wiz6 playthrough. I just didn't want to wait till October during the Steam sales to get it at this price, and also forget what I'd done during my playthrough of the trial.

At Arboretum right now and I'm duly impressed by the emergent nature of the game, more so than Dishonored 2. So many ways to solve a problem, for instance

Spoiler

being able to get into Alex's office without even needing to turn on the grav lift, just by using the GLOO gun.

The game is also kicking my ass on Nightmare difficulty - this coming from someone who beat Shock 2 on Impossible, so that's a damn good sign IMO.

 

[Zakhad]

at Arboretum right now and I'm duly impressed by the emergent nature of the game, more so than Dishonored 2. So many ways to solve a problem, for instance

Spoiler

being able to get into Alex's office without even needing to turn on the grav lift, just by using the GLOO gun.

You can also (decent size non-story spoiler):

Spoiler

use the jetpack upgrade (there's a quest that leads to it, normally you wouldn't get it before deep storage, but it's possible the very first time you go out into space).

I guess you could also

Spoiler

morph yourself into a small object and then kinetic blast yourself up there,

but that would be an insane first solution and if that was the first thing someone tried then I like how they think.

 

[sexbad?]

I really turned around on this game. I bought it again when it was 50% off, and I have to agree that it's kept me interested and enjoying all the new things I try. I'm on my third playthrough already. Fighting dudes is still tough as nails but I've been able to gather a load more health items, and I realized that there are hotkeys as long as I open up the stupid weapon wheel, so I'm remembering to use them more often. I guess for this I'm more interested in trying a survival mod sometime.

The enemies make me think they wanted to try something big on a low budget (which I guess is what they did). By this I mean they have really bland but versatile designs, which reflects that they have versatile behaviors that lead to a lot of emergent situations. It's not too far from, say, watching primitive hitboxes reciting the same sort of AI scripting, but at the same time, it would still be exciting to fight enemies like these because of their behavior and the lateral thinking needed to take them down. I mean the cacodemon things are a prime example, since they're just floating around and manipulating the environment in dangerous ways. My first time encountering a technopath, I was caught off guard because I was trying to lure it out to some turrets I had set up, and it immediately turned the turrets on me once they were in its line of sight. Really exciting to find something like that out on my own.

 

[Multidirectional]

You people already making me want to replay it. This time with a lot more alien powers, not taking Max Payne skill and that interface mod to disable the markers - though parts of quests where I have to find a specific human corpse floating outside the station would be probably be a bit of pain without them. Difficulty mods can go fuck themselves for now, they take a lot of time to make properly, vanilla on Nightmare is fine by me.

 

[sexbad?]

I think it should be nice to have a mod that disables all the quest markers that aren't diegetic. Stuff that makes sense in-universe because the people wear tracking devices would remain, but everything else would be a matter of map reading and reasoning with the environment. Maybe a button that pings the environment and only temporarily shows tracking device markers would be best, to prevent any potential clutter.

 

[RoSoDude]

I think it should be nice to have a mod that disables all the quest markers that aren't diegetic. Stuff that makes sense in-universe because the people wear tracking devices would remain, but everything else would be a matter of map reading and reasoning with the environment. Maybe a button that pings the environment and only temporarily shows tracking device markers would be best, to prevent any potential clutter.

Prey Interface Customizer should have you covered. I was able to separately disable main objectives, side objectives, tracked crew members, and points of interest in space. You can also have them on a UI toggle.

Other great features include being able to use a dot reticule and disable the stupid sneak icon, among many other things.

 

[Lyre Mors]

I've been really enjoying the Prey for Death Hardcore mod. Highly recommend. The pacing of Neuromod skills seems to be just right and it keeps you on your toes the whole time. This game is extremely good!

 

[udm]

FATAL FORTRESS

Spoiler

Miniatures? Real men use coins and paper clips to represent their characters!

 

[agentorange]

Bought it after enjoying the demo. Started a new game on Nightmare (played the demon on hard) and already enjoying the slight differences in my playthrough.

I'm using the minimal-HUD mod to turn off quest makers. But I'm also tempted to restart with the prey for death mod because I can tell that with stuff like infinite licenses and finding ammo on typhons I will end up with far too many resources.

I'm not interested most of the stuff in the survival mod but if someone could figure how to get just the no pause during weapon wheel working that would be cool. Being able to stop time and pop a bunch of healthkits sort of kills the intensity.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Bought it after enjoying the demo. Started a new game on Nightmare (played the demon on hard) and already enjoying the slight differences in my playthrough.

I'm using the minimal-HUD mod to turn off quest makers. But I'm also tempted to restart with the prey for death mod because I can tell that with stuff like infinite licenses and finding ammo on typhons I will end up with far too many resources.

I'm not interested most of the stuff in the survival mod but if someone could figure how to get just the no pause during weapon wheel working that would be cool. Being able to stop time and pop a bunch of healthkits sort of kills the intensity.

Wow, you can get ammo off typhons in the base game? I could see how things could tip in the player's favor very quickly if that was the case. Ammo sparsity has certainly been a challenge in Prey for Death, but it seems to work very well. I usually try to save my ammo for some of the more intense encounters, and fall back on wrench warfare for little things like mimics and regular phantoms.

I only wish I had had a better familiarity with which neuromods I wanted to specialize in from the beginning. I definitely feel like I wasted 8-10 of them on stuff that really didn't benefit me all that much. That sense of loss at the expense of ignorance is part of the fun too I suppose. I like that I can recognize that it actually matters, and feel the impact of my decisions later down the road.

Oh, also, Prey for Death on Nightmare is insanely challenging. I had to bump it down to Hard because without prior knowledge of the game, I felt like I was going to end up stranded somewhere without the necessary tools to move forward. Good stuff!

 

[Zombra]

Down to $25 on GMG. Am I the only one who doesn't have this game already?

 

[Lyre Mors]

Down to $25 on GMG. Am I the only one who doesn't have this game already?

You should get it. It's good.

 

[Ivan]

waiting for Christmas sale

 

[fantadomat]

Waiting for apocalyptic sale,it will be amazing when i am locked in a bunker waiting for the fallout to dissipate and this is the only game i have with me.