Vapourware Sui Generis + Exanima Early Access

[oldbonebrown]

Man... the engine has so much potential. Please don't let it become vaporware.

Update any day now, brother. Don't give up hope, it will be the best game ever.

 

[Merlkir]

What the fuck, it has Mostly Negative?

People are animals. Seriously, I have hundreds of hours spent on the game and I paid fucking 15 bucks for it. (yeah, I bought it three times already, but still...)

I get it, I want an update too. But man...the game is already good.

edit: It shows "Mixed" for me.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Yeah, mixed as well. But just 1% away from mostly negative, I think.

 

[Mr. Pink]

It deserves a negative rating. Failing to push a single update or communicate in 500+ days in an early access game is unacceptable for an early access game being sold on steam. These chucklefucks have passed more self imposed deadlines than Cleve. My only explanation for why the devs refuse to talk outside of discord and steam forums is that they don't see anything wrong with their game being 'mostly negative' on the store page for the last 6 months.

Bare Mettle official website : last update 3/19/2015
Sui Generis kickstarter page : last update 10/10/2015 (mostly angry kickstarter backers in the comments)
Bare Mettle official twitter : last update 2/9/2017 (last post has multiple people asking where the devs went)
Bare Mettle facebook page : last update 1/28/2017
Steam store page : last update 2/7/2017


Seems like the only time they drop in the steam forum is to call their customers 'whiny AF and toxic' (7/9/2018)

edit:

This has to be Excuse of the Year. "Steam recommends against insignificant patches."

 

[Siveon]

Yeah, I don't get it either. A simple "Hey we're still alive and well, we have updates coming up" would be helpful wouldn't it?

Then again actually updating the game would be helpful too. Although I guess that's a pipe dream at this point. Which is a shame, I really want to see this and the "full" game finished.

 

[Mr. Pink]

What the fuck, it has Mostly Negative?

People are animals. Seriously, I have hundreds of hours spent on the game and I paid fucking 15 bucks for it. (yeah, I bought it three times already, but still...)

I get it, I want an update too. But man...the game is already good.

edit: It shows "Mixed" for me.

If you think 500 days of radio silence from a early access game is acceptable because the game is finished enough, you're part of the problem.

 

[Merlkir]

I think it's acceptable, yes. I already have a game to play and it's good.
Is it an ideal situation? No.

When is the game done? Will it be much better than now?

I don't have an answer. It just doesn't seem productive to me to punish the devs by posting negative reviews. Like good job, without money coming in it won't ever happen for sure. Well done.

 

[Mr. Pink]

I think it's acceptable, yes. I already have a game to play and it's good.
Is it an ideal situation? No.

When is the game done? Will it be much better than now?

I don't have an answer. It just doesn't seem productive to me to punish the devs by posting negative reviews. Like good job, without money coming in it won't ever happen for sure. Well done.

You're retarded if you think reviews are meant to "punish devs". Every negative review is a warning against buying a dead early access game. This is what reviews are supposed to be for. If they didn't want negative reviews, they should have used 10 minutes of the 500 days since the last update to make an announcement.

 

[Merlkir]

They are though.

As for warnings...what is a "dead" game? I find the spread of this concept a bit scary, because it can mean so many things apparently.
The game is playable, it's a lot of fun. I absolutely think it's worth its price in its current state. There's nothing to warn new players about, except for no communication from devs. (which I don't care about so much) And they can check how often the devs update by themselves.

Again, reviewers don't give a shit about other players, they want to signal their anger at the developers. (which is fine, it's an emotion they have, that's ok. Just saying it won't achieve anything positive.)

 

[Perkel]

They are though.

As for warnings...what is a "dead" game? I find the spread of this concept a bit scary, because it can mean so many things apparently.
The game is playable, it's a lot of fun.

Then release it as finished game.

500days is 1,5 year of nothing.

 

[Merlkir]

Yes, I agree. I'm not saying the devs are handling it perfectly.

 

[aweigh]

man i remember watching some awesome youtube footage of this game 6 years ago. Did they finish making the vast overworld and RPG part of the game yet?

 

[getter77]

Well, the gold standard they've managed to keep their head above water on is Wolfgang Mittag(which has apparently been EU clipped on regs of late?)---so that's something, but when even the Ultimate Newcomer GOLD folks kick up more occasional auto-translated dust then it really does them no favors running their race in this way.

Still, we're in a world where Chasm and Kenshi are nearly there despite absolute ages of time---so there's always some hope so long as this doesn't go the way of Legend of Aethereus...THAT is the point of no return.

 

[Merlkir]

Update's out.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/362490/announcements/detail/1693799618802577597

Exanima 0.7.0

Spoiler

NEW AND IMPROVED CONTENT

Two new levels have been added to the game, featuring all new content, and also music. With these maps we've pushed for a new level of quality, detail and variety, taking advantage of new engine features and development tools. The first 3 levels of the game have also undergone extensive changes and improvements, an updated tileset and a lot of all new exclusive items.

Over 130 new items have been added across the game, including new item types like bevors and hats. We've also remastered or replaced many assets to better fit the game's current level of quality and aesthetics.

COMPANIONS
In this update you can meet your first potential long term ally. This provides a whole new dynamic and a fresh way to experience the game.

This was an important first step for the NPC interactions to come. With Exanima's inherent complexity, creating a competent companion was not simple. He is an asset to any player, and we will continue to make companions smarter and more self-sufficient until they feel almost like equals. We will expand on possible interactions, and importantly dialogue, which we can also use to better expose the story and lore.

Your companion will gain experience and learn new skills, much as you do. They will also learn to fight better, become more confident and undergo some other changes in their character.

DIALOGUE SYSTEM

Dialogue makes a first appearance in this update. We are still only using dialogue in a basic capacity, but it will soon become a much more prominent and important feature in the game.

Our goal with dialogue is something fully real-time and interactive. It is not a separate mode of interaction, but a part of it. You can talk while performing any action. Dialogue can have practical applications, you can point at something or someone, even while walking, and say something relevant. Tactical applications during combat can also be part of the same dialogue system. People can randomly witness the conversations of others, and perhaps join in, or simply learn something. There are countless applications, it is an implicit part of the world and how you interact with it.

NEW DYNAMIC BALANCER
You may have noticed that Exanima's world has been suspiciously flat. Our characters have not been good at moving or keeping their balance otherwise, and when characters lost balance they'd flop like a sack of potatoes.

This is no longer the case. The "balancer" is what has allowed characters make dynamic movements in combat and stay upright. This was overhauled to deal with more difficult ground, such as stairs or rocky slopes, and it is now active all the time, not just in combat. This new balancer does more than just upright movement, it functions even when tumbling or cartwheeling through the air, allowing characters to control more motions and regain their footing dynamically. Characters can now trip, slip, jump off ledges and generally deal with loss of balance without just falling over and resetting. Character can also recover quicker depending on the severity of the fall.

With this come various improvements to movement both in and out combat. In combat movement is now faster and also more responsive, allowing characters to quickly move in new directions without having to shuffle their feet as much.


ALL THINGS AI

Since we began our journey to make a game, our most ambitious goals have been with AI. What we're trying to do, as much as possible, is that if you imagine an approach to a situation, or a way you can modify or prevent an outctome, you probably can. For example, say you were promised a reward, but rather than complete the task, you decide to find out where the reward is stored and steal it. Something like this would not normally be possible, and so called "AI" is notoriously bad if you veer off the scripted path.

There is much more we want in terms of dynamic interactions with AI, but we've been focused on core gameplay features, and have neglected huge aspects of the game, for too long. In order to complete Exanima's story and content, we had to introduce major new features, like intelligent friendly NPCs, dialogue and mind thaumaturgy. If we tried to build these features without the proper foundations we'd ultimately get nowhere. We've now taken the time (perhaps too long!) to completely rebuild every aspect of our AI.



CORE AI FUNCTIONS

We want all our AI encounters to appear like living, thinking beings, not mindless drones that blindly perform a specific task. They are driven by emotions and other states of mind, they have varying personalities, they remember interactions with others and form relationships, they have social and non selfish behaviours.

You might startle someone unexpectedly and cause them to become scared or agitated, but they may calm and reassess the situation. They might defend themselves, but not wish to harm their attacker and behave accordingly. They can understand a stranger fighting in their defence, and may be grateful. They might act to defend someone they care about. They can even, potentially, form social groups among themselves. These are some simple examples of things that are not predefined game mechanics, but that occur organically as part of the simulation. Players and NPCs are treated in the same exact way, based on observable behaviour alone. There is no cheating, no making decisions based on things they shouldn't know.

This is basically our artificial brain, emotions, memory, decision making, impulsive behaviour. But what of more structured and complex tasks? If we were to now simply override it with strictly scripted behaviours, it would become irrelevant.


THE ROLE SYSTEM

As soon as you tell NPCs to behave in a certain way and also give the player freedom to act as they please, things can start to go very wrong. It is a very difficult problem, and the less restrictions you place on the player, and the mechanics of the game world, the more difficult it becomes. Player and mechanical freedom are at the core of our design philosophy, we have spent years devising a solution to these problems, a solution we call the "role system".

"Roles" are basically collections of traits and behaviours. They can be specific and character defining, such as "King of Ardent" or very situational such as "person crossing bridge", they can also be relational, such as "friend" or "customer". They can be real or assumed, they can influence personalities, spread information, reputations and conflicts, and model various real world behavioural effects. Single characters have many roles assigned at once, they come and go, change and evolve.

There is a lot of complexity behind how roles function and interact, but the core concept is that we can keep building our library of roles, to expand on how characters can behave, adapt to situations, perceive and relate to eachother, and use the same tools and systems to also define more specific behaviours, without locking characters into situationally inappropriate ones.

This will be a long journey, but is essentially now a matter of content. Already now the role system is modelling all our behaviour, and we have the means and tools to keep building more.


AND MORE AI

Still falling under the AI umbrella, we felt it was time to address other things too. Combat AI as been completely rebuilt, it is more varied and much more tactical, allowing the most skilled AI to keep experienced players on their toes and not just fall into simple but effective patterns. It can be proficient with different fighting styles and weapons, and it is much more careful about accidentally hitting allies. Pathfinding has also been updated to negotiate more complex environments, avoid moving objects and more.


These are all complex systems, and all fresh from the production line. It will no doubt take us some time to iron out the kinks and especially to actually take advantage of new features. But we now have a true solid foundation, and an array of tools at our disposal to create better and more interesting AI.



Changelog for 0.7.0:

• 
  
  
  • Large new late game area, the Crossroads
  • New optional area, the Catacombs
  • Over 130 new items
  • Reworked and improved first 3 levels of the game
  • First companion NPC introduced
  • Dialogue system
  • Completely rebuilt AI systems*
  • All new combat AI
    • More intelligent and tactical behaviour
      
      
    • Improved timing and footwork
      
      
    • Better proficiency with different weapons
      
      
    • More fluid and human-like AI inputs
      
      
    • More pronounced difference between AI skill levels
      
      
    • AI can smartly avoid friendly fire
  • New dynamic balancer*
  • Greatly improved movement on uneven ground
  • Increased speed and fluidity of combat movement
  • More accurate and responsive cursor control
  • Improved general animation fluidity
  • Improved thrust mechanics and animation
  • Improved feint mechanics
  • Improved armour damage mitigation mechanics
  • Added a stagger effects for blocking with a shield on low stamina
  • It is no longer possible to defend with depleted stamina
  • Improved walking and running control and animations
  • Improved hit reactions and death animations
  • Many specific animation improvements for all character types
  • Extensive additions to environment features and variety
  • More detailed and varied ground surfaces
  • Improved rendering quality, effects and post-processing
  • Improved texture asset production quality
  • Improved shading and global illumination
  • Better wear effects on armour featuring dents and more
  • Visual improvements to item icons
  • Full UI support for 1440p (4k is on the way)
  • Cursors that scale with resolution (customisations coming)
  • Improved combat experience gain mechanics
  • Improved lore related experience gains
  • Perfomance improvements
  • Improved loading times
  • Fixed weapons sometimes not sliding free colliding with environment
  • Fixed characters simply giving up when suspended over a high drop
  • Fixed issues caused by alt-tabbing during loading screens
  • Fixed vsync not working correctly on some systems
  • Fixed not being able to switch weapons while under attack
  • Fixed Sprint to Dash input option not working correctly
  • When an arena fighter ranks up, the previously highest loadout is copied
  • Increased weapon variety of arena master level fighters
  • Introduced RNG balancing for arena opponent generation
  • Improved random NPC generation and fashion sense
  • Short spears can now be used one handed
  • Various changes to the practice arena opponents
  • Many more fixes and small improvements

MORE ON THE WAY

We're going to be rapidly adding to what these new features bring to the game, but we didn't want to keep you waiting any longer. We've got a lot more lined for upcoming updates too.

Best,

Bare Mettle

"if you're experiencing issues with launching the game you might have to manually delete saves files in %appdata%\Exanima (exanima00x.rsg / .rcp)"

 

[AdolfSatan]

 

[oldbonebrown]

BEST DEAD GAME IS ALIVE

ETERNAL SHAME ON THE DISBELIEVERS

 

[getter77]

Honestly the biggest lesson of the past year or so is that, providing the weather and such don't kill us all, keeping hope alive at least on the sly really is justified.

 

[Fenix]

Yeah, saw update in steam...

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Really like the new update! New balance system helps with not falling on face when tripping over smallest obstacles. Movement seems even more fluid. There's a recruitable NPC as well, and he doesn't suck! Gave him two-handed axe and some decent clothes, guy's real help with killing all the undead.

Had to start a new game, as I don't have my saves (or maybe they are not compatible?) Also have to redo my map, as I can't find the original Grid Cartographer files and there has been some changes to floor layouts on levels 1-3.

 

[Fenix]

Go on!

 

[oldbonebrown]

Still no keyring, that's cool, I didn't want one anyways...

 

[Alienman]

Really like the new update! New balance system helps with not falling on face when tripping over smallest obstacles. Movement seems even more fluid. There's a recruitable NPC as well, and he doesn't suck! Gave him two-handed axe and some decent clothes, guy's real help with killing all the undead.

Had to start a new game, as I don't have my saves (or maybe they are not compatible?) Also have to redo my map, as I can't find the original Grid Cartographer files and there has been some changes to floor layouts on levels 1-3.

How do you meet the new npc? Most interest in this aspect.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

He's on the first level. You need to press 'T' to talk to him.

In case you really want some spoilers, here's the new version of the map I'm doing while playing. It's mildly spoilerific, some of the detail is in the notes.

Spoiler

You start at the target circle. Derring the villager is at the human icon, close to the room with the first storyline letter and the red key.

I haven't explored yet past the southmost door.

If you compare this map to the ones I posted previously, you'll see some changes. Mostly adding rounded rooms, but the view behind the first portcullis is also a cool touch.
Much kudos to Hidden Asbestos for adding support for the round rooms in GC!

 

[cherry blossom]

Is the game still the same gray-brown puke techdemo with the uninspired ragdoll physics flinging combat that feels like you are controlling a submarine underwater? Is there anything else to it?

 

[Alienman]

Found the companion

He killed me while swinging for an undead dude