Vapourware Sui Generis + Exanima Early Access

[Darkzone]

I didn't contribute because I didn't care about their physics-driven combat and the rest (what I did care about) was nothing but unsubstantiated promises.

Funny thing but i never bought into the rest, and i did contribute my pledge exactly for the reason of their physics driven combat. How much did they get from the kickstarter, around 160k british pounds? What can you do with it, especially if you develop your own engine? ...
220k euro is nothing for an ambitious project, especially you should know this. Look more at the physics and enjoy this , perhaps in 2-3 years they can present us a real RPG.

 

[Vault Dweller]

220k euro is nothing for an ambitious project, especially you should know this.

A pile of money without a plan and experience in hiring and managing people is nothing but hindrance (which is one of my many issues with KS). Developers asks for random amounts (usually what they can get not what their projects need) and the assumption is that once funded, it's as good as done (i.e. ALL the project needed was money). They couldn't be more wrong, which is the main reason why I never took AoD to Kickstarter.

Basically, an ambitious game needs a lot of manhours. A company like Obsidian is instantly ready to take advantage of funding - they have the existing stuff, they have experience in hiring and managing, they have managers and the infrastructure. Remember that indie KS where the guy was ripped off by subcontractors (he stupidly paid upfront and nothing came out of it - duh).

An indie developer gets a million bucks - it's a recipe for disaster. The more money he gets, the higher the chance of things going horribly wrong.

 

[Darkzone]

220k euro is nothing for an ambitious project, especially you should know this.

A pile of money without a plan and experience in hiring and managing people is nothing but hindrance (which is one of my many issues with KS). Developers asks for random amounts (usually what they can get not what their projects need) and the assumption is that once funded, it's as good as done (i.e. ALL the project needed was money). They couldn't be more wrong, which is the main reason why I never took AoD to Kickstarter.

Basically, an ambitious game needs a lot of manhours. A company like Obsidian is instantly ready to take advantage of funding - they have the existing stuff, they have experience in hiring and managing, they have managers and the infrastructure. Remember that indie KS where the guy was ripped off by subcontractors (he stupidly paid upfront and nothing came out of it - duh).
An indie developer gets a million bucks - it's a recipe for disaster. The more money he gets, the higher the chance of things going horribly wrong.

I think Madoc and some of his former school / D&D friends want too make this game. Yes a pile of money without a plan is always a dangerous thing, i say only: cocaine and whores. I have never meet someone who had really a plan, but sometimes they had a idea of a direction. I don't know if you have done the right thing with AoD and Kickstarter, but it is your call, so you have to decide. But you know the free advertisement is quite useful, even if you only would have demanded $10k in your ks.
Take a look at inXile, they had their problems with W2 on many construction sites. But Obsidian is another pairs of shoes, they have a long experience and their core teams, on which they can rely on. And even in such a oiled machine sometimes sand gets into the gears. In and with PoE they seem to managed this.
A young indie dev without experience on large projects, definitely he would have had problems, with a large amount of money for his project, but then there are very experienced people who also fail, like Tim "puppet meltdown" Schafer, and not to mention the "god not maker" Peter Molyneux. But i would not condemn the kickstarter for the failures of some developers, because some project came out really good. There simply seems to be no really good formula for kickstarter, which projects will make it and which will fail, because inexperienced people can really make it and experienced people can fail. Kickstarter is like a roulette game for the backers and the devs, and perhaps you would have been a winner, and you would have taken this more serious and delivered a good product. Or perhaps you would buy yourself a house on bahamas, with the cocaine and whores, from the ks money.
Which way you will go (without the ks) only time and the sales will tell.

Btw: When do you think will your project reach its final release state?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Btw: When do you think will your project reach its final release state?

Summer, most likely.

 

[throwaway]

I get the feeling the game badly needs a collision system like the ones EA baked into Madden and Fifa. Maybe they toned some of the setting down since the pitch but the hits that land are not particularly noticable in either their impact or their effect.

 

[Aenra]

i remember watching their KS and thinking no way they can handle so much (hence my saying a few posts above that people never change). But said people did believe, and that's history now.
So that aside and with no irony whatsoever, can someone explain to me what it was in the first place that enticed you to this one?

Personally i only saw a dream for an uber physics engine (as perceived by them, since we already do have uber physics engines, if they have not been fully taken advantage of yet, that's a different story).

Spoiler

Read: We want to make said engine, license it, and if extra moneyz from sales in the meantime, all good, but our priorities are not exactly yours, the player's

I did not see anything to pick my interest in terms of why i'd want that.. ie is this what my problem is with RPGs? Is that what has been lacking? Physics? Answer being hell no
And apart from the usual, overly broad, open to interpretation buzz words of "reactivity" "fluidity" "individual approaches" and so on, nothing upon which to focus. All the buzz, zero the substance
edit: mind you, said buzz words when presenting something that screams hack and slash. I have to consider said audience, and then filter said buzz words accordingly; they mean one thing for Numenera, and another for a H&S

So again, honestly, what am i missing?

 

[Essegi]

With Update #33 they've put Exanima, the prequel, in Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=412380198

 

[LESS T_T]

Not sure if this gonna be a good "RPG" or my liking, but given that all kinds of survival and/or physics sandbox (Early Access) games are selling like hotcakes, I think this have some potential to sell well enough.

 

[Essegi]

I got my Exanima key: "Exanima is set for a Steam Early Access release on the 29th April at 0900 PDT (1600 UTC)".

EDIT: Steam page is live: http://store.steampowered.com/app/362490

 

[Infinitron]

It's released. Any impressions?

 

[Merlkir]

I have two extra keys (bought to support the devs). If anyone wants them, PM me.

And they're gone.

 

[tindrli]

Merlkir PM avay

 

[Essegi]

It's released. Any impressions?

I played a bit, unfortunately not much... Some very early screens here.

There are 2 game modes, new game and arena.
Arena features 2 difficulties, novice and expert (that one is locked), i've seen just 1vs1 but i managed to beat just the 1st jerk after some tries... I didn't understood at first combat system... Nearly like Die By The Sword but more manageable, i kept pressed m1 and swinged moving the mouse. Parry is automatic.
On single player i fought a guy (a zombie or something alike) with just a torch as light source and a chair leg... Well, shadows were really cool (some Blade of Darkness vibes here!)! Btw i felt satisfied beating the guy and keeping his axe... Then i died at next one then i had to shut down the game...

For sure it needs polish (being early access it's possible), for example my hand was nearly locked walking near some cages...
Maybe because i've to learn the system, maybe because i'm retarded, or most likely both, combat seems bloody hard. Oh, also where there's no light it's dark, no, it's black (i know it sounds stupid, but it's not so obvious).
Movement is a bit strange, or with m2 or with wasd (and realive to player, so s is step back, w is walk or run with shift, a and d turn left and right). It's not deadly accurate and steps are not the most fluid thing while in combat, but in that mode you auto lock the enemy so it isn't a big issue. The character often doesn't swing with grace, but to me that isn't a bad thing.
Also i had some ctds when starting the game.

With an i5 750, 5770, 8GB ram at fullhd i maxed it out, even ingame filters and ran without any issue. Considering really good shadows, excellent collisions and great physics, not to mention early stage of the game, that is more than i hoped even if graphic is still simple.

 

[AW8]

It's released. Any impressions?

I tried the game three times, and the learning curve is brutal. I start a new game, pick up some weaponry, and then:

Try 1: Promptly got my ass beat by the first zombie I encountered, Game Over
Try 2: Promptly got my ass beat by the first zombie I encountered, Game Over
Try 3: Promptly got my ass beat by the first zombie I encountered, Game Over

I also tried the Arena mode, and on the third try I managed to beat the first opponent. Got skewered by the next one though.

The controls are really hard to get accustomed to. Simple movement is hard, and positioning in combat is even harder. Enemies only attack you when you're close to them and the game tells you that you can run away from them, but with the clumsy movement controls and limited camera I can't even do that, leaving me with no other option than a drunken last stand every time I accidently aggro an enemy.

The first thing that happened in the game was that I stumbled and got my arm stuck in a box, it took my character a minute to get his arm loose and get up.

Presentation in the game is non-existent. Where am I, why am I here, what is my goal? (I don't really care personally, since it's pretty much just a combat demo, but I still think it's a valid point.)

I still had fun though, failing can be fun too. Especially in this game where you have zombies tripping over tables trying to attack you. The game is unforgiving, and I'm going to watch some combat tutorials over at the official forum before my next try at the game.

 

[Infinitron]

Try 1: Promptly got my ass beat by the first zombie I encountered, Game Over
Try 2: Promptly got my ass beat by the first zombie I encountered, Game Over
Try 3: Promptly got my ass beat by the first zombie I encountered, Game Over

Vault Dweller This game might be more to your tastes than you thought!!

 

[Merlkir]

It's released. Any impressions?

Presentation in the game is non-existent. Where am I, why am I here, what is my goal? (I don't really care personally, since it's pretty much just a combat demo, but I still think it's a valid point.)

Don't expect cutscenes or quest entries, this is one of those games where you draw the map and find out wtf is going on from scrolls and books you find, or from looking at things around you.

You get used to the movement and combat controls. They're very different, but I got them reasonably under control in a few hours in the arena.

edit: Negative reviews on Steam are mostly griping on controls. It's entirely possible to master them and be very precise. It's funny to see someone bash a game for not being good at it in half an hour, but that's the age we live in.



Polearms are fucking awesome.

 

[Mr. Pink]

If you lower your expectations to "gladiator but with weak drunk retards", this is a great 13 dollars spent, in my opinion.

If they had the camera rotate to the direction the player is facing, then the controls would be a lot easier to deal with, making the game a bit more "actiony". Any game where you press right and your character goes left because the camera is facing the wrong way should be thrown in the trash. It's 2015 already, get with the times.

 

[Alienman]

It's great, I'm totally impressed

I agree with the camera though. I have no problem with the controls otherwise. I like that they feel kinda sluggish & heavy.. I guess to simulate how much energy it takes to fight man to man? Anyway, every strike matters and the chaos it produces. I have had people falling over me, I have been pushed down to the ground and getting trampled and stuff like that. The combat and physics is just fantastic! The lighting is impressive as fuck, casting long shadows, and dungeons are proper dark. Well, at least in the beginning. Atmosphere is also great.

Really looking forward to what a RPG will look like with interesting combat like this.

 

[Merlkir]

The game iirc has an autofollow function you can enable in the ini. It didn't work that great though, I got used to either re center with SPACE, or just learnt to fight from various angles. (if you autofollow, there are issues with the cursor's moving position on sreen)

 

[Essegi]

Nearly like Die By The Sword but more manageable, i kept pressed m1 and swinged moving the mouse.

Just no. Maybe it works, i've still to understand but to hit you actually have to keep m1 pressed, then when you realease it you stops... That can open for feints or parry faster. From quick guide i learnt that double clicking (click then keep click immediatly after) is an overhead attack.
Of course moving well is critical. A cheap way sometimes effective is to swing too early, then backswing on the opponent, if he has started combat animation a good hit could land (lol i thought about that thining about Chivalry: Medieval Warfare).
I managed to beat some guys on the arena but at last i died while against the one with polehammer.
Maybe someone could find interesting the combat related part of the quick guide:

 

[Alienman]

I made a video about it if anyone is interested(my first 60 fps video):

Spoiler

 

[Merlkir]

Nearly like Die By The Sword but more manageable, i kept pressed m1 and swinged moving the mouse.

Just no. Maybe it works, i've still to understand but to hit you actually have to keep m1 pressed, then when you realease it you stops... That can open for feints or parry faster. From quick guide i learnt that double clicking (click then keep click immediatly after) is an overhead attack.
Of course moving well is critical. A cheap way sometimes effective is to swing too early, then backswing on the opponent, if he has started combat animation a good hit could land (lol i thought about that thining about Chivalry: Medieval Warfare).
I managed to beat some guys on the arena but at last i died while against the one with polehammer.
Maybe someone could find interesting the combat related part of the quick guide:

LMB doesn't necessarily have to be pressed for a hit to register as a hit hurting the opponent. It's happened a few times to me, where you wanna swing, then turn it into a feint (letting go of LMB), but the enemy still connects, if weakly, with the blade and gets grazed. Anything hitting fast or hard enough registers as a hit in the physics system.

 

[Essegi]

Nearly like Die By The Sword but more manageable, i kept pressed m1 and swinged moving the mouse.

Just no. Maybe it works, i've still to understand but to hit you actually have to keep m1 pressed, then when you realease it you stops... That can open for feints or parry faster. From quick guide i learnt that double clicking (click then keep click immediatly after) is an overhead attack.
Of course moving well is critical. A cheap way sometimes effective is to swing too early, then backswing on the opponent, if he has started combat animation a good hit could land (lol i thought about that thining about Chivalry: Medieval Warfare).
I managed to beat some guys on the arena but at last i died while against the one with polehammer.
Maybe someone could find interesting the combat related part of the quick guide:

LMB doesn't necessarily have to be pressed for a hit to register as a hit hurting the opponent. It's happened a few times to me, where you wanna swing, then turn it into a feint (letting go of LMB), but the enemy still connects, if weakly, with the blade and gets grazed. Anything hitting fast or hard enough registers as a hit in the physics system.

True, when i leave it there's no more strength applied, just "inertia" if i can use that term.

 

[Siveon]

Well... after a lot of hard work, a couple 30 or so deaths (mostly from the first guy for some reason), and some tips from both here and on the quickstart guide... I've done it.

I've beaten the novice arena! Any game that makes fighting a couple of enemies in a dimly-lit room so fun deserves some sort of praise. I just wish I got to keep all this armor/weapon swag. I can't imagine what a full blown cRPG would look like with this engine.

 

[Alienman]

Congrats. I also beat it today. Good luck in expert

And yes. The engine is fantastic. If he ever needs money he could probably license it to other dev-teams. Anyway, If you check the old Kickstarter video pitch, it's all made by one dude!