The Outer Worlds Pre-Release Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Tigranes]

Kyl Von Kull I guess we'll never know. Act 1 had so much promise, and then it became a totally generic RPG utterly gutting every promising aspect they had previously built up.

But yes, the point is that you don't say "you were part of one good/bad game, now you are totally amazing/retarded everywhere". The same team or the same person can capture and lose the magic, and it gets harder and harder when you have dozens of people on the team. One can only hope that, at least, people who did it more than once before are best placed to do it again - but we can never be sure.

 

[muckguppy]

Will this have over 1 billion guns?

 

[Hellion]

The Outer Worlds, Obsidian's upcoming first-person RPG, could be launching as soon as August 6, if a release date that was quickly added and then removed from Steam is to be believed. An update to the game's Steam page included the release date, along with details on language support and more, though clearly someone hit the switch too early. The release date has since been replaced with 2019.

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-outer-worlds-release-date-appears-then-disappears-on-steam/

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Will this have over 1 billion guns?

Is this a reference to something? Is there actually a game that claimed to have over 1 billion guns?

 

[vortex]

No, OW won't have 1 billion guns. It'll have around the amount in NW or smaller than that.

 

[Infinitron]

Will this have over 1 billion guns?

Is this a reference to something? Is there actually a game that claimed to have over 1 billion guns?

Borderlands meme: https://www.somethingawful.com/video-game-article/borderlands-random-guns/

 

[Duraframe300]

This week we have two more video interviews to share, and we'll also be looking for your questions for an upcoming GI Show Podcast Interview

 

[Duraframe300]

Inside the Outer Worlds development history with Tim and Leonard (Video)

https://www.gameinformer.com/exclus...e-the-development-history-of-the-outer-worlds

 

[Infinitron]

The second video this week will probably be the interview with Feargus.

 

[Trashos]

POE is boring because the setting is boring and the plot is boring. No amount of great writing could’ve saved it. In fact, I think the quality of the prose was far superior to the worldbuilding and the story, but who wants to read lots of pretty sentences in a story that they don’t give a fuck about?

I don't agree with this. I find that the execution in PoE1 is worse than overall narrative. The language might be OK, but the writers either couldn't or didn't have the time to take it to the next level and make it captivating. (with a few exceptions)

 

[Tigranes]

Yes. POE1 had some great ideas on paper - the hollowborn crisis, the present-day colonial dynamics overlaid on the shadows of an older civilisation, the gods question, and how all of those things interconnect beautifully on paper. It just became a jumble as the actual game unfolded, executed more as loredumps and less as actual gaming moments.

 

[Duraframe300]

One theory we might be able to test: how much is the clear decline in Obsidian's quality of writing due to the individual genius of the writer, and how much is it due to the direction, tone, sensibility, provided by the setting & by the project?

I have a sneaking suspicion that if you take a mediocre writer, then putting them on a tightly run project using a solid pre-existing setting will still get you markedly better results than if they were in charge of creating worlds on the fly as they go.

Kills-in-Shadows is unmitigated total vomit, and it was one of the points where the early promise of Tyranny became the moronic worse-than-saturday-cartoon that was its late game / denouement. (The other, as I said in the Codex review, is Bleden Mark.) The question is whether the same writers or the same developer (I don't know who's on what project) can do better when commandeered by Cain & Boyarsky, or not.

If only they could have done this project when Obsidian still had quality writing.

Tyranny was inconsistent and unfinished, but Act 1 had so much promise and I thought the early writing was some of the best in recent memory. And this was for a game where the budget was looted to pay for POE and then they lost MCA who was supposed to be playing a major role. Given the circumstances, I think Matt MacLean did a solid job.

POE is boring because the setting is boring and the plot is boring. No amount of great writing could’ve saved it. In fact, I think the quality of the prose was far superior to the worldbuilding and the story, but who wants to read lots of pretty sentences in a story that they don’t give a fuck about?

Had Eric Fensterfuckface ever been narrative lead before POE? Had Patel ever been narrative lead before Deadfire? Leonard Boyarsky has effectively been narrative lead on some awesome games. As directors and world builders, he and Tim have a much better batting average than Sawyer did coming into POE.

I loved it when Leonard explained how it took him some time to teach the Obsidianites to do good work in that last interview. I’ve worked in TV and getting a new showrunner can change EVERYTHING, even when they don’t bring in many new people.

As much as I want this sentiment to come true, I have serious doubts. What has Tim done since Arcanum that was worthy of note? how was he really involved in Arcanum's setting development; the single most amazing part of its being? Also, has he designed anything remotely resembling an FPS-RPG? i can remind everyone who hasn't yet noticed that coming up with a good FPS RPG is a daunting task.

Uhm, Leonard was the director on Bloodlines. So, half of it is there and the Lead Designer worked as Area Lead on New Vegas.

Edit: So, yes while not directly theres plenty of experience.

 

[Flou]

Inside the Outer Worlds development history with Tim and Leonard (Video)

https://www.gameinformer.com/exclus...e-the-development-history-of-the-outer-worlds

Turns out Chris Jones does do something in the company! Recruiting Boyarsky to work on a new IP isn't a small thing for the company.

 

[The Great ThunThun*]

Uhm, Leonard was the director on Bloodlines. So, half of it is there and the Lead Designer worked as Area Lead on New Vegas.

Edit: So, yes while not directly theres plenty of experience.

Neither Bloodlines nor FNV are good FPS-RPGs, They are really really good games, but you have to factor out the useless part. For Vampires the single most important factor is the characters and the presentation of them (VA) and the design of areas. For FNV it is the quest design and factions. The single most frustrating thing for me on the codex is how everything tends to become a holy cow. PST is great yes, but it is not great in its every aspect. How hard is it to remember that?

So I am going to judge Tim on these merits: He was involved in Arcanum. Did he do the setting design? if he did, I hope he brings that to the table for this game. He worked on VMTB. Did he do the character writing? If yes, then kudos, if not, then who cares.

 

[Trashos]

As most of you will no doubt know, Bioware's Anthem is currently being slaughtered by reviewers. One of the things that received negative attention even by mainstream reviewers (Angry Joe, for example) is the lack of a stats sheet for the character.

I hope that this is taken into consideration. If this doesn't work for the Bioware and EA crowd, how do you think it is going to work for you, Tim?

 

[Orma]

Neither Bloodlines nor FNV are good FPS-RPGs

''Best first person RPGs aren't good FPS-RPGs''

 

[Infinitron]

As most of you will no doubt know, Bioware's Anthem is currently being slaughtered by reviewers. One of the things that received negative attention even by mainstream reviewers (Angry Joe, for example) is the lack of a stats sheet for the character.

I hope that this is taken into consideration. If this doesn't work for the Bioware and EA crowd, how do you think it is going to work for you, Tim?

Who ever said this game won't have a stat sheet? We know it has skills.

The "geometric shapes" thing (which btw isn't actually confirmed to be in the game - Tim may have decided to go in a different direction) was misunderstood.

It was not "Let's not have stats in the game anymore!". It was "Let's make stat selection during character creation faster by having players do it by clicking within shapes instead of having to digest a big spreadsheet".

 

[Duraframe300]

As most of you will no doubt know, Bioware's Anthem is currently being slaughtered by reviewers. One of the things that received negative attention even by mainstream reviewers (Angry Joe, for example) is the lack of a stats sheet for the character.

I hope that this is taken into consideration. If this doesn't work for the Bioware and EA crowd, how do you think it is going to work for you, Tim?

Who ever said this game won't have a stat sheet? We know it has skills.

The "geometric shapes" thing (which btw isn't actually confirmed to be in the game - Tim may have decided to go in a different direction) was blown out of proportion and misunderstood.

It was not "Let's not have stats anymore!". It was "Let's make stat selection during character creation faster by having players do it by clicking within shapes instead of having to digest a big spreadsheet".

Considering what we know about charachter creation its most likely not going to be a displayed as a big spreadsheet in the first place.

 

[Trashos]

Who ever said this game won't have a stat sheet? We know it has skills.

The "geometric shapes" thing (which btw isn't actually confirmed to be in the game - Tim may have decided to go in a different direction) was blown out of proportion and misunderstood.

It was not "Let's not have stats anymore!". It was "Let's make stat selection during character creation faster by having players do it by clicking within shapes instead of having to digest a big spreadsheet".

Yes, there is a difference between the two cases. But is the difference important? When you see mainstream reviewers complaining about the lack of a stats sheet, is it really the right moment to piss of your hardcore audience by simplifying the numbers to shapes? It does not look like it. It looks like it's a change that will just piss some people off for no good reason.

Yes, we do not know yet for sure what the situation with attributes will exactly be. But the fact that they are not showing the character creator is worrisome on its own. In addition, when Tim was asked by Game Informer about whether the character creation will involve numbers (in the first interview, IIRC), Tim's answer was "Effectively, yes". *Effectively*, yes. Doesn't fill me with confidence.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Basically codex:

 

[Infinitron]

Yes, there is a difference between the two cases. But is the difference important? When you see mainstream reviewers complaining about the lack of a stats sheet, is it really the right moment to piss of your hardcore audience by simplifying the numbers to shapes? It does not look like it. It looks like it's a change that will just piss some people off for no good reason.

This is just a guess, but I think if they actually do it, it could end up looking something like this:

You click within the shape (or however it works), and you can see the stats you selected appear in a panel (it might be hidden by default). So numbers would still be there but it's like an alternate, quicker user interface for adjusting them. Just click n' go.

 

[Trashos]

Infinitron, if the numbers are available to the player in-game, personally I have no issue with adding an additional layer that simplifies the presentation for the mathematically-challenged. (although I will question the lack of an -optional, at least- spreadsheet).

The major issue is whether the numbers are going to be available in-game at all. It seems like a no-brainer that they should be available, and it is weird, to say the least, that we have not gotten a straightforward answer yet on this.

 

[Duraframe300]

Who ever said this game won't have a stat sheet? We know it has skills.

The "geometric shapes" thing (which btw isn't actually confirmed to be in the game - Tim may have decided to go in a different direction) was blown out of proportion and misunderstood.

It was not "Let's not have stats anymore!". It was "Let's make stat selection during character creation faster by having players do it by clicking within shapes instead of having to digest a big spreadsheet".

Yes, there is a difference between the two cases. But is the difference important? When you see mainstream reviewers complaining about the lack of a stats sheet, is it really the right moment to piss of your hardcore audience by simplifying the numbers to shapes? It does not look like it. It looks like it's a change that will just piss some people off for no good reason.

Yes, we do not know yet for sure what the situation with attributes will exactly be. But the fact that they are not showing the character creator is worrisome on its own. In addition, when Tim was asked by Game Informer about whether the character creation will involve numbers (in the first interview, IIRC), Tim's answer was "Effectively, yes". *Effectively*, yes. Doesn't fill me with confidence.

A: No, it isn't. But also what? Those things didn't happen at the same time at all. Tim said that in 2017. Also yes the difference is important. You still assign numbers. We literary know how many attributes there are (6 or 8? don't remember correctly) AND that skills go up to 100. In Anthem we know shit.

B: The charachter creation was already talked about, its going to be in-game similiar to New Vegas.

Edit: Yes, they are going to be available in-game. That's pretty much confirmed.

 

[Infinitron]

Inside the Outer Worlds development history with Tim and Leonard (Video)

https://www.gameinformer.com/exclus...e-the-development-history-of-the-outer-worlds

 

[J_C]

Why is this exciting again?

Stats and attributes are never exciting, doesn't matter if they are numnbers or shapes.