The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition - Obsidian's first-person sci-fi RPG set in a corporate space colony

[Van-d-all]

Scylla is the best looking one, true. That skybox.

Ridiculous that it's also the least used one.

 

[Orma]

Scylla is the best looking one, true. That skybox.

 

[Infinitron]

I find it interesting that Tim Cain would say this:

"This is the form of a game I love to play," he says. "It's not necessarily open world, because we get tighter control over what kind of narrative we tell. Hub and spoke, is what a lot of people call it. First-person gives us a cool immersion.

That sentence: "First-person gives us a cool immersion." One could interpret that as Tim saying: First-person is just for the "coolness" - it's not crucial or critical to my vision of the game.

If The Outer Worlds is a successor to both New Vegas and games like Mass Effect, perhaps Tim sees it as more of the latter?

 

[Quillon]

I find it interesting that Tim Cain would say this:

"This is the form of a game I love to play," he says. "It's not necessarily open world, because we get tighter control over what kind of narrative we tell. Hub and spoke, is what a lot of people call it. First-person gives us a cool immersion.

That sentence: "First-person gives us a cool immersion." One could interpret that as Tim saying: First-person is just for the "coolness" - it's not crucial or critical to my vision of the game.

If The Outer Worlds is a successor to both New Vegas and games like Mass Effect, perhaps Tim sees it as more of the latter?

And he doesn't seem to think NPC schedules' worth implementing/finds it annoying cos shops are closed at certain times

https://youtu.be/6CrX9B3HQAw?t=2733

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

Gears of Soy released about the same time as Greedfall and was consistently below it in top sellers on Steam.

You mean Queers Of War 5?

 

[Dishonoredbr]

I find it interesting that Tim Cain would say this:

"This is the form of a game I love to play," he says. "It's not necessarily open world, because we get tighter control over what kind of narrative we tell. Hub and spoke, is what a lot of people call it. First-person gives us a cool immersion.

That sentence: "First-person gives us a cool immersion." One could interpret that as Tim saying: First-person is just for the "coolness" - it's not crucial or critical to my vision of the game.

If The Outer Worlds is a successor to both New Vegas and games like Mass Effect, perhaps Tim sees it as more of the latter?

If the next game is more like Mass effect and less New Vegas how the world works would be much better. Just like the worst part of both of New Vegas and now TOW was exploration and the open world. If smaller hub based world like Mass effect means the best part of this game can be done even better , reactivity, CnC and companions, i'm all in for it.

 

[Geisler]

So nothing but action garabge to come from Obshitian in the future. When will their section be cut from the "RPG" developer forum?

 

[Hot Coldman]

I find it interesting that Tim Cain would say this:

"This is the form of a game I love to play," he says. "It's not necessarily open world, because we get tighter control over what kind of narrative we tell. Hub and spoke, is what a lot of people call it. First-person gives us a cool immersion.

That sentence: "First-person gives us a cool immersion." One could interpret that as Tim saying: First-person is just for the "coolness" - it's not crucial or critical to my vision of the game.

If The Outer Worlds is a successor to both New Vegas and games like Mass Effect, perhaps Tim sees it as more of the latter?

If the next game is more like Mass effect and less New Vegas how the world works would be much better. Just like the worst part of both of New Vegas and now TOW was exploration and the open world. If smaller hub based world like Mass effect means the best part of this game can be done even better , reactivity, CnC and companions, i'm all in for it.

You have faith in another Obsidian computer RPG, say, TOW2, when their goal is to appeal to "normys" ? ,-)

 

[LudensCogitet]

Except for the Codex, all I'm really seeing is praise for TOW. Not only that, the praise they are giving it is exactly what I would want TOW to be. If I wasn't playing it myself I would be even more excited for it than I was before release.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here, because the game just doesn't seem to be the good things people are saying it is.

Every quest seems like equally generic dialogue choices, a shootout, and a fetch away from completion. No skill / perk / attribute / equipment choice seems to make a difference. The writing is flat. My character has no compelling reason to do anything.

Yet people are saying the opposite.

Baffling.

 

[Trashos]

Why would people complain the board is "too evil" in this game? Aren't siding with them suppose to be the evil path? Feels like complain a star war game to not have morally grey sith lords.

I don't know if they are too evil, but was it supposed to be about good vs evil?

Take Underrail's Protectorate vs Free Drones factions. Who are the good and who are the evil? You are allowed to judge, but the game doesn't judge them for you.

The current board is clearly evil, there is no denying that it's the purpose of Obsidian to show them in that way. The place where you can make your own judge here is whether the board's rule can work or not, when you change the current ones into some better and more capable people.

Well, that answers your initial question, then. Some people are complaining that the Board is too evil, because they wanted them more grey than that. While I haven't played TOW, Obsidian games often have grey factions against less grey ones, and they confuse people.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Except for the Codex, all I'm really seeing is praise for TOW. Not only that, the praise they are giving it is exactly what I would want TOW to be. If I wasn't playing it myself I would be even more excited for it than I was before release.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here, because the game just doesn't seem to be the good things people are saying it is.

Every quest seems like equally generic dialogue choices, a shootout, and a fetch away from completion. No skill / perk / attribute / equipment choice seems to make a difference. The writing is flat. My character has no compelling reason to do anything.

Yet people are saying the opposite.

Baffling.

Look, this game appeals to people who aren't enthusiastic about RPGs, tabletop or computer. There's your anwer

 

[Hot Coldman]

In other words, they don't know better and this is a GREAT RPG duuuuuude!

 

[Hot Coldman]

They sold out,. that's pretty much all that's going on.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Now Stick of Truth?
That was a real high brow RPG.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

You guys are the ones taking crazy pills. The game is awesome. Maybe you just secretly hate successful devs and people enjoying RPGs. You probably also hate RPGs if you don't like this game. Grow up. Adapt or be left in the dust. You're all too rigid. Weirdos.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Playing as a diplomatic thief (basically sneak, hacking, lock picking, persuasion)

This is actually somewhat interesting, because nowadays virtually every review & gameplay video I've seen mentions this same exact play style.

I believe I already mentioned this too. Stealth builds get the best out of the game.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

respectfully disagree. in supernova you either play stealth or play dead, and i didn't feel enriched at all by the experience. i actually dropped the game after a quest or two on monarch, couldn't stand it anymore.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

You guys are the ones taking crazy pills. The game is awesome. Maybe you just secretly hate successful devs and people enjoying RPGs. You probably also hate RPGs if you don't like this game. Grow up. Adapt or be left in the dust. You're all too rigid. Weirdos.

Damn, I could swear I have heard this all before back on No Mutants Allowed back during the release of Fallout 3.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Scylla is the best looking one, true. That skybox.

Ridiculous that it's also the least used one.

It's a small asteroid under ongoing terraforming. It would be silly if they packed it with human settlements or something.

 

[LudensCogitet]

You guys are the ones taking crazy pills. The game is awesome. Maybe you just secretly hate successful devs and people enjoying RPGs. You probably also hate RPGs if you don't like this game. Grow up. Adapt or be left in the dust. You're all too rigid. Weirdos.

Lol. I literally said I was the one who felt like I was taking crazy pills. What baffles me is the complete contradiction of my experience by the apparent experience of others.
I would genuinely like to enjoy this game. Tim and Leonard have been (and still are) some of my heroes for the work they've done.

Allow me to attempt to illustrate:

The quest to sober up Nyoka. This quest is part of the main story line and a way to get a new companion, so it's fairly major.
First of all, getting a hangover cure is a pretty contrived quest, but that's not a huge point.
Here's how the quest went for me:

1. Nyoka says she needs Caffenoid pills.
2. I go to the dispensary and talk to the lady.
3. She says Nyoka can't have any more Caffenoid pills.
   
4. She also literally tells me (a complete stranger) that she has a key to the storeroom and that there is a computer terminal upstairs that controls how many drugs people can have.
5. I walk upstairs to the terminal, hack it, up Nyoka's limit, go back downstairs and get the Caffenoid.
6. End of quest

Now, I also had enough intimidate to force her to give me the pills through dialog, and I may even have had enough lock-picking to open the storeroom.

In Fallout 1, in contrast, I would have been told to fuck off by the dispensary lady.
Then I could have intimidated her (if I had the skill),
or I would have had to look around the building and maybe notice the computer terminal and try to hack it (if I had the skill),
or maybe try picking the lady's pocket (if I had the skill),
or I could have searched around town and asked about Caffenoid and whether anyone knew where to get some or how to get into the storeroom.

But in TOW, 0 thinking was required to both advance the main story line and get a new companion. It may have even triggered a level up, I can't remember specifically, but it sure happens often enough.
The most I could have done was decide the scent of the air as a breezed through this, because I had 2 - 3 separate major options for completing the quest open to me without even planning for it, and it took 5 minutes.

 

[LESS T_T]

A long interview with Justin Bell and his audio team, pretty detailed explanation on various aspects of audio design: https://www.asoundeffect.com/the-outer-worlds-sound/

Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds — now out on PS4, Xbox One, and PC — is a first-person RPG set is an alternate future where megacorporations are in the business of colonizing and terraforming distant planets. It’s not an easy endeavor; space is full of alien threats and vigilante justice. The player has to navigate the complex associations of various factions and his/her choices change the path of the narrative.

Building an alternate future in a distant part of space opens the flood gates of creativity. Anything is possible and everything needs a unique sound — all the explorable locations and the inhabitants and all the tech and weapons needed to survive there. Here, audio director/composer Justin E. Bell and his sound team share details on how they crafted the ambiences of key destinations on Terra 2 and Monarch, how they designed the weapons and combatants (from living creatures to automechanicals), their approach to UI sounds, implementation, music, and more!

• Creating a Unique Sounding Sci-fi Game
• Creating Location Sounds
• Designing Weapons and Varying Attacks
• Creating Combatants and Creature Sounds
• Designing UX/UI Sounds
• Designing the Dialog System
• Audio in UE4
• Sound Teams’ Favorite Bits

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

respectfully disagree. in supernova you either play stealth or play dead, and i didn't feel enriched at all by the experience. i actually dropped the game after a quest or two on monarch, couldn't stand it anymore.

I played full run on Hard with sciency guy using plasma rifle and then half a run with stealthy sharpshooter and found it much better experience at least. Most maps are build for it and you can metagame the shit out of things. One good trick is using TTD to rob people blind and open up alternative paths, like you can open up route to Byzantium straight away without paying Gladys.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

so the game has shortcuts? suddenly two worlds became the best game ever?

 

[Riddler]

Except for the Codex, all I'm really seeing is praise for TOW. Not only that, the praise they are giving it is exactly what I would want TOW to be. If I wasn't playing it myself I would be even more excited for it than I was before release.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here, because the game just doesn't seem to be the good things people are saying it is.

Every quest seems like equally generic dialogue choices, a shootout, and a fetch away from completion. No skill / perk / attribute / equipment choice seems to make a difference. The writing is flat. My character has no compelling reason to do anything.

Yet people are saying the opposite.

Baffling.

Well, the user score on Meta critic is steadily going down and the PC one is lower than Greedfall. Not sure that counts as a ringing endorsement by the general public.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

and the PC one is lower than Greedfall.

Greedfall wins again