Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Johnny Biggums]

Buttons say that luj1 is here to shitpost and doesn't really care about this title. So, by a cute leap of thought, I guess, that reusing assets in order to cut costs and save your studio from bankruptcy is a strategy one reasonable person would be willing to take.

Let's all thank luj1 for making basic business practices that reasonable people would be willing to take transparent to us all.

THANK YOU!!!

So why are they investing budget in a garbage minigame that actively drives away buyers?

 

[Roguey]

I noticed they also didn't bother to have NPCs sit at their stations, let alone having them wired in.

It's an alpha, not a finished game.

 

[Fedora Master]

I noticed they also didn't bother to have NPCs sit at their stations, let alone having them wired in.

It's an alpha, not a finished game

View attachment 31373

 

[thesheeep]

I noticed they also didn't bother to have NPCs sit at their stations, let alone having them wired in.

It's an alpha, not a finished game.

An NPC not using a sit animation and a station not having visual wires attached?
Realistically, that's the kind of bug you'd still expect in a beta/EA - it has no impact on anything important gameplay wise, the fix is known and doesn't need much work... bugs like that have no business on any priority list at this point in development.

If stuff like that is still commonplace on actual release, sure go ahead and criticize away, it's legitimate.

It's fine, though - a game releasing anything in any state of development will always attract the edgelords just waiting to spray their bullshit all over something.
Alpha, beta, EA, it's all meaningless to them - if they wanna hate on a game, they will. Reason gets in the way of that.

Also, this is Owlbear, FFS - did anyone expect polish from them in an alpha state?
They barely managed to have a (slightly) smoother release with WotR than they had with Kingmaker - if they'll manage an even more "smooth" release for this one, I'd count my blessings.

 

[Fedora Master]

I still remember the Wrath beta/release. I expect exactly nothing from these tards.

 

[Camel]

If a chef is standing over my plate with his pants down I don't need to wait to start criticizing.

More like we already found poop on our plate the last two times.

 

[Koolz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOK11JkQrNg

When Luetin speaks even developers listen.

France will be beat Morocco!

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamer.com/warhammer-40000-rogue-trader-is-shaping-up-to-be-a-stellar-crpg/

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is shaping up to be a stellar CRPG​

Owlcat Games' latest has shot to the top of my most-wanted list.

Footfall Station is an Imperial outpost on the edge of the Koronus Expanse, a wild sector of frontier space that I plan to tame as a newly minted Rogue Trader. It's essentially Mos Eisley with more buttresses. The Liege of Footfall has requested an audience, a convenient development as my ship needs repairs anyway. Before we arrive at Footfall, however, one of my tech-priests asks a question. Do I want to be greeted with the pomp and formality my title deserves? Or do I want to enter the station incognito?

Frankly, I'm insulted by the question. I'm a bloody Rogue Trader! I'm a one-man East India Company, given special warrant by the Imperium to explore uncharted space, expand its borders, and milk the colonies I establish for everything they're worth. In the callous meat-grinder of the Imperium, I'm one of the few allowed to turn the handle. I want the red-carpet treatment. Trumpets, confetti, adoring crowds, and something sexy bursting out of a cake.

When I descend to the station via dropship, a throng of sycophants applaud my arrival, though frankly I expected it to be bigger. Suddenly, a man dressed in orange rags yells out, and armed gangsters pour from all corners of the dock. The applauding masses are subject to an appalling massacre, as bullets aimed at me rip through the crowd. But I know a thing or two about massacres, and leap into the fray with my entourage, butchering the thugs with blades and bullets. Heads roll, limbs fly, a good number of the attackers are simply mulched. From the carnage, I pick out a couple of weapons I like the look of, then store the rest as cargo to be sold in bulk at a later date.

This explosive scene isn't the opening to Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader—the closed alpha test provided by Owlcat games starts at Chapter 2. But it's quite an introduction regardless, capturing both the ceremony and cruelty at the heart of the 40k universe. I've been intrigued about Rogue Trader ever since it was announced, but after emerging from that bloody skirmish on the dock, I was excited. And the more I played, the more excited I became. Rogue Trader has serious potential to be one of 2023's best games.

With the first act absent, it's not wholly clear how the events of Rogue Trader kick off, although there are some tantalising allusions. In any case, the upshot is you're given personal control of the von Valancius Empire, a fat chunk of space that includes multiple lucrative colonies. Unfortunately for you, instabilities within the warp have wiped all the navigation data for the sector clean, meaning you'll essentially have to rechart your own empire, and rediscover the many worlds hidden within it.

What's in a name?​

You're also not technically a Rogue Trader at this stage, although you are one in all but name, and are treated by everyone as such. As you stroll through the gunmetal Gothicism of Footfall station, an accompanying servo-skull declares your presence to everyone nearby. Your position within 40k's rigid hierarchy gives you unusual freedom to behave how you please. In your meeting with the Liege of Footfall Vladym Tocara, you can be empathetic and understanding, coldly professional, or a suppurating arsehole who demands Tocara beg for assistance on his knees. You can also kill people at the drop of a hat with alarming (or, depending on your viewpoint, thrilling) frequency.

The extent to which your actions have consequences is hard to judge at this early stage. But certainly, your party aren't afraid to share their opinions on your choices. And not just the cruel ones. One of your party members is an Imperial Inquisitor who encourages you to kill non-humans at every opportunity, and will look down on you for simply speaking to a "xeno".

In the 40k universe, empathy is in short supply. Not only does this mean many people view kindness as weakness, it also means that a lot of situations can only be resolved by bloodshed. Combat in Rogue Trader is turn-based, tough, and thoroughly grisly. Your party gets to wield the full 40k arsenal, from bolters and flamers to chainswords and thunder hammers. Rogue Trader really emphasises the nastiness of these weapons. A blast from a bolter can burst an enemy's head like a grape, while smashing someone with a thunder hammer will leave little but a messy stain behind.

Beneath this crimson sheen is a deep, chewy tactics system. Your party members have separate pools of movement and action points, but using a weapon will nearly always deplete any movement points remaining, and prevent you from using another weapon that turn. Initially, this feels restrictive, but you'll soon find ways around these restrictions through the class-specific abilities. My Rogue Trader specialised as a Leader, letting them use their action points to give other characters additional movements and actions. Leaders can also essentially bet on their party's own prowess, designating zones on the battlefield for the party to capture, achieving which rewards them with bonus actions. It's a fun system that rewards canny thinking, although it can be hard to figure out what some abilities actually do.

After your meeting with the leader of Footfall, you can head straight back to your ship if you like. But I ended losing about five hours exploring the station, dealing with the rebel incursion, getting involved with a rakish con-woman who I ended up recruiting to my party (much to the chagrin of my tech-priest Pasqal), and helping out another companion by sniffing out some heretics. This latter side-quest was particularly entertaining, requiring me to follow symbols etched into the floor, spot hidden doors and avoid nasty traps.

Footfall feels substantial when you're in it, but returning to your ship reveals the station to be but a speck in the wider Koronus Expanse. Once the ship is repaired, you're free to explore the expanse via a Mass Effect-ish galaxy map, travelling between star systems and exploring the various planets within them. Some planets are barren rocks that offer little beyond celestial decoration. Scanning others might yield resources or equipment, or provide a short narrative interlude that results in opportunities to colonise that world.

Profit motive​

It's worth pausing here to talk about the trading side of Rogue Trader, as it's quite unusual. Trading doesn't provide you with income in the game—you're already significantly wealthy. Instead, selling cargo to specific factions bolsters your reputation with them, increasing the availability of their stock. At the same time, you have a set purchasing power known as Profit Factor that, when you buy something, regenerates over time, while the Profit Factor cap can be increased as you progress through the campaign. At higher levels, your Profit Factor can influence the story, unlocking new dialogue options and letting you use your wealth as a political and diplomatic tool.

Core colony worlds are where the bulk of the story plays out, such as your main colony world Dargonus, which upon arrival you discover is far from the agrarian idyll that it used to be. As you explore, you'll also stumble on side-quests that are as substantial as they are strange. Early on in my adventure, I discovered a derelict voidship drifting in some minor system. Investigating, I found the ship littered with deranged tech-priests attempting to shed themselves of their remaining organics, and become completely one with the ship.

All these space-faring adventures are accompanied by writing I found to be generally excellent, as ornate and evocative as 40k requires, but with vivid and clearly defined characters shining through. Moreover, it communicates how weird the 40k universe is. During one warp-jump, my Rogue Trader's nightmares literally came to life, forcing him to fight them off in his bedroom as his party rushed in to help. In another instance, I was asked to have a quiet chat with one of my party members because she was being lethally odd, and her attempts to socialise with the voidship's crew were driving them to suicide.

I wasn't impressed by everything, though. While the combat system is well-designed, encounters can drag on, as the game likes to throw a lot of enemies your way. There's also a separate system for space combat, where your voidship blasts enemy vessels with broadsides and controllable torpedoes. It has some interesting ideas. Ships have large turning circles and can't stop in space, so you must think hard about manoeuvring into strong firing positions while keeping your shields facing the enemy. But it feels a bit pokey, and doesn't evoke the grandeur of a 40k space battle.

Still, I've had a ton of cool experiences in Rogue Trader, and there's still a fair chunk of the Alpha I've yet to explore. If what I've played is indicative of the quality of everything else Owlcat has planned for the game, then this could end up being something truly special.

 

[Aarwolf]

Also, this is Owlbear, FFS - did anyone expect polish from them

They're russians, they obviously and by definition cannot into polish.

 

[Peachcurl]

https://www.pcgamer.com/warhammer-40000-rogue-trader-is-shaping-up-to-be-a-stellar-crpg/

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is shaping up to be a stellar CRPG​

But... it's interstellar!

 

[Storyfag]

Let's be frank though. The game, though set so close to the Calixis Sector, will not contain DEVOUR SOUL, therefore it will be... lacking.

 

[luj1]

I noticed they also didn't bother to have NPCs sit at their stations, let alone having them wired in.

It's an alpha, not a finished game.

They wont bother with that, if they hadn't already. Would have been a great detail but Owlcat have always been lazy

 

[Reinhardt]

can you select pronouns in dis gaem like in bg3?

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Let's be frank though. The game, though set so close to the Calixis Sector, will not contain DEVOUR SOUL, therefore it will be... lacking.

TBH fam I hope that we will eventually get an RPG based on Dark Heresy (first edition) - there would be tons of cool things that could be done in the Calixian setting. Plus all the people bitching about space ship combat would get to focus directly on classic party-based RPG gameplay.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

On the engine: it is clear this is reused Wrath Engine. You can clearly see from animation and the overall looks. Unlike KM to WotR where they refurbished their engine, this is fundamentally the same engine with slight modification. From what I play the system is basically fundamentally dice based system. Attributes relations to skills are the same like in PF. And then the abilities you get from levelling up are either passive feats or equivalent of active abilities/spells in PF games which modifies said dice rolls. Note that I don't know how similar is this to supposed RT PnP but this is fundamentally a dice based game outside and inside combat and it shows. Owlcat is basically modifying their engine system to fit this game.

On the "reused asset": this is not correct outside of maybe skeleton and animation related. Most of the settings I played through the Alpha is of entirely different setting than Wrath and thus there is minimum asset (as in environmental, equipment, character model) asset being reused. Probably will be more in the jungle area but as far cities goes assets are new.

The problem with the thematic wise pointed out is on calour saturation and lightning. As pointed how CP2077 is not really evocative of what you feel from Cyberpunk setting, the way Owlcat is doing this so far is not "grim dark". You can argue that high color saturation can be used in several area: I would assume Eldar Craftworlds would be pristine and clean with very good lightnig, but for Imperial Worlds, the "theme" is way too cheery. Or an Ork focused campaign can also have higher saturation as Ork is just having fun painting everything bright and smashing 'umies 'ead. The comparison with Inquisition ARPG is a good one where it can sell the feeling of grimdark. I disagree with "cleanliness" factor tho because you can have a "clean" environment, especially in the ships of probably the most powerful and rich people of the Imperium. But indeed a more muted colour and less bright lightning would goes a long way.

In the end of the day very likely the color usage is probably just because they are using the same artist/modeller from Wrath to this. And considering the state the game in right now it is clear that this Alpha has been developed for longer than Wrtah Alpha/Beta. Very likely early work on this has been done as early as Wrath release or even before.

 

[Storyfag]

Let's be frank though. The game, though set so close to the Calixis Sector, will not contain DEVOUR SOUL, therefore it will be... lacking.

TBH fam I hope that we will eventually get an RPG based on Dark Heresy (first edition) - there would be tons of cool things that could be done in the Calixian setting. Plus all the people bitching about space ship combat would get to focus directly on classic party-based RPG gameplay.

I don't think you can fully appreciate my meaning here. DEVOUR SOUL is a reference to the sad tale of Marius Hax, the Lord Sector, as ruined by the KKKodexian Hivemind.

 

[Salvo]

can you select pronouns in dis gaem like in bg3?

The fact that they make you pick between male and female RT instead of bodytype bullshit already makes it infinitely less pozzed than BG3

 

[Vermillion]

. Note that I don't know how similar is this to supposed RT PnP but this is fundamentally a dice based game outside and inside combat and it shows. Owlcat is basically modifying their engine system to fit this game.

Basically a direct adaptation besides combining some skills, swapping archetypes for classes, retooling some universal actions as class abilities, and over all dumbing it down for retards. Of course anyone could know this by simply reading when I explained the system long before Alpha even released.

As pointed how CP2077 is not really evocative of what you feel from Cyberpunk setting, the way Owlcat is doing this so far is not "grim dark".

Again because it's a fairly faithful adaptation of FF's Rogue Trader (The Tabletop RPG) which generally had a lighter tone compared to Dark Heresy and commissioned art tended towards a brighter, vibrant color scheme. If anything, the problem with the game is that NPC clothing isn't garish enough. Rogue Trader is NOT 40k the Wargame and its aesthetics differ for that reason.

 

[Cryomancer]

The fact that they make you pick between male and female RT instead of bodytype bullshit already makes it infinitely less pozzed than BG3

Less pozzed for NOW.

Nothing prevents them from putting this BS after the release Solasta style.

 

[lightbane]

By the way, one of the things you could do in the RT game was to be a literal colonialist and teach forgotten worlds of the glories of Modernity/the God Emprah.

I wonder if this will be a thing in the incoming game, seeing as it is intentionally politically incorrect.

 

[Camel]

The fact that they make you pick between male and female RT instead of bodytype bullshit already makes it infinitely less pozzed than BG3

It's a pretty low standard.

 

[Fedora Master]

Owlcat audience

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Finished the Janus quest line and met the Eldar (along with the companion). Eldar were done quite well, performed OK in combat as well when I fought them.

There was also a nice Slaaneshi temple there, here is a part of it:

You have some choices on how to handle the situation there which I wont spoil, though there is a spectrum from being completely monodominant hardass to being open to working with Eldar (and if you have good enough persuation stat you can pull off an outright good outcome). You also get to choose the new political system for the planet, which apparently has some consequences fairly early (some mutants start appearing on the planet and the situation gets handled depending who you put in power).

Regarding the companions, their personal stories are cool in the way they make everyone look like an unlikeable asshole (Cassia randomly kills people as I mentioned previously, Abelard enjoys treating low ranking crew members like shit, Idira conjures up demons in her spare time etc). It is surprisingly easy to get some of your party members killed (Idira the Rogue Psyker could have been executed twice already). I am curious to see what happens with others.

The random encounters in the warp are apparently all handcrafted, and while they are annoying in general like the random encounters usually are, some of them were kinda nice (I really enjoyed sort of a wave defense scenario with plaguebearers and plague zombies rushing a defense line that includes sentry guns and armsmen along with your party).

The Eldar companion is quite useful as a highly effective sniper with powerful gun. I find Jae the Cold Trader milf to be the weakest so far, though I will give her some more chance to see if she can find some niche for herself. My go to roster so far is Abelard (thunder hammer + melta), Argenta (bolter + flamer), Heinrix (force sword + combat shotgun), Yrliet (Aeldari sniper rifle + Aeldari sword), Pasqal (Plasma rifle + Omnisian Axe). Sometimes I replace Yrliet with Cassia when I need crowd control, Idira seems somewhat useless - not as good a sniper as Yrliet and her psychic powers are nowhere near as good for crowd control as Cassia. Perhaps that is why players have so many options to shoot her lel. Personaly I keep her around coz she has a mildly useful power for space battles and I am trying to be goodytwoshoes.

 

[Peachcurl]

Tom Selleck sure does get around. A true traveler of the galaxy!