Too early to be releases
Osydius
France Join Date: 2015-09-19 Member: 208031Members
France Join Date: 2015-09-19 Member: 208031Members
I have been playing this game for about a year and I simply love it. It is so creative and has so much potential, I did not even hesitate to buy it in early access. But the problem is that as the game is now, it is far from having achieved its full potential and I am afraid an early release would actually damage it.
I mean judging from the speed at which you have updated the game over the past year (and I'm not being critical of said pace, I have no clue whether it's fast or not, not being a game developper myself), it feels like it would take another year at least to add the transfuser and DNA combining, the exosuit, new spaces in the Aurora, new creatures (like the warper), a working map room, the lava zone, etc., plus fix all that needs fixing like the Dive reel, making the Cyclops relevant, making the Reefback relevant, making O2 and Heat factors to take into account, etc.
And more importantly giving the players an objective because as great as it is to explore the map now, ultimately we're not driving towards any objective other than exploring the worlds (which is of course your job and important for future settlers) and "getting more comfortable". Some might say it's enough but what about the fact that something took your ship down (and other ships as well judging from the ruins), so exploring and cataloguing stuff is of no importance if you don't make sure what whatever took you down won't do the same to the rescue / settlers ships. But I have seen nothing on that story line so far.
So really that game is great but as far as I am concerned, I still feel I'm playing a alpha version of a game that has HUGE potential and not a game that is about to be launched. Unless you have a hidden tons of stuff from us and are about to hit us with a massive update, I would say July is much too early for release (although I understand why you would want to have the release of Subnautica be as close as possible to the release of the Oculus for obvious commercial reasons).
I mean judging from the speed at which you have updated the game over the past year (and I'm not being critical of said pace, I have no clue whether it's fast or not, not being a game developper myself), it feels like it would take another year at least to add the transfuser and DNA combining, the exosuit, new spaces in the Aurora, new creatures (like the warper), a working map room, the lava zone, etc., plus fix all that needs fixing like the Dive reel, making the Cyclops relevant, making the Reefback relevant, making O2 and Heat factors to take into account, etc.
And more importantly giving the players an objective because as great as it is to explore the map now, ultimately we're not driving towards any objective other than exploring the worlds (which is of course your job and important for future settlers) and "getting more comfortable". Some might say it's enough but what about the fact that something took your ship down (and other ships as well judging from the ruins), so exploring and cataloguing stuff is of no importance if you don't make sure what whatever took you down won't do the same to the rescue / settlers ships. But I have seen nothing on that story line so far.
So really that game is great but as far as I am concerned, I still feel I'm playing a alpha version of a game that has HUGE potential and not a game that is about to be launched. Unless you have a hidden tons of stuff from us and are about to hit us with a massive update, I would say July is much too early for release (although I understand why you would want to have the release of Subnautica be as close as possible to the release of the Oculus for obvious commercial reasons).
Comments
This is the second time I've seen someone mention a July release. Last I checked the road map, they're shooting for an August release? July has been set aside for polish updates. Granted one month difference isn't much, but a lot can happen in that time.
A lot of things you've listed they are already working on and have cards on their development trello. As for objectives, this will come with the story which is set to be worked on in June. I know it seems like a lot, but this a dedicated team and I have faith in them. If they get too far behind, I'm sure they'll push the release back. Just look at the XBOX 1 release. They weren't happy with it by their intended deadline and pushed it back to get the quality up. This is a team that really cares about their game. They put quality first. ;3
Just remember that this is early access, and it's going to feel like a incomplete game because it is.
Don't get me wrong, if they manage to pull it off and implement all they want in time for an August release, I'll be one the first to cheer. I don't only want this game to succeed, I want it to be huge and become one of the reasons people want to buy VR in the first place. I really have high hopes for this game and think they have done a great job on it.
But it really feels like what they have on their plate is twice as big as what they have done in the last year and I don't see how they can possibly have enough time to do it all before August. What I am afraid is for some things to disappear in order to allow for an early release, while I believe (maybe mistakenly) that it would be better for the game to actually come out later but be a perfect product from day one.
I'm actually (for once) hoping to be wrong on this.
Maybe harvest reefbacks isn't so interesting after the discovery of this mechanic.
Maybe sea Traders have no purpose with the actual farming ratios.
Maybe transfuser and DNA upgrades are just a wound to integrate..
I'll be happy with an extended Aurora (really seems unfinished)
I trust, in terms of quality, the story that will be integrated, I just hope it will not be pulled down by technical problems..
Where did you see that this game is about to be launched? The roadmap is shooting for an August Release, e.g. still 5 months away give or take.
"it feels like it would take another year at least to add the transfuser and DNA combining, the exosuit, new spaces in the Aurora, new creatures (like the warper), a working map room, the lava zone, etc., plus fix all that needs fixing like the Dive reel, making the Cyclops relevant, making the Reefback relevant, making O2 and Heat factors to take into account, etc."
I know that may seem like a lot, but its definitely doable. For example you can already spawn in a transfuser and play with some prototype DNA combining. The warper already has its animations and models complete, it just needs to be programmed. The map room is almost complete. O2 in bases is already in the game in experimental.
"ultimately we're not driving towards any objective other than exploring the worlds (which is of course your job and important for future settlers) and "getting more comfortable""
We will be. This game is actually going to have a story that we can choose to complete or ignore. Needless to say we are going to have a huge main objective to complete, and unless you've read about it on the roadmap I won't spoil it here.
"So really that game is great but as far as I am concerned, I still feel I'm playing a alpha version of a game"
Umm... maybe it feels like you're playing an alpha because you are playing an ALPHA, hence the name EARLY ACCESS. Did you even read the description on the store page?
My mistake. I remember having seen July on Trello but I haven't checked before posting. August is still only 1 additional month though.
I've checked the roadmap on Trello but haven't seen anything pointing toward that part of the story line. If you can link to it that would be very much appreciated
Of course, what I mean is that if you've ever played a game that is close to being launched (and 4-5 month is pretty close in my book), then you can feel you're getting close to the end. You can feel that the game is almost done. Ovewatch for instance, which is out in 2 months, basically feels like a final product already (and had for some time), aside from a few minor interface issues IMO.
Subnautica still feels VERY "early accessy" for a game that is supposed to launch in 5 months. Yes, it's beautiful and immersive and enthralling BUT it doesn't feel as polished as it should be so close to release.
I would rather they push back the release date and add in all they need to add in and make sure as many bugs are ironed out before releasing the game.
Right now they have several biomes they need to do still. Seatredder biome needs finishing, theres still two unassigned biome's atm that are just flat or bumpy empty patch's of land, plus all the stuff we don't yet see that's underground. Two new story driven creatures and their areas to make.
I've traveled around the world, found the still WIP areas. That is just a lot to do in 5 months and I fear them having to rush and not be able to make as detailed a landscape or as rich a world as they'd like.
That's what happened to Silent Hunter 5 all most unplayable and patched later mostly by the modders.
But the cost of extending production has to be huge.
That's because I mistakenly recalled seeing that tidbit of info on the roadmap. It was actually a card in one of the previous releases that has since been deleted. You can see the reference to it in the card "Ending launch sequence" for the June update. Obviously they didn't put anything more to avoid story spoilers but as far as other objectives go you will discover what caused the Aurora to crash and for the main objective
Don't click this if you don't want story spoilers
Isn't that a weird ending considering what they have added to the game recently, i.e. the radio which tells you that help is on the way? I mean the ending you point toward makes more sense to me which is why I was surprised they added the radio in the first place. It also means they have to link everything together since right now nothing justifies why you can't do what you mention right away. This means they have to make that ending reliant on us going deeper in the first place to get something that will unable us to work toward that ending.
Seems like even more work for the team. Mind you, I prefer that ending but the whole point of the thread was to say that they had already too much work for an August release, so adding this seems to make that release date even more unprobable.
But help is not on the way. The bounce back message states it's from the Aurora; it's an automated message. Considering the Aurora is lying burn out and half submerged how do you propose it's going to rescue you? Am I the only person to have noticed that?
If you've been following their trello you would have noticed that in each update they complete parts of features / content for future updates. They didn't eg. just start working on farming after doing H2O. They had been working on it for a while.
So it's possible there's a lot of semi-finished stuff and a mid-year release is entirely realistic.
Like Myrm said, help is not on the way. The only messages on the radio so far have been an automated distress beacon from the aurora and messages from now dead crew members. They haven't even really revealed what the radio is even for yet. And you assumed correctly, there will be parts we need to build the
As for the game releasing in August, I don't think we'll have to worry. At the rate this team has been working I'm fully confident the game will release late August, maybe early to mid September at the latest.