I've been around since early NS1 and I'm excited to hear that Unknown Worlds is working on their next game idea. I hope that it brings as much joy and wonder as NS has done over the years for me.
It's obvious from your post that you expect a strong negative reaction to the news that you are working on a new game. I think that's unfortunate. We've all benefited from the release and subsequent tuning of NS2 and I think that it is a fantastic and very fun game to play. I hope as you do that on the back of the new audience from recent sales it builds a strong competitive scene.
To those who are sick of flamewars here on the forum, I believe that most players who really love NS2 are simply playing the game and not posting here. I've had many awesome matches and look forward to this new world that you're building for us.
I hope that Unknown worlds continues to be a commercial success on the back of this new title. I'm sure that you're glad to be exploring new ground after over a decade of NS Flayra.
I want to make it quite clear to you that NS2 rode the success of NS1. It had an extremely rocky start and probably would never of reached the finished stage had it not been for the outpouring of support the NS1 community gave to the game both financially and developing (maps / mods / ect.). NS2 was the sequel to NS1, Subnautica will not share this same level of support. I'm very surprised your not making a game that appeals to your current audience (oldschool hardcore fps). You are totally going off tangent and will need to reel in a new audience, because NS players will simply not transfer over to your new game. It's not our cup of tea...
Saying that, it's exciting to you see developing a new game. Best of luck!
I want to make it quite clear to you that NS2 rode the success of NS1.
While this is true, bear in mind that NS2 was also the first major game from a new studio. Before this many of the members of UWE had not sold a game commercially before. The didn't know the channels for promotion and didn't have an established audience.
Now that they have experience, a studio, a team that works well together and a name in the industry the game development should be a lot smoother. But all games are hard to make.
I'm very surprised your not making a game that appeals to your current audience (oldschool hardcore fps).
In my opinion this is both a good point and also flawed. While UWE is going to have to cultivate a different audience, hardcore FPSes with a tough learning curve (think NS2) tend to shed new players by design. Perhaps that isn't such a good idea.
Also, I see UWE's specialty as that of creating entirely new genres or mashups. Think how amazing the FPS/RTS combo was back when Natural Selection was released. It was an entirely new concept. Not so much now.
Interesting concept with the water and stuff. What kind of game is it? RPG strategy for singleplayer? Real-time? Turn-based? Both? It's all very unclear...
First person (though we may experiment with some 3rd person), real-time, exploration game, with some crafting and building components (though the building is only a small part of the game). It is being developed as a singleplayer game to start with, but we do want to add multiplayer co-op, but that might have to wait until after release.
Shifting to a developed engine for a project like this is a good thing but Unity suggests that UWE may be aiming for browsers and mobile devices as well.
If thats the case I'm guessing there's also a big chance of a microtransaction model thats typical for games present on those platforms.
It could just as easily mean they want a console release though.
We would like to eventually get the game on mobile devices, but first and foremost we are just focused on making a great game for PC, and not making decisions and sacrifices based around getting it to run on those other devices.
Another factor is Sparks current optimization. Lets be honest, it still needs some work. Using it to build what is supposed to be a huge procedurally generated open world doesn't sound like the best idea just yet.
There is a common misconception that Spark as an engine is unoptimized. It is actually a very robust engine, and can be very efficient. However NS2 relies so heavily on Lua scripting, has an insane amount of entities towards the end of games, and there were just approaches to programming a lot of the gameplay elements in NS2 that we now realize were not as efficient as they could have been. Also, Lua jit was not something that was available when we first were developing NS2, and if it had been included from the beginning, the way it is now, the game code could have been written to take much much more advantage of the gains it can offer. It is always a pretty huge learning experience working with a new engine from scratch, and UWE certainly has learned a lot over the last few years.
So, what this means is:
1 - It is very possible to create a game for the Spark engine that is optimized and runs perfectly
2 - Future UWE projects using Spark will be able to take full advantage of our knowledge, experience and additional tools and optimizations that have gone into the engine since the early days of development, to make sure performance is not going to be an issue.
I want to make it quite clear to you that NS2 rode the success of NS1. It had an extremely rocky start and probably would never of reached the finished stage had it not been for the outpouring of support the NS1 community gave to the game both financially and developing (maps / mods / ect.). NS2 was the sequel to NS1, Subnautica will not share this same level of support. I'm very surprised your not making a game that appeals to your current audience (oldschool hardcore fps). You are totally going off tangent and will need to reel in a new audience, because NS players will simply not transfer over to your new game. It's not our cup of tea...
We will always remain indebted to, and greatly appreciative of, the NS1 players who supported the development of NS2 early on. There are several reasons why we are not just making more hardcore oldschool shooter games to appeal to our current audience. For one thing, WE want a change. UWE wants to work on a variety of different projects, because that keeps us motivated, and it allows us to broaden our portfolio as a company, and our experience as employees. It also allows us to expand beyond the core playerbase of NS2. I think you shouldn't speak for all NS1 players, when you say they will not transfer over to our new game, and give them a little more credit as players who don't just want to play the same type of game over and over again.
All that said, the positive reception that NS2 was met with, the success it has had, has given us a platform for getting a much greater level of support then we had when we first started NS2. Just this recent public announcement of SN speaks volumes. Back when we were first showing off NS2 it was a struggle to get any gaming site to mention us. Now, just putting out a mention of a new game, with little to show but some concept art, got us coverage on every single major gaming news outlet out there.
Is the limited draw distance for entities in NS2 giong to be existant in SN? Or will murky waters make it a non-issue?
The same way the fog on the first Silent Hill games worked conceal the fact that the engine can't render more XD fog/murky water = secret loading screen :P
For one thing, WE want a change. UWE wants to work on a variety of different projects, because that keeps us motivated, and it allows us to broaden our portfolio as a company, and our experience as employees. It also allows us to expand beyond the core playerbase of NS2. I think you shouldn't speak for all NS1 players, when you say they will not transfer over to our new game, and give them a little more credit as players who don't just want to play the same type of game over and over again.
All that said, the positive reception that NS2 was met with, the success it has had, has given us a platform for getting a much greater level of support then we had when we first started NS2. Just this recent public announcement of SN speaks volumes. Back when we were first showing off NS2 it was a struggle to get any gaming site to mention us. Now, just putting out a mention of a new game, with little to show but some concept art, got us coverage on every single major gaming news outlet out there.
Good stuff Cory My post was a bit doom and gloom wasn't it, best of luck bud!
Subnautica will not share this same level of support. I'm very surprised your not making a game that appeals to your current audience (oldschool hardcore fps). You are totally going off tangent and will need to reel in a new audience, because NS players will simply not transfer over to your new game. It's not our cup of tea...
I beg to disagree. I also play minecraft and enjoy the alpha of space engineers. Going full circle to underwater building blocks is just the next step in the minecraft genre.
Clorf? Sounds like a name from Christian Morgenstern's poetry.
To be fair, UWE didn't come up with the name.
Seriously, though, when you read CH. M.'s poetry, sometimes you get the feeling he is familiar with UWE development process, just see for yourself:
Anxiety for the Future
Korf, whom worry easily attacks,
Can already see the skies
Filled by balloons of every size,
So all day he prepares whole stacks
Of draughts for bylaws and statutes
Of a society for resolute
Maintenance of a zone designed
To keep balloon-egress confined.
Yet even now he can smell doom:
His club already falls behind;
The air, it seems to him, goes blind,
All the landscape turns gloom and tomb.
Therefore he puts down his pen,
Turns on the light (they all will, THEN!)
And goes at once to Palmstrom's place;
They sit together, face to face.
After four long hours, finally,
This nightmare is overcome.
First to break the spell is Palmstrom:
"Be a man now, Korf;" says he,
"You've got hold of the wrong era;
As yet, this is a vain chimera
That tricks your intellect away,
Bobbing over your head today."
Korf recovers his own clear sight–
No one is flying in the golden light!
He snuffs his candle, silently;
Then, points to the sun suddenly
And speaks: "If not today, sometime!
One day you will no longer shine,
At least for us–it makes one's teeth
Chatter–the masses underneath! . . ."
Thereafter, von Korf once again
Sits in his room and takes his pen
Drawing up a vast design
For the protection of sunshine.
why not take the scubanautica assets when you are completely done with ns2 and use them to finally make a khahara map, all existing ones are in space or on earh. make a map for the aliens or maby a biodome looking facility or underwater base ala atlantis style on their planet.
why not take the scubanautica assets when you are completely done with ns2 and use them to finally make a khahara map, all existing ones are in space or on earh. make a map for the aliens or maby a biodome looking inderwater base ala atlantis style.
That's NS3. We still don't know the Origins of the Kharaa.
why not take the scubanautica assets when you are completely done with ns2 and use them to finally make a khahara map, all existing ones are in space or on earh. make a map for the aliens or maby a biodome looking inderwater base ala atlantis style.
That's NS3. We still don't know the Origins of the Kharaa.
Yes we do, read the lore behind the original ns_origin and it explains a lot more than you'd think
why not take the scubanautica assets when you are completely done with ns2 and use them to finally make a khahara map, all existing ones are in space or on earh. make a map for the aliens or maby a biodome looking inderwater base ala atlantis style.
That's NS3. We still don't know the Origins of the Kharaa.
Yes we do, read the lore behind the original ns_origin and it explains a lot more than you'd think
DC_DarklingJoin Date: 2003-07-10Member: 18068Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver
I do not fully understand the nonuse of spark for Subnautica. (I mean free engine vs one I expects is licenced.) Feels the hard work for your own engine falls a bit short.
BUT I havent a inkling on the workings of engines so thats probably a part of my lack of understanding in this matter. I am sure the choice was well thought of. (And I can imagine Max needs to have time to do engine for 2 games)
As for subnautica, not having read to much yet what its all about, I see a big plus noone has yet named in this topic or the news post.
Its a new game. If UWE does this correctly it means another thing which will sell, meaning income & continued business for uwe. Continued business for uwe does mean continued NS2 support where that be a lot or few, it be continued.
In that regard alone, any new game should be welcomed.
i dont know the lore or origin behind kharaa or how you spell it.
10 marine maps with aliens in them is unfair, so make 1 alien map with 10 marines in it instead!
Just thought anything BUT marine facility would be cool, aliens always wanna infest marine ground.
Maby reverse it and have a very infested facility from start on their planet. Or atleast a organic spaceship crashed with lifeforms and infestation trough the facility or even outside.
Making it non-competitive, and since it doesn't exist in a multiplayer environment, side-steps many of the bottlenecks that have never been addressed in NS2, very clever!
I look forward to this game, and what it means for UWE! GJ!
Comments
Good, that way we can all relax together in a hot tub in the ready room. Maybe play some rounds of "Firetruck."
It's obvious from your post that you expect a strong negative reaction to the news that you are working on a new game. I think that's unfortunate. We've all benefited from the release and subsequent tuning of NS2 and I think that it is a fantastic and very fun game to play. I hope as you do that on the back of the new audience from recent sales it builds a strong competitive scene.
To those who are sick of flamewars here on the forum, I believe that most players who really love NS2 are simply playing the game and not posting here. I've had many awesome matches and look forward to this new world that you're building for us.
I hope that Unknown worlds continues to be a commercial success on the back of this new title. I'm sure that you're glad to be exploring new ground after over a decade of NS Flayra.
Good Luck, Have Fun.
I want to make it quite clear to you that NS2 rode the success of NS1. It had an extremely rocky start and probably would never of reached the finished stage had it not been for the outpouring of support the NS1 community gave to the game both financially and developing (maps / mods / ect.). NS2 was the sequel to NS1, Subnautica will not share this same level of support. I'm very surprised your not making a game that appeals to your current audience (oldschool hardcore fps). You are totally going off tangent and will need to reel in a new audience, because NS players will simply not transfer over to your new game. It's not our cup of tea...
Saying that, it's exciting to you see developing a new game. Best of luck!
While this is true, bear in mind that NS2 was also the first major game from a new studio. Before this many of the members of UWE had not sold a game commercially before. The didn't know the channels for promotion and didn't have an established audience.
Now that they have experience, a studio, a team that works well together and a name in the industry the game development should be a lot smoother. But all games are hard to make.
In my opinion this is both a good point and also flawed. While UWE is going to have to cultivate a different audience, hardcore FPSes with a tough learning curve (think NS2) tend to shed new players by design. Perhaps that isn't such a good idea.
Also, I see UWE's specialty as that of creating entirely new genres or mashups. Think how amazing the FPS/RTS combo was back when Natural Selection was released. It was an entirely new concept. Not so much now.
Also, I suggest you get a bigger development team, but first you obviously need to find a way to make more money (so subnautica better be good!)
So, what this means is:
1 - It is very possible to create a game for the Spark engine that is optimized and runs perfectly
2 - Future UWE projects using Spark will be able to take full advantage of our knowledge, experience and additional tools and optimizations that have gone into the engine since the early days of development, to make sure performance is not going to be an issue. We will always remain indebted to, and greatly appreciative of, the NS1 players who supported the development of NS2 early on. There are several reasons why we are not just making more hardcore oldschool shooter games to appeal to our current audience. For one thing, WE want a change. UWE wants to work on a variety of different projects, because that keeps us motivated, and it allows us to broaden our portfolio as a company, and our experience as employees. It also allows us to expand beyond the core playerbase of NS2. I think you shouldn't speak for all NS1 players, when you say they will not transfer over to our new game, and give them a little more credit as players who don't just want to play the same type of game over and over again.
All that said, the positive reception that NS2 was met with, the success it has had, has given us a platform for getting a much greater level of support then we had when we first started NS2. Just this recent public announcement of SN speaks volumes. Back when we were first showing off NS2 it was a struggle to get any gaming site to mention us. Now, just putting out a mention of a new game, with little to show but some concept art, got us coverage on every single major gaming news outlet out there.
The same way the fog on the first Silent Hill games worked
Good stuff Cory
SN is not using Spark, Its using Unity (If I remember correctly) so whatever the draw distance can be in Unity, is what it can be in SN
I beg to disagree. I also play minecraft and enjoy the alpha of space engineers. Going full circle to underwater building blocks is just the next step in the minecraft genre.
Seriously, though, when you read CH. M.'s poetry, sometimes you get the feeling he is familiar with UWE development process, just see for yourself:
Anxiety for the Future
Korf, whom worry easily attacks,
Can already see the skies
Filled by balloons of every size,
So all day he prepares whole stacks
Of draughts for bylaws and statutes
Of a society for resolute
Maintenance of a zone designed
To keep balloon-egress confined.
Yet even now he can smell doom:
His club already falls behind;
The air, it seems to him, goes blind,
All the landscape turns gloom and tomb.
Therefore he puts down his pen,
Turns on the light (they all will, THEN!)
And goes at once to Palmstrom's place;
They sit together, face to face.
After four long hours, finally,
This nightmare is overcome.
First to break the spell is Palmstrom:
"Be a man now, Korf;" says he,
"You've got hold of the wrong era;
As yet, this is a vain chimera
That tricks your intellect away,
Bobbing over your head today."
Korf recovers his own clear sight–
No one is flying in the golden light!
He snuffs his candle, silently;
Then, points to the sun suddenly
And speaks: "If not today, sometime!
One day you will no longer shine,
At least for us–it makes one's teeth
Chatter–the masses underneath! . . ."
Thereafter, von Korf once again
Sits in his room and takes his pen
Drawing up a vast design
For the protection of sunshine.
That's NS3. We still don't know the Origins of the Kharaa.
Yes we do, read the lore behind the original ns_origin and it explains a lot more than you'd think
Brilliant! Now let's port it to NS2.
BUT I havent a inkling on the workings of engines so thats probably a part of my lack of understanding in this matter. I am sure the choice was well thought of. (And I can imagine Max needs to have time to do engine for 2 games)
As for subnautica, not having read to much yet what its all about, I see a big plus noone has yet named in this topic or the news post.
Its a new game. If UWE does this correctly it means another thing which will sell, meaning income & continued business for uwe. Continued business for uwe does mean continued NS2 support where that be a lot or few, it be continued.
In that regard alone, any new game should be welcomed.
So welcome subnautica
10 marine maps with aliens in them is unfair, so make 1 alien map with 10 marines in it instead!
Just thought anything BUT marine facility would be cool, aliens always wanna infest marine ground.
Maby reverse it and have a very infested facility from start on their planet. Or atleast a organic spaceship crashed with lifeforms and infestation trough the facility or even outside.
I look forward to this game, and what it means for UWE! GJ!