Sea Emperor & Reaper Leviathan - Weakest designs so far
urielmanx7
Mexico Join Date: 2015-04-11 Member: 203271Members
Mexico Join Date: 2015-04-11 Member: 203271Members
Probably not the best idea that my first post is kinda a complaint/critique about the game, but since I really like this game and the devs are listening to feedback (which IMO I think it's a HUGE gamble -ppl don¿t know what they want-); I really felt compelled to put my to cents, if the game turns out being a disappointment, I could never live with myself knowing that I could have say something to prevent it.
Ok, that being said, let me now back up my claims.
For the Sea Emperor:
-It looks too human, plain and simple. Now, I'm, by no means an expert gaming dev or designer, but I have watched tutorials/guides on a professional level (like FZDSCHOOL), and one thing they kept repeating, is that when you are making a design, you need to keep a balanced on how much you go away from a real base, like for example, if you're going for a dragon design, you shouldn't go too far from what everyone else thinks a dragon looks like; like making a dragon covered in feathers, because even if it's cool, you're reducing your target audience, meaning less ppl will like it the more bizarre your design is. And the problem here, is that the sea emperor has a humanoid torso, only changing it's hands for octopus tendrils, the same for it's legs; now, I'm not saying it doesn't look cool, I'm saying it doesn't feel right, because the first thing I thought when I saw it was "what kind of evolution path could justify such design?"; and granted, this is a videogame, not everything has to be scientifically accurate, or based; and even more, it's a video game based on an alien world, but as I said, it doesn't feel right, because here on earth, there's no animal (aquatic of course) that has a humanoid torso or similar, that makes it difficult to relate to it; plus, it more or less common knowledge that our body design is garbage in water, so the kind of body makes it less believable, same with its face, looks more like a human than an animal.
For the Reaper Leviathan:
Pretty much the same as for the sea emperor regarding the face, also because it doesn't fit its body, in this case the body does feel right, but the whole face/head seem it will hinder its hydro dynamics, also having a human like mouth doesn't help either to make it feel right.
With all this, I'm not saying the designs are outright bad, or wrong, they are good, I'm saying that for the setting of this particular game the don't seem to fit, if we were talking like a FF game, sure, they fit perfectly and I wouldn't have any problem with the design; I know that pretty much all of us will like to see all kind of crazy creatures deep down there, but just because we want to see something, doesn't mean it will be the right choice, that's why I said listening to user feedback is a huge gamble, if you listen too much, the game will look nothing like the original idea the dev/s had, if you listen too little, you might end up leaving some major issues you didn't see in the game.
I'm sorry if I sound too harsh, but that's only because I like the game so much, if I didn't, I wouldn't even be here on the forums.
Ok, that being said, let me now back up my claims.
For the Sea Emperor:
-It looks too human, plain and simple. Now, I'm, by no means an expert gaming dev or designer, but I have watched tutorials/guides on a professional level (like FZDSCHOOL), and one thing they kept repeating, is that when you are making a design, you need to keep a balanced on how much you go away from a real base, like for example, if you're going for a dragon design, you shouldn't go too far from what everyone else thinks a dragon looks like; like making a dragon covered in feathers, because even if it's cool, you're reducing your target audience, meaning less ppl will like it the more bizarre your design is. And the problem here, is that the sea emperor has a humanoid torso, only changing it's hands for octopus tendrils, the same for it's legs; now, I'm not saying it doesn't look cool, I'm saying it doesn't feel right, because the first thing I thought when I saw it was "what kind of evolution path could justify such design?"; and granted, this is a videogame, not everything has to be scientifically accurate, or based; and even more, it's a video game based on an alien world, but as I said, it doesn't feel right, because here on earth, there's no animal (aquatic of course) that has a humanoid torso or similar, that makes it difficult to relate to it; plus, it more or less common knowledge that our body design is garbage in water, so the kind of body makes it less believable, same with its face, looks more like a human than an animal.
For the Reaper Leviathan:
Pretty much the same as for the sea emperor regarding the face, also because it doesn't fit its body, in this case the body does feel right, but the whole face/head seem it will hinder its hydro dynamics, also having a human like mouth doesn't help either to make it feel right.
With all this, I'm not saying the designs are outright bad, or wrong, they are good, I'm saying that for the setting of this particular game the don't seem to fit, if we were talking like a FF game, sure, they fit perfectly and I wouldn't have any problem with the design; I know that pretty much all of us will like to see all kind of crazy creatures deep down there, but just because we want to see something, doesn't mean it will be the right choice, that's why I said listening to user feedback is a huge gamble, if you listen too much, the game will look nothing like the original idea the dev/s had, if you listen too little, you might end up leaving some major issues you didn't see in the game.
I'm sorry if I sound too harsh, but that's only because I like the game so much, if I didn't, I wouldn't even be here on the forums.
Comments
The design of the Reaper is awesome and it is really imposing from a distance, but up close it just looks funny.
I kinda wish they'd make it look more like a fish, maybe give it some sharp teeth that stick out, like snaggle-toothed or something, or give it a narrower head and slightly longer muzzle, that would make it look less "humanoid"
I also hope that at some point, they give the Reaper a really deep, low toned growl or roar, which can be heard from many leagues away, and when it attacks, some sort of metallic, really really menacing hissing or growling sound. Because as of right now, I don't even think it has a voice and it's just not scary enough.
I saw it on a video of a dude that's on the experimental branch so he spawned it.
As for the Reaper Leviathan, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I'm assuming the point of it having a face is so that when it grabs your Seamoth it will be a very scary sight, but honestly I don't see the point in that. I think giving it a face closer to what the Sea Emperor has or maybe even a beak would do it more justice.
An art is an art-- claiming that there is always one way to do something is simply restriction for no reason IMO
I was criticizing from a "it's a game so it has to sell" point of view, in no way I'm negating or deterring its value as a piece of art, I'm merely pointing that in the setting the game is, and comparing it with all the available designs, it feels out of place, referring to my feathered dragon example, do you honestly think a game like Skyrim would have sold as many as it did if all dragons in there were covered in feathers rather than scales? I'm sure such a crazy design was presented at some point at the development, but they knew using it would have make ppl uncomfortable with the game and possibly or most likely affect their description of buying the game or not. Of course, all this I've been saying applies more to AAA games, for indies this is more flexible, but the limit s still there.
I think this 2 part video explains better than me, if you don't want to watch it fully, he starts talking about this at 15:38