Sea Moth Update is Great, but in Some Ways I am Disappointed.
Myrm
Sweden Join Date: 2015-08-16 Member: 207210Members
Sweden Join Date: 2015-08-16 Member: 207210Members
Hi
This is just my opinion but ...
As much as I love the game and love the new Sea Moth update that was released this week, part of me is disappointed.
Some of the little bugs that have been previously reported are still there, and they are only little bugs that I would have thought were easy enough to fix, though, of course, I am no expert and so am just going by my perception of it.
It seems that the devs have concentrated too much on eye candy rather than getting to the nuts and bolts of the gameplay. For example:
1. I swim along with the sea glide and if I put I away and then bring it back out without stopping swimming, I lose the engine noise of the sea moth. If I stop swimming, put it away, bring it back out and then start swimming again the engine noise is heard. This has been going on for a long time.
2. I made a report about the bug in which the Swedish language option in the drop down menu in the language options at the start of the game, was obscured but was clickable. The bug was acknowledged, yet in this new update the Swedish language option has totally disappeared. So I can't play the game in my main language where once I could. Imagine if that was the English option that had been removed!
3. I still see the bug where sometimes you can't climb up onto the floating constructor thing (the one that makes your cyclops etc), and so I have to save the game, quit the game, restart the game and load the save just to be able to get onto the constructor.
Then there are some poor changes (again just my little opinion):
1. Crash Powder - it seems vary rare now. Whereas I used to see it all the time before, now I have had six of these explode at me and not one of them had crash powder. One player reported he found only two lots of crash powder in 20 pods!
2. The sand sharks (I think they are called) seem far more numerous and aggressive now. My Cyclops currently has 5 of them circling it meaning as soon as I leave the sub I am attacked.
Despite people having asked for options to reduce graphics and sounds, such as having sliders to turn done the music or switch it off, or to have the graphics increase/decrease on a sliding scale, this doesn't seem to have been taken seriously by the devs. Surely giving such options that would allow those with less powerful computers be able to play the game would mean more people would be tempted to buy the game = more revenue.
Many have asked for the option to be able to rename saves, have more save slots and a choice of whether to make a new save or overwrite an old save. Many other have also asked for an option to be able to go back to the load/save page without the annoying route of having to quit the game altogether and then go back into it just to load a saved game. We don't see these requests honoured.
As I said, I do love the game and I think the devs do a great job and will still play it and I realise it is a pre-alpha/alpha game, but please how about fixing some of these recurrent bugs and give us more option control?
This is just my opinion but ...
As much as I love the game and love the new Sea Moth update that was released this week, part of me is disappointed.
Some of the little bugs that have been previously reported are still there, and they are only little bugs that I would have thought were easy enough to fix, though, of course, I am no expert and so am just going by my perception of it.
It seems that the devs have concentrated too much on eye candy rather than getting to the nuts and bolts of the gameplay. For example:
1. I swim along with the sea glide and if I put I away and then bring it back out without stopping swimming, I lose the engine noise of the sea moth. If I stop swimming, put it away, bring it back out and then start swimming again the engine noise is heard. This has been going on for a long time.
2. I made a report about the bug in which the Swedish language option in the drop down menu in the language options at the start of the game, was obscured but was clickable. The bug was acknowledged, yet in this new update the Swedish language option has totally disappeared. So I can't play the game in my main language where once I could. Imagine if that was the English option that had been removed!
3. I still see the bug where sometimes you can't climb up onto the floating constructor thing (the one that makes your cyclops etc), and so I have to save the game, quit the game, restart the game and load the save just to be able to get onto the constructor.
Then there are some poor changes (again just my little opinion):
1. Crash Powder - it seems vary rare now. Whereas I used to see it all the time before, now I have had six of these explode at me and not one of them had crash powder. One player reported he found only two lots of crash powder in 20 pods!
2. The sand sharks (I think they are called) seem far more numerous and aggressive now. My Cyclops currently has 5 of them circling it meaning as soon as I leave the sub I am attacked.
Despite people having asked for options to reduce graphics and sounds, such as having sliders to turn done the music or switch it off, or to have the graphics increase/decrease on a sliding scale, this doesn't seem to have been taken seriously by the devs. Surely giving such options that would allow those with less powerful computers be able to play the game would mean more people would be tempted to buy the game = more revenue.
Many have asked for the option to be able to rename saves, have more save slots and a choice of whether to make a new save or overwrite an old save. Many other have also asked for an option to be able to go back to the load/save page without the annoying route of having to quit the game altogether and then go back into it just to load a saved game. We don't see these requests honoured.
As I said, I do love the game and I think the devs do a great job and will still play it and I realise it is a pre-alpha/alpha game, but please how about fixing some of these recurrent bugs and give us more option control?
Comments
True, and I do get that, but I don't understand what they have done with the language option bug I reported. They seem to have done something to it but rather than fixing it they have made it worse. It's as it though they just made a tweak but didn't bother checking to see if it was actually fixed before implementing it.
What do you think of an update completely focused on fixing bugs? Before they go ahead and add more cool features this does need to be addressed.
I agree that some bugs may not be game breaking but they can be annoying enough to detract from the gameplay.
Yes I would like to see an update that concentrates on fixing the existing bugs rather than ignoring them in favour of eye candy. You can have as much eye candy as you want in a game but if you don't fix the bugs what's the point?
Seaglide ? You can just fix it yourself by putting it away and bring it back. 2 secs, done.
Constructor ? You almost never use it, only for your cyclops and seamoth. ( I never had that bug myself but if you have to quit and start Subnautica again, i agree it might be annoying )
Language ? I'm french and the idea to put the game in french didn't even cross my mind. I think i can. Maybe. But i won't do it. When you are playing stuff like video games, you should be prepared to deal with english anytime. And i believe you understand english far better than me.
Well this is gameplay. This new difficulty might pleasure some, while annoying the others. ( i'm part of those who think the game is too easy )
But as for the so called "eye candy" , you should know that the majority of people playing Subnautica is always asking for new content and the devs are trying their best to satisfy that.
And to conclude, This is true and there is a reason for that :
They will lose their time by fixing each bugs whenever a new maj appears. If they fix the bugs as you think they should ( i'm talking about small ones, not gamebreaking bugs), there is a chance that by adding new content, the bugs they fixed before reappear again . You can't escape bugs.
That's why most of the time, you add all the content you want in your game ( or most of it ) and then you try to fix the bugs.
PS : Sorry, if i sounded a little rough. If you would have mentioned gamebreaking bugs or huge ones, i would have agreed with you but it's not the case. At the time you are reading this, you would have noticed that i didn't speak about the options and all... well that's because i have no choice to admit that you are right about it
Or make it a module for the Seabase
Well, good for you. Perhaps you don't mind playing in a second language, but what gets me is that I was once able to play in my main language and now I can't. Had the Swedish language option never been available in the first place then fair enough, but for it to have been available, and then when a bug with it is reported and the "fix" has made it worse then yes I do get a little upset.
Have to completely disagree with you. Bug fixing is a constant and high priority all throughout the process of development, especially near update releases. The fact that you encounter the same low impact bug for awhile does not mean that bugs aren't a priority, rather that bugs themselves have priority levels. Every time new content gets added in, it usually has to go through a number of passes depending on how it interacts in the game...with the player and with existing game mechanics. That requires a large amount of time bug fixing and refining on top of any attempt to go back and fix minor bugs such as small glitches or cosmetic issues elsewhere. This is a very unique, complex, open world game in that regard and it's only growing in complexity.
If one buys early access they need to understand they have bought directly in to the often messy process of development where lots of minor bugs are backlogged for end of development refinement. If even a minor bug gets talked about enough by the general community then it might get addressed sooner. That is a more realistic way to understand small bugs and annoyances you experience in the early access of the game. Everyone is perfectly free to express those frustrations in a civil way though and if enough of the community responds in agreement then it is very likely to get a priority bump despite it just being a lesser inconvenience in terms of gameplay. Bugs in general though, especially the more important or game-breaking kind, are always demanding and getting attention behind the scenes.