Feel of game
SPIRIN1224
Moon Join Date: 2015-04-15 Member: 203469Members
Moon Join Date: 2015-04-15 Member: 203469Members
Look.. I'm just gonna describe how I feel, these are opinions.
The feel, it just, I don't know....
Okay...
I'm a game developer, sounds simple, so what do they do?
They create games and test to see its performance and then proceed accordingly. Good developers understand that the game needs to convey a feeling and nostalgia.
going back to developer, I like to explore games, the backend ugly part, so "free cam" is a wonderful tool in Subnautica. After exploring the bases and looking around. I have came to several conclusions. NOTE!: These are over about 4+ hours of study, not just ho-hum "whats here?" or "what's behind that?".
1. This game is very very VERY dark.... (or definitely darker)
2. This game is so unstable I question many many things about just the physics themselves. The portals are messy and the invisible ones are weird.
3. That whole backend is extremely messy, its a very pretty front but the backend is confusing, cold, heartless, weird and wrong. Like the games itself was corrupt and cracked. Like playing a unofficial version of a game where random and completely unexpected things happen. (NOTE: IN BACKEND!!!!) (TOP-DOWN POV)! STORY!!!
These are my opinions, if you have any questions or further info please comment!
Sorry post is very radical.. just really concerns me.. thats all..
The feel, it just, I don't know....
Okay...
I'm a game developer, sounds simple, so what do they do?
They create games and test to see its performance and then proceed accordingly. Good developers understand that the game needs to convey a feeling and nostalgia.
going back to developer, I like to explore games, the backend ugly part, so "free cam" is a wonderful tool in Subnautica. After exploring the bases and looking around. I have came to several conclusions. NOTE!: These are over about 4+ hours of study, not just ho-hum "whats here?" or "what's behind that?".
1. This game is very very VERY dark.... (or definitely darker)
2. This game is so unstable I question many many things about just the physics themselves. The portals are messy and the invisible ones are weird.
3. That whole backend is extremely messy, its a very pretty front but the backend is confusing, cold, heartless, weird and wrong. Like the games itself was corrupt and cracked. Like playing a unofficial version of a game where random and completely unexpected things happen. (NOTE: IN BACKEND!!!!) (TOP-DOWN POV)! STORY!!!
These are my opinions, if you have any questions or further info please comment!
Sorry post is very radical.. just really concerns me.. thats all..
Comments
I think we all agree that the game desperately needs optimization in the performance department ..... altho i would'nt go as far as you saying that it feels like its cracked and corrupt and that it feels like playing an unofficial version. One day, they'll be done with content and we'll then get performance improvements, this will be joyful times indeed!
What do you mean by "very very VERY dark" and "confusing, cold, heartless, weird and wrong"?
It's like you're trying to make a gaming creepypasta.
You know ("whats around the bend!")
If u take a moment and realize the situation you are in...
Chasing ghost personell across a seemingly inconsistent terrain, to have the one thing set in stone (sunbeam) get exploded in front of you... being the only person knowing these mysterious bases and the responsibility of deciding what to do and learning about them while still getting your bearings....
Thats just without (freecam)!
part of it^^
I don't know, my opinion, I have a weird one, but..
Maybe I been playing "The Beginners Guide" too much...
well
10+ hrs and 9 replays I guess is a pretty scary number...
Its about storyline and opinion, not 'whining', the fact that thats all that you can get out of this is really just 'whining' makes me wonder to what capacity are you helping this discussion?
Besides, have you ever freecammed or used an SDK to look at level design for things like Fallout or Elder Scrolls? It makes the noclip shot you posted look like Rembrandt. They leave random fly-off bits everywhere because it's all behind the scenery. The gamer can't see it unless s/he is breaking the game world anyway. And as for the base not fitting into the game world...it's an artificial structure. It's not supposed to. You don't see many naturally-occurring skyscrapers, right? Those bases are supposed to be alien and uncomfortable, and something that doesn't quite fit in with the world in any sense. It's about building a feeling of "this is wrong" in the player, and I'd say the alien architecture they settled on does that extremely well.
So the backend is messy. It often is in complex games, and Subnautica definitely qualifies as complex. The only time a game is tidy all the way around is when it's some ultra-simple piece that can be optimized in a weekend by one person.
It's a work in progress. Have faith that the devs will put two coats of wax on it before they put it on the showroom floor, okay?
okay... makes sense
But understand I didn't mean the game as in assets or textures but the story and ambience.....
For instance: They have sea monsters and scary things that come at you out of the dark. It can be tense while listening to dangerous things growling in the near distance. Yet are going for a PEGI of E10+.
I suspect that the game feel just doesn't fit entirely in a neat box. This is probably the source of some people's issues with it feeling "too easy" and "not scary enough."
Me personally, I like hard and scary games, and easy and not scary games. I'm happy letting it be what they make it.
Don't be a bone head. Either give some useful feedback or get out the way and let others do so.
I understand what you're saying, I also have serious issues with the general feeling of the game since the Precursors have appeared.
It isn't a performance issue, it isn't something that will likely be "fixed" by release, because it boils down to a dislike for the whole direction of the game, the very core elements of the plot the developers have chosen.
However, I personally feel there is a potential way they could start to fix it, and I really hope it happens because it would make me personally feel ten times better about the game: Fill the Precursor bases with clutter. Make them feel far more... well, real, and "lived in" at one point. They are too empty. It's like going from outside, this rich and packed, extremely diverse world, and crossing over into this cold, horribly sterile precursor base environment.
This is why I feel the game is nowhere near completion. The entire precursor idea needs SO much work before it could be considered finished.
I realise they might be supposed to be sparse and empty, that may work for the plot, but it doesn't work for the game immersion because it feels like you've actually switched to an entirely different game. It's like playing GTA5 and whenever you enter a building it switches to GTA3.
I'm afraid there's not much to be done unless the developers take a lot more time and effort on making the new locations feel like part of the Subnautica world.
You seem to utilize freecam as a main argument. However, freecam lets you see what isn't necessarily possible without the use of the console.
What does it matter what you see in freecam?
Also, I think what their going for story-wise is that it's supposed to be mysterious.
I also think it would be better to have the story play out in a simple plot progression, but the beauty of what Subnautica's story does is that you find the pieces of the shattered plot line, and build it yourself. This way, if it leaves some holes, the player's imagination and speculation make up for those holes, coming up with reasons or ideas on why an event played out how it did that the devs would never have thought of.
1.On the "very, very, VERY dark" part, it's dark because you aren't supposed to know what happens exactly. This way, it keeps you thinking about the game. You want to come back to it to see if you missed something that would tie up a loose end.
2. It's in the future. Who says physics even apply to the human race anymore? We could be so far into the future, we could have already found a way to bypass gravity, go faster than light.
3. You're going to have to expound on this one. I'm still unsure what you mean by the back end. And also why it's "confusing, cold, heartless, weird and wrong."
Stop being insulting and thinking only your thoughts and opinions are correct.
Thank you for that post... my thoughts exactly! Wow... Yes...
While on the one hand we have the "happy, pretty, lose yourself in building in beautiful color, nostalgic" feeling of the game which the devs did a perfect 10/10 job... then that transition to the precursors, story, and the excitement and confinement in which the story is supposed to go.... Both sides were made really really well so far, agreed? But together it may seem messy and start to confusing what your supposed to feel.
That gradient or cushion for switching from "lets rebuild, get some stuff here, sea moth here...", to "Now I have the responsibility of the entire planet and finding out whatever the heck this is.." feel.
1. I play The Beginners Guide WAAAAYYY too much
2. Probably should take a 30min break every 4 hrs for Subnautica cuz
3. Apparently my poor brain can't help it!
It matters a lot... while not in a literal way it is a very important tool to me, I think, for watching the game as a game in a different view.
Watching the halls and rooms and corridors are meant as a way to progress further in the story... which we can see differently in 1st person instead of in 3rd person.
This hallway is an example of a player progressing through the game and the options and limited foresight by what the developers give them an option.... basically they make the player feel as if he/she is in control... but by 'suggesting' rooms, paths, walkways etc, they can keep a player on track and convey the story and message they want to. Makes sense, those are good developers.
back to the hallway..
Lets say at the end of the hallway there is a piece of tech that is green and stands out... naturally you would most likely pay attention to that and only glance down all the other doors...
the actual path from a developers point....
| |
---
(tech or continuation of story)
---
| |
^
we don't get to see this...
the other possibilities that we may not have realized were there..
Also looking at the game as a whole, that storyline needs to flow... not to shocking but still moving, or a sense of safety while having that want to explore more... anything the debs want to make... but I believe it must flow to give a user a better experience. backend = story, theme, and how that is applied in the game to get it across.
free cam allows me to see that better in a much more "look at that maze" part.
I appreciate the comments thus far and wonder what we could do to help this.. if we could...
Maybe have a 6 day minimum before sunbeam events.. idk... maybe we do.. mine started pretty quick on new save... *shrugs....
They should seriously consider the facts on what people actually want. The lags and crashes are e reason I stopped playing. Also the portals are the worst thing ever.