No Man's Sky

[Edi]

Wow, this thread went south quickly...

I now have the game working well after the patches finally came out on GOG and I fiddled with the settings on my new graphics card (was going to upgrade anyway, so just did it a couple of months earlier than originally planned).

Long as fuck, but worth reading: https://blog.mode7games.com/promising-t ... .dbmx0odlf

Note the distinctions made there. Doesn't change the fact that there have been quite enough fuckups and bad communication to have led to the game launch getting them a lot of negative press.

Currently I wish there were not such a stupid flight ceiling on world, so that you could actually fly hugging the terrain and crash if you fuck up. Then needing to repair the ship before you can get back on your way.

[wautd]

I didn't know about the game untill it was released so I wasn't in the hype. I bought it on the day of release as a spontanious buy because it looked really cool but I was quickly dissapointed, especially for its price tag. If it was around 20 bucks? Sure. But this feels unfinished.

Angry Joe

At least he started on an interesting looking planet. So far all my planets have been barren rocks so I got quickly bored with the game.

[TheFeniX]

On the topic of this, I think it's rather interesting that video games are fairly unique when it comes to what happens when a major release flops. It's one of the few forms of entertainment where I regularly see people blame the fans for not liking it.

There's actually MANY factors that contribute to this and I could rant for pages, but I'll stick with what I believe is the biggest factor: The movie going public doesn't have a boogeyman on tap to dump blame off to. The only example I can think of off-hand would be the blowback against idiots for hating Ghostbusters for having women. But, at least not that I've seen, no one is blaming them for the weak showing of the movie because Hollywood has a crazy amount of tracking built into the system to show who watched a movie and why.

It's like how Mad Max might be a victory for Feminism, but it's mostly popular among older men. All it really showed is men will watch whoever if there's enough explosions and chase scenes. Video games don't have that for numerous reasons. One being the increase in digital sales. So, the only real way to track the buzz a game is actually getting is through pre-orders. So... it's not wonder those are the emphasis for everything. The other is that the publishers control all the data, unlike movie theatres selling tickets, retailers selling DVDs, and iTunes tracking your everything.

So, things go wrong. Your game tanked, people hate it. No one really knows why it tanked. You want to pass off blame, but you don't want to offend women or minorities. You could take a wide swing at white males, but they are your biggest purchasing base. So, what they fuck do you do?

Blame (for the purpose of this thread) fatnerds: those older and younger poopsocking losers everyone used to beat up in high school (because stereotypes are fine when they target people you don't like) who somehow tanked THE ENTIRE THING because they hate everything, yet they are pretty much defined by NOT buying these games.

These fatnerds DO exist and in large numbers (oh and a lot of them actually AREN'T from the US). However, they do not have anything but INTERNET RAGE as their power and, since they don't spend any real money, are effective scapegoats as there's no downside to alienating them.

The reason is that I am not ignorant about how game development works.

I know, right? It's like how all games are developed the exact same way... even though they aren't.

The idea for Left 4 Dead started out because some doods at valve were playing a game of Counter-Strike against bots armed only with knives. They couldn't exactly cut content for such a simple concept, HOWEVER: originally, there was some hype around the ability to join anyone's game as a special infected (I guess like Dark Souls) and fuck them up. In interview, it was stated this feature completely changed the make-up of the game and wasn't fun. So, it was cut and Versus was added. This was all before the actual release of the game because valve keeps their hyped up customers informed of all things, not just what will sell units.

Some people were all upset they couldn't troll the average player's game. No one else cared.

Further, valve and Blizzard (proper) break from the mold because they don't set budgets. They give as much money and other assets to a project as it needs to get it done right. This is a big development difference between other developers (EA, Ubi) and has caused more than a little friction between Activision/Vivendi since their merger. It doesn't always have a happy ending, such as with Titan. But they're laughing all the way to the bank making money out of garbage with Overwatch.

When those first videos of Witcher 3 came out they predicted a level of graphical detail that couldn't be sustained when they decided to make it an open world game, so it changed. CD Projekt weren't "dishonest" showing those videos, they just changed something else in the design that made them wrong.

CDP released insane Screenshots for Witcher 3. Said that the hardware was available to run it (it actually was, just WAY out there). Then the graphics downgrade came. They were up front about it and released more screenshots and more gameplay. Game still looked great, just not as great.

Normal people got on with their lives.
Fatnerds (and likely Beth fans) went ballistic.

Don't lump CDP in with Hello Games. Those guys ate their crow, even though they shouldn't have had to, and released the game they promoted. Had CDP instead swept everything under the rug and quietly released the game downgraded, using those original screenshots/videos up until release: yes, people would have every reason to be pissed.

You keep acting like people are saying "games in development never change!" which no one is saying. What I am saying is that NMS stands out because when shit started getting the axe, we weren't made privy to that. We got the kid's gloves of the development process. You keep saying this is standard practice when it most certainly is not. And to use CDP/Witcher 3 as an example to support your argument is disingenuous at best: those guys are way more classy than Hello Games. They wanted to keep their players in the loop: they kept them in the loop on whatever they could, even what they knew "fatnerds" would get mad about.

But they also had enough faith, rightfully, in their potential consumer base to still inform us about the downgrade. And hey look, Witcher 3 didn't turn into a shitshow.

[Patroklos]

Just asked Steam for a refund I have no anticipation they will grant.

I had a great few hours exploring my first planet which was shit but in the beginning you don't want to miss anything. Moved to my second system and had a rather green planet but was still lackluster compared to the promotional videos on steam. Third, fourth and fifth systems were mostly extreme hazard rocks. What really killed it for me was when I realized none of the aliens I talked to had any relevance, and my learning their language and building a reputation with them wasn't going to lead anywhere. After ten hours I still hadn't seen a planet that wowed me, that means its time to move on.

As to the ridiculous advertising BS from Vendetta, go take a look at the preview videos and screenshots on the Steam store page. Are those from the as sold version of the game? Nope. Are you going to claim there presentation there is not for advertising purposes? That they are not there to inform the buyer of what they should expect from the product?

[Executor32]

Currently I wish there were not such a stupid flight ceiling on world, so that you could actually fly hugging the terrain and crash if you fuck up. Then needing to repair the ship before you can get back on your way.

Took a little while, but there's now a mod that does exactly that. Well, the first part, anyway. It also has the side effect of allowing you to fly your ship underwater, another removed feature many have been complaining about.

[Edi]

Currently I wish there were not such a stupid flight ceiling on world, so that you could actually fly hugging the terrain and crash if you fuck up. Then needing to repair the ship before you can get back on your way.

Took a little while, but there's now a mod that does exactly that. Well, the first part, anyway. It also has the side effect of allowing you to fly your ship underwater, another removed feature many have been complaining about.

Yeah, I noticed that on the GOG forum. Installed it immediately and it solved most of my complaints with the game. Note that I had not watched a ton of those videos, so I was more or less expecting the kind of sightseeing game that NMS turned out to be.

They could have used a bit more graphical variety on the vegetation (maybe make that the same sort of recombinant jigsaw puzzle that the critters are) and all in all the game could be so much more than it is. Depends on what and how much they build on top of it. Shit PR, the way they did things, though.

[TheFeniX]

ASA investigating valve and HG for their advertising methods.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority is investigating No Man’s Sky. An RPS source filed complaints to the ASA regarding the trailers and screenshots used to sell No Man’s Sky on Steam, arguing that they are unrepresentative of the product being sold. That source – and the ASA have confirmed to us – that the regulator agrees and has contacted both Valve and No Man’s Sky developers Hello Games for their response.

The ASA have compiled a list of the ways in which they believe No Man’s Sky’s advertising is unrepresentative. Here it is in full:

Videos:

User interface design
Ship flying behaviour (in formation; with a ‘wingman’; flying close to the ground)
Behaviour of animals (in herds; destroying scenery; in water; reacting to surroundings)
Large-scale space combat
Structures and buildings as pictured
Flowing water
Speed of galaxy warp/loading time
Aiming systems
Screenshots:

Size of creatures
Behaviour of ships and sentinels
Structures and buildings as pictured
Store Page in general:
Quality of graphics

References to: lack of loading screens, trade convoys between stars, factions vying over territory

The complaint, our reader tells us, was made not out of malice against this particular game, but rather a desire to make a larger point about the nature of the way he alleges customers are misled by gaming advertising. “My hope,” he tells us, “is this could give Valve a reminder/prod that they themselves have a responsibility, they can’t just blame individual publishers, and this might help them keep future games being listed, more honest.” This wouldn’t be the first time the ASA has ruled related to Steam, after finding a Grand Theft Auto V sale “misleading” late last year.

After being contacted, Hello Games and Valve will have the opportunity to remove the marketing materials voluntarily, and if they do so then the complaint will not be pursued further by the ASA. If no changes are made, the ASA can pursue their investigation further and bring sanctions against both Valve and Hello Games. This all but requires to take down the current trailers and screenshots on the game’s store page, which – without doubt, in my eyes – do not accurately depict the game being sold.

There has unquestionably been a lot of vindictive behaviour in response to No Man’s Sky’s not being what people had hoped/imagined it would be. But there is also room to recognise that No Man’s Sky is undeniably not like the game it’s still being advertised as on Steam. Honestly, I’d assumed they’d have taken down those wholly inaccurate trailers by now, but the game (which I love as much as loathe) is still being sold with years-old promotional material.

Those vast snakes cutting ravines in the ground, the beautiful dinosaurs so elegantly stomping, the ability to upload discoveries without opening the menu, scans taking one second, water lapping against shores, vast fleets of ships warping in to solar systems, AI ships fighting on your side in space, seamless transitions into planet atmospheres, in-atmosphere ship combat… It’s all still there on Steam, and yeah, actually, that’s kind of shocking.

It is of course normal, and almost unavoidable, for a game’s early trailers to not be accurately representative of the final game. Games find their limitations, or make significant changes for good or vital reasons, and of course make iterative aesthetic or design changes in the process of completion and refinement. Complaining about such changes is fruitless, and woefully misunderstands the nature of game development. There is of course a lot of room for debate about the reasonableness of releasing overly ambitious trailers in an attempt to hype player expectation, especially when pre-orders are available (never pre-order, folks!)

But I think a good point is made by raising the issue of such dated promotional material being the front-and-centre face of the game’s store page. Even some of the static screenshots for NMS are unlike the game they’re selling. For instance:

And I’ve played at least a hundred hours of the game and never seen a planet that looks like that most iconic image of the game at the top of this post. Brendan covered these differences, and his disappointment related to them, in a previous post about No Man’s Sky.

We are keeping an eye on both the game’s store page for changes, and the ASA’s bulletins, and will let you know what happens next.

Emphasis mine.

[bilateralrope]

But there is also room to recognise that No Man’s Sky is undeniably not like the game it’s still being advertised as on Steam. Honestly, I’d assumed they’d have taken down those wholly inaccurate trailers by now, but the game (which I love as much as loathe) is still being sold with years-old promotional material.

Which means that the lying about No Man's Sky never stopped.

[Enigma]

What also pisses me off is that the freighters cannot be destroyed. Sure you can destroy its weapons and cargo containers but the ship itself cannot be destroyed. Same with the Sentinel cruiser\carrier. What is the use of space combat if the only ships you can destroy are small fighters? Even the space station cannot be destroyed.

The collision detection in space needs work. I've seen a Sentinel cruiser\carrier appear and intersect with a freighter!

The more I play this game the more I see that there has been minimum effort put into it. It is bare and severely lacking. The lack of communication from HG is damning. I have a weird feeling that HG will fold before they even release some actual content for the game.