Problems and suggestions from an atmospheric perspective
Flanpan
UK Join Date: 2017-05-22 Member: 230681Members
UK Join Date: 2017-05-22 Member: 230681Members
There have been numerous changes and additions to the game recently, but there are issues that have compromised the experience from a design standpoint. Even though these aren't necessary changes, they would fix some of the flaws people have with the game. The creatures and biomes have also been improved and changed according to feedback - so I hope some of this can be taken on board.
Here are a few things that I noticed when I was playing:
1: The late game sections of the world aren't scary:
The Lost River and the Inactive Lava Zone are two deep sections of the map, and are obviously supposed to be unnerving and frightening when first venturing there. Unfortunately, due to the amount of ambient lighting at all times, it takes away from the foreboding nature of both. Decreasing the amount of light in those areas would make the creatures scarier, increase the necessity of bioluminescence from the wildlife and really put the emphasis on natural light sources - like the ghost tree and lava.
2: Smaller creatures are often the same throughout the world:
Obviously this occurs in real life, but having lots of creatures that you've previously encountered when travelling to a new biome can be a little disappointing.
Introducing exclusive fish to biomes (could just be skins) that have new scans and minor differences could help a lot in this regard.
3: Smaller creatures (and thus their predators) are far too slow.
Fish are not easy to catch in real life, evolving different defence mechanisms to get away or not caught by danger. As a human that hasn't evolved to catch them, it shouldn't be so easy to do so. It's obvious why this design decision was made from a gameplay standpoint - with two pieces of food at the start, and weapons being out of the equation, it was a compromise.
However, there is a way to get around this, and that's a long ranged tool. Since harpoons and spear guns "encourage killing", I would recommend some sort of limited grappling gun (like a smaller version of the Prawn's) that bring the creatures to you. If creatures reacted accordingly, it would make this part of the game far more interactive and skill based, and maybe even a little fun since you would need to ambush and plan. If an issue with this is the overlap with the propulsion cannon, then consider upgrades that target larger creatures.
4: Creatures and bases can be harmed by things clearly not a threat to them:
I'm not really sure how this would be fixed with just a couple of additions, but it clearly has an effect on the creature balance. Maybe consider giving separate parts of objects damage resistance? It would make the shelled and armoured creatures more of a threat.
Thank you for reading. If you have any problems with what I've written then please tell me what adjustments you'd make.
I've attempted to keep this reasonable with the restrictions that the developers have.
Here are a few things that I noticed when I was playing:
1: The late game sections of the world aren't scary:
The Lost River and the Inactive Lava Zone are two deep sections of the map, and are obviously supposed to be unnerving and frightening when first venturing there. Unfortunately, due to the amount of ambient lighting at all times, it takes away from the foreboding nature of both. Decreasing the amount of light in those areas would make the creatures scarier, increase the necessity of bioluminescence from the wildlife and really put the emphasis on natural light sources - like the ghost tree and lava.
2: Smaller creatures are often the same throughout the world:
Obviously this occurs in real life, but having lots of creatures that you've previously encountered when travelling to a new biome can be a little disappointing.
Introducing exclusive fish to biomes (could just be skins) that have new scans and minor differences could help a lot in this regard.
3: Smaller creatures (and thus their predators) are far too slow.
Fish are not easy to catch in real life, evolving different defence mechanisms to get away or not caught by danger. As a human that hasn't evolved to catch them, it shouldn't be so easy to do so. It's obvious why this design decision was made from a gameplay standpoint - with two pieces of food at the start, and weapons being out of the equation, it was a compromise.
However, there is a way to get around this, and that's a long ranged tool. Since harpoons and spear guns "encourage killing", I would recommend some sort of limited grappling gun (like a smaller version of the Prawn's) that bring the creatures to you. If creatures reacted accordingly, it would make this part of the game far more interactive and skill based, and maybe even a little fun since you would need to ambush and plan. If an issue with this is the overlap with the propulsion cannon, then consider upgrades that target larger creatures.
4: Creatures and bases can be harmed by things clearly not a threat to them:
I'm not really sure how this would be fixed with just a couple of additions, but it clearly has an effect on the creature balance. Maybe consider giving separate parts of objects damage resistance? It would make the shelled and armoured creatures more of a threat.
Thank you for reading. If you have any problems with what I've written then please tell me what adjustments you'd make.
I've attempted to keep this reasonable with the restrictions that the developers have.
Comments
The problem is that just swimming up to creatures to pick them up is compromising the world and making the depth of the gameplay very limited when just swimming around. I guess it would also encourage people to use the cured fish and aquarium more; since it would be a challenge to catch creatures when out in the world.