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[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Looks like a new space game in the vein of Space Engineers is coming out, though in some cases it appears to be a bit further along in terms of development in some areas.

Gameplay trailer.

[Execute/Dumbo.exe]

Man, this makes me remember Starforge, what happened to its development?
But on topic, this game looks... Pretty good, nice lovecraftian monsters near the end there, nice gunplay, looks alright, the fact that the music loops at about 3:32 is annoying me for some insane reason though.

[BurnedToast]

I haven't played this, but from what I've read the physics are a lot more simplified and primitive compared to space engineers. I'm not sure if that's because it's earlier early access, or if it's just how the game is. I'm also actually not sure if that's completely a bad thing, if it means the game runs good and can have functional multiplayer.

Either way, it looks good and makes me think I bought the wrong space survival game when I got SE.

[Mattk50]

Man, this makes me remember Starforge, what happened to its development?
But on topic, this game looks... Pretty good, nice lovecraftian monsters near the end there, nice gunplay, looks alright, the fact that the music loops at about 3:32 is annoying me for some insane reason though.

devs ended up abandoning it in an incredibly broken state and went onto develop reign of kings.

[Android]

I'm feeling 50/50 on it after watching it's trailer. I like that it seems to have smooth multiplayer, good ability to alter the world around you, and engaging PVE. However, I am a bit concerned by the lesser physics than SE, and the less than par art assets in general. Doesn't seem to have much variety in it either, in terms of what is viable to build (just fighters with rocket launchers).

[Icefire2314]

Man, this makes me remember Starforge, what happened to its development?
But on topic, this game looks... Pretty good, nice lovecraftian monsters near the end there, nice gunplay, looks alright, the fact that the music loops at about 3:32 is annoying me for some insane reason though.

devs ended up abandoning it in an incredibly broken state and went onto develop reign of kings.

I actually didn't know the Starforge devs were making Reign of Kings. I hope they finish Starforge someday...

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

I haven't played this, but from what I've read the physics are a lot more simplified and primitive compared to space engineers. I'm not sure if that's because it's earlier early access, or if it's just how the game is. I'm also actually not sure if that's completely a bad thing, if it means the game runs good and can have functional multiplayer.

It may be due to being earlier in development than Space Engineers, as that was released in October of 2013 and has had weekly updates ever since.

Either way, it looks good and makes me think I bought the wrong space survival game when I got SE.

According to their FAQ, this game isn't going to have modding for a while, and Space Engineers has it already and is going to have their code be fully disclosed so people can mod it in its entirety.

In addition, this game has its minimum specs several times higher than Space Engineers, requiring a quad-core 2.5 and 4 gb of VRAM compared to Space Engineer's dual-core 2.4 and 512 Mb (1 Gb if you want it to run a lot smoother).  As well, this game apparently only has Directx 9 right now, while SE has 11 as well.

Doesn't seem to have much variety in it either, in terms of what is viable to build (just fighters with rocket launchers).

We know nothing about the limitations of the weapons.  This statement could quite incorrect.

Man, this makes me remember Starforge, what happened to its development?
But on topic, this game looks... Pretty good, nice lovecraftian monsters near the end there, nice gunplay, looks alright, the fact that the music loops at about 3:32 is annoying me for some insane reason though.

devs ended up abandoning it in an incredibly broken state and went onto develop reign of kings.

I actually didn't know the Starforge devs were making Reign of Kings. I hope they finish Starforge someday...

They have it out of early access, so...

[NullForceOmega]

Looks very interesting, I'll keep my eye on this.

[BurnedToast]

I haven't played this, but from what I've read the physics are a lot more simplified and primitive compared to space engineers. I'm not sure if that's because it's earlier early access, or if it's just how the game is. I'm also actually not sure if that's completely a bad thing, if it means the game runs good and can have functional multiplayer.

It may be due to being earlier in development than Space Engineers, as that was released in October of 2013 and has had weekly updates ever since.

Either way, it looks good and makes me think I bought the wrong space survival game when I got SE.

According to their FAQ, this game isn't going to have modding for a while, and Space Engineers has it already and is going to have their code be fully disclosed so people can mod it in its entirety.

In addition, this game has its minimum specs several times higher than Space Engineers, requiring a quad-core 2.5 and 4 gb of VRAM compared to Space Engineer's dual-core 2.4 and 512 Mb (1 Gb if you want it to run a lot smoother).  As well, this game apparently only has Directx 9 right now, while SE has 11 as well.

I don't usually use mods for SE anyway - most of them seem to either be stuff that does not fit the base game (like star trek weapons or whatever), useless decorative things (I'm not playing space interior decorator, my ships don't need space towel racks), or completely overpowered stuff (pretty much every weapon mod). So mod support is not that important to me.

As for the system requirements, they don't seem that bad (it's not 4gb of vram, but total system ram). My computer would run it and it's rather old, as long as you have a relatively modern gaming computer you should be ok. I'm also pretty sure Empyrion *does* use DX11.... and furthermore while SE does have a DX11 option right now it's rather poorly implemented and actually drastically decreases performance for me (when there should be a minor improvement).

Ultimately though, the biggest issue for me is that empyrion seems to have a solid developer vision of what it is, and where they are taking it. SE feels like the devs are just throwing whatever random, half-finished features they can think of into it then moving on to the next random half-finished feature with no clear idea where the game is going, or indeed how it's actually going to become a game instead of a fancy 3d modeling program with physics.

[Gabeux]

This game looks rather ugly, and control seems clunky from videos. But anything that reminds me of Hazeron will be bought.
I believe it sits right between Space Engineers (never bought/will never buy) and StarMade (bought on first hour of gameplay a long time ago). StarMade used to look horrible too, but after the graphics/UI overhaul it looks pretty decent.

From what I read, there was a decent amount of development and updates in a very short time, so people seem nice about the developers.
Not that this is a good parameter to predict proper development, though, given that there are people who manage to be Keen Software House fanboys...

I wonder how much will be available on Steam EA release, because the videos show a good amount of silly stuff can already be done.

Depending on price, I might buy this on Early Access launch (August 5th, not sure if it was mentioned), and I might look for multiplayer.
Usually I play these sandbox games alone until I get a grasp of it, but there's a great amount of fun to be had when a lot of people hop in without no knowledge and no wiki-crawling on day one. Heard a humor about it being 15 EUR.

PS - Some info: I believe the game started being developed around 2012-2013, and initial info/website/etc started being posted in 2014, including a failed kickstarter, which failed probably due to a lack of marketing, exposure and playable demo.
The game went through a recent closed-alpha with NDA and all that, and I got to know about it through Scott Manley's Youtube Channel right after the NDA was lifted. Later they announced the Steam EA Greenlight launch.

In other words, so far so good. I like when a team plows through obstacles and stay true and focused on their vision.

[Sergius]

Posting ta wotch.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Video by LastStandGamers of the combat.  Hopefully they'll get a reload animation by the time it is released tommorrow.  (If one was there, I missed it.)

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

It is now available for purchase for the price of 16.19.  What are the reactions of those that have bought it?

[Gabeux]

I bought when it was available. Got two hours in.

I'll start by the complaints:
- Removing blocks is too slow.
- Mouse wheel doesn't work on crafting screen.
- You have to queue every component and material for every product you want to craft, by hand.

That's it. Other than that, I'm loving it! But those 3 things DID consume probably around 70% of my game time, or more.
I do recommend a wishlist/watchlist though. I can't recommend a purchase yet since I've only finished my survivalist base (as in, no walls, only the Food/Oxygen/Health/Crafting/Storage stuff), and I cannibalized my escape pod. I only left it's husk there because...removing blocks is too slow!
But I like the devs. I like their background, and I like the game. The stuff I didn't like is largely ignorable, since it's mostly UI/Operation (mouse wheel, etc) and Balancing (removing blocks, etc). And well..it's still the EA release version! So design and gameplay-wise, no issues yet.

But something random happened and I really loved it. I was on the starting area, minding my own business. I had just made a save backup. And then...

Spoiler: Probably a minor spoiler if you didn't see any screenshots or trailers (click to show/hide)

I'm all PreAlpha testing and learning the game..then..I see movement. It scares the shit out of me. A dozen drones fly over the hill


Half of them spot me, and they start firing at what was left of my pod. They do very little damage to it, but if I leave cover they eat my health:


I didn't have a Medic Station. So I didn't have a spawn point. Desperate, I queue a Rocket Launcher and some missiles, while I get 'rekt by the drones. I wait in cover while firing my basic pistol, and I actually manage to kill the smaller ones or leave them stunned. Once the Rocket Launcher is complete..


Oh..and they drop loot.

So yeah, I wasn't expecting that. I'm now crafting stuff to make a Ground Vehicle so I can do stuff faster.

A great point though, is that I haven't read wiki or any tutorial. The game's pretty intuitive, and I only opened the wiki page to get descriptions of items, because some descriptions aren't in the game yet. The game has no tutorial, but it has a help button that links directly to a "Getting Started" page that covers everything. I didn't read it because I was actually wanting to see if I would die, and I didn't, even though I took my time poking around menus and all that.
So the survival aspect is there, but it doesn't become an annoyance. I've played a game last month called Farlight Explorers, which Food/Oxygen worked the same way...but you'd have to be eating and running for oxygen every few minutes, which was pretty boring and annoying. So I really like the balance.

I also like how I can see a weird tower and a weird..forest..or base? In the distance. It gives you a danger/mystery/exploration vibe, and this is the sort of thing I wanted in such a game, for years now..really.

I haven't got the chance to fly any sort of vehicle yet. There are Ground Vehicles (uses hover-thrusters, not sure if they actually fly), Small Vehicles, Capital Vehicles and bases.
Some blocks are made for GV and SV [Ground Vehicles/Small Vehicles], some just for CV [Capitals] and BA [Bases]. Get used to these names, because I built the wrong parts for my base too many times before I noticed the game tells you which type the part is. Derp!

It also REALLY feels like a Space Engineers meets StarMade meets the exploration/survival side of Hazeron. But in a much better "body" than you would expect.
It's different enough not to annoy me, but I DO find it weird that when you remove a block, it gives you the components back instead of the actual block...just like Space Engineers. The key to switch power of a vehicle/base is "Y"...exactly like Space Engineers. Rotate blocks using Insert/Home/End/Page Up/Page Down/Del keys...exactly like Space Engineers - even though their mapping is better.
Again, I'm one of those who hates KSH, therefore SE is my enemy. But I can't help but notice it.

The interface is pretty neat for an EA game, IMO. I've played stuff that gave me nightmares and headaches. Interface-wise, it feels like the end of a Beta rather than the start of the Alpha.

Sorry for the very random notes thrown around, but I'm actually excited to play the game further, yet I'm on a hurry because RL calls.
I already posted about these issues to the devs, and if the game remains good up to the end-game, I'll probably register on their official forums and annoy the fuck out of everyone to fix the worst stuff first.

A few more screens:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Map screen, 'spinnable':


The moon that orbits. I have no idea what planets are around, but it looks so good..and you can actually go there! Reminds me of Hazeron days 


Derpy Base:


Someone who found it would be fun to scare the shit out of me when I was getting my oxygen bottles from the oxygen generator:


Planet explorer 'alright:

EDIT: Beware that I MIGHT BE biased, because I was really looking forward to his for a few weeks now. I tried to be honest, though. 

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Anyone know if this can run in WINE?  I was only giving a 32-bit Windows OS when I got this computer, so to run 64 bit, I'm going to need to grab Linux and WINE.