Electronic Finesse vs. Brute Force

I wasn't talking about your post specifically, I was explaining what he meant by there not being iron progression.
The rest was directed at OP.

 

Your right, 'realism' is pointless in this.

What we want is verisimilitude, and that too is gone. Worse, for the most part the first 3 tiers so far are all fairly bland fantasy in looks.

They could make a really cool game here, distinctive and grand, but they need to push the Science fiction trappings more instead of leaving us with yet another fantasy by numbers.

That could just be me though, I'd rather see Biolume lanterns lit by glowing algae that are fed slurred plant matter than burning torches, even if the materials going in and illumination coming out are the same.

But right now the game feels, like its trying to be both and it doesn't really manage either. It aspires to being something like a Jules Verne scientific romance or Roddenberry era Treck- Not hard SF by any means, but destinctly scientific in its fiction. But the clearly magical items, the look and feel of many craftables, all feel too fantasy.

It wants to come off as fantasy, but the trappings of the Apex, the guns, the robots and our FTL capable teleportation ready spaceships undercut that too.

They could go fully their own way, ships traversing the lumanipherous aether carrying us between the crystal spheres that hang within, but that takes a certain courage I haven't seen.

Any of the ways would take a clarity and unity of vision that, if I'm honest, I havent seen.

Before I get dog piled, that's not a dig, I like some of the magical type items I've found, I like the slightly campy retro sci fi look, all floating brains and Wellesian paranoia. They just don't go together.

Right now the game cant manage to be true to its own myth either way.

 

It's almost like all the tiers and items are not done yet.

 

Edit: Pic was larger than I thought so I put it in a spoiler

 

Just as well because if they were finished and it was set in stone, there would be no hope to change things for the better.

I have nothing against fantasy, nothing against science fiction. Hells I've blended their motifs myself. But doing so takes thought, takes care, that right now and hopefully not for long, I'm just not seeing. There is no shared thread that would as yet link an eyeball encrusted sword, a coal fired FTL drive, and a solid gold pickaxe, and if they want to have any pretension of world building there needs to be one.

Idealy they bring the tech and the tech look to the fore more, use the fantastic sparingly as an accent, so that it remains fantastic. But this I grant is a purely personal preference.

 

Very true arguments over personal preference are pointless.

 

We have birds that spit ionized superheated gas and shit boulders. I think realism is pretty much out the window.

 

It's not realism so much as consistency and flavor.

Take Starcraft 2. The first game is a Science Fiction Western spliced with Space Troopers. Each faction has a clear flavor, preferred tactics, and a mythos. There are Psionics, but they're very slight and toned down. There's nothing of fantasy in it, everything is gritty and science fiction. Starcraft 2, however, has an ancient prophecy, religious fanatics, and a touch of mysticism entirely unfelt in the first game. It's as though someone thought they were producing a 40k game or, more likely, Metzen had spent altogether too long working with Fantasy.

"Realism" isn't exactly possible in Science Fiction, but we can create consistency and a certain feel. As it stands, the progression feels altogether too much like that in Terraria and the game's trappings tend more towards fantasy than Science Fiction.

Princess Decoy

 

You must admit you are trying to argue personal preference over themes which is really just up to the artist so your opinion nor mine will matter at the end. If this game was a math problem their would only be one right answer, but it's not it's art and as art the artist in the end can make the vision as they wish your opinion is pointless. Especially since the forum is not flooded with people wanting refunds over the game not being how they would have made it.

 

Its not so much personal preference, as consistency and staying true to ones own underlying logic.

Right now the game rather reminds me of being told a story by my 5 year old cousin, its just a stream of consciousness deluge of what ever someone thought is cool at the time.

The game will be stronger if it focusses on a single aesthetic for concrete reasons. It permits more time developing assess in keeping with the style, it allows them to lay groundwork for events and build a more coherent back-story, which in turn furthers the creation of player generated stories that are at the core of a game like this.

The favouring of the fantasy or science fiction elements itself is a matter of personal preference (though the game is already being sold as science fiction)

The desire for more coherence in style and presentation? That's just good story telling. The creator of a work tells us what a work is in 2 ways. By what they include, but as importantly by what they leave out.

 

Yeah still personal preference. You really can't fault a video game for not being like real life.

 

I don't mind unrealistic stuff, but this goes too far for me... I wasn't so surprised at first because I was a glitch, I thought it would be logical that robots don't breathe, but then I discovered that I could do the same with other types of characters... Which was just odd in my eyes.

What was even more surprising, was that I found a whole floran village on a moon... And then again, on another moon, though smaller, it was kinda cool but it made 0 sense. I really hope they will change that in the future or something.

 

So your immersion was broken, ok.

 

I am all for more realism when it comes to gold silver and platinum. Anyone who has gone through high school will know that a gold pickax will do nothing to a rock except smush itself flat.

 

Yeah, immersion is a good thing right?

Especially if the game has so many good things that actually make it immersing, from the great lighting system to the awesome soundtrack.

 

I agree with the OP. Its not so much for realism, but for consistancy. As much as you want to bend it...starbound has and NEEDS to have realism in it. Pickaxes? Wood from "trees"? Normal "dirt"? Whenever you take a material out of our world you need to put it into a context...and stone, gold, silver etc. are from our world. The contrary would be to say..hm..invent a new thing. Like..now there are growing big strange-looking plants that can even move or so..and they still drop wood. you can justify this.

What you cant justify is a gold-pickaxe mining better than a stone one. (Im not completely familiar with the materials btw). You basicly take something that allready exists and you apply WRONG rules to it. Its as if you create a bird. But you dont give it wings, it cant fly, it doesnt lay eggs and also it doesnt chirp. So how is it a bird? Thats just "wrong" in this aspect and the OP is right to create atleast consistancy in the existing stuff that..well..exists..

More importantly. Changing this only gives a positive outcome. It cant get mor enegative as it is imo. And leaving it like this just gives some, maybe a lot or maybe less people a "quirk" on their experience.
Atleast at my end it was like that. "Seriously? A golden pickaxe mining better than the stone one? Someone didnt went to school i guess..." Thats how my reaction to this was. And i might add that this doesnt happen when you invent things completely new etc.

 

No it's a pointless buzzword used by people who don't like something that has to do with story.

 

Me and many others can disagree with that.

 

Well I could care less. Their will always be people that see a certain way does not mean they are instantly right because they are more than one person.

 

What breaks immersion can vary from person to person, but that hardly makes it a buzzword