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General inquiry


Dubois

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Hi Noveans,

 

Just wanted to reach out and ask some general questions regarding DU. I took a look around and did not find exact responses to similar questions and would like to bump this up for new players and those considering pledging (like myself). Please excuse any redundancies to previous threads/topics/discussions.

 

1. I have been interested in pledging Patron - Is this too much to spend on the current & foreseeable available content? 

 

2. I enjoy games like Minecraft, NMS(surprise!), and Astroneer. I actually did not enjoy EVE Online, Star Conflict, and some similar games as they became too overwhelming.  Is this right for me?

 

3. In its current stage, especially as a p2p model, is there any downtime/restricted access periods that I should be looking out for?

 

4. Like I previously mentioned, I do enjoy open world building games where I can mostly be isolated to building large structures/ships. However, when I am fatigued from that - can I find cities, towns,  space ships, space colonies, & other more cosmopolitan things to explore?

 

5. I love the FUNCTIONAL building aspect, I support others in there different & interesting interpretations of space and how it should be colonized. Does this game have a potential for us to live in each others creations? Routinely rely on player based cities, ships & so on? Its possible this question can be tied into 4. But the spacefaring explorer in me had to ask! 

 

6. Finally, this single shard expanse, is it well populated? Or am I to find myself in another rendition of NMS?

 

 

 

Again, I appreciate the time any of you take to go through this with me. After countless hours of scouring youtube for gameplay video and commentary, I have found the answers to these questions outstanding. Although I could always be wrong and not have looked hard enough!

 

All the best!
 

Doob.

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1 hour ago, Dubois said:

1. I have been interested in pledging Patron - Is this too much to spend on the current & foreseeable available content? 

Depends on several things:

- if you want to TEST a game (not PLAY) it - then no. 

- You get 12 DAC with that PAC (each worth about 18€ => 216€) - so no

 

1 hour ago, Dubois said:

2. I enjoy games like Minecraft, NMS(surprise!), and Astroneer. I actually did not enjoy EVE Online, Star Conflict, and some similar games as they became too overwhelming.  Is this right for me?

DU will have no NPCs, no quests and no missions. Everything is created by players - markets (like in EVE: buy/sell orders), cities, stations...everything. 

If you enjoy a sandbox - then yes. If you need guidance on what to do - then no. 

 

1 hour ago, Dubois said:

3. In its current stage, especially as a p2p model, is there any downtime/restricted access periods that I should be looking out for?

there probably will be some downtimes to update servers / restart them - but I have no idea honestly. Usually those times are only very short, if there are any at all

 

1 hour ago, Dubois said:

4. Like I previously mentioned, I do enjoy open world building games where I can mostly be isolated to building large structures/ships. However, when I am fatigued from that - can I find cities, towns,  space ships, space colonies, & other more cosmopolitan things to explore?

Yes, everything is created by players - BUT everyone needs resources to do so. So you HAVE to mine, sell and interact with others to get yourself started. You can't build "good" ships or huge ships alone and in a safe place (like the safezone) - because that wouldn't make much sense for an MMO. You can build and do basic stuff in the safezone but you certainly won't be able to build huge things alone - as you need lots and lots of resources for it. 

 

1 hour ago, Dubois said:

5. I love the FUNCTIONAL building aspect, I support others in there different & interesting interpretations of space and how it should be colonized. Does this game have a potential for us to live in each others creations? Routinely rely on player based cities, ships & so on? Its possible this question can be tied into 4. But the spacefaring explorer in me had to ask! 

yes, that's the whole point of a MMO

 

1 hour ago, Dubois said:

6. Finally, this single shard expanse, is it well populated? Or am I to find myself in another rendition of NMS?

depends on how many players join....

NQ will and can certainly keep the playerbase together and enforce interaction (skill training time, introducing new/faster engines, resource distribution,...)

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Brilliant!

 

Thanks for taking the time! I truly appreciate it. I would much rather play a game thats based on users rather than made up quests. I will make one minor critique however - in regards to your response on the point of an MMO. Historically, MMO's have been driven by a mostly linear experience for players. Sure, you can explore, hunt, and patronize NPC's & other players on your own time. However, Cities are predesigned, Player advancements are determined by scripted NPC quests, The look, feel and progress of the game is determined by the content the software developer decides is best for the role play experience.

 

You did answer this question perfectly earlier on, though! The game will have no NPC's and will include no guidance. This is the cherry my friend!

 

Thanks again, I have a much more substantial understanding of DU!

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In addition to what Lethys said, just remember that DU is in development, pre-alpha stage atm, and wont be in any form of 'game playable' mode for probably a year or so (My guess for when Beta is released - until NQ provides an updated road map).

 

So 'playing' DU now is really testing DU now, which means lots of bugs and incomplete/missing features. The upside to this is that you can contribute to the direction that the game takes ;)

 

I signed up for Alpha 1 and am looking forward to playing with my first few voxels sometime in the future ;)

 

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5 minutes ago, Dubois said:

Let me follow up if I may,


What is the current status of the game? How long before you anticipate joining the game Core?

NQ will be releasing an updated development roadmap 'soon', once that is done then I will have some idea of when I join the game, as I am signed up for access to the Alpha 1 release. My guess is that will be some time between June and November.

 

The game is still in pre-alpha, which means many functions/features do not exist yet, however, as you can see by many of the NQ youtube video updates there is already significant progress, i.e. there are planets, you can make buildings, air craft and space craft and travel. There are many building 'elements' in the game already, as well as a cut down version of LUA scripting to give items extra functionality (built by players).

 

Is DU playable in its current form - yes, BUT, its mainly being used for testing, debugging etc. If you arent prepared to help to do that then you may find that the game in its current form isnt enough as its not finished (No where near finished) and the games servers are only started at specific days and times to do the testing. There is not 24/7 access to the game. That probably wont happen till BETA release.

 

Beta release means that the game is in playable mode, has all major functions, most minor functions, and it there for final bug squashing and polishing.

 

Hope this info helps :)

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Its not fair to you to say this as you have been waiting seemingly longer than I have (Just a couple of months since I wast studying Star Conflict and came upon DU.), but I will lose my mind until that availability. 

 

The Youtube videos show a game I am prepared to join, however - without ruining expectation, waiting is perhaps the wise thing to do. I haven't been this interested in a game since the debacle that was Spore(still burned a lifetime playing it). Will Wright had me on the edge of my seat at every video release. J.C. has seemingly mustered the same level of anticipation out of me.

 

I have to say, I am impressed with the LUA scripting - this opens a whole new meaning to how we build and interact  with things in a game. 

 

Look forward to seeing what you create!

 

Doob.

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7 minutes ago, Dubois said:

Its not fair to you to say this as you have been waiting seemingly longer than I have (Just a couple of months since I wast studying Star Conflict and came upon DU.), but I will lose my mind until that availability. 

 

The Youtube videos show a game I am prepared to join, however - without ruining expectation, waiting is perhaps the wise thing to do. I haven't been this interested in a game since the debacle that was Spore(still burned a lifetime playing it). Will Wright had me on the edge of my seat at every video release. J.C. has seemingly mustered the same level of anticipation out of me.

 

I have to say, I am impressed with the LUA scripting - this opens a whole new meaning to how we build and interact  with things in a game. 

 

Look forward to seeing what you create!

 

Doob.

This will give you an idea of what I was able to create years ago in Second Life:

 

 

 

Roll on DU! :)

 

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Wow!

 

First off - Nostalgic music was gold.

 

Second, this is impressive! The style lines you use will look incredible in DU. Based on the videos, automated opening and closing of windows and doors  - I can see that you will be taking full advantage of LUA's capability.

 

I missed SL as a gamer - lots of regret there.  Well done!

 

Doob.

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7 hours ago, Dubois said:

 I will make one minor critique however - in regards to your response on the point of an MMO. Historically, MMO's have been driven by a mostly linear experience for players.

 

DU is a sandbox MMO. Once you are in you can go wherever and do whatever you like. There is no linear story driven progress which makes DU very much like EVE in that you literally decide your own path, generally together with others. In many ways DU will be even more player driven that EVE, if only for the fact there are no prefab ships and structures fixed and designed by the developer. Everything you encounter as far as these will be designed and built by players.

 

 

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Keep in mind that DU will be a far more dangerous place than EVE !

 

Outside of a few (relatively small) designated "safezones", it's FFA-PVP everywhere, with complete loss of all items when you die. There's no NPC "space police" in DU to regulate things, and no concept of "high-security" space...

 

Unlike EVE, there's no network of invulnerable NPC space stations (with unlimited storage) to keep your stuff safe. Outside of the handful of safezones, you will have to rely on other players to protect your possessions.

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Considering Highsec in EVE safe is like considering jumping a red light safe. High Sec is the most unsafe place in EVE as you never know what someone may intend to do, especially when you are flying valuable cargo.

 

EVE High Sec is scary and dangerous. I'll take Null any time of the day since anything not blue to me is potentially hostile and needs to be avoided, unless you are looking for a fight ;) ..

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NanoDot,

 

This is an excellent point. People blow past you in Eve all the time. I noticed it was well populated but passive/poorly zoned.

 

DU has created a looped scene in my mind where I must constantly look over my shoulder while I build. The constant fear will give this game a fear factor perfect for space proper.

 

space pirates alone look to have a bright future to pray on those less fortunate.

 

I will say though - if not already implemented, have a citizen status meter based on our activity interacting with others in space. Could call it threat level? 

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37 minutes ago, Dubois said:

if not already implemented, have a citizen status meter based on our activity interacting with others in space. Could call it threat level? 

yeah that won't work, everyone will just get the same level.... because everyone is interacting with everyone at some point. And shooting/killing shouldn't affect any automatic standing imho - because it's all player driven

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12 minutes ago, Lethys said:

yeah that won't work, everyone will just get the same level.... because everyone is interacting with everyone at some point. And shooting/killing shouldn't affect any automatic standing imho - because it's all player driven

Agreed.

 

The game should have a mechanic that allows YOU to assign a "standing level" to any player or org, but there should not be a global "rating of player based on their actions" that's decided by some game mechanic.

 

In fact, realistically you shouldn't be able to automatically identify the pilot of some random ship you encounter, much less which org it belongs to, unless it's displaying obvious markings or actively broadcasting some kind of ID signature. But I guess that would make the game too "hard"... ;)

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On 08/04/2018 at 7:39 AM, Dubois said:

I have to say, I am impressed with the LUA scripting - this opens a whole new meaning to how we build and interact  with things in a game. 

 

Look forward to seeing what you create!

 

Doob.

 

Dubois... 

 

I think this is going to be a doozy of a sandbox.... I've already spent some hours in the pre-alpha and intend to spend many more thes weekend.

The freedom is unparalleled by any game I've played save perhaps Minecraft.


I've always wanted a sandbox game where you could program IN the game... I had hoped Star Citizen would have that kind of freedom given their cool Mobiglas architecture and the ingame assets such as captain's computer in his quarters... But alas, they seem hard coded and static...

 

Elite Dangerous was supposedly a sandbox (and I'll admit to spending a couple of thousand hours playing it) but ultimately and looking back on it, it was a very shallow solo experience with little that I could recommend to someone beyond having a love of flying spacecraft... The mechics were are still are to this day horrifically stunted and placeholdery.... The "galactic Power characters" literally consist of a single JPG.

 

As a programmer, LUA is an awesome addition, along with HTML rendering you can create pretty much anything given enough time/resources.

 

Elite Dangerous i

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