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Arkane PREY - Arkane's immersive coffee cup transformation sim - now with Mooncrash roguelike mode DLC

Jaedar

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
9,838
Project: Eternity Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Remember those people held up in the cargo bay? They were boring me, the gameplay was boring me, so I cut the leading lady off mid-sentence with a shotgun blast to the face and then murdered all the rest. I could not care less for their plight.

We failed. This isn't the one.

Start over.

You know, that's a good point.
If you kill all those people in the cargo bay surely they'd consider the learned empathy experiment a failure and pull the plug on the simulation? They do so if you enter the escape pod and abandon ship, which is possible before even entering the cargo bay. Surely mass murder equates to worse/a complete lack of empathy than simply abandoning ship cause you're a pussy/don't care? Inconsistency much? Of course Arkane in LG tradition are against plot-derived fail states if they can help it but here it actually makes sense to do so.
Maybe they don't know the output of the simulation until it reaches an end state. Admittedly this makes little sense when there's a physical participant, but it would not be weird at all of it was entirely virtual.
 

DeepOcean

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2012
Messages
7,394
Fuck this game:
Me: "My God, there is alot of dead people here, some fucked up shit happened, I want to know what. Is there someone alive? What happened here?"
Raphael Colantonio: "Here player, you are getting to the Crew Quarters, the place where the personnel of the station lived.
Me: "Cool, I want to know, did they try to leave on a hurry? Were they caught by surprise? Did they fight? Were they paralyzed by fear? Is there some story of heroism or sheer cowardy? Of people being people... this will be so cool. Did people try to do nasty things like letting the monsters eat others so they could escape? Did they fight or even killed each other for the very few remaining escape pods? You know, Raphael, some cool backstory can bring the whole place to life."
Raphael Colantonio: " Ehh... here player, you need to go around collecting voice samples of this engineer Danielle Sho to open that door."
Me: Cool, this woman was like some important person, maybe she tried to rally people trying to control their fear, arguments go up and down, the climate is desperate. There was a set of escape pods but between them and the escape pods, there were aliens, there was only one way for most people reaching the escape pods, especially because there wasn't enough escape pods for everyone so she decided to take with her anyone that volunteered to try lure the Typhoon and let the rest escape knowing well that this would mean certain death to them. You know, when you get to admire a character by his actions, you feel he/she was worthy and so when you finally have to make a decision, you know a person of value just died, her actions inspired you into feeling...so you could learn emphaty. Are you going to repeat her act of sacrifice and throw yourself on a fight where you can't win with the Nightmare to help others, knowing you would lose half of your neuromods after the nightmare tries to fry your brain?
Raphael Colantonio: "Ehh... here player, did you know Danielle Sho liked to play DnD?"
Me: "Cool, is she an introvert many people don't put much faith in and when this shit happens, she is forced to stop being passive or she gonna die, changes as a character and discover something on herself she didnt knew? Actually everyone discover something about everyone they didn't knew."
Raphael Colantonio: "Ehh... she liked to play DnD, isn't this good character development? Do you care about her already?"
Me (growing suspicious): No.
Raphael Colantonio: "Ehh... okay, come here... on this place, Danielle Sho singed some music, she was a good singer... you know... do you care about her already?"
Me (growing impatient):No.
Raphael Colantonio: "Okay... alright, here you will see her tragic background..."
Me (feeling relief): "Now, this gonna be good!"
Raphael Colantonio: "She had a lesbian partner that died, this is tragic... do you care about her already?"
Me (sad knowing where this is going):No, alot of people died on this station, her partner or herself don't interest me.
Raphael Colantonio: "But, she is special..."
Me: "So, she like pussy? Probably half the humanity likes pussy, so no, she isn't special, dude, believe on me."
Raphael Colantonio: "But she is from a minority, she is special, do you like her already?"
Me: Dude, did this game became Gone Home and I missed something?
Raphael Colantonio: " Ehhh... okay, her partner was killed by this crazy psycho cook, are you going to kill him?"
Me: Nope, won't fight four loading screens and respawning trash mobs to just kill this dude for this lady I don't care about, sorry.
Raphael Colantonio: (At the end of the game.) You player were a bad person for failing to show your emphaty towards that incredible minority appeasing character the we made to look cool on the media and give interviews about how great people we are, you have no emphaty, so you will die.
Me: FUCK. YOU. IN. THE. ASS.
 
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Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,230
"loading screens"

Truly the most horrifying thing in PREY.

Edit: Games "journalism" at its finest: https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/prey-review/1900-6416678/
:argh:

Anyhow, finished the game. Was so disappointed I like some other posters here ended up just running past all the Typhons and loot to get to the next magic objective marker, get it over and done with. Skipped a large bunch of optional missions too. The second half of the game is really boring and falls apart in every respect. Such a shame. And yeah, it's not really worth replaying as it stands. Still way better than Bioshock but it cuts deep, as there's a ton the game does get right and I rather enjoyed the first half for what it was...but it's all in vain ultimately.
 
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fantadomat

Arcane
Edgy Vatnik Wumao
Joined
Jun 2, 2017
Messages
37,087
Location
Bulgaria
I finished the game a few weeks ago and it is a good game,it have solid ground for a really good sequel.Worst things about the game is that it is not scary,the enemies are far too similar and not unnerving.Also you can kill 80% of them with melee.Another bad thing is that once you explore the whole station you are just running from point to point and doing some shit.The second half could be a bit tedious if you have explored everything.
The combat is mixed bag for me.It feels like Deus ex and System shock,it is a mixture of the player skills and its avatar skills both in the skill system.That is the positive,the bad is that the weapons are few and useless,I used only two,the wrench of 80% of the enemies and the laser for the flying shits.
As a whole i would recommend it,it is worth the money for most codexers.Oh also be ware there is bug in the cargo bay when you enter it from outside during the mine quest,make sure that you make manual save before you enter it.The bug could be fixed thou.
 

Wirdschowerdn

Ph.D. in World Saving
Patron
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
34,462
Location
Clogging the Multiverse with a Crowbar
While Prey was a quirky and yet in some ways unsatisfying game that I still enjoyed overall, I wouldn't mind if Arkane Austin moves on with an entirely new IP. And perhaps keep that retarded Minority/LGBSTAZDGS/SJW shit a bit more toned down the next time. And no, we don't MCA's subpar writing again.
 

Hines

Savant
Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Messages
258
While Prey was a quirky and yet in some ways unsatisfying game that I still enjoyed overall, I wouldn't mind if Arkane Austin moves on with an entirely new IP. And perhaps keep that retarded Minority/LGBSTAZDGS/SJW shit a bit more toned down the next time. And no, we don't MCA's subpar writing again.
If sales are any indication, Arkane won't have a choice, since Prey, despite serious price cuts, only managed to reach number 5 in the NPD for May, and number 11 on the U.S. PS4 store (it failed to chart in the top 20 on the U.K. PS4 store). It's easily the biggest flop Bethesda have published since Hunted.

http://www.vg247.com/2017/06/20/injustice-2-tramples-may-npd-charts-poor-old-prey-not-so-hot/
https://blog.us.playstation.com/2017/06/08/playstation-store-mays-top-downloads/
https://blog.eu.playstation.com/201...-13th-debut-on-mays-playstation-store-charts/
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
Patron
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
18,650
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Why do you keep saying immersive sim in this thread? WTF is that? Some kind of voodoo millennial term? PREY is no more or less immershun-y than any other FPS.
 

ciox

Liturgist
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Messages
1,278
Then just stop putting fucking mirrors in the game, Thief and System Shock 2 never tried to show you a fake mirror that doesn't work.
 

V_K

Arcane
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
7,714
Location
at a Nowhere near you
People wanting to care about fictional beings never cease to wtf me.
There is a reason why this is important at the end of the game but I can't spoil it too much.
I've read the spoilers already - I don't see myself playing this in the nearest decade anyway... or anything else for that matter :negative:. Still don't give a shit. Different plot branches matter only as much as they warrant different gameplay strategies/approaches, everything else is useless fluff.
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,230
People wanting to care about fictional beings never cease to wtf me.

You don't want good writing and engaging characters in your semi-storyfag semi-RPG? If the characters are well-written and the game is actually immersive you're going to care on some level by default. If it's not immersive and the story is boring, and at the very least gameplay is not holding its own, there's an entire disconnect from the experience.
So yes, I want to care, because it's indicative of quality. It's not so much a desire to care about them as human beings, either, it's a desire to care wtf is being said at all, to maintain entertainment levels and maintain immersion, which are explicitly tied. If you're going to break up the gameplay with storyfaggotry you'd better make it interesting. And it is sometimes interesting in Prey, but not often...especially in the second half of the game.
 
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Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,230
V_K said:
Emoshunal depth can go fuck itself.

I don't mind. The game strives for emotional plot points at times, and that would be fine if it didn't fail miserably.

PREY is no more or less immershun-y than any other FPS.

Don't speak of what you do not understand. So all FPS games provide a measurably identical/averaged level of immersion for all players? Many developer's extensive efforts to maintain player immersion by design via intricate details, logical game systems and map layouts, gameplay that meets down the middle with realism, consistency in all the things and so on is irrelevant? Halo is just as immersive as Minecraft which is just as immersive as System Shock 2?
Prey in particular isn't very immersive, but there's plenty FPS games that are and plenty that are not. And while immersion is a highly fragile and somewhat subjective state of mind, there are some things that are just inherently more immersive than others, like a game that intentionally strives for immersion and highly consistent, believable design consciously and a game that does not give two shits and just wants to provide solid gameplay.
 
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sexbad?

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
2,812
Location
sexbad
Codex USB, 2014
this is the game with portal screens though. there shouldnt be much of an issue with rendering a reflection if one of the first things you do is break through a window to reveal an entirely different environment from what's being rendered at first. when i ran it, it was really smooth while rendering both the space station environment and the city at the same time.
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,230
It's already been established the reason for no mirrors is to avoid intricate third person animation, as well as to avoid rendering potentially very complex things twice (e.g the recycling of half the lobby as shown above).
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
Patron
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
18,650
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I don't mind. The game strives for emotional plot points at times, and that would be fine if it didn't fail miserably.



Don't speak of what you do not understand. So all FPS games provide a measurably identical/averaged level of immersion for all players? Many developer's extensive efforts to maintain player immersion by design via intricate details, logical game systems and map layouts, gameplay that meets down the middle with realism, consistency in all the things and so on is irrelevant? Halo is just as immersive as Minecraft which is just as immersive as System Shock 2?
Prey in particular isn't very immersive, but there's plenty FPS games that are and plenty that are not. And while immersion is a highly fragile and somewhat subjective state of mind, there are some things that are just inherently more immersive than others, like a game that intentionally strives for immersion and highly consistent, believable design consciously and a game that does not give two shits and just wants to provide solid gameplay.

So, it's a millennial marketing term. Thanks for confirming and also confirming that you are a dumbass.

i guess they don't make newfags like they used to.
 

Israfael

Arcane
Joined
Sep 21, 2012
Messages
3,580
As I already said two times, I think, mirrors simply _can't_ work in a deferred shading engine - the image would simply severely 'lag' behind the events in the 'real' (in-game) world, or would look like screenshots from that botched Assassin's creed game. It can display anything else (as LG technology demonstrates), but not mirror what happens around you. In short, you simply can't make proper mirrors even with sacrificing the performance in such an engine. Besides, they could simply say 'TranStar simulation hardware is weak so it can't do mirrors properly, duh' and be done with it. In my opinion, pretty petty complaint considering there's bigger fish to fry (all the gameplay cuts) or that Kodex is usually focused on the gameplay rather than muh imershun / graphix
 

baturinsky

Arcane
Joined
Apr 21, 2013
Messages
5,526
Location
Russia
As I already said two times, I think, mirrors simply _can't_ work in a deferred shading engine - the image would simply severely 'lag' behind the events in the 'real' (in-game) world, or would look like screenshots from that botched Assassin's creed game. It can display anything else (as LG technology demonstrates), but not mirror what happens around you. In short, you simply can't make proper mirrors even with sacrificing the performance in such an engine. Besides, they could simply say 'TranStar simulation hardware is weak so it can't do mirrors properly, duh' and be done with it. In my opinion, pretty petty complaint considering there's bigger fish to fry (all the gameplay cuts) or that Kodex is usually focused on the gameplay rather than muh imershun / graphix

They can, question is the price. For example, render the scene with secondary camera at a lower settings and project it on mirror.
 

Israfael

Arcane
Joined
Sep 21, 2012
Messages
3,580
That would work if all the lightning and shading was applied immediately, not after whole scene has been rendered. You can partly blame consoles for that with their weak geometry engines
 

Sam Ecorners

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Messages
1,302
Location
Gallbladder of Western Civilization
I finally got tired of running back and forth and respawning enemies in hardware labs and turned on cheats. Also lesbian subplot annoyed me, and I'm fairly liberal on gay shit.
 

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