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Author Topic: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*  (Read 14581 times)

Offline KingIsaacLinksr

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Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« on: October 13, 2015, 04:22:12 pm »
http://www.soldak.com/News/News/Zombasite-Early-Access.html

All I have to say is: Major Wince. This is the absolute worst impression of a game I've ever seen from a reputable indie developer this year from a trailer and Steam page. It plays out like most generic/shoddily developed RPGs that have launched in the past year since Steam opened the floodgates. The branding is even more generic and this doesn't stand out whatsoever. If it didn't have Soldak's name, I would have immediately ignored this title. I get that this is how Soldak has operated in the past, but that's no longer good enough. (Saw an article about this on Gamasutra too). Not by a million miles. Even when he first announced this title, I was surprised because quite a few similar RPGs with similar asset development had launched on Steam before him. And it's only gotten 100X worse since. 

Furthermore: Less than 60FPS gameplay on YouTube is a major no-no. You could get away with 30FPS but that looks like sub-30FPS, which makes it worse. People like myself are going to assume the game is poorly optimized. (Generally a bad impression to give off). There's no hook to bring people in, the game has their usual graphical/animation standards (which aren't that great) and so on and so on. There might be a good game underneath the surface on this, but he's already made some of the worst mistakes for not grabbing people's attention fast enough. Gawds, so many mistakes with this announcement. I'm sorry Soldak, but this might have been a major killing blow before you even got out of the gate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohXvmrisJiA

« Last Edit: October 13, 2015, 04:26:27 pm by KingIsaacLinksr »
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Offline Wingflier

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2015, 05:03:01 pm »
Ewwwwwwwwwww
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Offline Castruccio

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2015, 06:46:32 pm »
I bought the game and have played for about an hour.  It's early access so there are bugs and confusing things, but the gameplay is fun and interesting so far.  Soldak has never been good at marketing or flashy trailers, but as far as I can tell this game is a ton of fun if you like the dynamic worlds Soldak makes. 

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Offline crazyroosterman

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2015, 08:58:09 pm »
have to be honest that web page made my eyes bleed a little bit.
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Offline Wingflier

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2015, 09:45:17 pm »
Quote from: Castruccio on October 13, 2015, 06:46:32 pm
I bought the game and have played for about an hour.  It's early access so there are bugs and confusing things, but the gameplay is fun and interesting so far.  Soldak has never been good at marketing or flashy trailers, but as far as I can tell this game is a ton of fun if you like the dynamic worlds Soldak makes.
How is it different from say a typical RPG or zombie game, since it seems to be trying to accomplish both at once?
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Offline Misery

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2015, 01:48:58 am »
....ANOTHER game with zombies?

Hasnt this gotten old yet?  I mean, it's like every freaking game these days involves hordes of zombies.

Whatever happened to sudden explosions of ninjas?  I miss ninjas and the random kung fu that would often go with them.  At least they tended to DO stuff rather than just walk/run at you.
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Offline Mánagarmr

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2015, 01:41:11 am »
Already when Soldak announced their "Zombasite" game, I figured it was gonna bomb, as even back then the zombie fad was already in its death throes. Soldak's always been about innovative and interesting gameplay, and that's something they've really never failed on. But the horrid graphics and sound assets are really starting to become annoying. It feels like they've never really improved. This looks just as bad as Din's Curse. Worst part is, if I closed my eyes and just listened, I'd think he'd be playing Din's because it has the exact same sound set. Down to individual monster growls.


I just wish they'd innovate on graphics and sound as much as gameplay. And to be entirely fair, Soldak's been remaking the same game over and over for years now, with a few additions here and there. But perhaps that's what the fanbase wants. I'm probably staying away from this one. I haven't had time to sink into either Din's or Drox so far, and I'm not seeing myself play this anytime soon.
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Offline Shrugging Khan

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2015, 02:52:25 am »
Quote from: Misery on October 14, 2015, 01:48:58 am
....ANOTHER game with zombies?
This.

I liked Din's Curse. I liked Din's Curse again when they called it Drox Operative, but not as much. Now this is just silly...
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Offline zespri

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2015, 04:19:38 pm »
Lol, when I complained about graphics and very dated look a few years ago on these same forums for din's curse/depth of peril, people where like "you missing the point dude, the gameplay is so awesome!" I'm glad you all finally caught up!  ;D
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Offline KingIsaacLinksr

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2015, 05:18:13 pm »
Quote from: zespri on October 22, 2015, 04:19:38 pm
Lol, when I complained about graphics and very dated look a few years ago on these same forums for din's curse/depth of peril, people where like "you missing the point dude, the gameplay is so awesome!" I'm glad you all finally caught up!  ;D

I was wondering if this would get pointed out and you're right. I guess the deluge of bad Steam games has raised my standards considerably since then. And really, I do have to wonder why Soldak hasn't even attempted to make things better. I'm ok with visuals being crappy the first go arounds if you're not an artist but this is the fourth or fifth go around. Time to step it up =|.
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Offline Toranth

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2015, 07:32:51 pm »
I liked Drox Operative a lot, but unfortunately it also turned me off Soldak.
See, there's a bug / balance issue in the game - NPC planets only get stronger linearly as sector level goes up, but monsters get stronger at quadratic or better rates.  So by sector level 75 or so, all the NPC planets get wiped out in no more than an hour.

The game is basically unplayable at upper levels except on tiny maps, max races, no Drox quests, and a fair amount of luck.  When this was pointed out to the developer, he basically said "Huh.  Well, sucks for you" and refused to fix it.  He just wasn't interested in Drox anymore.

I have no problem with graphics, but I have no interest in a game that might be abandoned half-broken at any time.  (Same reason I will never touch StarDrive 2).
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Offline Mánagarmr

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2015, 02:40:27 pm »
Quote from: zespri on October 22, 2015, 04:19:38 pm
Lol, when I complained about graphics and very dated look a few years ago on these same forums for din's curse/depth of peril, people where like "you missing the point dude, the gameplay is so awesome!" I'm glad you all finally caught up!  ;D
Well, I don't remember saying that the graphics were good, just that they weren't really THAT important to gameplay. I don't think they are in Zombasite either, because it's a Soldak game. But it's very depressing to see he has not improved at all since Din's and older. It's still the same blocky characters, awkward animations and lack of visual effects.


I know gameplay trumps graphics, but SOME improvement is to be expected, isn't it?
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Offline Shrugging Khan

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #12 on: October 25, 2015, 02:48:45 pm »
IMHO the graphics aren't even too simple, they're just too plain ugly and confusing.
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Offline zespri

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #13 on: October 25, 2015, 05:04:13 pm »
Quote from: Mánagarmr on October 25, 2015, 02:40:27 pm
I know gameplay trumps graphics, but SOME improvement is to be expected, isn't it?

Does it improve in Arcen titles?
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Offline Wingflier

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Re: Soldak Entertainment: Zombasite on Early Access *wince*
« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2015, 05:17:05 pm »
I'm not sure that it does. It all uses the same engine and artists right?

You can definitely tell what's going on though.
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