All good man, nobody here has something against criticism but you have to admit there is certain posts here that do stretch the definition of "criticism". I have a hard time getting anything out of "this is no game", "this game will never finish", "dev is a scammer who milks patrons", and things like that, they hardly qualify as criticism.
I really value constructive criticism, heck I even find it acceptable if people say "the game runs like shit" or "the game looks like shit". At least thats something I can understand and relate to and know how to adress.
Well I guess the former is also something I know how to adress, but I cant relate to it. I cant just snap my fingers and have a finished game on the table, I just hope that with further progress in the story mode and graphical development those types of voices gradually quiet down.
peace
Hello Steve. Here is an olive branch. To be concise, I've posted very very few times on these forums, and not all of the posts are on this thread. I'm relatively quiet, respective to a thread over eleven hundred pages long.
At least after today it will "quiet" down anyhow since I've said what I and others perceive, which don't need repeating. If you're disregarding that some folk might perceive things in a seriously bad light, then that is perfectly fine. Everyone has to manage their energy to focus on so many given things in any given day.
But these point of views didn't fall from the sky out of nowhere. As you say that you're having a hard time getting anything out of the harsh words, and I completely understand not taking the "no disrespect but..[insert disrespectful thing]" seriously, most people don't. Dismissing it as unhelpful might not serve you if/when in a month/year or so from now a new set of people start saying the same thing. I've been on the other end of that interaction a few times and while I
very much don't like it, I do reflect about what does get said because when it happens in person, the person saying something can be doing it in good faith, even if it doesn't seem like it. Just food for thought.
I'll cut as directly to the point I can to the criticism that you would be looking for so as to at least maybe provide, at a minimum, something useful for you in this unpleasant interaction.
Animations/Human modeling; A+ work. I've told privately to someone here that the person in charge of these things are the heroes in this production. I don't have many bad things to say because in this department, I have full confidence that the person/team behind this part will be making steady improvements, as they have been reliably, and pointing out tiny flaws at this time feels like nit picking. Lets take the hair for example; there was a build where the hairs went form normal to looking real bad, but I hadn't cared much as I understood there was some change that messed with how they were rendering and that given time, they'll get around to fixing it. And they did. I don't have to tell a chef that their toast is on fire, they'll take care of it, its pretty obvious.
Bravo, well done. I know for a fact they'll continue the good work.
Maps; Would criticism of this part of the game even be valid? I can't really give fault or give praise here because thus far, the main map looks like a prototype and to give critique on what is obviously very far from completion doesn't tell the mapper what he doesn't already know, ie, numerous reworks, odd topography, placeholders, and actor/static mesh assets that don't seem to fit together artistically. Unlike the hair problem mentioned earlier, nitpicking visuals here is the only area I think is valid because a map is one part style, and one part substance. Every great map has both parts, because it has to be easy to look at, and fun to move in.
I'm not a 10+ year world builder on UE engine but I do have a considerable amount of time on building island biomes in UE5, I find it enjoyable. Lots of iterations with working out how the topography should look, trying to respect how a river will flow and show converging tributary streams merging into a cozy river, and cliffs that make are interesting but believable to the terrain. It isn't an easy task but that said, I don't particularly like the way the cliffs are laid in the middle of some really strange topography. I could go into very fine detail but again, I don't know if its even helpful because given the numerous map reworks, I don't know what is here to stay and what is getting removed/redone.
Combat/Inventory; I'm afraid I cannot provide any meaningful feedback here. There isn't enough combat to judge what is lacking and what is suiting the needs of the game. Same goes for an inventory. I'm unsure what style will be the final decision, but a tarkov style tetris method inventory is good for providing/creating logistic challenges to the player, and a minecraft style grid inventory is good for providing ease and facilitating faster organizing - I'll make a judgement when things start to fall into place.
RPG/Story; So I know there have been a handful of test beds for missions as well as fail conditions on some interactions in the past. Walking up to an NPC and hitting 'interact' and having it playout like its Fallout4 is fine. Its just fine. I'd be much happier with a free flowing interaction where the camera doesn't change instead of where the camera cuts back and forth like its KOTOR1/2. This part of a game will take a surprising amount of time to actually put out, so I have to reserve judgement on the substance once more is out, but so far the structure of how the story gets presented isn't something to be alarmed about, I don't think. As for the main player, I'm unsure which way its going to go, whether or not max is your man, or if maya will be making the lead character. I don't mind either way but I'd probably prefer max even if there are some who'd abandon the game if that were the case (and you probably would have figured that I, LG123, is the unreasonable person in this thread lol)
AI/NPCs; This is another area which I don't know where I could be helpful as I'm unsure how far the extend the actors will be coded with ai. I don't know what level of autonomy your team is looking to give the npcs and whether or not they're mostly there to either perform just one or two functions (kill, trade, etc) before the player moves on to a new area, or if some will have varying levels of interactivity that unlocks as the player progresses through the game. The more I see, the more I could comment on. As of now, they're happily existing and will follow when they're told.
UI; This will be a hot take because I'll be just going on what I think should be done and less on what's currently in - now hear me out on this, i'm serious.
I would like the least amount of UI elements in-game as possible, because I think it becomes something really special when you let the raw sensory deliver information to the player. Ex, instead of a stamina bar, have it so that sprinting will begin to very slightly slow down after 20 seconds and the player character will begin to breath audibly, at first quietly, and then very noticeably after sprinting for 2-3 minutes and continuing to slightly slow down. Perhaps also tie the low stamina to skin wetness, showing the player that the character is perspiring heavily. This would be a lot more interesting than a simple green bar that runs out and the player instantly goes back to normal speed.
Don't have "E" hover at an interactable, maybe make the object get a glow outline or something subtle but impossible to miss. Things like that. This would be the perfect game to try and pull this off.
You can take that principle and apply it in many areas of a game and that opens up a style of game where the visuals are front and center and lets the player get immersed a bit better than if there was text/status bars baked on to the screen with floating contextual menus that show up when moving around within the game world.
Overall; In this wall of text, I hope that you'll find something of value. I was more subtle in saying what I have said before but I was more direct as to what I think is a very long ways away from being in a state where an opinion even matters; I can't give an opinion on a pie when I don't even know what ingredients are going to be in it. Once I can actually launch the .exe and see the "ingredients" only then do opinions actually matter, mine or any one else's.
I wish you the best of luck in the production, and whether or not you think I'm hostile, I can only emphasis that I am rooting for this to be successful. I always root for the underdog, and small teams are underdogs in an industry run by near billion dollar budgets. But whether or not its fair to you or the team, the path behind us is littered with endless cases of failures, let downs, and outright scams - that isn't saying you're doing any of those but that is the backdrop in which patreon projects live in because that is the norm.
I will check back in a year or so, as has been tradition for many years now, and maybe I'll make another whine post, or maybe I'll eat a giant plate for crow?
God speed.
