Please let me be immersed - 10/05/22 08:43 AM
Hi, after a pause I am now trying out patch 7. I think the game has a lot of potential, and I am curious what will be revealed in the full game. But I do have some issues with EA, and I think most of them have to do with a lack of immersion, or a near constant disbelief that I find hard to suspend. This is a serious problem, especially for an RPG, where being submerged in an alternate reality accounts for the majority of enjoyment to be had.
Here are some immersion killers I have encountered so far, excluding graphic/sound glitches that are likely to be solved during further development:
1) When you drop from the airship and meet people immediately afterwards, some dialogue options will tell others to 'wait at my camp'. But that camp had not been established yet.
2) In the crypt with looters, at the start of the game: all the plaques use a forgotten script, but the books are all readable.
3) Weights are inconsistent: 5 jugs weigh the same as a letter.
4) Burning candles in rooms that have been abandoned for many years do not make sense.
5) Perishable food in rooms that have been abandoned for many years does not make sense.
6) Equipped weapons are carried very strangely, they seem to be attached to the back by some force field. How does that work? Also it is very impractical. Why not have swords in scabbards, arrows in quivers, and longer weapons carried in hands? The only one that carries a weapon in hand now is my Tav. She has acquired a flaming sword and insists on carrying the flaming end in her bare left hand.
7) The game is 3D, but highlighted characters or objects get a 2D outline. That destroys the illusion of a 3D world. Highlighting should be 3D too. For example using a spotlight from above, or by increasing the luminescence of models.
8) Characters that aren't present can approve or disapprove of actions. How does that work?
9) Characters carry an enormous volume of stuff that would need a full shipping container in reality. But no one even carries a small handbag.
10) Defeated enemies stay dead, but party members are very easily resurrected.
11) Enemies do not seem to use jump or push combat maneuvers.
12) The option to send items to camp is utterly ridiculous. Or at least some kind of explanation should be given. And the option should not be available when no camp has been established. And again the playing field is not level. Why don't enemies send stuff to their camp? For example, the goblins that have found the druid's grove could write a note and send that note to their camp.
13) The limitation of 4 per party does not make sense in the game. A fifth can not join, saying you're full. How does that make sense? I understand the need for gaming mechanics, but please try to make them sensible in the game world.
14) Short rests are very strange: how can you fully heal by standing still for less than a second?
15) Long rests are strange too. Never in the game is a camping spot established, but from any place the party is teleported to a permanent camp somewhere, and teleported back to the same spot where the long rest was initiated after sleeping.
16) When zoomed out, the camera is able to show a lot of the game world. Much more than the playable characters could see in reality. It would be nice to have a first person view during exploration, and switch to overhead view during combat. And maybe faraway landscapes and objects could be made more hazy? Also the mini map shows info on charcters that are not in the line of sight.
17) Given the various personalities of companions, and the urgency of the tadpole problem, it does not make sense for them to hang around the campsite doing nothing while a party of 4 goes exploring. Can they be performing other tasks somehow? Hunting and foraging perhaps? Or be recovering from wounds?
I think two immersion problems could be solved in a single stroke: Have the party travel with a cart that is pulled by horses for example. The cart can carry all equipment and it allows a camp to be set up at safe locations. Of course the cart can not enter dungeons, so it will not be possible to loot 20 goblin shields from a dungeon without some serious running back and forth. But I don't think I would miss that. It is entirely reasonable to loot only gold and jewels from a dungeon.
Stil, a more permanent camp would probably be needed for the inactive characters to reside.
Here are some immersion killers I have encountered so far, excluding graphic/sound glitches that are likely to be solved during further development:
1) When you drop from the airship and meet people immediately afterwards, some dialogue options will tell others to 'wait at my camp'. But that camp had not been established yet.
2) In the crypt with looters, at the start of the game: all the plaques use a forgotten script, but the books are all readable.
3) Weights are inconsistent: 5 jugs weigh the same as a letter.
4) Burning candles in rooms that have been abandoned for many years do not make sense.
5) Perishable food in rooms that have been abandoned for many years does not make sense.
6) Equipped weapons are carried very strangely, they seem to be attached to the back by some force field. How does that work? Also it is very impractical. Why not have swords in scabbards, arrows in quivers, and longer weapons carried in hands? The only one that carries a weapon in hand now is my Tav. She has acquired a flaming sword and insists on carrying the flaming end in her bare left hand.
7) The game is 3D, but highlighted characters or objects get a 2D outline. That destroys the illusion of a 3D world. Highlighting should be 3D too. For example using a spotlight from above, or by increasing the luminescence of models.
8) Characters that aren't present can approve or disapprove of actions. How does that work?
9) Characters carry an enormous volume of stuff that would need a full shipping container in reality. But no one even carries a small handbag.
10) Defeated enemies stay dead, but party members are very easily resurrected.
11) Enemies do not seem to use jump or push combat maneuvers.
12) The option to send items to camp is utterly ridiculous. Or at least some kind of explanation should be given. And the option should not be available when no camp has been established. And again the playing field is not level. Why don't enemies send stuff to their camp? For example, the goblins that have found the druid's grove could write a note and send that note to their camp.
13) The limitation of 4 per party does not make sense in the game. A fifth can not join, saying you're full. How does that make sense? I understand the need for gaming mechanics, but please try to make them sensible in the game world.
14) Short rests are very strange: how can you fully heal by standing still for less than a second?
15) Long rests are strange too. Never in the game is a camping spot established, but from any place the party is teleported to a permanent camp somewhere, and teleported back to the same spot where the long rest was initiated after sleeping.
16) When zoomed out, the camera is able to show a lot of the game world. Much more than the playable characters could see in reality. It would be nice to have a first person view during exploration, and switch to overhead view during combat. And maybe faraway landscapes and objects could be made more hazy? Also the mini map shows info on charcters that are not in the line of sight.
17) Given the various personalities of companions, and the urgency of the tadpole problem, it does not make sense for them to hang around the campsite doing nothing while a party of 4 goes exploring. Can they be performing other tasks somehow? Hunting and foraging perhaps? Or be recovering from wounds?
I think two immersion problems could be solved in a single stroke: Have the party travel with a cart that is pulled by horses for example. The cart can carry all equipment and it allows a camp to be set up at safe locations. Of course the cart can not enter dungeons, so it will not be possible to loot 20 goblin shields from a dungeon without some serious running back and forth. But I don't think I would miss that. It is entirely reasonable to loot only gold and jewels from a dungeon.
Stil, a more permanent camp would probably be needed for the inactive characters to reside.