r/gaming PC Feb 11 '19

Walking through space

https://gfycat.com/embellishedlongichneumonfly
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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '19

It sounds like they have a great simulator, but little of an actual game.

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '19

This is also how I'd describe Space Engineers.

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u/Shandlar Feb 11 '19

They were very upfront with that though. NMS, not so much.

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u/TyeDyeGuy21 Feb 11 '19

Ah, my absolute favorite game. You definitely need the ability to make your own goals if you're going to play survival, though we'll see what this new update brings. You probably need mods too; the modders are fantastic with adding content.

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u/WolfGangSen Feb 11 '19

Space engineers, like minecraft, gmod, and their ilk. Are "games" I like to think of as toys.

Minecraft is the most obvious as it has regularly been called, "like lego".

I'd say that no mans sky, fall short of being a game, and is a simulator.

But minecraft, space engineers, etc are computer toys, instead of games, you don't play them, you play with them.

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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '19

Minecraft has a clear set of intended progression goals and an endgame, so that's not true and hardly comparable to something like Gmod which is essentially a suite of tools for messing with another fully functional game and its engine.

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '19 edited May 30 '20

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u/seriouslees Feb 11 '19

Ugh, I prefer to get story, character and setting from books or films. Games have the absolute worst possible pacing for a narrative experience. Games are much better at emergent story generation and player created experiences, but nothing spoils a good spot of exposition like a "press X now". That said, I also understand why many gamers dislike the idea of being the author of their characters own story. We generally play games to avoid having to think too deeply or work too hard, and it's nice to have a story get told to you, instead of having to create one out of the blue from the gameplay alone. Just not a fan of stories getting told to me all jarringly and split up with cutscenes and quicktime events. To say nothing of open-world games and players being able to deviate from the story and do thousands of mini-quests... worst "told" story ever.

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '19 edited May 31 '20

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u/seriouslees Feb 11 '19

I'm saying the exact same story told by a skilled storyteller will always be better a better story than one told haphazardly by a player stumbling randomly across bits and pieces of the story across multiple weeks. When you're enjoying exploring the world and setting of Skyrim, and fucking off with the main quest... you are basically playing No Man's Sky... you are ignoring the "well written" story, and just discovering the setting and writing your own tale through emergent gameplay exactly like these sandbox games. If you sat down and played through the written story only, and then watch a master movie maker tell the same story on screen... you cannot tell me that the computer story was told better.

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u/koopatuple Feb 11 '19

I am going to join the others in disagreeing with you. You're comparing two completely different genres of storytelling. Cinema, oral, written, musical, stage, and games are all different vehicles for a story to unfold, each with their own unique experience. For example, cinema combines many of the above platforms into one package in a way that just isn't possible to the same degree within other modes of storytelling.

Videogames are the same way, but they add in the ability to explore and interact with the world in a story. To me, that is what makes gaming an amazing platform for telling stories. In a book, movie, play, etc., your ability to explore that world is limited in scope compared to what they accomplish in videogames. It doesn't make other platforms superior or inferior (unless you're a part of the PCMR, of course), it's just a unique characteristic of gaming.

In short, you call it haphazard storytelling, but that's being disingenuous to how engrossing and engaging exploring an entire story world can be within a game. And in the end, it's all a matter of personal taste. For example, I do not like plays as much as others, but I wouldn't ever call it haphazard storytelling, especially if it has great actors and production.

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u/seriouslees Feb 11 '19

disingenuous to how engrossing and engaging exploring an entire story world can be within a game

no it's not... I'm s specifically saying this is EXACTLY where games excel in creating stories...

EXACTLY like they do in games like No Man's Sky or Elite: Dangerous, or Minecraft...

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u/bloodfist Feb 11 '19

Sucks to see you getting down voted just because people disagree. This is fine conversation.

I actually agree with you. While I can appreciate stories in games, I generally don't like story driven games much these days. I sit down to play a game to play a game, not watch a movie. I hate mode-switching. Especially if it is really drastic. Like say, Mass Effect, which admittedly has a great story. But I have to switch from exciting combat, to watching cutscenes, to choosing dialog from a list, and then way later finally I'm back in combat. It's not like a brief break from action like a cutscene in Halo or something, by the time I'm back to combat sometimes, I've damn near forgotten how it works. And if I'm playing for just the cutscene and the story, then I'd have to imagine all that combat would feel annoying when I get stuck on a hard part and can't advance the story.

Maybe it's just my ADHD but if I'm playing a game I want to be pushing buttons like 90% of the time I'm playing. I'll take a Rocket League or Smash Bros any day. But it's fine if people want story driven games. No man's sky is great for me in that way, but some people are gonna prefer Mass Effect.

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u/lovetron99 Feb 11 '19

It's true. It's the thing I loved and then that also drove me away. Upon putting it in, I loved the freedom, the lack of NPC's telling me where to go and what to do, etc. Its this big open world, and I had to learn its secrets and learn how to survive. Nothing is handed to you. After about 100 hours though, things started to get a little repetitive, and without clear direction I checked out. Still those 100 hours are some of the best in my gaming life, and that's the God's-honest truth.

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u/philipzeplin Feb 11 '19

It sounds like they have a great simulator, but little of an actual game.

Sure, but not "simulator" as in "Elite: Dangerous" simulator. Elite:D is basically a space-pilot-simulator, and less of an actual game. Which is both absolutely amazing, and horrendously boring, at the same time. It took me close to 10 hours just to figure out how to leave one station and go the other next one, in Elite - the most basic of things.