Octopus Overlords

naednek wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:17 am

Grifman wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 12:06 am

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:41 pm I thought Bethesda's pattern was to announce a game (officially) late Q1 / early Q2 and then have it shipped to everyone Q4 of that year? Like...they don't announce until it's just about ready to go, minimizing the amount of time you first hear about it to when you get it?

There's only been an announcement for Starfield; only speculation on ES 6 at this point - nothing formal announced.

Fallout 4 was announced and shown at E3 in June, 2015 and was released Nov, 2015. Expectations that the same will happen this year - show Starfield at E3, release late fall/early winter. Fits the prior pattern except that Starfield was announced a while back but virtually nothing is know about it.

Well if they are going to announce @ E3 the game won't come out this year as E3 has been cancelled

You sure about that?

https://www.pcgamer.com/whats-e3-going- ... this-year/

https://gamerant.com/starfield-release-date-2021/

Industry insider Jeff Grubb, who has accurately leaked plenty of video game news in the past, has suggested that the Starfield release date could very well be later in 2021. Grubb believes that there is a 90% chance that Starfield will be featured at E3 2021, or whatever the equivalent is for Microsoft this year. He believes that after Starfield is revealed at E3 that the game will likely launch that November, though factors like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could ultimately see it pushed back.

Leaked pics

https://twitter.com/SkullziTV

Now a xbox and pc exclusive, bethesda just said screw you ps5\4 fans

https://uproxx.com/edge/bethesda-starfi ... e-reports/

Does that really surprise you with them being owned by Microsoft? They'll probably let it out on those systems in a year or two.

naednek wrote: ↑Sun May 16, 2021 12:29 pm Now a xbox and pc exclusive, bethesda just said screw you ps5\4 fans

https://uproxx.com/edge/bethesda-starfi ... e-reports/

Technically a dude on Twitter said it, not Bethesda. Yet.

I had a certain feeling that it would be an XBox exlusive. It's a new IP, which is a perfect thing to make a new exclusive.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Sun May 16, 2021 4:35 pm I had a certain feeling that it would be an XBox exlusive. It's a new IP, which is a perfect thing to make a new exclusive.

It really makes perfect sense from an investment perspective.

11/11/22



Article on Kotaku

November 11th is Remembrance Day/Veterans Day. Not a great day to release a game IMHO.

Tell that to the Call of Duty franchise.

Exactly 10 years after Skyrim. I still remember going into the store for my Skyrim copy on 11/11/11

Someone is designing their aesthetics to appeal to the Expanse fans out there.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:06 pm Exactly 10 years after Skyrim. I still remember going into the store for my Skyrim copy on 11/11/11

11 Years it's 2022 not 21.

That video is a little more corporate humanitarian onanism than I can handle.

Moat_Man wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:53 pm November 11th is Remembrance Day/Veterans Day. Not a great day to release a game IMHO.

As if movies don't come out on Christmas.

Unless they're using the date for marketing purposes, I don't see the problem. If one's got better things to be doing that day they can wait and buy it the next one.

I love mods and what they add but i hope Bethesda doesn't depend on mods to make their game for them like normally.

Given Bethesda's historical trend, I'm guessing that this will need a "fan fix mod" just like every Fallout game they've put out.

NickAragua wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:13 pm Given Bethesda's historical trend, I'm guessing that this will need a "fan fix mod" just like every Fallout game they've put out.

I don't know about need. I've finished every fallout game (and it seems, every Bethesda game) and have never modded any of them. I mean I guess I tried out some mods for Skyrim eventually after multiple un-modded playthroughs.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:20 pm

NickAragua wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:13 pm Given Bethesda's historical trend, I'm guessing that this will need a "fan fix mod" just like every Fallout game they've put out.

I don't know about need. I've finished every fallout game (and it seems, every Bethesda game) and have never modded any of them. I mean I guess I tried out some mods for Skyrim eventually after multiple un-modded playthroughs.

To be fair, I usually am able to finish the Fallouts "vanilla" as well, but there are a lot of floating rocks, random noises because a car is trapped inside a rock and messed up script triggers (you spawned how many of that guy?) that you just kind of have to plow through if you don't do things in the exact same order that the developers intended. Most of them aren't showstoppers, but, if given a choice to play a game with those bugs or without them, well...

Scripts that fail to trigger at all, game breaking bugs that stop the main quest if you wander into the wrong cave before certain events trigger, major balance issues if you don't advance through the content at the rate they anticipate (IE - if you do too many or too few side quests), etc, etc, etc.

It's definitely an XBox & PC Exclusive.

https://kotaku.com/starfield-is-an-xbox ... 1847111912

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:14 pm Scripts that fail to trigger at all, game breaking bugs that stop the main quest if you wander into the wrong cave before certain events trigger, major balance issues if you don't advance through the content at the rate they anticipate (IE - if you do too many or too few side quests), etc, etc, etc.

Speaking of which, in Fallout 4, one of my main quest storylines, ie the one with the Paladin became bugged and I couldn't progress with it, until I downloaded a modded fix. This was on PS4. All because I didn't do it right there and then when I first encountered it. They build open-world games with lots to see and do and don't seem to consider that some might be distracted by other things along the way. I think this is why some games trigger cutscenes when you venture close enough to a mission area.

That was a huge, huge problem in Oblivion. They give you an open world, they then push you to go out and explore that world. Explore the ruins! Explore the caves! But if you happen to wander into a location that's related to a quest later on, you can break that quest. One of the most vital Oblivion mods was one that simply amended all the locations with the name of any quests associated with them so you'd know what was safe to explore.

They should maybe mark things more clearly on the map. On the other hand, they want to encourage exploration with an aura of mystery surrounding discovery. But say if they showed a circle on the map when you get close enough to the location without actually triggering something, to allow you to avoid a location until you're ready, that'd be great. They could make it entirely optional, such as a filter. And I find that kind of thing even more crucial in the Fallout games.

In later games, many of the places that can break quests are not available until you're on that quest. Either the door isn't an activator (it looks decorative like other doors around it), or it's locked ("Requires a key"), or you can get in, but the quest item/NPC isn't present until you get the quest (at which point it resets the cell and spawns the quest elements.) They do some other things, like making certain other NPCs essential (they can't be killed.)

It's often immersion breaking, but it's better than breaking the game.

Yeah, I agree. I actually prefer that because it's so frustrating to find out you've broken a quest as there's often no indication that you have well into it. In that sense, it's actually quite surprising that a game as modern as Fallout 4 had breakable quests when they could have easily found a way to prevent that. I guess one argument against doing that is that it makes the world feel more empty as the quest givers would normally not hang around when the quest isn't active.

Back to Starfield, it actually makes me wonder how all this will affect Starfield, as they'll now have an extra plane in their 3d space, if I'm understanding it correctly.

Sudy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:58 am

Moat_Man wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:53 pm November 11th is Remembrance Day/Veterans Day. Not a great day to release a game IMHO.

As if movies don't come out on Christmas.

Unless they're using the date for marketing purposes, I don't see the problem. If one's got better things to be doing that day they can wait and buy it the next one.

I agree that things happen on Nov. 11th. Movies get released, things get purchased. etc. However, the release date of 11-11-22 figured prominently in their video and that is part of the marketing. It just didn't sit well with me. YMMV.

Ah, fair enough. I don't think I'd viewed the full video at the time.

Gameplay. I want gameplay. Not cinematic, edited gameplay with no HUD and a developer telling us how great the game is, but actual, raw gameplay as it will appear on my screen.

This is Bethesda, and they've lost a lot of my respect lately. So, until then I just see PR, and I'm still in wait-and-see mode, mildly curious at best. Once I see how the game is played I'll consider becoming actively interested. I'll still be waiting for reviews, though.

Into the Starfield:

Starfield Will Have Full Mod Support, Todd Howard Confirms

Months after releasing a story trailer Bethesda is back with a few more details about what to expect from Starfield, its new sci-fi outer space role-playing game. Chief among them, Starfield will feature full mod support according to director Todd Howard in a new Reddit AMA session with fans.

"Our plan [is to] have full mod support like our previous games," Howard said. "Our modding community has been with us for 20 years. We love what they do and hope to see more make a career out of it."

Modders are certainly looking forward to seeing how extensive that support is and what the community can ultimately do with it. Especially considering Starfield is being developed with a significantly updated version of the studio's Creation engine, which originally powered The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76.

1. Im glad to hear that. Mods make games great. But also it says that they are going to let the public fix and finish their game.

2. I dont really listen to anything Todd Howard says these days as he just dribbles bullshit out.

Mods are what allow them to resell Skyrim 900 times. They know that. We know that. And they will lose a ton of sales if they don't have the mods. I never felt like Skyrim was something that needed mods. I actually played through the entire game the first time without them. Mods just elevate it to a level that no developer is going to have the time or money to actually execute themselves.

I actually hadn't see this was being worked on. They get a lot of hate for Fallout 76, but I mean they have kept on supporting it to get it to a level where most people say it's a really good game now. They just bit off more than they could chew.

Octavious wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:10 am They get a lot of hate for Fallout 76, but I mean they have kept on supporting it to get it to a level where most people say it's a really good game now. They just bit off more than they could chew.

It's also the first game in 20 years that they couldn't get 'close enough' and then let the community fix. They had to fix it themselves, or watch their investment die.

And yeah, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 3, Oblivion, and Morrowind are perfectly playable without mods. But they all have lots of bugs, glitches, and balance issues (especially Fallout 3 and Oblivion), and the mechanics are generally clumsy, especially in the post-console era. Mods aren't required - but they provide a smoother, better paced, and better balanced experience.

Still, I think the real benefit of mods is the customizability. People have a 'feel' that really appeals to them. The Dark Souls atmosphere doesn't appeal to everyone, nor do the D&D/Tolkien tropes, nor does 80s album cover/Lisa Frank fantasy. No game is ever going to be able to appeal to everyone. If you don't like grimdark, for instance, the entire Dark Souls line is far less appealing. But you can play Skyrim as a dark, gritty, brutal survival game where mistakes in combat are instantly deadly. Or you can play it as a bright, cheerful fantasy game where you feel like a god. Or anything in between.

Mod support in Starfield means that you're going to be able to play it as space opera, science fantasy, or hard sci-fi. You'll be able to see everything Star Trek clean and polished, or Firefly rusted. Star Wars 'whee!' or Expanse believable. You'll be able to get an experience that speaks to you. And as someone who lives for feel and atmosphere, that's a huge deal.

Octavious wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:10 am I actually hadn't see this was being worked on. They get a lot of hate for Fallout 76, but I mean they have kept on supporting it to get it to a level where most people say it's a really good game now. They just bit off more than they could chew.

What's the current deal with Fallout 76? Is there a story in there, or is it only for people who are playing with friends or into MMRPGs or the like?

Was there a story in Fallout 3 or 4? At least beyond, "well, technically..."

I left it due to major technical issues a month or so after launch. It was literally unplayable for me, and they refused to help me because one component was under spec (my CPU was, I believe, 0.1 GHz below their requirement, so they refused to help me with an issue that disconnected me from their servers within two minutes of joining.)

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:03 pm Was there a story in Fallout 3 or 4? At least beyond, "well, technically..."

I left it due to major technical issues a month or so after launch. It was literally unplayable for me, and they refused to help me because one component was under spec (my CPU was, I believe, 0.1 GHz below their requirement, so they refused to help me with an issue that disconnected me from their servers within two minutes of joining.)

Yeah, fair enough. I guess I'm basically asking whether anyone plays it single player, or whether it's only worthwhile as part of a group or clan or what have you.

I happened to see it on XBox GamePass last night so I'm giving it a thought.