Questions about 5089 vs. 3089? See here!

[phr00t]

How is 5089 different than 3089?

The store page highlights the primary differences: a continuation of the story 2000 years later, improved visuals, easier learning curve, new content, mechanics, features, refinement of existing content & engine improvements. Not all of the changes are explicitly listed, as there are many more you may (or may not) notice.

Is 5089 a sequel?

I believe "standalone expansion" is a more accurate term, since previous "sequels" of the series had bigger core changes. With that said, 5089 does have many things you'd expect in a sequel, like a new story, content & features. My fans & I just really believed 3089, at its core, was a solid game worth expanding on instead of recreating.

Why didn't you just update 3089?

3089 received many updates, as it had been in development for years -- long before its Steam release. In order to have the flexibility to expand the series, a new game had to be created. You can't fundamentally change the setting, story & seamlessly add game-changing features in an update.

Why not make 5089 as "Downloadable Content" for 3089?

I don't want to require players to purchase 3089. 5089 includes a reworked version of 3089's core, with many pieces of it gutted to allow 5089 to operate. It wouldn't be compatible with saved games, how the terrain is generated, or any of the previous game's balance.

What about a discount for existing 3089 owners?

Good news! I worked out a "Loyalty Discount" with Valve, and for a month after 5089's release, owners of 3089 will be able to purchase 5089 at a discount. This discount (as I understand it) will stack on top of any launch discount. The "Loyalty Discount" can't last forever, though, as it'd interfere with future promotions (according to Valve). So, make sure you get this discount before it expires. If it has already expired & you missed it -- you can either wait for a future discount (holiday discounts etc.), or jump in at any time. 5089 was designed to be a fresh (yet familiar) experience, great continuation of the story & provide value.

More questions & answers may be added down the road. Thank you for your interest!

[YetiChow]

For those not familiar with the series, 5089 isn't a bad place to start -- it's a full game in its own right, and while the story ties back to the previous games you don't need to play them to understand what's happening in 5089.

I'd definitely reccomend checking out the other "X089" games as well as 3079 if you'd like to follow up on the backstory, but they're separate episodes so it doesn't really matter which order you play them in.

[★ Penthus]

Hey Phr00t, I am a huge fan of 3079 & 3089. Really glad to see you have continued to improve on your concept and can't wait to try this new one out.

Just wondering if you managed to implement a system to compare weapons/items you have equip to ones that you have in your inventory? I remember asking if it could be added to 3089 and you said you would look into it for the next game you developed.

[phr00t]

Originally posted by Penthus:

Hey Phr00t, I am a huge fan of 3079 & 3089. Really glad to see you have continued to improve on your concept and can't wait to try this new one out.

Just wondering if you managed to implement a system to compare weapons/items you have equip to ones that you have in your inventory? I remember asking if it could be added to 3089 and you said you would look into it for the next game you developed.

Glad you are looking forward to it :)

I've gotten many requests for a comparison feature. The problem is, I'm worried I'll make the inventory interface more complicated by trying to add more features to it. There are so many items, so many individual parts & so many stats, how will comparison information be displayed & how will players pick which two to compare?

Just did have a thought: you could pick one item up & hover it over another, to compare the two. Still leaves the question on how to best display their comparisons... hhrrrmmm.....

[★ Penthus]

Originally posted by phr00t:

Originally posted by Penthus:

Hey Phr00t, I am a huge fan of 3079 & 3089. Really glad to see you have continued to improve on your concept and can't wait to try this new one out.

Just wondering if you managed to implement a system to compare weapons/items you have equip to ones that you have in your inventory? I remember asking if it could be added to 3089 and you said you would look into it for the next game you developed.

Glad you are looking forward to it :)

I've gotten many requests for a comparison feature. The problem is, I'm worried I'll make the inventory interface more complicated by trying to add more features to it. There are so many items, so many individual parts & so many stats, how will comparison information be displayed & how will players pick which two to compare?

Just did have a thought: you could pick one item up & hover it over another, to compare the two. Still leaves the question on how to best display their comparisons... hhrrrmmm.....

The easiest way I could see to implement it would just be simply when you hover over a weapon in your inventory to display the item you have equip next to it. No need to have to game do any comparison as long as it shows the stats of both it saves the player time either hand writing the stats or trying to remember them.

A simple paint mock up of how I envision it.

Compare item image [imgur.com]

[YetiChow]

I seem to remember 4089 automatically comparing weapon stats; but then it didn't have craftable weapons so I guess it could find those stats more easily...

I agree that simply displaying the stats as a comparison would be fine; however that raises a further question: what happens if you have a dagger selected in your hotbar, and pick up a rifle? If there's a rifle in your hotbar already then the game would hopefully realise that it should be comparing the rifle you just picked up to the one you already have... but what if you were using an energy rifle instead?

[★ Penthus]

I feel it would be too hard to compare items that way as there is nothing stopping you having an inventory full of swords and what one would the game decide to compare it to? That is why in the screenshot I made I showed it as simply grabbing the item you want and hovering it over the item you want to compare it to.

[YetiChow]

Originally posted by Penthus:

I feel it would be too hard to compare items that way as there is nothing stopping you having an inventory full of swords and what one would the game decide to compare it to? That is why in the screenshot I made I showed it as simply grabbing the item you want and hovering it over the item you want to compare it to.

ah, I hadn't seen that the comparison was between two player-selected items... I presume that would simplify things a great deal.

[phr00t]

Originally posted by YetiChow:

Originally posted by Penthus:

I feel it would be too hard to compare items that way as there is nothing stopping you having an inventory full of swords and what one would the game decide to compare it to? That is why in the screenshot I made I showed it as simply grabbing the item you want and hovering it over the item you want to compare it to.

ah, I hadn't seen that the comparison was between two player-selected items... I presume that would simplify things a great deal.

I may look more into this feature. Showing the item stats from two items at the same time (one held & one hovered over) may work. However, I don't want to implement something new so close to release. I want things as stable as possible for release -- then we can look into improving the game further where needed :)

[MrDrWatson]

The comparison feature would be great, Borderlands did it well enough if you need "inspiration".

[TheGZeus]

Originally posted by MrDrWatson:

The comparison feature would be great, Borderlands did it well enough if you need "inspiration".

Indeed. If a stat is present in only one item, it's displayed in, for example, green.
If it's present in both, the higher is green.
Is the implementation of such a feature simple? I know not. I'm not really a programmer. (I can modify scripts -_-).

[phr00t]

Originally posted by TheGZeus:

Originally posted by MrDrWatson:

The comparison feature would be great, Borderlands did it well enough if you need "inspiration".

Indeed. If a stat is present in only one item, it's displayed in, for example, green.
If it's present in both, the higher is green.
Is the implementation of such a feature simple? I know not. I'm not really a programmer. (I can modify scripts -_-).

I do a comparison system in 4089 very similar to Borderlands. However, 5089's items have more stats (many possibly not overlapping) and they broken into parts, which makes showing comparing data more complicated.

Showing the stats of both items is possible, but I'm not sure how much utility that provides over just hovering over one item.. then hovering over the second to compare.

Having some kind of processed comparison information sounds better, but how that information is presented greatly determines how useful it'd be. The stats on one item can take up a bunch of screen space... not sure how to best show information for two in one place.

@Penthus's mockup is pretty elegant in its simplicity, though...

[Mohl]

Is the multiplayer still two-player only?

[TheGZeus]

Originally posted by phr00t:

Originally posted by TheGZeus:

Indeed. If a stat is present in only one item, it's displayed in, for example, green.
If it's present in both, the higher is green.
Is the implementation of such a feature simple? I know not. I'm not really a programmer. (I can modify scripts -_-).

I do a comparison system in 4089 very similar to Borderlands. However, 5089's items have more stats (many possibly not overlapping) and they broken into parts, which makes showing comparing data more complicated.

Showing the stats of both items is possible, but I'm not sure how much utility that provides over just hovering over one item.. then hovering over the second to compare.

Having some kind of processed comparison information sounds better, but how that information is presented greatly determines how useful it'd be. The stats on one item can take up a bunch of screen space... not sure how to best show information for two in one place.

@Penthus's mockup is pretty elegant in its simplicity, though...

I'd personally like seeing both at once to compare, because my memory is garbage :p

[phr00t]

Originally posted by TheGZeus:

Originally posted by phr00t:

I do a comparison system in 4089 very similar to Borderlands. However, 5089's items have more stats (many possibly not overlapping) and they broken into parts, which makes showing comparing data more complicated.

Showing the stats of both items is possible, but I'm not sure how much utility that provides over just hovering over one item.. then hovering over the second to compare.

Having some kind of processed comparison information sounds better, but how that information is presented greatly determines how useful it'd be. The stats on one item can take up a bunch of screen space... not sure how to best show information for two in one place.

@Penthus's mockup is pretty elegant in its simplicity, though...

I'd personally like seeing both at once to compare, because my memory is garbage :p

This would also be the easiest to implement & straight forward (e.g. no explanation required). Most likely this is how it will work.

[Gatherer Thompson]

Did ye ever make any progress on the ability to change/alter bullet/bot color?? :D The bullet/ammo changes would be icing on the cake, but allowing us to choose a color for the bots seems kind of essential (to me, hah!).. With 3089 I got tired of being red, and living in red bases, since red is usually used as the "bad guy" color :>

With a little chopping around I was able to change my bots to lime green and the enemy bots to orange :) I even got the robot-face images on the start screen's color changed! Only thing I couldn't stop was the ground/terrain color :) Looking forward to this gem and any future developments, will probably be a day 1 purchaser :D