Frustrating Puzzle Nonsense

[Cubicool]

In a game where nearly EVERY mechanic is built around space COMBAT, why do I feel like I spend the majority of my time doing bland space puzzles?

Inspiring this post, now I'm seeing that sometimes they INTENTIONALLY obfuscate the degree to which you can even SEE your environment. Don't get me wrong, I've mostly had a great time in this game (majority pre-alpha play). However, I just hit some absurd location in Union where the entire screen is completely clouded with red fog... I've been flying around, achieving nothing, and asking myself why I'm wasting my time.

If the rest of the game is like this, please tell me now.

[Hybarf Tics]

This a looter shooter game. The enemies are part of the shooter aspect of it. The puzzles are part of the looter aspect of the game, any more ?
There are puzzles til the end of the game but you don't have to do them all.
Just the ones you don't like.

[Cubicool]

Fair enough. :)

[Hybarf Tics]

Only completionists such as myself did them all for the main story line you'll have only a few.

[Dexen]

I've 100% the game in 90 hours. The puzzles are annoying, but doable. I suggest searching for a youtube guide or a wiki site for information on how to do some of them. The developers tried really hard in the later areas to make it as frustrating as possible. Just wait until you get to Drake or Khione, those two are REALLY bad.

The real benefit to doing the puzzles are the mainframe components. Everything else you usually get from them is junk with the occasional upgrade.

[IndigoAK]

I wouldn't mind the puzzles so much if there was more variety to them. There's really only two puzzle types stretched over a 10-15 hour campaign and it wears incredibly thin. This fatigue is further compounded by the fact that they're two of the least creative puzzle designs in gaming. I'm genuinely surprised the developers didn't include any moving ring puzzles or sliding box puzzles to complete the holy grail quadrifecta of banal puzzle types.

[Cubicool]

I really WANTED to NOT have to use a YouTube video, but I finally decided "screw it" and found what I spent an hour looking for: inside the "Research Station" in The Gauntlet there was this tiny hole... that opened up everything else.

I'm not gonna lie, there was some rage there... I was so sure the thing I needed was somewhere in the annoying red "dust", and didn't look too hard anywhere else (and ESPECIALLY not right near the area I was already in). :(

Maybe a hint, like... the AI bot could go "I sense a generator within 1KM, but cannot pinpoint its exact location. Lorem ipsum, twas brilling, slithy toves!" You know how he do. IS THAT ASKING TOO MUCH!? :)

[Hybarf Tics]

I feel for those of you new to the game. For me it was easy without videos
simply because stuff was added on in a period of 27 months, so a lot of practice went into it.

[IndigoAK]

Originally posted by Cubicool:

I really WANTED to NOT have to use a YouTube video, but I finally decided "screw it" and found what I spent an hour looking for: inside the "Research Station" in The Gauntlet there was this tiny hole... that opened up everything else.

I'm not gonna lie, there was some rage there... I was so sure the thing I needed was somewhere in the annoying red "dust", and didn't look too hard anywhere else (and ESPECIALLY not right near the area I was already in). :(

Maybe a hint, like... the AI bot could go "I sense a generator within 1KM, but cannot pinpoint its exact location. Lorem ipsum, twas brilling, slithy toves!" You know how he do. IS THAT ASKING TOO MUCH!? :)

Or the sensors in the game could actually work. It's ridiculous that your sensors can detect something clear across the map, but also not pick up an energy sphere dispenser unless you're literally right on top of it. Like, why am I even upgrading my sensors when the game gets to arbitrarily override their stats whenever it wants.

[Notoshy]

Originally posted by IndigoAK:

Originally posted by Cubicool:

I really WANTED to NOT have to use a YouTube video, but I finally decided "screw it" and found what I spent an hour looking for: inside the "Research Station" in The Gauntlet there was this tiny hole... that opened up everything else.

I'm not gonna lie, there was some rage there... I was so sure the thing I needed was somewhere in the annoying red "dust", and didn't look too hard anywhere else (and ESPECIALLY not right near the area I was already in). :(

Maybe a hint, like... the AI bot could go "I sense a generator within 1KM, but cannot pinpoint its exact location. Lorem ipsum, twas brilling, slithy toves!" You know how he do. IS THAT ASKING TOO MUCH!? :)

Or the sensors in the game could actually work. It's ridiculous that your sensors can detect something clear across the map, but also not pick up an energy sphere dispenser unless you're literally right on top of it. Like, why am I even upgrading my sensors when the game gets to arbitrarily override their stats whenever it wants.

Ask yourself: Is a Sphere Generator a Ship? Is it a Ressource? Is it Loot?
If you answered each with "No" you probably understand, why the Scanner cant find these Generators..... because the Scanner clearly mentions, that it detects Ships, Loot and Ressources.

[IndigoAK]

Hence the word arbitrary. I used it for a reason.

[ΛtryØx]

Originally posted by Cubicool:

If the rest of the game is like this, please tell me now.

If puzzles that a child can solve in 3-5 minutes bother you, then this probably isn't the game for you. Even the drone ones, that everyone complains about, take literally 1 or 2 tries max...

[IndigoAK]

I love how in the absence of any legitimate opinion or argument, random ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on the Internet always resort to baselessly attacking someone's intelligence.

OP is not a moron for getting bored out of their skull by the same two puzzles over an entire game and frustrated by the developers' insistence on artificially padding out their game's runtime by making puzzle devices magically stealthed from sensors.

[ΛtryØx]

Merely stating that if puzzles bother the OP, not the game for them. I will admit, they are VERY frequent...however OP also stated that they are spending the MAJORITY of their time, which is either a gross exaggeration in an attempt to smear the game (which isn't fair to anyone new to the game nor the devs), or, as implied, they are "too hard". Either way, sounds like "not the game for the OP".

Because the answer to the actual question asked "if the rest of the game is like this"... is a resounding YES, at least as it applies to the main story. The rest are optional if you wish to pursue secured containers.

[stanrm]

yep this is a puzzle game compared to galaxy on fire, they should make a complete pc port of galaxy on fire rather than this crap

[ReaperLord]

From my point of view, the puzzles are there to break up the exploration, combat, and story segments. Removing the puzzles from the handcrafted locations would make them less interesting or memorable and could lead the to combat becoming tedious.

If you want a game with a great focus on combat, and nothing/next to nothing on puzzles, try Afterburner, Strike Suit Zero, or Strike Suit Infinity.