Questions about time limit [no rant on it, just questions]

[dth]

Hey I'm interested in this game but I still on the fence about the time limit so I wanted to get some more info on how it works:
- How many hours of gameplay is game expected to take on average? I mean, player not rushing everything, but still not reaching the "time limit"?
- What would be the estimate/exact value of the playtime when the game becomes so difficult it's no longer playable?
- Is this "doomsday clock" something that can be seen inside the game? For example "in X number of days difficulty goes up"?
- How do I know if I can relax a little and do some exploration or if I should hurry up?
- Is the game meant to be played in a way "get a quest, go straight to the point and do it right now" or can I do some gathering etc between quests?

I'm asking because as much as I don't really like timers, I can tolerate them and ignore if the game is fun enough, but when it comes to hidden timers I generally despise them since the time I've played Pathfinder and got "game over" message to the face after like 20 hours. Ever since, whenever I even suspect a hidden timer, I go into the "rush rush rush" mode and end up dropping the game after a while because it's not fun anymore even though I might stay ahead of the deadline. I know it's not a "hard" time limit, there won't be "game over" message, but it doesn't really matter if it's "game over now" or "the next X amount of time you're going to spend playing this run is going to be wasted because you were too slow and going to lose but don't know it yet". So how is it?

PS: please don't rant on the timer here, I know some people don't like it, some like it, I just want to make an informed decision here.

[NexAngelus *X*]

i as well would like some more info on this timed part. the first game was...AMAZING. it was literally a hidden gem. but then SOMETHING happens and u see there is a built in timer.... as above person said. u can either go rush,rush,rush or drop the game. i just drop them. im retired, i dont need ptsd from deadlines in games i play for fun! sucks that there are zero lets plays out or live streaming i could find

[Pixellore]

Before I answer your question I would also like to make few things clearer.

- The game is based on RPG game but it also has some element of management aspect.

- By management aspect it ultimately boils down to 2 things

1. Management of your needs. This is basically self survival aspect of the game such as food and sleep and so on. Basically your body needs.

2. Management of camp. In Subterrain 1 you had to manage the base and protect the reactor cores. This is the same in Subterrain Mines of Titan. What is different is that in Subterrain Mines of Titan, you have power, water ration of camp resources you can control and manage in order to make sure the camp needs are running ok. So what happens if you do not manage "camp" properly? It's not a game over scenario. It's more like it will run inefficiently. (NPCs actually don't die, but they become inefficient because they become unconscious from time to time.)

- How difficult is it to manage camp? - We basically designed the game such that with your normal adventuring and exploring, gathering resources from mine for the camp comes natural as part of process. So all you basically needs to do is recycle some items you gathered while exploring into camp resources to restock them.

- Where are you going to feel most on actual time pressure in the game?
1. The world is persistent and alive. Meaning the infection will slowly but surely will rise but the speed is depending on how you play. Rise of infection means enemies will evolve into stronger ones, but the new evolving enemies will always start from the basic ones. This means you will encounter new enemies as the time go by but it is not dependent on where you are exploring.
2. If infection rises a lot, the game will trigger a special invasion event where you will need to defend your reactor cores. But this event gives player plenty of time to prepare.
These are mostly the same system we used in Subterrain 1, but much more forgiving way.
Infact, if you have good defense setup, you don't even need to be at the same level as reactor cores, because your defense will take care of it.

We realize that some people won't like any sort of resource management or time management in the game. We may introduce difficulty mode that actually make that part of the game irreverent and just want to enjoy the RPG part of the game. That is certainly doable.

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- How many hours of gameplay is game expected to take on average? I mean, player not rushing everything, but still not reaching the "time limit"?

This is difficult to correctly answer, but there really isn't a set "time" or "turn" limits. that game sets and then call it a game over. With our play testing, we actually never had occasion where spending too many turns causes actual game over. Sure, if you don't follow the main story and just wonder around a lot and if that is all you want to do, you can. But the world will become more difficult because enemies will become stronger. But the game is supposed to become more difficult if you do not progress your tech and level up. Also there is ofcourse limit on how strong the enemies can become so there is cap there as well.

- What would be the estimate/exact value of the playtime when the game becomes so difficult it's no longer playable?

We don't believe that player will never be able to finish the game because one spent too many turns in the game.

- Is this "doomsday clock" something that can be seen inside the game? For example "in X number of days difficulty goes up"?

There is indicator for all sectors with their infection levels. They actually go down if you destroy enemies in there. And you can slow down the rate by installing filters.
You can also see the amount of turns left for the camp resources, but they are not a game over factors and you can even choose to spend less resources for slight inefficiency.

- How do I know if I can relax a little and do some exploration or if I should hurry up?

The only time you should be checking for the any turns is if invasion is in progress and if you want to prepare for it or want to actually be in the fight. Otherwise you will be exploring the levels however you see fit.

- Is the game meant to be played in a way "get a quest, go straight to the point and do it right now" or can I do some gathering etc between quests?

There are some quests that is designed in a straight forward way to teach you how to play the game. And then few quests that require some limited time runs. But other than that there is no turn limits and you can pursue whatever you want to do in the game.

[Pixellore]

I also want to note that while the game has similarities with original Subterrain 1 in terms of infection and evolution and so on, if you can hold the camp together, then you should still be able to play through and become strong enough to finish the game. In Subterrain 1 there was no actual character progression other than tech, but Subterrain Mines of Titan has character progression and some enemies never evolve.

[dth]

Thanks for the long answer! I actually think it was very informative, although I'd just want to clarify two things:

- I asked how long is the game, but you didn't even give me estimate, is this like 10 hours? 5? 40? : ) We can even drop the whole "until it's unplayable", just the average time you think it would take a player to finish it without rushing

- "And then few quests that require some limited time runs" are those quests marked as time sensitive so that I know I have to hurry and how much do I have to hurry? (like "you have 3 days to do that")

[Pixellore]

Originally posted by dth:

Thanks for the long answer! I actually think it was very informative, although I'd just want to clarify two things:

- I asked how long is the game, but you didn't even give me estimate, is this like 10 hours? 5? 40? : ) We can even drop the whole "until it's unplayable", just the average time you think it would take a player to finish it without rushing

- "And then few quests that require some limited time runs" are those quests marked as time sensitive so that I know I have to hurry and how much do I have to hurry? (like "you have 3 days to do that")

With our testing we feel like the first time player will be able to finish the game in around 30 hours or so. But the game is turn based and if you don't do anything, turns don't pass...right?

Also the amount of time required to "finish" the game depends on how you play, what choices you make which I am not going to spoil for you.

- For those few limited turns quests they are usually very short. Like couple of 10s of turns like. They are not like long term time limit quests. There are no long term time limit quests in the game.

[dth]

cool, thx for all the info : )