How to Buiild Slurry Spiders?

[Stranger]

I click on them, and it turns blue, but turns go by and I get nothing and there is no progress bar to track

[x-4000 (Chris McElligott-Park)]

They are small enough that they build instantly once you place them. So when you click slurry spiders, it then has a build mode that lets you pop them down. Right-clicking on the ground should then make them pop down and instantly complete. There's nothing to wait for, as they are that fast.

It's possible you were left-clicking rather than right-clicking, and therefore didn't actually build them. Left click is select in all cases in the game, and right-click is used to apply any action, including building things. If you prefer to have left-click be what you use for building things, there is a toggle for that in Settiings -> Input.

Hope that helps!

[Stranger]

Originally posted by x-4000 (Chris McElligott-Park):

They are small enough that they build instantly once you place them. So when you click slurry spiders, it then has a build mode that lets you pop them down. Right-clicking on the ground should then make them pop down and instantly complete. There's nothing to wait for, as they are that fast.

It's possible you were left-clicking rather than right-clicking, and therefore didn't actually build them. Left click is select in all cases in the game, and right-click is used to apply any action, including building things. If you prefer to have left-click be what you use for building things, there is a toggle for that in Settiings -> Input.

Hope that helps!

That was it. I didn't realize it was a 2-step process. I thought left click= production. I wasn't looking at the game, I was looking at the instruction box and couldn't figure it out.

[x-4000 (Chris McElligott-Park)]

Ah, got it! Yep, these are physical things in the world that you place. Glad that got it!

[Stranger]

Originally posted by x-4000 (Chris McElligott-Park):

Ah, got it! Yep, these are physical things in the world that you place. Glad that got it!

I am going to be honest, this game is super frustrating -for me. After you build your slurry robots, the next phase is dealing with the homeless after which you are immediately attacked. The attackers don't go after your defending units, they go straight for your slurry spiders and you can't build more. They are totally greyed out, I see I need 50 "robotics" to build more but I see nothing that tells me how.

I am spending more time trying to figure out how to play the game than actually playing the game. I like the concept, but as it is, nothing feels intuitive. It's just not similar enough to games I have played before that I know what I am doing and I find the guidance inadequate. I gave up on the Total War series for the exact same reason, and unfortunately, that came first and what I learned from it is just not to buy complex strategy games. This doesn't feel complex, but it does feel obtuse.

I mean Slurry Spider doesn't sound like a building, it sounds like a unit. I was expecting the building I had just made to manufacture them and that they were going to go around like autonomous drones collecting waste. There is just a disconnect between the way this game is designed and the way I am interpreting it. Like I have combat units, I give them elevation and set them in a defensive posture, I want them to protect my tower and everything around it, but they just let enemies walk right by them and destroy my infrastructure and I would forgive the lack of overwatch capability if they would at least draw fire but they don't seem to do that either. Am I supposed to put them into stand-by? From what I under stand-by just makes it so I can skip them on the move phase. Stand-by sounds really passive. That doesn't sound anything like overwatch or defend. I am just not getting anything about this game. Maybe I should be reading the tool tips more closely, but I prefer to learn through experimenting with what I can do. . .It just feels like I can't do anything.

I may as well add. . .I get why combat is thrown in this early, and I don't mind combat, but I would much prefer having a stealth option. I mean, isn't that how computer virus' work? Wouldn't a newly emerged A.I. operate similarly? I think this game would be a lot more fun if the presence of the A.I. began more subtlety, or if at the very least that were an option, and the risk was always drawing too much attention, instead of starting the game under a microscope with a spotlight beaming down on it. There are a lot of ways to play and everyone has different preferences. In my opinion, a good game is one that people can play in different ways because there are many possibilities and everyone has their own experience.

I'll leave this installed and hold off on any reviews so I can revisit this some other time in the future, and I wish you the best of luck, but for now this title just is not for me -and maybe it never will be. And that is fine, there are a lot of games I would love to play that just aren't for me. When the first Dark Souls came out I spent three hours fighting the first boss with a sword handle in a tiny room filled with vases before I finally beat him. . .Only to receive a hammer that required 70 strength when I had 12. I was done with the game after that, it felt insulting and it sure as hell wasn't worth the time I put into it. Believe me when I say the problem isn't you.

I really do appreciate your assistance and hope this doesn't come across too negative or discouraging. I wish you the best of luck and hope this game is successful whether I end up playing it or not. If nothing else, at least it is different and it runs better in demo than half the games I bought at launch last year.

[x-4000 (Chris McElligott-Park)]

First off -- I hear you, and I get your points. This game might not be for you, and I get that you've had a frustrating time. I can't speak for if this game is for you or not; it won't be for everyone. That said, you asked some questions, so I'm going to answer them, even if this game might not be up your alley.

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For the slurry spiders -- your existing ones are still there, which is why you can't build more. If you build repair spiders, which unlocked when your buildings got attacked, then those will auto-rebuild for you.

If you want to quickly scrap all the ruins of any buildings that are in ruins, you can right-click the delete button in the build menu, and it will instantly do that for you. You can then build more slurry spiders, no repair spiders required.

In large scale combats, it's very helpful to have your buildings automatically rebuild without you having to re-place them all by hand if they take some hits.

In general, at the moment you are still in the tutorial -- about 10% of the way into the tutorial, give or take a bit. Each thing that happens is designed to show some sort of mechanic of the game, so that you gain an understanding of it and the world around you. The freedom comes in chapter 2; you can jump straight there, but you'll be absolutely lost if you do.

This is a combat-heavy game, because there has to be enough interesting things to actually do. There are many subterfuge elements, and some stealth at times, but those typically require combat units backup up the stealth units while the stealth units do their thing. So it introduces combat pretty early, because this is a combat tactics game as one of its main things.

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To your question about overwatch or defend, that's not a thing you can do with your units. Your units will never take an action that you don't directly give them. Standy does exactly what you say, it makes them out of your hair for the moment.

You have to select your units and have them attack enemies, yourself. In the case of this particular first combat, you can use one of your units to go in and force a conversation with the enemy, and then debate them into leaving. But that's not an option in every combat, only in select ones where it makes sense thematically.

Later on in the tutorial, you will come across Bulk units. These ones are autonomous, and other than repositioning them and setting their stance, you can't give them any orders. They are entirely automated, and defend positions you set them at, and so forth. They are for deterring enemies, having interlocking fire when enemies approach, and so on.

The elite units are what you have at this point in the game, and those are extensions of yourself. There's no automating those, just as there's no taking manual control of the Bulk units later on.

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Anyhow, I hope these are of some help if you wind up coming back to this at some point. Or for anyone else who stops by.

Thanks again for your support and your honesty.

Cheers!