Lifeless Planet

Lifeless Planet

 Ez a téma ki van emelve, tehát valószínűleg fontos.
SPOILER THREAD: Talk about the story after you finish the game.
Hi guys! Thought it might be fun to create a thread where you can share your thoughts (and get my feedback) about the game story after you play through. Rant. Rave... or whatever. I'll try to check in from time to time and give you my thoughts about the ending, etc.

-Dave
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A very well told story with exceptionally competent gameplay. I applaud you in your effort to bring this game to us. Was his motivation for chasing the girl due to the loss of his wife? I really liked the sequences where you are on Earth (?) it was rather jarring and unexpected seeing a guy in a space suit walking around an earth-like enviornment.
Lifeless Worlds  [Fejlesztő] 2014. jún. 5., 23:46 
So glad you liked it!! Yay for you for the first feedback! Thanks!

In regards to the girl...yes, my thinking is he's alone on this crazy planet and naturally going to feel a connection with this woman due to the "loss" of his wife... The mind does crazy things to you after a deep loss like his. Also, I see his chasing the woman across the planet as a sort of mirror to his looking for his wife back on Earth.

Now, did you wait until the end of the credits for the final bonus cut-scene?
Loved how the story was played out.Well played with the Dream sequence after you fall down.I was Like hell no, please don't tell me this whole game was just a dream. I did watch the final cut-Scene showing the Dish moving. Will we see Sequel in the future or is the last scene open for interpretation ?.
Also I'd like to mention a game breaking bug at the very end lol. If you become clumsly with jumping celebrations :balloon:, you may find yourself stuck, unable to see the end game. I shall explain. So the very last portal which takes you to Earth, If you multijump high into it, it can make you land to your death before the scene changes. you will hear the dialogue, but find yourself dying in the process then respawning at the last checkpoint to only have the portal no longer functioning. kinda a bummer if people jump for joy at the last portal lol. Anyhow Overall , it was a fantastic Adventure. I'm glade i paid for it in Early acess, the End game was well worth it. :happymeat:
David Board eredeti hozzászólása:
Now, did you wait until the end of the credits for the final bonus cut-scene?

You mean where this certain thing on the building suddenly starts moving again? Exciting indeed! Who is moving it? And to what purpose?

Further more: At the end they say in the interview that he kept his wife alive, to give her any chance to live again. Now he returns to earth many years in the future through that portal... She could still be alive, right? And maybe cured?

Holy moly, I really played through the whole game without taking a break! That should say enough in terms of feedback on the game.
Legutóbb szerkesztette: Space Wolf Hudson; 2014. jún. 6., 6:10
god i love Aelita(( but about the story - what was she doing this whole time there? the time after russians die and before americans land. meanwhile she was desperatly needed to save the life on this planet.
and also this plant creatures made the portal, right? and it is linked to earth. but how did they use it, why did they build it in the first place. and more - why is it still connected to earth?
got more questions then answers))
the last scene maybe a reference to another human survivors? the crew was 3-4 men and we saw die only 2.
Legutóbb szerkesztette: object; 2014. jún. 6., 16:03
Pretty much what was said here.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of the moving dish at the end of the game. Does it mean someone is moving it, is it a refference to the transmission mentioned in the beginning or is it something else?
I'm also not entirely sure if I understand the timeline of the game. Did they essentially arrive "in the past" (because time flows slower on the planet) or was the woman really living there for that long (which would make sense, considering the skeletons and state of some architecture).
Is there any explanation for why the portals were built? Does it mean they visited Earth before?
And I don't think the game actually explains what happened to the portal builders. Because the Russians didn't mention them. Did they leave the planet? Or were they simply somewhere on the planet and just didn't make themselves known?
Lifeless Worlds  [Fejlesztő] 2014. jún. 6., 16:35 
Thanks for the feedback, all! Glad you enjoyed the experience. @Flea: I'll correct that issue with jumping through the portal.

Some answers/thoughts:

-No plans for a sequel. I think it's more fun to imagine where the story might go from here.

-The final scene from the game was inspired by the classic Russian sci-fi novel "Aelita"...summary online--google it... the idea is that Aelita has merged with (and healed) the life forms on the planet. But they are a planet-wide sentient network, so she is able to connect (through the roots/moss) with the communications dish. We are indeed in the future and if you recall he says at the beginning that the radio-signal of his pre-flight interview will arrive at the planet after he does since he's traveling faster than light. Thus, at the very end, Aelita is hearing the transmission of this broadcast as he talks about being so far away from someone you love. He's talking about his wife, but Aelita is hearing him and relates it to herself...

-Yes, the idea is he paid to keep his wife alive indefinitely before he left Earth. Maybe this was a deal he was able to arrange as part of his signing on for the mission? And now he is able to return home--something he probably didn't contemplate... More generally, the game story is about the irony of humankind's desire to explore new places while we usually find so much more to love back at home.

-Yes, the creatures made the portals. The portal builders and the root creatures are one and the same. I imagine they are part of a multi-planet race. They are hostile to the astronaut, but only because they are dying due to a human-introduced virus. They are striking out in desperation. When healthy, they were/are a planet-wide network of intelligent and benevolent creatures. They had tried to link to earth in order to expand their influence, perhaps to assist humanity. The human virus intervened in that plan...

What was up with the tornadoes then? Was their behavior caused by the virus somehow as well, or is there another reason they chased the player? Last I checked, tornadoes don't literally chase people.
Honestly I'd give you a C on the story. There's barely any character development. Your crew is dead? Who cares? It's not like they even had names. Why did this guy sign up to go on a space mission where he's told there will never be a return trip, especially if he's keeping his wife on life support? Why does he then hope there's a way to get back to Earth when he's there?

I felt the wife part of the story was just thrown in to spice it up. It didn't make me feel any different to the protagonist.

The human virus killing all the bacteria on the planet was kind of believable, but then the "mutated" monsters killing everything else was far-fetched. Bacteriophages infect bacteria, they don't mutate them.

Why does he care so much about the minerals he finds? It's mentioned he's a geologist, why was a geologist sent on this mission? Why did the US send the crew on this mission in the first place?

You should see the game/book "The Dig" from the 90s for some tips on a better story.

One gameplay critique: the warping around from one area's exit to another's entrance is confusing. It's even more confusing when the whole environment changes suddenly. Switching from the hot springs area to the inferno area was jarring without any gradual change.
@Just Gwesky: So, I don't recommend getting to close to the dust devils... but if you do and you look closely you can actually see bits of a creature spinning around violently. So this is a creature too...kicking up sand as it approaches. The only creature that truly chases you through the game. =)

@phox - Really sorry you didn't like the story more, but thanks for playing! I am very familiar with The Dig and this game was inspired in part by my deep enjoyment of that game. I'd suggest they took quite a few liberties with their story, too, but that's the fun with science fiction... thanks again for checking out Lifeless Planet!
Congrats on a truely enjoyable experience.
Finished the game and went straight back in for more action and achivements.
How do you get the Lifeless Astronaut achievment.
I have been, burned, blown up, twistered, spiked, skewered killed by the puddle looking things, killed by the tree looking things that close when you land on them., suffocated, killed by a fall, and by one of those mimic tree people etc.
Still no achievment, is this a bug?
In the save game text it mentions "DeathFlower" ? Thought that was the tree thing with the flat top..

anyways.
Thanks for the game.
my full walkthrough gameplay playlist here if anyone wanna take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdDImNZeyuTWAWpoq_c4zISJhfLUe4x5D
yeah, I agree, his reaction to dead crew is a bit weird. and I wish he and Aelita interacted more (especcially in a chapter where they walk together).

about the portal - they don't wanna go to earth and they don't wanna anyone from earth go to their planet cause of the virus, but they still have it connected to earth. why?
and also it is hard to believe that you can bulid a portal going throght space (thats a pretty scientific technology, right?) and not being aware of the viruses on other planets and how to deal with them. It worked for Herbert Wells, but that was 19th century))

time is confusing - in 1970s russians already saw the futuristic city, shouldnt the image now be far far future from that? and also - travelling twice the speed of light isnt a technology we gonna have soon, so the main character is obviously not from our time. he shouldnt be surprised to see that city)))

story is confusing - but i love atmnosphere and music, great game.
Just completed it. Great game. One of the best indie games ever made IMO well done Dave for your vision & persistence.

I love the minimalistic gameplay & barren alien landscapes. Story was great as well. I am old enough to have bought & greatly enjoyed The Dig when it first came out back in 1995 (shame Lucasarts never released their higher res 640x480 gfx version graphics artist Bill Tiller said existed) so could see some similarities but I think the story in Lifeless Planet was quite different & unique.

I loved how diverse the environments were & a lot of the story is left unexplained as less is always way more effective when you do not explain every little thing away.

The best compliment I can pay is that I wanted to keep playing deep into the night when I should be sleeping it has that just a little longer factor most recent games lack!
phox eredeti hozzászólása:
Why did this guy sign up to go on a space mission where he's told there will never be a return trip, especially if he's keeping his wife on life support? Why does he then hope there's a way to get back to Earth when he's there?

Why did this guy sign up to go on a space mission where he's told there will never be a return trip, especially if he's keeping his wife on life support?"

In the interview the same questions are asked. He answers something like that they all have a deep desire to explore and also only few attachments on earth.
It reminds me of the talking about sending people to mars in the not-too-far-away-future. The first who will be sent there will probably not return. They are sent for exploration, research and maybe establish the first extraterrestrial colony.
And yeah he is keeping his wife on life support, but there is no real hope that she is recovering anytime soon. He is also saying something like he wants to offer her any chance to live again, even if it is without him in the future.


"Why does he then hope there's a way to get back to Earth when he's there?"

I think that is pretty clear: When they were going on their mission to that planet they were expecting to find a planet full of live (flora). Now they get there, his crew dies (he is all alone) and the whole planet is mostly dead. Further more he would run out of oxygen very soon and die, since there is only a limited amount of oxygen supplies.
Legutóbb szerkesztette: Space Wolf Hudson; 2014. jún. 7., 7:01
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