Tidal wave feels like wasted potential

[filpolo]

So, I started the demo, played for a while, built some stuff, and then I got the wave warning. I looked at the horizon, and I saw this big wave coming in. Oh, crap! I ran for the tallest mountain, trying to get as high as I could. As the camera panned out, I realized that this thing was actually taller than the tallest mountain - like ten times taller. Beautiful and terrible. Flashes of Interstellar. No escape. Crap, what did I do wrong? What could I do differently next time...

Oh, wait, nevermind. I'm fine. The base is fine. It just knocked out a few turbines, a basic building that I can rebuild in seconds. Oh, and it turns out that there are ways to do power generation that are immune to the wave - so the damage is literally just a one-minute pause every now and then.

The overwhelming wave turned out to be very underwhelming. I hoped the natural disaster would be something central to gameplay, something that forces you to come up with something to shield constructions and/or to figure out how to rebuild faster each time. Instead, it's basically just a cutscene.

Fun fact - I launched the rocket just as the wave was lapping the shore, camera panned out and all, and it disappeared. That was effective! X-D

[dmitry.nest2012]

Well, if we talk about realism, then it seems to me that there could be 2 solutions. The first and most difficult thing is that existing caves could be dug deep underground, and a security door could be placed outside the cave. Most of the base could be hidden underground. But this would require too many changes to the game. The second method is much easier to implement. Installation for driving concrete piles deep into the soil, you place it on the surface. Materials for its creation must be available quickly. Then any structure (except for conveyors and pipes) that is placed on the ground and if it stands on such stilts, it will not be washed away. And so that the player does not die, he will need to take refuge in a cave, he will be next to it when the wave subsides. When the wave screensaver is on, it will show how the entire base that is not on stilts is washed away. Yes, the game has large solar panels, but how exactly are they held up with a wave that big? Unclear. They don't weigh thousands of tons.

[dmitry.nest2012]

By the way, the installation for driving piles could be useful on other planets, say, where there is increased seismic activity (earthquakes) so that buildings do not collapse, but other materials and technologies will be needed to create it there. Perhaps the concrete rod itself will also consist of blue metal plates with various compensators inside. The concrete rod as a 3D model is universal for different planets, but its internal filling is simply different. It would look interesting and original. Note that a pile installed in the ground cannot be dismantled using the “x” button; to do this, you need to place the installation for driving the pile in the same place and turn on the reverse inside the machine. Although this may be too much.

[Tetra]

This prologue came out 9 days ago, it's an interesting idea and I'm sure it'll be expanded upon. Why are you complaining about something that's still in development, how long have you been gaming for because you seem new to this or strangely entitled to having everything perfect immediately. In a prologue I wouldn't expect a feature like that to be completely fleshed out and you shouldn't either.

[TactileTaco]

Originally posted by Tetra:

This prologue came out 9 days ago, it's an interesting idea and I'm sure it'll be expanded upon. Why are you complaining about something that's still in development, how long have you been gaming for because you seem new to this or strangely entitled to having everything perfect immediately. In a prologue I wouldn't expect a feature like that to be completely fleshed out and you shouldn't either.

I mean it's not really clear if it is something being actively expanded upon. Also the point of such an early iteration would be to get feedback so yeah people are supposed to complain about disappointing aspects of the game.

[filpolo]

Originally posted by Tetra:

This prologue came out 9 days ago, it's an interesting idea and I'm sure it'll be expanded upon. Why are you complaining about something that's still in development, how long have you been gaming for because you seem new to this or strangely entitled to having everything perfect immediately. In a prologue I wouldn't expect a feature like that to be completely fleshed out and you shouldn't either.

I'm trying to resist the urge to be as needlessly condescending as you are, and... nope. Failing. Sorry.

Have you ever been in gaming development, or in development of any kind, or indeed in any kind of large-ish project at all? The moment when you want suggestions that would require major changes is exactly as early as possible. Making changes after 1.0 hits can easily be ten times more expensive than making them earlier.

In fact, this is probably already too late to make suggestions for the wave mechanic, and I'm only doing it on the off chance that it gives the devs some minor ideas that they can work in even at this late stage of development. Also, the fact that I got all the way to launching the rocket should make it clear that I liked the game.

If you are in the habit of only pointing out things after a game hits 1.0, how are the devs supposed to take your suggestions into account while actually developing the game? Telepathy?

[CursedXistence]

One thing they could do is have the wave size be variable and give all the buildings, etc. a durability aka health mechanic. the more damaged a building, machine, etc. is the less efficient it is, or it gets knocked completely offline or even completely destroyed all requiring different levels of repair or full rebuild.

There's a lot of different ways they could go and it'll be interesting to see how they're going to do it for the full release.

[pgames-food]

hi someone designed a concept anti-tidal wave structure, made from what looked like lots of concentric rings, at different angles, which i think was designed to use the tidal flow to curve back onto itself, somehow negating a good proportion of its original strength - or something like that :)

maybe something could be build on a large scale, in game, which uses it too, to help protect you base

[dmitry.nest2012]

Originally posted by pgames-food:

hi someone designed a concept anti-tidal wave structure, made from what looked like lots of concentric rings, at different angles, which i think was designed to use the tidal flow to curve back onto itself, somehow negating a good proportion of its original strength - or something like that :)

maybe something could be build on a large scale, in game, which uses it too, to help protect you base :lunar2019piginablanket:

It would be interesting. This would give the player time to fire some missiles and wait. It’s just strange that just 1 rocket is capable of moving the entire moon and in just 1 day after launch. What kind of thrust should the engine have? Yes, this is most likely a fantasy and in this game the thrust of rocket engines can be much higher than those in real life, but even taking this into account - the moon is huge, it seems to me that just one rocket is not enough here. It is clear that all this was shown to demonstrate the game, and it looks very cool; when the rocket was launched, I remembered the game Kerbal Space Programs (in a good way).

[Zep Tepi]

I agree, this wave is all bark and no bite. After you've seen it once, there's no more excitement to it.

This is a similar mechanic to the storms in Frostpunk, or the one in Against the Storm. Those actually do something. For an example of a terrifying threat that does nothing, look to Surviving the Abyss. You do not want to be Surviving the Abyss. It did not survive.

Of course, no player wants all of their hard work destroyed, and the current mechanic might continue to work well if the game is set to easy mode. But other games have addressed this issue by making the disasters come in predictable waves, so that the player has a reasonable chance of preparing for them, or not.

Phase one might simply be trying to build a wave-proof bunker, including a hangar for your ship, because that thing would definitely be washed away otherwise. Phase two might involve building enough to get some upgrades unlocked for better machinery and reinforcements so that some of it will survive. There would be a definite and predictable progression there. Naturally, people will still complain about losing stuff, but that is what easy mode should be for.

I also expected such a giant wave to wash new resources up on the beach, and it didn't. Put some good in there along with the bad.