I played this on Xbox. Steam users, what is your opinion?

[Love Cube]

I really want to like this game. I am a fan of Surviving Mars. So I bought this when it first became available on Xbox. It is now and always has been a barely playable, buggy nightmare there. It doesn't fit the screen and has unreadably tiny text. It crashes and stutters etc. The Xbox port seems to be an after thought.

So my questions to the Steam Community.

1: Do you guys think that this will ever be finished or do you think it is in Infinite Early Access?

2: On a scale of 1-10, 1 Being an impossibly perfect game and 10 being Cyberpunk 2077 if it were made by Bethesda. How buggy is the Steam version of this game currently?

3: Does the HUD fit the screen? Is the text readable? Are there in game options to adjust either?

4: Have any of you ever gotten a non automated response from someone involved with the game? I have filled out about a thousand of those ingame bug reports on xbox and I get a feeling that they go directly into the recycle bin.

5: Am I wrong to think that this is shovelware trying to cash in on the popularity of Surviving Mars? I feel like it was given to C or D level team. Like a discount version of what happened with ME Andromeda or FO 76.

6: Is there any hope for this game at all in your opinion?

[iceflake_joanna]

Heya!

I can only give you our point of view as the developers of the game so I do encourage all players to give their opinion to the questions you asked here but I thought it would be better to address your questions as well :)

1. I absolutely do believe the game will be finished. Yes, we have extended the Early Access period before - this was done as we felt the game would not have been the version it could be in time - we wanted to ensure we would be able to give you players the game you deserve when we leave Early Access. We are fully committed to Surviving the Aftermath and I personally will do anything and everything in my power to ensure we finish the game. And I know my team and that we all feel this way about the game.

2. Not going to pretend - there are bugs in the game. On the Xbox version there have been some more severe due to the performance issues. We have addressed several of them and based on recent feedback we have been successful. That doesn't mean we are just going to be done, but sadly Early Access games are more buggy than fully released games by nature as new features are getting implemented constantly.

3. HUD should fit the screen and on the PC you have more Graphics options - we are also working on a safe area setting on the console to ensure it fits the screen and are looking into solutions on how to make the game scale better so the text will be better readable.

4. Well you are getting one now! :) But for real though - we read through each and every one of the player reports sent in from the in-game tool - we sadly do not have any way of communicating back through it, but that does not mean we are ignoring you but I do understand how it might feel like it.

5. Surviving Mars was created by a completely different studio - Surviving the Aftermath is our creation and while it is similar to Surviving Mars, we are still going by our own design and plans.

6. In my opinion, of course there is! A lot of hope! I sincerely believe that since first releasing in Early Access we have made great advancements and really brought the game together to be a much more enjoyable and playable game and we are not done yet!

While your questions were not actually directed at us developers, I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of sharing my thoughts :)

Thanks for your post and more importantly, thanks for playing!

[Love Cube]

You are real, neat! Thank you for responding. All of your points are fair but I do take some issues.

Surviving Mars was created by a completely different studio - Surviving the Aftermath is our creation and while it is similar to Surviving Mars, we are still going by our own design and plans.

Is the word "Surviving" and the publisher being the same, really enough to hitch the games together? I mean, the official marketing that influenced me to buy the game, marketed it as a follow up. Can you see how that's a little shady? Like, take the movie "Troll 2" for instance: It's not a sequel to a film named "Troll", it is not about Trolls at all and is in fact a movie completely about goblins. Being comparable to Troll 2 is not a good thing ya' know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

we are also working on a safe area setting on the console to ensure it fits the screen and are looking into solutions on how to make the game scale better so the text will be better readable.

I don't want to be that guy, really I don't. I'm very grateful for your response and time. I understand that it's still in early access and that making games is ridiculously complicated and stressful. A thing that I am nowhere near smart or talented enough to do myself. But if you guys or your publishers feel that the game is ready enough to be sold as early access to users on a specific piece of hardware, then the most basic functions, like the hud and game text should be at least somewhat usable on that hardware at release. It's been nearly a year and a half now.

Honestly, thank you for your time and sorry for the snarky language. I do however feel that my criticisms are fair, just maybe not the wording. Cheers.

[Thud]

I've never been able to load a saved game and have it work. I get the running bug every single time. Whether I'm using mods or not, I've *never* been able to load a previous game. I enjoy the concept and the gameplay (when it works), but this run bug is just too bloody much.

I do not suggest you pay money for the game at this point. If I could, I would get a refund.

EDIT: Eh. I wrote that after a game I'd sunk 3 hours into got the running bug. I hope that when that particular bug is sorted, the Devs make a point of saying that it's improved. I *HAVE* gone back to games I'd been dissatisfied with after improvements (Bannerlord for one), and I sincerely hope the game turns out.

I don't want a refund, I just want a notification when things stabilize more.

[drgnstrm]

I play on pc and have no issues with reading the text and the bugs have been minimal compared to the xbox version I have. Everything fits my screen fine. I got the pc version in the early stages about 3 months after I got the xbox version, this was about a year ago so in the very early stages when it was cheaper. I always restart a new game though with every update so that could be why I don't have issues, this is not a big deal to me as I expected to do this buying a game in the early stages, it also allows me to adjust my game play using what I learned in the previous play through. I have had very few issues but nothing that broke my game personally and they addressed the issues with updates . I haven't experienced a game breaking issues in quite awhile.

When I report an issue in the forums I get responses from the devs, through the bug feature in the game I have never received a response, never expected one. I guess I always just come to the forums when I am looking for them to respond. The game has gone through so many changes and additions through the year but I can see how they are tying it all together so I expect the final game is near.

Although I don't like all the changes made since the beginning with the specialists I do like the game and find it very enjoyable, but that is more of a personal choice, I cannot say if someone else will enjoy it or not. I do not feel I wasted my money at all, I was looking for more survival type games and I feel this game has delivered that experience. I enjoy this game more than another one I bought a few months ago that is similar, and play it more often.

[Thud]

Originally posted by drgnstrm:

I play on pc and have no issues with reading the text and the bugs have been minimal compared to the xbox version I have. Everything fits my screen fine. ... I do not feel I wasted my money at all, I was looking for more survival type games and I feel this game has delivered that experience. I enjoy this game more than another one I bought a few months ago that is similar, and play it more often.

I am very jealous of your experience and hope that at some point I get to have it myself. To the point that I amended my previous statement, in fact. I want the game to work, because the game that's there, aside from a couple gamekilling bugs, is phenomenal.

[iceflake_joanna]

Originally posted by Love Cube:

You are real, neat! Thank you for responding. All of your points are fair but I do take some issues.

Surviving Mars was created by a completely different studio - Surviving the Aftermath is our creation and while it is similar to Surviving Mars, we are still going by our own design and plans.

Is the word "Surviving" and the publisher being the same, really enough to hitch the games together? I mean, the official marketing that influenced me to buy the game, marketed it as a follow up. Can you see how that's a little shady? Like, take the movie "Troll 2" for instance: It's not a sequel to a film named "Troll", it is not about Trolls at all and is in fact a movie completely about goblins. Being comparable to Troll 2 is not a good thing ya' know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

we are also working on a safe area setting on the console to ensure it fits the screen and are looking into solutions on how to make the game scale better so the text will be better readable.

I don't want to be that guy, really I don't. I'm very grateful for your response and time. I understand that it's still in early access and that making games is ridiculously complicated and stressful. A thing that I am nowhere near smart or talented enough to do myself. But if you guys or your publishers feel that the game is ready enough to be sold as early access to users on a specific piece of hardware, then the most basic functions, like the hud and game text should be at least somewhat usable on that hardware at release. It's been nearly a year and a half now.

Honestly, thank you for your time and sorry for the snarky language. I do however feel that my criticisms are fair, just maybe not the wording. Cheers.

I can completely see the confusion with the marketing of the two games - the idea is that they are both Surviving-games - you are trying to ensure your people survive and indeed the publisher is the same for both games however as I mentioned, as we are our own team we are focused on delivering our vision for the game.

As for the safe area - this indeed should have been implemented a long time ago. But sadly, we are only now able to start implementing it and I hope the phrase "better late than never" applies here as well. It has proven to be a lot more difficult to implement than originally thought but we are working on it, that I can tell you.

And absolutely, we appreciate all feedback, both positive and negative as we feel that this is the best way for us to develop the game further. And your wording is fine, no worries about it :)

[iceflake_joanna]

Originally posted by Thud:

I've never been able to load a saved game and have it work. I get the running bug every single time. Whether I'm using mods or not, I've *never* been able to load a previous game. I enjoy the concept and the gameplay (when it works), but this run bug is just too bloody much.

I do not suggest you pay money for the game at this point. If I could, I would get a refund.

EDIT: Eh. I wrote that after a game I'd sunk 3 hours into got the running bug. I hope that when that particular bug is sorted, the Devs make a point of saying that it's improved. I *HAVE* gone back to games I'd been dissatisfied with after improvements (Bannerlord for one), and I sincerely hope the game turns out.

I don't want a refund, I just want a notification when things stabilize more.

Heya!

Really sorry to hear about the troubles. Have you tried launching the game with no mods at all (not even installed to your PC)? If you are unable to load a save even then, then that is definitely a strange issue that we want to know about.

The running bug issue is still under investigation, as far as we are aware it is happening less in a game that does not use mods - and we are also working with our modders to try and find the cause for when this happens with mods.

And believe me - when we know for sure that the running bug has been squashed, it will be written everywhere :D

Let me know about the situation without any mods please! :)

Thanks for your comment and thanks for playing!

[Thud]

Originally posted by iceflake_joanna:

Originally posted by Thud:

Let me know about the situation without any mods please! :)

Alright. The devs took the time to reach out, I'll do a clean install and give it another go. I get that it's early access, and I do apologize for how upset I was before- if the game was crap, I wouldn't be bothered. But it isn't; it's a really fun game with a really really strong concept and execution. Just.. bugs.

Regardless, I don't want a refund. That would be punishing the devs for reaching for the stars.

[Thud]

Alright, I'm able to consistently reload a save now, so that's an improvement. I did a fresh install with no mods, runs better than the last install with mods (even without them enabled)

[iceflake_joanna]

Originally posted by Thud:

Alright, I'm able to consistently reload a save now, so that's an improvement. I did a fresh install with no mods, runs better than the last install with mods (even without them enabled)

Awesome! Really happy to hear this! And I do understand the frustration, that is why we are here and reaching out, as we want to make sure we are aware of any and all issues and get them sorted as fast as we can!

We are working on improving our mod support - even if they are _just_ installed, they can still cause issues to the game, so really glad you tried a fresh install! :)

[Thud]

Yeah, I went back and fixed my review. *this* interaction is why I like supporting Indie producers. You were on it and helped immediately and completely changed my experience.