How am I supposed to play this game?

[Skirlasvoud]

This is a little embarrassing, but I'm completely stuck without a faintest idea of what I should do or what inputs I need to make on my controller to progress.

Just got past the intro, Vas introduced herself, rightly concluded that I didn't know what I was doing... and that's it. She's right, I don't know what I'm doing and if there's a tutorial I must have missed it.

I can ping the little radar-circle pressing B, twirl around the needle atop the circle by pressing Y and moving left thumbstick. I can browse menus with with left thumbstick buttons, but none respond, and I can zoom with the triggers. I can do pretty much the same with the mouse.

Unlike what Vas suggests we do however, I don't have a single clue about how I should move... The game simply hasn't told me and no matter the combination of button presses on either the mouse or controller, nothing happens.

2 minutes in and I'm frustrated. What gives?

Is my game bugged?

Playing on GoG by the way.

[Skirlasvoud]

Right thumbstick finally did something and I'm finally moving.

That was... not obvious at all. Here's hoping the rest of the game is a bit more intuitive.

[JumpOvertheAge]

Learning is part of the process with the game. Keep an eye on the button prompts--you may have accidentally turned them off, but if not they are mapped to the share/left options button on controller. Good luck!

[Skirlasvoud]

I've gotten the swing of this game and managed to get to the first outpost. So far, I'm enjoying myself.

That said, I would like to make a couple of suggestions.

Originally posted by JumpOvertheAge:

Learning is part of the process with the game. Keep an eye on the button prompts--you may have accidentally turned them off, but if not they are mapped to the share/left options button on controller. Good luck!

I understand a "Prompt" to be when there's a User Interface element that draws the user's attention. If I were to format my C: drive right now, Windows would bring up a Prompt to ask me if I'm sure. This prompt is on top of all my other windows/tabs and is hard to ignore.

When Vas releases suit control and all the surrounding panels merely have controller symbols upon them, I define that as a Prompt. It draws the attention since they're the only thing clearly visible.

When Vas wants me to drag the gassy spores over to remove the stalks that are in our way, the screen shows arrows, hints to hold and certain button symbols. I also define those as prompts.


However, pressing share/left option on the controller doesn't bring up Prompts. It brings up what I consider a legenda, or inscriptions. That's the same as the user interface on your car's Radio will tell you the volume, the channel/frequency I'm listening to and the song that's playing. These are inscriptions/explanations, but not prompts.

People also don't expect inscriptions to change.

If I start speeding and I don't know that, but the radio has a build-in function where the display starts warning me that I'm speeding, than that's the inscription changing, and not a prompt. It's not useful, because the inscriptions are supposed to change all the time anyway with new songs. I'm unlikely to pay attention to it.

If the car has a function where a hologram pops up on the front pane however, then I don't expect that and it draws attention. That's a prompt.


The interface in the game is changing all the time : The oxygen bar swings, the radar lights up. Only Suit control being released or the drop-and-drag tutorials, clearly stand out as being different than that. Those are prompts.

This - the only way I could've known I was supposed to use the right thumbstick next:

https://i.imgur.com/SiV0GnL.png

Is not a prompt. That's the inscription changing. I'm unlikely to notice my car radio to run a sentence on its User Interface that I'm speeding. I'm very unlikely to notice that there's a one letter difference on top of an already impressive User Interface in "In Other Waters".

Also, at that point I was JUST introduced by a glut of new information, like Oxygen and Feul Control, the Sample Interface, the Depth Meter and such. My focus is on THESE things and I was busy trying to interact with THESE systems, rather than notice the one-letter change.


I would propose these solutions:

Make the fact that I can use the Right Thumbstick after a ping, more obvious. The drag-and-drop tutorial has an arrow. Use an arrow to point out the letter-shift too.

Too intrusive? How about only introducing Suit Controls after I've made my first couple of moves. That way, my attention wouldn't have diffused yet to all the other detail and I would've been far more likely to notice the right things.

Even better: prevent me from doing anything else but move for the first time, and make the buttons necessary for movement, the ONLY YELLOW THINGS present at that time. Don't distract me with sample collect or all the other interface. Vas only allows me to press B, and then before I think the big glowing Y button is the proper next step, that option is locked out and the only yellow thing on screen is the yellow RB at the top of the radar. (I mean, you KNOW how this works! You're use of simplistic design and colour schema in this game is brilliant! You introduce the lifeforms and their abbundance slowly, so why not apply the same to the introductory beginnings?)

Vas could gradually release control until we've earned her trust. (I think that the game feeling slightly claustrophobic and restrictive is a design decision? I'm an AI after all with limited abilities and I totally dig that. Vas only giving me control gradually would've reinforced that theme without being discordant.)


Also, don't make Vas say that it's obvious that I don't know what I'm doing and that we don't have any time. She's right of course, but I'm also just 3 minutes into the game. I've not fully submerged myself into this wonderful world you've created. Maybe there'll be a real headscratcher at the thirty minutes mark, but by that time I already feel in control and that I'm roleplaying an AI that's supposed to deal with it.
Up to the 5 minute mark however, I'm still acutely aware that (1) I, the player, am playing a (2) videogame created by (3) you, the developer. If I'm frustrated and the game heaps on the stress before I even feel that it has properly explained itself, then it's real easy for me to alt-tab, sever the bond and spill out into the forums. I kinda wish I hadn't, but felt forced to do so.


Now, I might just be the odd man out and I'm the only person in the world for whom this was a stumbling block. That's something you have to decide for yourself. Now that I've clumsily cleared that hurdle like the dumb fat kid, I don't care anymore and I don't expect you to change anything.

Just, letting you know my thoughts and player experiences JumpOvertheAge. Like I said, I'm having fun now and thank you for taking the time to read if you've gotten this far. I'm liking my purchase so far and I'll be sure to drop a positive GoG review if that impression lasts.

[ulzgoroth]

I'm stuck in the exact same place, I think, and have no idea how I'm supposed to actually start moving. None of the panels that are movement-related react to me clicking on them, and there are no documented keyboard controls...

[ulzgoroth]

...Okay, I found it, and it's really unhelpful to have an instruction to 'head north' when what you actually need to do is head to a scanable waypoint to the northwest...

[ShadowVVolf]

The gyst of the controls is to scan and select points of interests that pop up.
Selecting a triangle point means you can move to it by clicking the refresh button looking thing and then the button above it. Outside of scanning mode you move the ball that is on the edge of the map view that has parallel lines connected to it to select your vector and then hit the top right button that pops up to move.

[garza.m]

I was also stuck here. I was using a controller initially (still feeling out which I like better); I don't know if it would've been easier to figure out with a mouse + keyboard).

[Bif Darington]

It is not any better. This game has the worst intro I have run into in a while. Especially since I went into try and configure controls, and all I found was things like "Joystick #1" is mapped to "Joystick #1" with no mention of what (if any) keyboard or mouse functions were active. I spent 20 min failing to move before quitting out.
This is seriously borked.

[Bif Darington]

Originally posted by JumpOvertheAge:

Learning is part of the process with the game. Keep an eye on the button prompts--you may have accidentally turned them off, but if not they are mapped to the share/left options button on controller. Good luck!

And those of us on PC who are playing with mouse and keyboard can just take a flying leap at ourselves? I understand that it is a game about leaning and exploration, but the interface should enable that rather than hinder it.
It said to move north.
I can manually set the heading to north.
I cannot move north.
I can ping a contact to the NW, but nothing to the north. No icon on the controls actually allows movement. Yes, after reading this thread I was able to lurch off along the trail of breadcrumbs, but having to leave the game just to figure out how to move in the game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't be bothered to actually progress beyond that.
Perhaps some day I'll dust this thing off and see if I care, but for now it was just way to offputting.

[KaeWhy]

YMMV. Also playing with mouse and keyboard, figured it out in two minutes.

[Shufflecat]

With mouse and keyboard you only need the mouse. It might have redundant keyboard controls, but they aren't needed, and would suffer the same issues as controller inputs.

With a mouse it's pretty straightforwardly intuitive, as you're clicking on the actual GUI buttons to do things, instead of trying to figure out or remember what inputs are arbitrarily connected to what functions.

The game does walk you through the controls for things in the beginning by highlighting the GUI buttons it wants you to click on. With the mouse you just click where it tells you, and once you know what's what in the GUI, you don't have to remember anything else control-wise.

IMO this game should have a disclaimer that it's recommended to play with a mouse. Anyone coming to it with the impression that it's a controller game is gonna be set up to expect the wrong kind of action and thus the wrong kind of interface. The game is basically a point-and-click adventure with a novel visual style.

[Strobe]

I came here with the same problem as OP, where I'm expecting a move button or a way to head north, and not finding it. Still took a bit to figure out even after reading the thread, so here's the actual steps for xbox controller:

1. Hit B to scan
1b. If hitting B does nothing, it could be that you hit left bumper at some point and opened the left menus, so hit right bumper to close the menus on the left, then try again.
2. Your scan should reveal a triangle to the northwest. This is where you're actually supposed to go, not the north.
3. You should be able to use the right thumbstick to move the scan direction around. Point and hold toward the triangle to the northwest to get it in your sights.
3b. If only the left thumbstick moves a thing around, but right thumbstick does nothing, it's because you pressed Y at some point. So, press B again. If neither thumbstick does anything, hit right bumper.
4. Once the triangle is scanned, an info card about it should come up. Press A to make the little triangle your destination. This is how you move, hopping from scanned point to scanned point.

Figuring this out was not in any way enjoyable or satisfying, and I'm disheartened to see the developer describe it as a feature. Personally I'm DNFing the game, but I hope this helps the next person!

[Oreolek]

Came here with same problem. Couldn't figure out the controls on gamepad or keyboard. Why is this a puzzle?

[Vicitus]

It´s like a text adventure but with a interface and simplified graphics.

[teg]

I'm with the op,

1 - No indication of how to move after we finish the intro
2 - The direction indicator resets each time you even touch the left stick.