I really started to appreciate the fact that Outerra devs don't over-promise us the stuff that is beyond of the scope that could ever be done by anyone.
Exactly. I used to be really sceptical concerning the lack of teasing and WIP shots from the team the first year I bought the full version. But looking at so many other projects spending so much time and efforts selling their product rather than making it, orienting their communication towards what the users want, even if they are not really sure they can do it.
About No Man's Sky, I had the opportunity to play it with a friend who bought it just after the release on PC. Technical issues aside, it's really an interesting game, always feel like they are an inch away of good game design decisions but throw them away because they were afraid the players may get lost/get frustrated/don't understand. Saw an interview of Sean Murray explaining they removed planet rotation because playtesters didn't understood why the time to travel to a location on an other planet was increasing, even if they were not moving. There is a ton of stuff they put between you and the game all the time, between the constant need to recharge systems by switching to the UI, the constant warnings of the life support (even at 75% full!), reducing all the possible locations to a single purpose only, streamlining all the experience like if it was the ultimate Ubisoft game !
They tried to make sure you could never get stuck on a planet, there is always a way to get the resources you need, so they added traders post everywhere. It's weird because if they really had choose to make it a real survival experience, the game could have been more balanced and oriented towards it's biggest strong points: the planets, when you are at ground level. Not being able to get something could have been solved in a simple way: activate a distress beacon, a ship will arrive in a few days, you have to find a way to survive meanwhile, using the flora and the characteristic of the planet. Every experience different.
But the gameplay is so disconnected from the universe it's just frustrating for me. My friend said it was weird to find upgrades not because it was useful, but because he just wanted to have enough gear to explore systems without having to grind stuff every time. Basically, he wanted to get rid of the gameplay to play the game.
Hopefully, they will solve the technical issues and start reworking the game, now they are more comfortable after this release. Drama and pressure will go away, and they may be able to finally give the game the depth it deserve, using it's strong points. The planetary rendering is cluncky as hell (especially if you know OT) and there is LOD popping everywhere, even a few meters away, but it's still very unique and enjoyable when you are at ground level
