As I mentioned in my last ramble I've been playing Conan Exiles lately and over the weekend I was looking at it trying to find why I seemed to be more captured by Conan than I had been by ARK. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing ARK, but there is something in Conan that I didn't have with ARK.
To be fair I must say that ARK is still in early access as well, and that I haven't played the game in the last several months so it is possible that changes have been made that I'm unaware of.
Both games are sandbox survival games, which is to say most of what you get out of the game is dependent upon what you bring into it. So they don't have a story that you follow as you would with more traditional style games. ARK is rumored to be heading toward having an end goal that you are supposed to be working toward (building a ship and leaving the ARK in the case of ARK) while others of the genre are really about just living in the world. In either case, however, there is no definitive story.
Both games you create a character and are thrown into a hostile world naked and alone and you have to gather the resources that you need to survive. Both games use pretty similar mechanics for these systems (likely in part due to using the same engine and I'm sure that ARK influenced Conan's development significantly as well). Combat, building, and general survival concepts are all very similar between the two games. So why do I find Conan so much more interesting?
I suspect that there is several reasons behind it, but first and foremost it comes to engagement. I find myself more engaged with Conan than I really did with ARK. Why? Background. Conan has it, ARK doesn't. In both games you customize the appearance of your character in the game and name them. In Conan, however, you make a few additional choices - mainly Race and Religion. Race (or Culture really) is a purely superficial choice it has no bearing in the game beyond perhaps limiting certain cosmetic features during character creation. What it does add to the game, however, is background. It gives you a culture that your character came from. Religion, does have a little more impact in the game, namely how you interact with the religion system in game. Again, however, it allows you to get some background information as it would apply to the world and your character's place in it.
Finally, when you name your character in Conan you are also presented with a list of 'crimes' that you have been exiled for. There are other indications that point to the fact that these crimes may or may not have been real, but you have a reason for being in the wilderness where you start. ARK has nothing of this. You make and name your character and you appear in a world that you know nothing about, no idea how or why you're there .... just that you are.
Now in ARK you CAN create a full story around yourself and the reason for the situation that you are in, but generally when people are playing a game they are looking to relax, mentally creating something like that from scratch is not the type of thing that they are looking for. The world of ARK exists, but it is a completely blank slate there is no history, no character background, there really isn't anything to tell you that there could potentially be an end game.
I enjoy ARK, it does have an appeal to it. Taming Pseudo Dinos to help you work and protect you as you journey through the ARK looking for resources. Conan doesn't really have anything like that at the moment, but the world and lore that exists in the game provides a framework to help the player engage that ARK is lacking.
The Dinos of ARK, however, do present another issue. No it's not that I can't immerse myself because there's Dinos around ... I enjoy that aspect. However, once you reach the point that you have Dino mounts, and particularly flying mounts, the world shrinks significantly. I don't know how the map between Conan and ARK actually compares size wise, but Conan's world feels bigger, for the most part because you're traveling on foot. You can't fly up to the top of that cliff to see what's up there .... you have to explore and find the path up, and deal with any dangers on the way. Yes, in ARK you can forgo the Dino mounts and make yourself travel on foot, even not bring Dino escorts to help protect you and deal with issues, but that is basically forgoing a major feature of the game just to make the world feel bigger.
The world of Conan also feels a bit more alive and real with camps of tribes and other people around. In ARK only other players fill this role, if you're playing single player you are the lone human in the ARK (which really doesn't make a lot of sense even within what little framework they have for the game). Where as in Conan while you may be the only player, there actually are other people scattered around (though admittedly most will be trying to kill you if they see you, but there are some lore NPCs in the game).
You can say that the point of ARK is multi-player and I'll agree with that to a large degree, but the same IS true of Conan too. The truth is that either - you are playing on a PvP server (most of which are little more than deathmatch arenas with no hope of story or any real engagement) or you're on a PvE server that basically boils down to you and your friends are the only humans on the ARK (at least this is a little more believable). [Note - I'm not saying that everyone on a PvE server are your friends or are even in the same tribe as you, but since there are no humans on the ARK that are ever a threat to you, you may as well be.]
In short, what it really boils down to is ... Conan is more like a world while ARK is more like a game. ARK (again when last I played it) is entertaining and fun, it is challenging, and rewarding when you tame a new Dino or finish building a new base, but it isn't engaging, it never really feels like a world. Lore and backstory can be added, and I hope that the devs and mod community will create lore and backstory for the characters and worlds and make the game more engaging, but in my experience that aspect is what is currently pushing Conan Exiles ahead, at least for me.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Monday, February 6, 2017
Multi-Game Madness
Okay ... I've been bouncing around the Game-o-sphere again (still really ... lets face it, even when I'm playing primarily one game, I'm usually dabbling in 2 or 3 others). So I figured I'd drop some quick thoughts on what I've been playing lately.
Early Access game from FunCom (The makers of MMO games Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and The Secret World) as well as some single player games, most notably The Longest Journey series and more recently The Park a single player adventure in The Secret World setting. Conan Exiles takes the Conan License into the Sandbox Survival genre allowing players to play Multi-player on Officially hosted persistent servers, Single player, or host their own persistent servers where they can set the rules. Originally I had very little interest in the game when I heard that they were working on the title as I was expecting a PvP gank-fest online game designed primarily around the idea of e-sports, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the single player and Co-Op options being presented with the title.
(Aside - For the record I have nothing against games being designed around e-sports or being PvP focused. I find, however, that while I may enjoy these games on occasion I rarely have the time/desire to sink the kind of time into them that it takes to be truly competitive so I don't tend to have much interest in them. Games like Mechwarrior Online that I can jump into and play a few matches occasionally in a setting / genre that I like can be fun, but aren't going to be a primary makeup of my gaming and as a result I'm not likely to pick them up unless I can get into them without spending cash.)
Conan Exiles has just launched into Early Access so I'm not going to be too critical here as a lot can change over the course of late development. I am also looking at this from the point of view of a PvE player.
Graphically the game is definitely beautiful:
And all things considered it's pretty solid. There are the usual balance issues (particularly between ranged and melee combat) but that's something that can easily be tweaked and adjusted through the early access part of development. Presently the skill progression is very inter-dependent and with the lack of skill points you aren't going to have a lot of 'wiggle room' in your chosen crafting skills. While this won't likely be as much of a problem on large high population servers where people can reasonably specialize and get what they can't make from other players, players like myself that prefer a smaller more intimate server may find themselves unable to do the higher end crafting because they've had to spread out their skill points too much,
There is a lot of potential in this game and there is the opportunity here to make a game that really takes the best of this genre and shines, but at the same time it is facing an uphill climb. This is a well established genre at this point. Games like Minecraft, Rust, Day-Z, and the like have all built this genre over the last several years and recent games like ARK: Survival Evolved have been expanding it into different settings so you have the dual edged sword of trying to make yourself stand out as a late comer to the genre, but at the same time constrained by the expectations of people that play the genre regularly ... you have to be different, but not TOO different.
In the end, it's a fun game and my friends and I are enjoying our private server Co-Op experience. I'll definitely get my $30 worth of entertainment out of the game. In it's current state the game is stable and fun, if difficult at times. It is, however, very much a game that needs multiplayer to really reach its full potential, or a much more robust NPC / RPG element for the single player experience. If you have several friends that like a Low-Fantasy setting I would say to keep an eye on this one for release. If you are willing to brave the issues of an incomplete game and the risk of burning out before the game even releases then the current Early Access game is solid.
Free to play 3rd person action Co-Op shooter. This game is primarily a PvE 3rd person shooter with some PvP arena match games available. Game has a solid F2P model that encourages but doesn't require the player to spend real money on the game. That is to say that almost anything in game can be earned in game if the player wants to put in the time to earn what they need in game. The game can certainly become a major grind if you want to focus on it in that way, but if played as a game to just jump in and have some fun (particularly with a group of friends) and realize that the other 'stuff' in the game will take time to get to, then you can play it and have a lot of fun completely for free.
All Guild (Clan) goals are also achievable to even a small Guild (Clan), and in fact larger Guilds actually have to gather more in terms of resources to complete the same goals. The game is solidly designed around co-op game play with teams of 1-4 players doing missions. The matchmaking system makes finding a random team fast, or players can invite friends or clan-mates to squad up before starting missions ... more people on the team means a slight increase in difficulty and an increased rate of drops as well as better chances at rarer drops.
The game is a ton of fun, the movement and fluidity of the controls is pretty well done (It has it's issues here and there, but that's any game ever made as far as I'm concerned), and the combat is face paced and down right exhilarating at times. For myself, I find it's a lot more fun in a regular group of friends that play together and work as a team. PUGs (Random pick up groups) tend to focus on speed runs and that is (imo) what turns the game into a grind for most people. Keep it casual, keep it fun, but keep in mind that things will take time to get done.
Okay, I'm a bit biased here as I love the Games Workshop Warhammer (and Warhammer 40k) universe and I love turn based games. The game, based on the table-top mini game of the same name, is a dark fantasy setting in which you take control of a warband scouring the ruined city of Mordheim for fame and fortune. The game has a significant learning curve and the tutorial is largely unhelpful (It is a great lesson, however, in how NOT to design a tutorial series.). A lot of people complain about the Random in the game, but to be honest (they show the rolls in the combat log) it really isn't stacked against the player specifically and I've seen the type of things that people complain about happen during a game rolling dice.
That said, the rules of Mordheim are harsh (also because the tutorial sucks, they are somewhat mysterious) and the game will punish a tactical mistake without pity. The biggest advantage I've seen the AI have in the game, however, is knowledge of the map. They know where they can pass through where a player may waste a turn going into a building that's a dead end only to have to go back out the way they went in and go around. The story line missions are particularly brutal, unforgiving, and totally unfair, so that I think is probably where a lot of the complaints about the game come from.
All in all it is a very solid turn based squad tactical game in a dark fantasy setting. The different warbands (Mercinary, Sisters of Sigmar, Skaven, and Chaos in the base game Witch Hunters and Undead via DLC) have their own feel, strengths and weaknesses, and flow (along with their own story line, but see the above comment about the story line missions). The game allows a good degree of customization (Items, Weapons, Armor and look, as well as names and the like for each member of the warband.) allowing you to make a warband that reflects you ... and then watch in horror as they slowly die. Seriously though, I very much have enjoyed this and I am really stoked that the developer and publisher recently announced that they are working on a Necromunda title (similar table-top game set in Games Workshop's 40k setting) for me to look forward to.
Conan Exiles (https://conanexiles.com/)
Early Access game from FunCom (The makers of MMO games Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and The Secret World) as well as some single player games, most notably The Longest Journey series and more recently The Park a single player adventure in The Secret World setting. Conan Exiles takes the Conan License into the Sandbox Survival genre allowing players to play Multi-player on Officially hosted persistent servers, Single player, or host their own persistent servers where they can set the rules. Originally I had very little interest in the game when I heard that they were working on the title as I was expecting a PvP gank-fest online game designed primarily around the idea of e-sports, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the single player and Co-Op options being presented with the title.
(Aside - For the record I have nothing against games being designed around e-sports or being PvP focused. I find, however, that while I may enjoy these games on occasion I rarely have the time/desire to sink the kind of time into them that it takes to be truly competitive so I don't tend to have much interest in them. Games like Mechwarrior Online that I can jump into and play a few matches occasionally in a setting / genre that I like can be fun, but aren't going to be a primary makeup of my gaming and as a result I'm not likely to pick them up unless I can get into them without spending cash.)
Conan Exiles has just launched into Early Access so I'm not going to be too critical here as a lot can change over the course of late development. I am also looking at this from the point of view of a PvE player.
Graphically the game is definitely beautiful:
There is a lot of potential in this game and there is the opportunity here to make a game that really takes the best of this genre and shines, but at the same time it is facing an uphill climb. This is a well established genre at this point. Games like Minecraft, Rust, Day-Z, and the like have all built this genre over the last several years and recent games like ARK: Survival Evolved have been expanding it into different settings so you have the dual edged sword of trying to make yourself stand out as a late comer to the genre, but at the same time constrained by the expectations of people that play the genre regularly ... you have to be different, but not TOO different.
In the end, it's a fun game and my friends and I are enjoying our private server Co-Op experience. I'll definitely get my $30 worth of entertainment out of the game. In it's current state the game is stable and fun, if difficult at times. It is, however, very much a game that needs multiplayer to really reach its full potential, or a much more robust NPC / RPG element for the single player experience. If you have several friends that like a Low-Fantasy setting I would say to keep an eye on this one for release. If you are willing to brave the issues of an incomplete game and the risk of burning out before the game even releases then the current Early Access game is solid.
Warframe (https://warframe.com/)
Free to play 3rd person action Co-Op shooter. This game is primarily a PvE 3rd person shooter with some PvP arena match games available. Game has a solid F2P model that encourages but doesn't require the player to spend real money on the game. That is to say that almost anything in game can be earned in game if the player wants to put in the time to earn what they need in game. The game can certainly become a major grind if you want to focus on it in that way, but if played as a game to just jump in and have some fun (particularly with a group of friends) and realize that the other 'stuff' in the game will take time to get to, then you can play it and have a lot of fun completely for free.
All Guild (Clan) goals are also achievable to even a small Guild (Clan), and in fact larger Guilds actually have to gather more in terms of resources to complete the same goals. The game is solidly designed around co-op game play with teams of 1-4 players doing missions. The matchmaking system makes finding a random team fast, or players can invite friends or clan-mates to squad up before starting missions ... more people on the team means a slight increase in difficulty and an increased rate of drops as well as better chances at rarer drops.
The game is a ton of fun, the movement and fluidity of the controls is pretty well done (It has it's issues here and there, but that's any game ever made as far as I'm concerned), and the combat is face paced and down right exhilarating at times. For myself, I find it's a lot more fun in a regular group of friends that play together and work as a team. PUGs (Random pick up groups) tend to focus on speed runs and that is (imo) what turns the game into a grind for most people. Keep it casual, keep it fun, but keep in mind that things will take time to get done.
Mordheim: City of the Damned (http://www.mordheim-cityofthedamned.com/)
Okay, I'm a bit biased here as I love the Games Workshop Warhammer (and Warhammer 40k) universe and I love turn based games. The game, based on the table-top mini game of the same name, is a dark fantasy setting in which you take control of a warband scouring the ruined city of Mordheim for fame and fortune. The game has a significant learning curve and the tutorial is largely unhelpful (It is a great lesson, however, in how NOT to design a tutorial series.). A lot of people complain about the Random in the game, but to be honest (they show the rolls in the combat log) it really isn't stacked against the player specifically and I've seen the type of things that people complain about happen during a game rolling dice.
That said, the rules of Mordheim are harsh (also because the tutorial sucks, they are somewhat mysterious) and the game will punish a tactical mistake without pity. The biggest advantage I've seen the AI have in the game, however, is knowledge of the map. They know where they can pass through where a player may waste a turn going into a building that's a dead end only to have to go back out the way they went in and go around. The story line missions are particularly brutal, unforgiving, and totally unfair, so that I think is probably where a lot of the complaints about the game come from.
All in all it is a very solid turn based squad tactical game in a dark fantasy setting. The different warbands (Mercinary, Sisters of Sigmar, Skaven, and Chaos in the base game Witch Hunters and Undead via DLC) have their own feel, strengths and weaknesses, and flow (along with their own story line, but see the above comment about the story line missions). The game allows a good degree of customization (Items, Weapons, Armor and look, as well as names and the like for each member of the warband.) allowing you to make a warband that reflects you ... and then watch in horror as they slowly die. Seriously though, I very much have enjoyed this and I am really stoked that the developer and publisher recently announced that they are working on a Necromunda title (similar table-top game set in Games Workshop's 40k setting) for me to look forward to.
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