As I said above, they moved those things to experimental, not removed them. So as long as you have experimental on, and the server you're on is using experimental too, it is still in the game.
This is actually a very important point here, and why I am holding out hope that Empyrion will surpass space engineers one day. It's not there yet, at least in my book, but since space engineers are talking about wrapping things up and getting the game released, whereas it will probably still be years before Empyrion finally releases, it is totally possible that all of the complaints I have will vanish by the time the game is done. Time will tell I guess.
I will say this, the planets in Empyrion blow the ones in SE away, by a long shot. Biomes, plants, critters, troopers, radioactivity, underwater. None of that is on SE. Now if only there was a bit of a smoother transition off the planet....
Exactly While SE and Empyrion really aren't competitors, it looks like Dual Universe and Empyrion might start having a go at each other soon. Have you seen Dual Universe's new roadmap? The majority of the features look very similar to what Empyrion is planning/already is offering. https://www.dualthegame.com/en/news/2018/08/08/release-roadmap-alpha-launch-announcement/
Uhm...thats a ...very expensive starter pack. And gets even more expensive...€ 60, € 120 and €180... pfff unnaffordable for me. And anyways, I stick with Empyrion(because the name includes a 3 digits of the EMPire)
Dual may soon enter the arena but I feel it is extremely different than what Empyrion has to offer. The main draw for me to play Empyrion is that I can pretty much do whatever I want with whatever I want. There's freedom in the simplicity of it. I can get in my custom-made SV and start firing rockets at an enemy ship, a friendly ship, a POI, my own base, a person running on the ground, even some rocks or mountains. I can get out of the ship and start firing my assault rifle off into the woods. The main issue I have with Dual is that you really don't have that freedom, unless they decide to change their system. They've stated how combat will work and it seems quite limiting. It's "construct vs construct" or basically auto-firing weapons on enemy structures, which turns into an mmo-style fight where you just hope you have more health or defense than the other person. You just do some maneuvering and if your weapons are higher leveled or your ship has more armor, you win. Empyrion is a little more player skill-based in that you can direct-fire weapons (in addition to auto-firing turrets) and a pilot with good skill can outgun a pilot that is less experienced. Then comes the whole ground combat aspect, that appears to be a developing thing in Dual whatever "PvP character vs character based combat" is, but will probably be a limiting system as well. Empyrion is simple: you grab a gun and go shoot stuff. Anyway, didn't mean for this to turn into a rant-type post. I was quite interested in Dual until I found out how lifeless the combat would feel in comparison to Empyrion. Though to be fair Empyrion has a long way to go too.
W Well since you brought it up, I'll throw my two cents in here. I'm kind of with Cleff and Germanicus in my skepticism of the game. I find the game interesting, and different from empyrion in many ways, but the format itself of being a single shard server makes it necessary for them to make a number of sacrifices. I also don't necessarily think they are a competitor to Empyrion, given the differences (and to be fair, Empyrion has a small enough player base as it is that I can't see how it could possibly get even smaller, especially considering how many competitors there are in this space already. It would have shrunk dramatically by now if any new game was a serious threat). Well, if you put it in perspective, for the €60 pack, you're getting access starting in alpha 2 plus a beta key and 3 months of play once the game releases. So it adds up to almost 2 years of gameplay. Not bad considering that once the game is released it will be a subscription model. Although that may be a turnoff in and of itself, and it will depend on how good the game actually is that determines if I will become a subscriber (plus the possibility to earn monthly subscriptions in game through player driven missions...not sure about that one though). This is one of the major sacrifices I alluded to above. I am really not sure how I feel about it. It can go well, maybe, but it could just end up feeling limiting and boring. Speaking of boring, another sacrifice is that there will not be vehicle mounted mining implements from what I understand. Which, like at the that point, I'm kind of not interested. They claim it's for the purpose of the economy, and wanting to make it fair, but really, if you want to build an economy, shouldn't it be possible to obtain more efficient mining tools eventually, both for the purpose of those who want to start a mining company, as well as rewarding those who have put the time into the game, and giving them a competitive edge in the game? Sounds like a nonsensical sacrifice to me. Then not even getting into the lack or rotors and pistons, which as the original post here said, is something I think makes a game like SE incredibly interesting and fun. Basically, it seems to me that while the game does have potential to be interesting, it could just end up being the worst of both worlds, when comparing it to SE and Empyrion. There will be no PVE, as all activities will be driven by the players. There will be no customizable maps or mods or running/finding a server to your particular liking. There will be limited physics and definitely no collision. There will definitely griefing...God will there be griefing. I'm definitely gonna keep an eye on the project, but I have a hard time justifying forking out the money at such an early stage with such uncertainty of how it will play out. There is potential, and I like the building system and the idea of a totally player driven game, but I'm not sure if the sacrifices and limitations that the game is setting up for itself will be able to be overlooked in the end.
Plus they have very very very limited NPCs. And actually, except for some diehard EVE players (which are only a few) and maybe some people liking to live in another alternate reality (aka virtual second life) this game offers only very little for the average gamer since everything is player build and player controlled. This system just has proven to not really work over a long time in most games as it opens up for player abuse of power and shifting this game very onesided to the favor of a selected few. That in combination with a "eat or die" subscription based financial system doesn't make me think this game will last pretty long.... at least not in this form. Yes yes yes i know, there is a pseudo alternative, a token plex-like system: paying with ingame money for a month of play. But to be honest, this is only a way (and always has been) for people spending a loooooooooooot of time playing this game. But to assume there are only two groups of players (like even the a high executive of EA) one with lots of time nad little money, and the ones with lots of money and little time, is naive at best. No actually pretty stupid and i wonder how such a person could even finish a university in a subject like economy with like of forward thinking like that. Well my hope is that theri plan with their businessmodel and their gameplay model is only needing a couple of thousand players to succeed and proceed. Otherways they will go the way of the Dodo.... since they don't have a financial background like a SWTOR or a Wildstar has. It still puts a smile on my face remember all those fanboys saying WS will never go F2P..... yeah right, blind fanboyism is as harmful for a game like hate/troll posts. I doubt that DUAL really makes an impact on Empyrion. I actually think it will help Epyrion more than it hurts.
Agreed. The problem with player-only universes is that they live or die by the number of regularly active players. Below a certain threshold (which might be quite high), the universe will be mostly dead, and likely populated with high-level players looking to score easy kills and loot. If you have a 10:1 ratio of NPCs to players, then the universe is robust to fluctuations in the number of regularly active players, and you can have quite a bit more simulation of large-scale politics, economics, and social aspects. Large-scale simulation of NPCs is what I'd argue makes a universe come alive, not a random collection of players that didn't "grow up" in the culture of that universe.
Geeeez? The Program Block was one of the #1 reasons I had played SE for as long as I did before I realized KeenSW were a bunch of morons and bailedon the game. Well... I guess I won't ever be going back to that game then I don't really care if its still available in 'experimental branch'... just the fact they are getting rid of key items in the base game is appalling.
They've been moved to the experimental branch. Which isn't the official main branch of the game. It's the buggy branch of SE with all the performance issues where things go to die and be forgotten under the subtitle of "Will be worked on, but is a low priority".
SE has very little in the way of mechanical functions Emp does not. Regardless, let me say thank you for two things: 1. Not being insecure hacks and deleting any forum material that compares or praises other games in the genre (Keen does this) 2. Your hard work in continuously developing the game and not adding one new mob or fixing a bug every 4 months and pretending it's still in development. (Keen also does this) ALTHOUGH Most games aren't in alpha for years. Just Sayin' /o\
Honestly, if they had deleted it, I wouldn't have heard all the good points that were made to make me think twice about my original post. Open dialogue is good, especially if you're confident in the product you're working on, as they clearly are.
Just want to post something that i think a lot of people often forget.... If you opted in/bought a game in alpha/early access with the hope that you can just install and play, please rather wait for final release. The internet is full of post on EA games stating this is crap and why doesn't this work and and and... With opting in you agree to TEST it, and agree that there will be bugs/fresh starts and in some cases major overhauls. People need to realize that sometimes things are placeholders only and not the final product.
You forgot to mention that not only the number of players is what makes a make or break. Its also important WHAT type of players are playing this game. Most people can't handle total freedom very well and soon some get something like a allmighty god complex. Trying to "own" parts or all of the games environment. That leads to many people leaving the game. Asshats are the smallest group with the highest potential of being highly toxic to any community. It just is a very bad idea to allow players to dictate how this game is played.
