Update 1.8 - New Starter Moons

Started on Skillon in a nomad playstyle - tough start with the constant radiation burns (too many too frequent

Spoiler

unless linked to the Tales of Tash energy bursts from the obelisks

), but I loved it ... 8 hours into the livestream I finally got enough resources to build my go-to initial SV (level 12 unlock so not quite a starter ship).

Went to Akua - love the new plants and terrain, but the moon feels empty despite the option of Talon missions. Just not enough there to keep me occupied. Skillon had far more POIs and resources.

Overall I like what I see, but I miss the previous progressive storyline ... and I think new players will too as the Tales of Tash one is too vague and confusing for what is expected to do next.

 

A couple of things come to mind about the new start.

Having 4 small moons you can fly between with a basic SV at the start of the game was great.

Junk POI's totally cluttered the UI. I think these small wreckage POI's and TAL farms etc shouldnt show on the scanner at all and should be found visually if you want to look for them. Scanner made the moons feel really really small.

The distance between the moons made hauling resources in a SV a bit of a pain.

I like that space wasnt hostile but I think Zirax should have some of their smaller POI's on one of the moons. With nothing to attack its just get out of the starter system as quickly as possible.

If I started again I would just skip the starter moons and teleport myself to Omicron and start there. I think planet Omicron should be available as a start location for experienced players.

 

I agree, but it should carry the warning that it takes you out of the starter orbit and puts you in normal difficulty and includes base attacks etc. ... so that new players skipping Tales of Tash have an idea what they're committing to.

 

The new starting planets are great for Empyrion's story driven content but terrible for Galactic Survival

For all the issues already described and I'm sure, many soon to be or already fixed, for me the most problematic was taking away the possibility of costumizing the starting planet

I think we should have a random starting option in the game starting menu

It should have a description stating that no missions would be available and no guarantee it would be survivable and a starting loot for a couple days of O2 and food, maybe an EVA boost and a heater, but then place the player in a random planet in a random sector of the galaxy

 

All Moons but Akua state that right after the crash landing AND on the Starter Moon Selection Screen.

 

You seem to have completely miss the point of the post, didn't you?

You did that on purpose, you take pleasure in harassing people on the forum?

 

I act as I like to act: Good mannered and helpful, for the Development of the Game and for the Player Base.

And you state in this Thread what you like to say (your Personal Opinion I hope) because somewhere else you think nobody listens to you...well, go figure!

 

If you have nothing worth saying just stop rambling in other people's posts

It's just noise and helps no one, Eleon included....

 

I think the new 1.8 start design turned out to be a step backwards from previous design, though not an obvious one.

It seems to me that Akua is meant to be the new on-boarding and tutorial "care bare" planet before you get to Omicron where the "real" game begins (old start). From watching other first time players I am of the opinion that separating the two was not a good idea. It also seems this new start was designed for single player which is not a great idea either considering there's lots of folks who first go into EGS with co-op/friends. When compared to other popular survival games getting started in EGS is still very clumsy IMO possibly more so now than before despite all the considerations taken.

I am only saying this as someone who as I mentioned watched 3 different streamers who all played for first time and just did not go over well. I could feel their frustration through the screen. To be fair all 3 were in private multiplayer servers but they still loaded up the default survival scenario so I'm not 100% sure if a multi server can even support the quests and tutorials for multiplayer but the fetch quests were buggy and just came off as generic and unimpressive. I know this is a new feature and just the beginning of what can be done but they don't make for a very good first impression. Speaking of bad first impressions on an unrelated note I know it's a joke but you should really consider either removing the bike or fixing it. I personally hope you fix it.

I'm not trying to sound mean but I just don't think you will be able to develop the kind of tutorial presentation needed for such a complex game within the limitations of this system. I appreciate the challenge it presents and the efforts to do so but it seems to be a moving target where you are constantly "going back to the drawing table."

As for the other planets I would remove the Tales of Tash from them and only have that on Akua for new players. Make Omicron the "'new Akua" for experienced players who want an easy start. I'd also add some of the dangers/challenges to back to Akua like small Zirax POIs with just sentries and no large turrets.

To end on a good note I think the new art assets and general look of environments look amazing and the visuals look more vibrant than ever.

 

The current game start is great for first-time players to get their 'feet wet'. But for many of us veterans, it is a long, boring grind. Even starting on Omicron is boring as heck. In previous versions, I preferred to start on a Very Large Arid planet. It was customizable with yaml files. Being able to have more OPTIONS when starting a new game made me want to play more. Currently I do not even want to start a new game and be bored to death for several hours.

 

It would actually be better to introduce 1 (but only 1 please) bigger Zyrax compound on Akua + make the player core a base of his own so he gets familiar with base attacks. It would also add a bit more action on Akua without making it too hard for the starting new player. A secret shortcut to Omicron is also included.

I have exposed this idea in all details here (page 2 #34, #38):
https://empyriononline.com/threads/new-starting-planets-not-a-fan.100398/page-2

 

Skillon is fine, but take away these many redundant POIs, it feels artificial, keep only few of each type, players at the minimum system requirements will say thank you.

 

I'm sorry Hector but on those reported two points we cannot disagree more

I'm one of the player who likes story and I can say that Tales of Tash it's a great addition and it gives more depth to the game: it's maybe the first time a flat game world is acquiring some richness from a story point of view.

Even if you like MP and sandbox and you don't want to be involved in any story, in my opinion, you should respect people who instead do. For example: I don't like MP but I'd never ask to remove MP just because I want SP games I've already seen the fall of Fallout serie when they chose to go MP only

Furthermore because from a plot point of view it's not a matter of just four planets instead of one: there is a reason behind it and that's what the player has to discover.

I guess you can see now my point: obviously without knowing the reason for which the story needs more than one planet (otherwise you wouldn't have asked) you are asking to remove completely one thing. Hope we agree that's one step too far: you respect your way of playing by respecting others.

Imagine a world where everyone could obtain to delete what's he/she doesn't like: it'll be anarchy of course

 

I think it would be an empty world except for huskies and labradors.
As for the CM's question, it takes me a week or two to get offworld with Reforged Eden's Rogue start. It's hard. There's constant patrolling drones. You start inside a very hostile POI. The monsters are right behind your shoulder. Your bullets bounce off the drones, which are all faster than you and firing plasma. Everyone is out to get you. There's canyons. It's cold. There's radiation. The monsters are in packs of six or more and you have no meds to cure what they give you. There's no deposits nearby. It's pitch dark at night. There's no traders, no friendly factions, no free wrecks, no where to run, and my personal rule is I have one life until I get a defensible cloning chamber.

The grind is as real as the adrenaline. I love it. I keep going back, restarting a concurrent game sometimes just to get shoved back into that prison cell with nothing but a rolled up newspaper for a candy bar and a bottle of recycled water to drown my sorrows with.

Eleon, if I may therefore suggest for the vanilla game, learn from Reforged Eden. Look at the workshop, see how many RE builds there are, and offer more varied options and increasingly insane starting situations for the playerbase, to brag about and help each other with while masochistically loving every minute. We can't boast about surviving Akua.

The graphical sunsets and water (what water?) are nice, but they don't drive the game forward, is the bottom line--I like the ones on Rogue, too (I slow the Speed Time down), making sure to see each one as I face the impossible one day at a time.

That last statement gives one something to think about, no?

 

I'm playing Empyrion since start with some longer pauses for about 700 hours playtime. After the last pause for about 2 years I came back to release 1.8 and I like the concept of a tutorial moon like Akua. There now is more story that helps to learn the play mechanics step by step having much fun.

Now with level 10 I observed a problem - maybe a bug. I build a base outside of the large Talon area and anything went fine until I started farming in my house. When harvesting plants that has grown from seed I bought from a Talon merchant, I got a warning about stealing from a faction. I looked up my faction status and found there only Talon which seems to be longer friendly. Are there other factions on that planet I clan't see ?
If so, they should be marked.

Is this a bug or may it result in game progress ?

 

It is just a warning letting you know that picking their plants will lower your reputation.

Unfortunately the warning plays even if you are picking your own plants.

Reputation shouldn't lower though unless you actually pick theirs.
The warning plays (repeatedly) no matter whose plants you pick though

 

I'm pretty sure it is intentional too, because the warning would already be too late if it only played if you picked their plants.

In that case by the time the warning came up you would have already lost reputation.