Because Instant-Gratification and lack of patience? Because 100 out of 99 professional complainers have never designed or coded anything? Good game design and development takes YEARS, even for large and established studios. Small, independent studios, especially those not raking in residuals from previous projects, take even longer, as the people doing the actual work usually have some other work that pays their bills, fills their bellies, and enables them to work on ambitious projects. I am completely unaware of any other titles produced by Eleon to date, as it seems they're putting all their efforts into this title. Yes, they have been at this for a very long time, starting in 2013 - that's 8 years. That's completing med school and starting a residency. That's also pretty impressive for a team of what, 7? To be as far into the process as they are and still going shows a tremendous amount of dedication, a fantastic commitment, and I guarantee it hasn't been a pleasure-cruise for them. Let me ask, if this were your project, your studio, how long until you'd be done, or how soon would you abandon it, like countless other titles have been? Think, really hard, before you answer.
Instant gratification? WTF are you talking about. You state :very likely in the near future" Based on a quote 4 years ago. I will tell you how long I would take - until it is done and then I would release the game. Like damn near every other competent game maker out there. like the small dev team did with 7 days. Or like the singular dev did with Rise to Ruins. Instead, this team released the game already and, again, trust that it will ever be finished is getting thin. That says nothing about the long development timetable. I do not decry a long development time. But everything will be addressed soon, its just around the corner. Sure....
7 days to die is still in early access, was started in 2013, and... it's a zombie shooter. Of all the game genres, if someones feels lazy then making a zombie shooter is the way to go. It's almost a "template" in commercial game engines for being one of the easiest to make AI systems with slo-mo animations and close to identical animation sets for all humanoids... It doesn't have voxel ships with lots of details and animated devices + lights and other features that Empyrion has to hold together at a decent framerate. I would not compare these 2 games. But Rise to Ruin ? It's a top-down pixelated retro-style thing someone can make in a few weeks with RPG maker. Seriously ? If Eleon did not backpedal on some features like the way terrains were done prior to v8 they wouldn't have to waste time on fixing the SSG which was made around that time. But players wanted bigger planets and removal of the "green walls" and polar barrier so... I believe them 100% when they mention they did not expect the game to get so far and to be supported as much by its community. I feel like apart from the surprise, they had no real definite plans for many features, and just went with the wind. They also gained experience doing so, and may have a different perspective on some things they did a few years ago that they would not make in the same way today with what they learned. That is pure speculation on my part, but I think it's not exaggerated to assume that the developers evolved along their game and see things now differently than what they used to think and see when they started and in the following first stretches of development. If I was to project myself as what I would feel being the author of Empyrion, I would be proud of myself (but not too much, hey) but I would also be hard at work knowing all what remains to be done. I would have put heavy focus on 1st person combat quality (animations/ crouch/ stealth) and sound at some point because it's an area that needs love more than new models and UI elements. It's like a big missing part of the fun for me, seeing the player character float above ground and holding static poses when facing devices, doors, containers, etc. I care much less about the factory or artificial limitations, I feel all these could be much more bearable if the elements we have in our face all the time (the avatar) could be more polished.
Well to be fair, the AI for 7 Days is a lot more complex that you make out, and is considerably more complex than the AI here. Also consider that unlike Empyrion, 7 Days is a fully Voxel enviroment. It's loading in considerably more data, and is performing SI calculations on every single block. If you do a direct comparison, 7 Days utilizes quite a bit more of the core system components than Empyrion does. A weak CPU or poor RAM timings will have a much more significant impact on FPS there than it does here. The project is quite ambitious, though their team at this point is probably ten times larger than Eleon. They are still listed as EA because they aren't going to lie about the state of development the game is in. They also aren't going to set up Workshop support until they have finalized the modding platform for the game. As a result Workshop support isn't planned until around the time they are ready to actually go Gold. If you were to compare the two development strategies, 7 Days would be a good example of the correct way to handle EA, and Empyrion would be an example of methods to avoid.
Terrains are limited to max 16 x 16 km, AI is basic Enemy in Sight = move towards it, and no vehicles means slower speeds (think chunk loading) just to name a few differences. To make a valid assessment of the AI in 7dtd we have to know what kind of navigation system is used for the NPCs, because in Empyrion they had to make one from scratch and make it "adaptable" to any type of POI or terrain the NPCs encounter. Making zombies is not like making soldiers/ ninja enemies that can have elaborate tactics (flanking, throwing grenades, dodging, etc) : zombies head to their death in a straight line. The point is not to show one game is superior to the other, but to show that zombie games have some of the cheapest AI one can think of, and Empyrion has a quite different system with factions and reputations, and different enemy types. It is what it is now, and may evolved and get refined, but zombies will remain zombies... But the point was to show that these 2 games can't be compared, I think you illustrated that too with your examples. Eleon never "lied" about the state of the game. Players can repeat that "Eleon lied" a thousand times it will not become a fact. They released 2 statements regarding leaving Early Access, and backseat driver's opinions on what they should have done or not and comparisons with other games are too far offroad to be considered seriously. When I will see a discussion between developers from both games comparing their work then I may find some interest, but player's ramblings are anything but that. As for the workshop, Empyrion still alows to use previous versions of the game, and all workshop content made contemporary to these versions can still be used. I don't see a problem here, in fact it's a point for Empyrion that 7dtd does not have. .
I would be happy if they could just make some blocks into free meshes instead, possibly with free rotation (rotating in smaller increments), so we can utilize the space next to a window better, by placing a TV, a couch or a plant in spaces occupied by blocks smaller than the grid. I guess the window itself must be a "block" as the airtight and oxygen function utilize blocks to determine volume and integrity.
Unlikely to ever see that here since, afaik, the way the game works simply does not allow multiple blocks in one location. There are ways to game this of course (such as blocks that are visually larger than a single block) but they end up with worse outcomes than what we have now.
There is plenty of blocks larger that one block, examples is windows, hangar doors and ramps but I am not talking about that at all. I mean decorative items that would fit perfectly fine inside, lets say a block with a window pane. I can't imagine a few select decorative blocks like potted plants and such would be much of a performance hit to the game.
Before I modded in enabling of furnaces and deconstructors etc on CVs, I used to end up making little bare bones furnace stations in space and then deconstructing them after. No permanent base. Actually it was only later when I also modded transport and jump drive range to 300ly that I started to use bases again.
Me too.....about the modding part. As for the BAs I only spawn small one for repairing CVs when needed and teleporters.
Me too, but I leave them as permanent. If I invade a pirate base and its solar power is decent then sometimes I'll build furnaces and a teleporter.
A strategy I used in the past but is totally overkill is to divide the base into various buildings, kind of like any faction does it and fitted with its own solar panels, artillery and whatever devices you need. The drones was shot down so far away from my main building, I couldn't see them on the map sometimes and plenty of power to smelt Erestrum and Sathium all day long and when I had what I needed, I could just go to the teleporter building and teleport back to where I was, provided it is within 30LY. I can live without furnaces and deconstructors on my ship.
Not sure where I read this on the Forum, but IIRR I just read a tip for flipping the windows inside out to allow things like tables and chairs to be placed right against the windows. I think it also allows the tint to be changed for looking out rather than in. Honestly, I haven't messed much with window placement, tho. I'm not a skilled builder, my structures look like a 10 yo built them (one that didn't get to play with Lego, like me ... HA!). Doesn't mean I don't get it, just a clumsy builder ... I'll never make the Taj Mahal You might look in the Builders League: https://empyriononline.com/forums/#builders-league.111 Even if search doesn't find it some pretty heavy duty Builders hang out there and can tell you how to do it.
