* Star Citizen *

[Jonj1611]

Now if done amusingly enough "Space Toilet Simulator" could be an amusing VR game.

Floater could take on a whole new meaning

[badass]

I am amazed its still rolling on. Seems to be just need to add one more thing, then one more thing, then one more......

Oh yes. Like realistically deforming bedsheets. Seriously.

[Ttaskmaster]

I had another go of the free fly event a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't work out how to get water/food and decided that I couldn't be ***** to find out how.

You see all those food stalls on every port and station? It's as simple as going up to one and buying something, then pressing RMB to eat/drink it... or saving in your inventory for later.

[DanceswithUnix]

You see all those food stalls on every port and station? It's as simple as going up to one and buying something, then pressing RMB to eat/drink it... or saving in your inventory for later.

Honest question as I hadn't heard of this: how does food availability enhance the game?

I mean, in Minecraft it is central. You farm, you eat, you survive. But that makes sense in a "make a wooden axe" technology level of basic survival. But that jars against a backdrop of a space game where I expect to simply purchase rail guns and heat seeking missiles.

I guess this is where you wind me up by saying "but for heat seeking missiles you need to get out your 6x6 crafting bench and have this list of gathered materials ready"

Now combat pets I would understand them crow-barring in any way possible because people love pets. Do they have pets yet? I'm not buying until I can have a kitten

[Ttaskmaster]

Honest question as I hadn't heard of this: how does food availability enhance the game?

At this stage, not much.
Star Citizen is, among other things, about immersion and includes a healthy dose of realism that is slowly being refined into something actually realistic.

For example, you have several different inventories - There is stuff on your person, but also stuff stored in the pockets of garments that may be in your possession but not actually worn (ie, a jacket in the rucksack on your back). There is also an inventory for each ship you own. There is also an inventory for each location/station/planet that you visit. Each of these inventories is totally separate, although you can keep track of them all via your MobiGlas in-game PDA thing, and if any of the sources are lost (ie you die, or your ship explodes) then you lose the associated inventory as well.

Another example would be the various little component access hatches on your ship. They currently do nothing apart from open up, but presumably will enable component repair and swapping later on.

Food and drink in the game is only a minor mechanic at this point, mainly because you suffer hunger and thirst at a realistic rate. It takes hours of gameplay before you start getting icons warning that you require sustenance, longer before it starts impacting your performance, and a bit longer before it eventually kills you. I don't know if it already is a factor, but I believe the end goal is for the rate of attrition to vary depending on your level of activity?
Either way, it has little impact, simply because most players get killed and respawn at 100% long before the lack of virtual junk food from those overpriced space motorway services even starts to present a problem.

Personally, I have played long enough that I've started to suffer effects, and it would make more sense if you're an Elite Dangerous style long distance explorer or something, or maybe a miner that no-one has shown up to grief yet...

[cptwhite_uk]

At this stage, not much.
Star Citizen is, among other things, about immersion and includes a healthy dose of realism that is slowly being refined into something actually realistic.

For example, you have several different inventories - There is stuff on your person, but also stuff stored in the pockets of garments that may be in your possession but not actually worn (ie, a jacket in the rucksack on your back). There is also an inventory for each ship you own. There is also an inventory for each location/station/planet that you visit. Each of these inventories is totally separate, although you can keep track of them all via your MobiGlas in-game PDA thing, and if any of the sources are lost (ie you die, or your ship explodes) then you lose the associated inventory as well.

*groans in pain*

That alone is probably going to put me off this game, I can see why it's done for the whole 'persistence' thing they're aiming for, but from a game mechanic point of view it seems very convoluted and tedious.

I need to get that coil inductor....where is it. Oh yeah, in my jacket, in on my cargo ship, which I left on planet Zebious IV, 20 minutes travel away....joy!

[DanceswithUnix]

At this stage, not much.
Star Citizen is, among other things, about immersion and includes a healthy dose of realism that is slowly being refined into something actually realistic.

OK, I've not been bothering to keep track so that is all news to me. This game just keeps sounding less and less like a game though to my way of thinking. I get enough real life every day, when I'm winding down I want to be unrealistically god like . I mean, where does that path end? You've eaten too much sugar, you need to see the space dentist? No, in my mind this is a future where nanobots in my mouth fix my teeth up just fine and technology has removed such pain and chore. When I'm not playing, my character is eating and sleeping so I don't have to do that in game.

ISTR WoW had mechanics to stop people from sitting in front of their screens for days at a time. If annoyances like food helped with a problem like that, then fair enough.

[Saracen999]

*groans in pain*

That alone is probably going to put me off this game, I can see why it's done for the whole 'persistence' thing they're aiming for, but from a game mechanic point of view it seems very convoluted and tedious.

I need to get that coil inductor....where is it. Oh yeah, in my jacket, in on my cargo ship, which I left on planet Zebious IV, 20 minutes travel away....joy!

That about sums up my thoughts, too.

I get the realism/immersion' thing, and for some people, probably the highly dedicated, the balance swings towards realism. I get that, and used to be a bit .... anal .... about that type of thing myself .... in my "youf". But these days, I don't have the interest or stamina, or for that matter, the memory, and a game is more about dipping in, having some fun, and stopping. I might dip back in in an hour, or a month. If everything has perhaps changed in the meantime, then as cptwhite said, it's probably not the game for me.

It begs the question, if a game is a masively multi-player environment, then it has to progress while I'm not actively engaged, a bit like real life carries on whether I'm stuck in, or lazing on a beach somewhere on vacation, but that isn't what I want for or from a game, suggesting no matter how great it is, it ain't aimed at me.

On a different note - isn't it about time cptwhite got a promotion? You've been here since Methusalah was in short trousers, dude. I'd have thought mjrwhite or even colwhite by now?

That said, I can just sense the thoughts about officers from some of our ex-forces members, so I'll shut up now. Just kidding, anyway.

[Ttaskmaster]

*groans in pain*
That alone is probably going to put me off this game, I can see why it's done for the whole 'persistence' thing they're aiming for, but from a game mechanic point of view it seems very convoluted and tedious.
I need to get that coil inductor....where is it. Oh yeah, in my jacket, in on my cargo ship, which I left on planet Zebious IV, 20 minutes travel away....joy!

To be fair, there have easily been several dozen occasions in Elite where I've gotten bored of running cargo or exploring and fancied a switch to combat missions for a while, or the reverse, only to remember that the ship I need to swap into is a couple hours of travel away, which of course has to be done in real time.

I believe Elite created a way to get your stowed ship transported to you in a shorter (though not instant) time and SC has something similar, which I presume brings the inventory with it.

I want to be unrealistically god like .

There are other games for that, I guess.
Much of this stuff was born of players complaining about the unrealistic games and how you just simply respawned in PvP with no consequences to ganky cavalier playstyles.

What I find enjoyable about SC is that you have many options in terms of gameplay. You can do the whole space combat flight stuff, but then switch to FPS, or go mining, or just bum around planetside and be a tourist. There's the potential for a lot more, and you'd get to actually play it all out instead of just watching cutscenes like other games.
The trick will be in having as much of it remain optional as possible, without your choice impacting other players' gameplay...

Incidentally, while SC is not a quick five minute game, you can still hop in for just an hour or two, knock out a quick trade or a couple combat missions and then come back later.
Things that change currently are mostly just advancements in development, since it's stil pre-pre-pre-pre-Alpha...