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Routine | Survival Horror First Person Non-Linear Moon Base Exploration With Permadeath
What is Routine?
Routine is a survival horror first person non-linear exploration game set on the Moon. You're an astronaut. There are robots. It has a cool looking retro aesthetic. There is no HUD, no health bars, no health packs. There is permadeath. We don't really know anything else.
Who's Making Routine? Lunar Software, a small developer made up of like 4 people.
When's It Coming Out? What Platforms?
Release date: unknown. Platforms: PC and Mac so far.
That's an ambiguous question. If you're asking of people can hear you scream while YOU are on the Moon, the answer depends on where they are. If the question is whether people ON THE MOON can hear you scream, that depends on where you are. Also, fun exchange on twitter (fun if you're me I mean):
Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
I believe I shall now rub my hands together and cackle with glee. BRB...
Okay, this could make for a pretty sick-ass setting. Space is already hyper-lethal, and I really dig the idea of being stranded on some lunar base with malfunctioning robots.
Wondering how they're going to explain those old floppies even existing, though.
My only problem with this, there should be both permadeath and non-permadeath settings.
I can understand games that don't have ironman modes, but the other way around?
It's like the "one slot autosaving" WAY TOO MANY games have this nowadays. Frankly that's worse than only having permadeath, because with permadeath the annoying save system is a feature. One slot autosaving on the other hand is just lazy.
My only problem with this, there should be both permadeath and non-permadeath settings.
I can understand games that don't have ironman modes, but the other way around?
It's like the "one slot autosaving" WAY TOO MANY games have this nowadays. Frankly that's worse than only having permadeath, because with permadeath the annoying save system is a feature. One slot autosaving on the other hand is just lazy.
Eh. I don't disagree, but if this ends up having ONLY permadeath settings, I can live with that. Virtually every other game on the market has non-permadeath stuff, and almost nothing has any permadeath settings at all. Roguelikes are about it, plus DayZ.
I'd rather have it both ways, but if its going to be one or the other, I'd much prefer we get this one game with real permadeath.
My only problem with this, there should be both permadeath and non-permadeath settings.
I can understand games that don't have ironman modes, but the other way around?
It's like the "one slot autosaving" WAY TOO MANY games have this nowadays. Frankly that's worse than only having permadeath, because with permadeath the annoying save system is a feature. One slot autosaving on the other hand is just lazy.
If the game is designed for permadeath, then non-permadeath sort of breaks whatever they're going for with permadeath. It would be like if you could turn off having to reload your game in an FPS when you die by instead just getting refilled to full health whenever your health reaches 0. The game is meant to be experienced as a series of restarts as you die, apparently, so if you don't like that sort of thing it makes more sense to say that you don't like roguelikes and roguelike-likes than it does to say "I hope they add a mode that the game isn't designed to accommodate."
You're right about the stupid one slot checkpoint/autosaves that a lot of games these days do. If you screw up and get stuck and then the game autosaves into your only slot, you're fucked!
TychoCelchuuu on
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Yeah, they have to be careful and strike a balance between "I'm scared of what's coming" vs "I'm scared I'm going to lose".
The key to making that work is having it so that the player can die from making stupid mistakes, but not end up dying to arbitrary bullshit.
Dead Space 2 can have this problem if you do the hardcore mode or whatever it is. There are a number of instant death points, plus a number of ways you can get jumped and swamped by enemies without being able to do much about it. Of course, the idea there is that the player has already played the game numerous times and thus knows where the problem spots are going to be already, so the mode is just there to add extra difficulty rather than being the primary method of play.
Even within the permadeath context it probably wouldn't hurt to varying levels of difficulty. One setting where it's actually pretty tough to die for those delicate types, then the regular mode where any sufficiently dumb mistake can get you killed.
One reason why Dead Space 2 gets frustrating when you die is because death is a block on progress: the point of Dead Space 2 is to make it to the end, and every death is a setback, because there's no fun in playing through the part you've already played through which you have to replay to get past the spot you died. It's a sort of one-off experience: once you've made it past a part of Dead Space 2, there's no point in replaying that part unless years down the line you replay it because you enjoyed it.
Some games aren't like that. Roguelikes and many roguelike-likes, for instance, are fun each time you replay after dying, because they have randomized elements and other design decisions that are made to accommodate restarts after permadeaths. If Routine is like this, then dying a bunch might not be an issue, because it won't be a sort of "fuck, I have to do this all again" feeling but rather an "okay, time to start the next life" kind of feeling.
+2
Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Death setting you back doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Say that the setup is that every time you die, you "come back" as another person on the base with the same goals, except now your primary objective becomes picking up where the other guy left off by getting all his stuff. Having to get from your new start to your old death would mean either going through new, unknown territory or breezing through areas you've already done.
With a permadeath mechanic, there needs to be some sort of way to recover, gameplay-wise, from that without having to start a whole new game. Otherwise, the game ends up having to be so easy that permadeath is irrelevant because most players can just breeze through it.
Otherwise, the way dying and dangers are handled will need to have some super-premo quality design attached to it.
Interview with very little information although we do learn that PC and Mac are the only platforms and that there is some combat if you want to use your little astronaut tool to zap robots or whatever.
I'm intrigued. Love the moon setting, hopefully they capitalize on it with realistic gravity. Maybe inside you've got your magnetic boots but there could be some cool bouncy EVA sequences. And while I dislike no-continue modes tacked on as a 'hardcore' mode, I like the idea of a survival horror game designed this way from the ground up. If they do something like Dead Rising where you have an incentive to explore new areas because next time you'll know where the weapons and NPCs are, this could be quite addictive. No leveling system, though.
"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." - Bertolt Brecht
Say that the setup is that every time you die, you "come back" as another person on the base with the same goals, except now your primary objective becomes picking up where the other guy left off by getting all his stuff.
I dunno, this is sort of the impression I got from the teaser.
But that's not really permadeath - it's just like no death at all, really.
"Sometimes things aren't complicated," I said. "You just have to be willing to accept the absolute corruption of everybody involved."
If someone wants to listen to the latest exciting episode of the "GamerNerdz" podcast, an interview with the Routine developers, please tell me if there's any interesting information. I made it 24 seconds before the host annoyed the fuck out of me enough to make me turn it off:
DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
That is possibly the worst audio I've ever heard on a podcast. I got about halfway but didn't really get anything out of it because the terrible production is so distracting I didn't pick up any info.
My only problem with this, there should be both permadeath and non-permadeath settings.
I can understand games that don't have ironman modes, but the other way around?
It's like the "one slot autosaving" WAY TOO MANY games have this nowadays. Frankly that's worse than only having permadeath, because with permadeath the annoying save system is a feature. One slot autosaving on the other hand is just lazy.
If the game is designed for permadeath, then non-permadeath sort of breaks whatever they're going for with permadeath. It would be like if you could turn off having to reload your game in an FPS when you die by instead just getting refilled to full health whenever your health reaches 0. The game is meant to be experienced as a series of restarts as you die, apparently, so if you don't like that sort of thing it makes more sense to say that you don't like roguelikes and roguelike-likes than it does to say "I hope they add a mode that the game isn't designed to accommodate."
You're right about the stupid one slot checkpoint/autosaves that a lot of games these days do. If you screw up and get stuck and then the game autosaves into your only slot, you're fucked!
This is true.
Some of my most memorable experiences have been getting stuck and having to figure out a way past this impossible situation through sheer luck and determination and lots of adrenaline and holy shit did I really just do that how the hell did I do that?
But what you said is still true.
Plus in one case of the above I quicksaved my dumb ass into the situation with the nearest save and autosave being beyond some situations I didn't want to have to go through again.
It was half life. I quicksaved. A grenade landed next to me. I had an interesting fifteen minutes or more figuring out how to live through the grenade, which I managed eventually. With 1 health left.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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MortiousThe Nightmare BeginsMove to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
Of course I'll invariably bitch out during it. Even the menu audio in these games gets me.
Gutterkisser on
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Vicious_GSRDudePrincipality of ZeonRegistered Userregular
I have not heard of this game at all but that trailer and pack of screenshots really intrigue me. If it's not shock scares and just good frightening 'alone in space' gameplay that would be pretty cool.
Posts
I know it says "no hud", but it would be neat to have one integrated into the game, like a pulse monitor on your arm instead of a health bar.
Twitter
Will the robot be voiced by Kevin Spacey?
These are important questions.
Why I fear the ocean.
Okay, this could make for a pretty sick-ass setting. Space is already hyper-lethal, and I really dig the idea of being stranded on some lunar base with malfunctioning robots.
Wondering how they're going to explain those old floppies even existing, though.
I can understand games that don't have ironman modes, but the other way around?
It's like the "one slot autosaving" WAY TOO MANY games have this nowadays. Frankly that's worse than only having permadeath, because with permadeath the annoying save system is a feature. One slot autosaving on the other hand is just lazy.
Eh. I don't disagree, but if this ends up having ONLY permadeath settings, I can live with that. Virtually every other game on the market has non-permadeath stuff, and almost nothing has any permadeath settings at all. Roguelikes are about it, plus DayZ.
I'd rather have it both ways, but if its going to be one or the other, I'd much prefer we get this one game with real permadeath.
Not sure if I can handle teh scarries though.
These days, I'm having a harder and harder time getting through horror games just because I'm too scared.
I hope the "perma-death" is something along the lines of you crawling out of a clone pod in your skinnies and having to find your corpse.
Edit; The kicker, it only saves when you die
You're right about the stupid one slot checkpoint/autosaves that a lot of games these days do. If you screw up and get stuck and then the game autosaves into your only slot, you're fucked!
The key to making that work is having it so that the player can die from making stupid mistakes, but not end up dying to arbitrary bullshit.
Dead Space 2 can have this problem if you do the hardcore mode or whatever it is. There are a number of instant death points, plus a number of ways you can get jumped and swamped by enemies without being able to do much about it. Of course, the idea there is that the player has already played the game numerous times and thus knows where the problem spots are going to be already, so the mode is just there to add extra difficulty rather than being the primary method of play.
Even within the permadeath context it probably wouldn't hurt to varying levels of difficulty. One setting where it's actually pretty tough to die for those delicate types, then the regular mode where any sufficiently dumb mistake can get you killed.
Some games aren't like that. Roguelikes and many roguelike-likes, for instance, are fun each time you replay after dying, because they have randomized elements and other design decisions that are made to accommodate restarts after permadeaths. If Routine is like this, then dying a bunch might not be an issue, because it won't be a sort of "fuck, I have to do this all again" feeling but rather an "okay, time to start the next life" kind of feeling.
With a permadeath mechanic, there needs to be some sort of way to recover, gameplay-wise, from that without having to start a whole new game. Otherwise, the game ends up having to be so easy that permadeath is irrelevant because most players can just breeze through it.
Otherwise, the way dying and dangers are handled will need to have some super-premo quality design attached to it.
I dunno, this is sort of the impression I got from the teaser.
But that's not really permadeath - it's just like no death at all, really.
Steam: BrocksMullet http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197972421669/
Well... your mom.
Steam: BrocksMullet http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197972421669/
I will have none of this "optimism" on my video game forum!
Don't get me wrong, I hope it is awesome. I love horror games in general, even some of the not so great ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_09hk0gtJlQ
This is true.
Some of my most memorable experiences have been getting stuck and having to figure out a way past this impossible situation through sheer luck and determination and lots of adrenaline and holy shit did I really just do that how the hell did I do that?
But what you said is still true.
Plus in one case of the above I quicksaved my dumb ass into the situation with the nearest save and autosave being beyond some situations I didn't want to have to go through again.
It was half life. I quicksaved. A grenade landed next to me. I had an interesting fifteen minutes or more figuring out how to live through the grenade, which I managed eventually. With 1 health left.
Which according to GiS is a light redish colour.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
Of course I'll invariably bitch out during it. Even the menu audio in these games gets me.