The big problem I see with this game revolves around objective. It's going to be AMAZING to jump in a random direction and be the very first to explore planet SnapZu. However, after you've discovered your fifth planet and gotten the gist of how the planets are generated, you start to suffer from Backstage Disney Syndrome. The sense of wonder starts getting washed out, and the actual mechanics of the game are what remains.
The problem isn't that the mechanics are flawed; flight, combat and the FPS part all look solid. The problem is that all of these have been done better by a lot of people. So the only two remaining things that can be done to keep players' interest is customization and a quest system. The first seems to be very limited in NMS: it seems like very basic customization will be allowed (do you want a space station around this planet?), but very little in-depth modding will be allowed. And unless I'm missing it completely, there won't be much of a story, quests or major objectives that will provide that satisfaction high that draws the players back after 8 hours.
I LOVE space sims. Freelancer is one of my favourite games of all time, and I almost jumped out of my chair when I saw the original NMS announcement last year. I'm just worried that they're spending so much time on the technical details that the factors that should draw people back to the game get lost.
The big problem I see with this game revolves around objective. It's going to be AMAZING to jump in a random direction and be the very first to explore planet SnapZu. However, after you've discovered your fifth planet and gotten the gist of how the planets are generated, you start to suffer from Backstage Disney Syndrome. The sense of wonder starts getting washed out, and the actual mechanics of the game are what remains.
The problem isn't that the mechanics are flawed; flight, combat and the FPS part all look solid. The problem is that all of these have been done better by a lot of people. So the only two remaining things that can be done to keep players' interest is customization and a quest system. The first seems to be very limited in NMS: it seems like very basic customization will be allowed (do you want a space station around this planet?), but very little in-depth modding will be allowed. And unless I'm missing it completely, there won't be much of a story, quests or major objectives that will provide that satisfaction high that draws the players back after 8 hours.
I LOVE space sims. Freelancer is one of my favourite games of all time, and I almost jumped out of my chair when I saw the original NMS announcement last year. I'm just worried that they're spending so much time on the technical details that the factors that should draw people back to the game get lost.