3 ms·

Startfield is boring because of the bad writing and they made a space exploration game where there are loading screens between the planet and space and you don’

Startfield is boring because of the bad writing and they made a space exploration game where there are loading screens between the planet and space and you don’t actually explore space. They fundamentally misunderstood what they were promising, it’s the same as making a pirate game where you never steer the ship or drop anchor. You can prove people are not bored with the concept as new gamers still start playing fallout new Vegas or skyrim today despite them being old and janky.

alexpotato 7mo ago
This is why Sid Meier's Pirates [0] remains such a great game. It was really a combination of mini-games: - you got steer a ship (or fleet of ships) around the Caribbean - ship to ship combat - fencing - dancing (with the Governors' daughters) - trading (from port to port or with captured goods0 - side quests Each time I played it with my oldest, it felt like a brand new game. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Pirates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Pirates!
- whywhywhywhy 7mo ago
  Played this as a kid, genuinely great gameplay loop and felt very immersive at the time.
dannersy 7mo ago
I think my point stands. Procedural generation is a tool that usually works best when it is supplementary. What makes New Vegas an amazing game is all the hand built narratives and intricate storylines. So yeah, I agree, Starfield is boring because of the story. But if the procedural vastness was interesting enough to not be boring, then we wouldn't be talking about this to begin with.
- pojzon 7mo ago
  Im inclined to say that if Bathesta used LLMs for story based on known best seller books - it would be better than the garbage created by so called “modern script writers”. The same could be said about Hollywood movies and series. When agenda is more important than fun, books, movies, games are not labour of love but neglet.
- whywhywhywhy 7mo ago
  Starfield wasn't procedural vastness though, No Man's Sky is but what Starfield was is handmade content then a loading screen then a minigame then a loading screen then a small procedural "instance"/"dungeon" not a vast seamless world to explore.

alexpotato 7mo ago

This is why Sid Meier's Pirates [0] remains such a great game. It was really a combination of mini-games: - you got steer a ship (or fleet of ships) around the Caribbean - ship to ship combat - fencing - dancing (with the Governors' daughters) - trading (from port to port or with captured goods0 - side quests Each time I played it with my oldest, it felt like a brand new game. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Pirates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Pirates!

whywhywhywhy 7mo ago
Played this as a kid, genuinely great gameplay loop and felt very immersive at the time.

dannersy 7mo ago

I think my point stands. Procedural generation is a tool that usually works best when it is supplementary. What makes New Vegas an amazing game is all the hand built narratives and intricate storylines. So yeah, I agree, Starfield is boring because of the story. But if the procedural vastness was interesting enough to not be boring, then we wouldn't be talking about this to begin with.

pojzon 7mo ago
Im inclined to say that if Bathesta used LLMs for story based on known best seller books - it would be better than the garbage created by so called “modern script writers”. The same could be said about Hollywood movies and series. When agenda is more important than fun, books, movies, games are not labour of love but neglet.
whywhywhywhy 7mo ago
Starfield wasn't procedural vastness though, No Man's Sky is but what Starfield was is handmade content then a loading screen then a minigame then a loading screen then a small procedural "instance"/"dungeon" not a vast seamless world to explore.