Any suggestions for survival/sandbox games?

AchillesLastStand · August 23, 2015, 12:37:34 PM

Ive been interested in this genre lately and it seems as most of the titles are average or worse with only a few titles that stand out unless I am missing something. This EA title Age of Survival is being released on Tuesday and looks interesting with a more realistic setting.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/369080/
Here are some others.....
Ark Survival Evolved......seems to be the best of the lot, but honestly dinosaurs aren't my favorite setting. I did pick it up on sale however and playing solo or on PVE seems the best bet for a new player.
7 days to die............Got this as well as actually like this better than Ark. Only played a few hours but especially love the crafting/building element more than Ark. The tension in the game and setting I prefer over Ark as well.
Life is Feudal..........The price has always scared me away as well as the supposed complexity, may wait for a sale.
Reign Of Kings.........From what I can surmise, it has potential but be wary of hackers and other online ner-do-wells.

Any others?

Huw the Poo · August 23, 2015, 12:45:06 PM

Starbound, Terraria and Minecraft spring instantly to mind.

Are you looking for completed games or would you consider games still in development? Rising World shows a lot of promise; it's basically Minecraft but with a much more realistic setting and the terrain/objects aren't block-based. I have it and have enjoyed what I've seen so far. Similarly, Starmade is under heavy development but is equally promising. Starmade is basically Minecraft in space. There's no real game there at the moment (not that that ever stopped Minecraft) but the sheer scale of the universe, along with the massive scope for creating unique ships, is truly impressive.

I'll have a further think.

amandachen · August 23, 2015, 01:09:32 PM

Unveil is sounding really good, but I admit I haven't tried it.

JasonPratt · August 23, 2015, 01:16:32 PM

Unveil does sound ambitious, though I'm not sure I can get past the Nintendofx. I understand them, just aesthetically it's a problem.

Don't Starve (with or without Together) is a nifty survival-horror sandbox, which though graphically as simple as Unveil features more artistic character. Probably Unveil is more what AchLaStand was looking for, though, with no fantasy elements.

Jarhead0331 · August 23, 2015, 01:44:24 PM

Subnautica...Subnautica...Subnautica. Of all the survival/sandbox games I have played it has held my attention for the longest. It is an awesome game and probably the best underwater experience out there.

Other notables I've enjoyed...Interstellar Rift, LEGO Worlds, Empyrion: Galactic Survival, Planet Explorers, Space Engineers/Medieval Engineers, and already mentioned StarMade...

undercovergeek · August 23, 2015, 02:44:06 PM

Riiiiiiiiiiiiimworld

eyebiter · August 23, 2015, 02:55:04 PM

NEO Scavenger
http://store.steampowered.com/app/248860/

Steelgrave · August 23, 2015, 03:06:51 PM

I have almost a thousand hours invested in 7 Days to Die, placing it in Skyrim territory, and it's still in Alpha. The game is actively evolving as there is little to do by the time your character reaches 50th level or so, plus there are no NPCs yet, but all this is in the master plan. This is not one of those game companies that sells a bunch of Alphas then disappears. They are very active on their forums, constantly letting their player base know what's coming and quickly patching bugs when they appear.

Besides 7DTD, I'm looking at Subnautica myself. It was already on my radar and I hear rumors that a certain Jarhead recommends it highly :-)

-budd- · August 23, 2015, 05:24:05 PM

7 Days To Die....you can pretty much tailor the game to your play style, a lot of different settings to adjust. Besides you have the steam refund thing, try it for 1:59 and if you don't like it get a refund.

AchillesLastStand · August 23, 2015, 05:33:08 PM

Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 23, 2015, 12:45:06 PM
Starbound, Terraria and Minecraft spring instantly to mind.

Are you looking for completed games or would you consider games still in development? Rising World shows a lot of promise; it's basically Minecraft but with a much more realistic setting and the terrain/objects aren't block-based. I have it and have enjoyed what I've seen so far. Similarly, Starmade is under heavy development but is equally promising. Starmade is basically Minecraft in space. There's no real game there at the moment (not that that ever stopped Minecraft) but the sheer scale of the universe, along with the massive scope for creating unique ships, is truly impressive.

I'll have a further think.

Yes ive looked at Rising World and its another one I am keeping my eyes on. I thought I read somewhere they will be adding creatures to it somewhere down the road.

AchillesLastStand · August 23, 2015, 05:36:42 PM

Quote from: Steelgrave on August 23, 2015, 03:06:51 PM
I have almost a thousand hours invested in 7 Days to Die, placing it in Skyrim territory, and it's still in Alpha. The game is actively evolving as there is little to do by the time your character reaches 50th level or so, plus there are no NPCs yet, but all this is in the master plan. This is not one of those game companies that sells a bunch of Alphas then disappears. They are very active on their forums, constantly letting their player base know what's coming and quickly patching bugs when they appear.

Besides 7DTD, I'm looking at Subnautica myself. It was already on my radar and I hear rumors that a certain Jarhead recommends it highly :-)

Ive only played a few hours and died 3 times already, at least to me this seems to be one of the better of the lot so far. I have read they planned on adding skill tree's soon as well as making enhancements to the character creation screen. Cant wait.

AchillesLastStand · August 23, 2015, 05:40:06 PM

Quote from: -budd- on August 23, 2015, 05:24:05 PM
7 Days To Die....you can pretty much tailor the game to your play style, a lot of different settings to adjust. Besides you have the steam refund thing, try it for 1:59 and if you don't like it get a refund.

In the last 2 months I have refunded..........
Savage lands.
Act of Aggression, which I had over 2 weeks and played around 10 hours and they still refunded it.
Risen 3.
I also received a message which went something like this, "we see you have made quite a few refunds lately, may we suggest doing more research on a title before purchasing it".

Huw the Poo · August 23, 2015, 06:17:43 PM

I'm not sure how much longer I can ignore 7 Days to Die. Sounds awesome.

bbmike · August 23, 2015, 06:24:52 PM

I haven't played the new Unity 5 version of it yet, but 7 Days To Die is the way to go for me. O0

ArizonaTank · August 23, 2015, 07:15:45 PM

7 days to die has been pretty much my passion over the last three months.

I have zombies turned down...they are still there providing tension, and a "reason" to survive, but it gives me time to build, craft and explore. I recommend turning them down, and turning off zombie running while you are learning the game.

The physics are pretty good. While you can build an "impossible" building or two, for the most part, you have to mind gravity, and the strength of construction blocks.

Figuring out a survival strategy, then building off that is 90% of the fun. Also you have to decide your exploration strategy. Do you work from a base? Or dig a hole each night and hope for the best?

You start out with a day of food and water, so shelter is your first priority. Finding and holing up in a house or office building is one strategy. But the world is huge, and sometimes you can't find a suitable one near water, so you have to build your own. For the first 2 or 3 days, the zombies are pretty predictable. But then the fun starts. Hordes gradually get bigger, more dangerous. Remember everything you learned about fortress construction....including where to put the spikes, pits and murder holes.

Another strategy digs down. The game supports tunnels, caves and mine building.

I have one game in day 43. I have built a reinforced concrete shelter, but the zombies still keep me on my toes. I have been concentrating on keeping my shelter up, so have only explored about 1/10th of the map.

The worlds are huge. I always play randomly generated worlds, and I amazed how real they feel. There are a few improbable things the random gen does to build its world, but nothing distracting.

I am far from a twitch-jockey and 7 days to die at its lowest volume is just the right mix for me.

For an alpha, the game is incredibly stable, and bug free. Plenty to do.

I have not played multi-player. I am content to play solo on my local machine. I have heard that other MMO survival games have been ruined by hackers. But eventually I will try my hand at multi-player.

Maybe a Grogheads server?

I strongly recommend looking at a few of the starter videos on YouTube before playing. I almost stopped playing after the first hour, then I saw the video.

I'll try to post some pics later