Sandboxy survival games - any thoughts?

[undercovergeek]

Sat in a coffee shop innocently perusing the forum i was redirected to RPS by a thread whereby i bumped into a Humble Bundle sale post over there telling me Ark is 50% off - something ive been watching

but then theres damn Huw and his Wurm stories

any thoughts on either chaps?

To be blatantly honest im sitting and waiting for XCOM 2 in 4 weeks and have plenty of games but the whole, heres your stick now go build a house and fend for yourself thing intrigues me

[Nefaro]

Damn you Huw!  Damn yous!!

[Huw the Poo]

Damn you Huw!  Damn yous!!

Why thank you! :)

Geek, funny you should mention Ark.  I literally just bought it yesterday and I was going to mention it as soon as I saw your thread title.  I haven't played much yet (my Steam profile includes time spent from a free weekend a few months back) but what I have seen is really, really good.  There's no beating that feeling on washing up on some sun-kissed short wearing nothing but a pair of pants, and looking up and seeing a goddamn 50-foot tall dinosaur eyeing you warily!

It's very tough to begin with as you literally have nothing; even getting wood means bashing a tree which actually decreases your health.  But with a bit of patience (and running into the sea whenever a Raptor passes by) you'll soon have a little thatch hut, some clothes and tools, and then you're onto much more interesting stuff like taming dinosaurs (I haven't done that bit yet).

From what I gather online is the way to go, which I have yet to try but may well do this evening.

You also mention Wurm Online - it has its claws deep into me, but it's not for everyone.  It takes commitment, and you need a great deal of patience to play it.  If I'm completely honest I don't recommend it as something to play while waiting for XCOM 2.  You need to be in for the long haul to get anything out of it.

[undercovergeek]

hmmm it might be ark then - at £13 its not a great risk - thanks huw, i figured wurm was a soul stealer and wasnt sure whether i was ready to jump in - i love the idea, but all things are dropped on xcom day, until warhammer day

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah definitely go for Ark then mate.  It's a beautiful game.  I might even see you online!

[undercovergeek]

will deffo play online but dont know whether to go for the whole hermit thing, build a farm, some walls, and a gun, or join a tribe

[JasonPratt]

A.R.K. was pretty rough the last/first time I tried to play; but even then, obviously a ton of people were having a blast with it. It's something I'm looking at getting back into, to try again. But first Imma gonna try to get off Omicron (if not out of the system) in Empyrion.

I've also played about 30 minutes of Savage Lands which I feel like I must be doing something wrong on as I can't access a fire and lean-to I found, and the game expects me to build my own -- although to what purpose I don't know, since I can't access the lean-to I found for no reason! What does it do? (Note that I'm a singleplayer game, so it isn't like those things belong to another player and are somehow blocked from access.) Nice looking fantasy/viking survival game though. I'll no doubt return to it later.

Once nice thing about SL is that the game has a verrrrry nice techbook; not hugely extensive, but with large clear pictures and descriptions, plus a newbie checklist to get started.

[Father Ted]

...even getting wood means bashing a tree...

Boasting again?

...which actually decreases your health.

Hairy palms? Blindness?

[Bison]

Subnatica just got a nice update. 

I love this type of game, but I haven't gotten Arc simply from reading that it is not a fun solo friendly game and can take significant time investment to capture/tame large dinosaurs.  I mean hours in real time.

[JasonPratt]

My A.R.K. experience was, roughly in this order:

1.) Spend a foolish amount of time designing a tall black woman for a character. (I was born a poor black woman in the etc.)

2.) Spawn into the world and wander around a few minutes dealing with the janky control scheme.

3.) See some dinos at a distance. Decided to keep my distance.

4.) Went into the shade of trees off from the beach, to keep from overheating. (I'm wearing next to nothing, how could I ever possibly avoid overheating???)

5.) Starving, I creep up on a dodo (I think), punched it to death (I think), couldn't figure out how to eat it.

6.) Creep farther into the trees to get away from naked heat, found only darkness and heavy breathing. Not a euphamism.

7.) Something hunts me in the noonday darkness under the trees, until it finally finds and kills me.

8.) I spawn back somewhere else on the island, still near the beach but farther back and up a cliff.

9.) Almost immediately sniffed out by a TRex.

10.) TRex chases me. Only one place to run away from faster TRex.

11.) I hurl myself off the cliff denying the TRex its dinner, laughing maniacally as I doom it to slow starvation I hope.

12.) Spawned in again, still near beach, who knows where else on island, this time at night.

13.) Earth was immediately shaking. Still not a euphamism.

14.) Apparently a bronto or brach or something disapproved of me spawning underneath him, and stomped me to death at night while I tried in vain to avoid his legs and get away.

15.) Quit the game and went back to playing Far Cry 3 instead.

16.) Still of the opinion that whoever first creates a good Far Cry dino game will print all the money.

[Huw the Poo]

...even getting wood means bashing a tree...

Boasting again?

...which actually decreases your health.

Hairy palms? Blindness?

LMAO 

[undercovergeek]

It was a short live adventure - humble store cannot verify your payment our support team will be in touch soon, click here to contact support team, support team is unavailable, click here to cancel your order

3 times with card

3 times with PayPal

Humble store reports you have attempted to make too many purchases your order is now cancelled

FK YOU HUMBLE STORRRRRRRRREEEEEEE

[Bison]

Pick up 7 Days to Die.  I promise you won't regret the purchase if you have any interest in zombies and survival.

[undercovergeek]

Pick up 7 Days to Die.  I promise you won't regret the purchase if you have any interest in zombies and survival.

Not really a lover of the zombies

[Huw the Poo]

Just buy it on Steam Geekypoos