i think so. it’s really a very different gameplay loop - mostly you’re laying track and maybe adjusting junctions. the level structure really eases you in, and, for better or worse, there’s no signaling but trains will ghost to avoid collisions (this slows them down, so you’re still rewarded for building good layouts where no ghosting happens)

i think at the very least, you’ll be able to tell if it’s a good fit inside of the 2 hour refund window, or you can watch some early game stuff on youtube

def checking this one out! i managed to hold off buying it on EGS for the dev to finally announce the steam version, and he’s put effort in to make it steamdeck AND mac friendly :)

also, roadmap says a more sandboxy mode is planned, which I think will be great for longevity (hopefully)

my guess is the software equivalent is the architect role - basically someone high level that doesn’t code much but does design the overall way that systems interact (or, to put it redundantly, designs the architecture of the full system)

however i don’t know if this term is en vogue as much anymore except for very large scale businesses (i would bet money that banks employ architects, for example)

dang at the start of the trailer i was really hoping you’d go through the whole game with a gun but no ability to use it

[slightly off-topic] surprisingly forthright, why can’t we get info like this in respect to the index? i would LOVE to finally get into VR but i’m certainly not paying full price for a piece of 5 year old tech in an industry that has moved as fast as VR has

fair changes, but the ONLY way forward is to fire riccitello. i don’t see how anyone can trust them again until that happens.

removal of the retroactivity piece will likely appease a large number of devs tho (dunno if it’ll be the majority but that was the biggest wtf for me)

there’s already some devious levels from the community :)

i was also happy to see it’s got new levels from the devs too - had originally thought it was only gonna contain rebuilds of existing ones

another article said a ng+ run is about 90 minutes. so it seems if you just wanna complete loops, the post-game is a much different pace than your first run

are unity and unreal so different that your 10 years of experience in one isn’t helpful for the other? i’m not a game developer but I had assumed it was similar to web frameworks - definitely high switching costs for porting an existing project, but as a developer looking for a job there are still many portable skills.

i’d guess it also depends on what parts of the engine you are working in?

That 90 minute to do a full ng+ run number is kinda nuts but an interesting design choice. I ended up not picking up starfield but I do hope someone takes this novel ng+ approach and expands on it to create a game more focused on that as a story telling tool.

Heck, THIS is what studios should be using AI for - write a solid base story and let the AI build on that to create a more truly infinite and distinct set of new loop possibilities. (I would say your first 5 or so runs should be handcrafted, tell an interesting cohesive story, and then if players still want more the AI can kick in and offer additional replayability)

really glad we got to hear about a straight up comparison against space exploration. i’ll admit i was hoping they’d go a different direction (i’ve seen people mention going underwater which i think would have been a ton of fun and a guaranteed differentiator from anything currently available)

all that aside, the most interesting parts for me are the engine changes:

• improved blueprints? how? i can’t say i’ve ever had much to complain about with factorios blueprint system
• better flying robots behavior. this one could be huge, when i built a large base it was hard to properly balance logistics robots and not feel like they were just not working as well as they should

a year away tho! that’s okay, we’ll live, i just got sucked back into satisfactory (playing sf+ which is basically bobsangels for sf and it’s GLORIOUS).

i know all us diehards will pick it up sight unseeen, but unless there’s something flashy, like a graphical overhaul (which i’m not sure the diehards would be in favor of), i do wonder how it will stand out and attract the newer players that have been playing the newer automation games and might only look at factorio skin-deep and not get as excited for.

and i’m okay with all that, but i also want their work to be appreciated by as many people as possible so here’s to hoping they can nail the marketing

I love that, but more importantly, someone finally realized having a touchpad is not a “convenience”, it’s core to making the steamdeck-lite platform work beyond just playing console-like games

how’s the current state of controller support? i played a bit during EA but had been planning on waiting til the PS5 release cuz I figure the layout options would be in a better state by then.

can we take bets on what a “tweet” will be called now? my bets on “chi” (pronounced kai)

weird. i totally just see a half-human half-cat with her leg/foot flipped back