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Re: Rodina has left the launch-pad!

#4
Rodina is working for me, although I am apparently a very, very bad pilot.

The controls are not what I expected. That's not to say I'm "right" in what I'm expecting, just that they seem a little rough to me, but maybe the designer did it this way for a reason. Mouse-controlled pitch and yaw are super-sluggish, while Q/E rolling is super-sensitive. I was able to improve mouse sensitivity with the provided option, and by reducing my screen resolution and video quality settings. Even then, however, turning was not what I'd call nimble.

With respect to thrust, the four hard-coded speed settings mean that I constantly zip past objects, then take forever to close in on them at the next slower speed. I burned up in a planetary atmosphere once (and once on the surface of the star just to see if I could -- oh, yes, I could). Eventually I managed to land successfully on a planet at one of the "plus" locations, but the discrete speed settings are unpleasant. A control I'd find much more satisfying would be using the mouse wheel to control my speed (other than the Limnal drive, about which more anon) to provide much finer control, in a way similar to how the plus and minus keys gently alter movement speed in the wonderful Space Engine.

Interestingly, planets seem to be rendered with both atmosphere and gravity. This causes your ship to:
  • burn up if you enter too steeply (though Rodina is more forgiving than an actual landing from space is)
  • to be rather difficult to guide when you're ionizing
  • to fly parallel with the ground once you're in-atmosphere
  • to want to sit on the ground once you're close enough to it
Different planets have different colored atmospheres, but I don't know yet whether that affects gameplay or not.

The Limnal drive for going very fast confuses me. It doesn't seem to want to let me leave the system I start up in in Exploration mode, although that may be either because I'm still trying the demo or because I'm in Exploration mode. It's also extremely hard to control direction of flight in this mode... and why are there two (what seem to be) navigation reticles?

Right now Rodina seems rough, but you can see the potential in it. I think I will be throwing some money at it. :)
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Re: Rodina has left the launch-pad!

#5
Very cool, thanks for the report Flat! I can't believe it's out already, I've been following since day one.

I'm definitely going to check out the demo when I get some free time :D (e.g., in late 2014 :roll: )

It's nice that he's going with pay-what-you-think-it's-worth model. Really feels like the indie spirit :)
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Rodina has left the launch-pad!

#6
Speaking of simulationist space games, the lone developer of Rodina is still at it.

The latest news is that he's reached another "ask the players what they prefer" moment. See how these alternatives for new development grab you:

1. RPG Features + New Items

Rodina is partially inspired by old immersive sim games like Deus Ex and System Shock 2. I loved the Grid Inventory from those games, and want something similar to undergird Rodina's RPG and character progression features. This would also mean lots more items and upgrades for the player to discover and use!

New Features: Grid inventory, lots of installable upgrades for the player, new weapons / items, revamped controls w/ quick-selection wheel

2. The Garden

Rodina needs creatures! And plants. And the Xenos need a place to grow their food and livestock. This update would add several creatures and procedurally-growing plants to a new Garden interior set. Maybe someday they will escape and populate the planets?

Tech upgrade: Animation system! Right now Rodina's few animations are all hacked in. Creatures (and bosses, NPCs, ships, etc) will need a proper way to move!

3. Planetary Upgrade + Mining / Building

The planets haven't gotten any attention in a long time. I've been thinking they should get a visual upgrade - better textures, less popping, and rocks on the planets. Along with that, it might be fun to finally get some simple mining / building in the game, so players can create their own planetary outposts and cities.

Tech upgrade: Planet renderer revamp, procedural rocks?

Rodina is not as pretty as Limit Theory. Its flight model is also much more Newtonian, and I don't know if there's any plan for multi-sector empire management.

That said, if you're here because you like space sims, and you haven't seen Rodina, you might like it. As the dev Brendan Anthony puts it in a recent trailer: Rodina is "a dream of a space game without limits ... where you can go anywhere and become anything."



(Housekeeping note: Tal, could this thread be moved to the "Games" sub-forum? Seems more appropriate for there. Thanks!)

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