Comparison: CDDA VS. AAA Gaming

[Bobdole44]

Who besides me has noticed the distinct difference in quality that exists between games like this and DF and say…Atlas, 76, BF5 amoung many others. I just stand in awe as people shell out over $100 and more looking for an experience I get from a game that charges nothing. I can’t say I’ve seen many point this out. Half a decade ago I would have laughed at the idea…

[TheMurderUnicorn]

I erased a rant about lootboxes and predatory microtransactions.

You’re talking about paying $100 for a triple A title. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. At this point in my life I can gauge things pretty well and know what’s worth it and what isn’t. I picked up Dishonored 2 as a pre-order because I knew I’d love it and have no problem shelling out $70 for the experience.

I don’t have a problem paying money for what I expect to be a complete game. What I have a problem with is that AAA games are being shipped more and more as intentionally incomplete products so that they can sell additional DLCs.

I do find myself playing indie games a lot more and for a slew of reasons. That said, when Cyberpunk comes out, I’ll hand them my card and be glad for the experience.

[Bobdole44]

Totally nothing against anyone who buys or like the games, individual choice there. It still surprises me at the incompleat state that games are released in and gobsmacked at the responses of the gaming studios. And Cyberpunk, I can honestly say I’ve got hope for that one and am looking forward to

[Fris0uman]

for an experience I get from a game that charges nothing.

DF and CDDA are great but you need to spend quite some time and effort to learn how to play it (which might be part of the fun) while when you get a nice looking triple A you don’t have to learn (and stuggle with) the interface. And probably won’t have to think too hard while you play either, so I don’t think it’s quite the same experience.

[Daeros13]

I definately understand what you mean 100%. You obviously know what is worth $100 to one person isn’t worth $10 to another, and vice versa. But out of all the games I have ever made, payed for, whatever, I agree with you. I am old enough to have played the greats. From pong to warcraft, from pitfall to GTA, and no game, in all my years, has ever reached CDDA when it comes to the money vs play/replayabilty ratio. There are greats and classics to be sure, but to pay 0, be compatible near 100 with a vast majority of configurations like CDDA… naahhh.

[Litppunk]

had another thread that hit on this topic for a while…last week or something? A big part of it is the mentality. CDDA is a hobby for its Devs, in all the best ways. AAA games can either be work, or someones/a teams passion for building something. Dice games is noted as being a buinch of workaholics, but thats probably in large part because they love their work, I doubt there are many people in Dice that dread having to work there… unlike say… EA.

When companies stop being interested in what they actually output in favor of how much money they take in, (often due to a sudden change in management and company priorities) they become what are, or should be self destructive parasites of the consumer. Unfortunately we are in an age where this is (or at least SEEMS) to be the trend making consumers complacent with mediocrity, usually by blinding them with PR into believing what they have is far above mediocrity.

Note: Leatherman, *several video game companies, Joes crab shack, and… Mac? off the top of my head

Activision, EA, and Oh yeah. Ubisoft and Kanami

[GrandpuhTy]

Comparing roguelikes to triple A is like comparing board games to sports.

[Litppunk]

Only in that MOST AAA arn’t rogue-likes. Dark souls could be considered roguish, and with the growth of the genre AAA are more likely to pump out more games in a similar vein. The comparison is in quality not game style or mechanics.

[GrandpuhTy]

Depends on what you mean by quality. Style and mechanics do have an intrinsic value to the quality of the game. I’d argue there’s way more quality in board games than sports. Triple A is pandering to the lowest common denominator, and since that one doesn’t mind when shit’s broken or bad it sets a trend that gives the developers some breathing room but that’s cut short by the cutthroat investors/C class employees.

No one sets out to make a bad game, they just kind of get made and instead of people admitting they fucked up they push it out anyways and try to defend it so they don’t sink.

[Hof1993]

Just be thankful it’s not illegal for a game to be free…yet.

[ecchi_squid]

Often times so much time and money goes into the game engines, lighting, graphics, sound, etc, that content takes a steep nose dive.

[GrandpuhTy]

I wonder if we could get Cataclysm level complexity using PS1 era graphics.

[ecchi_squid]

I think a game using polygonal characters and such would be able to work fairly well.

[kevin.granade]

I wonder if we could get Cataclysm level complexity using PS1 era graphics.

Yes, for a few million dollars
DDA isn’t some magic accident, it’s engineered to prioritize content and features over graphics and leverage lots and lots of different people’s abilities. If we started requiring complicated tilesets or worse 3D models, it would require an army of people just to keep up with the graphics creation, plus dedicated developers to manage the rendering.

[ecchi_squid]

Gotta admit though, it sounds cool to traverse the cataclysm in 3d…lol

[Stone]

Low poly models can be just as taxing as regular models, most games are using them as an art style, though done correctly they can have lower performance costs but than they wouldnt offer much benefit over 2d, plus not many 3d artists are willing to work for free when they can easily get laid for their work. Cataclysm already supports tilesets enough for someone to squeeze in extra details to each tile but the last guy that tried decided against it due to the sheer workload it would require (reworking just about every single tile to work with the new image size), beyond that when the light rendering issues get resolved and maybe some sort of animation system (whether spritesheet or pivot) and you pretty much have a AAA title already.

[GrandpuhTy]

Yaeh I didn’t mean the project as it is now, but if it were to be lovingly created with the resources a lot of big companies have. Cataclysm played like Crysis that looks like Resident Evil.

[Bobdole44]

I admit, after a few drinks and a few hours into Silent Hill 2 one night, I once found myself leaking a few tears over Konami’s decision to scrap Silent Hills. May the ones who decided that be bound to the town

[Bobdole44]

I get what you mean, and on most all aspects agree. I guess I’m looking at it like you buy a game of Monopoly and have all the pieces you were told are currently there and the banker/players generally follow the rules out of the box. But then you go to baseball practice and around a quarter of the equipment is broken or missing and the umpire is drunk and successfully bribed by the team sponsors.
I honestly hope that makes sense, lol, the way I think sometiemes

[Bobdole44]

I really think CDDA should have an in game tutorial or separate tutorial scenario for interface and controls. I know 7DTD put that in eventually. Though they seemed, as far as I know, to fail to include the option to turn it off. The learning curve is unavoidable but that might make the game a bit more ‘plug and play’ in a way.
Backtab…Linux? Though I have to say I do know what Backtab is and kinda like knowing it, and I did not know that before CDDA.