The Real Lategame

Game Talk The Garage
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Here it seems the (blob) is this games version of A zombie virus. But it doesn’t seem to actually give the player a drive, a mystery, a motivation, or an atmosphere. And I can already predict one of the replies is gonna say something like “the goal of this game is just to survive”, I would disagree, the goal of the game is survive, collect items, become proficient, learn new stuff, and beat that one monster that you really hate. But once you beat those goals. what’s the goal?
that’s when the goal becomes to ‘survive’. But I see potential in the blob. I think it give the player another goal. And as I once read in another post. Its easier to implement new stuff, then it is to fix old stuff.

Currently it has no use other than lore wise (and slimes) (and ima be honest, I’m kinda impressed how the lore pulled together and came up with the ‘blob is in our groundwater’. it legit is some actual logical, and interesting lore right there)

I’ve also seen somewhere, that there might be plans to actually add the blob as a main goal, to try and revert earth to pre-cataclysm. but if I remember, that got shot down because devs didn’t actually feel like actually implementing.
But what if the blob (or any other of the big three factions) had a not even main goal. but a large goal/step that would help with beating the blob.
Ik that would be a lot of work. but here’s some examples (now don’t take this as me saying this is how the game should be)

For the blob. I know there’s already a questline with the refugee center doctor about finding the real cause. but it just cuts off. I really would love seeing that questline completed/worked on. because I found it enjoyable and unique

For The Mycus. what if there was a bigger location. with stronger enemies. that couldn’t just be beaten with a flamethrower or fungicide. because currently the Mycus is a cool idea, but really doesn’t have any substantial implementation past mutations

For the Trifflids. what if there was a communication center, or something important to the Trifflids that you could either try and destroy or try and communicate. Because currently the Trifflids are big fat dead end, considering they are one of the main factions.

Here’s just some ideas. You’ll notice how I wasn’t actually saying how the game should be, but rather offering suggestions and non-specific ideas.

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The goal of the game is whatever you want it to be, and once it’s done you’ve won and can start again.

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Please explain how that is a goal. Where’s the challenge? or motivation? or even fun?
At that point you just are playing the game hoping that the world generation is in your favor. And I’m gonna be completely honest, it just becomes boring.

As far as I can tell there is no reason to not have a bigger goal

Also This post is about the Lategame, not the Endgame.

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How is setting your own goals a goal? I don’t know how to explain that sorry… I haven’t read your whole post so I’m not trying to say you don’t have a point but if you can’t have fun setting your own goals in a sandbox game you might be playing the wrong game.

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Maybe I am playing the wrong game
But I’m still not sure how that became the point?

I was saying that maybe add stuff to make the grind actually worth it.
There is currently a big massive (unused) reason behind the entire game. That doesn’t actually add anything besides a story.
That’s what I was trying to say…

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The main goal of the game in the end will probably become not just surviving in a increasingly hostile and dangerous world (any late game character would probably be able to do that even without going transhuman). But keeping your own faction alive in that world or joining another faction and helping them achieve their goals and fend off the horrors of the cataclysm.

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I’m not really sure what you’re looking for. The game is a Survival sandbox. Sandbox just means your free to mostly do what you want, as you want, within the rules of the world. Survival insists that the world is dangerous, and continues to be so.

If you’re looking for some narrative path by which you fix the cataclysm or save the world, its not gonna happen. If you’re looking for some line by which you defeat the blob or anything else, its like trying to fist fight the sun. The game starts past the point of no return, your not the hero, you survive.

There is - Being a sandbox, the game is not interested in dictating a path or goal to you, simply providing options of things to do. The game telling you to try and escape the cataclysm or fix the cataclysm is fundamentally different to “Don’t die” and leaving you to figure it out.

It feels like you’re approaching the game from the perspective of it being something to ‘beat’, something you ‘win’ at. It may be more helpful to look at CDDA as a great big pile of Lego Bricks. You can build whatever you want out of them, but its up to you to decide what you want to make. You don’t beat CDDA, you participate in its world.

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I must say I’m one of the people who agree with you. I think games aren’t real games at all if they don’t have built-in endings. I also think that having to make up your own goals is unsatisfactory. I need the game to track my goals or I’m just not feeling them. Of course I prefer the ones with lots of different options.

But people responsible for the development have been quite adamant from the beginning, that in this game the player must not be allowed to save the world and there must not be a narrative ending. It’s an artistic choice and I can respect that. I wouldn’t want someone else to tell me how to finish my novel either.

But I think I just saw some positive signals about possibly having more content related to the late part of the game at some point in the future. A similar issue was discussed earlier today in my chain about crafting complexity. Anyway, I’ll be happy if someone creates content actually requiring all the advanced weaponry you can find in the game. At the moment the game seems to become trivially easy too early.

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I don’t think a mission to eliminate the blob and restore normalcy will ever be implemented, 'cuz I think it’ll be impossible to consider yourself just another survivor getting by in this harsh world when you could really save it.

But other end goals sounds like someone’ll add them as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with stopping the blob dead on its track. You joining the Exodii is already something mentioned somewhere, also could the one where you’ll go to the ISS be something as well? Becoming spacefarers sounds really cool.

In addition to that maybe there could be some missions that make the future look less bleak? Like laying the foundation for a civilization that don’t have to live in fear of abominations and eldritch threats. I could see that foundation be a network of alliances starting between the Exodii and the Refugee Center or Tacoma Ranch, even just an achievement that says “this is the start of something” or some such would make me feel like I accomplished something.

And then in the far future maybe an overhaul mod’ll even put you in the place of someone living in the aftermath of one of these end goals, then I think it wouldn’t be a problem to the devs if in that world something like the blob is stopped by the player right?

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less bleak future

Not really, it’s in the title, the days ahead are going to be dark.

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There is nothing wrong with a crapsack world scenario. Many zombie apocalypse movies are like that. If the devs prefer hopeless future, it’s just what I said earlier - an artistic choice.

However, people do like goals and sense of accomplishment. That’s why most games have an ending and even many sandbox games have a story campaign. I do sincerely believe that having something very challenging to strive for and then having the game acknowledge that would be fulfilling for the players. And I still see that this could go hand in hand with the addition of some extra difficult content. As it is, the game allows (even encourages) construction of a mobile laser death fortress, but you don’t really need such a thing for anything.

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Even some sandbox games have a boss, or more specifically a thing to accomplish.
I know this isn’t the best example, but for example in Minecraft. there is the ender dragon. I personally think that it was genius what they did there. It is completely optional, yet it adds a ‘final’ boss to the game. It is strong enough that you need good items to be able to beat it (normally), yet it isn’t extremely overpowered. It adds a sense of accomplishment when you beat it, but it also is worth beating it for the loot. and the new opportunities. And finally it is respawnable.

Also it seems most people, in this post thread, seem to be mistaken, and think that I’m 1: telling the devs how to make their own game. 2: talking about a “final boss” and an “end to the game”. No. I am adding ideas to the pool. trying to point out that there is only so much you can do past a certain point. And I think that there should be some kind of big step to “defeating” the ‘Blob’ . maybe not completely actually beat the blob. but having some big accomplishment, that might actually be considered making a dent.

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I think the challenge with the development of this game is that for most participants it’s just a hobby and a form of self expression. Without any income to pay the devs, people are doing mostly what they enjoy. The needs of the player population are secondary.

And tbh, I don’t think the devs even wanted to sell the game, were it possible. If you take money from someone, you’d actually be obliged to develop stuff they want. Probably most of the devs already have day jobs and they don’t want to be told here too what to do.

I don’t mean any of this in a negative sense. It’s completely understandable. Just stating what I believe the reasons are for CDDA being done so differenly from what one would expect from a commercial studio.

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It’s a perfect example of something we could add, it doesn’t meaningfully change the state if the world, it just provides a challenge and unlocks true end game content (shulker boxes and elytra).

Also, even in Minecraft, its status as the end of the game is a joke.

Big nope on that one.

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i will continue to argue that trying to fight the effects of the blob (which is ALL the player has access to lore-wise, the blob isn’t mentioned, revealed, or even properly hinted at in-game) is like trying to defeat the gravity well of jupiter.

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I think the core argument is that being able to defeat the cataclysm would make it less scary, which isn’t good for a game of this genre. Of course, it’s literally impossible to write any scifi scenario so terribly gone wrong, you couldn’t use scifi to write yourself out of it into a happy ending. But I can see why that’s not desirable in this case.

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Considering both the timeframe and scale it would require a real deus ex machina type of a mission to even impede the blob. Heck it’ll make the blob sound lame and the Exodii just a bunch of losers who didn’t try hard enough, within the timeframe you’re in at least since I feel like it’ll take generations for the survivors to even get their shit together and make a joint effort to it. And I don’t even see it going down the direction of considering that a conflict between the Ranch and the Refugee Center is being discussed.

If there’s gonna be a big baddy for you to defeat it’ll have to be the less eldritch threats, maybe one of the two AIs, especially the one in control of the machines shooting you on sight.

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The only way for the blob to be defeated is if some other alien or extadimentional faction wins. The most likely outcome for humanity is probably going to be some form of enslavement/domestication and probable mutilation at the hands of triffids, mycus or migo or worse by some other extra/higherdimentional being that isn’t as handsoff as the blob. If whomever wins doesn’t just wipe us out (which they absolutely could).

If the blob wins (which it already has. It just needs to protect it’s price from other invaders.) the possible outcomes are either earth becoming a oxygen less rock. Or becoming some kind of alien hellscape where hyper evolved monsters prowl the wilds, former cities being filled with even more undead monsters and possibly flesh factories and all the while things have been crawling through the cracks in reality from parralel dimentions and the space inbetween.

The most preferable alternative to all of this is what the exodii did and just GTFO to some other dimention (preferably getting all of the blob out of your systeem).

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As far as I am concerned, I don’t think it’s necessary to even try to find a way to win the cataclysm forces definitely. And the lead developers have certainly expressed they don’t support the idea.

Personally I’d be happy with some expanded scenarios and harder challenges. Let the blob win, I say. It’d just be good to have some feeling of accomplishment before that.

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Thank you, that was the point I was trying to make, It doesn’t actually end the game, but it does add a challenge, and gives a big sense of accomplishment.

If we can’t get a “defeating the blob”, maybe can someone continue the refugee-center-doctor quest. The one where you have to test blood samples, and try and figure out the reason behind the apocalypse. I feel like that quest chain really shows how special the player-character is.