Thoughts and fun Details/Tips

[matt11mz]

I have played the demo 3 times now (good on you, DE for making it feel so fun to replay), the first was a basic playthrough as an average exterminate, the second was all about taking my time and exploring/testing, the third was a goofy atomicycle-focused run. First, I'll break down my experience in the three runs, then I'll get into my specific criticisms and suggestions, and finish it off with all the fun interactions and tips I found so far.

 

Run #1 - The Basic Exterminate:

It was a pretty good run, enemy diversity was great, initial play with the atomicycle seemed a bit hard to control, immediately getting stuck in a corner. I loved how the streets had a progression to them. My only issue was that the enemy who creates the gas zones was hidden behind a wall, so it wasn't until my next run that I found out that the gas wasn't just a generic environmental hazard. Not a whole lot to say except it was a more fun version of exterminate. Entrati tilesets continue to be my favorite.

 

Run #2 - Exploring the World and its inhabitants:

This run, I completely ignored the bike. Not because of my initial run, but because I wanted to take my time and see what Hollivania had to offer. I started learning more about how vertical the map actually was, and all the fun enemy types. Melee units that charge you, a bomber, a guy with no apparent weakpoints and innate overguard (maybe a Nox type enemy? haven't found his weakspot if so), and even a guy with suspiciously stug-like globs (stug rework cope, anyone?). I loved the fact that the wire running came back through the power lines and streamers. The skybox is really cool too (please, DE, give us the infested amusement park as a mission!). Lots of objects can be damaged, with cars being smaller explosives alongside the more obvious exploding barrels and containers of acid. The tileset proved to be so much more fun under the scrutiny of exploration. Another cool thing was the warped "Party of Your Lifetime" song that plays in different parts of the map. The only odd thing was that the longer I think about it, the eximi seem out of place. You've got biological warfare, but then random elemental attacks from eximi, including Jade eximi.

 

Run #3 - Riding the Devil all the Way Down:

At this point, I kinda missed my atomicycle, so I did the only logical thing: atomicycle only challenge! In a shocking turn of events, if you play around with it for longer than 1 minute, the atomicycle actually controls really well. To put it in the terms of our two favorite speed rivals, K-Drive is Volt and the Atomicycle is Gauss. Volt is generally slower, but with better handling than Gauss. K-Drive is slower than the Atomicycle, but it can turn in an instant if needed, while the Atomicycle struggles. The Atomicycle also lacks breaks.

 

The Atomicycle features several mechanics/abilities:

Hitting enemies does a knockdown, and hits enemies for 19 damage if they can't be knocked down. This can also break objects.

It has a drift using the crouch/slide input that gives a speed boost after a short time maintaining a drift. Drifting on the ground slides you at a good speed. This seems to give the collision zone a wider area and lets you slide over small obstacles. Snaking around by holding slide tends to make you go fast and hit absolutely everything, breaking every destructible object. Not very effective, but really entertaining. Drifting in mid-air raises your front tire. This does nothing for you on its own, but is considered drifting, making a jump into a drift a reliable way to get the boost on tight paths.

The sprint input accelerates you. This seems to break low speed boosts (drifting without accelerating to boost), but you can boost just fine after.

The 1 ability is a boost. This seems like the exact same as a drift boost, and doesn't look like it stacks. You can chain them, but the demo is too small for this to be very useful right now.

The 2 ability dismounts and makes the bike explode on collision. The only issue is it isn't any collision, it has to be something that stops you, so barriers aren't a safe wall to trust to detonate. The blast seems to be LoS, and overguard completely nullifies the blast, but can still take collision damage (the eximus units killed the run). The blast is unaffected by speed, being put into a boost as you launch it.

Neither ability works while stationary.

 

The Atomicycle feels like it isn't meant for this mission. I don't think that's a bad thing right now, but if the demo reflects the size of the full missions, this feels like a tileset gimmick that will work better once we get the ability to call it in open worlds. Still a crazy fun gimmick, but even if we don't get to play as Amir or our own loadout in 1999, Arthur is still plenty fast enough to ignore it and be 100% fine.

 

Flaws and Design Disagreements:

First off, while I have dipped my toes enough into game development to grasp the complexity of the craft, I won't pretend to be any better than DE, and none of this should be considered "hate" for the demo or 1999 as a whole. It's a fun experience, and I can't wait for the winter launch.

• As stated before, I think the eximus units are out of place. I'd argue that there should only really be two maximum, those being arson and venomous (mostly just venomous). They feel like something that Scaldra could actually produce, while the rest feel like the Grineer are going through a retro-warcrime phase led by Nox. I could also see Jade eximi if they were told as a sort of full-circle precursor to the Jade Light, but that requires too much lore speculation to seem viable. Another option is to keep eximi locked to the Techrot, since the infested seems to be our bridge to 1999.
• Not all wires and streamers can be mounted. Please let us climb all of them. At least all the wires.
• I feel like there should be a guaranteed enemy who places the gas out in the open so that the mechanic is better introduced.
• As bad as invisible walls can feel, I think all buildings should be climbable, with the edge of the map having invisible walls along the rooftops so that even edge buildings are accessible. If you have to do it the way it is now, add some effervo gas or something to those buildings. Give us a reason why those buildings are off-limits besides just gameplay boundary boxes.
• Explosions feel a bit random. sometimes you take damage, sometimes it is enemies only, but they all seem able to trigger each other, often causing chain explosions where it's a toss-up if you'll be hurt by any given instance.

 

Special Hints and Secrets: 

• Most objects are destructible in some form. Scaldra gear leaves corrosive pools, with the burst tanks actually pushing you away, while cars explode. It is unclear if cars can cause status procs, but they can damage enemies who use them as cover at the very least.
• Vending Machines drop a single universal orb. It seems to randomly replace a can, so it may be instant, or it may be at the end of the animation.
• Most Scaldra have a special weakpoint. basic troopers and shield enemies have a glowing backpack that detonates on hit. The melee units explode on kill. The ballons seem to have an AoE gas cloud, but most of the time, this won't reach enemies to be effective. Heavy units seem to not have a weakpoint.
• One enemy in particular, the Scaldra Dedicant, seems to be a Nox on steroids. Like the Nox, it has innate overguard, but seems to lack a visible target to clear it, and his glowy bit protects him from headshots. He also rapid fires a shot very similar to the stug globs. The shield units share this attack, but do so as a single shot after a short burst of gun fire.
• There are 5 areas where "Party of Your Lifetime" plays on loop. The first is a bus stop near the start of the mission. The second is the big notable On-Lyne kiosk. The Third is a random wall in the adjacent area. Guess someone is listening to it in their apartment. The Fourth is an alleyway viewing party, with the last one being another On-Lyne Kiosk in the area right next to it.
• There are several consoles like the one in the TennoCon showcase that revealed the Technocyte Coda. They can't be interacted with.
• The infested mass in the back of the garage makes noise and has an energy effect. Probably interactable on launch. Maybe a toggle between 1999 crew and Drifter?
• There is a Scaldra office at the end of the map. It features the only clock that doesn't read 00:00, instead being 11:54.

[danceswithphantoms]

Thanks for the tips re: the atomicycle  I will certainly be going back to test those out! I have actually added my own opions to someone elses write up so won't reiterate them here, but I'm glad to see somone else noticed even more about the demo than I did and commented intelligently upon those details. Bute  what it boils down to mostly: I was sad not to experience the tank fight and found the secondary a bit lack lustre (the laser need to be for sighting only and it should be a projectile weapon) and we totally need the ability to shoot that while riding the bike. (We need that sweet action movie feel and since you can shoot a secondary from kaithe and k drive it feels strangely out of place not to have the ability here.) Aside from that the tileset need civilians! Passed out party goers. People hurrying home  and slamming their doors or  looking out of the windows.  Other wise I agree on most of the points you made. Thanks for the informative write up.