The Early Access sandbox game Planet Nomads [Official Site] has officially dropped plans to include any kind of co-op or multiplayer.
A massive shame, as these sandbox games really do end up boring by yourself. Unless they make the game somehow incredibly good, this move may not go down well with their Kickstarter backers and Early Access buyers. In fact, negative reviews for this are already starting to appear.
They wrote in a post on their official site, which does give some valid reasons. The part that bothers me here is that they did promise it, seemingly without thinking on how difficult it would be. I mean, did they really think implementing proper multiplayer wouldn't be difficult? Here's what they said:
It's about time we stopped contemplating and constantly discussing whether or not to start adding multiplayer. A decision had to be made and has been made. Planet Nomads is not going to have multiplayer or CO-OP game modes. Our focus is going to be 100% dedicated to making an immersive singleplayer sandbox game that's both giving a huge amount of creative freedom and plenty of things to explore and discover, as well as a sense of direction towards a higher goal. We apologize to our Kickstarter backers and preorder Nomads who backed Planet Nomads purely for the multiplayer aspect of it. Here's a more detailed explanation for our decision.
In the more detailed link, it really just reads like like they're saying "It's more work than we planned for.". It might sound like I'm being particularly harsh, but that is basically the reality of what they're saying.
They haven't posted about this on Steam directly yet, I imagine as it would cause an even bigger backlash due to more people seeing it and taking note of it.
I'm not writing the game off completely, since it could end up being a good game. However, now it won't have any multiplayer at all, it's essentially become "yet another survival game" that's in Early Access. Their roadmap doesn't particularly sound all that great either. Planet customization, optimizations, quests (very difficult to make quests actually fun) and monuments.
Still, since they can fully focus on the game being singleplayer only, they might surprise us with having more breathing room to make it a great experience. Last thing we need is another ARK.
Thanks to Marcelo in our Telegram Group for the tip!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: Crazy PenguinQuoting: g000hNot saying that it will, there's a long way to go - Planet Nomads might end up with a better single player game, by dropping multiplayer and focussing on making the single player game as good as they can.Erm..No! Doesn't happen on my own dedicated server on which I play with friends. :)
Here are some issues that you get with Multiplayer gaming:
- waiting for a game (i.e. queuing before you're able to start a session)
- playing against hackers/cheaters
- people who are vastly above or below you in terms of ability (poor matching)
- connectivity problems, e.g. lag
- griefers / trolls, i.e. people wanting to upset other people
- people with higher spec hardware having an advantage
- time management, i.e. making time to fit in playing (and your co-op partners making time, too)
- other players who are extreme, reactionary, volatile, e.g. dumb kids
- spawn camping, i.e. a camper who waits at a spawn point
- pay to win
- PvP games where a powerful group of people dominates the map stopping anyone else get a foothold
Well, here's a few things that can just as easily happen with your own server...
- connectivity problems, e.g. lag
- people with higher spec hardware having an advantage
- time management, i.e. making time to fit in playing (and your co-op partners making time, too)
But most multiplayer games are not on "your own server" as another comment.
Last edited by g000h on 4 September 2017 at 8:22 pm UTC
Crazy Penguin Sep 4, 2017
Quoting: g000hErm..still NO! Connection problems maybe if the Devs are doing something stupid.Quoting: Crazy PenguinErm..No! Doesn't happen on my own dedicated server on which I play with friends. :)
Well, here's a few things that can just as easily happen with your own server...
- connectivity problems, e.g. lag
- people with higher spec hardware having an advantage
- time management, i.e. making time to fit in playing (and your co-op partners making time, too)
But most multiplayer games are not on "your own server" as another comment.
As I said it is my server which is running 7d/24h on which I'm playing with MY FRIENDS!
You are mixing all kind of Multiplayer games together. But we talking here about a survival sandbox game (like Minecraft, 7D2D, aso) with an dedicated server, on which I AM IN CONTROL of the server and what is going on.
BTW: These are all Multiplayer issues that you are using to defend your Singleplayer game! They will never happen in a SP game.
Quoting: Crazy PenguinAs I said it is my server which is running 7d/24h on which I'm playing with MY FRIENDS!
We understood that and it's great, but while I don't know about you and your friends, many people have this real life going on and still would find it difficult to find time slots to play together. My best friends do shift-work and I've got two babies to take care of, and that's just two obvious examples.
Crazy Penguin Sep 4, 2017
Quoting: EikeWe have a real life, shifts and family as well. We play if we have time, sometimes alone. Most important is that we can build and work together in one world! This is not an MMO where you need a group for some quests/instances/dungeons. This is not World of Warcraft :DQuoting: Crazy PenguinAs I said it is my server which is running 7d/24h on which I'm playing with MY FRIENDS!
We understood that and it's great, but while I don't know about you and your friends, many people have this real life going on and still would find it difficult to find time slots to play together. My best friends do shift-work and I've got two babies to take care of, and that's just two obvious examples.
Quoting: EikeQuoting: Crazy PenguinAs I said it is my server which is running 7d/24h on which I'm playing with MY FRIENDS!
We understood that and it's great, but while I don't know about you and your friends, many people have this real life going on and still would find it difficult to find time slots to play together. My best friends do shift-work and I've got two babies to take care of, and that's just two obvious examples.
Indeed. Took me two years to finish a Portal Coop game with a friend. Real life can be a nuisance.
That said, the technical problems with a game like this and networked play are astronomical. They probably thought coop would be doable, but realised too late that it was beyond a team of their size.
Quoting: Crazy PenguinQuoting: EikeWe have a real life, shifts and family as well. We play if we have time, sometimes alone. Most important is that we can build and work together in one world! This is not an MMO where you need a group for some quests/instances/dungeons. This is not World of Warcraft :DQuoting: Crazy PenguinAs I said it is my server which is running 7d/24h on which I'm playing with MY FRIENDS!
We understood that and it's great, but while I don't know about you and your friends, many people have this real life going on and still would find it difficult to find time slots to play together. My best friends do shift-work and I've got two babies to take care of, and that's just two obvious examples.
I'm in the same boat. I don't have a steady schedule, and just want to putter round exploring and building shit without either relying on someone else in order to enjoy the game. I rarely play multi games at all anyway, so while I recognize it would mean more sales (and less complaining) I wouldn't miss it in the least.
Hell, there are games I've taken off my wishlist because they abandoned a good single-player experience for multi. For the time being, this one stays on.
Last edited by Nezchan on 5 September 2017 at 1:48 am UTC
Crazy Penguin Sep 5, 2017
Quoting: EhvisIndeed. Took me two years to finish a Portal Coop game with a friend. Real life can be a nuisance.Portal is not a Sandbox survival game, or did I miss something?
That said, the technical problems with a game like this and networked play are astronomical. They probably thought coop would be doable, but realised too late that it was beyond a team of their size.
How does "technical problems" of a multiplayer mode affect your singleplayer game? Well, it doesn't! It never has!
Quoting: KelsI'm in the same boat. I don't have a steady schedule, and just want to putter round exploring and building shit without either relying on someone else in order to enjoy the game. I rarely play multi games at all anyway, so while I recognize it would mean more sales (and less complaining) I wouldn't miss it in the least.You can play this kind of games alone if you like to! No one is forcing you to play with someone else. So why no multiplayer support?
Hell, there are games I've taken off my wishlist because they abandoned a good single-player experience for multi. For the time being, this one stays on.
How does a single-player experience in a game like Planet Nomads differ? It doesn't. You can still play it alone! Like you can do it right now!
Crazy Penguin Sep 6, 2017
Quoting: GuestQuoting: Crazy PenguinHow does "technical problems" of a multiplayer mode affect your singleplayer game?If a programmer or designer is working on fixing multiplayer issues, then they are not working on improving the single player experience.
Nope! This may slow down the development of game, depending on the developers team, but it does not have an impact on your single player experience.
lucifertdark Sep 6, 2017
Crazy Penguin Sep 7, 2017
Quoting: GuestSure it's true! I can expand my team by 1-2 people adding & fixing multiplayer. No impact at all for your single player experience! ;)Quoting: Crazy PenguinNope! This may slow down the development of game, depending on the developers team, but it does not have an impact on your single player experience.If our lives were infinite then it would be true.
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