Miasmata - Ye Olde Cartography, Falling Down Hills, Drowning, Getting Eaten by a Grue Simulator

[brkl]

Let's say it's the 19th century. There's a plague and you have it. You find yourself on an island with research outposts previously populated by scientists trying to find a cure for said plague. They're all dead though. You're weak as shit, what killed the scientists is still around, and to make things worse, video game gods haven't even given you an absolute sense of place like in every other game. What do you do? Time to start collecting plants and synthesizing drugs.

[Roderick]

So you're saying Miasmata is a good idea?

[brkl]

It's one of those games just made for Idle Thumbs. It's not perfect, but it sure is different and interesting. It has and ethos it follows to the end. I've enjoyed it, but then I love Far Cry 2.

[Argobot]

I have done quite a lot of falling down hills while playing this game, but at least everything sure is pretty to look at.

What are your thoughts on the liger/giant cat? I haven't played far away to actually encounter it yet...

[brkl]

It's funny looking. Hasn't killed me yet, but evading it is tough since it's so easy to get lost or fall. Apparently it doesn't like fire and may leave if you throw shit at it. You can also hide in grass and vegetation, but it may not help.

[DoomMunky]

I can't WAIT to play this more. I love the orienteering idea, and the commitment to immersion. But it runs very choppily on my PC, so a patch is a must. Soon, soon!

[brkl]

That thing is an asshole. I lost some totally new plants. I'll have to try and find them again :/

Hmm, the compression the forum applies to screenshots is kind of cramping my style. I suppose it's necessary, though.

[toblix]

This seems like an awesome game, but the element of being chased by a horrible creature makes it a non-starter for me, which sucks.

[Squid Division]

Yeah the stalking is kind of what sold it for me, but once I started playing, it was the orienteering that kept me coming back. The creature kind of disrupts all of that so I stopped playing. I wish it was more orienteering/botanically based.

[brkl]

I just don't know how to deal with the thing. I like that there's a threat and you have to be on your guard, but it's so difficult to fend off that it seems like you should just load a save whenever you detect it.

[Sno]

Everything i've seen about this game makes me think of Lost.

[Roswell47]

Holy shit. My first encounter with the beast was so fucking tense. It was perched on this small ridge behind me and I had no idea what to do. I had a knife in my hand so I thought maybe could defend myself. The beast slowly came down seeing as I wasn't trying to run away and it started circling me. I tried swinging my knife at it but it didn't seem to have any effect. He swiped me and I fell backwards into a pool of water and died.

This game and Minecraft are the only ones I played that have made me feel genuinely lost. I was right next to a tent and I saw some flowers in the distance in a grove. I traveled what seemed like 15-20 meters but when I turned around what I saw I didn't recognize at all.

Also no game does night better than Miasmata (and the Stalker games.)

[brkl]

I slept kind of badly last night. I think I had like four separate dreams about this game. Can't really remember them. Then there was one that was a mix of Alien and The Thing, but that's not related.

[brkl]

On sale for about nine hours!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/223510/

[elmuerte]

Some how the graphics hurt my eyes. There's something wrong with it.

[Tundra]

On sale for about nine hours!

http://store.steampo...com/app/223510/

Balls, ive blown my strict gaming budget for this week. I cant spend anymore until monday... and its half price.

Brkl from your comments i like alot of the stuff you play and why you play certain games and this looks right up my street, an indie Far Cry 3. Guess theyll get top dollar for there game which wont make enough to cover the cost of the engine they built from scratch to build Miasmata.

[Erkki]

It's the Far Cry 2 of botany-based adventure games!

Holy crap! I finally saw the creature. I made my way to the third camp, and started going forward into the forest to find that plant. I heard a roar and turned around, walked back to the house. I think we are safe in houses, right? I waited and explored around the camp a few minutes, then decided to go forward again. I didn't hear a roar that time, but some way into the forest my (the PCs) heart started beating. I didn't see anything at first...

Then I looked around and saw it. My first instinct was to run, immediately followed by the idea that maybe it's a lot faster than me and will just jump me from behind. So I turned and waved my makeshift torch at it. I don't know if it was scared by it or what it was planning, but it was kind of half-circling around me and not immediately attacking. So I turned again and ran all the way back to the house. It's now traipsing around just twenty meters from the house as well, so clearly it followed me. I don't know what to do.

Now I'm scared to keep playing because if it kills me I'll have to start over, right?

[brkl]

It should eventually leave (and despawn) if it can't see you or find you. You're safe in houses. If you die, you lose all progress since your last save, but that's it. Saving happens when you sleep and also when you light candles, lanterns, campfires and a certain kind of stone statue that has a fireplace you can light if you are carrying something burning.

Guess theyll get top dollar for there game which wont make enough to cover the cost of the engine they built from scratch to build Miasmata.

I dunno, they were one of the first Greenlit games and they're on sale in Steam. They've gotten some coverage at least. A lot of people bought Amnesia, although Miasmata doesn't have the kind of viral marketing. Hard to say, it's a unique experience, but I think that's a strength as long as you're not expecting Call of Duty money.

[Erkki]

Oh, good that you won't lose all your progress if you die. I now wish I didn't know that, though.

The engine is kind of wonky. Most of the time it seems to render the world just fine, but then you get occasional really bad stuttering (maybe I should dial down the settings, though). I love how the walking works -- accelerates downhill and slow going uphill. At the moment I'm thinking all FP games should work like this, but I'm not sure if it would be fun in really big open world games.

The sound design in the game really sucks, though. I already want to see a HD remake with proper attention to sounds.

[Tanukitsune]

I got this on the sale and... It's kinda boring? What bother's me the most is the map making you can't make a map without two "landmarks" and you can't use landmarks you haven't already added to the map.

it's rather frustrating that you HAVE to have TWO landmarks in view at all times and it's a bit annoying that I get fever every six seconds and I'm too weak to even walk properly.

I'm still at the "end of the tutorial", and I got a map to the next location, but I couldn't find any landmark in that path except for one head on a lake. Does the character stop being a wimp who slips and slides everywhere if I get the right medicine? This is just silly!

[brkl]

You can't make a triangle with only two corners. And yes, there's special medicine you can make later, though it can be tough to find the ingredients.

[Tanukitsune]

Yeah, I understand the triangulation concept, it's just that I'm having trouble finding the "corners", I can see some points from way afar that I haven't discovered yet. But doesn't that make it hard when you have to create a map for a new area, you have to able to view two landmarks from an area you have already discovered from the area, which is not that easy... Maybe I should try to map easier areas first before reaching the next destination?

If I understand the health system right, you can always heal by sleeping and only need medicine for longer treks?

[brkl]

Yeah, sleeping heals you. You rarely need medicine unless you fall or are beaten to an inch of your life by the beast, although I've died once from being stuck in the dark and not finding anywhere to sleep. If only the island was closer to my latitude, you could see a lot better in the summer night...

Climb a hill. Often you can climb next to the giant heads. Once you find your own position by finding two landmarks you know, you can draw lines to all the unknown landmarks you see. Later, when you're somewhere else, you can do the same thing and if you find the same unknown landmarks, drawing another line to it makes it a known landmark. Eventually mapping the island will seem less impossible as long as you can find vantage points.

[Erkki]

The environment is a bit boring, I must admit. But I guess that's also what gives you the ability to get lost, so maybe it needs to be a bit boring.

Some how the graphics hurt my eyes. There's something wrong with it.

Yep, I think it's the lighting. Also, the sun seems to shine even through the landscape or the sea.

PS. Is there a linear tutorial part that ends with getting the first component for the cure? I may have taken an unconventional route to the "ruin site b" where the algae was, but I didn't find any further maps/instructions there or on the way there.

[brkl]

I don't think so.