Looks interesting. Something I could play with my kids if I ever got them their own Steam account. I'm holding off buying games though since the Steam sale should be starting soon.

Concept: Yes. Stylized voxel style graphics: No.

The dust storms look real good though.

Fun game, tons of bugs obviously, but fun. Tons of game breaking annoyances.

4 player online drop-in/drop-out co-op

Not true drop in drop out. You create a new player for each world you join, can't bring anything over like Terrarria or Starbound. Also the biggest bug right now is unable to join a friend's world, just crashes.

They really nailed the annoying vocals in the trailer music.

Shok wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 15:06:
They really nailed the annoying vocals in the trailer music.

Must be a shitty game.

Played it for a couple hours. Has a lot of game-breaking issues (it's pre-alpha), but it's really cool. Like Legos and No Man's Sky (but much better/more like what it should have been).

Issues I had:

AMD FX CPUs have issues. I had to play the game with no sound to fix an unplayable framerate issue. (-NOSOUND launch parameter). Okay, so it's playable at this point.

Playing a game with a friend, we both crash. Didn't save. Start that save (it saved after I landed and that's it) again with friend, but it had severe issues like no recharging power, 2nd drop pod existed multiple times, friend couldn't interact, etc.

So we load up his already-progressed game and play that. Lots of fun, but glitchy. Playable though. Then a sand storm comes. I start driving a rover into it and crash. Now, every time I connect to him on that game it just crashes. So the game has save-breaking issues I guess...

I ended up refunding it, but I'd gladly get it again later. I just wish they had tested it better before they released it. Or a public demo maybe? I have my hands in so many early access titles, this one just rubbed me wrong I guess. The game itself has a lot of promise though, and lots to do already.

I sound like a broken record and many are probably going to get tired of hearing it but the game is worth it - EMPYRION is the best damn NMS-killer out there right now! Seriously, I've taken screens that looked just like out of NMS in EMPYRION. They've done a lot of cool stuff in Empyrion lately and the new, big beta 5.0 patch should be coming soon, too! (They might be waiting on the new year for it but there's plenty to do in the meantime!)

This game was in my recommended the other day but it looked a little too...fresh...to go for just yet, kinda like OSIRIS; New Dawn, last month's space exploration/combat poster child. Will keep an eye on it though, looks interesting...

EDIT: OMG! The 5.0 beta patch is on the experimental branch of Empryion! I just looked, thought I was gonna have a freakin' heart attack! Seriously, you guys HAVE to get this game! I can't say it enough, it's SO fucking worth it! So much stuff in the new update: vessel-based mining (drilling), alliances, AI controlled space vessels (BIG ONE for Single players like me!), a new radial menu (love it!), more diverse and varied POI's (another awesome edition to the SP!), many new blocks, character customization (finally!), and holographic block positioning (again, finally!)...well, you guys know where I'm gonna be for the next couple weeks!


=-Rigs-=

This comment was edited on Dec 18, 2016, 00:34.

I will second that Empyrion is really good.

this looks terrible. hire some fucking texture artists already.

Esoteric wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 21:40:
I will second that Empyrion is really good.

Visually, Empyrion certainly looks like a much better choice.

Thanks for the heads up, all. Never heard of this game before.

Rigs wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 19:54:
EMPYRION is the best damn NMS-killer out there right now!

Literally every game ever made is better than NMS. I think the NMS comparisons should stop now.

Esoteric wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 21:40:
I will second that Empyrion is really good.

Watched some vids, snatched it up to try it out.

Ugh, another Space Engineers clone/shovelware...

Get the original, it's less buggy, and has way more things to see and do.

Bumpy wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 22:49:

Esoteric wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 21:40:
I will second that Empyrion is really good.

Visually, Empyrion certainly looks like a much better choice.

Thanks for the heads up, all. Never heard of this game before.

Retired wrote on Dec 18, 2016, 04:43:

Esoteric wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 21:40:
I will second that Empyrion is really good.

Watched some vids, snatched it up to try it out.

You guys are in for a treat! Don't forget to check the STEAM Workshop for new blueprints of ships and bases. Also, the new Beta 5.0 patch is on the 'experimental' branch, so if you want all the new goodies, you have to switch over to it in STEAM. I'm having trouble with STEAM, ATM, so as soon as I figure out why it's being a jerk, I'm gonna dive right into it! (TBH, I tore down my system last week because I had a failing hard drive controller AND hard drive (my 500gb Seagate) and the 2tb WD hard drive my STEAM install is on is sitting in an external SATA dock, so maybe it's not liking it too much...I'll have to put the drive back in the bay and hook it up)

I promise you're all gonna have some serious time disappearing with Empryion! I can't say enough nice things about this damn game. The devs update it like every few weeks, there's SP and MP (including co-op) - they've just totally nailed it and it just gets better and better...

VaranDragon wrote on Dec 18, 2016, 04:15:

Rigs wrote on Dec 17, 2016, 19:54:
EMPYRION is the best damn NMS-killer out there right now!

Literally every game ever made is better than NMS. I think the NMS comparisons should stop now.

Indeed, it isn't hard to out-NMS NMS, but I know there are a lot of players that were disappointed in it that are on the lookout for something to fill that void and Empyrion does it in spades! Had NMS used it graphics with Empyrion's gameplay...they would be printing money right now. I mean, NMS's planets are much larger than Empryion's and Empyrion still has a no-go border around the poles of the planets due to the way the playfields are set up. This is something that the devs know and are working on to eliminate soon. It's only a minor inconvenience when cruising around. Even Space Engineer's planets are larger and more...grounded but what Empyrion has is good enough and the mining system is superb. I do wish there were underground cave systems like nearly every other survival/exploration game but you can make your own, so that's a nice consolation. You can build a whole base with multiple levels underground or in a mountain if you so choose. And now, you can have multiple separate outposts loosely connected to each other, so that management of them is easier. Before, they had to be all connected physically. It's come a long way since the pre-alpha days and the players have put out some unbelievable ships and bases. Empyrion has a very bright future and that's what, I think, matters most and why it's worth pointing out and spending money on...


=-Rigs-=

Astroneer was a good buy for $20. Can't see myself playing more until the next major update. Ran through all the current content.

All of these space exploration/building games look awesome to me...I looked at some videos of Empyrion, that looks great too. I'm down to try ALL of these, I just need to win the lottery or something to have the time to really get into these open ended building games.

I like the the clip of cartoony astronauts vacuuming up the terrain and reforming it, reminds me of a less depressing 3d version of Cortex Command. I could easily see myself getting lost in any of these games for days at a time, building absolutely meaningless, vast structures in my own corner of the game universe.

Like the way this is looking, seems to need an antagonist.

They really nailed the annoying vocals in the trailer music.

I thought the same exact thing, that is the most overused type of song over the past decade across media. It's like a fake indie, market researched Hell song that is supposed to denote that something is fun, "now" and "cool".

Bub wrote on Dec 18, 2016, 06:44:
Ugh, another Space Engineers clone/shovelware...

Get the original, it's less buggy, and has way more things to see and do.

meh. Space Engineers had NOTHING to do for a long time. I will go back and check it out.

Right now Empyrion is a lot of fun, really into it.