I picked up and started playing NMS in VR just last week. So far I'm enjoying it. Like someone slammed Elite and Subnautica together. It'll probably get old after a while, but I'm hoping to be entertained enought to work through the scripted missions.

Jivaro wrote on Nov 29, 2024, 00:48:
I don't see how any other game but NMS wins "Labor of Love" on Steams awards. Sure, lots of games get community patches long after release. This is the developer providing content, features, and bug fixing. Literally just last month added new features and content. For free. 30 something "named" updates? Add to that 5 or 6 real content patches I think. The game was released in 2016. 8 years is a lifetime in this industry. I don't recall seeing any other developer do anything like this. Regardless, if Hello Games makes anything else in the future that I am interested in, I definitely won't hesitate at buying another "Day One Edition" from them.

For me it's a toss up between NMS and Hotdogs, Horseshoes, and Handgrenades. And generally I tend to vote for H3 because not only are they continuously updating the game, but it's in a niche VR only game market so their sales numbers are probably lower. That doesn't mean I feel that NMS doesn't also deserve it but they have been doing updates just a few months longer than NMS.

jacobvandy wrote on Nov 29, 2024, 01:42:
I know it's a lot newer, but my nomination goes to Icarus this time. They've kept up a weekly patch-with-accompanying-dev-diary cadence for three solid years (they're just celebrating an anniversary this week, in fact), talking about changes and additions and why they're being made and what they're working on for the [near] future with full timeline updates... I feel like other games that have done that sort of thing for much shorter periods have had a lot more recognition than those guys, so this small gesture is the least I can do.

But I am impressed by their persistence in what they've actually accomplished with the game as much as I am about their communication of it. There was plenty of residual DayZ hype that helped them quite a bit in the beginning, but when the game wasn't what most people apparently expected -- as well as somewhat janky -- interest nosedived and they've been working this whole time to rebuild player trust despite dwindling engagement and revenue. Although not every update is a big one, I'm sure they could be if the time between releases was lengthened similar to NMS. And all that effort involved reworking everything into a very different alternative game mode (persistent open-world survival), requiring a lot of tweaking and testing to make it more congruent/performant for long playthroughs involving voxel-based mining and modular base-building in Unreal 4, and now includes all map areas plus all structured mission content (much of which was only ever meant for the original session-based extraction loop).

I put in quite a bit of hours into Icarus. But I haven't played in a long while. (It was a big thing with my LAN party group for a while) Specifically we haven't tried the persistent open-world survival mode. Will probably try it again with my friends at some point.

I know it's a lot newer, but my nomination goes to Icarus this time. They've kept up a weekly patch-with-accompanying-dev-diary cadence for three solid years (they're just celebrating an anniversary this week, in fact), talking about changes and additions and why they're being made and what they're working on for the [near] future with full timeline updates... I feel like other games that have done that sort of thing for much shorter periods have had a lot more recognition than those guys, so this small gesture is the least I can do.

But I am impressed by their persistence in what they've actually accomplished with the game as much as I am about their communication of it. There was plenty of residual DayZ hype that helped them quite a bit in the beginning, but when the game wasn't what most people apparently expected -- as well as somewhat janky -- interest nosedived and they've been working this whole time to rebuild player trust despite dwindling engagement and revenue. Although not every update is a big one, I'm sure they could be if the time between releases was lengthened similar to NMS. And all that effort involved reworking everything into a very different alternative game mode (persistent open-world survival), requiring a lot of tweaking and testing to make it more congruent/performant for long playthroughs involving voxel-based mining and modular base-building in Unreal 4, and now includes all map areas plus all structured mission content (much of which was only ever meant for the original session-based extraction loop).

I don't see how any other game but NMS wins "Labor of Love" on Steams awards. Sure, lots of games get community patches long after release. This is the developer providing content, features, and bug fixing. Literally just last month added new features and content. For free. 30 something "named" updates? Add to that 5 or 6 real content patches I think. The game was released in 2016. 8 years is a lifetime in this industry. I don't recall seeing any other developer do anything like this. Regardless, if Hello Games makes anything else in the future that I am interested in, I definitely won't hesitate at buying another "Day One Edition" from them.

Yeah, I don’t know - it really worked for me! Although I was working a very high stress job at the time so maybe it was just the fact that the chill, low stakes nature was what I needed to decompress.

ehushagen wrote on Nov 28, 2024, 16:33:
I think I’m the only one that absolutely adored No Man’s Sky as it was at launch. It felt so desolate and empty and it really was just about exploring and seeing new things - kind of like 2010-era Minecraft. I tried NMS a year ago or so and it all felt like too much.

I guess I’ve got that big boomer energy.

I understand that initial feeling but didn't that wear off quick? As far as I could tell, there really wasn't much new to see after the first couple of planets. It got same-y real quick.

I think I’m the only one that absolutely adored No Man’s Sky as it was at launch. It felt so desolate and empty and it really was just about exploring and seeing new things - kind of like 2010-era Minecraft. I tried NMS a year ago or so and it all felt like too much.

I guess I’ve got that big boomer energy.