Ostranauts

Great Game if you want to actually feel like you have a space ship. There are a few bugs and the lack of an explanation for anything will have you frustrated at times when you can't understand why something doesnt work. Google is your friend. I always think google is an old spacer in a bar, passing on wisdom. lol

Asked my guy to wash his face at the sink he was next to, he went out the airlock. 1/10

steal the floor expand the ship, not enough pressure, another pump, too much pressure, all the leaks

So, in the past weeks I've ramped up 50+ more hours of Ostranauts and it's time to write a review. [h3]The premise:[/h3] Ostranauts is an ambitious scifi sandbox in which you start out as a shipbreaker in our sol-system, where corporations have pretty much taken over completely and dictate the lives of the citizens while you just start out to make your living by yourself. You buy a license (or not) to be allowed to break ships, strip them of parts, refurbish them, restore your little pod and (probably) pay off your loan, while expanding your ship, furnish and upgrade it until you are ready to travel through the system to see what's out there! All while your character is simulated with an intricate physiological and psychological needs system, so you have to talk to people, train to stay fit, feed yourself, treat injuries if they occur. And it doesn't stay at one character, you can also have a full crew! Now all that sounds pretty great on paper, but unfortunately the execution isn't on-par with that. [h3]The Good:[/h3] (+++)Modding support is available, allowing anyone to patch the game, making additions from a proper Water-Tank system, to EVA suits lockers (++)Working with the technical aspects of your ship is fun. If you don't have a symetric amount of rotors in Venus, your ship will start spinning. You need fuel for RCS thrusters to work, different parts to make your reactor supply you with energy. Damaged conduits cause fires, hull can be breached, etc. (++)The medical system is similar to NEOScavenger; which was already good and indepth. Wounds can bleed, cause pain and require treatment for them to heal properly while different conditions impact health. (+)There's a good bit to explore and to do; shipbreak, mine, trade, fight. But it takes a good while to get to certain aspects of the game. [h3]The Neutral:[/h3] >There's quite a high learning curve in the beginning. Where to start with your ship? What tools do I need for salvaging? What are the differences? What do all the Conditions of items and character mean? There are a few good YouTube videos that do explain the early game quite well. >The early game is quite a stretch. This is something people may like or not, depending on how they enjoy the salvaging gameplay. You usually spend the majority of your time, depending on starter ship, salvaging, getting money, building up your lil' ship, sometimes with no other things to do than that. >There are surprisingly little bugs. The only one I've noticed is when I rotored out of Venus' atmosphere into space (and a good bit away), by simply fast-forwarding a few hours. [h3]The Bad:[/h3] (---)A good chunk of the game mechanics feel unfinished or unpolished; the psychological needs of a character have no tangible impact. At least not in the 50 hours I've played. Feeling neglected? Well, bad for you. Having an unfulfilled need for intimacy? Doesn't matter, there are no real or serious consequences. And without consequences you usually ignore those "needs", while focusing on more important things, like salvaging or keeping yourself in shape during a journey. Also, building your own ship is quite messy, especially with all the hull-components being listed and drawing blueprints being finnicky. I don't know what the intention behind these mechanics were, but they need to be fleshed-out and integrated into the core-gameplay-loop, with distinct disadvantages and advantages. (---)The gear available feels half-baked and unfinished and partially conflicts with eachother. There's only one pressure suit, several variants of the same EVA suit (with different stats). First-Aid means, using rags on yourself, there's not even the Nanorobot Medical Kit from NEOScavenger available, despite the game taking place in the same universe and having that technology. Clothing doesn't matter as you cannot wear it under an EVA or pressure suit, and you have no different atmospheres than vacuum or air-conditioned environments on ships and stations. It requires modders to give the game some much needed QoL: As I mentioned before an EVA-Suit Locker, Water-System, capabilities to repair your ship at a port, wearing clothes under a suit, repairing clothes, etc. are all things that should be in the base-game but have been made by modders. (--)The world doesn't feel lived in and more artificial than alive. Just on OKLG you have people simply running around, doing some repairs, a bar that's pretty much empty. You sometimes get "missions" from friends, which is basically going to them, going to another NPC and talk to them, going back to them. Sometimes talking requires you or the person you are talking to, to be in a certain mood, but this "mini-game" is chiefly boring and unimpactful. Other places like VNCA actually cause lag, especially the mall, probably due to the sheer amount of NPCs but even there you have little real life in that place, the world isn't really changing. Without a world that properly shapes, with consequences, where only static plotlines exist, there's little incentive not to treat everything mechanically and this is a big issue. This goes hand-in-hand with the lack of impact of your psychological needs and makes any NPCs irrelevant. There's reputation, but you cannot view your reputation, nor is it clear what impact it does. [h3]Conclusion:[/h3] Ostranauts is a game I want to love, but can only like at the surface. The world feels often too sterile and the "magic" wears off fast. While the major gameplay loop is fleshed-out, a lot of QoL improvements are missing and the available content is meager. There are some interesting plot-lines here and there but nothing that kept me engaged. I'll likely keep playing for a while longer but will likely put it away for a while until major updates address these issues or the modding community (bless them) come up with more content.