SmiteOfHand
Member
I've seen mostly mixed to negative responses to survival mode and figured I'd chip in my thoughts.
What I like most about survival is it introduces a tension that all the changes feed into. Death has a lot of weight to it. Even with a lot of upgrades you can find yourself on a planet essentially back to zero and needing to claw and repair your way back up to where you were.
This makes that harsh intro very effective because a few bad decisions can put you right back where you started. You need to go through that pain to understand what is at risk. Engaging hostile creatures, going after a waypoint that is too far, pissing off the sentinels, burning through resources, and so on, are all big risks.
I love that launch takes 100% of your fuel. One thing that a lot of sci-fi, particularly the softer television variety, glosses over is that launching off a planet takes a shitload of energy. Granted the game doesn't make you clear atmo, but I think it still effectively gets the point across. It makes getting off a planet a big deal and a significant investment.
I am currently hanging out at an outpost with a landing pad and using it as my base of operations to gather and upgrade. I can scout out with my ship to look for things within hiking distance. I know I am going to have to leave eventually since I am limited to what is within walking distance, but goddamn is it a nice safety net for the time being.
It is definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and there are modes for people who think needing to leapfrog caves to get to a spot that is a 10 min walk away is boring. It feels like a completely different experience to normal mode and I am digging it.
What I like most about survival is it introduces a tension that all the changes feed into. Death has a lot of weight to it. Even with a lot of upgrades you can find yourself on a planet essentially back to zero and needing to claw and repair your way back up to where you were.
This makes that harsh intro very effective because a few bad decisions can put you right back where you started. You need to go through that pain to understand what is at risk. Engaging hostile creatures, going after a waypoint that is too far, pissing off the sentinels, burning through resources, and so on, are all big risks.
I love that launch takes 100% of your fuel. One thing that a lot of sci-fi, particularly the softer television variety, glosses over is that launching off a planet takes a shitload of energy. Granted the game doesn't make you clear atmo, but I think it still effectively gets the point across. It makes getting off a planet a big deal and a significant investment.
I am currently hanging out at an outpost with a landing pad and using it as my base of operations to gather and upgrade. I can scout out with my ship to look for things within hiking distance. I know I am going to have to leave eventually since I am limited to what is within walking distance, but goddamn is it a nice safety net for the time being.
It is definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and there are modes for people who think needing to leapfrog caves to get to a spot that is a 10 min walk away is boring. It feels like a completely different experience to normal mode and I am digging it.