Quote:
Originally Posted by thrash
(SNIP)
I don't play video games, so let me ask those who do: in a wide-ranging, sandboxy video game, how does one find the quests or minigames that the system is set up to provide? Is it all out-of-context clues (menus and such), or are there effective in-context pointers?
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I currently play a fair amount of an early-access, hard-core(ish), survival and crafting sandbox game, Vintage Story, that bears some superficial similarity to Minecraft, but with much deeper game-play (even in early access).
In Vintage Story, one's avatar (which could have one of several different classes) spawns in with nothing, and then must immediately begin to scrounge for food and resources, while avoiding hostile animals and the (somewhat rare) wandering monster.
The default game (Survival) has a map that shows a reasonably large area in the character's vicinity, but the area beyond is concealed by fog-of-war. Moreover, areas already explored don't auto-update, on the map. If anything changes, you won't see it on the map until you get within range, again.
The map does have color-splotches to indicate different vegetation, the presence of water, possible surface resources (especially clay) and types of terrain. It also indicates locations of parts of ruins that extend above the surface, although careful examination of contours may show more.
And that's it. Make your choices, player. 😀
Now, as you begin to explore and excavate ruins (the stone makes good building material), you discover some items of lore (books, scrolls, paintings, etc.) that hint at other places to explore, or things to look for. Sometimes, caves can include deeper vaults, or lead to mines -- but subterranean exploration is
really dangerous.
However, at no point is it required to follow up on any of those discoveries.
The game is in early development, as noted, but it already has a bunch of stuff to do, and it fully supports multi-player and modding. The Devs add more stuff, reasonably frequently, which is nice, but so far haven't disclosed what they may have in mind for "end-game" play.
IMO, the game could use some more extrinsic challenges (stuff that actively opposes you) but the Devs throw in more of that, as they complete the work. For instance, the game just got several different types of bears.
Bears are
scary.