Savage Land Announcement and Demo Link

[CrocMagnum]

Hi! I just finished the demo. Here are some thoughts:

First about the Spaceship. Having played Unreal Gold and the custom campaigns for so long I thought I’d seen them all. But these two maps stand out for some reason. Maybe that’s the good pacing that kept me going. Then there’s the Lighting which is just spectacular in some areas, finally I too must praise the top-notch ambient sound which kept me glued to the screen. I honestly didn’t expect so much goodness from a mere demo.

Coming back to Map 2, the rectangular warehouse area was a memorable spot. Besides it's scale, the light coming from the leaky roof was a nice break from the interior of a spaceship. Seeing those birds fly in the sky stirred my sense of exploration. And yet it frustrated me somehow because I really wanted to go out and play. ^^ Quite frankly if Savage Land outdoors have that kind of lighting/ambient sound I’ll be in for a treat, no pressure of course.

A few observations:

The key to alternate between "Firing Modes" behaves curiously. When held down it continuously switches between normal and alternate fire, basically it acts like a turbo button. I’m mentioning this because I fumbled fire modes on a few critical occasions. This is nitpicking but making the key register a single press might avoid the above.

The area to access the Krall boss is very well concealed. I know Unreal custom campaigns are not on a trail and tailored for Unreal veterans, but it took me a long time to notice the path. I had some suspicions at some point when I looked down the foggy chasm, I thought I saw a vent down there so I finally jumped. My point is: removing the fog lingering down the chasm might make the vent easier to notice. By the way is it to only way to access the Krall Boss?

About the Krall Boss I’ve also found him extremely resilient. Is it me or his HP is very high? Honestly I killed him by sheer luck, I kept shooting him until he tried to avoid my shots and he fell down the pit.

"Power Nodes": I’ve found only 4 of them. Even so I lost the count of how many Power Nodes I had at some point. In the final version could it possible to add a "Counter" somewhere to check on them? Like making them regular numbered items in the inventory or maybe using the Universal Translator for that (I remember you could cycle through messages in Xidia).

The unique weapons (I haven't found the crossbow) are great, the explosive tardium shards in particular help immensly. The Light Bringer model is cool and it's upgrade useful.

The New Game Plus level has very unique architecture, hard to describe, perhaps it looks like a crypt taken straight out from a vampire castle. I like it very much and hope it will be included in Savage Land. Finally the souped-up yellow Brute lingering down there is terrifying. If this kind of enemy is going to be included in Savage Land, then I understand the logic behind the arsenal upgrade.

Sorry for a lengthy post, I’m not a modder and I apologize if my observations lack insight. Anyways it’s heartwarming to hear from you again Red Nemesis Team. Sincere good luck on your very promising project.

[AlCapowned]

Thanks for the feedback! I've just made it so holding down bExtra3 only switches your firing mode once.

As for Nibo (the krall boss), he periodically eats to heal himself. I added a visual effect for the next version that will hopefully make it clear, and the modified HUD will have a health bar for bosses as well.

[Mister_Prophet]

Thanks for the comments CrocMagnum, and I'm glad you had a good time with the Demo! I'll respond to some of the points you raised, as a few things have been addressed already based on similar feedback I've received post release (The Dev Diary thread covers this a bit better). But here it goes:

-The path to Nibo the Sage as well as the ventilation node hunt in general has seen a lot of changes. Issues with people getting confused about which vent path was which and the overall lack of markers has been addressed by way of level placed Pathfinder seeds and also new inventory provided to the player to make searching through this area easier (new flares, stackable Flashlight batteries, ect). The alternate path in there with the vent cover you have to break will be handled differently also, as people were either missing it completely or accidently opening without realizing what it was.

-Nibo has been regarded differently by a lot of players. Either he is too easy, too hard, overpowered or underpowered. It's been interesting. As Al pointed out, his self-healing will be easier to notice in the final version. All enemy encounters in map 1 and 2 will be reduced in difficulty in general in the final version.

-As Al stated, the ammo switch issue is being looked at. Thanks!

-The Node counter (or key counter in general) has been suggested to me also. It could be tied to the new HUD updates perhaps, as there will be other areas with multiple keys to find. It is a good suggestion

[ividyon]

I'm curious about the intended strategy to kill Nibo the Sage. I suppose "periodic self-healing" means that you have a window between heals in which you need to "burst him down", and if you take your time too much, the fight drags out? Or am I misunderstanding there?

[Mister_Prophet]

I'm curious about the intended strategy to kill Nibo the Sage. I suppose "periodic self-healing" means that you have a window between heals in which you need to "burst him down", and if you take your time too much, the fight drags out? Or am I misunderstanding there?

The healing mechanic is meant to be a general characteristic of the new Savage Krall enemies. I decided that it would be tested in the demo with Nibo, since there were issues with the release version of Savage Package with actually placing the Savage Krall pawn (I do believe all the Savage Krall you see in the Demo are "fake" and merely reskinned and boosted Elites). The "healing" mechanic IS typically meant to keep the player aggressive.

While Nibo in the Demo (or any Savage Krall that uses seeds in the final campaign) will never be able to restore himself fully (it only activates when Krall are below a certain health limit and there is a timer that prevents them from spamming it) I did notice in testing that players were drawing the fight out by kiting Nibo to hazards instead of reacting to him. I thought including the healing was a good way to keep the player damage focused, since there would be follow-up enemies to defeat and a consequence of people lingering around was that they ended up soaking up more damage than necessary.

In the final version, I can't say yet if I will disable the mechanic for Nibo and introduce it later in the campaign.

[CrocMagnum]

Thank you kindly Red Nemesis Team. Your reactivity is exemplary.

I've echoed your Savage Land Demo on a French Unreal thread I maintain. I hope French Unreal fans will know more about this great demo and play it: Savage Land Info

I've also edited page 1 of the same thread and added a new "Savage Land" entry with a blurb and a download link. I hope to edit this entry when the time(s) come(s).

[Mister_Prophet]

Thanks for the shoutout Croc! We appreciate the gesture!

[foo_jam2002]

I just registered, finally and all i can say is that i am amazed by the work done in the demo. I am at the hunt for the 4th node and after i finish, i will provide some feedback. For now, i just want to point out that in the big area of level 2, where you can see the sky and birds flying, there are some shards on the ground that cannot be picked up. Their colour is blue as opposed to some others with a more dark colour.

[Mister_Prophet]

Hi foo_jam! Good luck with the other nodes. Try to find a Searchlight!

As for the Blue Shards, it is Stinger ammo (of which there are two types). You might have max blue ammo which is why you can't pick them up. If you haven't tried already, try the reload/bExtra3 button (default oldskool it should be R, it's the same button you use to reload the Automag). This will enable you to switch ammo between Blue and Red for the Stinger.

[foo_jam2002]

I didn't know about the 2 types of ammo, i bound the key and it worked. Interesting concept. So, if i understand correctly, the final version will have a kind of openness in the gameplay? I really liked the demo, small details like blood drooling from victims, the pda messages that show some continuity as to what has happened. The level design is clever and it allows for some exploration. The enemy placement is also good, unexpected in some cases. I thought that central area was like a hub and i liked that. About the jumping boots, i think it's good that they won't be included and the nerfing of that blind Skaarj is mandatory. I hope for the best, anticipating the next update. Cheers!

[Mister_Prophet]

I was hoping to make it clear but I do think some players took a while to notice that they had the ability to shoot two types of Stinger ammo. In case the readme wasn't enough, when you find the Armory in Map 1 (the earliest common pickup spot for Red Tarydium) there's a message that details that you can ammo switch. I'm thinking I still should think of a more direct approach that might be more helpful, sort of like RTNP's screen blast for when you can gun switch Slot 3.

Thanks for giving it a shot foo_jam In regards to the Jump Boots, I still want to try to fit in at least a minor appearance for them in a later map, I simply will NOT tie them to any kind of puzzles going forward. They'll be optional and only that.

[foo_jam2002]

I probably read the message and forgot Red Nemesis is a talented team, so do what it's best. I'd like to see all Unreal items in the final version anyway. Keep us posted.