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UMBRA (new ARPG )

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MaxTheLimit wrote:
There is an expected design from an arpg design, and there isn't as much wiggle room for change in the UI as there may be with other genres. I guess it comes down to a stance on if they did enough to differentiate their UI.


So the UI dictates what you have and where you have it, not the actual content of the game?

No, there is a lot of "wiggle" room. But Umbra appears to have simply copied off of PoE since it saves them work.

"
MaxTheLimit wrote:
It seems clear you see it as an all but clone. I'm not sure I agree, but I can certainly see where you are coming from.


A ripoff yes, clone no. Umbra has some features that interest me greatly, specifically the ability to customize weapons and other gear in minor and major ways. I just hope it's more actual than aesthetic.

But what bugs me is that I may not be able to enjoy it. It has the same pools, same flask setting (at least at a glance. I mean five flasks, same exact spot on the screen, etc), and the fact that any character can become anything.

"
MaxTheLimit wrote:
I do have a question Natharias. If the publishers acknowledged they got a lot of their inspiration from PoE for the GUI, and used elements from it because they liked it. If that happened, would you be okay with it? Would acknowledged inspiration still be a 'rip off' ?


I have a problem with plagiarism, not theft.

If I steal an idea and make something somewhat original, it can be beneficial. Something is gained for players since the game will at least have some unique aspects to it.

If I plagiarize something, my content is going to be so similar to what I stole from that it won't be worthwhile for anyone to enjoy both. They'll be too similar to waste time grinding knuckles and eyes out to get loot.

This is why I have an issue with Umbra. It looks as though they saw PoE, decided they could make a game, and used whatever they could from what they saw to minimize their workload.

"
MaxTheLimit wrote:
I still remember the original PoE UI. It was very very similar to the UI of Diablo 1. These days it has differentiated itself more. If they ad more and tweak things, maybe the feel of ... cheapness(?) when seeing elements lifted from another game, could be alleviated.


I wasn't around that far back. But comparing the UI now to D1 and D2, it's quite different.
Meh, you are too harsh Natharias. It's only UI elements that could change in the future.

Umbra seems like a good single player aRPG, probably excellent. Who knows. Let's embrace competence, so GGG doesn't grow complacent like Blizzard.
Add a Forsaken Masters questline
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2297942
Last edited by NeroNoah#1010 on May 25, 2015, 1:02:35 PM

UMBRA looks fucking epic. Pledged as Shaman (for now).

The environment design is obviously the clincher. I don't think any isometric ARPG's out right now can compete on a graphical level to UMBRA. The foliage, the lighting, the altitude-change in levels, the destructable environments -- simply beautiful -- probably largely due to Cryengine being used.

From a gameplay standpoint, they seem to have taken some cues from PoE: potions being craftable, creating your own home (hideouts), gems being able to alter skill behaviors. Which is a good thing, since it shows that they've studied the ARPG market, taken good gameplay mechanics, and incorporated it into their own game. I especially like that your earlier actions have a rippling effect on how your character turns out in the end (reminiscent of Demon's Souls' light/dark tendency).

My main concern is, of course, if they're going to be able to deliver all this delicious content in a timely manner and be able to continue delivering content updates (like GGG has for PoE). It's a shot in the dark by pledging, but goddamn does it look good. I really hope it pays off.
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Last edited by rrtson#7791 on May 25, 2015, 3:31:01 PM
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rrtson wrote:
My main concern is, of course, if they're going to be able to deliver all this delicious content in a timely manner and be able to continue delivering content updates (like GGG has for PoE). It's a shot in the dark by pledging, but goddamn does it look good. I really hope it pays off.


With 200000$ I doubt the team can even get their daily starbucks while making this thing.

http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/19/8624665/big-indie-kickstarters-are-killing-actual-indies

Unless they have or will get a publisher this project is a dishonest pipe dream.

"
OK. Let's do some math.

The current word-of-mouth figure used by most developers and publishers to estimate the cost of an average-sized game development team is $10,000 per person per month. Now, this is a rough figure; if your studio operates in a major city or you're building the next Assassin's Creed, the cost will be higher. If you're working out of someone's apartment, doing 100-hour weeks or living without health care, it'll be lower. But let's stick with this basic figure for now.

"But wait," you cry. "Isn't the average game developer's salary around $60,000 or so? By that number, you'd be paying $120,000 per person per year!"

That's because the figure above factors in the 'unseen extras' that go into game development: the cost of rent, equipment, electricity, food and water, taxes, art tablets, software licenses, healthcare, dev kits, outsourcing, interviewing employees, paying actor and agent fees for voice-over work, and myriad other expenses incurred over a game's life cycle. There are an awful lot of them.


So ya, that 250k wont even pay the team of 3 for 2 years. Who honestly believes they can deliver on their promises given the resources available to them at this time?
Don't forget to drink your milk 👌
Last edited by TheWretch#7848 on May 25, 2015, 5:00:01 PM
"
NeroNoah wrote:
Meh, you are too harsh Natharias. It's only UI elements that could change in the future.

Umbra seems like a good single player aRPG, probably excellent. Who knows. Let's embrace competence, so GGG doesn't grow complacent like Blizzard.


So we should base all cartoons on My Little Pony instead of Tom and Jerry?

We should base game graphics on LoL and Warcraft 3, instead of Crysis, Metro 2033, and Watch Dogs?

Are we to make gameplay as linear as Dungeon Siege, Diablo 1, and Path of Exile, and not as expansive as Oblivion, Skyrim, APB:R, Fallout, and Supreme Commander?

See how flawed your logic is?

If I critique something against itself, it won't reflect poorly on it. But if I compare it to other games, especially better ones, it's healthier for both producers and consumers.

I suggest you watch this 14:10 video by TotalBiscuit. It fully explains why it is best for people to have absolute freedom to criticize a game by any means they wish.

1. It saves consumers from wasting money at a money grab. Asshole companies just aiming to get bucks without giving content.

2. It saves consumers from having a degenerating video game industry. If games are only based on themselves, why should they improve? But if a game is judged by everything but itself, it will have to improve to get consumers to consume the product against a product that provides more.

3. It forces producers to focus on consumers instead of themselves. This is done by producers having to compare to other producers instead of themselves. It's not "am I giving enough?", it's "am I giving more compared to my competition?".
Just sit back and watch the show, Natharias.

Say whatever you want, try to conjure up some huge argument as to why it's best you should be destructive. Fact is, you came spewing pure negativity, not comparing just trashing, so get off your high horse mate.

You points can be summed up as: Umbra is unimaginative, they are just ripoff, and we should cater to quality instead of to that type of superficial trash. You are just bashing.

We can't know for sure what it will be yet, but my intuition as one who is all for quality and depth over silly dumb things tells me you are wrong about umbra.

So much you say makes no sense if you paid attention to what happened with umbra. For example your whole line of comments about money grabs. They worked on the game for 4 years already, and they went into a 1-month kickstarter campaign to raise enough money. 1 month. You really think worked 4 years to only open a kickstarter one month. No it actually indicates the opposite of what you said, it indicates that they handle their business through hard work, and that they are confident it will bring their game to a state where they can sell their product.

Inbefore your comment: "i didn't say this game was a money grab i was just talking generally about why i should be allowed to criticize".

Blaaa blaa bla.

Try to give it just a little thought. They have given alpha and beta access to low supporters even with this, which means the world will quickly know if this game is worth supporting later on. They also will not be able to milk very much in 1month, if they wanted milk they should have left it open for longer. My guess it later you will see more options to support the game. They have been working 4 years at this, if you notice they are realistic in their goals, they just say that stretch goals are things which require a lot more resources such as more voices for more content, development and proper testing of multiplayer, etc. They even directly said it includes no money for themselves until game release. No one does that without passion, and i don't believe they were shitting one bit either.

I mean come on, pay some attention before you talk, first game to be tested with the same ai used in star citizen, things like that. Just look at the damn game, it clearly a product of people who got a clue, and these people happened to have spent 4 years on it building all the programs editors etc to allow them to focus on producing game content now.

But continue trashing if you want.





I am the light of the morning and the shadow on the wall, I am nothing and I am all.
Last edited by Crackmonster#7709 on May 26, 2015, 4:37:09 PM
"
Crackmonster wrote:
Just sit back and watch the show, Natharias.

Say whatever you want, try to conjure up some huge argument as to why it's best you should be destructive. Fact is, you came spewing pure negativity, not comparing just trashing, so get off your high horse mate.

You points can be summed up as: Umbra is unimaginative, they are just ripoff, and we should cater to quality instead of to that type of superficial trash. You are just bashing.

We can't know for sure what it will be yet, but my intuition as one who is all for quality and depth over silly dumb things tells me you are wrong about umbra.

So much you say makes no sense if you paid attention to what happened with umbra. For example your whole line of comments about money grabs. They worked on the game for 4 years already, and they went into a 1-month kickstarter campaign to raise enough money. 1 month. You really think worked 4 years to only open a kickstarter one month. No it actually indicates the opposite of what you said, it indicates that they handle their business through hard work, and that they are confident it will bring their game to a state where they can sell their product.

Inbefore your comment: "i didn't say this game was a money grab i was just talking generally about why i should be allowed to criticize".

Blaaa blaa bla.

Try to give it just a little thought. They have given alpha and beta access to low supporters even with this, which means the world will quickly know if this game is worth supporting later on. They also will not be able to milk very much in 1month, if they wanted milk they should have left it open for longer. My guess it later you will see more options to support the game. They have been working 4 years at this, if you notice they are realistic in their goals, they just say that stretch goals are things which require a lot more resources such as more voices for more content, development and proper testing of multiplayer, etc. They even directly said it includes no money for themselves until game release. No one does that without passion, and i don't believe they were shitting one bit either.

I mean come on, pay some attention before you talk, first game to be tested with the same ui used in star citizen, things like that. Just look at the damn game, it clearly a product of people who got a clue, and these people happened to have spent 4 years on it building all the programs editors etc to allow them to focus on producing game content now.

But continue trashing if you want.







Good job not reading anything I posted.
Maybe you should read it yourself - to remind you! :D
I am the light of the morning and the shadow on the wall, I am nothing and I am all.
Yeah, health globe on the left and mana on the right. PoE was definitely the first to do that. Except not really.
"
Natharias wrote:

So the UI dictates what you have and where you have it, not the actual content of the game?

No, there is a lot of "wiggle" room. But Umbra appears to have simply copied off of PoE since it saves them work.


Well there is a certain expected trope within this genre when it comes to placement. I'd agree that more deviation from anything that already exists would be beneficial, if only to help it stand out, and not be called a clone of x game.

"
Natharias wrote:
A ripoff yes, clone no. Umbra has some features that interest me greatly, specifically the ability to customize weapons and other gear in minor and major ways. I just hope it's more actual than aesthetic.


Ripoff. Sorry. I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.

I'm interested in the proliferation of skills on the environment, and how their effectiveness is impacted by the environment as well.

"
Natharias wrote:

I have a problem with plagiarism, not theft.

If I steal an idea and make something somewhat original, it can be beneficial. Something is gained for players since the game will at least have some unique aspects to it.

If I plagiarize something, my content is going to be so similar to what I stole from that it won't be worthwhile for anyone to enjoy both. They'll be too similar to waste time grinding knuckles and eyes out to get loot.

This is why I have an issue with Umbra. It looks as though they saw PoE, decided they could make a game, and used whatever they could from what they saw to minimize their workload.


I do see what you mean. There is a history of this sort of thing in games of the past. I remember the 3d shooter years where everything was called a Doom clone. Some games had such similar UI to Doom that it became tough to find the differences.

"
Natharias wrote:
I wasn't around that far back. But comparing the UI now to D1 and D2, it's quite different.


Here is a link to the old UI I'm thinking of:

LINK

Really does look like a hybrid of D1 and D2. This was pretty early on though. I was resistant to the new UI, but I've come to enjoy it. Hopefully, as the game progresses Umbra will revamp their UI as well.

PS - Why'd you go and get yourself probated Natharias? It is going to make it difficult to carry on the topic... :P
"I would have listened... I would have understood!" - Scion

Have you removed Asus ROG/GameFirst yet?
Last edited by MaxTheLimit#1114 on May 26, 2015, 3:21:08 PM

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