Miasmata

[simplen00b]

Just wanted to flag up a game called Miasmata that's on sale on Steam at the moment.

 

Reasons you may like it:

1. Ultra indie - all of it built by two brothers, including building their own game engine from scratch.

2. No HUD, objective markers or pretty much any other hand-holding.

3. Totally open world. You can get anywhere on the island that you want (but not necessarily by the most direct route).

4. Story built up by readables that you find scattered around.

 

Main problem is that you need a pretty powerful computer to play it (it won't run at all on my Intel HD integrated graphics laptop). Also, it's not bug-free and some of the gameplay design isn't perfect - I did start getting a bit fed-up toward the end, but frankly, it was worth it for the first 75% of the game. For the first 20-odd hours of gameplay this was the most immersive gaming experience I've had since Thief. If you liked Dear Esther, I'd say this is a must-buy.

 

Some reviews that may help:

http://videogamepotp...f-miasmata.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxCQ-X_t1WE

http://www.gamingliv...-hate-miasmata/

[grayman]

Thanks for the tip. Bought it.

[Ladro]

Sounds like the game of my dreams. Also the review it's very well done.

 

I'll play this game, it's sure. Pity it's only for Windows, the 2 guys created their engine for windows only (it's based on DX9). So Never will be a Linux version. I'll try with wine.

 

 

Really thanks for sharing :-)

Edited September 1, 2013 by Ladro

[Diego]

Thanks for the tip Not sure if that's for me but it looks interesting

[Lux]

I played through this months ago... it is absolutely fantastic. The character physics for gaining momentum running down hills and sliding is really neat too. I also really enjoyed triangulation to locate yourself in the world.

 

A lot of great ideas in this game.

[woah]

I had been eyeing this on and off for a while, but forgot about it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention--I promply bought it and I'll be sure to return with my own impressions

[simplen00b]

@Lux - I think it was a post you made that brought it to my attention, so thanks for that!

 

@ Diego - yeah, if the reviews don't really tweak your interest, it may not be your thing. It is a bit of what we Brits call a 'Marmite' game, i.e. you either love it or hate it (or both, according to one of the reviews above). But then again, for £4...

 

An amendment to my OP - mostly, there is no HUD; however, there is a completely optional 'power-up' (for want of a better word) you can obtain which allows you to sense (via a HUD) when the one enemy you have on the island is near, and even then you have to crouch to activate it.

 

Otherwise, a couple more comments:

 

1. The weather effects in the game are often quite stunning. There were moments when I'd be merrily/nervously exploring the island when it would suddenly go dark. If I hadn't checked my watch recently*, my first reaction would be "Argh - night's coming in!" (You really don't want to be outside when it gets dark if you have the choice.) But what would then sometimes happen is - it would start raining. It sounds like such a small thing but it was details like that made it such an immersive environment. And the sunsets are frequently amazingly beautiful.

 

*One of the great things about Miasmata is the way it invests normally banal actions with immense significance. You'll be checking your watch. A lot.

 

2. It's one of the most uniquely terrifying gaming experiences I've ever had. Not the grindingly oppressive dread of, say, Amnesia or Shalebridge Cradle; it's more a beautiful, dreamy terror. If you like the character vulnerability aspect of Thief, well, I'd say Miasmata cranks that vulnerability up several notches. Apart from the ever-present threat of attack from The Creature (which you can't fight or kill), you can actually die from just falling down a slope.

Edited September 1, 2013 by simplen00b

[Lydecker]

I was too wondering if I should buy this some time ago. Bought it thanks to this thread and it sure was worth it. Got caught up by night in the forest, followed by an attack... Finally drowned trying to escape. That feel of despair...

[Lux]

It is really awesome to be out exploring and find some new flowers or fungus that you haven't yet discovered. You get really excited to research them and find out their properties once you get back to camp. Then you realize you're being watched and hunted... and then night starts falling and you're like... where am I... and start panicing as you don't exactly know the route back to your camp.

 

Your pulse quickens as the creature makes itself known as you sprint for your life looking back over your shoulder only to turn around in the dusky light to find that you're at the edge of a steep hill and you try to stop but your feet can't gain footing and you go tumbling down the hill injuring yourself and dropping all your new found flowers save for one but the creature is still in pursuit and you're running blind through the now darkened woods, injured.

 

Its an emotional rollercoaster and a very interesting experience I can't say I've ever had in a game.

[simplen00b]

Its an emotional rollercoaster and a very interesting experience I can't say I've ever had in a game.

Actually, just realised something - Miasmata reminded me of my very first experiences of playing Thief, before I learned how much leeway the game would give me and all the things I could do to escape. That constant dread that the slightest mistake could bring everything crashing down on my head, and I wouldn't be able to super-power my way out of it.

 

And yeah, that panicky feeling I'd get when I'd been so caught up in exploring/triangulating and suddenly realise it was later than I thought, night was coming in and I wasn't sure how to get back to the nearest camp...most of the time, if I just took a breath, checked my map and got my bearings, I'd be fine...but it's so easy to get lost on that island...it's hard not to panic...and then your heart starts pounding in your ears...

 

EDIT: Steam sale is now over, which is a shame as I was about to flag it up over at TTLG. Maybe next time.

Edited September 2, 2013 by simplen00b

[Tr00pertj]

I played this one not long after it was released and still think about it fondly.

All the alone on the islands and having to map them your self with some comical and deadly creature hunting you was some fun. The cartography and triangulation was hard at times but always engaging and enjoyable.

 

For all those playing it now some words of advice. Head indoors at dusk. Sticks on the ground can sometimes help out with light when it gets dark and it gets dark, as in pitch black after nightfall. Awesome game.

[Ladro]

Played yesterday a little bit.

 

I'm little bit disappointed for the engine performance: on my winmachine (used only for games) I can run Skyrim on mid-high settings, but this game was choppy on perfomance. I understand it's very difficult to make from scratch a 3D engine, but i say also that if this is the result (also for the visuals), IMHO was a better idea to use an existent engine and concentrate deeply on other game aspects.

 

I like (a lot) the idea of the game (surviving in an island) but the game mechanics are not well implemented, IMHO. The flowers examination and syntesis to make potions are *really* repetitive. Yes, the dark and immersion are good, but the game it's not working well, I don't think i'll play to the end.

Anyway a great (if not incredibile) effort for only 2 people involved on development.

I hope someone int he future will try this way for a pure (nonlinear and openworld) survivor game.

[Tr00pertj]

Yeah the performance was a bit hard on the GPU & CPU as I recall.

 

Are you running it on the hardware in you signature?

Only thing I can suggest is lower resolution and no AA.

[Ladro]

Nope, for gaming (the games that are win-only) I assembled a machine with windows7, in dualboot. It's a AMD A8 (overclocked) with a radeon 7750. With Skyrim it works good with mid-high settings. With this game it's choppy, so I needed to low pretty all settings and play at 1280x720 to have the game usable.

 

Anyway, the game it's not bad, simply it lacks some more interesting game design rather then some great concept idea (survival and openworld). But I understand it's already an incredible result from a team of only 2 people that developed also the engine from scratch.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Ladro

[simplen00b]

The flowers examination and syntesis to make potions are *really* repetitive.

It would be good to have an option to skip or fast-forward through those animations, but I don't mind them too much. My personal pet peeve is the way, after discovering/examining/synthesising anything, the character nearly always drags his journal out and taps an entry which says "I discovered a grey fungus" (or whatever).

In my mind it's like a precocious 7-year-old showing his work to teacher - "I did research on grey fungus. I am REAWWY REAWWY CWEVVER."

I mean, just drop the 'I'. "Did research on grey fungus". Or even "Researched grey fungus". Much more elegant. But no...harumph...anyways...

 

Still a great game, but definitely not for everyone.

[simplen00b]

Bump - now £2.99 from Steam till 3 Dec.

[MurcDusen]

Regarding the examination/synthesizing cutscenes: You can skip them by pressing LMB. Same goes for the drinking anmimations.

Edited November 29, 2013 by MurcDusen

[simplen00b]

Bump #2: now $7.49 on GOG if you want it DRM-free - http://www.gog.com/game/miasmata