Genesis feedback.

[Umber0010]

Genesis feedback.

I've been having a lot of fun on the Genesis DLC, but there are a few things that are rubbing me the wrong way. So I thought I'd put my thoughts into word incase it contributed anything.

 

     First of all, Let's start with the Biomes.

     If I had to say that 1 thing in this DLC was perfect, It's the World design. Every single biome looks and feels fantastic visually. The Bog is eery and dank while still having a sense of wonder due too the Titanic flowers and trees. The volcano feels like a proper wasteland with the Soot-blackened stone, Twisting thorns, and age-worn bones poking out of the Ground. The ocean is a wonderful tropical area with downright alien terrariums, Lunar Is an absolute masterpiece between the skybox and the glowing green veins in the rocks. and the Arctic is a bit simpler, but the Frozen cliffs and Twisting trees do make for a nice aesthetic. I understand why some people where put off by it, but I can see how using HLN-A too teleport between biomes definitly let you go all-out without having to worry about how they connected too eachother.

     The Biome-specific colors and X-creatures are nice aswell, It really helps the creatures feel like they belong in their enviroment. I do wish that Lunar had More of them though. I can see why it would be a bit tricky to find creatures that fit in there, but The color scheme is really nice, The dinos in the caves don't seem to be effected by it, and all the tek dinos ignore the biome colors anyways.

    The Enviromental hazards are also a nice touch, It really makes it feel like this world wants you dead instead of just it's denizens. I'm not a fan of the ones that can straight-up Destroy your base and tames with nothing you can really do about it though. I'd avoid that in the future.

TL;DR Biomes are wonderful, Add more creatures too lunar, and screw base-destroying hazards.

 

     Next, Let's talk about the creatures.

     The Creatures on Genesis are quite good. The Megachelon and Astrocetus could use some work from a PvE perspective, I don't like how Magmasaurs are capped at 150 unlike Wyverns or drakes. I still think the Excuse given is a bit nonsensicle, but atleast it's consistant with the Deinonychus. Feroxes I see having their uses, Though The upkeep makes them impractical for day-day travel, And Bloodstalkers have not 1, but 2 grappling hooks, which automatically makes them the best thing too be added to the game sense Rexes.

 

     However, As a whole the creatures are a bit lacking. There's only 1 new tame per biome,  And Some of them feel a bit over-designed. The Astrocetus is fine, But Let's just compare the Genesis creatures too Creatures on Abberation, AKA the best DLC.

Ravagers: A pack-hunting pack animal with high weight that can jump high and use Ziplines to navigate difficult terrain

Magmasaur: A lava-spewing lizard that can serve as a (slow as heck) furnace, Launch lava balls to deal siege damage, Taunt creatures, and Blast the area around it too hell and back.

Karkinos: A large crab that can carry 2 creatures at once, Throw them super far and high, and jump super far and high itself.

Megachelon: A Living raft that can give oxygen to anything near it, Use bubbles to blast away anything infront of it, And it takes the "Rare" out of Rare flowers and mushrooms.

Reaper: A Mutated Thereapod that can jump good, Do a spin attack to knock things away, and land fliers with a well-placed shot.

Ferox: An element-addicted Gremlin that can collect element dust from the ground, Transform into a big boi, Climb Cliffs like a deinonychus, Throw rocks, Do a ground pound do dismount enemy riders, do a triple jump to gain speed and height, and ofcourse has an Addiction mechanic just for good luck.

 

     Generally, Genesis creatures are much more complex than any other map's creatures. And while This isn't necessarily a bad thing, The Term "less is more" comes into play here, Especially when it feel like we could have gotten 2-3 more creatures if the other creatures where a bit simpler. I'm trying not to speak like a Developer here, But in the future, I'd reccomend using Aberration as a baseline for creature development, As I find that's when the Balance of Complexity and Simplicity peaked. They're nice, Simple creatures with Specific abilities that help them Serve Local niches and be viable in any map.

    Also bloodstalkers get a pass, Because Grappling hooks.

 

     Next, I feel like we should Acknowledge the Elephant in the Room. This map and Fliers.

 

     Belive it or not, I'm actually an Advocate for no fliers. I find that they tend to Trivialize a large part of the gameplay and are one of those things that is boring, but people do anyways because they're just that efficient. So I was Initially Ecstatic to hear that Flier's weren't rideable in Genesis. However... There is a problem. Unlike Other maps, Genesis feels like it was designed for fliers specifically. The Volcanic biome is fine, but Every other biome tends to either have extreamly high locations or massive gorges that have too be navigated through inorder to get anywhere. The bog has the massive trees hiding away resources and the oh-so-important giant bee nests, 90% of the land in the ocean biome is in the form of Massive pillars that nearly no terrestrial creature can get onto. the Arctic is full of Massive canyons and mountains that you have to go through and around, and I'm 95% certain that it's impossible too Navigate the lunar biome with something that can't jump. As wonderful as the biomes are, Nearly all of them feel balanced around fliers. which in turn, means that the only real viable mount is the Bloodstalker. It's not the worse thing in the world, because grappling hooks, but I can see how being locked into 1 specific creature if you want to navigate the world would Irk some people.

 

     Compare this to Aberration (I'm making this comparison alot). While Aberration was Just as Vertical as Genesis. It never had the massive pillars that could *only* be accessed by Something with Vertical mobility. every gulch had 2-3 exists so you didn't have to go through the whole thing just too get somewhere that was on the other side. With good map knowledge, you could get you pretty much Anywhere on the map. I'll never forget the day when I realized that I could use the Blue zone's root system as a skyway to navigate the area safely and reliably. Additionally, there where many features added to aberration to make traveling it easier. A primitive version of the Elevator, climbing picks, Ziplines and zipline motors, and ofcourse; the Glider suit. Additionally, nearly every mount added to Aberration was designed to be able to bypass the Terrain in one way or another. Ravagers can use Ziplines, Reapers and Karkinos can Do a super jump, and Rockdrakes can glide. The only New mounts that can't do this are the Rollrat; which is one of the fastest ground-based mounts anyways, And the Basilisk, Which... well honestly Mobility is the least of it's issues.

 

     Genesis however, doesn't have this. While you can get some of these things from Lootcrates, Genesis doesn't have any tools that help you navigate the harsh cliffs. You can Get Gasbags, Ravagers, and Karkinos, but those are all in Very small caves on lunar, and thus are pretty late game. The only really mobile creature that you can get that isn't on Lunar are the Bloodstalker, the Ferox, and Maybe the Beezlebufo. Hell, there arn't even any thylas on the map. There just really arn't alot of options when it comes to getting around genesis.

    TL;DR No fliers is generally good, but Genesis feels too biased towards fliers in the first place, and Lacks most of the tools that let it work on Aberration.

 

     And now that that's out of the way, Let's talk about missions.

     For the most part, I actually like the missions. The Minigame and Racing missions are quite fun, and are a nice change of pace. However I find the Hunting missions tend to overstay their welcome. They're not too bad at first, But They get extreamly repetitive extreamly quickly. All of them come down too "Follow the Glowing trail, Beat up what's at the end of it, and Hope it actually spawns the next time". And It's a real shame that these are the boring ones too, because There are far and away more hunting missions than there are any other class of mission, despite nearly all of the others being much more fun and engaging.

     If there was one thing about Genesis that I could change, it would be this. Cut out half-three quarters of the hunt missions, and replace them with missions that are more interesting, even if it means there are less of them. Gasbags, thylas, Managarmers, Beezlebufos, rockdrakes, Rollrats, Deinonychus, and Procoptodons could all make for some fun racing missions, Even if most of them arn't available on the map. I'd also bring back the Biome's master AIs as boss fights. I get that there's a story reason that Only Moeder's left, But I feel like it would be easy to Retcon Rockwell Corrupting them or replacing them with AIs of his own creation without effecting the Story too much.

TL;DR Missions good, Hunting missions bad.

 

so yeah, That's what I've got to say about Genesis part 1. I don't know if it'll actually contribute anything, but Hey, Typing that out was still a better use of my time than most things.

[TheOculus]

I started a fresh character and a procoptodon became my best friend. Great weight, speed and knock-back. It could cover great distances and most hard to reach places. I used them to transfer metal, tame since you can fire from the back and even breed. Tamed my first ferox and rex with it. It's all about making the best out of the situation. I recently retired it, mainly using it exclusively in the base, mostly use my blood stalker now. There are solutions to most situations or problems, it's just a matter of how easy or difficult you're willing to deal with it. Great post though, appreciate your taste and in-depth thoughts.