But is it fun...?

[Granath]

I've been looking at RimWorld for about a month now, reading the forums and looking at a couple of Let's Play videos found online.  Everything looks promising.  I know it's still in alpha, but it looks pretty comprehensive for an alpha game.  I know the graphics are being redone, but they're ok.  But the one question I haven't seen answered yet is perhaps the most important - is the game fun?  Is it enjoyable?

I understand that's a loaded question because the same things aren't fun for everyone.  I like city-building games and games that allow the user to be creative.  I didn't hate, but didn't particularly like, Prison Architect.  I thought it was ok - I like building things and figuring out now to make an area grow and expand.  I didn't like some of the annoying mechanics (trying to get everyone fed or giving inmates access to rec rooms was tedious), I found the subject matter a little bothersome and the sounds (the constant clanking of the bars) drove me up a wall.

So while I expect RimWorld to get better, how is it now?  Is it fun?  Are there enough features to give the game long-term legs?  Can you recommend it at this stage?

Thanks for the info! 

[palandus]

Do you prefer macromanagement games or micromanagement games?  Rimworld, is like Prison Architect in that its a micromanagement game. With modding I've made it more into macromanagement albeit at poor framerates but its still fairly micromanagement gameplay.

[Galileus]

If you've seen let's plays, only thing left to do is try and find out if any of your trusted reviewers got any thoughts on that manner. Checking out just general reviews is pointless - just as is the case with movies - as you can't guarantee they are actually aimed to people with your taste. Checking out general user reviews is usually a good idea - but will only give you a taste if the game is bugged hell; if it's not you'll see a lot of 10/10 because "wow, it looks like PA = good" or 0/10 because "this game not for me = crap". Speaking of which, always read reviews and never give any consideration to number rank, but it should go without sayin'.

As for review options, asking out on a official forums is a really, really bad move. You're very unlikely to see unbiased opinions - darn, I couldn't even give you one. Especially this forum is a small and quite a cozy one - so even if someone would hate this game, only reason he would hang around for would be hate - and that would be sniped off right away with a ban. You end up asking a bunch of pink-glassed enthusiasts, and this is no way to get a reliable unbiased opinion. Don't do that

BUT! All that being said, I actually can give you an answer. If you're really, REALLY itching for a colony building RIGHT NAO (NOT a city - RW is by design limited to small number of colonists, so keep that in mind), RimWorld may be a really nice choice - simply because there are not that much choices, really. Just remember there will be no Z-levels, there will be some pressure on combat gameplay (possibly even on lower difficulties) and as of now, there will be some annoying aspects and micros (while, personally, I don't think they are too bad). It's solid, that is for sure - it's a really stable pre-alpha that looks and plays way better than you usually expect from indie pre-releases of even later stages. But it's small. Of course if it being in production is a problem for you and you're afraid early access would get you off of the final version, you can safely skip it. If you are sure you will sit with one game a bit now, a bit again for months - it's not a problem. So there's that - if you're ok with above AND you have a GIMME BUILDER NAO itch, you should consider a purchase.

The matter of long-term dev and features is out of the question for discussion. It simply is like that for very early releases. Well, on paper everything sounds great, but at this point only Tynan can sincerely recommend RimWorld to you on the basis of what will be added in. As for the rest of us, only later development will give us a chance to have a guess at the matter - right now we can either see a new feature every week or a new type of sand block every two months (with some ideas stolen from mods we already had installed).

Speaking of which - modding support is considered by many as a huge advantage, but I would hold my horses on that account. It is true, that full mod support is planned on next release, BUT before it is actually released there is no telling how much of an asset it'll be. Game like StarDrive - packed with insanely fresh ideas and full mod support - in the end failed due to dev's lack of experience. Modding scene did not help StarDrive - simply because it's problems were out of the reach of modding tools. Now, with Tynan being an accomplished dev such risk is really not all that huge, but still - mod tools, while nice to have, does not guarantee any value per se.

And in the end, if you actually don't have that epic itch and can afford to wait a month or few - I will quote, so that your pwetty eyes will be drawn to this -

I think we can have the first more stable and well-rounded public alpha (with audio and art contributions) out in January 2014.

- you should wait for this. This should give you a way better look at the game, and a way better ability to make an informed decision. Just keep in mind - this statement is from quite a while ago, around 60-70 B.C. and as such you can't really hold that date too close to your hearth. May get broken As of now, there was no news from Tynan if he feels able to uphold this date, but then again, there is still quite a bit of time for that.

[Granath]

Thanks for the well-reasoned and comprehensive answer Galileus.  I don't really have any trusted reviewers - I like the "WTF is..." series, but RimWorld hasn't been done yet.  I appreciate your advice to wait - that's probably the most prudent thing to do.  I don't need it "NOW", but of course I don't need it at all.  It's a matter of want. 

I'm assuming that you have the game - do you find it fun and why or why not?

[Galileus]

I was actually just wondering, if it wouldn't be a good move for Tynan to push for "WTF IS...?". TB is a hard critic, but he usually goes easy on early access versions and seems to really appreciate well-designed and put together ones. Then again, it's still way to early for that.

As for me liking the game - yeah, I like it, but I'll pass on the review opportunity. Right now, I see RimWorld as a capable and very promising platform - a proof of concept if you will, or a demo. And the thing with demos is - you never know if they didn't just put the only good part of the game on a silver platter before you And more seriously - most of MY enjoyment came from the prospect and not gameplay. I still had a lot of fun with it, but most of it was thinking how and what could and will be expanded, and how to make sure I'll actually get some sleep/eating breaks in between ridiculously long game sessions

As for the actual gameplay, I enjoy creative builders, at least some of them. I'm not really sure what part really speaks to me - so it's hard to say why exactly RimWorld is one of these I enjoy. I know I "meh'd" Minecraft, Terraria, Gnomoria and Townz. Heavily modded minecraft was probably very, very close to scoring a stay - but a terrible update plan and overall lack of love from the dev shut it down for me. Terraria was fun - but very, very fast run into a "lack of everything" problem. Every task became a chore, and in a SP (builders in MP are not fun for me) it was a K.O. Both Gnomoria and Townz went down in flames due to clunky UI. Prison Architect was rather meh to me due to general topic.

As for good ones? Well... obviously I forgot all of them now For sure Anno series - ending on 17something or Dawn of Discovery. Anno 2666 was too much for me as soon as I found out you had this HUGE gap between industrial society (portrayed as rednecks) and environmentalists (portrayed as british royalty). I know it's silly, but if I feel like a game is treating me like an idiot, it's GG for me. Spent a lot of time with original Stronghold and some older settlers - new ones seems so simplified, it's not appealing to me anymore. Of course sunk hundreds of hours into OTTD, until I hit that "not enough everything" barrier - but after how much I played it, it's really not a surprise.

Now, as far as RimWorld goes - even knowing it's a place-holder for awesome things to come - I have only one major gripe/fear with it. And it is the combat system. It's really nice and complex under the hood, but there is no blink to it on surface - and as of now it gets monotonous and boring real quick. Now, we know it ain't gonna be new Fallout or X-Com in case of combat, but I feel something really needs to be added to it, to give it some serious depth. And having no real predictions for this one element - there is no telling how it'll turn out. Now, don't get me wrong here - it can be absolutely awesome, enriching element. But it can also fall flat on it's face and drag the game back, while it's desperately clawing at dirt, trying to stay up.

It may sound bad, but having only one such fear is actually quite a good perspective, to be perfectly honest. There are some great things coming we know of - like food cooking, crafting, animals and so on. A chance for out-of-the-map encounters and missions was hinted, and this is seriously giving me Star Treck itch all over again (even after being almost cured by Voyager). And right now even a straight addition of more of everything will make this game something real nice. Not great maybe - but a real nice alpha version is an awesome prospect nevertheless.

[Granath]

Gal, I sincerely thank you for your in-depth insights.  Posters like you are invaluable to building general goodwill on forums.

We like many of the same games.  Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404) is an excellent game.  Anno 2070 was ok, but I also felt the same things regarding the green/industrial split.  Industrial was easier, but clearly worse than green.  Plus the underwater building thing got old - too difficult to check the map to see what was going on.  I love Terraria but then again I've played it enough to know how to get over the resource hump that you alluded to.  Gnomoria's interface is poor, but it's still quite fun to me.  And I'm old enough to have played the original TTD, so I've never needed to go back and play OTTD. 

It sounds like what you're saying is that the base game is there - or almost there - but it's missing the whip cream and the cherry on top to make it a truly tasty sundae.

[Cdr.Keen]

there is currently no replayability, rest is fine.