Let's look at the game state objectively

General Discussion
1

Lately, I have seen a lot of both positive and negative views on the game.
I personally think that both sides have a point, but are wrong on other points as well, so lets look at this objectively.

Generation Zero is a non-AAA game sold for a non-AAA price (20$).
It has a small team of 8 developers and 2 community managers.

EDIT#1: Do note that the developers are kinda working on 3 games at the same time, since the two console versions are different from the PC version so their 8 team members have to balance their efforts between these versions!

1: Content.
The game has received monthly patches ever since release. Every patch has fixed a large ammount of bugs and/or added new content.
Since release, they have added:

  • Option to store items using the Plundra storage box
  • Bikes to move around quickly if you have yet to unlock all savehouses
  • 6 star experimental weapons
  • Rival enemies
  • New cosmetics

The new content has kept the game fresh, and diverse. Toghetter with the content which was already available on launch it makes for a solid gameplay experience:

  • Looter Shooter
  • Extensive ammount of lootables
  • Large weapon variation
  • Weapon attachments
  • Customizable character looks with clothes
  • Level up system with skill tree
  • Large, beautiful map
  • 5 types of enemies with 3 difficulty types each
  • Main storyline with missions to accomplish
  • Side missions to learn about more lore

Content wise, you get a lot of gameplay for your money.

But of course, we have the bugs. The bugs that “ruin” the gameplay for a lot of players.
While we did have many bugs, a lot of them did get fixed:

  • Save files used to get corrupted but most of the corruption issues have been fixed
  • Mission items used to get missing often, but most missions can now be completed
  • Loot drops used to be very inconsistent and often missing, but nowadays, loot can be regarded as fixed.
  • Many, more minor bugs were also fixed.

Now onto the “ugly” part:

  • The game still crashes too often.
  • Save files might get corrupted if the crash handler is closed inproperly. (user error)
  • When picking up items, it does not account for items in your hotbar or attached to guns, so you have to do some tedious actions to pick up extra ammo or medpacks that you should be able to just pick up normally
  • Rough terrain and bikes don’t go well toghetter, causing buggy behaviour.
  • Some road parts are considered rough terrain.
  • Machine AI sometimes does not seem to work
  • Machines can show buggy behaviour (including going through walls) in indoor areas.

This game was released in a very buggy state. While most of the game-breaking bugs have been fixed now, it took over half a year to do so. This is a pretty long time, but it can also be accounted to inproper bug reports.

Currently, the game is in a playable state but the minor bugs do break immersion and while I do understand that this can be frustrating, I do not think the hate towards the devs is justified. They have worked on fixing as many bugs as possible, and will continue to do so.

Note: This is not a “free pass” for the devs, since they do have to continue fixing the bugs. However, we as a community are also responsible for giving them proper bug reports so they know what has to be fixed exactly. The Plundra system (which they origionally did not plan) is a prime example of how they do listen to us, but only saying “FIX THIS” without saying what exactly is wrong and how to fix it, will not help.

Just my 2 cents.
Cat.

If I missed anything, feel free to point it out and I will add it to the list.

7 Likes
2

This reminds me a lot of the list thread I did in Bug Reports, but since this concerns matters that can be discussed more freely, it’s different. I have a few things to mention.

First of all, can we really nail down that save files can get corrupted based on the crash handler?

About the hotbar, it feels like it should’ve been an option wether or not for newly picked up items to go into it.

Regarding bikes; Rough terrain and bikes don’t go well together, because they’re not meant to. They’re road bikes. They’ll also handle worse on small dirt roads. That’s not a bug.

The AI must have been improved with the October Update. I’ve already played for a long while and I’m not seeing any disruptive or passive behaviour any longer.

Other than that, decently compiled bullet points.

3 Likes
3

I still get quite a lot of passive AIs
And some of the roads are really bumpy which causes the player to fall, rather than slowing the player down.

4

Okay, good to know. Regarding the weird roads, if you see any stuff like that feel free to post it here.

5

Nope, nothing was released in July…

6

Last night I had four FNIX hunters stand and stare at me as I shot them in the face one by one. This is still happening. I think it happens when they are in or around trees and you are in a structure. I have never had it happen when any robot was in the open or when I was in the open.

2 Likes
7

I think it’s rather mind boggling that all these terrain issues, along with commonly known issues with grenades, reloading, weapon swicthing, inventory management etc. that we have reported numerous times are still not fixed.
I think the criticism raised is valid, in that it seriously detracts from the gaming experience for a number of players. I’m living with it for now, but there is definitely still some very rough edges throughout the game that has been there for a long time.

2 Likes
8

It is what it is. I do agree that I wish these things could have been fixed sooner, but I’m unaware of the actual plan of development process for this game, and how the developers prioritise fixing issues vs creating content (and the issues that may come of that).

But I do believe that the best we can do as a community is to keep reporting bugs and posting feedback. Avalanche are a lot closer to their community than modern AAA game devs are, I just think that they lack the available means to stay more active with us versus working on the game.

1 Like
9

Definitely agreed, and also don’t forget that the price tag of GZ is less than half of a AAA game.

10

I love this game, but I think my main gripe is all the time they spent creating and developing the addition of Rivals (which is cool, but wasn’t really asked for or needed), when that time could have been spent on fixing bugs and fleshing out the basic components of the game (i.e. Inventory management, apparel features, etc.) I appreciate all of the hard work they have done on the game, I just think prioritization needs to be better.

2 Likes
11

I feel like the rivals was added to get more people in multiplayer mode.

1 Like
12

You’re speaking as if the entire development team focuses on the same tasks, which is incorrect. They have their bug fixing people, their creative people, etc. But they are a small team, and I reckon fixing issues with the game takes longer than focusing on future content.

13

I understand that, but it seems silly to add new content - which could potentially introduce more bugs - before fixing the existing issues first.

3 Likes
14

Many have requested more content for the game. The Rivals update, along with the few others that’ve made it into the game are all fairly small-scale at this point. I suspect it’s so the devs can focus on stabilizing the game at the same time.

That being said, it’s perfectly acceptable to be annoyed at a new bug introduced with a new update.
That’s what the Bug Reports forum is for.

15

at the end of the day , you have to look at what you paid for and what you have received.
sure there has been bugs , sure there has been crashes. the team have never denied this and have been going mad to fix as much as they can ( does anyone want to list all the bug fixes they have made here on this post since release ? ) . i have bought games that i have been totally disappointed with, and have never played them again and felt ripped off, this is not one of them. you cannot say they have been working very hard , with updates , with bug fixing , with listening to the community through social media and even live streams weekly , introducing us to all of the team personally, and adding more content and continued support. i am very grateful personally.

1 Like
16

Everyone needs a holiday, Alan :slight_smile:

17

I’m fully “in” with this game - I love it. Now, I haven’t had as many bugs as others, but there’s never been a game in my experience, where the DEV team are willing to talk to us all the time. I think it’ll just get better and better, and it’s pretty bloody good now…

18

I was correcting the post above Bootie, and I agree everybody does need a holiday

1 Like