Boundary, a high-concept space FPS, headed to PS4 and PC in 2020

erek

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Hooking it up? Who's pre-orderin'?

"Players will take on the role of “astroperators,” also known as AOs. They’ll don extra-vehicular backpacks along with a mix of modern ballistic weapons and more futuristic weaponry. Clad in all white, they’ll stand out against the dark backdrop of space. The key to survival will be making good use of terrain, in the form of solar panels and space station components."

https://www.polygon.com/2020/4/2/21204311/boundary-space-fps-china-playstation-4-release-date-price
 
There's something about this which makes me kind of sad. Like... space exploration is supposed to be this culminating achievement of humankind where we all bond together and transcend via technology. But instead here we're just turning it into another warzone, making a giant mess of things, and trapping ourselves via kessler syndrome.

It's a cool concept gameplay-wise, but it seems dishearteningly probable.
 
There's something about this which makes me kind of sad. Like... space exploration is supposed to be this culminating achievement of humankind where we all bond together and transcend via technology. But instead here we're just turning it into another warzone, making a giant mess of things, and trapping ourselves via kessler syndrome.

It's a cool concept gameplay-wise, but it seems dishearteningly probable.
Hey, ever hear of Star Wars / Star Trek?

This looks like a lot of fun, but probable? Nah. If we are to the point of war in space and astronauts are still using 60's space gear and rifles, a frickin' laser or rocket from earth would be a far more effective way of taking out your enemy's space station.

Also, if there is recoil on those laser guns in zero G, why aren't they flying backwards?
 
Nitpick1:

I see LOTS of god-rays rendered in that vacuum. God-rays are atmospheric diffusion. you can't have visible god-rays even in something as thin as Mars's atmosphere, let alone a near-vacuum.

Nitpick2:

A single bullet would be a death sentence. as soon as the space-suit is evacuated of atmosphere, the human occupant will go unconscious in like, 20 seconds MAX. Its not like holding your breath: you can't hold your breath in a vacuum. This is like space instagib.
 
Hey, ever hear of Star Wars / Star Trek?

I think that's just it. Normally sci-fi is so far in the future that if something goes wrong then they've already got some magic technology to fix it. You don't really think about it too deeply.

This appears to take place with close to modern day technology, so I guess it strikes a more personal chord with me. Everything takes dozens of thousands of hours and billions of dollars of effort and we're still barely able to leave our own planet. And yet, here they are like "let's defy everything it stands for, blow it up, and have a war, lol."

Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games in general, and I've been dying for something with this sort of freedom of movement ever since Descent in the 90s. I might even end up playing this. I'm just having this mental block where the premise somehow seems... wrong(er than usual). I'm kind of surprised I feel this way. I expected to be more excited about it!
 
Didn't see it mentioned, but this is probably MP only. In which case, it is kind of underwhelming and probably dead on arrival. Especially if it is from a Chinese indie dev.

Concept is interesting, but using contemporary space suits with AKs is just a bit awkward.
 
Looks neat, but at this point, I'm pretty hesitant to try anything that comes from China due to their confirmed habits of implementing "phone home" code in just about anything and everything made there that connects to the internet.
 
To me high concept means something like Mass Effect. A multi player only game is not high concept by definition. Having a bunch of players shoot each other is actually the lowest you can go with your "concept".
 
There's something about this which makes me kind of sad. Like... space exploration is supposed to be this culminating achievement of humankind where we all bond together and transcend via technology. But instead here we're just turning it into another warzone, making a giant mess of things, and trapping ourselves via kessler syndrome.

It's a cool concept gameplay-wise, but it seems dishearteningly probable.


it's called fallen human nature. A good example is: "wherever you go, there you are." Humans can not change their heart (though many like to think they can or have) and so, as a species we will venture out into space and bring along with us our habit of littering our environment like we have done on earth (note all the space trash in the game), having wars, etc.
 
To me high concept means something like Mass Effect. A multi player only game is not high concept by definition. Having a bunch of players shoot each other is actually the lowest you can go with your "concept".

An MP game can easily be very complex and innovative when it comes to game mechanics. One can be considerably move advanced than an SP game. It always comes down to a case by case basis.
 
An MP game can easily be very complex and innovative when it comes to game mechanics. One can be considerably move advanced than an SP game. It always comes down to a case by case basis.
If you have to get into the nuances on why people should be excited for this game, then it is automatically not high concept.
But brah, it's in space! Yeah, like we haven't seen that before.
 
Only one mention of spyware and backdoors? It's really hard to play China Thread Bingo without the usual posts. Come on people, we need some accusations of IP and assets theft.
 
just did a search to see if I can buy it and found this one. Is it still legit since the game is no longer posted at Steam?

https://eshop.keengamer.com/en/acti...MIptaZqJ7S6AIVev_jBx3XXwYgEAQYBCABEgJH8fD_BwE

Maybe not, it's pretty old and I didn't realize it had been taken down. At this point, probably not many players if any, though. Even when it was still around, it was starting to get pretty barren. I don't know if a key would still activate if the game was removed from Steam. So it's a buyer beware situation.

EDIT: Here's what the developer said about this - so it sounds like if you can get a legit key, you can still technically play it:

Yes, I am sorry to say that Shattered Horizon is no longer for sale in any region.

As Unbenannte said, we sold our game studio to Rovio in 2012. Futuremark is 100% forcused on making 3DMark and other benchmarks now. We're a small company and can no longer spare the time and people required to support our old game titles.

Since we will not be able to fix the issues with ranking, leaderboards and stats we decided to take the game down from Steam. As someone who worked on Shattered Horizon, it makes me sad to see it go, but it feels like the right thing to do.

If you own Shattered Horizon you can still play single-player and multiplayer on community servers, though stats are no longer being collected. If you have a CD-key from a promotion or gift, you will still be able to redeem it for a copy in Steam.

On behalf of everyone at Futuremark, and the ex-Futuremark Games Studio crew, thank you for buying and enjoying Shattered Horizon. "See you on the flipside."

Still, this Boundary game just looks like a re-imagining of the same concept.
 
There's something about this which makes me kind of sad. Like... space exploration is supposed to be this culminating achievement of humankind where we all bond together and transcend via technology. But instead here we're just turning it into another warzone, making a giant mess of things, and trapping ourselves via kessler syndrome.

It's a cool concept gameplay-wise, but it seems dishearteningly probable.

its a game.

Hey, ever hear of Star Wars / Star Trek?

This looks like a lot of fun, but probable? Nah. If we are to the point of war in space and astronauts are still using 60's space gear and rifles, a frickin' laser or rocket from earth would be a far more effective way of taking out your enemy's space station.

Also, if there is recoil on those laser guns in zero G, why aren't they flying backwards?

rifles will be shockingly effective in space, any ballistic weapon really.
 
Like someone else mention this looks just like shattered Horizon on steam which came out in 2008 -2009... Looked amazing for its time but it was hard to find people to play with back then.
 
What does "high concept" even mean? Is it a synonym to pretentious, or just a trigger word for pretentious people?
 
What does "high concept" even mean? Is it a synonym to pretentious, or just a trigger word for pretentious people?
It was supposed to mean an idea that is easily pitched, where you don't have to explain why is it a great concept.

Nowadays I think it is more a buzzword that means "Look at us how great we are, that we came up with this idea, that is totally not a 26th iteration of the same tired idea for a game"
 
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This sort of game is all well and good, until you try and design the controls for it. Intuitive controls is where previous games with the same concept fell over face first. Best of luck to them though, maybe they got it right.
 
Meh... nope. Im too invested in Star Citizen and play alot of Elite Dangerous in VR. Plus a star cit developer wss hired on to the cig team to make the game fully immersive in VR.
 
Great point, I haven't vomited in quite a while and also felt that was missing from my life.
Why would you vomit?! You need more intestinal fortitude!

I think they said like 1/2 the people have some type of problem with VR. Glad I have none, except heights, which Windlands helped clear that up.
 
Why would you vomit?!
Just to clarify, I have an entire room in my house dedicated to VR, no issues with VR in general, but I can only imagine how it would feel flying around the place with no real up or down rapidly twisting, turning, looping, and spinning as is required for fast-action first person shooters.
 
Just to clarify, I have an entire room in my house dedicated to VR, no issues with VR in general, but I can only imagine how it would feel flying around the place with no real up or down rapidly twisting, turning, looping, and spinning as is required for fast-action first person shooters.

Are you the guy who ran out of the computer lab green in the face after watching me fly down a corridor twisting on one direction while rotating in the opposite one back in the 90s while playing descent 2? If so, I apologise belatedly.
 
Just to clarify, I have an entire room in my house dedicated to VR, no issues with VR in general, but I can only imagine how it would feel flying around the place with no real up or down rapidly twisting, turning, looping, and spinning as is required for fast-action first person shooters.

Nope no sickness...youre justa vr baby muhaha
 
Just to clarify, I have an entire room in my house dedicated to VR, no issues with VR in general, but I can only imagine how it would feel flying around the place with no real up or down rapidly twisting, turning, looping, and spinning as is required for fast-action first person shooters.
The enemys base is down.
 
All I can say:
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Doesn't look very realistic...

Firing an explosive powered projectile, in quick machinegun style speed, is going to be pushing the player backwards by significant amounts. Enough that even if the player is anchored to a space station, that stations' orbit would be significantly affected.

I mean, if the end of the match results in the 'winner' burning up on re-entry, could be cool... :)
 
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AK-47 type machine guns require oxygen to fire. There is no oxygen in space...

Erm, no. All conventional cartridge-based small arms use propellants that include their own oxidizers. They actually work in an environment with very little air in it as-is. An AK would work in space, mechanically, just fine. Americans and Russians alike have tested firearms in space.

It was a plot device in Firefly.
 
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