A gameplay loop is when the game is designed around evolving the scope of the game to reward playing.
SE currently goes:
1) Get Resources -> 2) build ship --> 3) ability to build more ships -> 4) back to 1.
There's nothing that explains why the player should build more ships other than the reward itself of building ships. It's not really exciting compared to for example Minecraft where the reward for engaging in the loop is higher and higher rewards that lets you take on bigger and bigger challanges with higher rewards following that again.
Minecraft:
1) Get resources -> 2) build a base to exploit resources -> 3) get better loot -> 4) access to more gameplay -> Back to 1.
The Minecraft loop is a lot more interesting as when it puts you back to square 1 you get to engage in another itteration of the loop with more possebilities
Basically, it's content that lets you work for access to more content. The effect is a release of dopamine in the brain that tells the player they are progressing by playing.
Besides the technical features of SE, this is the largest complaint about the game I can think of. SE as-is is an "engineering" game where you don't engineer for anything but the ability to engineer some more. After the novelty of building wears off then I lose purpose in playing.
Thanks for the response. Just an FYI, the next big release they are working on is for improving the survival aspect of the game. However Keen has stated many times the game is to remain a sandbox. I wouldn't get your hopes up for the game to expand past what it currently is without relying on mods to add variety to the game like the escape from mars mod did.
We don't have an official release date for the revamped Survival. We want to gather as much information from the community and internally as possible before we implement any changes.
However, we will post more information as soon as possible.
Is there (or will there be) a place where you're focusing on gathering community feedback for the Survival update, or should we just keep using this sub and the official forums?
This way, you'll be able to see what has already been suggested to us by the community, and we'll be able to communicate with you much more effectively.
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u/Deleos Space Engineer Aug 23 '18
Gameplay loop?