Sea of Thieves [XO, PC, PS, XGP]

Everytime I see water in a new game that looks really good I think to myself, "Maybe water in games is catching up to water in Sea of Thieves."

Then I play Sea of Thieves and realize, that no other studio on the planet has water even remotely close to the water in Sea of Thieves.

It's absolutely amazing what Rare accomplished WRT to the ocean.

Regards,
SB
 
are you sure?
Yes the rough ocean looks very nice (multi ridged perlin it looks like, with particle systems creating the splashs) but check the first 10 seconds of this video showing the water from the beach
pretty mediocre

Still a long way to go
 
Also keep in mind the ocean in Sea of Thieves is pre-generated seeding for different weathers and basically an animation. There's no real-time interaction with the water.
 
are you sure?
Yes the rough ocean looks very nice (multi ridged perlin it looks like, with particle systems creating the splashs) but check the first 10 seconds of this video showing the water from the beach
pretty mediocre

Still a long way to go
Apple & potato comparison there... Real-time cross-platform console game VS the state of the art, pre-solved water simulation that AFAIK hasn't even been extensively used in the movie industry yet.
 
And yet no other game has come close to it.
Yeah, I'm just explaining why no one has come close. Ubisoft has some excellent water simulations for their open world games but it's interactive. There might be some other games using a similar method to SoT but didn't spend as much R&D and allocate as much rendering time to it? They did an amazing job with their ocean tech, just pointing out a big reason they were able to achieve it.
 
Yeah, I'm just explaining why no one has come close. Ubisoft has some excellent water simulations for their open world games but it's interactive. There might be some other games using a similar method to SoT but didn't spend as much R&D and allocate as much rendering time to it? They did an amazing job with their ocean tech, just pointing out a big reason they were able to achieve it.
The lack of interactivity is jarring at times though. Ubi's solution in AC is indeed pretty awesome.
 
According to SteamCharts, Sea of Thieves has hit peak of 26,919 players on steam already.
Well passed that mark now.
Still after new releases it's #1 on steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/search/?os=win&filter=globaltopsellers


It's over 67K concurrent as of recent.

Gotta say, no one expected this. No sales, very little marketing, an incomplete game at launch. And people ripping on it's graphics. But its lasting power and growth continues to move forward. It is nearing the top 10 for most played game concurrent on Steam.
 
It's a great story of success through persistence and updates for improvements.
Yea, getting close to the rainbow 6 story here.
If they manage that, that would be a massive win for rare.

I really got to try it again, it’s been a while. You guys let me know when you want to sail
 
What is the gameplay loop though?
You’re given a boat. You have some crew mates maybe. Decide to find stuff, hunt treasure, kill monsters, ship goods, raid other pirates etc.

it’s an open shared sandbox. Not many rules. Do whatever you want. So what you decide what you want to do. A bit like being at a lake. Some people will skip rocks. Some will fish. Some will canoe. Etc.

you gotta so what you think is fun. And when you start the rest of the world will come towards you, maybe you find a message in a bottle, maybe a skeleton ship will come aboard. Maybe there is a kraken or megalodon. Or you run into other pirates You decide how you want to play.

sometiems it can be really uneventful. Sometimes is the funniest stories one shares with others
You may set out to do something; and in the end do something else entirely. That’s sort of the fun of the game.
 
I still dont understand what you actually do in this game.

You sail in a procedural generated ocean full of islands giving them offensive names and press-and-holding at menus to upgrade your ship until you reach the center of the archipelago to uncover the great treasure of Peter Molineux.

Oh, wait, thats No Man's Seas.
 
There is a leveling system. But it's not for your character or weapons. You gain rank in trading companies. Voyages give you rewards(gold & doubloons) which can be used to purchase different items & cosmetics for yourself, your items or your ship. Supposedly it has changed a little since I Iast played, but basically when you reach level 50 in 3 out of the 5 or so trading companies you become a Pirate Legend. That unlocks a special location only Pirate Legends can unlock(Goonies-style) there you can get special cosmetics. There are even special voyages just for Legends. Neat thing is if you're not a Legend by your teammates are you get to share the same rewards & do the special voyages.

If you want a story, there are loads of story missions that you can do at your own pace. So if you don't want PvP, then there is some PvE you can do too. Fishing is fun, lots of different kinds & they're part of the Hunter's Call trading companies. But all in all, it's all about the journey & not the destination. And although it can be played solo, that's not how the target the game. It can be super hard by yourself. It's definitely meant to be played with friends. I would start out playing by yourself to get a feel of the mechanics, then move to a galleon with a full crew.

If anybody is up for a game I am. GamerTag is AzBat360. If you see me online before 9pm Central Time it's probably one of my kids. LOL Send an invite & if I don't respond right away it's probably not me. ;)

Tommy McClain
 
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