The Ultimate SOMA Discussion Thread

[GrAVit]

I'm not sure if I said this already, but I wonder if the console version of SOMA will get something different instead of the custom story feature that the PC version has. Perhaps some DLC later on for both versions?

Yeah, I'm curious to know this as well. But nothing has been said about it by FG yet (at least as far as I know).

There's another SOMA article in the latest GamesTM magazine (issue 156). Again, nothing new is said/shown, but the release date is listed as Q1 2015:

What?

The game's current state, pre-Beta, is a milestone in preparation for the proper Beta, basically the full game without the final polish, which will happen a few months into next year. The pre-Beta marks final our chance for us to evaluate a number of crucial elements in the game.

How could the release possibly be so soon if they're entering Beta "a few months into [this] year"? Or am I misinformed about the general length of the Beta phase in video game development?

The "Q1" info in the magazine might be just a placeholder.

Why do the people who write these magazines even give such placeholders? They're only misleading. It should just read "2015".

[Paddy™]

Finally, GamingBolt have released the whole interview:

SOMA Interview: ‘Our Goal Is To Revitalize The Horror Genre Just Like Amnesia’
http://gamingbolt.com/soma-interview-our...ke-amnesia

Near the end of the interview, Thomas is asked about the release date, and this is what he says:

Rashid Sayed: The game is confirmed for a launch in 2015. Can we expect an early 2015 launch?

Thomas Grip: The game will not launch in Q1, but later on in the year. That is as much as I can say right now.

[Googolplex]

I really like the way SOMA is going on. But I hope it will not be a "light version" of Amnesia. I have the feeling that puzzles will be easier just to keep the flow on. I always dislike easy put-in puzzles from AMFP or simple valve/lever puzzles from Outlast. I always enjoy it to explore the environment to find out what to do next. I like how Penumbra Overture handled it. And I also hope the gameplay will not get simplified just to play with a joystick. I will not miss the immersive mouse controls like from all previous games from FG.

And I hope it will be at least disturbing as this scene from Outlast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl...X7Lc#t=220

I had to quit the game there, because I got frightened so much. Don't think this is breaking the immersion! A good horror game needs to be scary as possible.

[Chrysler]

We've often heard in interviews that SOMA will feature quite a number of encounters with other human characters. Do you think those characters will be met in person by the player, i.e. true animated NPCs, or will all communication happen again over radio/closed doors as in all their previous games?

I could imagine them having some new forms of communication, e.g. video chat, where they could use material from the Depth movie. But I very much doubt we'll get alive animated NPCs. It'd probably be too much work to get right and the engine would need to be updated too, I guess.

[Paddy™]

We've often heard in interviews that SOMA will feature quite a number of encounters with other human characters. Do you think those characters will be met in person by the player, i.e. true animated NPCs, or will all communication happen again over radio/closed doors as in all their previous games?

I could imagine them having some new forms of communication, e.g. video chat, where they could use material from the Depth movie. But I very much doubt we'll get alive animated NPCs. It'd probably be too much work to get right and the engine would need to be updated too, I guess.

I think you might be right; all of the media we've seen so far only shows us animated enemies and dead humans. In the GameTrailers preview video, we see the character talking with Catherine Chun (I think), but Catherine is only represented by a static photo on a terminal screen. I'd assume fully-animated, speaking NPCs would have been shown to us by now if they were part of the game.

If I remember correctly, one of the reasons why Agrippa's lower jaw was missing in TDD was to avoid having to animate his face for speech. In SOMA, I think FG found another way around the problem by keeping the NPCs separated from the player by communication terminals. I think it's a good thing; the fewer opportunities there are for the illusion to be shattered through hammy animation, the better our overall experience will be.

I like your idea of using live action video for the communications. I'd be interested to see how something like that would come across.

[GrAVit]

A new article by PCGamer, concerning SOMA and how difficult its development process was for the developers when trying to get away from the Amnesia-style gameplay and story development, as well as some talk about audio logs in SOMA.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the game has changed since our April 2014 hands-on, in which audio logs activated by clicking on dead bodies were actually quite common, and also distracting: As previewer Samuel Roberts wrote, "They were overcooked, let down by recordings that I'm hoping are temporary or unfinished. Soma was far more effective when it let me piece together its story without people talking over it." That sounds like it's in line with Frictional's vision, and I hope the studio is able to achieve it.

[silfrus]

why soma not launch on Q1 2015? On March 2013 Thomas Grip said that game was one year of its release. Also in late December 2014 said the game was already in Pre Beta and only lacked polish details.

Why it will take more than three months to polish details?

another delay

[Kein]

another delay

Delay? So wait, we had an actual release date?

Why it will take more than three months to polish details?

Who said it is 3 month? "Not Q1" does not mean "Q2" or anything in particular. It may as well be 2016.


That being said, I (and not just me) mentioned already that the game is most likely will be released in late 2015 few times. I very much doubt it will be Q2, most likely around september +/- 1 month.

[Chrysler]

An interview about lovecraft,SOMA and horror in general that I really enjoyed doing, and hopefully is fun to read too
http://lovecraftzine.com/2015/01/07/inte...-and-soma/

[Paddy™]

Interview with Thomas Grip, creator of the Lovecraftian games “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” and “SOMA”
http://lovecraftzine.com/2015/01/07/inte...-and-soma/