Conan Exiles (A survival game....yet again)

[WhiteNoise]

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet so I want to post and see who is playing, discuss the game etc.

Conan Exiles https://conanexiles.com/
Developed by Funcom
Steam EA Cost: $29.99 (Geenman has a discount code for $6 off at the time of this post)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ConanExiles/

The game:

Survive:
Journey through a vast, seamless world. Explore crumbling ruins and uncover the history of ancient civilizations. Fend off hunger, thirst, and even insanity as you explore dark dungeons filled with monstrous creatures. Escape scouring sandstorms and bloodthirsty cannibals. Gain knowledge to craft new items and build stronger structures. Unleash your savage fury with brutal attacks that will see heads rolling and limbs flying.

Build:
Harvest anything from rocks and wood to rare minerals and human flesh. Use forges, workbenches, tanneries, and more to craft tools, armor, and powerful weapons. Construct a home, a fortress, or an entire city using the incredibly powerful building system. Build on almost everything, from ancient ruins to towering mountainsides. Craft a wide variety of furniture and decorations to customize your home and settlement.

Dominate:
Wage war on enemy players, blow up their city walls, and take control of the Exiled Lands. Capture thralls, break them on the Wheel of Pain, and put them to defend your settlement and craft rare items. Build an altar to your god and bring them offerings to earn their blessing and rewards. Summon and take control of towering avatars, and see your enemies driven before you as you crush their homes and their legacy.

Server rulesets: PVP, PVE, PVP Blitz (This mode wipes every 30 days. It is meant to be a race to the finish)

My thoughts:
Let me first say that visually this game is stunning compared to other same type games such as Ark and Rust. I mean Funcom know what they are about so I suppose this can be expected but the game looks fantastic and it runs fantastic. I'm currently running the game at 4k with all settings to ultra and locked at 60 fps (because I want that) and the fps never dip. it runs at a steady 60 and if I unlocked that I'm sure i'd be closer to 100 or more. The game just plays great for me.

Sound is done well with beautiful music and really good ambient noises. Characters are done well too. You can play in first person view or third. The game is your typical survival game and shares aspects with Rust and Ark but IMO more like Ark but done so much better. Sure there are bugs as this is yet another early access game. The Devs have a lot of work ahead of them but as far as EA games go; this one is on the right path, very playable, tons of features, tons of potential.

I haven't been this excited for a survival game in a long time. I personally play survival games over almost all other game types as I just love them and to date this is the best one I have played plus it is based on the Conan universe!

I will say this game as it is right now is brutal hard. Pretty much every beast you find in the game wants to eat you. Very Ark like in this respect but the variety of creatures is great, the art style is fantastic and it even has Boss monsters, NPC characters (which can be deadly as well) and so much more.

You have to eat and drink to survive and of course gather and kill. It is a kill or be killed world in every way.

Is the game perfect? Nope not close. They are working on it though and it looks like it will be one of the very best survival experiences available. Combat is a bit clunky right now but they are currently working on it. There are balancing issues as well not to mention bases can be destroyed way too easy. This is a known issue that with any luck we receive attention soon. I could go on but for now I will leave you with this: If you enjoyed Rust and or Ark, you will enjoy Conan Exiles.

Also I am running a server for this game and anyone is welcome. I am not going to be advertising my server any time soon as I want time to play around with settings and learn the game but it is running and you are welcome if you want a safe place to learn the game with an Admin you know from TechPowerUp.

It is a 32 person server for now. As this is a new game I want to keep the server size within reason to help keep a smooth game play experience.

My server is PVE, increased gather rates, slightly increased experience rates, full loot, no base damage or raiding. This game is brutal and I think for now a PVE server makes sense as players can group up to take on all of the creatures and bosses.

These settings can and will change as I play with them and find a good balance but my main goal at the moment is to learn the game and find the best balance. I do enjoy PVP and most likely will turn it into a PVP server eventually. You can search the name within the game server browser.

Server info:
Age of Hyborian Rejects PVE, x5 gather, EXP boost, full looting safe bases No raiding
173.234.24.170:27071

I'm only adding my server info to be friendly. I do not care if anyone here plays on it or not. I would be just as happy just to see others playing this game period. It so far is quite good with loads of potential and done in a cool universe.

 

[Guitar]

I bought it, haven't played it yet except to be able to note that the game does in fact have a dong slider.

 

[Evo85]

I have been following its development for a time now. I took the plunge and bought it. And I have to say, I was unimpressed.

Combat is clunky to say the least. Graphics are sub par for today's games. Balancing is WAY off.

I like the concept, but this game fails to deliver. Maybe in a few months I'll try it again. But I honestly have to say I regret buying it.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Graphics are sub par? Damn. I love good looking graphics and this game is very good looking. Compared to other current games of the same type this game is about the nicest one visually yet.

You are entitled to your opinion of course so I will leave off.

I will agree (which I commented on in the op) the combat is clunky. It gets us by for now but it needs a lot of work and they recently talked about what they are doing about it. So come back in a few months and see if it's better.

 

[Octopuss]

A game by Funcom. That should explain everything you'll ever need to know.

I watched a few livestreams on Twitch. The game looks like shit with graphics from ten years ago.
I guess most people are excited about bouncing tits and sliders for dick size.

Looks like a fail and I hope the damn company will finally disappear from the face of Earth.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Before I spend more on "another survival game", I'd like to know how it compares to 7Days to Die, and maybe another similar game like ARK. Visuals take a backseat to mob AI when it comes to survival games.

I dont like ARK, cuz who the hell needs a damn pet doing all your work, had enough pet crap in EQ1.

Now lets talk about Funcom, they are out for a buck, it will be in-your-face, and, well, you ever been micro managed by someone?

 

[Vya Domus]

Early access is one of the biggest abomination I have seen in the last years in the gaming industry.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I think this game is a Ark Clone but in the Conan universe. IMO it is much better than Ark but yeah....it shares a lot with Ark for sure. I think visually it's quite nice compared to most shit out there. Looks great on my 4k screen for sure. Not sure why some of you think it looks like crap though. mean if it looked terrible I would be the first to say so. For what it is it looks really nice with Ultra settings. It uses the Unreal engine 4 which came out in 2012 so not sure how it can be compared to 10 year old games.

Anyways...yeah it's got issues, it isn't perfect, combat is clunky, might be too much like Ark (Though I'm a fan of Ark) and it's EA. Oh yeah and it is yet another survival game. lol I can't help but enjoy it though. lol

Early access is one of the biggest abomination I have seen in the last years in the gaming industry.

I have to agree but I keep buying into them. I mean if I like the game...I'm going to play it; EA or not.

I have wasted money on quite a few EA games but others I have played hundreds and even thousands of hours. IMO if you can enjoy an EA game for 40-100 hours then you got your money out of it for sure. With so many AAA games that have a campaign of 8-12 hours @ $59.99 well my $19.99 to $29.99 (average cost of most EA titles) has been well spent.

 

[Guitar]

I am spinning up my own server. Only 20 slots right now, if it gets popular I'll add more, but just wanted one that was (hopefully) not laggy and I could let friends start out on.

EDIT: Will have one soon. Don't host on Host Havoc, they suck.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I am spinning up my own server. Only 20 slots right now, if it gets popular I'll add more, but just wanted one that was (hopefully) not laggy and I could let friends start out on.

EDIT: Will have one soon. Don't host on Host Havoc, they suck.

My Host is Host Havoc. No issues at all on my end. What issues did you have?

 

[Capitan Harlock]

Hi, playing it alone and with friend and is going good so far, the only problem is that steam voice chat don't work because the game use it for voice chat.
I'm running it on my 4k monitor too without issue and look great so BHO , i don't see it being with 10 years ago graphics.
As for beingh an EA i can say that runs better then ARK at launch and all the EA i have are doing great expecially Subnautica .

 

[Guitar]

Use Discord or something similar, way better and no lag compared to Steam voice chat (or likely in game).

My Host is Host Havoc. No issues at all on my end. What issues did you have?

I bought server, spun it up, nothing was showing. Went through some debugging stuff, etc. Issued a ticket, did a full wipe/reinstall like they said, still nothing for me. Found issues on line/in log files that were potentially related, sent them asking for some help, and they responded back with a "this is how you connect to a server" which really ticked me off at the time.

I switched to another host and am having the 'same' issue...can't see server on either port (access or peer). Not sure if it is the same issue, me, or what.

 

[Devon68]

The game looks fun to play. I've been looking at some gameplay footage on Games4kickz's channel.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Use Discord or something similar, way better and no lag compared to Steam voice chat (or likely in game).



I bought server, spun it up, nothing was showing. Went through some debugging stuff, etc. Issued a ticket, did a full wipe/reinstall like they said, still nothing for me. Found issues on line/in log files that were potentially related, sent them asking for some help, and they responded back with a "this is how you connect to a server" which really ticked me off at the time.

I switched to another host and am having the 'same' issue...can't see server on either port (access or peer). Not sure if it is the same issue, me, or what.

Thats strange. I have not had a single issue so far. Server works as it should and performs very well. No rubberbanding or lag.

Over the years I have used multiple game server hosts and the two best I have used: Survival Servers and Host Havoc. Survival Servers has really good performing servers but I prefer to use TCAdmin and Survival Servers built their own custom system that is more a pain to use. That is the only thing I dislike about them. Plus everything has to be done on your desktop via FTP. I ran a couple servers from them though with good success but I always disliked their admin panel.

Host Havoc uses TCAdmin and I have always enjoyed using it. Server performance is really great so far, no down time, works great and shows up in the game server search every time. I have had quite a few people find my server so IMO they are providing a good service.

I will admit though that the one help ticket I entered was answered quickly even though it was Saturday night at 11PM (they responded twice within 15 minutes) but the second response was sort of ...canned. The good news is I solved the issue which was my own fault.

The game looks fun to play. I've been looking at some gameplay footage on Games4kickz's channel.

It is! Best to be played with a friend(s) but even solo it is fun. It is a grind fest unless you play on a server with adjusted gather and EXP rates.

 

[Guitar]

https://topconanservers.com/server/108.61.88.22:24001

My server appears to be up if anybody is interested. 1/4 time night cylce, 2x multipliers, PVP, 'relaxed' (go raid and do shit you want but don't be a general dickhead), etc. Right now 20 slots but will increase if the need was there. If you join, let me know.

 

[Guitar]

Played a bit last night. Since I have admin, I kept getting killed by creatures in the world just trying to explore, so I ended up turning on cloaking for a bit. Went way up north, saw some of the city/tribes, saw a rhino kill a sand/rock creature who dropped crystal/brimstone, saw a bunch of spiders, got some iron and coal, and started building a small base. So far the only bugs I've run into are some pop in stuff, inventory quicks witching weird (for instance when you have a pick axe and a hatchet, animations get fucky). Haven't run into anything game breaking except the lag on official servers first day I played. Liking it so far, will say combat kinda sucks (it's too clunk/animations are bad etc) and I'd like a better way of placing structures (IE I was trying to place stairs and it was super fast rotating between two positions and couldn't get it to stick/build the one place I wanted it).

 

[WhiteNoise]

building can be tricky like you said. The flickering is solved by a sure hand and the right angle. I've gotten it down pretty well. I really like the inverted sloped roofs. Can make some interesting designs.
Combat is clunk but hit detection is good. It basically is spam attack key until one of you are dead lol.

Using a bow from distance and then striking with sword up close gets the job done nicely. A shield blocks 100% arrow dmg and doesn't lose any durability either so it's great for getting in close to archers. I read a post by the dev team that combat is something they are working on so I'm pretty happy.

My server has been receiving pretty constant traffic with a core of around 12 or so people playing every day. I haven't really advertised it yet so I'm happy there. Server performance has been mostly good and some have told me it's one of the better server experiences for them so far. Conan servers seem to use quite a bit of memory so I hope that doesn't become an issue.

My biggest beef is the lack of a true admin command list. We are missing so many commands that we normally have with a server. My biggest gripe is not being able to destroy player made items when needed. I read that 'ctrl' + 'delete' will destroy anything in front of you but it does nothing for me.

providing us with a better admin suite is a priority for me. All in all though I love this game and I have found some visual commands through the console that improves graphics even further.

 

[bbmarley]

@WhiteNoise i agree with you, it is one of the better early access games. One other thing are the patches/bug fixes, they come quick and the team working on this game have been addressing issues faster than any other early access game I have played. Ark clone? Nope more like Age of Conan turned into a sandbox survival. I have 61 hours on it so far.

 

[WhiteNoise]

It's a lot like Ark for sure. I played Age of Conan and of course it shares ideas with it but they looked at the success of Ark and instead of copying it they made it their own. They bring so much more coolness to this title. patches are releasing almost daily. I actually expected to see a patch this morning but not yet anyway.

 

[X800]

Yeah I started to play this today ..lol I have died so many times and the servers seems to go offline or something and all what you have is gone.

 

[WhiteNoise]

That hasn't happened with my server. All servers have been rebooting during the day atleast once to update due to patches. They have been releasing a patch each day

 

[Guitar]

I was building out my base more last night, I did it on the side of a rock to try and see how I could manipulate the building/environment. Was able to kind of hang a few blocks off cliffs and such but not as much as I'd wanted. Ended up building a furnace, crafting table, that kinda shit. Took FOREVER to craft some of that stuff even with huge multiplier
But I'm having fun with it so far, good game for me to just fuck around on which is all I wanted. Need to advertise the server to more peeps I guess as I'd like to raid/fight/band with more people.
Oh and somehow it didn't occur to me until yesterday that I could use the mouse wheel to rotate building structures I'm placing. Makes shit so much easier. That was what was keeping me from placing my steps.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I haven't advertised my server at all. I usually do but I wanted to take a week to just tweak settings and get it the way I want. Since day 2 I have had a steady amount of players making a home there. I still only have 10-15 players online at peak times but 1-5 throughout the hours when most people are sleeping and 4-9 throughout the day.

New people join up on a regular basis. All in all considering I haven't really tried to attract people to my server it seems to be going ok for a start. My server is PVE though and that tends to attract a certain crowd which works well. Most people tend to be friendly and get a long. In the past when I would run PVP servers there is always headache, people pissed off, screaming hacks, being mean and all sorts of other negative stuff. The PVE crowd is just chill. I should have done PVE a long time ago. I always do PVP.

One thing I have learned from the handful of servers I have run (especially my Rust server which I ran for 2 years) Is that if I want a successful PVP server then I can't raid. On a populated PVP server it is a part time job, watching for cheaters, helping players etc. The minute you raid one of your players or kill one in PVP they scream to the top of their lungs ADMIN ABUSE! I have never cheated to win. I have never used Admin abilities to Raid but players do not know me so they will jump to any conclusion that they want. So yeah...early on I stopped raiding, I stopped PVPing (unless it was to defend myself - that is the one allowance I made) and I just focused on my server, meeting cool people, building and crafting and policing. The action I would receive was when people raided me I would put up a defense but if they got me they got me. I'd laugh, congratulate them, and move on.

Anyways...people over the years seem to like my admin style as I get steam PM's every once in awhile from random people that have played on one of my servers over the years, asking me if I had a server for 'X' game...So I must be doing something right.

 

[alucasa]

Off topic but I recall Age of Conan (The MMORPG) as one of the first that showed fully uncensored bare chest area of female characters.

 

[denixius]

Lag and freezing. I hate these two thing in the games. But I knew that I will encounter with these problems after I bought the game. I'm not regret it but I wish they will solve these problems first. Because we can't fight in PvP if there is lag and freezing. Also I guess, they will solve this issue after launch their official servers. This must be a marketing. lol