We Happy Few (XB1/PC/PS4) - DLC out now

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Monkey Man
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PostWe Happy Few (XB1/PC/PS4) - DLC out now
by Monkey Man » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:27 pm

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Developer: Compulsion Games Inc
Publisher: Gear Box Software
Genre: Action & Adventure, Game Preview
Release Date: 10th August 2018

http://compulsiongames.com/en/10/we-happy-few





After debuting as an Xbox Game Preview title at the 2016 Xbox E3 Briefing, “We Happy Few” 1.0, which includes an all-new narrative and community-driven improvements, will launch on Xbox One and Xbox One X (with 4K and HDR support) on August 10, 2018. “We Happy Few” is a narrative-driven action adventure game set in a drug-fuelled, retrofuturistic 1960s England. Uncover the mystery of Wellington Wells as you play through the interwoven narratives of three moderately terrible citizens trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial.


Previews -

We Happy Few’s story and setting already have me hooked. What appeared to be a stylish-looking game mismatched with survival mechanics has been molded into something much more interesting. The game’s full narrative is planned for release this summer as part of We Happy Few’s 1.0 update, which will be free to early access players. New players can get the game on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One for $59.99

https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/29/17404 ... 4-xbox-one

So yes, I killed poor Danny, and I learned in the next tussle – yes, two more anonymous antagonists were sent in after Danny dropped – that I could’ve used Danny’s corpse as a weapon by picking it up and throwing it, but I didn’t see the prompt for the option in time before I felled both enemies. It’s moments like this – along with flashback story moments called “Lies” – that leave me feeling optimistic that We Happy Few can successfully make “The Leap.” We’ll find out soon enough.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/05/29/ ... e-the-leap

As it stands, We Happy Few borrows simple, mundane crafting systems from full-on survival games to express your fragility and desperation in an oppressive world. At least most of the survival elements will be customizable, or totally eliminated by playing on easy. But with so many survival games leaving Early Access that frame hunger, thirst, sleep, and so on around the same chore-like checklisting, I'd rather see We Happy Few try something completely new that didn't distract from such an intriguing world.

https://www.pcgamer.com/we-happy-fews-s ... 6301776253

We Happy Few's latest demo is the most polished version of the game to date. The game has its own style of gameplay and storytelling that engages players with moment to moment gameplay. The game's lore is firmly embedded in each of these moments and players will certainly feel as if they are moving towards a goal or conclusion as they progress through the adventure. We Happy Few features an elegant crafting system that doesn't make players feel like they are balancing an excel spreadsheet while still offering a deep array of options. Players can heal themselves with a nice nap and even search toilets for crafting items. The little details in this game are what make it so charming, like being able to hide in the trunk of an abandoned car when a bunch of angry townspeople are chasing you.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/105134 ... um=twitter

We Happy Few is the tale of a plucky bunch of moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial in the city of Wellington Wells. Set in a drug-fuelled, retrofuturistic city in an alternative 1960s England, you’ll have to blend in with its other inhabitants, who don’t take kindly to people who don’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.

1960s Dystopian England
Set in a retrofuturistic 1960s, you will find a city ravaged by war and rebuilt by delusionally happy people. Everything appears to be happy in Wellington Wells, including the roads, the people, and its omnipresent television personality, Uncle Jack! However, it’s a beautiful world on the brink of collapse. You will discover the history of this world, and how it came to be just so beguilingly happy.

Suspicion and Joy
We Happy Few is about surviving in and escaping from a procedurally generated world, where you must learn to hide in plain sight. If you act out of turn, or you’re not on Joy (the local happy pills), the locals will become suspicious and will rapidly turn your frown upside down! Forcefully. You will need to practice conformity, stealth and combat if you want to survive long enough to escape.

A Mature Story
We Happy Few’s characters are not typical video game heroes. They are flawed and not particularly heroic, warped by the trauma their world has been through. Each character has their own storyline that reacts to the events of the world around them, and their place within it. Our stories are definitely not appropriate for children, but are laced with dark humour, hope, and even a spot of redemption.

Features
In We Happy Few, you will experience:

a procedurally generated world, meaning that everyone’s experience will be unique,
a range of difficulties for new and experienced players alike,
permadeath, if you want to satisfy all your masochistic needs,
three modes: sandbox, story and Wellie mode,
a unique soundtrack, and
a fully voiced, cinematic, first person story.

And you can play it in your own style:

fill your basic needs (hunger, thirst, and sleep) to survive,
learn how to interact with the other members of your society, and choose stealth, conformity or combat,
encounter dozens of in-game unique events,
conform to the specific local habits by learning to behave accordingly, and taking your Joy,
collect recipes, scavenge items and craft dozens of weapons, tools and devices,
fight with your bare hands or the crazy weapons you create,
watch out for traps, or learn how to use them to your advantage.


Note: not all of these features will be available during Early Access! They will become available as we develop them, leading up to the full release of the game.




Polygon preview - http://www.polygon.com/features/2016/5/ ... mpressions




Last edited by Monkey Man on Thu Apr 04, 2019 10:04 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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The Watching Artist
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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out 26th July on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by The Watching Artist » Mon Jun 13, 2016 11:27 pm

Probably the only thing so far that has me intrigued.

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Monkey Man
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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Monkey Man » Tue Jul 26, 2016 3:29 pm

Out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access, has a free trial.




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Photek
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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Photek » Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:31 pm

Gonna buy it at the weekend, woohoo bank holiday mondehs.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Trelliz » Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:33 pm

I read the stuff about having to get food and water and I'm out. I'm not playing a stick-and-rock game regardless of how pretty and beguiling the visuals are. In these games you always have the metabolism of a Cheetah and have to eat every 20 minutes or keel over dead. If someone mods it so that those things either aren't an issue or are more realistic then I might be in, otherwise no thanks.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Photek » Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:36 pm

I'm glad its a survival sim, also glad its in preview cos players shape how the game will continue to update. I've had a blast playing The Long Dark, every month there's a new update and area to explore.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Buffalo » Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:13 pm

Way to totally ruin your own game. Yet another survival game, goddamn.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Knoyleo » Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:34 pm

Buffalo wrote:Way to totally ruin your own game. Yet another survival game, goddamn.

Hasn't this always had survival elements?

I was pretty intrigued by this from the E3 trailer, (aside from the obviously English characters using American terms like "candy",) and £22 seems pretty reasonable. I've got a few quid in my Steam wallet, so I'll probably give it a go when I get back home.

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by The Watching Artist » Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:54 pm

Knoyleo wrote:
Buffalo wrote:Way to totally ruin your own game. Yet another survival game, goddamn.

Hasn't this always had survival elements?

Yes. E3 was the first I'd seen of this and ended up watching some footage of someone playing from before E3. Its a survival sim, you eat, drink and sleep etc. You work your way through stages with each area being procedurally generated. You progress each stage by completing quests/crafting important items. How easy this is depends a lot on what the area is like when generated. The stages/areas seemed to have different a different social class which ties into the story of the world.

The E3 trailer made it look much more Action/Adventure then it actually is.Looked rather dull to me, at least compared to what was in my head. Still intrigued by it as the themes really stand out but wont touch it till its actually finished.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Knoyleo » Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:26 pm

Videogamer have an hour long livestream of this up on YouTube:


pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Buffalo » Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:04 pm

Knoyleo wrote:
Buffalo wrote:Way to totally ruin your own game. Yet another survival game, goddamn.

Hasn't this always had survival elements?


Oh really? I've missed something quite vital here, then :fp: It's putting me off it now. Procedurally generated as well, somehow? What the...

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by more heat than light » Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:06 am

I think given the aesthetic and that E3 trailer it's easy to mistake this as the next Bioshock, when in reality it's something very different indeed. That price is too high for me for an unfinished game but I'm definitely intrigued.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by CuriousOyster » Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:38 pm

Downloading the free trial of this for tonight. Really like the sound of it (despite food, water etc apparently running too low too quickly) never dabbled with survival games like that much so if I like the trial i'll pay the £23.99 for early access. Just to confirm, the price also covers the full game when it comes out dosen't it? i.e they basically keep updating it to the full thing?

Was looking on their forums, they expect it to be in early access for 6-7 months for those interested.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Knoyleo » Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:35 am

Unsurprisingly, this is buggy as strawberry float at the moment, but, I think the game looks pretty promising, provided they can iron out most of the existing problems.

The biggest issue so far is how fast the game time runs. Days are short, and as a consequence, you burn through hunger/thirst/tiredness meters very quickly. Thankfully the quests or errands you get given to complete are usually pretty short, or broken into several short stages for the main quests, so there's usually room to get a few done between having to seek out a bed, etc.

The similarities to Bioshock remain throught the gameplay, although it's obviously not a shooter. Most of what you're doing is objective driven, and although it's procedurally generated, you're driven into set pieces, that you're free to approach as you see fit. Most quests seem to consist of "find situation, fetch or craft part needed, maybe fight someone, return and install or use part, progress". The crafting is a good feature, and it makes rummaging through every container feel like a desperate and necessary act, rather than just a time consuming way of hiding materials required for progression. The big issue in that regard, especially when combined with the game timer, is that the game doesn't pause when you're in menu. I wanted to pick up a cricket bat as a weapon, and because the inventory is based on a fixed size grid, I needed to open it up, and rearrange items so I had a space of 2x3 square open to put it in. Fine at the time, even if it took a few in game hours, (as I didn't actually know what size the bat was going to take up in the inventory at first, I had to guess,) but if you're in a fight, and want to grab something, that's going to be a real frustration. As is having to run all the way back to the safehouse to stash and retrieve items. I can see inventory management being a major issue as you get on, especially as there's a pretty wide variety of items that do similar things. There are umpteen variants of rotten food that will restore some health, but make you vomit if you don't have pills. Have 6 hunks of rotten meat? They stack and take up one block of inventory space. Have six different bits of rotting food? They'll take up six inventory slots. Hip flasks for water stack when they are all full or all empty, but presumably it would be possible to get yourself into a situation where you can take a swig from a flask you were carrying comfortably a minute ago, only to find you now have no room to carry the empty flask, because it won't stack any more with the other full ones. As the game encourages you to grab hold of everything, it needs to either expand storage, do away with the shape puzzle inventory management, or reduce the number of items or restrict them to certain categories. All rotten food stacks together, for example, rather than having 10 rotten onions take up the same space as one rotten berry. NPCs are kind of lifeless, repeating the same lines over and over, and dropping anything they were doing the moment you press E to interact, but hopefully they'll be fleshed out before full release.

Other than the bugs and those few irritations, though, it's pretty good fun. The brief quest lengths means you constantly feel like you're progressing, and with any luck, the different layout of the game each time will give it a lot of replay value. I'm looking forward to seeing how it changes in the future, at least.

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Photek » Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:48 pm

MS gave me back €40 For being such a crazy bastard buying games digitally so I got Stardew Valley and We Happy Few which just received a huge update, it's 9/10 on steam at mo.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Cheeky Devlin » Thu Dec 15, 2016 12:22 am

This was one of those games that I loved the look of at E3. Then it later turned out to be another "Survival Crafting" game and my interest evaporated almost immediately.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by Monkey Man » Thu Dec 15, 2016 2:20 am



Hi all,

It has been three months since our last game update and we are excited to announce that the wait is finally over! Today we are releasing the Clockwork Update on both PC and Xbox One!

We created a video which introduces the new changes present in the update. For a more detailed list of the changes, head down below to the patch notes!

This update introduces a number of technical systems that we’ll explain more below. We also address the disconnect between the intro and the beginning of the game by implementing a new shelter, which shows how Arthur got to where he is. There are also too many bug fixes to list, but we have listed a few of the major ones below.

We hope that this will provide a much higher quality experience to all players out there, and will allow us to focus more on new content and better gameplay moving forward.

PSA: Please be aware that due to the wholesale quest/save system changes, previous save games are incompatible.

Under The Hood

• Quest state system: Every encounter/quest in the game is now built using a new quest state system. This system changes quest tracking from a scripting-based system to a code based system, where the game knows at all times exactly where you are in any given quest. This makes it much simpler for us to create encounters, and also much more reliable. We no longer need to have complicated scripts tracking save/quest/item situations, and instead can focus more on gameplay and making cool things.

• Improved save/load: The quest state system also ties into a new save system, which should allow for much more robust saving. Please keep in mind that when you load a game you may find Arthur on a bench reading a paper. Likewise there are some areas (eg the Mystery House) where you will no longer be able to save, as to do otherwise allows exploits and errors when completing encounters.

• Faster save/load times: As a consequence of the new quest state/save systems, autosaving is now significantly faster, and loading is faster too.

• Conversation mode: When talking with an encounter NPC (eg someone with specific dialogue and purpose, rather than the systemic NPCs), you will now enter conversation mode. Little black bars will come down around you, and you will effectively be isolated from the outside world while you talk to them. This means we can place better animation with the VO, and quest givers can’t be interrupted by other NPCs, or you, or them. Aka, the game won’t lose the plot as much any more, and it’ll be slightly better more cinematic.

• Puppet system: NPCs can now have highly scripted behaviour, instead of their normal systemic behaviour. The puppet system allows us to remove their systemic brains and give them specific actions to do, rather than having the two systems fight (which led to all manner of crazy gooseberry fool).

• Consistent map marker behaviour: Map markers should now be reliable and operate consistently. When you see an encounter, you will see an encounter marker to let you know that something is over there. Once you are given the first stage of the quest, you will have encounter markers telling you where to go.

• Improvements to manual quest tracking and map markers.

Encounters

• New shelter! Arthur now has a new starting shelter, which provides a cleaner and more streamlined introduction to the basics of crafting and combat.

• Refactored encounters: The following encounters have been refactored by re-implementing them with the new puppet, conversation and quest state systems:

If You Give a Pig a Pancake
Mushroom Log
Looks Like Rain
Biological Hazard
Fine Cuisine
It's A Terrible Life
Crazy Legs
Lovebirds
Blood in the Streets
House of Faraday
Walkabout
Moon Juice Leech
Campfire
Lilies of the Field
Bees
OD Wellie
Record Location 1
Record Location 3
Altar of the Yam
The Dollhouse
Cult of Jack
Hallucinogenic Salad
Wounded Wastrel
Mine! Mine! All Mine!
Bring Out Your Dead
Where's the Power
Public Works
Shibboleth
The Vandals Took the Handle
Altar of the Yam
Mystery House
Popped Popper
• Improved realization: Along the way, the following encounters have had their realization dramatically improved, by introducing better animation, better VO, better tool tips, better art, and/or working map markers:

Mysterious Chest
Mystery House
Doll House
Fine Cuisine
Biological Hazard
OD Wellie
Public Works
Mushroom Log
It's a Terrible Life
Where's the Power?
Walkabout
First Marriage
Hallucinogenic Salad
Green Thumb
Altar of the Yam
If You Give a Pig a Pancake
TV Altar
Campfire
Crazy Legs
House of Faraday
Popped Popper
Moon Juice Leech
• All encounters should now be completable.

• Faraday should no longer be capable of blocking your progression. This is so important that it deserves its own line in these notes.

• The House of Curious Behaviours and the bridges have not been refactored, but will be next time.

• Tea Time and Lovebirds have been removed for now, because they were not good enough. We will rebuild them. Better. Faster. Stronger.

• The can of grapefruit juice in White Tree Park can now be picked up.

Environments

• The houses in the Village of Hamlyn have been dramatically improved.

• Additional house variations in the Village are available.

• Village houses now have exterior signs to add a little bit more happiness to the environment.

• Archways and other decorative elements have been added to the Village.

Animation

• Integration of “Turn in Place” animations. In certain AI states, the NPC will play an animation to face the player instead of sliding.

• New corpse interaction animations for picking up, dropping and throwing corpses.

• Added interaction animations for trap controls when using the trap disarm tool and polarity device.

• More talking animations for encounters. Mostly to fit new initial postures, like sitting on the ground, sitting on benches, laying down, etc.

• Improved sitting animations for certain NPCs. They now pull the chair out and slide it back in.

Allows us to compact the chairs and tables closer to each other for more room around these objects.

• New two-handed combat animations for NPCs for cricket bats, shovels, etc.

• Added down-to-up melee animations for the player, for more variation with one-handed weapons.

• New base animations for plagued wastrels (walking, idle, etc).

UI/HUD

• Throw/Drop corpse interactions switched.

• Aim acceleration settings are now saved.

Gameplay

• NPCs now have a very short delay window between when you walk into their line of sight, and when they notice you. This means stealth is now more forgiving, and more viable.

• Histoplasma mushrooms now have a (temp!) visual effect, and are required to enter certain areas. Take a look around for clues.

• The Advanced Electro Lock Shocker should now operate on any lower tier objects.

• The materials required to craft certain items have been generally reduced.

Bug Fixes

• Low spec PCs should no longer crash every 10-15 minutes.

• Various crash fixes.

• Floor materials have been mostly corrected across the entire game, so the correct footstep sounds should occur.

• Too many quest/encounter bugs fixed to list here. At this point, we have very few known bugs that block progression, and some minor ones relating to animation etc.

• The game should no longer reset to day 1 randomly.

• Looted pickups no longer reappear after save/load.

• It is now safe to place items in containers other than the personal safe.

• Items dropped on ground will be deleted after save load.

• The final island now always appears.


Thanks for tuning in!

Compulsion Team

http://compulsiongames.com/en/news/101/ ... ork-update

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by samoza » Thu Dec 15, 2016 11:29 am

I played it for about ten minutes and then had to open some boxes and it was all RPG esque and it was a no from me. Things like this and The Escapist are just not my bag. I thought games were meant to be fun, not trying to recreate Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I already spend enough time doing that in real life.

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by OrangeRKN » Thu Dec 15, 2016 11:36 am

Just checked this thread for the first time after seeing the E3 trailer way back, and I'm completely baffled that this is an open-access survival game. The trailer convinced me it would be a linear, story driven action-adventure that you'd expect to come in around 6 hours, and I was interested.

Now I'm not :(

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PostRe: We Happy Few (XB1/PC) - out now on Xbox Game Preview/Steam Early Access
by _/\_YUNGSTAR_/\_ » Thu Dec 15, 2016 12:15 pm

Like many, I was in after the E3 showing. Sadly the game turned into not something I liked once outside.

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