💾 Archived View for gemini.ctrl-c.club › ~fsan › 2021 › barotrauma.gmi captured on 2024-02-05 at 10:20:45. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-03)
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Barotrauma is a game about operating a submarine in one of jupiter's moon.
The submarine has multiple systems that need to be kept in working order, I won't list them all since I don't want to bore you but the crucial part is that you don't design these systems, you don't get to choose where the fission reactor is and you don't get to tell the submarine designer that maybe, just maybe, having the ammunition really far away from the ammunition loaders ain't the best idea!
You are tasked with operating and mantaining a system you didn't design, where you can easily spot the flaws or tiny mistakes that make mantainance a hassle so you start developing workarounds, you keep a diving suit next to your workplace since you know that when the reactor blows you will be the nearest person able to fix the hull and stop the flooding, you place the medic next to the top guns since the gunner takes to long to run from the bottom periscopes to the top ones, etc.
The most important part is that one player takes the role of captain! The captain has a tiny status monitor which feeds him information about the air quality, water levels and hull integrity of each room, they also pilot the submarine and use the sonar to avoid rocks and alert of monster attacks (yes this game has monster, forgot to mention it) so it falls on the captain to make most of the calls with his limited and incomplete information. Like a deranged Scrum Master he will shout "Someone to the periscopes" without knowing that the medic is healing someone's broken leg, "We need more power" without knowing that the reactor is operating on it's last fuel rod, "Monster breach in ballast tank B" without knowing that the intern, the player who didn't play the tutorial, will try to handle it and get mauled in the process.
Of course this isn't the fault of any player in particular, each player is just trying to mantain their respective area working correctly while the captain shouts his orders, everyone of them understaffed and underequipped.
That's why I say the game is the true sysadmin experience, everything is on fire, the intern just deleted a backup and a giant monster, best represented by the head of the sales department, is banging on your door to demand an explanation.
Great game, if you are able to get 5-8 friends online on a friday night then play it.