Talk:Outer Wilds

DYK nomination

{{Did you know nominations/Outer Wilds}} czar ⨹ 16:30, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Other endings

Shouldn't the other endings from the game be added? I think it's an important detail. Ronsiv8 (talk) 08:31, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Regarding spoilers

As part of the culture around the game, this is a game you really, really would not want to be spoiled on, or at least only have minimal hints about the details of the game. Should this article make note of how heavily the plot details matter to the experience of the game? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Echonioni (talk • contribs) 11:58, 7 November 2021 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not hide spoilers. As long as it is from material available to anyone that owns the game, WP is free to include material about it. --Masem (t) 13:29, 7 November 2021 (UTC)

Cover Art

Just a note that this appears to be the art associated with the alpha version of the game circa 2015, rather than the actual launch version as published by Annapurna in 2019 and should probably be updated to reflect the actual game. Was this intentional? If not, would probably suggest someone look into this. 100.8.88.71 (talk) 01:08, 10 December 2021 (UTC)

Looking at the current image's page on Commons, it's poster art that was released on a CC license by creator Alex Beachum. While we could upload and use the copyrighted cover art with a fairly straightforward fair use claim, I think we should prefer the use of the most free option. Firefangledfeathers 02:24, 10 December 2021 (UTC)

Neither Mobius nor Annapurna would ever try and go after the cover art of a wikipedia page. I feel like having the more updated cover art would be more representative of the game. Especially considering there are zero screenshots or art from the completed version of the game; the only two images are both alpha. I feel like the article is less truthful and informative with zero images of the released game. I am considering adding more screenshots (I would definitely say to keep the old cover art in the article, but not as the "main" image) but I am curious what others have to say first. OboTheHobo (talk) 06:03, 9 February 2022 (UTC)

I also agree that we should be using the final version of the cover art as that's more definitive of the game than an alpha version from half a decade ago. ~ Dissident93 ^(talk) 19:47, 10 February 2022 (UTC)

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Outer Wilds/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: A412 (talk · contribs) 21:59, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

I'll do this one. ~ A412 ^talk! 21:59, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

• Done! Very close to just passing. While I've tried to highlight anything I think is optional, feel free to push back on any suggestions you don't feel improve the article. ~ A412 ^talk! 05:32, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

References

As of this revision.

Spotcheck

• [1] - Checks out.
• [6] - This appears to now be at [1]. I'm not sure what The Hatchling also has a signalscope, which can be used to scan for the source of signals including radio frequencies and other Hearthians playing music is referencing, as the article mentions neither radio frequencies nor music.

• Swapped out for another source, and removed the specific signals- can't find an RS that explicitly says that you can hear both music and radio frequencies. --PresN 16:31, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

• [11] - Checks out, but GA optional: would you mind citing page numbers? The source is 28 pages long. I think you're citing either page 14 or 17 the first time, and page 13 the second time, but it's long enough it's hard to be sure.

• Done. --PresN 16:31, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

• [16] - Checks out.
• [21] - Checks out.
• [26] - Checks out.
• [31] - Checks out.
• [36] - Checks out.
• [41] - I don't have access to Edge December 2020 to check, but is "games of the generation" equivalent to "decade"? According to this random source, this was from 2013 and onwards.

• Appears to be so- I'd kept that wording from prior to my overhaul. Added or "best games of the console generation". --PresN 16:31, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

• [46] - Checks out.
• [51] - Checks out.
• [56] - Checks out.
• [61] - Checks out.

RS

• GA optional, but per WP:DUE, it'd be preferable to have something besides primary sources for some of the released products, in particular [22] for the standalone PS4 edition, [25][26] for the soundtrack release, and [30][31][32] for the expansion soundtrack are all primary.

• Will look. --PresN 16:31, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

• Everything else checks out.

CV

• Earwig returns 32% to [2]. It's almost certainly copied without attribution from Wikipedia though. First archive is December 2022, and with the wording from the lead circa mid 2022.

• Yeah, wow, that's not an official site, looks like a print-on-demand thing generated from a template. They definitely lifted from WP. I guess Mobius Digital doesn't go aggressively looking to sue copyright infringers. --PresN 16:33, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

• Nothing else concerning.

OR

• No uncited content besides plot, which is okay.

Images

• Infobox: checks out.
• Gameplay: I don't love relying on the provenance of an image from a medium blog, but I think it's fine.

• Yeah, unfortunately none of the press pack screenshots had the spacesuit UI, which I thought was important to include. --PresN 16:31, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

• Concept art: checks out.

Lead

• First paragraph
  • Consider linking planetary system for solar system, and I wonder if that's the more accurate term to avoid confusion with the Solar System.
    • Done (and changed all other instances of "solar system"
• Second paragraph
  • won the the Excellence in Design -> won the Excellence in Design
    • Done
• Third paragraph
  • An expansion which explores further themes within the same game world and mechanics - Unclear grouping of and mechanics, did you mean that the expansion explores further mechanics, or that it explores further themes within the same mechanics?
    • Scrapped and rewrote
  • and won and was nominated for multiple categories at award shows - awkward. I think and was nominated for and won is the more natural ordering. Alternatively, it might be less important that it was also nominated for other awards, and we can collapse this sentence to and won in multiple categories at award shows, including the game of the year award at the 16th British Academy Games Awards.
    • Done

• Infobox
  • Pet peeve: Avimaan Syam and Sarah Scialli, as well as the game being in Unity, are currently mentioned in the infobox only.
    • Removed

Gameplay

• First paragraph
  • Same planetary system comment from lead.
    • Done
  • A downloadable content expansion to the game, Echoes of the Eye, adds additional locations and mysteries to the game. - I think it's implicit that the DLC is for the game, and we can deduplicate the game by going with A downloadable content expansion, Echoes of the Eye, adds additional locations and mysteries to the game.
    • Done
• Third paragraph
  • an exaggerated system Newtonian physics -> an exaggerated system of Newtonian physics
    • Done
• Fourth paragraph
  • that the player has found so far while playing the game - I think while playing the game is implicit and can go.
    • Done
  • dialoge -> dialog or dialogue
    • Done --PresN 20:11, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

Plot

• First paragraph
  • Consider linking black hole and comet.
    • Done
• Fourth paragraph
  • Refers to the station as the Sun Station for the first time; I think it'd be better to introduce it by that name in the previous paragraph.
    • Done
  • Heat death of the universe was a fairly surprising link target for end of the universe, ultimate fate of the universe may be more natural, or just don't link it.
    • Unlinked
• Fifth paragraph
  • "the Stranger" looks extremely weird, would the "Stranger" or just the Stranger unquoted be better?
    • Unquoted
• Seventh paragraph
  • Consider linking telepathy for telepathic.
    • Done

Development

• Consider titling the section Development and release
  • Done
• Third paragraph
  • as well as honorable mention - there seems to be a word missing before honorable mention, although I can't find what fits.
    • reworded
  • Optional comment: I clicked through to Fig and there's both more information on the Outer Wilds campaign there we could probably integrate, as well as a source that contradicts the $100,000 number, with [3] giving $125,000.
    • Done
• Fourth paragraph
  • was pushed out from 2016 to launching in 2018 - bit awkward as the "development timeline" doesn't have a year per se, suggestion: was pushed out, delaying the planned launch from 2016 to 2018
    • Done
  • Outer Wilds was released on PC and Xbox One on May 28, 2019 - Infobox gives May 29, 2019 for Xbox One. Which is correct?
    • Confusingly, some sources say the 29th or 30th was the planned date, but Mobius says they both launched on the 28th and that would be the normal practice for a publisher like Annapurna so I'll stick with that in prose and infobox.
• Fifth paragraph
  • player-character - Consistently hyphenate or consistently don't hyphenate
    • Done
  • not find shortcuts they would see later - something feels off about the tense of this phrase, but I don't have a specific suggestion.
    • Reworded
• Sixth paragraph
  • she used strongly defined personalities having a conversation - used feels like the wrong verb. Suggestion: she wrote conversations between strongly defined personalities
    • Done
  • "conversation" - does this need to be quoted in its second appearance?
    • Done
• Eighth paragraph
  • eye of the universe - I think this was capitalized earlier
    • Done
  • Consider linking horror game
    • Done
• Ninth paragraph
  • The elements of "breaking" the simulation were added to replace the three locks on the Prisoner's cage - Have these locks been previously introduced?
    • Plot says "unlock the vault's three seals and open it"; changed here to also be seals
• Tenth paragraph
  • Consider linking Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast for Pacific Northwest Native American instead of Pacific Northwest
    • Done
  • supported by the game is probably implicit
    • Done

Reception

• Video game reviews template
  • Per the template documentation, star ratings should be converted to numerical ones.
    • Done
• First paragraph
  • It was ranked as one of the top 30 games of 2019 by aggregated score for Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 - I'm unclear what this is referring to.
    • Reworded.
• Second paragraph
  • "pocket watch" - I think this doesn't need to be quoted.
    • Done
• Fifth paragraph
  • Gamespot, in turn - I think in turn implies a causal connection between this review and the previous one.
    • Done
• Sixth paragraph
  • After release, it was nominated for multiple categories at several awards - either for several awards or at several award shows
    • Done. --PresN 17:45, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

Good Article review progress box Criteria: 1a. prose () 1b. MoS () 2a. ref layout () 2b. cites WP:RS () 2c. no WP:OR () 2d. no WP:CV () 3a. broadness () 3b. focus () 4. neutral () 5. stable () 6a. free or tagged images () 6b. pics relevant () Note: this represents where the article stands relative to the Good Article criteria. Criteria marked are unassessed

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Can you use game info as a reference?

According to https://outerwilds.fandom.com/wiki/Sun_Station direct quote from the game says the Sun Station was deactivated 281,042 years from when the game takes place, and the Interloper just reached the Solar System just as it failed, so the Nomai died approximately that long ago or slightly less from time taken for the Interloper to release ghost matter, and that could be used instead of "A long time later"?
Also should the number of loops/how long the Orbital Probe Cannon took to find the Eye be mentioned? 9,318,054 according to the fandom quote. 9,318,054*22 minutes each = 204997188 minutes of loops. Divide this by 60 for that many hours, 3416619.8 hours, convert that 0.8 back into minutes gives 3416619 hours and 48 minutes, then (with 24 hour days) 142359.125 days, 48 mins, convert back, 142359 days, 3 hours, 48 mins, into years (divide 365 off days) is 390.024657534 years, 3 hours, 48 mins, or in total, 390 years, ~9 days (8.99999991), 3 hours, 48 mins of loops. Luckysticks121 (talk) 11:58, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

While interesting, both of these are too overdetailed for the article- they're random numbers that don't add to the readers' understanding (especially since the scale in the game is nonsensical, so the idea that the Hearthians evolved sentience and a civilization in ~280,000 years just adds confusion. --PresN 13:02, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

2 additional video references

I've found 2 videos that might be useful in the development section (or else as external links/furhter reading). The Art of Outer Wilds | Unity Creator Spotlight discusses various graphical effects in the game. It's pretty technical but might be useful. Sparking Curiosity-Driven Exploration Through Narrative in 'Outer Wilds' is a GDC talk about narrative design. It's been a while since I watched them and both are fairly long, so I'm not sure exactly where they'd be best used, but both involve Mobius staff. (Also, I find it a bit odd that the game being built on Unity isn't mentioned anywhere in the article, not even in the infobox; the game's need to work around engine limitations that wouldn't apply to most games (e.g. the player technically being the center of the world to avoid floating point issues, per 31:49 on the noclip documentary, and also everything with spheres versus normal flat worlds) is fairly impressive.) --Pokechu22 (talk) 00:33, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

Unity isn't mentioned because at this point roughly half of all games made with non-in-house engines are made in Unity. The Unity video was too technical for the article, but I'll re-check the GDC talk. --PresN 01:31, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

That Outer Wilds didn't need an in-house engine but still needed to customize a lot of functionality still seems worth mentioning (e.g. in the Unity video, at 14:05, they talk about how spherical worlds are not something with much engine support, and at 1:56:50 where they talk about how EotE required them to implement a custom lighting system so that they can have dark areas because they can't bake lighting the normal way since everything is moving). I found a Game Developer article about engine prominence and it seems like even in 2019, Unity was pretty prominent, though less than it is today, so you're right about that. Pokechu22 (talk) 02:29, 20 August 2024 (UTC)