Post by: King Zultan on April 10, 2018, 07:02:48 am
So, just tell us the name of the game you are playing and maybe what you are doing in the game.
Post by: AlStar on April 10, 2018, 08:58:28 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Otherwise, I've been playing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds with a bunch of people from one of the other forums that I hang out at. Actually managed to win a round last night... although I'm not sure how much I actually contributed to that, since the end-game stats showed that I didn't actually manage to hit anyone. I mostly acted as the teams' bullet-riddled canary:
"Hey, where do you think the other players are?"
"I don't know - let's see where AlStar gets shot at from this time."
Good times.
Post by: sambojin on April 10, 2018, 09:28:07 am
But hey, I've got a reputation to uphold (in a semi-dead, but very free-to-play game. Admittedly, I just like smashing noobs and being an arsehole, sometimes, during my morning coffee).
Post by: Telgin on April 10, 2018, 09:32:35 am
I just beat the original Spyro and I'm currently on Donkey Kong 64. After playing the two back-to-back, I have to say that it's both interesting to see games from this era from a modern perspective without nostalgia, and also a bit of an eye opener in good and bad game design choices.
Post by: Rince Wind on April 10, 2018, 10:18:32 am
There is just so much stuff. And it manages the "underdogs in a world in which the aliens won" a lot better than XCom2 (which I really enjoyed). Even after you research armor that is better than what most enemies wear and have weapons to deal with most enemies, when a lot of missions are optional because all you get is some points, little money and a few potential slaves it manages to stay interesting. Some enemies will always be a threat.
You can also tame werewolves and use them to fight for you, that alone makes it the awesome.
Post by: King Zultan on April 10, 2018, 10:26:09 am
Post by: Felissan on April 10, 2018, 10:28:48 am
There's a weekly competition this evening, so I'm training on its map pool. I don't have any expectations since I'm fairly new to this specific game, but trying to semi-consistently get clean runs on technical maps made by high-level players is a nice learning experience, compared to the more gimmicky solo campaign.
Post by: nenjin on April 10, 2018, 10:29:30 am
Anyways, on a big Warhammer Fantasy kick. A friend bought me Total Warhammer 1 & 2, been playing the crap out of those. Really enjoying my Beastman playthrough.
Also playing Vermintide 2 because it just came out. Another great GWS Fantasy title. Between TW2 and VT2, I'm really starting to fall in love with Warhammer Fantasy again. 40k has supplanted it for me for years because the fiction is so much more interesting in 40k...but get a good Fantasy computer game and the flavor really, really comes across.
Post by: Pancakes on April 10, 2018, 11:14:51 am
Also been playing quite a lot of Rainbow Six Siege and Ravenfield.
Post by: Flying Carcass on April 10, 2018, 12:23:51 pm
With my Sylvan deck I've made it to lv19 (out of 20) for the current stage in the KC Cup event currently going on and have been collecting gems I've been putting towards finishing my Metamorphosed Insect Queen deck by collecting Pinch Hoppers to help special summon it. Finished preparing that deck last night, looking forward to taking it into pvp.
Post by: JimboM12 on April 10, 2018, 02:39:42 pm
pay money for entertainment? ha, i think not. through grind and shrewd trading, i have most everything i want in all games.
i have a semi complete templar summoner build (i have the skill gems and the summoning passives but not the gear and i know its not the most efficient but its fun) in PoE.
i got lucky one summer and got the NS11 Platinum rifle code for my vanu acct. i also maxed the meditool and repair tools. i spent some certs tricking out my default guns for each class, except not as much for infiltrator (ive never been good at stealth). PS2
and I've collected all the BPs to make a vauban prime but nitrain comes slow. I also founded a new clan with some friends (The FailClan and the Fail Alliance, all are welcome to join either if you have a solo clan you don't want to let go)
im gonna take a 2 week vacation during the summer cuz i certainly wont be able to after october, it's all booked up! and well, we see what im gonna do during that time, lol. though, maybe i'll spice it up with some tinder dates as well.
Post by: Damiac on April 10, 2018, 03:04:08 pm
I can't even remember the last time I actually wanted to talk to the NPCs in a game to see what they have to say about my actions. Deux Ex certainly never grabbed me that way. All the bethesda games, all the final fantasy games, I try to make myself follow the story but generally I just get bored and want to get back into the action. It doesn't help when the lore is all peppered with a million made up terms specifically for this game (Looking at you FF13!) I can't be bothered to remember what the 2 varieties of stupid crystal people were called in that game, but the game clearly expected me to. Bethesda isn't as bad that way, but their games suffer badly in the dialog department. Yeah, they write reams and reams of text, but the writing is generally really stupid.
Post by: Folly on April 10, 2018, 04:36:51 pm
In FFBE, a recent event involved giving away free gatcha pulls each day with high rates, which got me several strong new units and prompted me to invest some time towards leveling and gearing them. I was happy to find that those units could effectively clear the live event monster, so I farmed all the items from that. When that event ended, I began studying and clearing the endgame boss monsters, earning lots of new powerful equipment from each victory. I worked through about half of those bosses before another event began, and now I'm focusing my resources on that. Just today I found a generous person on some forums who was offering his friend unit which is capable of soloing the 3-Star Ifrit fight; I took him up on the offer and got my first 3-Star Esper, yay! In doing the daily missions I was also prompted to complete story exploration maps each day, so I've been doing the maps I needed to find Vault Keys. I now have about 80% of the keys collected, and once I find them all I can do a quest to earn an accessory that will make the wearer 100% less likely to be targeted, effectively making one of my dps or support units immune to single-target attacks while other units are alive; I'm sure I can find a use for that.
In Unison League, my clan leader recent recruited some powerful new members, which left me feeling lacking in gear score and prompted me to push myself higher and try to catch up. I grinded out the main story quests to the end of the first season, and in doing so unlocked the 3 extra classes, Treasure Hunter, Berserker, and Rook. I switched my main class from Lancer to Berserker. I'm loving the boost to damage output, though I do miss being able to break enemy defenses. I also invested pretty heavily in the recent Fairy Tail collaboration, burning about 150 gems, which is a lot for a free-to-play. At the end of the event I had 2 Erza's and 3 Lucy's to show for my efforts, which were good upgrades from my old monsters. I also got a new spear which doesn't synergize well with Berserker class, but still has better stats than any of my current axes or scythes. I'm now working on farming blue orbs to reforge the Lucy's so I can combine them, and also burning my stockpile of Proficiency keys to unlock the shared bonuses from the Rook and Treasure Hunter trees.
My remaining time is split between Vermintide 2 and Fortnite on PC, and Ni No Kuni 2 on PS4.
Vermintide is great fun, though I now have 4 heroes at level 30 with fully 300-power gear. As enjoyable as the frantic action is, there's not much progression left, aside from the tiny chance at getting red equipment.
Fortnite, the current event season is quickly coming to an end, and I've gotten all of the items I really wanted from it. There's still a few unique hero skins I wouldn't mind grabbing, but each requires a lot of grinding and I just have too much other stuff to do atm. I'll probably get into this more heavily when the new event season starts.
Ni No Kuni 2 has a lot of exploration and fun boss fights, and city management stuff. It's nothing particularly original or unique, just a solid all around game that I'm gradually getting through when I can find the time.
Post by: nenjin on April 10, 2018, 06:34:18 pm
Quote
Vermintide is great fun, though I now have 4 heroes at level 30 with fully 300-power gear. As enjoyable as the frantic action is, there's not much progression left, aside from the tiny chance at getting red equipment.
Same ultimate problem as VT1 I suppose. I'm still in pursuit of overall mastery....but with just one character at 30, I really only play it when friends are playing it. The drive to play solo is gone. If it were a $60 game or even a $40 game, I might have buyer's remorse. But the price point is right for what I paid. Interested to see what the DLC brings. Those guys should really just make a full fledged Warhammer RPG out of it, rather than the pure L4D + gear grind model. I'd play that.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on April 10, 2018, 07:12:09 pm
Also... not sure whether I should also do an alternative run as Alette one of these times... there are mixed signals on whether Rook or Alette's is the better story line.
Post by: Aoi on April 10, 2018, 07:20:29 pm
It's basically a mobile battle royale game, familiar to anybody who knows Battle Royale, Hunger Games, Btooom!, etc. PUBG from what I gather, but I'm unfamiliar with it. Menu based, move from region to region trying to craft up equipment, restoratives, traps, then hunt down everybody else (not necessarily in that order). Assuming you don't die, most matches end around 25-35 minutes, and I think there's a hard timer of approximately 45 minutes (though that'd be really weird-- for the last 5 minutes or so, you'd be trapped in a single map with nothing to do but beat on the other survivors until only one remains... and if that somehow doesn't happen, then the area should be flagged out of bounds and everybody gets executed).
Post by: sambojin on April 10, 2018, 08:16:25 pm
It gets pretty grindy later on, because there's SO much to research, but I loved the early game combat. There's nothing more satisfying than flamethrowers and hammer gals, backed up by a few explosive cannonballs for fire support. Xcom original actually does melee pretty well when it's the focus, while the variety of weapons later on keeps it interesting. Also, a great take on the armour system, with plenty of playstyles available for when you're getting bored of arrow lobbing or sniping everything.
Totally recommend the mod to any Xcom fan.
Post by: Ultimuh on April 10, 2018, 08:45:02 pm
Sim settlements basically lets you put down plots for NPCs to build their own stuff. Think of it as Sim City in Fallout.
And Rise of the Commonwealth automates settlement building even further.
Post by: Orb on April 10, 2018, 09:57:45 pm
Got to stay in tip top shape, it's tournament season.
If anyone was wondering, openRA is an open source version of Red Alert.
Post by: Mech#4 on April 11, 2018, 12:45:29 am
They're a lot of fun, but old RPGs are very unforgiving and what with all the checking back through the manual for item stats and journel entries it wears me down after a while. "Pool of Radiance" has a battle early on where your party of ~level 3 characters has to fight 2 Ogres and 3-4 trolls. That's not even mentioning the propensity for the game to cause massive brawls to break out whenever you go into a tavern.
I also had a bug occur when I was selling gear where my stack of ~5 jewerly flipped into a massive mound of 65535 jewelry. I reloaded simply because I was unable to carry anything else, especially after trying to convert it all into platinum pieces.
I'm now having a break from Pool of Radiance to play "Eye of the Beholder". It's much more user friendly and the graphics are nicer but there's no auto map so I keep getting lost in these same-wall sewers. I never was that much of a fan of 1st person dungeon crawlers but, eh, I'll live.
@Orb: Ooo, OpenRA seems interesting. I'll have to give it a try.
Post by: sambojin on April 11, 2018, 08:52:46 am
Post by: deathpunch578 on April 11, 2018, 12:26:20 pm
ended up killing the second boss in the dumbest way possible.
so for a little bit I was being attacked by the head hunter (accidentally killed a guard while using the group style) and was saving up coin to pay him off. by the time the second boss fight happens he spawns in and I pay him off, he then is targeted by most of the monsters and the boss, the head hunter swings his sword once and kills the boss and every single monster in the arena. so I may have found a possible speed run tactic
Post by: Biowraith on April 11, 2018, 01:54:37 pm
Now I'm finding myself lacking motivation for a serious stab at any of my games, so I've ended up just cycling through short stints on my various Grim Dawn characters (of which I have so many I'm not making much progress on any of them) while I wait for Battletech to release. I'd probably be playing some Titan Quest too, if the guy that Steam-friend-requested me to ask if I wanted to play co-op would ever actually play.
Post by: Levi on April 11, 2018, 04:57:04 pm
I've been pretty entertained by both. I don't normally get early access games, but my roommate was having such a good time with it that I couldn't resist it when it went on sale a little while back.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on April 11, 2018, 05:11:03 pm
I did realize after a while that the trick to beating the incomplete one are either turrets or a turrent plus a beartrap
Post by: Levi on April 11, 2018, 05:31:44 pm
Dead Cells is amazing. I struggle with bosses though.
I did realize after a while that the trick to beating the incomplete one are either turrets or a turrent plus a beartrap
Beartrap (and ice grenade) works great against a lot of the bosses & elites I find. :)
I had such a hard time at the start with the incomplete one, but now that I've got his move set down and I've gotten better at assigning my skill points I rarely even need to use a potion again him.
Ninja Boss I still struggle with, I've only managed to beat him twice.
Post by: jocan2003 on April 11, 2018, 05:32:37 pm
Post by: Rince Wind on April 11, 2018, 06:20:19 pm
+1 for X-Piratez openXcom MOD. Thanks for reminding me, I'll have to get back to my playthrough of it this weekend.
It gets pretty grindy later on, because there's SO much to research, but I loved the early game combat. There's nothing more satisfying than flamethrowers and hammer gals, backed up by a few explosive cannonballs for fire support. Xcom original actually does melee pretty well when it's the focus, while the variety of weapons later on keeps it interesting. Also, a great take on the armour system, with plenty of playstyles available for when you're getting bored of arrow lobbing or sniping everything.
Totally recommend the mod to any Xcom fan.
Hammergals aren't what they used to be because there is an evade mechanic now where shooting next to an enemy has a high chance of that shot going a random direction. As hammers use the shooting mechanic they are affected as well. The enemies suffer from this as well of course, and the AI being what it is means you can be safer right next to an enemy, though safety is not guaranteed, so it is a nice game of chance.
Post by: King Zultan on April 12, 2018, 08:34:31 am
Post by: Folly on April 12, 2018, 11:23:51 am
Earlier I was playing Spryo Year of the dragon
I just read about the Spyro remaster yesterday. It is by far the most impressive remastering I've ever seen. They basically rebuilt every model and landscape from the ground up. Music and sound effects are supposed to be getting the same treatment.
Post by: djsys on April 12, 2018, 01:38:03 pm
Post by: Sanctume on April 12, 2018, 02:07:21 pm
In a past sale on GOG.com I acquired about 15 CRPGs ranging from the Gold Box series to Eye of the Beholder. I've set myself the long goal of finishing all of them but only recently started working through them again, continuing the game I had in "Pool of Radiance".
They're a lot of fun, but old RPGs are very unforgiving and what with all the checking back through the manual for item stats and journel entries it wears me down after a while. "Pool of Radiance" has a battle early on where your party of ~level 3 characters has to fight 2 Ogres and 3-4 trolls. That's not even mentioning the propensity for the game to cause massive brawls to break out whenever you go into a tavern.
I also had a bug occur when I was selling gear where my stack of ~5 jewerly flipped into a massive mound of 65535 jewelry. I reloaded simply because I was unable to carry anything else, especially after trying to convert it all into platinum pieces.
I'm now having a break from Pool of Radiance to play "Eye of the Beholder". It's much more user friendly and the graphics are nicer but there's no auto map so I keep getting lost in these same-wall sewers. I never was that much of a fan of 1st person dungeon crawlers but, eh, I'll live.
@Orb: Ooo, OpenRA seems interesting. I'll have to give it a try.
Oh, I remember Pools of Radiance. My first group was a much of multi-class. I remember my rogue/mage is able to read scroll of fireball to win those big fights.
Around a 10 year gap later, I played with some pure classes fighters, no mluti and it was easy to kill with pure fighters since they get more than 1 attack per turn.
--
Eye of the Beholder and Bard's Tale needs grid paper because some of those walls are illusions and actual passage ways. Some are even teleporters.
Post by: thvaz on April 12, 2018, 02:43:30 pm
Post by: Rince Wind on April 12, 2018, 04:05:46 pm
It is hot indeed. 8)
Post by: Aoi on April 12, 2018, 10:44:54 pm
Eye of the Beholder and Bard's Tale needs grid paper because some of those walls are illusions and actual passage ways. Some are even teleporters.
I remember playing one of those first person dungeon crawlers that had 'silent' teleporters. First time I encountered that... lets just say it was a REALLY long route, following the right-hand rule...
Post by: Mech#4 on April 12, 2018, 11:51:32 pm
Eye of the Beholder and Bard's Tale needs grid paper because some of those walls are illusions and actual passage ways. Some are even teleporters.
I remember playing one of those first person dungeon crawlers that had 'silent' teleporters. First time I encountered that... lets just say it was a REALLY long route, following the right-hand rule...
Oh, forget those teleporters and spinners. "Man, this corridor is really long and has had 4 daggers on the floor so far. Oh wait..."
Seriously though, Pool of Radiance does it better in some ways, varying wall textures for one. Why couldn't Eye of the Beholder do something like that rather than a whole floor of grey stone filled with venomous spiders or Kenku.
Post by: wierd on April 13, 2018, 12:00:36 am
AKA: Indo-asian demolition derby
(Jeeze the AI does NOT know how to drive!)
Post by: Kagus on April 13, 2018, 06:26:59 am
The game is good, but there are a number of irritations... like skills and weapons not giving me the information I want about them until after I've bought and used them for a bit to just figure it out myself. Also, for a game as centered around precision skill shots as it is, it's remarkably difficult to ever get the opportunity to line up a decent shot using the controller...
You'd think that this would maybe enforce the point of sneaking into a good position and then alpha striking a weakpoint, but then enemies start showing up with armor on their weakpoints that first needs to be shot off before you can pop them with the really damaging effects, but by that point they already know you're there and are thus impossible to hit with all their excited bouncing around.
Basically, the slowmo function isn't nearly slow enough to provide precision shots in combat. Half the time I just turn it on to snipe people because it provides an extra zoom.
And then the game gives you some hilariously unbalanced things like converting enemies to your side, which inexplicably makes them deal three times as much damage as usual and take about 25% normal damage from others.
Post by: Aoi on April 13, 2018, 03:21:15 pm
Eye of the Beholder and Bard's Tale needs grid paper because some of those walls are illusions and actual passage ways. Some are even teleporters.
I remember playing one of those first person dungeon crawlers that had 'silent' teleporters. First time I encountered that... lets just say it was a REALLY long route, following the right-hand rule...
Oh, forget those teleporters and spinners. "Man, this corridor is really long and has had 4 daggers on the floor so far. Oh wait..."
Seriously though, Pool of Radiance does it better in some ways, varying wall textures for one. Why couldn't Eye of the Beholder do something like that rather than a whole floor of grey stone filled with venomous spiders or Kenku.
I remember one where you could throw items forward and they'd continue for a few squares until they landed on their own or hit something. Well-- there was one recurring trap that had a teleportation field with the landing point right behind you. You learned not to use throwing weapons to test for traps or take random potshots in a hurry. (Which made things even more annoying and fiddly...)
In other news: Telltale Games' Tales from the Borderlands, again.
Post by: Folly on April 13, 2018, 03:31:29 pm
Horizon: Zero Dawn for the PS4, actually.
Have you checked out the screenshot mode? That was one of my favorite things about the game. I love pouncing on a giant robo-dino, pausing, moving the camera, changing the time of day, applying some filters, and then taking an amazing screenshot that becomes my desktop wallpaper for a while.
Post by: Levi on April 13, 2018, 05:07:30 pm
In other news: Telltale Games' Tales from the Borderlands, again.
That game was hilarious. Enhance!
Post by: King Zultan on April 16, 2018, 07:07:07 am
I'm not even sure why I'm playing all the Spyro games. This one has been good so far even with some parts being kind of bullshit.
Post by: Telgin on April 16, 2018, 02:35:49 pm
The charge ramps were the worst part. I don't know if it's just because I was playing with an emulator using a keyboard, but it was very hard to time the button presses correctly. Most of the time I just ran off of the edge or stopped charging when I jumped.
I recently acquired the second and third games, which I'm hoping will actually work in my PS2. I'll find out then if having a controller helps (assuming there are charge ramps in those two).
Post by: King Zultan on April 17, 2018, 07:05:54 am
I had the second and third then just recently acquired the first, and as far as I'm aware there are very few places with the charge ramps in the second one, but I'm not sure about the third as I haven't played all the way thew it in years.
Post by: sambojin on April 17, 2018, 10:12:06 pm
Oh, forget those teleporters and spinners. "Man, this corridor is really long and has had 4 daggers on the floor so far. Oh wait..."Eye of the Beholder and Bard's Tale needs grid paper because some of those walls are illusions and actual passage ways. Some are even teleporters.
I remember playing one of those first person dungeon crawlers that had 'silent' teleporters. First time I encountered that... lets just say it was a REALLY long route, following the right-hand rule...
Seriously though, Pool of Radiance does it better in some ways, varying wall textures for one. Why couldn't Eye of the Beholder do something like that rather than a whole floor of grey stone filled with venomous spiders or Kenku.
Might actually get around to throwing something together with the Bard's Tale Construction Set one of these days. Either of you be interested in giving it a go once I'm done?
Post by: wierd on April 17, 2018, 10:55:14 pm
I think I can handle up to 5 simultaneous players on it, but havent been able to attract any interest.
Guess I will just abuse my OP status, and start building a megaproject.
Post by: King Zultan on April 20, 2018, 05:15:21 am
Post by: ChairmanPoo on April 20, 2018, 07:33:59 am
Post by: Folly on April 22, 2018, 02:41:48 pm
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Fortnite also have events going on, but they kinda always have back-to-back events, so those are second priority atm.
Ni No Kuni 2 and Vermintide 2 have both been put on the back burner until these events pass...
Post by: Telgin on April 22, 2018, 04:49:59 pm
Stellaris and loving it
Ditto. I bought it a couple of months ago to play multiplayer with friends, then forgot about it when they promptly lost interest and the new patch was released that changed almost everything I knew.
Started playing it again last night and I really, really enjoy it so far.
Post by: Aoi on April 22, 2018, 05:49:33 pm
Nope. DCSS (webtiles), Starward Rogue, Puzzle Pirates, and ToME (ASCII).
Post by: Mallos on April 22, 2018, 11:49:06 pm
New 1500$ system to replace one that killed itself a few months ago. What's the first few things I drop on it? Some of the Humble Monthly backlog that can push it a bit looks good... Dark Souls III, Tomb Raider or Civ VI, maybe?
Nope. DCSS (webtiles), Starward Rogue, Puzzle Pirates, and ToME (ASCII).
Pretty relatable. DF was one of the first things I installed on my super-duper fancy rig that I got at a relatively good price (for what it can do, anyway.)
Anyway, on topic, I'm bouncing back and forth between Rimworld, Caves of Qud and modded DOOM right now.
Post by: wierd on April 22, 2018, 11:58:57 pm
Post by: CABL on April 23, 2018, 02:59:42 am
Post by: King Zultan on April 23, 2018, 04:15:46 am
Post by: Folly on April 24, 2018, 01:31:52 pm
Spoiler: WARNING! GROWNUP STUFF!!! (click to show/hide)
Post by: Kagus on April 24, 2018, 01:50:59 pm
Post by: wierd on April 24, 2018, 07:33:23 pm
Post by: thvaz on April 24, 2018, 08:53:38 pm
Post by: Sanctume on April 25, 2018, 08:34:43 am
I like the lore even when I am not caught up with it all.
This 2018 game is about running a mercenary and controlling a squad (lance) of 4 mechs.
It has the streamlined UI for moving, choosing targets, and mechwarrior skills.
It's turned base similar to XCOM, but much more details.
Where in XCOM, you have blue move, spring, and shoot/overwatch.
Here you can move, spring, moving using jump jets if you have.
There is no overwatch, but there is "reserve" where you wait out for the enemy to move first so you ca react.
Shooting is clicking on a target, and clicking on which weapons you want to shoot. If skilled in multi-target, then you can shoot up to 3 different targets. You can even do called shots where you choose to shoot a specific are of the mech (torso, arm, leg, head).
Shooting an enemy from the rear is similar to XCOM Flanking, where enemy mech rear has fewer armor protection.
Where is also mech melee, as well as jumping on the enemy mech's head (Death From Above, DFA)
As for weapons:
- energy which is ammo-less but produce heat.
- missiles which is limited by ammo capacity, and numbers and range vary (short or long), and quantity (2, 5, 10, 15, 20).
- cannon is ammo also similar to missiles but do set damage (2, 5, 10, 20) Auto cannon ammo is the size of a Volkswagen Beetle car.
- various support weapons that shoot freebie when you melee (short range lasers, machine guns, flamers)
Post by: scourge728 on April 27, 2018, 11:19:09 am
Post by: JimboM12 on April 27, 2018, 02:40:27 pm
I love that they took every little thing the series is known for, like dining at places, and pump them up a notch. If you get a beef plate and some beer (a thing dudes would do) it synergizes and you get a bonus to the healing and experience it provides.
Post by: King Zultan on April 28, 2018, 06:18:31 am
Messing with arena mode and seeing what happens if you let all metals be made into armor and weapons, and pitting people all one metal vs people with another metal. Lead and Zinc are apparently crap yet some how six guy with full lead armor, sword, and shields can kill a guy with full adamantine armor, sword, and shield, it looked like according to the reports they broke all his joints and beat him to a pulp afterwords.
Post by: Kagus on April 28, 2018, 06:30:05 am
The wiki has more info on comparative analysis, but the gist is that there's no clean progression of metal tiers now like there used to be. And, of course, there's the RNG.
EDIT: Different metals, not doesn't metals. Goddamn autocorrect...
Post by: sambojin on April 28, 2018, 09:12:22 pm
Post by: nenjin on April 29, 2018, 03:34:48 pm
Death Road To Canada. Just got my second win ever with a friend on Rare characters mode. I think we've cracked the code. The secret is food. Always loot the biggest and most dangerous stores for the best food returns, so you can trade for the best weapons in the game.
River City Ransom Underground. Trying to level up another character in New Game+ and find all the character's secret move books.
Post by: Folly on May 10, 2018, 07:26:28 pm
Currently playing Earth Defense Force 4.1
Initial impression was pretty ugly, due to a half-assed PC port made worse by a windows update rendering the game pretty much unplayable. Fortunately, a quick glance at the forums revealed an easy fix. Now I'm happily blowing up swarms of giant insects and alien robutts.
I'm still somewhat annoyed that all of the weapons have paragraph-long descriptions which usually don't clearly explain how the weapon functions, and about half of the weapons are so poorly balanced as to be useless. Some weapons even seem to be mechanically broken. And often when I die I have absolutely no idea what hit me. Still, overall, it's a fun bit of action accompanied by charming conversation and chants from the NPC's who are always surrounding me.
EDF! EDF!! EDF!!!
Post by: Kagus on May 10, 2018, 08:03:22 pm
Shit.
Post by: birdy51 on May 10, 2018, 09:06:38 pm
CKII
Post by: Flying Carcass on May 13, 2018, 10:30:19 am
Post by: deathpunch578 on May 13, 2018, 11:56:53 am
Post by: Kagus on May 13, 2018, 12:27:18 pm
Combat is an incredibly messy, complicated affair where you need to select a specific bodypart on a paper doll (detailed to the point of: neck, head, face, right eye, left eye, chest, belly, groin etc.), select the appropriate hand, select the intent for that hand (such as grappling, disarming/pushing, or striking), then click on the enemy (or try to, at least. This is BYOND, so everything is choppy as a boatful of butchers in a hurricane). You should also remember to click on the button marked "combat", which will put you in combat mode making some actions default to attacking and also enabling your ability to dodge or parry, which isn't passively active.
Satisfied? Probably not, because in order to make full use of the combat system you'll need to use the special attacks. Special attacks are triggered by using the right mouse button when in combat mode, and is defined by your hand, your targeted bodypart, your intent, and also what you have selected from a drop-down menu on the edge of the screen. This can be anything from shaking your weapon threateningly (not doing anything), to making a feint, to performing a powerful strike that renders you extra vulnerable for 1-2 seconds.
But wait, there's more! There are also advanced attacks in addition to special attacks! These are chosen from a selective list of buttons located under your "intent" grid. These are things like kicking, biting, or attempting to blind your opponent (at least I think that's what it does), or wielding your weapon in both hands for more power. You select the button, select the target zone on the doll (which is on the other side of the screen from the combat controls, I might add), then press the middle mouse button. Yes, click in on the scroll wheel. Thankfully the wheelscrolling itself has no binding in the game.
Then you need to reselect the button if you want to do it again in some cases, because it likes to deselect itself. You don't need to click or select anything if you've successfully grasped your weapon in both hands, that stays passively active.
It's important to remember that damage to different bodyparts can result in different effects, and also locational armor is a thing and you can't target all parts with equal accuracy or ability (trying to grab someone's foot while they're standing up is unlikely to be successful), and also remember that there are special interactions like using the "kick" advanced attack targeting the groin of an enemy male will have a special effect resulting in an almost guaranteed knockdown and stun, and that using "grab" on an enemy's mouth will stifle their screams for help. Disarming generally only works if you target the hand that the opponent is wielding something in.
Did I mention that there are no hotkeys for any of this? Or that you can't rebind anything? Yeah.
It would seem that for Russians, adversity isn't merely a fact of life... It's an art form. Books that don't want to be read, music that doesn't want to be listened to and now video games that don't want to be played.
Post by: JimboM12 on May 13, 2018, 12:35:23 pm
in real life, these wooden mansions im making on a tropical beach paradise would be worth millions.
Post by: Kagus on May 13, 2018, 12:45:39 pm
playing the forest.
in real life, these wooden mansions im making on a tropical beach paradise would be worth millions.
But ingame, they're priceless.
Post by: nenjin on May 13, 2018, 07:35:24 pm
Post by: Kagus on May 14, 2018, 03:20:44 am
Post by: JimboM12 on May 14, 2018, 12:07:04 pm
I enjoyed watching the rabbits slowly run backwards because my machine couldn't run it properly.
the forests a decent game, so i feel for your pc issues. But at the same time, backwards rabbits sounds hilarious.
Edit; still playing the forest.
im focusing on stealth and ive gathered a full set of stealth armor and covered myself in mud. with my upgraded spear in hand, crouching through the underbrush, i can faintly hear "Run through the Jungle" by CCR.
Post by: King Zultan on May 14, 2018, 06:11:12 pm
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
It's one of those alternate history games and looking at the case it looked really neat, but when I played it, it just kind of sucked, the game was really short, all the weapons felt the same, and the AI was fucking stupid, you throw a grenade at them and they say something about it and then just stand on it and there were several places I saw them shooting the ceiling instead of at me. Also the ending kind of sucked and made no sense, why would the Nazi's take over London and then move the stuff to make nuclear bombs to there and put it all under the Tower of London, the whole story was kind of stupid.
Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green
I like this one so far, its your standard zombie game but its been fun so far even if some things feel kind of slow.
Shellshock 2: Blood Trails
This one has also been fun so far, going around killing people and zombies during the Vietnam war, just going to mention that it has noting to do with the first game.
Spyro Enter the Dragonfly
It's kind of like the first three games but different in the fact that it sucks, its laggy, things spaz out every now and then, the controls feel sluggish and every thing feels rushed and poorly made.
Post by: Kagus on May 14, 2018, 06:45:30 pm
Speaking of heads, never make the mistake of thinking that the M16 is a machine gun... It isn't. It's a multi-shot high-accuracy sniper rifle. A single round will instantly decapitate a zombie, and with 30 rounds to a clip... Just take your time and aim.
Also, lead pipe is god. Use the pipe's secondary attack to instantly knock down a zombie, then kill them with the second strike. It's pretty crazy.
I watched an LP of Spyro: EtD, and yeah... It's pretty bad. The LP was from the same dude who did the under-a-minute speedrun for EtD, so he knows a thing or two about how broken it is in some spots, and how to make it more broken in others.
Post by: King Zultan on May 15, 2018, 04:45:40 am
Make sure to keep an eye out in Land of the Dead for the secret book of kung fu.Aww man, I actually found that thing in the first level and thought it was a little Easter egg decoration type thing and didn't mess with it.
I'll look out for the lead pipe, saw one earlier but ignored it because I had a fire axe.
Post by: Kagus on May 15, 2018, 05:08:02 am
Also there are decorative easter egg books lying around, but one of them is real. Don't know if it's on every level or just a few, but it's pretty funny regardless.
Fire axe is nice too, but the problem is that you need to be really good about hitting heads with it, and it's pretty slow (at least the alt attack is, hoo boy). The pipe can hit anywhere to deal its goodness, and the stunning alt attack is actually faster than the normal, non-stunning attack... And deals the same damage.
Balance.
Post by: Levi on May 15, 2018, 02:54:59 pm
Also been playing Destiny 2 that I got from the humble monthly bundle, but I've kinda reached the point where I've done all the singleplayer stuff, and I'm not really interested in the multiplayer strikes and deathmatch so I think I'm pretty much done with it.
I keep getting the craving to play more Dead Cells, but I think I'm going to force myself to wait until its out of early access.
Post by: Kagus on May 15, 2018, 04:03:15 pm
They're basically only similar in being skill-based 2D platformer games. And while a multitude of games have received the title "2D Dark Souls", Salt and Sanctuary is legitimately 2D Dark souls. For true.
For as cool as they look, I don't think I'll ever buy the Total War: Warhammer games. That DLC fuckery just struck a little bit too hard, and I'm someone who's still vaguely considering picking up Shadow of War.
Also, still playing SS13. Just got my ass handed to me multiple times by some random greyshit, despite being bartender with that shotty of his. I am the unrobustest. Greyboy ended up collapsing the entire round through sheer dickery, allowing the one antagonist to basically have free reign of the station and its half-dead, severely disoriented survivors.
I mean, it was actually a really impressive degree of greytiding he pulled off, but I'm still salty that I couldn't do anything about him running in and literally stealing the bar out from under me.
Post by: nenjin on May 15, 2018, 04:11:51 pm
As for TWII Warhammer, I think I spent about...$30? on DLC to get most of the races and shiz I wanted. (Which was basically just Chaos and Beastmen.)
If TWII Warhammer is the kind of game you think you can return to year after year, the DLC is an ok buy IMO. If you think you may play it once or twice and are pissed that you have to pony up extra for the races you want to play, then yea, probably stay away.
Post by: Levi on May 15, 2018, 04:17:30 pm
I haven't bothered with the DLC for Warhammer because I know I'll burn out long before I play all the default races. :D I'm not much for DLC in any game though.
Post by: Kagus on May 15, 2018, 04:44:45 pm
Then the game launched, and the very week after launch they come out and say that you can buy the DLC to unlock Chaos, now suddenly shitting on the people who did shell out a lot of money sight-unseen so they could have the "exclusive" unlock. Didn't help that the original price for the DLC was something like $20 on top of the already hugely expensive title.
But then a little while later, people said "hey, for a Warhammer game, there doesn't seem to be any blood getting spilled", and they got the response that production had been a bit rushed, so it couldn't make 1.0.
And then blood graphics came out... As a $9.99 DLC. At this point people just said "alright, fuck you Mr. Scrooge" and boycotted the game because supporting that kind of behavior is fucking abhorrent. Then beastmen came out as another $20 add-on, but by that time the lines were already drawn.
So you see, it's not about the specific DLCs or however much they may cost, it's about telling the industry that those practices are unacceptable.
(This was all for TW:W1, mind. The second game just gets shit by virtue of association)
Post by: Levi on May 15, 2018, 05:26:44 pm
Post by: Kagus on May 15, 2018, 05:43:28 pm
There were a couple minor publications that picked up on the story, but it's proving difficult to find any of them nowadays. Also the DLC prices have gone down considerably from what they were on launch, but that's kinda to be expected.
Post by: Cicero on May 15, 2018, 06:14:51 pm
https://270soft.com/commonwealth-election-games/canada-election-game-2015/ (https://270soft.com/commonwealth-election-games/canada-election-game-2015/)
Post by: nenjin on May 15, 2018, 06:59:11 pm
TBH after buying the gore DLC I regret it because it's over the top.
Post by: Persus13 on May 16, 2018, 08:02:28 am
It's not so much the fact that they have DLC or that said DLC is expensive, it has to do with the way they shelled it out for the first game. First they say that unlocking Chaos as a playable faction would be a pre-order exclusive bonus. Which, already, is enough to piss off people looking at an $80 game and caused a bit of a split in the community.Um, a lot of this rant is just flat out wrong. For one thing, blood dlc have been a thing in total war games since Shogun 2 (to keep the game's rating down), and it doesn't cost $10, it cost $3.
Then the game launched, and the very week after launch they come out and say that you can buy the DLC to unlock Chaos, now suddenly shitting on the people who did shell out a lot of money sight-unseen so they could have the "exclusive" unlock. Didn't help that the original price for the DLC was something like $20 on top of the already hugely expensive title.
But then a little while later, people said "hey, for a Warhammer game, there doesn't seem to be any blood getting spilled", and they got the response that production had been a bit rushed, so it couldn't make 1.0.
And then blood graphics came out... As a $9.99 DLC. At this point people just said "alright, fuck you Mr. Scrooge" and boycotted the game because supporting that kind of behavior is fucking abhorrent. Then beastmen came out as another $20 add-on, but by that time the lines were already drawn.
So you see, it's not about the specific DLCs or however much they may cost, it's about telling the industry that those practices are unacceptable.
(This was all for TW:W1, mind. The second game just gets shit by virtue of association)
Secondly, the whole preorder chaos dlc thing was scummy, but you've made it several orders of magnitude worse somehow. Chaos was never an "exclusive" unlock bonus for preordering the game, and you didn't have to pay extra. You paid $60 (the base price of the game, not $80) to own the game before it launched, and you got the DLC for free. Then because there was a massive backlash against that, because it was scummy, they changed it so that if you bought the game in the first week you got the chaos dlc for free as well. They never planned to have it just be pre-order content, they made it clear form the beginning it was going to be a paid DLC, and you din't have to pay anything extra to get it.
Is Day 1 DLC scummy? Sure, but first of all, the game is good enough without Chaos being a playable faction, so if you don't want the DLC, you don't need it, and secondly, they seemed to have learned from the backlash since the bonus for preordering Total Warhammer II was that you got free DLC for the first game.
Post by: ThtblovesDF on May 16, 2018, 08:19:40 am
Post by: Kagus on May 16, 2018, 08:31:17 am
But yeah, seems I fucked up on the price. It was released in Europe for 60 euro (because why do conversions when you can just change the currency sign?), roughly 70 dollars. And then Norway got a slightly worse deal on the euro-kroner conversion, putting it up a bit more at 599NOK (still not quite $80 though).
Post by: Persus13 on May 16, 2018, 09:46:40 am
Now it costs $3, yes, but not when it first released.I can't find anything on that, and I feel I'd have heard about it before now if that was the case. The few articles on it I could find didn't mention the price change.
For me I enjoyed the base game enough that I don't really care too much about a blood DLC I don't need, or a race pack I'm not really interested in. I'll probably get the other DLC when it goes on sale (and I got one or two for free already). I'm fine with people swearing off Warhammer because of DLC policy, just get your facts straight.
Post by: AzyWng on May 16, 2018, 10:08:33 am
Missing has never felt so irritating before, yet critting has never felt so satisfying.
It’s a nice game. Haven’t got any of the DLC though.
Post by: Mesa on May 18, 2018, 10:16:55 pm
(Going as far as getting into trading, or rather, "smelting all my duplicate unique weapons, selling my unused cosmetics just to buy some new cheap ones".)
Other than that:
- some Slay the Spire as my new go-to roguelike (TBOI:AB+ is fun but trying to unlock the new secret-not-so-secret character has been frustrating beyond belief).
- Total Annihilation and Zero-K, for the "epic and slow-paced RTS" itch.
- (classic) Ace of Spades (Build & Shoot) which is still surprisingly not entirely dead despite the passage of time.
Post by: nenjin on May 19, 2018, 01:01:49 am
Post by: Kagus on May 19, 2018, 04:38:31 am
Killing Floor 2 with the boyz.
Would you say you're... cracking open a few clot ones?
Post by: nenjin on May 19, 2018, 03:58:56 pm
Post by: Telgin on May 22, 2018, 10:23:00 am
I got it recently, having only played the first two as kids. After also playing Donkey Kong 64 for the first time as an adult, I must say I already like this game about 10x as much. It's clearly inferior to Donkey Kong Country 2 in a few ways, but it at least feels like the same game series and isn't endlessly frustrating like Donkey Kong 64.
Post by: Kagus on May 22, 2018, 12:03:38 pm
Donkey Kong Country 3.
I got it recently, having only played the first two as kids. After also playing Donkey Kong 64 for the first time as an adult, I must say I already like this game about 10x as much. It's clearly inferior to Donkey Kong Country 2 in a few ways, but it at least feels like the same game series and isn't endlessly frustrating like Donkey Kong 64.
HE'S BIGGER, FASTER, AND STRONGER TOO. HE'S THE FIRST MEMBER, OF THE D.K. CREW!
Post by: Telgin on May 22, 2018, 12:23:52 pm
Except maybe falling too far and squishing on the ground. For some reason, that never got old. Oh, and the Moon Kick bug, but I only got it to work a few times. I had a good laugh when I did.
Post by: WealthyRadish on May 23, 2018, 01:07:17 am
I embarked on a terrifying glacier with nothing besides an anvil and a single lump of tetrahedrite (no skills, no supplies, no other items), and things seem to be going well. Only 3 of the peasants are dead, the dead cave crocodile and giant olm didn't reanimate, and even though the only pick got lost in the cavern pool with a drowned dwarf, I thankfully had made an axe and some leftover copper (and so can make another). It'd only be one dead dwarf if I hadn't let a Yeti wander in from the surface, and had just built a wall instead of a drawbridge to seal them off, but whatever.
Post by: King Zultan on May 23, 2018, 06:13:19 am
Post by: Kagus on May 23, 2018, 06:48:37 am
I just recently beat the first three gears of war games, I've enjoyed the series so far, and I'm about to play throw gears of war judgment, I would play the forth one but I don't have an Xbox one.
I played through GoW2 and 3 on co-op with an old buddy of mine, great times. If we still talked with each other, we'd probably still use the little in-joke that came about because of those playthroughs.
"IT'S A GIANT WOOORM!"
Post by: Wiles on May 23, 2018, 07:45:30 am
Post by: Telgin on May 23, 2018, 08:45:32 am
Anyway, switched to Spyro the Dragon: Ripto's Rage. Enjoying this one so far, which is much better than playing the first one on an emulator on my PC. The game feels much more polished and refined than the first one. My only minor nitpick so far is that there's maybe too much talking in this one compared to the first.
Post by: askovdk on May 24, 2018, 04:08:27 am
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=168935.0 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=168935.0)
The inflow of new content is rather low, but the non-beta builds are very stable on my setup, and we can build on Mars.
If you pick it up, then notice that you can set the 'hunger' slider all the way to 0. The default setting makes it very hard to grow food in time, and IMHO it's not a beginner task to create a stable greenhouse.
Post by: Shadowlord on May 26, 2018, 11:01:47 am
I like that it actually has menus and unlike every other version (besides the NES one), doesn't require memorizing a bunch of keys or guessing conversation keywords. It's too bad there was only one Sega port, because the Nintendo ports are apparently unfaithful garbage.
Post by: Kagus on May 26, 2018, 03:04:51 pm
As usual, trying to get people to use the right medicines in the right way is like herding fucking cats. I logged in late as chemist one time, decided to check what supplies had been handled so far.
I find a fridge with 48 tricordrazine patches (15u). Rage happened.
Post by: Hotfire90 on May 26, 2018, 04:33:58 pm
Post by: Rilder on May 26, 2018, 07:53:08 pm
I've been playing Payday 2 recently, in the very first heist I joined I got kickbanned, which is always a great start.
That's why you either play with friends or the AI, these days the AIs are good enough to support you through pretty much any difficulty.
Post by: AzyWng on May 27, 2018, 09:11:02 am
Post by: Hotfire90 on May 27, 2018, 10:12:06 am
Post by: dmtaukhua123 on May 28, 2018, 04:03:00 am
Post by: Kagus on June 02, 2018, 10:37:06 am
Fucking hell is this game a source of frustration. I'm still an utter newb (it's a bit slow-going to get comfortable with a game that you simply don't have access to most of the time, and that actively quashes any form of readable information about it), so I tend to try and go for the newb roles that don't have a lot of responsibility or up-fuckability.
So I play as one of the little servant children helping out around the fortress keep itself, tending to the baron's family and holdings. Mostly they don't interact with you though, so your only real responsibility is to clean the walls before they explode into a deathbomb of choking, explosively flammable gases. You do this by simply hitting the wall with a damp cloth.
Unfortunately, you don't start with any rags in your inventory, and there aren't any in the servants' quarters... Or anywhere else in the keep for that matter. You need to make them yourself. How? You need to tear off a piece of fabric from some clothes.
...so, first I needed to figure out how to do this (the only reason I knew that this was even what I needed to do was because I'd seen someone else doing it before). Turns out that this is one of the very, VERY few things that's actually documented by the ingame help, but nothing in there is really categorized, so you either already know what's shown in the help file or you don't even know what's in there to look for.
Eventually, I worked out what I had to do, and entered the command... But all I got was a message about how I'd attempted to tear the cloth. So I tried again, and again just the message about trying.
These attempts took stamina, apparently, so I managed to make myself pass out a couple times by trying to tear off one of my sleeves. And the effort continued, attempt after attempt, taking breaks to drink (and even take a nap at one point, in order to gain a powerup to see if that helped), while my duties (requiring a rag) went neglected. Vicious clouds of rotgas were released. The clouds came in contact with the torches and detonated, and the fortress was wreathed in flames, so I had to take another break from tugging at my own shirtsleeve in order to grab a bucket of water and play disposable child firefighter.
As it turns out, children (which the servant role is entirely composed of) have such a low strength stat that their chances of successfully tearing clothing are less than 1% (approximately). I spent half an hour of a round continuously failing to get the one thing I needed to do my job.
Gameplay.
Post by: King Zultan on June 04, 2018, 07:45:09 am
Post by: Rince Wind on June 04, 2018, 09:07:03 am
Post by: Telgin on June 04, 2018, 10:10:35 am
Anyway, at the urging of a friend I also tried Crusader Kings II, in multiplayer with them. That went hilariously bad. They told me to skip the tutorial, and then I started by playing the king of England in 1066, which apparently was right before England was conquered by William the Conquerer.
Cue lots and lots of confusion when I immediately start losing tons of battles I don't know I'm part of, coupled with me not knowing even what I can do to play. Clicking things only gives me way too much information to process before the next "Defeat!" window pops up. I think I ended up as some earl who was in prison for the rest of the game.
Uh... time to play the tutorial.
Post by: MCreeper on June 04, 2018, 10:50:16 am
Post by: AzyWng on June 04, 2018, 12:47:25 pm
Don't use the flintlock weapons, though. They're...
Not the absolute best, let's say. I'd advise starting off with shotguns, if anything. Each hit you score (no matter what gun it is) will increase a gal's odds of having her firing accuracy increase, with more hits meaning a bigger increase. The fact that many enemies lack armor in the early game means that it's a good idea to bring these along!
Post by: King Zultan on June 10, 2018, 03:23:52 am
Post by: SabbaticGoat on June 10, 2018, 03:32:19 am
Though I haven't played much of either. I'm currently devoting my days to my job and my nights to the development of this game.
Post by: MCreeper on June 10, 2018, 05:50:45 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Kagus on June 13, 2018, 06:15:16 pm
After all access was handed out, I took over the jobs of first the janitor/engineer (replacing the many blown lights that happen when you get a power surge that hits the hallways), and then the chemist. I was trying to test out explosives and see if TG code had any real redeeming boomstuffs for chemistry, after a few failed attempts previously.
Then a few more players show up, including one infamous fellow who is a notorious shitlord, an apocalyptic greytider at worst and a hideously obnoxious dick at best. I've been struggling against lag for the whole round, and really only popped in to do a few tests anyways, so I felt that the least I could do was give him a little going away present.
I cooked up a simple chloral hydrate smoke that could be activated on demand, and went about my business until I'd run into him again.
However, when I *did* spot him again and I popped the smoke, he had already turned himself into a cult golem somehow, so the gas did fuckall. Reading up a bit, I discovered that they had a slight weakness to holy water, so I made a bottle of that to douse him with, along with a holy water and potassium bomb strapped to a spear to take us both down.
What followed was an absolutely horrendous display of ineptitude. First, I forgot to bless the water before securing the grenade, so it wasn't even a holy bomb. Second, I hurfed the water bottle and ended up clicking the ground rather than him, so I just blessed a single tile instead of slapping a bunch of burn damage on him.
And to wrap it all up, I didn't know how explosive spears worked. I poked him with it, and the bomb didn't go off. Ended up trying to throw it point blank, but lag and misclicking sent it flying just far enough due north (completely the wrong direction) to stun me, allowing the golem to grab my own damn staff out of my backpack, beat me with it a few times, and then chainstunned me with a telescopic baton while taking me to sec for immediate and unceremonious execution.
So much for taking out a hated foe while going out with a bang, eh?
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: JimboM12 on June 13, 2018, 08:56:11 pm
Space Station 13
everyones first attempt at being robust ends this way, i feel.
i was once RP'ing as a security guard (my first time playing sec) who was normal. non-violent offenders were read their rights and handcuffed and gently led to a holding cell, writing out paperwork on what they did and the sentence, and then I took all their gear off and checked their pockets. everything was put in their bag, which i put in the locker in the cell and locked it with my card. very humane, RP-friendly, and i was commended by the captain himself! i was so proud, i wanted to be a cop in real life at that point.
but then it happened. a shitshow, a cult took over the bar and my unrobust ass got the riot gear out alongside my fellow sec. i ended up tazing a fellow officer and getting shanked by a chefs knife.
Post by: Kagus on June 14, 2018, 02:18:48 am
There was some murderer running around, and the acting captain popped out a couple hybrid tasers for us to use. We ran into cargo, guns blazing. And somehow, thanks to space magic, I managed to fire the gun while running forward, which made the projectile spawn behind me and hit me in the back. Luckily my distraction was enough for the other dude to take the perp down, but still pretty embarrassing.
And then there's CM, where I've run out into a charge as an alien, and forgotten to switch my intent from "help", meaning I'd dash out into the thick of the enemy and start cuddling them awkwardly.
Post by: AzyWng on June 14, 2018, 09:01:50 am
It's fun. I shoot people, occasionally get shot, and on a few occasions hide from people because I can't or don't want to shoot them.
Post by: Kagus on June 15, 2018, 07:09:03 pm
No clue what's causing all the problems... This actually seems to be a client-side thing, since the whole machine chugs its way to a standstill.
Post by: Yoink on June 20, 2018, 12:19:01 am
I'm very much still learning, but I can manage the more basic farms and supply gathering at least.
I'm actually enjoying the learning process, which is usually what turns me off any of those other crafting-heavy survival games. I started cobbling together notes to compile a guide for myself this morning, something I've always planned on doing for other complex games like SS13 but have never really gotten around to.
Anyone else tried the game? :D
Post by: Robsoie on June 20, 2018, 04:09:43 pm
It's really well done and reminds me a lot, due to the sound atmosphere, of the good old Chaos Gate .
A few screenshots of my disastrous battles with chaos troops, early game for now my guys equipment is rather basic.
https://imgur.com/a/IdUN3l9
Got into a terror mission that involved several flying and grounded chaos raptors (with some xcom reaper-like armored red beast that wh40k name i have no idea) attacking a bunch of hopeless imperial guards while my own guards and spacemarine scouts were trying to save the day.
I had to get away due to running completely out of ammo due to how accuracy at long range is really lower than in normal XCOM (fortunately for both your troops and the chaos bastards).
My few surviving imperial guards managed to fetch a few enemy corpses for analysis before rushing under the rain of raptor shots :D
Post by: nenjin on June 20, 2018, 08:10:56 pm
But also been playing a little WH40K Inquisitor Martyr with LoSobbac and Biowraith.
After CS I really need to fire up Darkest Dungeon and play the Color of Madness DLC.
Post by: AzyWng on June 20, 2018, 10:56:48 pm
Pretty big changes.
Post by: King Zultan on June 22, 2018, 03:14:27 am
Post by: AzyWng on June 25, 2018, 01:05:59 am
I can say that from what I've seen so far, the video is accurate.
Post by: Kagus on June 25, 2018, 05:19:44 am
Things you will hate:
The little squidboy facehugger bastards
Spiders
Weapons not doing what they're supposed to do
SARETH, MY LOVE
Spiders
The better necromancers who can freeze you into a Sarethsicle punching-bag
Stealth mechanics being fucked
Even more cocking fuckleg spiders
That one bit with the infinite goddamn spiders
Those flying assholes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_profanity#Puk_gaai)
Post by: AzyWng on June 26, 2018, 08:42:16 am
Oh no...
Post by: Folly on June 26, 2018, 09:11:05 am
Post by: Kagus on June 26, 2018, 11:43:18 am
I remember loving the combat mechanics in Dark Messiah, but also wishing that it was a dynamic open-world experience rather than a linear heavily scripted affair.
There are parts of the game that seem like they really wanted to be exactly that. I think that the developers really wanted something more open-worldy, but they didn't have the time, the team, or the money (also, Source probably isn't the greatest engine for doing particularly open games). There was also a lot of talk when it first came out about releasing the SDK for it and letting the modders have their way. However, there was apparently some part of the contract with Ubisoft that prevented that from happening.
And, I mean, Arkane Studios made their name a long time ago with a significantly more freeform game, Arx Fatalis, and Dark Messiah has several bits and bobs that indicate that heritage.
Then they went into hibernation again, before eventually coming out with Prey. Which, despite the bizarre history behind its name, is also a pretty damn neat little title.
Post by: AzyWng on June 26, 2018, 06:11:02 pm
The chain-climbing, at least, seems quite similar...
Post by: nenjin on June 26, 2018, 07:21:56 pm
Digging back in to Darkest Dungeon again after the Color of Madness update. Simply needed a break from Cultist Stimulator. (Seriously CS, just give me what I need so I can finish already.....)
I think? I'm digging the mechanical changes. I like the crit bonuses specific to each character class. Not sure I like so many abilities being made "X # of times per battle" abilities. Even though I know it's not THAT big of a limitation, the hoarder/conservationist gamer in me thinks....it's too much to gamble a whole slot on? What happens if you miss? Or some other dumb thing happens? An entire slot, now useless. What's more is many of the buffs these limited abilities give also have durations on them of combat rounds. Sometimes as few as 2. So I've been sticking with the "less flashy" moves on all my guys are things are going swimmingly for the most part in the early game.
Post by: AzyWng on June 26, 2018, 08:08:16 pm
Dunno which ones are limited in duration aside from ones like the Grave Robber's Shadow Fade.
Crit bonuses and more frequent crits are nice enough.
Dunno why they made Jester's Solo usable two times, though, given that Finale can only be used once...
Post by: nenjin on June 26, 2018, 08:28:25 pm
Post by: AzyWng on June 27, 2018, 12:38:42 am
For some reason I was thinking the Hellion's exhaust debuffs now lasted the entire battle until I used Breakthrough and saw it wasn't.
I guess we'll just have to use all the skills and then figure out for ourselves.
Or we could make a fresh save file for the purpose of using and figuring out the skills...
Post by: JimboM12 on June 27, 2018, 01:20:36 pm
im currently playing a 2x damage (as in everyone and everything does twice the damage to each other; fights are faster and bloodier for everyone!), with slightly increased spawns and experimenting with Fallout Commander and We Are the Minutemen. its fucking fun. i called in a flare squad to start our assault on a very fortified corvega factory.
we took the outside pretty handily though i lost a few troops fighting to clear the roof. my honor guard of regulars (i didnt spawn the special minutemen cuz i dont feel ive earned them yet; we're only a handful of settlements deep so far) took only a single loss.
then saved and closed the game so i can take a shower after that intense battle. i came back to steam updating Fallout 4 and now my F4se and version dependent mods are fucking broken. Fucking leave fallout 4 alone, bethesda, and get cracking on fallout 76. stop breaking my damn game!
Post by: Mephisto on June 27, 2018, 10:09:16 pm
What am I currently playing? This absurdity. (https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/943950251202916146/BC7FB9D841C30D3744939DC77196EDC13453B24B/)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Yoink on June 30, 2018, 05:44:39 am
Playing IVAN. You know, the classic roguelike?
Anyway, I was guzzling water out of a fountain (I'd like to say this was because it was early in the run and I wasn't very attached to my character, but truth be told I tend to lack much self-control when it comes to fountains) and before long I fell in, was sucked into the plumbing, and then burst out of a pipe... seemingly embedded in the middle of a wall?
It took me a moment to realise what had happened. Of all the open squares in the level the game could have chosen to spit me into, I wound up on the still-buried staircase to a certain highly-dangerous secret area. Hahaha, uh-oh.
I don't have any gear capable of breaking through walls, so... I guess the only way forwards is forwards. o____o
On the plus side, at least nothing can follow me up the stairs from below, due to there literally being no damn room for them. Well, they can, but I can see no sign of those that did so I'm guessing they spawned outside these walls on the nearest open tiles.
Wish me luck, haha. I probably could have left off for a few minutes and had myself a HDYLD post instead...
Post by: Telgin on July 01, 2018, 12:05:19 am
Some of the eggs feel a lot more fiddly and irritating than the orbs from Spyro 2, at least comparing the early ones between games, and some gems are way harder to locate. I guess I'll see if I like the increased challenge as the game progresses.
Post by: King Zultan on July 01, 2018, 05:08:50 am
Post by: Majestic7 on July 01, 2018, 12:40:48 pm
Post by: Telgin on July 01, 2018, 01:47:46 pm
Spyro 3 was always my favorite one as a kid, and if you are playing them in order that means you are almost at enter the dragonfly, and it's just as bad as people say it is.
That's disappointing, but more or less what I expected. And yes, I'm playing them in order after picking the first up for the first time around 6 months ago. I really hate that I missed these as a kid.
It's too bad that the games after Spyro 3 are disappointing as a whole. Maybe after the remastered trilogy is released something new and better will be made.
Post by: Folly on July 01, 2018, 03:45:40 pm
Rock and Stone, to the bone!
Post by: Yoink on July 01, 2018, 05:07:52 pm
I've been playing Star Traders: Frontiers lately. It is a space trader simulation where you control the ship, the officers and the crew. You upgrade ship and crew gain experience etc. It is strangely addictive, although with several annoying bugs. Still in EA and on sale in Steam.I don't usually like ship-centered space games, but this looks... kinda awesome.
I just not long ago wasted a few bucks on FTL which I will probably never pay, though, so I'm probably not gonna step out of my comfort zone in that direction for a while. (Being stony broke helps, haha.)
Post by: AzyWng on July 02, 2018, 02:03:37 am
The Citizen has a few odd things, some of which might be attributable to its age (I keep seeing "Node Graph out of date. Rebuilding... whenever I get a level transition), but it's otherwise pretty fun, and not too hard.
Post by: King Zultan on July 02, 2018, 07:38:57 am
And yes, I'm playing them in order after picking the first up for the first time around 6 months ago.I'm also playing them in order but have kind of slowed down because of how bad enter the dragonfly is, also I got hero's tail recently and it looks really weird to me also it does control the same as any of the others.
Post by: JimboM12 on July 03, 2018, 03:06:47 pm
im having so much fun being stealthy. i minmaxed into stealth, melee, and hacking/lockpicking.
JC probably stands for John Cena, cuz they can't see me.
Post by: AzyWng on July 04, 2018, 11:54:23 pm
Post by: Telgin on July 05, 2018, 12:00:57 am
one of the steam sales i picked up was the original deus ex game.
im having so much fun being stealthy. i minmaxed into stealth, melee, and hacking/lockpicking.
JC probably stands for John Cena, cuz they can't see me.
If you want some hilarity with your stealth and aren't going for a no kill run, try getting the jumping augmentation and kill people by goomba stomping them from atop buildings. The leg augmentation helps you to not die in the process.
I've killed a couple of late game "bosses" this way, and I giggled more than I want to admit.
Sadly, I don't think the game really sets you up for lots of opportunities to do this on mooks.
Post by: TamerVirus on July 05, 2018, 04:24:58 pm
On top of that, I've gotten back into a couple mobile games of varying degrees of monetization
...I've got a short gaming attention span nowadays so I pick up and drop games on a dime.
Post by: Kagus on July 11, 2018, 10:48:23 am
The server actually had people on it, which is uncommon, and the round was starting to drag out. Suddenly, pirate event! I spawned in as the captain, and started trying to figure out how to actually play the damn role.
I headed aft to the ship's engine room and started going about setting up the pirate cutter's (horrible, abysmal, torturously bad, shameful) turbine generator.
While I'm fiddling with the pipes trying to get an actually not-awful burn mix going, someone else spawned in as a pirate, ran in, and tried disarming me a couple times. I backed off and said "What's yer problem, ya layabout?". He responded with "I fuck bitches and get money". I was in the act of responding with "Then go and get the station's money ya scabrous dog!" when he continued his self-description with "And now, I fuck you".
He ran at me, knocked me down, and just started strangling me. I was a bit shocked to say the least, as this was highly unexpected behavior from, y'know, a team antagonist.
I tried breaking out of his grip, but as I'm sure many SS13 players know, trying to break out of a chokehold is a ha-ha hail mary. So I just sat there and waited for my second time as a pirate to come to a confusing and abrupt end. For whatever reason though, I didn't seem to be dying.
After a while of this, he chuckled to himself and said "Now I'm the captain!". I was still alive and conscious at this point. I figured I'd just gotten lucky and my cigar somehow had some kind of oxy medication in it, or something.
Apparently, neither of us were familiar with whatever changelog turned all space pirates into skeletons. Skeletons, which don't need to breathe, and thus cannot be strangled.
Suddenly, my resist attempt actually went through and I wriggled out of his grasp! Grabbing the nearest toolbox, I set about cracking his skull wide open with some old-fashioned robusting. His next few outbursts were of the "What-OUPH!", "How di-GAK!" and "Wait!" variety. I kept slamming him with the toolbox until the last spark of life left his body, and then kept smashing a while longer for good measure.
I then grabbed his corpse, opened the turbine ignition chamber, hurled his body inside, shut the door and started the burn. "I don't abide mutiny", I muttered while observing the crisping bones in the burn chamber.
OOC: "Fuck you captain shitstain"
He then apparently tried to adminhelp me because I killed him after he tried to kill me. As you might expect, I was not the one who got banned that day.
Post by: Folly on July 19, 2018, 03:21:03 pm
I picked this up during the Steam Summer Sale, and currently have 35 hours played; this is already more hours than the dollars I paid for the game, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface.
Project Gorgon is an MMORPG Sandbox, currently in Early Access, developed by a very small but dedicated team.
Let me start with the bad. Graphics are very primitive, reminiscent of early Everquest 1 with low-polygon models and low-resolution textures. There are a few examples of more modern graphics, such as nice lightning effects and some weapons with pretty particles, but these are very much exceptions to the norm. Sadly, despite these simple graphics, performance is also an issue. FPS frequently drops painfully low, mainly in heavily populated cities. The GUI is also extremely primitive, though also customizable, which helps somewhat. And being in early access, certain sections of the game are unfinished.
Now the good.
Lore. There is an interesting story line surrounding your own character, who has amnesia and must discover their own past while simultaneously moving towards their own future. What I appreciate most about this is the sandbox format, where your story is not shoved down your throat but rather it's completely optional and something that is genuinely interesting to pursue in a freeform format.
Aside from your own character, there are many NPC's, each possessing unique and often quirky personalities that are fun to discover. There are of course NPC's you can interact with an ask for quests, but also NPC's who just hang around towns and chat with each other, revealing amusing insight into the nature of the world around you. This is definitely a game that will make you want to stop your fighting and take a few minutes at a time to read.
Combat. Players have health, armor, and energy bars. Monsters have Health, armor, and rage bars. For both players and monsters, some attacks do bonus damage to armor, some attacks bypass armor and damage health directly, some attacks increase the rage bar more, some do not affect rage or actually reduce it, some attacks heal you or regenerate armor, some attacks do not consume energy or regenerate energy or consume extra energy to do great damage. Attacks also have damage types, piercing slashing crushing or various elemental types. Some enemies have huge armor and low health, or lots of health and low armor, or resistance or weakness to specific damage types. Some enemies attack in swarms, some alone, some can be carefully pulled to minimize the number of enemies you need to fight. Bottom line, there are lots of variables, and you are actually incentivised to use them in a tactical manner. This is a great example of the old-fashioned hotbar combat done right.
Skills. There is no main player level, only skill levels. When you go to skin or butcher an animal, it uses both your skinning/butching skill along with your anatomy skill for that creature type. When you cook, it uses your cooking and knife fighting skills. When you eat, your gourmand skill is used. There are all the usual tradeskills you would expect, along with a ton of lifestyle skills, and lots of combat skills. Most activities you can do in the game will utilize one or more of your skills. Learning the skills involves exploring to find NPC's who can teach you, and leveling your skills often involves cooperating with other skills. Starting out a new skill is usually easy enough, but grinding to higher levels is generally impractical unless you learn to work with other players and buy/trade for components you need.
Combat skills are particularly interesting. You can use two combat skills at a time, and switch between them freely outside of combat. You've got swords, daggers, staves, hammers, all the usual weapon types. But also some more exotic options...have you ever wanted to be a combat-cow who stampedes enemies and then finishes them off with a string of literally deadly insults? Yeah, that's totally possible in Project Gorgon. And since different enemies have different weaknesses, it's handy to have access to different combat types so that you can counter enemies effectively.
Community. There are no spam-bots in chat. I'm sure this will change if the game becomes popular enough...but for now, global and local chats are full of friendly and helpful people, which is refreshing after the mess seen in some other MMO's recently.
Overall I am very happy with this purchase and would strongly recommend it for anyone who feels like they can overlook the bad parts.
Post by: Yoink on August 12, 2018, 07:39:42 am
I just keep coming back from this game. It's pretty much old faithful for me. Also I just learned what a pavis is! Kind of embarrassing that I didn't know that already, but y'know, better late than never.
Post by: Farce on August 22, 2018, 04:00:17 pm
The story is POLITICS n shiet too. Good stuff.
Have this janky OBS recording of a conversation. Can you tell it's the first time I've used OBS? I'll bet you can. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Mc70wVaUQyge0UITEAkQeTY3WtRSaIT1
Post by: nenjin on August 22, 2018, 04:17:50 pm
Payday 2.
Vermintide 2.
Basically if it's a horde game and has 2 in the title, I'm playing it.
Dunno why I decided to fire up Payday 2 again, but man, they've added a lot of content in the 3 or 4 years since I've played it. Not quite like starting the game over (I have $40 million in spending cash from the last time I played) but it sorta feels like it. Especially with all the new missions where I don't know thing 1 about what to do.
Post by: AzyWng on August 23, 2018, 10:52:26 am
Im doing the Someguy Series’s New Vegas Bounties series right now, about to head to Utah (hopefully with less angry tribals with guns this time).
Post by: scourge728 on August 23, 2018, 11:07:22 am
Post by: Kagus on August 23, 2018, 11:26:59 am
I have a problem in that game, I angered the legion and the assassins are stronger than anything else I've faced, mostly because they have some kind of magic armor that makes them immune to ALL OF MY WEAPONS!If you're playing vanilla, you may have run into the teeeeensy issue where the Legion sends hysterically out-of-depth assassins after you depending on your character level and the level of their disgruntlement. Buglivion + Bugthesda strike again.
Bumping into a couple centurions with thermic lances right after Nipton is a fine way to start the game off, I'd say.
Post by: Zangi on August 23, 2018, 11:29:19 am
Post by: Telgin on August 23, 2018, 02:16:55 pm
I have a problem in that game, I angered the legion and the assassins are stronger than anything else I've faced, mostly because they have some kind of magic armor that makes them immune to ALL OF MY WEAPONS!
I rarely mod games, but this is one thing I did mod the last few times I played, by finding a mod that fixed the equipment lists. Supposedly some things are reversed such that they start out super hilariously overpowered and get weaker as you get stronger.
Even with the bugfix it can be complete BS. I don't know how they make football uniforms bulletproof, but I did at least find that grenades are very useful at all levels for getting rid of them. I used to keep like 20 on me at all times specifically for this reason. Mines are good too.
Incidentally, mines were also a fun way to get rid of Caesar. I dumped about 20 outside of his tent, went inside, drew his ire, and ran back out. He and all of his goons were promptly launched to the moon.
Post by: AzyWng on August 23, 2018, 02:19:31 pm
Buglivion + Bugthesda strike again.
Both mods to fix the issue of super-powerful assasins, and mods to, well, make you super-powerful (namely, I picked one that lets me have all the companions I want).
How's Phantom Doctrine? I read in some Polygon (I think) article about how obtuse, unfair, and unforgiving it can be all at once (Hardly the best set of traits for a game to have since it's not the fun variants of those things the way DF is), but since it's Polygon, I'm not 100% sure if their concerns are valid.
Post by: Kagus on August 23, 2018, 02:36:57 pm
How's Phantom Doctrine? I read in some Polygon (I think) article about how obtuse, unfair, and unforgiving it can be all at once (Hardly the best set of traits for a game to have since it's not the fun variants of those things the way DF is), but since it's Polygon, I'm not 100% sure if their concerns are valid.
Sounds like that Polygon was...
*Sunglasses equipped, +1 PER*
...rendered unto Caesar.
Post by: AzyWng on August 23, 2018, 02:42:50 pm
Post by: jocan2003 on August 23, 2018, 06:03:06 pm
Post by: Kagus on August 23, 2018, 06:23:26 pm
[Intelligence 6/?] I... I'm afraid I don't follow you.It's, y'know... It's a polygon, like the building block of 3D modeling, which then gets rendered to form an image? But they're talking about the game being spiky, which means they were probably getting their profligate asses conquered by some legionnaires to the point where one might say they were getting rendered unto Caesar, like how that dude Jesus was talking about.
Post by: Akura on August 26, 2018, 08:02:02 pm
Oh, and the next update for FtD should be dropping tomorrow. That's nice.
Post by: George_Chickens on August 29, 2018, 02:00:54 pm
[Intelligence 6/?] I... I'm afraid I don't follow you.It's, y'know... It's a polygon, like the building block of 3D modeling, which then gets rendered to form an image? But they're talking about the game being spiky, which means they were probably getting their profligate asses conquered by some legionnaires to the point where one might say they were getting rendered unto Caesar, like how that dude Jesus was talking about.
I C A N S E E T H E H E G E L I A N D I A L E C T I C S
Post by: Sergius on August 29, 2018, 04:35:07 pm
Post by: TamerVirus on August 30, 2018, 08:24:55 am
Probably Two-point hospital when it comes out tomorrow
Post by: Mephisto on August 30, 2018, 08:29:31 am
Such is the life of a parent.
Post by: Kagus on August 30, 2018, 08:51:44 am
Nominally SCUM. Bought it last night because it released and my gaming group already has a server set up. Launched the game, twiddled with options, baby started crying, shut off game, did baby stuff, went to sleep.SCUMM, you say?
Such is the life of a parent.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Mephisto on August 30, 2018, 08:54:23 am
Post by: Folly on August 30, 2018, 09:03:21 am
I got through one cycle and about halfway through a second cycle, and I'm about ready to retire. Most of the crew I've been playing with already has given up.
The game has a great concept, with a mixture of base building, survival, and faction pvp. Unfortunately it seems clear that the developers have no idea how to effectively implement any of these ideas or combine them to make an enjoyable experience. Limited space and pieces ensure that every building is a simple box, and once built you realize there's no point to having it. PvE has no blocking or dodging or active abilities, so it's just a matter of plinking arrows into a critter and hoping they die before you do, which gets boring very fast. PvP is high risk with very little reward, so few people bother, and even fewer do so in an organized manner.
The game is Early Access, so it may evolve into something worthwhile...but the current dev feedback does not sound like they are moving in that direction. There has been no acknowledgement of the biggest shortcomings in the game right now, and the stuff they are working on seems unlikely to help much.
Post by: Yoink on August 30, 2018, 09:05:23 am
Probably Two-point hospital when it comes out tomorrow...Spiritual successor to Theme Hospital?!
The thing I've been longing for pretty much forever?? Oh man! Time to get all "add to wishlist" up in dis bitch.
Post by: George_Chickens on August 30, 2018, 09:06:28 am
Also of note: Cities Skylines as a successor to SimCity and Planet Coaster as a successor to Rollercoaster Tycoon.Probably Two-point hospital when it comes out tomorrow...Spiritual successor to Theme Hospital?!
The thing I've been longing for pretty much forever?? Oh man! Time to get all "add to wishlist" up in did bitch.
Post by: Kagus on August 30, 2018, 10:00:54 am
Not quite. (https://store.steampowered.com/app/513710/SCUM/)Oh, so it's YADZ. Yet Another DayZ.
Been playing Rend lately.I remember reading the pitch for it a long while back, and the stripped-down concept sounded kinda neat... Extended round-based PvP with PvE elements and some team endeavors (which apparently came to mean "base building").
But looking at later videos, ehhh... Not huge on it. I was kinda expecting something more like Savage, but with a more hostile environment.
Lots of innovative game concepts flying around these days. Shame so many of them wind up in the "half-baked turd" bucket.
Speaking of, Hellsign (formerly Hellhunters) has announced a release date! This is after however many years of the sketchiest "development" I've seen, including a Twitter account that has done fuckall but post random horror-tagged fanart of anything at all and the exact same gifs/screenshots from the announcement video every week for YEARS.
I legitimately do not believe they have a goddamn thing to show beyond those original clips. They posted some "update notes" along with the name change announcement, but besides being a big gear shift with absolutely nothing to prove that anything of the sort has actually been implemented, if they actually did implement the stuff they mentioned then they've made the game concept worse (in my opinion). Damned if you do, damned if you don't... Awful poetic, ain't it?
Post by: Showbiz on August 30, 2018, 12:43:47 pm
Nominally SCUM. Bought it last night because it released and my gaming group already has a server set up. Launched the game, twiddled with options, baby started crying, shut off game, did baby stuff, went to sleep.Haha, tell me about it!
Such is the life of a parent.
Post by: Gabeux on August 30, 2018, 11:10:05 pm
Probably Two-point hospital when it comes out tomorrow...Spiritual successor to Theme Hospital?!
The thing I've been longing for pretty much forever?? Oh man! Time to get all "add to wishlist" up in dis bitch.
Someone make a thread about it! I haven't played the game yet so I don't feel I have the right.
It's the same guys from Theme Hospital. It's Bullfrog, reviving in 2018.
Here's a podcast about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWXm-6At4Qo).
Post by: AzyWng on August 30, 2018, 11:43:37 pm
Still wondering why the port turned out like it did, but Gentlemen of The Row's managed to prevent the whole mess from getting, well, messier.
Incidentially, are the cars in Saint's Row 2 supposed to have turning circles that are really tiny? I hold down the button to turn left for almost a whole second and I'm halfway through a u-turn...
I haven't watched any walkthroughs that have a lot of driving so I'm not sure if that's supposed to happen.
Post by: Haspen on September 01, 2018, 06:49:50 am
Bless be Paradox for putting most of game code into .txt files. BLESS!
Post by: Yoink on September 01, 2018, 08:35:37 am
Ohhhh shiiiiitt!!Probably Two-point hospital when it comes out tomorrow...Spiritual successor to Theme Hospital?!
The thing I've been longing for pretty much forever?? Oh man! Time to get all "add to wishlist" up in dis bitch.
Someone make a thread about it! I haven't played the game yet so I don't feel I have the right.
It's the same guys from Theme Hospital. It's Bullfrog, reviving in 2018.
As if I wasn't excited enough already.
Post by: TamerVirus on September 01, 2018, 09:34:58 am
I already put in 10 hours into Two-point hospital, Very addictive. Much fun.
Post by: jocan2003 on September 01, 2018, 10:56:40 am
Finally managed to tolerate SR2 in windowed mode (as well as knowing I had to do that kind of thing to help prevent crashes in the first place).For minute i thought you were talking about space ranger 2, the latest edition. Man now i think ill have to reinstall it... But i am not done with X:rebirth modded yet... i just managed to find that damn warpgate in that start where you are dumped un the middle of a xenon sector i think? One of the dlc new gamestart
Post by: JimboM12 on September 05, 2018, 09:40:12 pm
im.... unhealthily addicted to perfecting my unions for maximum stats. the game gets this feel of making your own mercenary crew just right. its a quirky gem. theres just something "right" about making your party out of smaller groups. gives a real weight to the combat; even though heroes are strong, they do need backup.
on the side ive gotten way into kenshi again. with the 256 recruit limit mod, i will make outer heaven. the game gives me this weird ocd when i get my fort up and running; everyone not a "hero" needs to be uniformed in crafted gear.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on September 07, 2018, 02:15:39 pm
[finger guns]
Post by: Telgin on September 07, 2018, 02:52:37 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on September 07, 2018, 06:34:21 pm
"You're pretty good."
[finger guns]
this is our heaven and our hell. what better place for us than this?
Post by: Kagus on September 08, 2018, 03:26:12 am
Started playing Factorio again a little, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. The premise is good, but in practice it feels kind of weird to mostly automate things so I can stick jars of colored liquids in giant domes that magically research new technologies. It's still in early access I think, so I'm guessing all of that's going to change eventually.For me, I just get stuck trying to figure how to lay things down and account for all the different belts and flows and whatnot, so I end up running around like a headless chicken while the closest deposits run dry and then I need to reconfigure the entire setup to take from a different source...
And that's how it took me three hours to complete a mission with a par time of 40 minutes.
Post by: Telgin on September 08, 2018, 09:15:28 pm
Post by: Levi on September 10, 2018, 02:53:05 pm
The combat/interface is so ridiculously bad, but I will force myself through it.
Post by: Adequate Swimmer on September 10, 2018, 06:14:11 pm
Started playing Factorio again a little, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. The premise is good, but in practice it feels kind of weird to mostly automate things so I can stick jars of colored liquids in giant domes that magically research new technologies. It's still in early access I think, so I'm guessing all of that's going to change eventually.
Same.
The mechanics and gameplay loop for Factorio are great, it's just that it's ultimately wasted on a game about making green and red pots.
Post by: JimboM12 on September 10, 2018, 07:14:29 pm
Same.
The mechanics and gameplay loop for Factorio are great, it's just that it's ultimately wasted on a game about making green and red pots.
isn't that the point? its like saying the mechanics and gameplay loop for dwarf fortress is great but its wasted on a game about making socks
Post by: thvaz on September 10, 2018, 08:13:34 pm
I decided to give Witcher 1 another try, since I've heard such good things about Witcher 3.
The combat/interface is so ridiculously bad, but I will force myself through it.
It was already bad at the time when I played it, but nonetheless I enjoyed my time with it. Witcher 2 is a huge leap in terms of overall quality.
Post by: dennislp3 on September 10, 2018, 08:48:47 pm
Now that the definitive edition is out I am gonna try and beat it tgis tine around...
Post by: AzyWng on September 10, 2018, 08:52:07 pm
You have to own Heat Signature to participate, however - so don't mistake this for a free game giveaway. It's just a beta update for people who own the game.
The update introduces things like:
- Contractors - special enemies with abilities all intended to stop you from getting complacent. These abilities include knowing where you are all the time and having bullets that cannot be dodged, disabling your gadgets and causing glitchers (teleporters) to go fucky, shielding other enemies with a barrier that is literally immune to everything unless they're taken out, or just being a pulsating purple circle of impalement.
- Modifiers - I don't know what they're being called exactly, but they affect your characters - doing everything from making melee weapons unusable to giving you a ten-minute timer before you literally drop dead on the spot.
- Glory - Basically a score that starts at zero and increases as you complete extremely difficult "Glory" missions.
- Changes to Clients - Rather than unlocking the ability to take on bloodless missions, you may instead unlock special Clients like "The Thinker", who only offers missions have no time limit or alarm response, "The Soft Target", who only offers missions where enemies have no shields or armor, or "Gloria", who offers only glory missions. These clients will appear at stations you've liberated around the Drift, while stations that do not have special clients will have their normal set of missions.
- Changes to Alarm Responses - In addition to the "head for a station" or "do literally nothing" possibilities that occur when the alarm sounds, there is now a third - "Reinforcements". "Reinforcements" causes Contractors (the guys I mentioned earlier) to appear from a teleport pad somewhere on the ship. They will stop spawning, but it still means that sounding the alarm is a bad move.
- Daily Challenge - Every day, you get a character with some powerful kit, a pair of disadvantages, and a series of missions you have to complete. As you go through the mission series, you'll get score - if you buy items or mess up the optional objectives (so far I've only seen "Be seen as little as possible"), you lose score. Failing a mission causes the daily mission to end. Whether you succeed or fail, your score will be submitted and compared with others. Note that you only get one shot at a spot on the leaderboards - any subsequent attempts will be listed as "practice" attempts on ships of the exact same layout and item distribution, and will not have their scores submitted.
Probably a whole lot more changes I haven't remembered to add, but there's several of those - should help make the game more interesting for folks who understand what to do under ordinary circumstances.
Post by: Telgin on September 10, 2018, 09:24:04 pm
Same.
The mechanics and gameplay loop for Factorio are great, it's just that it's ultimately wasted on a game about making green and red pots.
isn't that the point? its like saying the mechanics and gameplay loop for dwarf fortress is great but its wasted on a game about making socks
To a point, but as a counterexample of what I was expecting the game to be like, I was assuming that it would be a lot more building intermediate components that were needed in large quantities for later components, and / or setting up mining and processing facilities to produce stuff in large quantities to achieve mission objectives. Something like producing 5,000 gears or circuit boards, or 10,000 rounds of ammo while balancing production against using up ammo in defensive turrets.
It does do that to a point in I think one mission, but so far the majority of the game appears to be figuring out how to make green and red potions to stick in domes to unlock technologies which need blue or other potions to unlock.
I think my biggest surprise and disappointment was the almost entire lack of a campaign. That's what I assume will change when it's finished, but right now I think it's just 4 missions, of which one is a combat only mission and one is a tutorial. Then free build mode, which I haven't tried yet.
Post by: Adequate Swimmer on September 11, 2018, 05:42:04 am
Same.
The mechanics and gameplay loop for Factorio are great, it's just that it's ultimately wasted on a game about making green and red pots.
isn't that the point? its like saying the mechanics and gameplay loop for dwarf fortress is great but its wasted on a game about making socks
It would be if socks were the only important product, and all different workshops and tasks pointed to socks as the Velma of Dwarf Fortress.
Post by: JimboM12 on September 11, 2018, 09:28:26 am
It would be if socks were the only important product, and all different workshops and tasks pointed to socks as the Velma of Dwarf Fortress.
... i may have been playing dwarf fortress incorrectly.
Post by: Rince Wind on September 11, 2018, 09:41:03 am
Post by: Kagus on September 11, 2018, 10:48:27 am
Same, I always thought we were supposed to make cheese. :'(My impression was that we needed to make vegetable oil and paper.
Post by: MCreeper on September 16, 2018, 08:11:56 am
Post by: Haspen on September 16, 2018, 08:30:05 am
Post by: Kagus on September 16, 2018, 08:42:07 am
Serial Experiments Lain. And by "playing" i mean "listening to". And by "listening to" i mean "readen", of course. >_<I think I need to brush up on my readen comprehension.
Post by: MCreeper on September 16, 2018, 10:54:38 am
EDIT: Actually readen it, but on internet, long animations, obtuse interface and lagging controls be damned
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Not envy people who was going for full walktrough in the actual game (on PC, while knowing japanese, before this site existed. Yeah), especially considering there is 170+ "files" that all consist of a single meaningless phrase.In short, scenes of
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: jocan2003 on September 16, 2018, 05:02:30 pm
Post by: deathpunch578 on October 01, 2018, 05:09:11 pm
Post by: nenjin on October 01, 2018, 05:18:18 pm
Kenshi, because I felt the need for something new and engrossing. Has not disappointed so far.
Middle Earth: Shadow of War because a friend bought it and reminded me I have not actually finished my first playthrough yet. And I probably never will, as I get sucked down the rabbit hole of Orc politics, fiddly mechanics to upgrade equipment and general all around bad luck.
Post by: deathpunch578 on October 01, 2018, 08:46:42 pm
Now just working on the last. Fortunately it's the one where I have to do the least!Don't forget revengence!
Post by: AzyWng on October 02, 2018, 09:36:39 am
I’m considering also playing Project J.A.C.K., but it was really poorly received, so I’m not sure about the decision.
Post by: TamerVirus on October 02, 2018, 10:50:05 am
No One Lives Forever 1 and 2.All I remember from that series is evil mimes, box shaped henchmen, and a sword fight with a ninja in a house that was picked up by a tornado
Post by: Jiharo on October 05, 2018, 03:28:57 am
Still have to get any further than the third area, most often due to wasting my
Post by: Folly on October 08, 2018, 08:58:40 pm
EDIT:
Okay, I've put a few hours into Assassins Creed Odyssey, so here are my initial impressions.
Firstly, Google's Project Stream works exactly as advertised. No download, no installation, just open Chrome and start playing a console-quality video game, it's really that easy. If Google can get a respectable library going with competitive pricing, I could absolutely see myself playing all my games this way someday soon.
As to ACO itself, I have never played a previous AC game so cannot make that comparison. Movement and combat feel exactly like the Middle-Earth Shadow games; lots of climbing, sneaking, assassinating, parrying, and graphic executions. Exploration and questing however feel more like an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game. The map is absolutely massive and full of points of interest, so completionists will definitely find hundreds of hours of gameplay here, if not thousands. I am not particularly enthusiastic about the characters or setting so far; they both feel extremely mundane. But the setting may grow on me with time.
Post by: nenjin on October 10, 2018, 12:10:25 am
As interesting as the idea of streaming games is.....it leaves me feeling a little unsettled for the PC market. Of course there will always be games for the PC, but Bloodbourne will likely never be ownable on a PC due to the higher profit factor of getting people to sign up for a subscription service instead. No Steam middle man for that game. The same thing was said when all the major publishers created their own walled gardens to compete with Steam, and market realities eventually forced them to let go of platform exclusivity.
But if streaming services get to the point where it's easier to stream a game than to own it....? What does that mean for all the big releases and the PC gaming market? A rise in prices to own PC games directly in order to push people toward a "much more cost effective" subscription based agreement? I dunno. When that other direct video game streaming service started up a few years ago, I disregarded it because I figured the tech wasn't there yet. But it seems we have arrived. This is mostly just a navel gazing post, but I was thinking about streaming vidya games a lot today after watching some Bloodbourne gameplay and seriously considering giving the Sony Store Play w/e a free trial, just to get my feet wet.
Post by: AzyWng on October 10, 2018, 01:26:53 pm
See, enemies seem... disturbingly easy to defeat with the priestess/orb flinger. A number of times, I’ve happened upon a group of foes and one or two (or even more) have stood where they are like lemons. It wasn’t until I attacked them that some (not all) of them decided to start moving and attacking.
The closest there is to a fast travel system (which would make traversing already-cleared parts of the map much easier) is the mobility skill, which isn’t all that great on the priestess.
What’s more - plenty of rooms have areas that you can’t interact with...
It’s not exactly a Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing, but it’s also not exactly an Enter The Gungeon.
Post by: Kagus on October 10, 2018, 02:26:23 pm
The priestess is hysterically overpowered, by the by. Right below her is the ice skater, and lower down the totem pole you get the solar adept, the swordsman, witch, druid, and finally the very useless variety of bard. But the priestess is far and away the most powerful of the lot.
There are a lot of extra things that can be unlocked, but you'll need a lot of luck over the course of a staggering number of runs in order to open everything up, and, well... It simply doesn't have that level of replay value.
Also, I once defeated the boss with my hands tied behind my back... And despite there being an event for doing that specific thing to you (you need to show exceptional cockiness/bravery during the run, and boastful behavior), there's no achievement for successfully killing the boss with such a handicap. And that makes me sad.
Post by: Folly on October 10, 2018, 02:30:22 pm
But if streaming services get to the point where it's easier to stream a game than to own it....? What does that mean for all the big releases and the PC gaming market? A rise in prices to own PC games directly in order to push people toward a "much more cost effective" subscription based agreement?
I don't see any reason why a streaming service necessarily has to be subscription based and not ownership based. It's like Buying a game on Steam; once you've paid, you can download and play at any time without further payments. Buy a game on a streaming service and be free to stream it at any time without further payment.
Post by: TamerVirus on October 10, 2018, 03:06:59 pm
Good as an open world FPS
No so good as a Fallout RPG
Post by: nenjin on October 10, 2018, 03:16:56 pm
But if streaming services get to the point where it's easier to stream a game than to own it....? What does that mean for all the big releases and the PC gaming market? A rise in prices to own PC games directly in order to push people toward a "much more cost effective" subscription based agreement?
I don't see any reason why a streaming service necessarily has to be subscription based and not ownership based. It's like Buying a game on Steam; once you've paid, you can download and play at any time without further payments. Buy a game on a streaming service and be free to stream it at any time without further payment.
Well, that's the route Sony wanted to go. I can only assume it serves as form of DRM. You don't ever own the game, you can't pirate it and you can't resell it. And you pay a subscription for this privelege. To me it seems to align with all the big ticket gripes of the AAA gaming industry, neatly wrapped up in one bundle.
Post by: Persus13 on October 10, 2018, 07:18:01 pm
Last I checked, Sony's streaming service did not require you to purchase games. You just pay a flat monthly fee and get access to their library.But if streaming services get to the point where it's easier to stream a game than to own it....? What does that mean for all the big releases and the PC gaming market? A rise in prices to own PC games directly in order to push people toward a "much more cost effective" subscription based agreement?
I don't see any reason why a streaming service necessarily has to be subscription based and not ownership based. It's like Buying a game on Steam; once you've paid, you can download and play at any time without further payments. Buy a game on a streaming service and be free to stream it at any time without further payment.
Well, that's the route Sony wanted to go. I can only assume it serves as form of DRM. You don't ever own the game, you can't pirate it and you can't resell it. And you pay a subscription for this privelege. To me it seems to align with all the big ticket gripes of the AAA gaming industry, neatly wrapped up in one bundle.
As for why they went with a subscription model, probably because they want to be Netflix for games, and charging a monthly fee means that if a bunch of people sign up just for one game, they still make money.
Post by: Yoink on October 11, 2018, 02:29:38 am
In Celebration of Violence. Probably the most fun I've had with an action-roguelite since I don't remember when. Dark soulsy swing-parry-dodge combat plus riskofrainish modifier acquisition and class unlocks plus spells and gods and whatnot work together surprisingly well.Oh boy, this looks sick. Wishlisting. Thanks for pointing it out. :D
Still have to get any further than the third area, most often due to wasting myEstusurges in the transition dungeons.
Post by: Sime on October 12, 2018, 10:09:31 am
Post by: Kagus on October 12, 2018, 05:43:14 pm
Ending left me feeling a bit... Empty. It's eating at me.
Welp, time to start the series from game no. 1 and get a closer relationship to the characters before playthrough 2!
Post by: SQman on October 13, 2018, 12:30:22 pm
Last time I decided to tackle the ancient danger, and it turned out it was a bunch of cryptosleep caskets and insectoid hives. Very liberal usage of flamethrowers and ridiculously fast Gallimimus mounts saved the day, and only half of the map turned into lifeless ashland. Unfortunately all I got from that was a granny who lost a leg to bugs (I let her go), a teenage girl with no skills, and a fat guy with herpes.
Then I had a massive orc invasion that was stopped by an android exotic goods caravan that I ordered. Four orcs were captured. One of the prisoners had a bionic supercock, so the only logical thing to do was to amputate it and fix my obese friend's spicy weiner problem. One of my colonists was also missing an ear, so she's now walking with mismatched ears.
I used to be a moral manager, a merciful god. Now I pacify misbehaving colonists with lethal force, amputate potentially useful (or bionic) body parts of prisoners, make carbon composite out of human flesh, use orcs as sex-slaves, feed my colonists nothing but onion. I heard the rim changes people, and I knew my turn will come, but I didn't think it would be so sudden.
Post by: CABL on October 13, 2018, 12:47:25 pm
Rimworld with tons of mods.
Last time I decided to tackle the ancient danger, and it turned out it was a bunch of cryptosleep caskets and insectoid hives. Very liberal usage of flamethrowers and ridiculously fast Gallimimus mounts saved the day, and only half of the map turned into lifeless ashland. Unfortunately all I got from that was a granny who lost a leg to bugs (I let her go), a teenage girl with no skills, and a fat guy with herpes.
Then I had a massive orc invasion that was stopped by an android exotic goods caravan that I ordered. Four orcs were captured. One of the prisoners had a bionic supercock, so the only logical thing to do was to amputate it and fix my obese friend's spicy weiner problem. One of my colonists was also missing an ear, so she's now walking with mismatched ears.
I used to be a moral manager, a merciful god. Now I pacify misbehaving colonists with lethal force, amputate potentially useful (or bionic) body parts of prisoners, make carbon composite out of human flesh, use orcs as sex-slaves, feed my colonists nothing but onion. I heard the rim changes people, and I knew my turn will come, but I didn't think it would be so sudden.
Do you use Rimjobworld mod? I mean, there's a relatively tame mod that adds naughty bits, but it doesn't add sex slaves, AFAIK.
Post by: Egan_BW on October 13, 2018, 02:40:15 pm
Post by: AzyWng on October 14, 2018, 05:51:09 am
Anyway, I’ve been wandering the Mojave.
Almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.
Post by: JimboM12 on October 14, 2018, 07:18:09 am
im currently running through kingdom come again. i took advantage in the beginning and grinded certain skills up with no pressure and unlimited time. and as soon as i could i spent an entire ingame day practicing with captain bernard and have gotten to a reasonably badass level.
Post by: Kagus on October 14, 2018, 09:00:27 am
It's just... Well, the series has really come a long way since the first entry. Hoo boy. At least I'm not dumb enough to try and focus on my swordplay for this playthrough...
Post by: Egan_BW on October 14, 2018, 11:53:35 am
Did you do that because orcish sex slaves were mentioned?Maybe.
Post by: Telgin on October 14, 2018, 08:23:25 pm
At least I know X8 is better, even if I detest the character design in it.
Post by: Senator Jim Death on October 15, 2018, 02:02:13 pm
At least I know X8 is better, even if I detest the character design in it.
Mega Man in general existed in its own untouchable, indescribable, unapproachable world of sequels and spinoffs until that one Capcom released a while back that broke the series back open to non-players again. History sorta keeps repeating for those games. The first couple of games are classic, and then a few more come out and you kinda wonder where the series went wrong. Then they reboot everything and things are cool for a game or two. Then they're six or eight sequels in and you don't even recognize the games any longer, and they added voice acting or some spinoff happens and how it's an incomprehensible mess. It's like an old college friend that became a really popular fursuiter or something: okay, guy, I'm happy that you're loved by so many people, but I just can't get into this thing you're in to. And I actually LIKE platformers. At this point, I'm honestly sorta surprised they haven't tried getting into the metrovania genre with that series. I might actually play that even with hammy acting and gaudy character design.
As you can probably tell, I am playing nothing right now. Nothing I will admit to playing, at least.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on October 15, 2018, 02:04:44 pm
Post by: AzyWng on October 16, 2018, 12:07:59 am
With Mods.
Currently trying to get through all the Someguy Series with one character. Completed NVB 1 and Russel, kind of starting 2 (Haven't actually progressed the storyline yet) but haven't started The Inheritance, let alone NVB 3 or Checkpoint Gary.
Post by: Napagady on November 02, 2018, 04:03:16 am
I play NBA and FIFA. I like sport games.
But i will try red dead redemption 2 in few days :)
Post by: King Zultan on November 08, 2018, 04:51:51 am
Post by: CABL on November 08, 2018, 05:35:46 am
When my family will be in a better financial situation, I'll be likely to snatch the other Serious Sam games on sale.
Post by: Haspen on November 08, 2018, 08:14:10 am
headless kamikaze
Mandatory:
"...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA-*BOOM*"
Post by: AzyWng on November 08, 2018, 11:56:42 am
Having fun on his server, living out on a farm and looting the city courtesy of a van he repaired.
Post by: Cthulhu on November 09, 2018, 10:24:10 pm
I fucking hate dark souls, though I like a lot of the ideas behind it, the difficult combat, desolate world and minimalist storytelling, the way the maps are interconnected in ways that make them feel so much bigger and more interesting to explore. Which is why I fucking love Bloodborne. It's got all those things, but it's fixed all the shit I hate about dark souls. The pseudo-counters where you do more damage if you hit an enemy mid-attack, the mechanic where you can recover recent damage by hitting back, making potions an item you can find instead of a fixed resource.
No Capra Demons so far (not the monster itself, but the type of encounter the capra demon is, a bullshit gotcha fight where you're battling the stupid mechanics more than the monster itself, the capra demon kind of encapsulates everything I hate about dark souls).
The game's still hard as hell, but the changes make it a much smoother experience where you want to press forward instead of grinding and hiding and constantly feeling like you're fucked. I feel like I'm being challenged by the monsters and the environments in an organic way, instead of trying to figure out what kind of bullshit the devs are pulling on me.
Also the chalice was a great idea.
I like this game a lot.
Post by: AzyWng on November 09, 2018, 11:32:01 pm
Dunno what else to say other than it's a good game, especially as the game progresses and scenes slowly degrade from a state of order to a state of disorder.
See, everything in the game runs on a pattern, and your objective is to get through those patterns as best you can without disrupting them. Now, the thing is - if you do wind up disrupting the pattern - say, through causing a guard to be distracted/notice a noise made, getting recorded on a security cam or - possibly the worst of all - getting spotted - the pattern begins to crack.
You take down a guard to keep them from shooting an agent, they'll fall unconscious but will eventually get back up - you either have to spend an agent to keep them pinned, or you have to leave before the guard wakes up and begins to hunt for your team. Something similar happens even if a guard gets merely distracted - they will never stop hunting you.
If you do kill a guard, and - barring special circumstances - their heart monitor will advance the alarm meter, which slowly makes the level a less safe place for agents to be in.
You get spotted by a guard and another guard's nearby - it's likely a second or even third guard will notice.
Security cameras will alert nearby guards that an agent is at their position, causing them to go looking... and they'll never stop hunting, similar to guards who have been knocked out.
It's kind of what I imagine Dwarf Fortress to be like - starting off relatively small and either growing into something extremely powerful, or descending into a hectic scenario where bodies lie everywhere and merely breathing wrong can get you shot.
Or both.
Post by: wierd on November 10, 2018, 02:34:36 am
OpenMW hosted Morrowind, and Warzone 2100.
Post by: Telgin on November 13, 2018, 03:19:42 pm
I can really appreciate the metafictional elements in it. Kind of inspired me to try doing something similar, although I can't really decide on the exact medium.
Also played Deltarune. Cannot wait for the final release.
Post by: nenjin on November 13, 2018, 07:20:22 pm
And you know what? I'm enjoying it. The story is facepalmingly bad, from the voice acting to the story structure. The gearing system and the way the game has been subdivided between whether you've bought the DLC or not is opaque and frustrating sometimes to understand.
But the visuals are great. The combat is enjoyable (if you enjoy Halo style FPS action.) The mayhem when the game really dials everything up to 11 is great. The gearing system isn't even that bad, once you understand it. It's basically The Division or Borderlands with its own style or tweaks. At its core it feels like a game for the casual player and I'm actually ok with that. It's an easy, somewhat mindless FPS spectacle with 14 million things to spend your time on and play with friends, and for where I'm at right now in life that's otay.
Compared to Warframe, which is a much deeper and much less casual game on every front, I feel like D2 has a place in the market. When I want to look good and feel good shooting stuff but I don't really want to put the time in to get anything, Destiny 2 does an admirable job of keeping me and boredom from meeting. This isn't a straight endorsement; I can't fault anyone for finding the game or the action in it boring.
But I'm enjoying it enough I think I'll shell out the $40 for the DLC pack. D2 has given me enough enjoyment for free that I feel like Bungie has earned some of my dollars. I feel a little bad paying in to what has been and may continue to be a vehicle for the microtransaction-based game of the future....but in other ways I found the game much less offensively P2W than it's been presented by others. But I've yet to hit the real late game gear grind.
Still, I feel like something good should be said about the game. I would have never picked it up had I not gotten it for free. But I guess for me it shows you can't always judge how much you'll like a game based just on what the internet outrage machine says. The outrage machine isn't wrong, there is a whole lot of fucky bullshit that's gone on in D2. And I'm not sure I wouldn't be livid if I'd paid $60 for this then had to pay another $60 to get more than 30 hours of meaningful gameplay out of it.
But I seemed to have come in at a good time and the fucky bullshit, while it's definitely made understanding how the game operates more difficult, hasn't actually ruined my fun yet.
Post by: MCreeper on November 14, 2018, 03:14:35 am
A) It's hideous.
B) It's hilarious.
Not in multiplayer, sadly. Firstly, because it's not some big and popular game and it may be tough to find players, secodly, because, knowing the developers, you actually can't play with someone further than, like,
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Napagady on November 14, 2018, 07:14:56 am
Post by: King Zultan on November 14, 2018, 07:53:57 am
I started to play GTA 4 againHey cousin, let's go bowling!
Post by: TamerVirus on November 14, 2018, 10:27:23 am
I shelled out for the Gold Edition, so I had a couple days of early access. It's basically an expansion pack to the 2016 game, but that's all I've ever asked for. Throwing a homing briefcase is hilarious.
Post by: Levi on November 14, 2018, 01:05:12 pm
I started to play GTA 4 againHey cousin, let's go bowling!
Nico it's your cousin! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxMLVlspD1Y)
Post by: Sanctume on November 14, 2018, 05:18:07 pm
So I got a free Call of Duty 4 Black Ops and my first time playing FPS games since Doom 1.
Wow, no headache from playing FPS games.
However, I suck at playing.
I have no idea how others can see my crouched flat on a bush by a tree.
While at the same time, I can't tell if that shooter is behind a rock or window.
I see them when they are running in broad day light are, but add buildings and plants around them, I can't tell in a quick glance.
I am blaming my 4 year old video card and an even older 21" monitor.
Maybe there will be a sale on Black Friday / Cyper Monday, and I can "get gut" playing Blackout. :p
Post by: Kagus on November 14, 2018, 06:09:24 pm
Good grief this game is a contrived mess... I don't think I'm even halfway through yet and I am choking my way through this peculiarly unfun experience.
Post by: Levi on November 15, 2018, 11:02:56 am
Post by: askovdk on November 15, 2018, 11:03:51 am
on PS4+.
So far (new character, just unlocked iron smelting) it has been very good.
The easy area is indeed very easy with few dinosaurs and even fewer predators.
Post by: AzyWng on November 15, 2018, 01:04:34 pm
You can kill people with banana peels.
Will elaborate later since I’m kinda busy right now.
Post by: Biowraith on November 15, 2018, 06:57:45 pm
Seems like one of the better ones so far, though we'll see how I feel after more than one evening's play.
Plenty of customisation options between many item slots (the usual head/arms/legs/etc, plus extra slots for servo arms and the like) and a choice of 6 skill tree paths for each tech-priest (with the option of going deep into one or two, or shallow into lots of them). At the start of the game you only have 2 tech priests - I just unlocked my 3rd priest on something like my 4th mission. You can also unlock and bring along non-tech priest troops as support and cannon-fodder, with different types unlocking as you go (so far I have basic Servitors, Skitarii Rangers, and Skitarii Ranger Alphas).
There's a need to balance between raiding every room in the tomb to try and get max gains (though that can backfire and actually do you harm), and, well, not doing that cos it'll wake the Necrons up faster meaning the battles will be harder (as they wake up they get buffs to initiative, movement, reanimation time, numbers etc) and bringing the end of the game closer - there's a doom clock that advances faster if you finish missions with high Necron alert levels.
It's also got a somewhat novel action point system - in this game they're calling it Cognition, and it's a shared pool rather than each unit having its own action points. The Cognition pool doesn't refill on its own each turn, you have to acquire it through e.g. scanning Necron obelisks, examining their corpses, your Servitor troops being attacked (collecting data from their wounds, heh), and so on. Not everything requires Cognition - you can do basic movement without it and some of the weaker weapons don't require it, but it does present a number of tough decisions as the fights heat up.
Post by: ThtblovesDF on November 16, 2018, 07:57:16 am
the entire series is just a bunch of cool indgy games with heart.
Post by: nenjin on November 16, 2018, 10:38:59 am
I've spent the evening playing the latest in the sea of Warhammer (40K) games, Mechanicus. Take a squad of Adeptus Mechanicus tech priests on a romp through choose-your-own-adventure type scenarios and a bunch of turn based tactical combat (lazy comparison: x-com-like) as you raid their tombs for science and the Omnissiah.
Seems like one of the better ones so far, though we'll see how I feel after more than one evening's play.
Plenty of customisation options between many item slots (the usual head/arms/legs/etc, plus extra slots for servo arms and the like) and a choice of 6 skill tree paths for each tech-priest (with the option of going deep into one or two, or shallow into lots of them). At the start of the game you only have 2 tech priests - I just unlocked my 3rd priest on something like my 4th mission. You can also unlock and bring along non-tech priest troops as support and cannon-fodder, with different types unlocking as you go (so far I have basic Servitors, Skitarii Rangers, and Skitarii Ranger Alphas).
There's a need to balance between raiding every room in the tomb to try and get max gains (though that can backfire and actually do you harm), and, well, not doing that cos it'll wake the Necrons up faster meaning the battles will be harder (as they wake up they get buffs to initiative, movement, reanimation time, numbers etc) and bringing the end of the game closer - there's a doom clock that advances faster if you finish missions with high Necron alert levels.
It's also got a somewhat novel action point system - in this game they're calling it Cognition, and it's a shared pool rather than each unit having its own action points. The Cognition pool doesn't refill on its own each turn, you have to acquire it through e.g. scanning Necron obelisks, examining their corpses, your Servitor troops being attacked (collecting data from their wounds, heh), and so on. Not everything requires Cognition - you can do basic movement without it and some of the weaker weapons don't require it, but it does present a number of tough decisions as the fights heat up.
I've been interested in this game since it came out. But after a slew of mid-grade 40k titles, I've been a little leery of running out and getting it. Sort of like Spacehulk Ascension, it's a vaguely XCOM like but with these games it's never very clear from the start how deep they are. So I'd be interested in hearing more hot takes on it.
Post by: Iduno on November 16, 2018, 02:50:22 pm
Streets of Rogue.
You can kill people with banana peels.
Will elaborate later since I’m kinda busy right now.
That reminds me, I wonder if any of the people trying to add to IVAN got anywhere. That was a
Post by: Biowraith on November 18, 2018, 04:49:06 am
The combat is solid and fun, oftentimes it's almost like a puzzle to solve with lots of "ok, if I spend 1 cognitition to have this guy run over here, that'll pick up 3 cognitition back which is 1 short of what I need for this guy to fire his blaster, but on his turn his scanner will have recharged to get that last cognition and he can kill this damned Destroyer". Outside of combat there's plenty of flavour from the banter between the npc tech priests (though they're each a bit one-note and cliché in their personalities - here's the religious zealot, there's the scientist) and the pick-your-approach scenarios, although from a gameplay perspective those scenarios are probably the weakest part as there's no way to judge which choice(s) will give a beneficial result (well, you can savescum I suppose).
There's been a little bugginess along the way, though they've also released two patches already one of which purports to fix the worst of the 3 or 4 bugs I've encountered - one bug is just a visual thing of armour values not displaying properly in the between-missions character screens, one is a specific ability doesn't work how it should, and the last has apparently been fixed which caused the game to get 'stuck' when you used AoEs... though only sometimes cos I've only hit it once in about 15 missions (and I was using flamers as soon as they unlocked).
The main criticism - and the Steam forums seem to agree - is that after the first handful of missions it gets a bit too easy as your tech priests get more powerful faster than the enemies do (the high tier abilities in certain skill paths are very powerful). There's also some specific skills that make things much easier (generally relating to Cognition generation or use) and you can get them early on. The game is set up so that you can afford to lose a few missions without it being the end of the world (for starters, tech priests can't perma-die and the non-tech priest troops are a renewable resource) but I've only had one mission so far that came close to failure. Admittedly I've not done any of the boss fights yet, but I'm generally finishing the regular missions with all tech priests at or near full health and the main 'challenge' is just in how efficiently I can win, rather than whether I win at all.
I'm honestly not sure if I'd recommend it to others or not at this point - there's definitely fun to be had with the combat system and the aesthetic, and the price-point is fairly reasonable, but anyone looking for a challenge is going to be deeply disappointed I think.
Post by: Mephisto on November 18, 2018, 12:13:59 pm
Post by: Kagus on November 18, 2018, 02:38:36 pm
It's one thing to make your choices have sometimes far-reaching consequences, that's fine... But it's not fine when those consequences are complete non-sequiturs and don't make any sense. At some points the writing is clearly living in a completely different world from the one you're in, where not only do your dialog choices not accurately represent what's actually said, but the NPC responses don't represent what's meant by them either. And everyone's just so weird that I really don't know if I'm actually getting more in touch with their personalities or not.
So now I not only don't want to play the game and get into fights (why, why did I pick hard difficulty?), I also don't want to interact with anybody because I'm afraid it's going to blindside me with some dumbass result that I don't want to be saddled with, but reverting it would mean going back to a save from several hours ago. And going through those fights again.
So I'm putting it off and watching a complete Halo series LP instead. That way I can direct my ire at dumb gameplay/story design decisions that don't actually affect me personally.
Post by: nenjin on November 18, 2018, 02:50:37 pm
Post by: Telgin on November 19, 2018, 11:23:42 am
This game is far from perfect, but it is just so much better designed and made than X7 was. There was enough time between them when they came out that I didn't realize how much better X8 was, but now it's plain as day.
I still don't like the game very much compared to the old ones, but it's not just bad like X7 was.
Post by: Iduno on November 19, 2018, 03:27:43 pm
Divinity Original Sin is a pretty decent 2-player turn-based RPG with a tactical combat on the same map you run around on (allowing you to get in position before the fight, or get yourself stuck behind something when your partner runs way ahead of you). I like the elemental interactions.
You spend skill points to upgrade skills in a freeform way, but you'll end up a fighter, archer, thief or mage. Thieves can backstab for what I assume is a lot of damage, fighters can deal massive damage and inflict knockdown or slowing statuses pretty regularly, and have an attack that lets them rush halfway across the battlefield while knocking down everyone on the way. Archers can shoot stuff or use semi-common special arrows to cause elemental effects. Mages can create pools of oil to slow people, then start the oil on fire. Or summon rain to put out fires your enemies/less careful partner and also self started literally everywhere. Blood counts as water, so trails of blood will conduct electricity from lightning, shocking everyone nearby (including your fighter) for a few turns. Just in case that's not enough, campfires and barrels full of poisonous ooze/water/oil interact with elemental attacks appropriately.
Dungeonmans, is a graphical roguelike. As you can tell from the title has some stupid humour. It's everything I wanted from Rogue Legacy (actually like Rogue instead of a platformer and you actually have noticeable improvements in your future characters). You're a recent graduate of the Dungeonmans Academy, now get out there and kill/loot some stuff.
You roll up and choose one of 4 or 5 sets of stats (or reroll), choose a class to pre-assign some skills for you or choose Dungeonmans to assign them yourself, pick 2 traits (World Champion gets you more elite enemies for more treasure and proofs of Stremf, but are also elite enemies and might kill you, another trait allows you to use one potion per round for zero actions, and one allows/forces you to eat skill books for health instead of reading them for free skill points). Skill trees are 3-deep, and require level 1, 3, and 6 (out of 15 possible) to unlock. You get 5 skill points at level 1, and 1 each level after, so you can build pretty wide. There are something like 10 sets of skill trees, each with 3-5 skill trees. You roam around the world entering dungeons that are helpfully labelled (trivial, easy, adventerous, dangerous, deadly, impossible) in color-coded letters to represent how level-appropriate they are. Killing elite enemies and dungeon bosses of your level or higher (and they can be 1 higher than the level of the dungeon level you are on) gains you better loot and proofs of stremf. Proofs can be taken back to your academy, and spent to increase stats. Equipment you don't want can be melted down to raw materials of the tier the equipment were, and the blacksmith remembers the egos (causes bleeding, +x fire damage, etc.) from all of the weapons you've melted so far. You can buy hammers with the raw materials to apply the egos to your new weapons. The Southern Gentlemans class is a weird one: to represent being a raging berserker, they build up rage by killing enemies, and the rage slowly goes down in real-time. It's at least an interesting idea.
Now the legacy stuff: When you die, proofs of stremf count for half value for all future characters. Characters who survive until level 10 can retire like idiots, or die trying to get even more powerful/more stuff. Either way, they become a new professor who can teach all future characters an entire skill tree. The blacksmith keeps all of the raw materials and egos you've collected even when you die, and can hold special equipment in a vault for you or future characters to remove and use. Special equipment is either part of a set (fairly rare for most of the game), a unique weapon (also rare for most of the game), or a weapon that got named and a slight stat bonus because one of your previous characters died holding it (hopefully they weren't holding an already-special weapon). You just need to go avenge your previous characters' deaths to get a stat bonus and their named weapon. The game is difficult enough that you'll make use of the legacy stuff until you make an overpowered-enough character to kill all the plot stuff (non-spoiler: it's the Purpleonians, the stand-in for demons/horrors in this game).
Edited to add actual descriptions, because I guess we're supposed to actually describe things.
Post by: AzyWng on November 19, 2018, 11:58:51 pm
TL;DR 'cause I am making this rather long and not entirely coherent:
This game's a real-time roguelike where you can do things like turn from a possibly homeless person into basically a super soldier, you can acquire a posse of loyal followers who will fight to the death just by saying "derp" a lot, and you can push a very important hat down a hole to be lost forever.
The environments you will pass through include a slums area where homeless people tend to outnumber the people who are actually in buildings (and while law enforcement will try to murder you if they spot you stealing or the like, they mostly don't care), an industrial sector with hazardous barrels and flame-spewing vents everywhere (including out in the open and everywhere inside buildings, some of which include crushers and saw blades which can kill the inhabitants on their own), a park that's relatively peaceful and quiet (probably because cannibals or traps killed so many of the other inhabitants), a downtown where mobsters walk around freely and military police make their first appearances (They're probably the only reason the haughty and cowardly upper-crusters are even still alive), a uptown where security includes robots and automatic blockades (complete with confiscation and deportation centers), and a final floor featuring the final boss (and their hat).
Your means of dealing with things are numerous, including: Take one of a number of drugs to gain a boost that'll let you push through combat or stealth with no penalty to you, pop out a weapon of some variety and go to town, ask all your friends to kill your enemies, run the hell away until they get bored and walk off, trick them into hitting bystanders or law enforcement so they can deal with the problem for you, blow shit up, or utilize one or more of a wide selection of items to get through the situation alive and victorious.
Or just fail the mission. Because you can do that with some types of misson and you'll still be able to go to the next floor so long as all of the required missions are resolved to some degree.
TL;DR ends here. Yeah, it's still pretty long. You probably don't need to read all of it to get the gist of it, though. I hope. Unless I screwed it up.
I never played any Streets of Rage except for a little bit of the Remake, and I couldn't really get past a control scheme I was not accustomed to. I'm saying this 'cause the title makes me think of Streets of Rage even though I don't know much about that game.
Well, while Streets of Rage has some apparently rather dark themes of corruption in positions of power and authority (something about how law enforcement is on the bad guy's side?), in Streets of Rogue, simlar themes of corruption are portrayed by cops having a quote that is literally "Psst! I can be bribed easily! Like, really easily!"
Streets of Rogue is considerably more lighthearted in tone than Streets of Rage. Corpses look like they're rolling their eyes, plenty of the flavor texts for items have some kind of joke to them (The Silencer states that it'll let you kill people without doing the "super rude" act of alerting the neighbors), the villian's crimes include throwing a party that was "super lame", and the currency is chicken nuggets (banned after they gave the Mayor a stomachache).
Streets of Rage is technically not a top-down shooter (the shooting, in fact, is rather simplistic compared with, say, Enter the Gungeon), but the combat plays out much like one in that you control movement with one hand (WASD keys by default) and shooting/swinging with the other (Mouse aim by default).
Ranged combat is a relatively simple matter of dodging the enemy's bullets while firing your own. This is made easier if you have high firearms skill and the setting for auto-aim on (which is on by default and even seems to do things like lead targets based on how fast they're moving - though if you're aiming at an object and a person is in the same direction and closer, you'll shoot the person). If you don't have auto-aim on, however, you'll need to utilize your own aiming skill to help land hits. In any case, the firearm selection consists of standard shooting game weapons - the pistol (relatively weak, but common and thus likely one of the first guns you'll pick up), shotgun (best used just beyond melee range), and machinegun (like the pistol, but considerably faster). Individual shots don't inflict a tremendous amount of damage - save for close-range shotgun blasts, and even then, that's techincally just the entire shotgun spread hitting the target. However, the pistol and machinegun can both be fired quite rapidly - and the pistol appears to fire faster based on your character's firearms skill. Also, all guns deal more damage based on firearms skill, so a soldier with enough ammo can easily clean out buildings with very little risk to themselves.
I should probably explain firearms skill and skills in general. See, at the start of each game, you're asked to choose what character you want to be. You can do things like alter their appearance, but no matter what, you must choose a class. Each class has different stats, traits, and gear. For instance, the Soldier starts with a max firearms skill, a high melee skill, and a bunch of equipment used to kill people, including explosives. If you level up, at the end of a floor you can choose one of a selection of traits, which you can. This can include an upgrade to any skill you have that isn't yet at its maximum of 4/4. Additionally, a character with the Potential to Not Suck trait (like the Slum Dweller) will gain a point in any skill not at 4/4 every second level, starting at level 2. However, for much of the game, the character stats and traits you have will be the ones you'll have to deal with, for better or worse.
Other than shooting at your enemies, you can also hit them with stuff, including your bare fists (which you might have to resort to if your weapons break). There's a fairly varied list of melee weapons, including a knife, a baseball bat, baton, axe, sword, and sledgehammer. The sledgehammer, axe, and sword inflict very high damage per hit - so much so you can instagib people if you've got high enough melee skill or land a crit. Also, all non-knife melee weapons swing in an arc, making it easy to hit multiple opponents with one swing - which decreases the durability the same as though you'd hit one enemy with a swing and is thus encouraged.
Breaking items like doors or furniture with weapons doesn't degrade their durability, so you can happily smash away at those things if you need to, with your only consequence being property owners or law enforcement coming to kill you. Unless you've bribed law enforcement, which means you can smash whatever and whoever you like as long as it's not a cop.
Missions are things you have to do on each floor to be able to proceed to the next. These consist of things like "Blow up this generator", "Neutralize this person", or "Get this thing from this person". And these can be done in any number of ways. Granted, the person must be neutralized, the generator must be blown up, and the thing must be gotten from the person. You can't fail those missions because those missions don't have a fail state. But there are still a number of ways you can complete them. Generators can be blown up in a number of ways - shooting, beating with a piece of metal, blowing up with explosives, or tampering with using wrenches to make them blow up stealthily, without all the noise that beating them with a piece of metal usually causes. For neutralizing a person, you can either turn them friendly somehow and ask them to leave, you can intimidate them, you can knock them out (requires a tranq gun or the chloroform Doctor players have), or you can just straight-up kill them. For getting an item from someone, you can do any of those things, or you can bribe them with an item or some money - just make sure if you kill or knock them out that you pick up the item from them afterwards. How exactly you get your way to accomplishing any of those things... Well, that's why the game can be quite difficult at times. You might have to hold off on using an item because you know you can bribe someone with it, and doing so will let you resolve the mission without violence which means you get more EXP, which is good because you fully heal when you level up and your health is low and you're not sure if you want to use your healing items just yet since you are quite close to leveling up...
And then there's how you can deal with the final boss and get their very important hat - which can constitute several methods - killing them and picking up their very important, stealing their very important hat, becoming their friend and asking for the very important hat, buying the hat, having an election for the hat, or even just arresting or enslaving them (if you've got the right class) and getting the hat.
I think I'm done with this, but if you're still confused I can elaborate further. I just hope I haven't made you any stupider.
Post by: Iduno on November 20, 2018, 09:16:36 am
Ok, Iduno, now elaborating on Streets of Rogue. You don't have to compare me to people tried to do actual work and then stop midway through or whatever the story is/was behind those folks. Though poking at my ego did work this time.
I did what now? I mean, yes...my...plan worked.
Post by: Yoink on November 20, 2018, 10:03:52 am
Post by: AzyWng on November 20, 2018, 11:23:59 am
Well, you already seem somewhat familiar with the game, but no, such a thing is not possible.
See, each class (including custom-made classes) can pick one special ability (or none, as is the case with many classes). The Jock starts with the ability to charge until he runs into something.
The wrestler starts with the ability to pick up objects and throw them.
These two abilities cannot be combined.
Post by: Kagus on November 20, 2018, 02:33:07 pm
I think there used to be some stupidity you could pull off with using a kill ammunizer along with a water pistol loaded with cyanide, but I'm pretty sure that got patched out. Cyanide squirtgun is still capable of instantly killing the "invulnerable" killbot that hunts you on some levels though.
While it's hardly an "optimal" class, I still really enjoy playing as a hacker. At least for the first few levels, until inevitably getting murdered by something.
Post by: King Zultan on December 15, 2018, 06:29:19 am
So far I like it better than the third one, there seems to be more stuff to do, more things going on, there just seems like there's more of everything.
Post by: Yoink on December 15, 2018, 06:46:09 am
Bought Foxhole yesterday (or was it the day before?) and played it a bit, but it's weird and hard to learn and it doesn't run very well on this laptop.
Ack. May have wasted $17, but at least it was on sale...
These two abilities cannot be combined.Aw, sad. Thanks for clarifying.
While it's hardly an "optimal" class, I still really enjoy playing as a hacker. At least for the first few levels, until inevitably getting murdered by something.Hacking is kinda fun even in the version I have, despite being pretty useless.
Comedian is always my favourite class, though! Even if dragging a large enough audience around makes my computer chug pretty hard...
Post by: Hotfire90 on December 15, 2018, 07:57:40 am
Post by: Doomblade187 on December 15, 2018, 09:08:23 am
Post by: Aoi on December 17, 2018, 01:47:50 am
Celeste, I'm currently busy completing the last B-side and then collecting the last few remaining strawberries.
And here I am, trying to suppress my irritation enough to go back and complete The Summit...
Post by: xaritscin on December 17, 2018, 05:50:48 pm
im currently going with Crush Crush, i've never done dating simulators either so its pretty, exotic for my tastes. Elle gotta be my favourite girl so far, i guess its because i've gotten used to read manga, romantic stuff and the like...
i also played some Realm Grinder, my only complain is the lack of diversity regarding the scenery. like, yeah you only get 1 out of 3 possible backgrounds and the faction buildings are mostly the same. i wish there was an actual visual for every faction they add.
Post by: Felissan on December 17, 2018, 06:07:52 pm
Post by: Kagus on December 17, 2018, 06:13:50 pm
Post by: xaritscin on December 17, 2018, 08:18:44 pm
Yeah, there are only a handful of good incremental games with anywhere near as much visual polish as Cookie Clicker. Off the top of my head, the only ones I remember that both have good visuals and gameplay that isn't either bland or a clone of another game are SPACEPLAN and Idle Wizard. And the truly excellent ones are so visually minimalistic that they make Realm Grinder look like a AAA game by comparison :P
yeah, i even got the itch to try and think on my own twist for this genre, but it will probably look like Trimps or something like that. dont have much proficience at illustration. SPACEPLAN looks incredible tho, really digging the minimalistic style. i also played Clicker Heroes once, its graphics reminded me a bit of old Dofus (1.29 version), the sequel looks nice too from the trailers.
EDIT:
i also recommend taking a look at Heart of Galaxy: Horizons...you can only play it on Kongregate but it has a really cool resource management componente (its kind of a 4X RTS incremental game, i think?)
Post by: Folly on December 17, 2018, 09:20:49 pm
Post by: cider on December 19, 2018, 05:22:47 pm
Post by: MCreeper on December 22, 2018, 07:22:38 pm
Also, i didnt searched, but it appears to me that RPGmaker is used only to make anime horrors (this, witch's house, I, probably something else), and there is no actual RPGs worth mentioning. Is this true? :P
Post by: Egan_BW on December 22, 2018, 07:47:11 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on December 22, 2018, 08:33:10 pm
trying out a sentinel summoning guardian templar. with herald of purity and dominating blow, i can turn entire mobs into a crusade which will rush forward to the next wave and destroy it. pretty fun and powerful. im also using shock brand, which thanks to the way minions work, to mark targets and the summons swarm towards it.
Post by: CABL on December 23, 2018, 08:00:51 am
Post by: Yoink on December 23, 2018, 08:06:27 am
Oh and I'm looking into this Fabletop business.
Also, i didnt searched, but it appears to me that RPGmaker is used only to make anime horrors (this, witch's house, I, probably something else), and there is no actual RPGs worth mentioning. Is this true?...Do crude H-games count as horrors?
Post by: Kagus on December 23, 2018, 08:21:50 am
No, that's the Whore genre. Similar to Horror, but different.Also, i didnt searched, but it appears to me that RPGmaker is used only to make anime horrors (this, witch's house, I, probably something else), and there is no actual RPGs worth mentioning. Is this true?...Do crude H-games count as horrors?
Post by: Aoi on December 24, 2018, 05:01:50 am
No, that's the Whore genre. Similar to Horror, but different.Also, i didnt searched, but it appears to me that RPGmaker is used only to make anime horrors (this, witch's house, I, probably something else), and there is no actual RPGs worth mentioning. Is this true?...Do crude H-games count as horrors?
There are some pretty good ones though; Saya no Uta is a gem, written by the same guy who did Puella Magi Madoka Magica a few years later.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I also recall Divi-Dead was quite good... though hell if I had any idea what was actually going on.
Post by: Biowraith on December 24, 2018, 08:31:33 am
It's a bit janky and rough around the edges, but I'm generally enjoying it.
Post by: Yoink on December 29, 2018, 09:33:11 pm
It's funny, there are so many fancy unlockable units in the store that cost big piles of coins to unlock, and I'm just forging ahead with this motley crew of the first few soldier types. Hicks with shovels and shotguns, female cops (they were lower level and cheaper than the male ones, go figure) and the occasional lumberjack who can heal themselves by chugging some gods-know-what mid-battle. A satisfying underdog feeling, I guess.
The game itself has just enough merit, what with its lovely graphics and presentation and the simple-yet-fun casual gameplay, that I am putting up with its blatant... I don't know, commercialism - at least for now. Been watching a lot of bloody ads, though. :-X If the ads had started right at the beginning I would have bailed, like I did with several other piles of swiftly-uninstalled Play Store garbage but I'm in too deep now.
At least they (the ads) are more-or-less voluntary, in exchange for cash, gas or... well, probably not ass, but maybe later in the game?
Post by: Telgin on January 06, 2019, 01:19:52 pm
I'm currently on the interrupt handler, which is harder than I expected. Working with almost no memory makes every problem much harder.
Post by: nenjin on January 06, 2019, 05:25:21 pm
Holdfast: Nations at War is pretty great. Casual (in that there's no leveling or unlocks or grinding or anything) style Napoleonic War simulator. Up to 150 players per server. Can't hit shit beyond 30m. Stand in big lines of dudes shooting muskets wondering when you're going to eat a musket shot or cannon shot to the face. Open mics, and lots of people doing goofy RP. It's not the deepest or most serious game but we had a lot of fun.
Dark Souls 3, a staple.
A little Death Road to Canada coop for a change of pace. They've added support for 4 players now.
Been dicking around with For Honor in between games.
Might play Space Hulk: Deathwing here soon too.
Post by: Enemy post on January 07, 2019, 02:26:45 am
Post by: King Zultan on January 07, 2019, 06:02:38 am
Post by: Yoink on January 07, 2019, 06:25:00 am
Post by: simpleyuji on January 07, 2019, 10:04:16 am
Post by: pondicherry on January 07, 2019, 10:36:35 am
Post by: Mephisto on January 07, 2019, 10:50:10 am
Mandatory level ups are crap.
Thief Simulator, I'm level whatever. Let's say 18. I have three skill points. Cool, my new mission is to get skill X, which costs two. But wait, I need to be level 20 to get that skill. Gains on street one are low at this point as you've picked it clean. Street two is a difficulty jump as everyone's got cameras, half of the people have shutters, and someone's at home at all times.
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018, there's a story mission you can pick up somewhere around level 25. Paint the car its factory color. Paint unlocks at level 30. So until that point, you've got a car taking up a spot in your garage. Have fun uninstalling a few thousand damaged parts and then installing a few thousand replacements.
Post by: Haspen on January 07, 2019, 10:54:05 am
Bought it on Steam with all expansions and boy, infinite fun.
Atilla campaign best campaign.
Post by: Kagus on January 08, 2019, 03:14:27 am
Age of Empires 2; had it when I was a kid, with Conquerors demo too.Curiously, I just had the "sleep in the saddle, drink the rain" line from the Genghis Khan campaign intro going through my head the last couple days. Attila campaign definitely has some neat stuff in it, too. Although personally I always had a soft spot for aggravating the peasants in the first El Cid mission.
Bought it on Steam with all expansions and boy, infinite fun.
Atilla campaign best campaign.
Post by: Folly on January 12, 2019, 08:19:42 am
Final alpha before Early Access is happening this weekend, and I'm looking forward to playing a lot.
EDIT:
After playing about a dozen games, I think I got a good feel for Breach. The concept is certainly novel. On the surface, this is a 4-man-team survival thing, like Left4Dead or Vermintide. The twist is that there is also 1 player on the bad guy team, who casts spells and possesses monsters to impede the heroes progress.
After each match, I found that I just had absolutely zero desire to play again. It's hard to say why exactly...the action just wasn't exciting, and the character progress not tangible enough. Some other people seem to enjoy the game well enough, but I won't be buying into Breach at launch.
Post by: CABL on February 01, 2019, 04:01:57 am
*And I already have a feeling that I'll kill every Alonne Knight and will not get a single Katana drop, only their armor.
Post by: itisnotlogical on February 01, 2019, 04:31:19 am
Ultima IV is good. I like all the talking, puzzles and exploration aspects, but it's starting to try my patience with all the navigation obstacles. Combat isn't really a challenge unless poison is involved, and not even then if you're anywhere near a town or have herbs stocked up. The "slow progress" while walking through trees/hills or sailing against the wind is just an annoyance; all it does is make you hit the movement key multiple times. Even so, I'm still motivated to finish it.
Death Knights of Krynn is ridiculously hard. Most enemies are undead and thus immune to magic, while themselves causing paralysis or poison (both of which mean instant death.) I also think I broke the game by picking the wrong choice in a role-playing encounter, because an essential NPC is missing from the game world. If I continue this one, I think I'm going to make an all-new party instead of using my hilariously underpowered and underleveled group from Champions.
Dungeon Master is difficult and has the added consideration of being incredibly clunky and awkward, even with the fan remake/port's added keyboard controls. But I like the art style and puzzles so far.
Post by: Telgin on February 01, 2019, 09:51:31 am
Post by: nenjin on February 01, 2019, 10:48:31 am
Quote
Dungeon Master is difficult and has the added consideration of being incredibly clunky and awkward, even with the fan remake/port's added keyboard controls. But I like the art style and puzzles so far.
Yeah, the atmosphere of the game is top notch for its era.
Post by: Imic on February 01, 2019, 01:57:06 pm
It’s dark, grim, and occasionally hilarious. It’s great.
Post by: JimboM12 on February 03, 2019, 02:28:33 pm
Post by: AzyWng on February 04, 2019, 02:33:14 am
However, I still don’t have too much experience with it, so I still can’t fathom how anyone manages to get combos of 25 or greater...
Post by: itisnotlogical on February 04, 2019, 03:10:44 am
Post by: nenjin on February 04, 2019, 10:09:11 am
Also playing a fair amount of 7 Days To Die. It may be an incredibly poorly optimized "adult" Minecraft, but damn it, I enjoy it.
Also playing Monster Hunter World. I really want to play more of it than is healthy for me, but it keeps getting sidelined in favor of other coop games with my friends. I get a couple hunts done a night. Just tried to do the "Steal Wyvern Eggs" quest in the Ancient Forest and it was, to be frank, incredibly fucking cool. Just getting to the Wyvern nest was an adventure in and of itself.
Post by: CABL on February 06, 2019, 10:26:06 am
Post by: Telgin on February 06, 2019, 02:49:20 pm
I remembered the game being incredibly obtuse and hard as a kid. The paraglider segment in particular was almost too hard for me to complete, and I only remember beating it once.
I managed to beat the whole game in about two hours this time though. Surprisingly easy, all things said, although I had to look up the code for the ghost door since apparently it's printed in the game's manual, which I do not own...
Post by: itisnotlogical on February 07, 2019, 03:25:31 pm
Post by: Levi on February 07, 2019, 03:48:07 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on February 07, 2019, 04:02:37 pm
Post by: Levi on February 07, 2019, 04:26:42 pm
Post by: Micro102 on February 08, 2019, 04:00:50 am
Knew nothing about coding, got slapped in the face with the biggest red herring I've ever experienced in a game, and then spent far too much time figuring out how to do insane things which turned out to be utterly pointless because the game abandoned plot and AI to make a sandbox game. Still recommend it though. The less spoilers the better.
Post by: King Zultan on February 08, 2019, 06:45:59 am
Always wanted to play it and I managed to get it cheap at goodwill so I've been playing it, I'm liking it so far, but for some reason there aren't any check points even at the start of new chapters so I have to save every now and then to avoid losing lots of progress when I die.
Post by: Egan_BW on February 08, 2019, 06:00:46 pm
Post by: Kagus on February 09, 2019, 07:28:28 am
Saving is very much your friend.Bhop and Qsave (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THB1Aufv4X8), the holy binity.
Post by: AzyWng on February 09, 2019, 09:09:14 am
I kind of wish there was more of Ray’s gameplay, but the story is satisfying and it’s nearing its close anyway, so I guess it’s fine.
Post by: JimboM12 on February 09, 2019, 11:35:18 am
wow, sometimes, this game. i had a few people down with plague when some mech lancers dropped right on our greenhouse. someone was inside harvesting some plants when it happened, Megascarab who was a tender and a former bandit who joined our town willingly after being talked to by our designated leader Mason. she fit right in and they became very close but not lovers: Mason is married. i activated megascarab and tried getting her out but there wasn't anytime so i got her into cover by the entrance. she got shot dead as everyone who could came to help. i had the town smith, Tara, make a marble sarcophagus.
this is what she made:
Struggle for Mason
The sarcophagus bears an artwork of Mason Mercer chatting with Megascarab Manobia while laughing uproariously. The area is decorated with white and blue. Almost every shape in the image seems to be square. Besides that, the whole image is depicted by the careful arrangement of dozens of huskies. The image tells the story of Mason relaxing with Megascarab at a party on 14th of Aprimay, 5502.
just wow.
Post by: CABL on February 18, 2019, 04:01:28 am
Spoiler: That, and I have also completed... (click to show/hide)
Post by: Kagus on February 18, 2019, 06:11:47 am
The general gist of it is that it's a FPSRPG with co-op campaign play and a map editor/random map generation. Sounds pretty neat, ah?
Well, it is neat. The parts that are actually developed, that is. There are about three different games here and they're all only partway realized.
The combat is very "late 90's deathmatch" with rapid fire weapons and fast movespeed in chunky brawling environments littered with fat rotating powerups. Bunny hopping is alive and well.
The progression is more of a slow-burn loot machine with trying to fill out all your (19-20, not including weapon slots, of which there are eight and you get the stats from holding four of them at a time) equipment slots with items that have bigger green numbers on them. You unlock your class skills automatically by getting the next one in line every other level, finishing off with the capstone at level 20.
But there are also talent points you start earning later on that can be put into passive buffs or special class-specific actives that help you customize your character a bit more. This system is a little broken at the moment though (and not really in the fun way).
There's the randomized dungeon delving, you can play defense and survival modes against an unending horde of enemies, there's a metric fuckton of consumable items like traps and spell rods, and there's also a mechanic for building your own "wands" (technomagical flintlock pistols) from component parts that can then be used as custom weapons. The wands mechanic is also fairly broken at the moment (in the fun way).
...But there's also a traditional might and magic RPG adventure with better-looking terrain and more NPC interaction/dialogue currently in alpha. Counter Spell is mightily schizophrenic.
Also, everything is butt-ugly. The cities and whatnot aren't that bad, even kinda nostalgic in a way, but the textures are still solidly in the "graphically non-intensive" category. Once you get outside into the rolling hills though, it all falls to shit and you start seeing jagged edges and haphazardly raised terrain everywhere. And the weapons... oh god, I don't even want to think about the weapons.
The AI is also... Odd. It's got some really nice touches, like different behaviors depending on what kind of enemy it is (bats will swoop in from on high to do a hit-and-run, goblins will charge bravely until they get hit once or twice and flee in terror, so on), but the pathfinding is universally ASS. At the very start of the game there's an escort quest to bring someone a whopping total of about 50 meters over to the side. However, that path contains at least two 90 degree turns, and the hostage you're leading just cannot handle right angles right now.
Caster supremacy is also very much alive. Very much. The two mundane classes get some abilities that might actually have been useful, were this not a game that also included wizards. Curiously though, they're probably the classes that will find the most use for wands since the caster classes already have big shooty spells that they're going to want to focus on along with stat sticks.
Then there's character customization. I don't really know what to say. There are some things here, like the ability to determine your resting and combat postures (more games should give you a choice of posture, it can do so much for defining e character's personality), but... well...
Boob slider.
I'm really quite torn on this thing. There's a massive amount of potential, but no real promise that said potential will be realized. It'd probably be great fun with friends, but that goes for a lot of shitty games as well. I dunno. Also, I hate spiders.
Post by: Telgin on February 20, 2019, 12:43:23 pm
Crew Expendable was pretty easy, although the lack of goodies to scare the alien off with made it a little hard to adjust to. By the end of the main game I was using molotovs pretty regularly to save flamethrower fuel, but you don't get any there. It was also pretty funny to smack Ash in the face or set him on fire, even if you lose immediately if you do so.
I'll probably beat Last Survivor tonight. Looks pretty short.
Post by: xaritscin on February 21, 2019, 01:45:15 pm
main thing that got me hooked however was the huge amount of character customization you can get and the way the mechanics play out (the perks, leveling, the equipment system, even the lust mechanics) the interface is also pretty straight forward albeit i dont like the way some of the menus are managed (mostly the inventory and the keybinds being repeated for practically all the menus), pretty complex for a Flash player game. i wonder how good it would be if it was done in proper coding language like Java/C#/C++. even for a NSFW game it has already a pretty engaging worldbuilding, with some interesting storylines happening (even when the adult stuff gets in the way).
i would recommend it if you have an itch for Text Based adventures, dungeon crawling and roguelikes, of course, assuming you can do it in a private place seeing that its a 18+ game. game is still in development from what a i see so there's still some stuff not implemented but otherwise it feels pretty complete features wise.
Post by: Kagus on February 21, 2019, 02:02:28 pm
CoC also featured an arousal system that was at least vaguely balanced, something which TiTS lacked in an extremely noticeable fashion. Unless there's been a major update in the past looks at writing on hand many years since I last played it.
Post by: xaritscin on February 21, 2019, 02:21:01 pm
im too old to feel discouraged by a game if it has sex on it so i just dont put attention to it, this one and Cloud Meadow really have potential for greatness if one is willing to set the porn aside which is what makes it more enticing than whatever i find in other sites.
Post by: Folly on February 25, 2019, 09:50:46 pm
First the bad.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it, there have been several hours where I tried to play but was unable to do so due to bugs. Eventually I figured out that this was in large part due to the fact that I was queueing for quick play. There is a rare issue where quests get stuck and cannot progress; unfortunately, the server has no way of recognizing these problems, so it keeps the instance open and replaces players who leave with new players from the quick-play queue. This means that even though the bug is very rare, there is a high likelihood that anyone who queues for quickplay will end up in an instance that is already bugged.
Once I figured this out and stopped using quick-play, I had very few problems. There was one instance where audio stopped working until I restarted the game, and a couple times where the loading screen would get stuck, but none of these things happen so frequently as to impede my enjoyment of the game.
Now the good.
Movement feels absolutely glorious(after a lot of tweaking to the configs; default settings were abominable). Like, I can fly into an open battlefield and nimbly perch atop a high pillar, unload a barrage of missiles upon the hordes of baddies below me, then do a flip and dive straight down and plant my robot fist directly in the skull of some grunt, then dash over to another grunt and introduce his face to my shotgun, then turn and see a swarm of angry people about to unload hell on me so I do a double-jump over their heads and drop a grenade in the middle of their group which freezes them all in place before I land and spin around to finish them off. Movement feels fluid and precise and utterly satisfying, all the time.
Customization is also a lot of fun. You've got several varieties of paint, metal and fabric which you can use to make yourself look like an iron man, mecha, or superhero in spandex, or mix and match parts to your preference. The default options are respectable, but unlocking additional cosmetic options is a large part of the incentive to keep grinding and completing achievements after you're done with the story.
Loot is in a pretty good place. Early on you have a variety of different guns and abilities to try out until you find the playstyle you like. Later, in the endgame, it's all about finding rare pieces with specific mods that let you really optimize that dps and move into the higher difficulties. I definitely get excited when I finish a mission and see that shiny new legendary has just the right rolls to take my game to the next level.
Visuals are really nice. The open world is huge, with lots of varied ruins and landscapes to fly around and explore. Water effects look good, lighting looks good, metals are shiny, and generally everything just looks really nice. Totally worth the slightly-longer-than-average loading times.
The bugs make this one a difficult one to recommend...but I do recommend it. Devs are active and communicative, and I think it likely that many of these outstanding issues will be fixed soon. But even with the bugs, they can be tolerated for the sake of this amazing gaming experience.
Post by: Telgin on March 01, 2019, 10:05:18 am
Post by: nenjin on March 01, 2019, 10:15:24 am
Quote
Despite critical warning, I took the plunge and bought Anthem. I do not regret this decision.
Just curious here, if you've had any experience with The Division, Destiny 2. Or if this is the first of the "modern" online 3PS Open World games you've played.
Post by: Kagus on March 01, 2019, 10:28:58 am
Played a little bit of Stronghold Crusader HD last night. Was fun, but I'm not sure I want to commit to playing through the entire crusader trail again, since some of the skirmishes are pretty BS. Judging by the save game timestamps I last played through everything in 2015, which seems way too long ago...NEED MORE WOOD, M'LORD.
And yeah, Crusader's Trail was a bit mean at times. I feel like it didn't quite get the same love that vanilla Stronghold's campaign did.
Post by: Telgin on March 01, 2019, 11:38:59 am
But screw Thunder Hill, or whichever one it was that pitted you up against two Richards with almost no resources. It's fun to sometimes rush the unfair setups like that one by making 30-50 macemen and pounding the enemy lord, but a few like that one just don't give you enough resources to do the rush.
Post by: Folly on March 01, 2019, 02:51:30 pm
QuoteDespite critical warning, I took the plunge and bought Anthem. I do not regret this decision.Just curious here, if you've had any experience with The Division, Destiny 2. Or if this is the first of the "modern" online 3PS Open World games you've played.
I played both at launch, and could not particularly get into either. Though I did not follow up on either of those games after DLC dropped; this is particularly worth noting for Destiny 2, as everything I've read says that they really cleaned up D2 with DLC.
But Anthem feels miles ahead of both those games in freedom of movement, gunplay, and loot progression. Dev's are already dropping hotfixes and the bugs will be patched, but the core game here is something special, and this game will go far if it can just get past the hordes of professional critics who all think that ripping on Anthem is the popular thing right now.
Post by: nenjin on March 01, 2019, 05:56:54 pm
Because having played a significant amount of both Division and D2, one at launch and after its big reworks, and the other after it's massive rework....I got bored just looking at Anthem because I felt very strongly I'd seen everything but the movement mechanics before.
Post by: Folly on March 01, 2019, 06:27:53 pm
So you don't find the criticisms of bland, repetitive, uninspired content and unnecessary boring grinds to have merit? Or just that the visuals and movement and gunplay out weight them?
Because having played a significant amount of both Division and D2, one at launch and after its big reworks, and the other after it's massive rework....I got bored just looking at Anthem because I felt very strongly I'd seen everything but the movement mechanics before.
Bland and uninspired content? Well there's only so much room for innovation in this genre. Mission objectives include defend-the-point, clear waves of enemies, kill bosses, and gather resources, each with a few variants and 3 different factions of enemies. These objectives are scattered throughout story missions, repeatable randomly generated missions, open world events, and dungeon-crawl missions. None of these things are innovative, but they get the job done, and yes the visuals and movement do help keep these rehashed ideas feeling fresh.
Also, the dev's have outlined their plans for content patches. There is much more stuff in the pipeline. But I'm reasonably happy that I've gotten my money's worth just from the content in the game now.
As for unnecessary boring grinds, this sounds like a complaint from someone who was expecting to be done after a 20-hour experience that included mostly cinematics and QTE's. Some people enjoy those types of games, and that's fine for them. Personally, I prefer games that I can keep playing and steadily improving and refining my character over hundreds of hours of blowing up baddies and sifting through their lootsplosions. That is the type of experience that Anthem delivers.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 02, 2019, 01:31:16 pm
Post by: xaritscin on March 03, 2019, 07:00:07 pm
should have instead tried to download Empire Earth 2 or something, or play AoE 3. i learned some usefull stuff from watching videos tho, and some of the new civilizations sound good albeit the randomizer has only thrown familiar faces like Byzantines, Koreans, Incas, Celts. none of the new ones to try yet, has someone here played the new campaigns? are they fun?.
Post by: Kagus on March 03, 2019, 09:19:39 pm
As for the HD improvements, it's basically just widescreen/high-res support. When the original AoE2 struggled with 1024x768, it's kind of a welcome change.
Post by: CABL on March 04, 2019, 03:05:20 am
Post by: askovdk on March 04, 2019, 10:22:56 am
That is a game that truly has stood the test of time and is still great. Especially the voice acting of the excellent fictional quotes add so much character to the fractions.
… Now I’m day dreaming of having a multi-season TV series based on the AC settings (preferably without the Caretakers/Usurpers).
Post by: Parsely on March 04, 2019, 10:42:26 am
I'm taking Alpha Centauri Alien Crossfire up for a spin again.I'm imagining the showmakers of The Expanse working on it...
That is a game that truly has stood the test of time and is still great. Especially the voice acting of the excellent fictional quotes add so much character to the fractions.
… Now I’m day dreaming of having a multi-season TV series based on the AC settings (preferably without the Caretakers/Usurpers).
I-it's... beautiful... :cry:
Post by: nenjin on March 04, 2019, 11:39:45 am
(http://i.imgur.com/gOVZZ9j.gif) (https://imgur.com/gOVZZ9j)
Post by: xaritscin on March 05, 2019, 10:21:46 pm
im probably gonna tackle the Asian Dynasties expansion later. honestly i dont understand why the devs decided to not include all the Civs in the last expansion, they are basically sidegames. it works good in AoE2 but oh well. i havent picked an european power yet not sure which one to choose, i usually went with the Spanish.
speaking of civs, im also looking at one mod called "Wars of Liberty" which from what i read on their site is kind of an unofficial expansion/revamp of the vanilla game:
-the list of civilizations is severely expanded by including some underlooked european factions including the Balkans, more Asian states including the Southeast ones, African civilizations like the Zulu and Etiophia, lifts some of the Native Americans from NPC tribes to proper civs or adds new ones like the Mapuches from southern South America, independent states like Canada or Mexico are also added as new civs (almost all the known independent colonies appear), Australia makes an appearance here too and im pretty sure Oceania has also a presence in this mod but they havent been revealed yet
-the timeline was moved towards the colonization of Africa, the wars in America, rebel movements in Asia and turnmoil in Europe, Oceania being settled and according to some mechanics they are extending this towars WW1 as the final endgame (not sure how they're gonna pull that), so in this case many of the vanilla leaders were changed to more contemporary characters save for the Natives they still have some familiar faces
-each faction bloc has its own mechanics apart of their civilization bonuses and gimmicks and the like for example the former "anglo" colonies like USA, Canada or Australia make use of some sort of political party system; the African estates expand their ages or civ tech trees by using Libraries to obtain knowledge from other sources; European powers have unique units they can learn at the 4th-5th age (traditional AoE style i guess) and so on
-religion has a place in the game in the form of Temples replacing Churches and expanding their uses, players can pick up to 3 religions (Laicism + 2 historically accurate religions for that civ) which provide new techs and units, its basically like an expansion of the Age of Mythology "God Favour" resource but less fantastic and more down to earth with the timeline, albeit apparently the south american civilizations actually do have some sort of god powers (WTF), i think this is like a fusion between the religion methods of AoM and the Religion Techs from AoE 2 which i think were more complex than in this one (have to play enough to remember)
-new maps, because we like more places to loose matches (no but seriously, there's a lot of cool maps added from around the world like Hawai, Iceland, Ethiopia, Cerrado and other more silly maps..)
-there's also an expansion of the mercenary system apparently, including the option to add Spies (sounds good, albeit it makes me remember Rise of Nations to a degree, will have to see if its implemented)
TL:DR i'll probably look for the latest version to see whats in and what's not, then give it a try.
Post by: Kagus on March 06, 2019, 04:53:08 am
As for mods, I mean... Personally I like to learn and play the original game before hopping onto total conversions, but eh. AoE modding scene has always been pretty decently active.
For yurpean factions, Russia is great fun if you want to bring a swarm of gentle bullets to the battlefield, Turkish Janissaries like to go maximum overbeef and repel invaders with pure moustache power, and the Dutch can just do all sorts of filthy nonsense.
TAD is pretty good in my opinion, even though I'm aware it's the black sheep of the family. Are you playing the Steam version? War Chiefs units/factions are actually included in TAD on Steam, but the version management is sometimes a little derpy.
India has got some absolutely ridiculous units, and that's not even counting the war elephants. Japan has several different strategies it can go for, not least of which being "You thought the Russians knew how to spam? Hah!"
China is a bit tricky to learn and get right, but it rewards that patience with a wealth of goats. Also Age 2 artillery rush, but that's not very important.
Post by: xaritscin on March 06, 2019, 07:39:15 am
i guess it makes sense Spain isnt as strong as the others seeing that its like the most basic civilization for starting the game. also the strong emphasis on shipments means you have a lot of mercenary options to choose compared to the other civs which have extra stuff on their colonies. but anyways, i dont really play online so dont mind i too much against the AI, in fact, i feel it more tame than before.
i tested the mod yesterday and welp, they didnt lie, most of the units got skin swapped into something more consistent with the era. even the ages got moved (at least in name), the enlightenment is now the start. ran it with Spain, there were still some lancers/pikemen but the rodelero for example was removed (makes sense, this isnt the age of discovery) instead i have some more gunnery infantry and the cavalry. was thrown in a 2v2 with Malta as an ally against the Dutch and the Australians.
it ended well, only complain perhaps is that the european colonies start with lvl 10 in their home cities, i dont remember if that was the case in the base game. still had a pretty basic deck of course so i still have to unlock stuff. the match went well timed, had enough infantry and cavalry to take out the trash spam (not sure if you can use the term "trash" here taking in account units seem more expensive but yeah), then amassed enough wealth in age 4 to send the units to supress the military and siege the enemy bases.
Post by: George_Chickens on March 06, 2019, 08:09:58 am
Spanish in AoE3 aren't quite the big boys they used to be, and are instead considered one of the weaker factions. You can spam hordes of pikemen though, which is always fun.The Ottomans always seemed a little OP to me. They just shredded everything they were up against. I loved playing as them for that reason, it was so easy to take out your enemies before they even got gunpowder.
As for mods, I mean... Personally I like to learn and play the original game before hopping onto total conversions, but eh. AoE modding scene has always been pretty decently active.
For yurpean factions, Russia is great fun if you want to bring a swarm of gentle bullets to the battlefield, Turkish Janissaries like to go maximum overbeef and repel invaders with pure moustache power, and the Dutch can just do all sorts of filthy nonsense.
TAD is pretty good in my opinion, even though I'm aware it's the black sheep of the family. Are you playing the Steam version? War Chiefs units/factions are actually included in TAD on Steam, but the version management is sometimes a little derpy.
India has got some absolutely ridiculous units, and that's not even counting the war elephants. Japan has several different strategies it can go for, not least of which being "You thought the Russians knew how to spam? Hah!"
China is a bit tricky to learn and get right, but it rewards that patience with a wealth of goats. Also Age 2 artillery rush, but that's not very important.
Post by: scourge728 on March 06, 2019, 08:14:37 am
Japan has several different strategies it can go for, not least of which being "You thought the Russians knew how to spam? Hah!"*insert joke about the Russio-Japanese War here*
Post by: Kagus on March 06, 2019, 10:41:21 am
I just like them because I don't have to think about clicking the "spawn another villager" button... Also lots of boom-boom shooty, yes.Spanish in AoE3 aren't quite the big boys they used to be, and are instead considered one of the weaker factions. You can spam hordes of pikemen though, which is always fun.The Ottomans always seemed a little OP to me. They just shredded everything they were up against. I loved playing as them for that reason, it was so easy to take out your enemies before they even got gunpowder.
As for mods, I mean... Personally I like to learn and play the original game before hopping onto total conversions, but eh. AoE modding scene has always been pretty decently active.
For yurpean factions, Russia is great fun if you want to bring a swarm of gentle bullets to the battlefield, Turkish Janissaries like to go maximum overbeef and repel invaders with pure moustache power, and the Dutch can just do all sorts of filthy nonsense.
TAD is pretty good in my opinion, even though I'm aware it's the black sheep of the family. Are you playing the Steam version? War Chiefs units/factions are actually included in TAD on Steam, but the version management is sometimes a little derpy.
India has got some absolutely ridiculous units, and that's not even counting the war elephants. Japan has several different strategies it can go for, not least of which being "You thought the Russians knew how to spam? Hah!"
China is a bit tricky to learn and get right, but it rewards that patience with a wealth of goats. Also Age 2 artillery rush, but that's not very important.
Post by: xaritscin on March 06, 2019, 12:38:11 pm
i guess that's more or less the approach they wanted in the vanilla game. if you play Natives you can spam units early or so but may fall behind lategame, Euros have a constant performance over the length of the match while Asians are mostly about keeping up on growing resources then building an army for the late game. well that's what i see so far, not really accurate on that statement.
i think im gonna check them in the modded game to compare but i feel more compelled to use some of the native factions, specially the Incas or Mapuches.
Post by: Kagus on March 06, 2019, 01:07:04 pm
And yeah, sure, you can fiddle about with samurai... And they're pretty decent with the right cards and upgrades and whatnot, don't get me wrong... But ashigaru.
Ashigaru musketeers come online at age 2, can be built in groups of 5 for free from dojos and are very reasonably priced anyways, and have a buttload of upgrades that make them entirely too strong for their versatility and price.
Yumi archers are fun too, and yabusame can get some funny multipliers, but c'mon. Ashigaru. Just... Lots and lots of ashigaru.
Or if you really wanna be silly, stack mercenary cards and get the Japan-exclusive yojimbo merc, who is obscenely powerful against almost every unit type in the game. Expensive as hell though, both gold and popcap-wise.
Consulates are also amazing, for a variety of reasons, and can often be a central point of someone's strategy. Japan in particular with their unique Isolationism and the funkiness it spits out.
Post by: xaritscin on March 06, 2019, 04:50:37 pm
i havent delved much in how the machine is playing but it seems like the good ol vanilla AI, perhaps if i up the difficulty a bit or look at the configuration options when setting the match. but yeah, really good mod even when there's still factions missing.
EDIT: hmmmm there seems to be some bug with the Aztecs, not sure what happened but i guess its from the latest updates
Post by: Robsoie on March 06, 2019, 05:43:01 pm
Their hideout just got invaded by demons coming directly from Doom. The battle was raging as the demons were outnumbering the crew but in the end heavy shotguns prevailed.
The notable loss of that battle was the parrot that got burned down by a sneaky imp that came from behind after travelling down in the sewers to infiltrate the base.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: AzyWng on March 07, 2019, 03:07:54 am
While the RPG mechanics aren't something I'm a huge fan of, the cover-based shooting was more fun than I thought it had any right to be.
Also, the headshot noise is wonderful.
Post by: nenjin on March 07, 2019, 11:08:59 am
Unfortunately, I found the RPG side of it to be incredibly, incredibly bland. Skills? Bland? Guns? Satisfying for the first few hours but then devolves into a bunch of uninteresting weapon traits and micro improvements. Armor and clothing is cool for the visuals but similarly has the same problem.
I dunno. I feel like somewhere around 2005 big AAA games adopted this bland, unintersting UI philosophy that for some reason reminds me of mobile phones. The Secret World was the first where I really noticed it, and it stuck me again in the Division.
I enjoyed playing through the campaign of the Division but man, as soon as the end game started my interest completely evaporated. Even after the numerous reworks the game went through.
I likely won't be playing Division 2 until it's well and truly vetted.
Post by: Telgin on March 07, 2019, 11:16:24 am
A funny and annoying glitch happened to me in one of the first four shrines, where you encountered one of the small guardians. I tried to reflect its laser back at it, but somehow not only did I not reflect the laser, but the bolt got stuck on Link. It continued to do damage to me for like 30 seconds until my frantic flailing finally dislodged it and caused it to explode against a wall. Had to eat a few steaks to survive that.
Post by: AzyWng on March 07, 2019, 12:04:23 pm
Agreed, the cover-based shooting is the best part of the game.
Unfortunately, I found the RPG side of it to be incredibly, incredibly bland. Skills? Bland? Guns? Satisfying for the first few hours but then devolves into a bunch of uninteresting weapon traits and micro improvements. Armor and clothing is cool for the visuals but similarly has the same problem.
Fallout New Vegas's shooting is objectively worse, I'd say (taking cover isn't exactly something the game is built for, and aside from doing things like popping stimpaks, breaking line of sight entirely, or wearing fuckoff heavy suits of power armor), but its weapons are at least somewhat interesting by virtue of being at least somewhat different from each other. At the start of the game, you get varmint rifles, .357 magnum revolvers, and 9mm SMGs and Pistols. Later on, you've got stuff like Cowboy weapons (more revolvers, lever-action weapons) alongside your usual gear choices of various rifles, a pump-action shotgun, higher-caliber pistols and SMGs, and so on. Then you get to the unique variants of weapons, where you have things like Lucky, which can inflict a hell of a lot more damage than a normal .357 revolver by virtue of high crit chance and damage.
Additionally, ammo in New Vegas is considerably more limited than in The Division (At least, until you manage to get yourself soaked in caps courtesy of selling weapons that are extremely valuable like the hunting rifle or hunting shotgun). Also, in New Vegas, there are no ammo stashes that immediately give you bullets and drugs. This means the ammo counter is more than just "how many clips you can plink away carelessly".
Division's weapons do feel disturbingly same-y, and I don't exactly have the same feeling as I get when I get new weapons in New Vegas of "Oh, nice, this'll kill 'em faster".
I dunno. I feel like somewhere around 2005 big AAA games adopted this bland, unintersting UI philosophy that for some reason reminds me of mobile phones.
Honestly, I think the Heads-Up Display and the way it appears to be projected onto the world seems kind of cool, but admittedly that's only one aspect of the game's UI. Do you mean the many menus for things like skills and equipment and the like?
Still. Not the worst way to spend dollars.
Post by: MCreeper on March 07, 2019, 12:57:58 pm
Post by: AzyWng on March 07, 2019, 01:50:21 pm
Post by: nenjin on March 07, 2019, 02:30:13 pm
Quote
Honestly, I think the Heads-Up Display and the way it appears to be projected onto the world seems kind of cool, but admittedly that's only one aspect of the game's UI. Do you mean the many menus for things like skills and equipment and the like?
It's that slight attenuation of the HUD that makes it look dynamic, how the perspective leans in slightly toward the center of the screen the way something projected on the inside of a helmet might look. I love that effect but it's gotten a lot of use in the last few years.
More my issue is with icons and coloration. These big, flat, white silhouettes of weapons on these big panes, with the backdrop being a flat warm color.
Basically, this:
(https://www.zdnet.com/i/story/60/05/010573/metro-default.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/TmU4XfYm.jpg) (https://imgur.com/TmU4XfY)
As a guy who loves UI design, I hate this shit. It's functional and boring, and makes me feel like I'm on my phone even though I'm playing a fucking computer game with limitless possibilities in front of it, reduced down to the blandest and least offensive form possible. There's no artisty to it, just work-a-day functionality. It also somehow feels like it takes up more space despite trying to be minimalist, and there's simply nothing for the eye to hang on. Some UI designer would be like "that's the point, we don't want you to think about the UI we just want you to absorb it." But that's shit in my mind. It's like someone making an amazing entree then serving it on the cheapest paper plates they can find. UIs are part of the experience, for me.
Post by: jocan2003 on March 07, 2019, 11:43:09 pm
Post by: Parsely on March 07, 2019, 11:50:47 pm
I don't disagree, but what are some examples of what you'd prefer to see?QuoteHonestly, I think the Heads-Up Display and the way it appears to be projected onto the world seems kind of cool, but admittedly that's only one aspect of the game's UI. Do you mean the many menus for things like skills and equipment and the like?
It's that slight attenuation of the HUD that makes it look dynamic, how the perspective leans in slightly toward the center of the screen the way something projected on the inside of a helmet might look. I love that effect but it's gotten a lot of use in the last few years.
More my issue is with icons and coloration. These big, flat, white silhouettes of weapons on these big panes, with the backdrop being a flat warm color.
Basically, this:
-snip-
As a guy who loves UI design, I hate this shit. It's functional and boring, and makes me feel like I'm on my phone even though I'm playing a fucking computer game with limitless possibilities in front of it, reduced down to the blandest and least offensive form possible. There's no artisty to it, just work-a-day functionality. It also somehow feels like it takes up more space despite trying to be minimalist, and there's simply nothing for the eye to hang on. Some UI designer would be like "that's the point, we don't want you to think about the UI we just want you to absorb it." But that's shit in my mind. It's like someone making an amazing entree then serving it on the cheapest paper plates they can find. UIs are part of the experience, for me.
Post by: Kagus on March 08, 2019, 03:58:34 am
Breasts.As a guy who loves UI design, I hate this shit. It's functional and boring, and makes me feel like I'm on my phone even though I'm playing a fucking computer game with limitless possibilities in front of it, reduced down to the blandest and least offensive form possible. There's no artisty to it, just work-a-day functionality. It also somehow feels like it takes up more space despite trying to be minimalist, and there's simply nothing for the eye to hang on. Some UI designer would be like "that's the point, we don't want you to think about the UI we just want you to absorb it." But that's shit in my mind. It's like someone making an amazing entree then serving it on the cheapest paper plates they can find. UIs are part of the experience, for me.I don't disagree, but what are some examples of what you'd prefer to see?
Post by: nenjin on March 08, 2019, 10:46:20 am
Warframe has a decent UI both for combat and mechanics from an aesthetic perspective. Borderlands 2, while looking cartoony, similarly at least felt like someone put some thought in to it. Dark Souls UI, despite being clunky, has the right font choices and borders to things so there's something for the eye to enjoy.
Basically it doesn't have to be amazing, but if it's just straight up cribbing whatever Apple or Microsoft does in an effort to be "immersive", it usually just comes across as lazy to me.
Post by: Robsoie on March 11, 2019, 07:02:12 am
With my (bad) luck it was apparently an invasion from enemies coming from the xcom : terror from the deep game, a small village filled by tons of gillmen (that with my shotguns are only a problem because there's a very lot of them).
But the worst thing is that they come with a couple of lobstermen, yeah those extremely resistant to ranged weapon and melee near insta-killers lobstermen.
Lobstermen are a big pain in old TFTP , but with X-Piratez and the kind of weapons available to the Gals, i simply had no idea on how to deal with them (in TFTP their weakness are stunning/freezing and drills) as my shotgun that are impressively powerfull in nearly every missions are ridiculously super weak against a single lobsterman.
So i loaded my gals with grenades of many types (frag,HE, incendiary, poison gaz) to go along their most powerful weaponry at that point (Combat Shotguns), as the stun mechanics aren't really documented well enough to know exactly how good/bad a specific grenade can be against this kind of opponent, it was certainly going to be a lottery.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=4569.0
At first the crew was super lucky because their location was made very easy to defend, at least a good point
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
(a previous save was in open terrain and it was simply impossible to have enough reaction shot before getting overwhelmed by the numerous gillmen, you kill a lot but after getting out of ammo, the remaining gillmen and those lobstermen just destroy you before your next turn can finally come)
The gillmen were standing no real chance, the configuration of the area allowed the Gals to control the hordes, as fortunately the true threat was nowhere to be seen yet.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
At some point of the battle, one of my scouts spotted one of the monsters, the lobsterman was standing on a high roof at a long distance.
Instead of wasting shotgun ammo on something that is near impervious to that kind of damage, the whole crew started to throw grenades of many kind
Looks like the poison gaz grenade did a good job, generating a vast area of poison gaz, the enraged lobsterman found himself inside of it for a lot of time.
And another poison gaz grenade later, the Lobsterman was history.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
As the gillmen weren't coming anymore, the Gals decided to take the matter in their own hands and with their powerful combat shotgun they manage to clear the area of those pesky monsters from the depths.
Until we got sight of the last guy : a 2nd lobsterman.
This one was much more of a problem because we were out of explosive, the crew threw their last grenades but apparently even if the guy was now on fire it wasn't stopping.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Fortunately as i sent a few gals back to the ship to get some more grenades we finally got rid of the beast, all my Gals were wounded unfortunately (one that survived the lobsterman claws to my own surprise, but the other were due to the blast effect of a grenade i miscalculated) .
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Was lucky that the giant poison gaz cloud didn't killed any bystander, but now basically the infirmary is now full and i have to send the peasants (normal human women hired) canon fodder into battle, hopefully the next terror mission will not happen before a long long time so the elite gals can recover.
Post by: Telgin on March 11, 2019, 08:41:01 am
At least the game went overboard with the robot masters' weaknesses so you can kill most of them in like 3 shots.
Mega Man 2 was so very much easier than the first one, and I can see that it pretty much codified how the later games worked. Energy cans were added, the more modern energy pickup sprites were added, the Wily fortress looks like the standard format, etc. Having played Mega Man 6 before any others, Mega Man 2 looks pretty familiar.
Post by: Parsely on March 11, 2019, 10:05:10 am
Basically it doesn't have to be amazing, but if it's just straight up cribbing whatever Apple or Microsoft does in an effort to be "immersive", it usually just comes across as lazy to me.My massive pet peeve when it comes to GUI is when a game just straight up cribs it from whatever game it's "inspired by". Looking at you, newCOM clones... Phantom Doctrine is the worst offender because it feels like it could be an XCOM 2 mod and I absolutely hate it.
Post by: Rince Wind on March 11, 2019, 10:11:52 am
Choking damage is great against Lobsters. So your poison gas grenades were a good choice. If you have a Wand of Airlessness even an untrained Gal can bring one down with 2 hits.
Melee works reasonably well as well.
Post by: Robsoie on March 11, 2019, 10:15:43 am
Post by: AzyWng on March 11, 2019, 06:24:04 pm
Post by: Cthulhu on March 12, 2019, 03:48:19 am
It's too bad the game fuckin sucks. It has an early version of the problem every ubisoft game has now. It gives you too many tools and quantifies too many things and the systems underneath aren't robust enough to support it. After a few missions you have so many options that the basic gameplay loop has zero challenge and you can blow through anything, just like assassin's creed, far cry, tomb raider, that stupid mad max game, batman arkham whatever, shadow of lord of the rings, that game with the robots for PS4, not all of those are ubisoft but the "ubisoft formula" that started with assassin's creed and far cry has completely taken over triple-A singleplayer games.
So since they don't have good fundamentals, they're forced to use hacky solutions to maintain some challenge, which mostly means enemies that are immune to your special tools, or creating situations where you can't use your special tools. It's especially annoying in splinter cell because they set up a score mechanic where you earn points in Ghost (never get spotted, never interact with enemies), panther (kill everybody without getting spotted) and assault (fuck it, just shoot everything), and there's not enough stuff in a level to get a medal in more than one. But then because they've set it up that way, they can't give you any meaningful restrictions or constraints because they'd ruin the score process. One mission you're forced to play ghost for a section, which just makes it harder to get a medal in one of the more fun playstyles. Later in that same mission you have to fight your way through a squad of commando hitmen with no gadgets, no goggles, and no knife, once again ensuring that your final score is gonna be completely fucked up at the end.
And it's also really circumscribed and linear in a way that ruins the feel of proper commando operator shit. Patrols are designed so you almost never have to hide bodies or consider the long term, if a body is gonna be spotted it's usually within 30 seconds of taking the guy down. Missions are divided up into very obvious sections with no overlap between them, so you can go apeshit in one section with bombs and unsuppressed guns and then go to the next section and it's reset to normal. And even if you play normal, you know that nothing in the previous section will affect this section (like the aforementioned leaving bodies behind) which lessens the appeal of playing ghost since there's no risk of previous activity suddenly alerting the base. You know when you've hit the transition point and you know when you can expect to see enemies again, so there's no sense of danger in opening that door, because you know there's no enemies in that section. It feels really artificial and gamey. But that's in every stealth game now, so it's hardly a specific criticism of this game.
The game fuckin sucks, so why am I still playing it?
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 12, 2019, 03:52:49 am
On the other hand, I'm still afraid of ruining or crippling my character despite numerous balance-tweaking mods. From what I've heard, the game level-scales pretty harshly and an ideal character is required to survive endgame levels without lowering the difficulty slider.
Post by: Telgin on March 12, 2019, 08:10:28 am
Anyway, I was playing Stronghold Crusader again last night after modding the sounds in it to replace all of the hurt sounds with the stock sound effects from shooting guards in Goldeneye 007. I had a nice giggle from that.
Post by: nenjin on March 12, 2019, 09:18:53 am
Play Max Payne 3 instead?
Post by: AzyWng on March 12, 2019, 10:45:05 am
Max Payne 3 is linear and only really accommodates the “shoot everyone” style of play, and it looks a lot more like a John Woo film than a John Wick one.
Post by: nenjin on March 12, 2019, 12:14:58 pm
What then? Superhot? Payday 2, a game he's actually in and might accurately reflect the # of dudes shot in a single movie?
Post by: ggamer on March 12, 2019, 03:08:56 pm
Post by: Kagus on March 12, 2019, 03:15:14 pm
Yeah, I can see that being in line with the general John Wick narrative.
Post by: Egan_BW on March 12, 2019, 03:16:22 pm
hot
super
hot
Post by: JimboM12 on March 12, 2019, 03:29:34 pm
Post by: Egan_BW on March 12, 2019, 03:32:19 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on March 12, 2019, 03:35:21 pm
Why would you do this when you've almost escaped?
because.. ya know i don't even know why anymore
the ghost of satoru iwata smiling behind me, nodding
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 14, 2019, 04:02:30 am
I'll be very sad if the next Elder Scrolls doesn't feature a similar freeform building mechanic.
Post by: nenjin on March 14, 2019, 08:53:54 am
Post by: MCreeper on March 16, 2019, 04:49:31 pm
In an effort to clear out five ordinary rats out of a basement, i did shoot at them 20 stones from a sling, 10 darts from a hand, and broke two daggers against their abnormally tough hides (at a rate of one rat per one dagger), then finished off 2 remaining ones with a staff.
"MCreeper attacks the rat x ad nauseam.
MCreeper crits! Rat dies."
Then there were two guys outside that want to spar. I can't deal damage to them because i just can't, they can't deal damage to me because we are sparring. So they runned around all fortress with me, bashing and shooting me ceaselessly.
Also, it turned out that beginner mage can cast grand total of 2 spells per day. And that first companion has 8 hp, while a freaking wolf deals 4 damage to her, if it manages to hit. So, i'm literally one hit wonder. Who would have thought that constitution is both for HP and for damage. ::)
Post by: Kagus on March 16, 2019, 05:19:38 pm
Also, the weapons breaking are explained ingame. There's been an iron "disease" and so all metal armor and weapons will be fucky. The quarterstaff you start with is not made out of metal, and therefore doesn't have a chance to get ruined. Makes great sense, I know, but them's the breaks (hah). All enchanted (+1 or otherwise special) armor/weapons are also unbreakable.
Furthermore, as a mage, you've got piss-all base chance to hit with weapons, and I'm guessing your strength score wasn't that hot either. AND I have no idea what you put your weapon proficiency point into, so you quite possibly were also swinging with a non-proficient penalty... It's entirely possible you hit such a horrendously bad THAC0 that you simply can't hit a single damn thing without critting (which is an automatic successful hit).
Also... You don't really need CHA as a wizard. Or a lot of WIS, except for the saves. I'm sure you had your reasons, though. And since it's TRUE TO THE AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE, you're legitimately rolling individually for stats when you're making a character... Which means that your total number of all stat points will vary wildly, and those ranges will also vary by class. Try and get a high total roll. 90 is pretty snazzy, but anything 86+ is perfectly decent. Bards can hit 101 or higher.
I happen to find your choice of a chaotic evil human necromancer wildly entertaining, because roughly a screen's distance up the starting road towards the northeast you will find two new party members, one of which happens to be... A chaotic evil human necromancer!
Xzar is also fabulous, and you should click on him repeatedly.
Post by: MCreeper on March 16, 2019, 05:54:24 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: xaritscin on March 16, 2019, 06:00:17 pm
first fortress was being planned in a Savannah but forgot to survey the elevation maps so ended scrapping the embark. trying to do some kind of surface fort with an artificial Oasis but that means i need to survey a world with cool deserts and Aquifers. and there's also the thing with Windmills, not sure at which latitude they are supposed to work as the game doesnt show any info about winds before embarking.
Post by: Kagus on March 16, 2019, 06:18:18 pm
Baldur's Gate is a PC game for peeps who played 2nd Edition D&D, which is the source you're supposed to learn about stats and classes and terminology and stuff from. Also the miracle that is percentile strength.
Anyways, 10 strength isn't as bad as it could be, you neither have penalties nor bonuses to your melee attacks and damage. THAC0 is an incredibly bizarre way of describing accuracy, but that's just Gygax and Co. for y'all... Basically, it's an acronym. "To Hit Armor Class 0", meaning that in order to hit an enemy with an armor class (AC) of 0, you need to roll (number) or higher on a d20. Since your THAC0 is 25, that means it's physically impossible to hit anything with an AC of 0, since you'd need to roll 25 on a die that only goes from 1 to 20... Or you could just roll 20 and get that automatic success that is a crit.
The relationship between THAC0 and AC is a bit funky to describe, but I'll try. If we consider THAC0 to just be your general accuracy, AC is the number subtracted from the enemy's THAC0. You've got an AC of 10 (really? That's not as bad as I'd thought with the -1 DEX) That means if you were to attack yourself, you'd have to roll (25 - 10) 15 or higher on the d20. Yes, this means that a lower AC is better, and it does indeed go into negatives.
Also yeah, 3 CON is... Fuck, dude. There are cutscenes that could kill you. You could die to cinematography.
I'm pretty sure BG uses the hit dice system though, which means that each time you level up you roll your class hit die (d4, in wizard's case) and then take that number as new hitpoints. This is then modified by your CON mod, which means... Well, it should mean at least -3, if not -4. Which means you'll only be getting 1 hitpoint per level. Not sure why it says "-2 HP per level", there might be special considerations in place. I think selected game difficulty also plays into it.
As an aside, there are no real penalties to picking an evil alignment and then being a good guy. Alignment vs. Reputation conflicts only result in affected party members getting pissy and eventually deserting the party. Since you cannot break ties with yourself and leave your own party, you're stuck with your cognitive dissonance.
Post by: Radsoc on March 16, 2019, 07:18:58 pm
A mix of Factorio, Tropico and Transport Fever.
Post by: Hanslanda on March 16, 2019, 09:56:57 pm
In Planescape Torment, you're an overpowered DM's pet who completely cheats through the game's systems (at least, if you make the right choice and pick mage).
Baldur's Gate is a PC game for peeps who played 2nd Edition D&D, which is the source you're supposed to learn about stats and classes and terminology and stuff from. Also the miracle that is percentile strength.
Anyways, 10 strength isn't as bad as it could be, you neither have penalties nor bonuses to your melee attacks and damage. THAC0 is an incredibly bizarre way of describing accuracy, but that's just Gygax and Co. for y'all... Basically, it's an acronym. "To Hit Armor Class 0", meaning that in order to hit an enemy with an armor class (AC) of 0, you need to roll (number) or higher on a d20. Since your THAC0 is 25, that means it's physically impossible to hit anything with an AC of 0, since you'd need to roll 25 on a die that only goes from 1 to 20... Or you could just roll 20 and get that automatic success that is a crit.
The relationship between THAC0 and AC is a bit funky to describe, but I'll try. If we consider THAC0 to just be your general accuracy, AC is the number subtracted from the enemy's THAC0. You've got an AC of 10 (really? That's not as bad as I'd thought with the -1 DEX) That means if you were to attack yourself, you'd have to roll (25 - 10) 15 or higher on the d20. Yes, this means that a lower AC is better, and it does indeed go into negatives.
Also yeah, 3 CON is... Fuck, dude. There are cutscenes that could kill you. You could die to cinematography.
I'm pretty sure BG uses the hit dice system though, which means that each time you level up you roll your class hit die (d4, in wizard's case) and then take that number as new hitpoints. This is then modified by your CON mod, which means... Well, it should mean at least -3, if not -4. Which means you'll only be getting 1 hitpoint per level. Not sure why it says "-2 HP per level", there might be special considerations in place. I think selected game difficulty also plays into it.
As an aside, there are no real penalties to picking an evil alignment and then being a good guy. Alignment vs. Reputation conflicts only result in affected party members getting pissy and eventually deserting the party. Since you cannot break ties with yourself and leave your own party, you're stuck with your cognitive dissonance.
Oh Ohhh shit, you playing BG. I grew up on that game. I first beat it at 12 years old.
Bro, be a fighter in BG1. Multiclass to mage. Or be a dual class fighter mage.
Or! Be a cleric and pretend you're half fighter, half buffmage.
Post by: Telgin on March 16, 2019, 11:32:02 pm
Post by: Kagus on March 17, 2019, 05:42:06 am
Bro, be a fighter in BG1. Multiclass to mage. Or be a dual class fighter mage.I'm thinking that for someone's first time through, especially if they're not entirely familiar with the mechanics, they should probably stay well away from the hilarity that is dual-classing... Regardless of how ridiculously broken the ol' Berserker/Mage combo is.
Or! Be a cleric and pretend you're half fighter, half buffmage.
Clerics are definitely major beef though, doubly so considering the Turn Undead mechanics. Blade bards are also pretty snazzy, especially in BG1 and especially-especially in the enhanced edition with that one funky halberd.
Post by: Iduno on March 18, 2019, 03:10:57 pm
Finally decided to try out "mother of all RPGs" Baldur's gate. Overwhelmed by urge to minmax, made chaotic evil human necromancer (what do you mean, "no elf necromancers"?) with max intelligence-charisma-wisdom and min constitution that acts like a paladin just to see what "consequences" it will bring. And i didn't looked at stat descriptions very carefully...
Quick and dirty info for stats:
Mages need int, melee is strength, dex is defense and ranged, con is survival (hp), and wisdom is cleric's spell stat (although they also want melee).
Better information here (https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Ability_Scores), but you need to click on each stat to find out what numbers are good. If you're not a thief, a 6 and a 14 appear to be functionally identical dex scores. You also don't want to be a thief in the first game, because you are low-level, so your chances of failure at any given thieving action are much greater than your chances of success (you're around 20-30% chance of success, and failure generally means guards come kill you).
Also, the biggest secret to BG: rest everywhere you can, probably after every major fight. Your level 1 mage can only have 2 spells memorized at once, but they can rest and regain them all repeatedly, and time doesn't matter.
Edit: and I spent an hour-ish last night trying to get a friend into a MegaMek scenario to teach him how to play. Never got that to work (he could only be an observer), but generating armies and shooting a bunch did work after I got port forwarding turned on in my router.
Post by: nenjin on March 18, 2019, 07:17:13 pm
Meet some randos who turn out to be WTF uber l33t veterans of the game.
Get thrown in to max difficulty games with FF turned on.
Holy shit. The tactical depth of this game, relatively understated at lower levels, comes alive at the highest difficulty. It starts to feel like a real FPS adaptation of the board game where some of the same rules, logic and strats apply.
TFW a game you thought you understood surprises the shit out of you.
Post by: spazyak on March 18, 2019, 07:32:41 pm
So far it's been fun and challenging. I got one built for speed and melee with stuff to stop drop from above self damage (flinging the mech at another mech with jump jets) and managed to take out an assault mech with it.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 19, 2019, 04:49:49 am
Post by: lemon10 on March 19, 2019, 05:13:20 am
While it is true that 6-14 are equivalent given that higher dex then 14 gives you a significant AC bonus it is probably worth it if you plan on going single class (or even some dual/multiclass combos) to pump it up all the way to 18 for the sweet -4 AC bonus which is *very* significant.Finally decided to try out "mother of all RPGs" Baldur's gate. Overwhelmed by urge to minmax, made chaotic evil human necromancer (what do you mean, "no elf necromancers"?) with max intelligence-charisma-wisdom and min constitution that acts like a paladin just to see what "consequences" it will bring. And i didn't looked at stat descriptions very carefully...
Quick and dirty info for stats:
Mages need int, melee is strength, dex is defense and ranged, con is survival (hp), and wisdom is cleric's spell stat (although they also want melee).
Better information here (https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Ability_Scores), but you need to click on each stat to find out what numbers are good. If you're not a thief, a 6 and a 14 appear to be functionally identical dex scores. You also don't want to be a thief in the first game, because you are low-level, so your chances of failure at any given thieving action are much greater than your chances of success (you're around 20-30% chance of success, and failure generally means guards come kill you).
Also note that for a mage both wisdom and charisma are pretty much dump stats, so you probably don't want to throw any points into either.
Post by: gimli on March 19, 2019, 09:24:14 am
Post by: MCreeper on March 19, 2019, 10:18:44 am
Post by: Kagus on March 19, 2019, 10:37:53 am
Post by: xaritscin on March 19, 2019, 01:16:50 pm
Post by: Iduno on March 19, 2019, 01:27:01 pm
I'm just waiting until he meets a certain someone standing outside a certain inn.
Thanks, now I'm getting flashbacks.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Robsoie on March 21, 2019, 01:02:29 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Persus13 on March 27, 2019, 11:15:02 am
Post by: Kagus on March 27, 2019, 11:41:33 am
For some reason the reminder that Tactical Breach Wizards exists gave me the itch to play Doorkickers again, and I'm really enjoying it. Tactical games where you control a squad of people is one of my favorite genres.I played Breach & Clear a bit back in the day (the Steam version), until I effectively broke the game by finding out about modded P90s and how they can have a firerate of approximately 18,000 RPM.
Post by: CABL on March 29, 2019, 07:41:11 am
Post by: Robsoie on March 29, 2019, 12:36:30 pm
After following a medium ship , it landed and my Gals assaulted it, as nearly every medium on the dozens landing i attacked it was full of Ositron troopers and small saucers (sometime there's a larger old-xcom saucer but this time there was none) .
As the map was rather open and desert, i took it slowly (as Ositron opportunity fire can be devastating as they sport rather powerful weaponry) with using the Gals grenade launchers to eliminate those pests (while they're near impervious to our combat shotgun, those Ositron guys are usually one-shot by grenade launchers)
After clearing the exterior of the big ship, it was time to assault it as the game wasn't ending so i figured out there was more of those Ositron troopers inside.
Positioned everyone to rush into the elevator, turn 19 ended and boom
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
After googling a bit because i was wondering if it was just bad luck with an AI sporting some kind of nuke and accidentally shooting at his feet or if it was some stupid mechanic to force you to rush , it's the latter as the entrance in the bootypedia mention (too bad i didn't noticed first time i read it) : ships that are on supply mission will automatically explode after 20 turns (though it was the end of turn 19 for me) , probably to cut you from getting too nice loot once you have the tech to easily attack them (yeah sure)
Hurray for saves and NOT playing in ironman mode :D
Very oddly the explosion spared one of the Ositron trooper that was on top of the now utterly ruined ship, but the guy unfortunately for him didn't resisted a grenade landing right on his face.
Oh well, not the best loot but a nice score for the end of the month.
Post by: Kagus on March 29, 2019, 12:53:23 pm
However, this behavior was frequently abused in order to funnel enemies into firing zones, or even more cheesily to empty alien bases by using the hilarious combination of standing on top of all the elevator tiles and then waiting for someone with a blaster launcher to try (and fail, horribly) to path a bomb up through the floor.
So rather than let players take advantage of the "come to papa" switch, now the ship just blows up. Makes sense to me.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 29, 2019, 01:15:51 pm
It turns out, all my worries about the Glowing Sea were for nothing. My initial difficulty was just bad luck with getting legendary Mirelurks and other pain-in-the-ass random spawns on the way there, before I even reached the edge. OTOH it got me started building settlements, which is fun in certain areas (Sanctuary, the Castle) but not so much at others (Outpost Zimonja, Starlight Drive-In). At least the extra caps and crafting materials have made things slightly easier.
As for the glowing sea itself, it was a bit underwhelming. It looked cool, but there just wasn't much to it besides the main story objective and I left feeling like I missed something.
Post by: Robsoie on March 29, 2019, 01:17:43 pm
Now this auto explosion in turn 19/20 is from what i googled to prevent players to potentially farm the ships in "supply mission" because there's some nice loot (and so lots of money to be made from selling all the stuff).
Because if you think about it, it's an even bigger abuse : you just have to wait in a safe location, covered by your sky bus until turn 20 and the 3/4 of the enemy will automatically die in the large radius from the explosion of their ship
Anyways, in the supply ship mission, it's a good idea to keep a long distance between your Gals and the enemy ship in those conditions.
Post by: jocan2003 on March 30, 2019, 06:26:39 pm
Post by: Telgin on April 01, 2019, 11:33:04 am
Then there was the fight with Wily in Mega Man 4, which required you to use the drill bombs in a way that I didn't even know was possible until I looked it up. Apparently you can prematurely detonate them, which was the only way to hit the boss's weak point.
Oh, and the Top Spin from Mega Man 3 is maybe officially the worst ability in any Mega Man game, since you hurt yourself using it against the robot master it's intended for (can't remember which that was). Top Man was at least an easy fight in comparison.
Post by: Cyroth on April 04, 2019, 02:23:02 pm
On one hand the combat looks and feels awesome. It doesn't matter if you're distracting a 2 story high mech while your buddies reposition themselves to put some rockets up its backside or if you're just hosing it down with assault rifles while parts of its model fly off in an arc; it just feels right. Enemy AI is quite good and enemies deploy a variety of tactics and weapons. Combat is slightly on the easy side most of the time, but can get quite challenging when you run up against larger groups of mixed robots.
On the other hand are the many, many places where the game just feels unfinished. The inventory is finicky and item stacking sometimes just derps out and stops working. Buildings, loot crates and other assets are sometimes floating half a meter in the air or are inside the terrain. Missions sometimes get stuck and you have to completely restart the game to get them going again.
A lot of small QoL annoyances, like how the game is always set to "open" at start instead of "invite only".
Post by: CABL on April 11, 2019, 06:19:42 am
Post by: Robsoie on April 13, 2019, 12:39:05 pm
And then after figuring it out, i started to get my dungeon nicely going and managed to destroy several lesser enemies groups (enough dungeon experience from this to upgrade my dungeon researches several times) and after getting demonology i decided to build some demon shrines to attract demons and see what's coming.
I had no read much about all the units in this version, mostly discovering what's happening and what's new on the fly.
So well i could guess what a succubus likes to do but still they have rather odd practices :D
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 13, 2019, 04:19:08 pm
I might quit soon though. Survival mode makes regular combat awesomely tense and exhilerating, where any wrong move can have devestating consequences. I'm using all sorts of mechanics and strategies that I basically ignored on Normal because they weren't necessary.
OTOH, being ambushed by a pack of legendary Super Mutants when you're just trying to get somewhere isn't very fun, and that sort of thing might ultinately convince me to play this less heavily and go for something else.
Post by: Telgin on April 14, 2019, 08:20:02 pm
I'm anxious to get to Mega Man 9 and 10 since I've never played them before.
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 16, 2019, 09:05:10 pm
EDIT: I was mistaken, Arcade rewards are weekly, not daily. RIP.
Post by: Telgin on April 17, 2019, 08:37:44 am
First impressions are very positive, especially compared to its distant cousin Donkey Kong 64. The game looks amazing for an N64 game, the music is great, it's hilarious to listen to and so far it's pretty fun. I'll never be able to think of Banjo's voice as anything other than a mix of Mickey Mouse and Goofy, and Kazooie sounds like the Tribals from Jet Force Gemini.
The only real problem I've had with it so far is that it has a very bad case of Early 3D Platformer Camera. It tries to be clever with the camera placement but pretty frequently jams it up against walls where I can't see what I'm doing, and then locks you out of the camera pan controls so you can't fix it.
But there's no Beaver Bother, and that alone makes it better than DK64.
Otherwise, it's probably not really a good idea to compare it to DK64, but it's hard not to since they feel very related. Both are collect-a-thons, even if Banjo-Kazooie at least doesn't force you to switch characters every 3 minutes. Both have very similar music since I'm assuming it was the same composer. Both have you unlock powers as you progress levels. Both even give you game over screens when you save and quit, which is pretty strange honestly.
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 17, 2019, 05:18:29 pm
Post by: Kagus on April 18, 2019, 03:54:38 am
Perfect Dark is my favorite Rare soundtrack.Surprisingly few Elvis tracks, all things considered.
Also good lord the multiplayer in that game was a hot mess. Fun/funny, certainly, but a mess.
Post by: Telgin on April 18, 2019, 09:00:44 am
One thing I'm loving less is Gruntilda's Tower. I can appreciate that they tried to do an overworld where you're not just walking up to doors to go into levels without any context, but I keep getting turned around and lost. I actually spent 10 minutes looking for a level I just unlocked only to realize I had to climb up a pipe to get to a hole in the wall that wasn't even visible to the camera at ground level.
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 21, 2019, 10:44:41 pm
I still just don't see the appeal of Mega Man past the NES era. Compared to its contemporaries on the SNES and other 90's consoles, it feels stodgy and dated; it lacks the edge of Super Metroid's storytelling and the ridiculous over-the-top action of games like Contra or Metal Slug. It feels like Capcom saying "No, the NES formula still works, we'll just make it prettier and come up with things for the new buttons..."
The Legends series looks like it might be cool, but the only thing I know about the series is that the controls are awful.
Post by: Telgin on April 21, 2019, 11:31:48 pm
I'm not sure what exactly it was about the series that I liked so much though. Could just be nostalgia.
And while Mega Man 7 is really not much of an upgrade over 6 from a game mechanics point of view, I'd argue that Mega Man as a whole honestly got pretty stale by Mega Man 3 or 4 anyway. Mega Man X is a different beast though, and I'd say its gameplay and story are sufficiently different to be worth playing. I really enjoy the change in gameplay with X, where his increase in mobility from dashing really changes the way you fight bosses and get around levels. And this may be bias or nostalgia talking, but I really feel like the levels in the X games are better designed with way less cheap BS to kill you like the original series. The story is a little more serious too. Like the original series though, it gets pretty stale after a few sequels.
On the subject though, I just got around to playing Mega Man 9 and the rage has returned. I don't know why, but it feels like the level designers thought that every level needed a massive difficulty spike about halfway through. All of the levels are pretty short, but have a platforming section that kills you enough to pad out the gameplay. Plug Man's disappearing block puzzle in particular gave me PTSD.
Post by: Parsely on April 22, 2019, 11:18:44 am
I picked up a USB SNES controller at Goodwill the other day. In honor of the occasion, I tried all of the SNES Mega Man X games as well as Mega Man 7.I can't stand any of the 2D sidescrolling Megaman games except Megaman X, I think that game is the peak of that formula.
I still just don't see the appeal of Mega Man past the NES era. Compared to its contemporaries on the SNES and other 90's consoles, it feels stodgy and dated; it lacks the edge of Super Metroid's storytelling and the ridiculous over-the-top action of games like Contra or Metal Slug. It feels like Capcom saying "No, the NES formula still works, we'll just make it prettier and come up with things for the new buttons..."
The Legends series looks like it might be cool, but the only thing I know about the series is that the controls are awful.
Post by: Radsoc on April 23, 2019, 01:34:51 pm
Absolutely amazing city builder. It's a perfect blend of factorio, tropico, railroad/transport tycoon.
Post by: nenjin on April 23, 2019, 06:15:05 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 23, 2019, 09:34:53 pm
However, there are still far too many sequences where it says "Okay, stop having fun now, stealth section." They're not technically forced upon you, since you can choose to fight, but in a way that's even worse than just failing you for being spotted. The enemies in most of these stealth sections are big gorilla-like things, the majority of their attacks can't be parried, and even if it can be parried, Raiden is just as likely to decide not to.
It doesn't help that all the mechanics that make stealth possible in MGS (visible vision cones for enemies, an easy-to-read radar/map screen, highly predictable enemy behavior, etc.) have all been removed or heavily altered.
Post by: Egan_BW on April 23, 2019, 10:08:32 pm
Post by: xaritscin on April 23, 2019, 11:54:35 pm
it kinda gives me inspiration in terms of design and balance choices. Blizzard has been in decline but there's some stuff that this game does that no other games seem to replicate properly and it makes me want to try some of its features in prototypes.
Post by: MCreeper on April 25, 2019, 05:46:51 pm
What i wanted: Bleakness! Insanity! Gore! (First two or three chapters of Kara No Kyoukai would fit the bill. Why this thing becomes lamer and badder with each damn chapter? As many others do.).And some bad anime, apparently.
What i expected: Wacky fighty anime full of ridicolous characters, WILLPOWER, attack naming, absurdly named terms and absurd terms that don't make sense even in context.
What i got: Wacky fighty anime full of ridicolous characters, WILLPOWER, attack naming, over the top speceffects, absurdly named terms and absurd terms that don't make sense even in context, that is fully voiced and haves plot that advances at the speed of a tortoise that really doesn't want to go anywhere. Seriously, i were reading this for seven hours today, and three yesterday, and they got in only one serious fight, not counting very beginning.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 26, 2019, 02:01:57 am
I suppose it's a step up from KOTOR, where every conversation happened with every character at exactly arm's length with the exact same 3/4 close-up shot. It bothered me less in that game though, probably because it had less pretentions or I expected less of it, or both.
I wish I was 10 years old again so I could experience the Mass Effect trilogy the same way I experienced KOTOR. I was old enough to be good at games, but not so old that I was disillusioned by their tropes and limitations, and could still get truly lost in a world made of about 10 polygons and a jpeg.
Post by: Telgin on April 26, 2019, 10:40:05 am
Or maybe I just made a major mistake of hitting the button to unlock the puzzleboard right before quitting a couple of days ago. I'm guessing it actually showed me where it was in the little cinematic that played, but two days later I don't remember and now I can't find it.
Post by: Biowraith on April 28, 2019, 03:41:22 am
Post by: Folly on April 28, 2019, 11:36:59 am
City of Heroes :D :D :D
:o
Post by: Telgin on April 29, 2019, 08:49:57 am
Just got done with the ordeal of Rusty Bucket Bay in Banjo-Kazooie, so it's off to what I think is the last level in the game. Except I can't find the puzzleboard to open it. I'm... a little confused on why the developers made it hard to actually get to some of the levels in the game.
Or maybe I just made a major mistake of hitting the button to unlock the puzzleboard right before quitting a couple of days ago. I'm guessing it actually showed me where it was in the little cinematic that played, but two days later I don't remember and now I can't find it.
Finally gave up and googled it. The entrance was hidden in a passage underwater near the beginning of the game. Kind of frustrating since I did actually check near here a couple of times, but it had been a couple of weeks since I first passed the area and so I forgot about the underwater part.
At least the level is more fun than Rusty Bucket Bay.
Post by: Iduno on April 29, 2019, 11:09:14 am
The way all armor is ablative kind of means tanks are impossible, though. Even with shields and other armor-rebuilding, it's not going to last long enough to help much.
Thieving also makes more sense. People now notice when stuff is stolen, and make nearby characters prove they didn't steal their stuff. Guards also care if you stole someone else's stuff. The main thing I miss so far is using the pyramids to teleport the party back together (but not the teleporter puzzles, 2-3 is enough forever).
Post by: Sirus on April 29, 2019, 11:15:04 am
City of Heroes :D :D :DYou cannot simply post that and not explain. City of Heroes shut down years ago, and last I checked the closest thing you could get to a private server was this character creator / free roam thing.
Provide more information or forever be considered an honorless scoundrel.
Post by: Persus13 on April 29, 2019, 11:17:49 am
Post by: TamerVirus on April 29, 2019, 11:22:28 am
City of Heroes shut down years ago, and last I checked the closest thing you could get to a private server was this character creator / free roam thing.Long story (https://kotaku.com/discovery-of-a-secret-fan-run-city-of-heroes-server-ca-1834254587) short, a disgruntled dev leaked to source code several years back to a group who set up a server hidden away from the larger community. A leaker exposed it's existence and a shitstorm of sorts have been ongoing since
I've never played but its been interesting to follow.
Been playing Anno 1800 and if anything its been a sign to upgrade my laptop again
Post by: Folly on April 29, 2019, 11:23:13 am
City of Heroes :D :D :DYou cannot simply post that and not explain. City of Heroes shut down years ago, and last I checked the closest thing you could get to a private server was this character creator / free roam thing.
Provide more information or forever be considered an honorless scoundrel.
https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/26/22000-people-have-rolled-city-of-heroes-rogue-server-accounts-as-the-game-itself-turns-15-years-old/ (https://massivelyop.com/2019/04/26/22000-people-have-rolled-city-of-heroes-rogue-server-accounts-as-the-game-itself-turns-15-years-old/)
The City of Heroes server source code was leaked and a group have spent years reverse engineering it enough to get it running on private servers. A few weeks ago these facts became public, and the group decided to share their work, allowing others to start up private servers, creating a massive public response from people eager to play CoH again.
I listened to the group behind this movement basically host a roundtable discussion last night on the CoH Discord. It was interesting. Basically, they are fully expecting NCSoft to shut them down soon, but they are making every effort to appeal to the major corporation's generous side in hopes they might allow this thing to continue in some capacity. On the offchance that they are allowed to continue, they also have plans to update CoH with a more modern graphics engine, implement various quality of life changes, and possibly add new content down the line.
Post by: Sirus on April 29, 2019, 11:25:32 am
My.
Goodness.
I know what I'm going to be doing once I get home.
Post by: Folly on April 29, 2019, 11:30:19 am
Thieving also makes more sense. People now notice when stuff is stolen, and make nearby characters prove they didn't steal their stuff. Guards also care if you stole someone else's stuff. The main thing I miss so far is using the pyramids to teleport the party back together (but not the teleporter puzzles, 2-3 is enough forever).
Protip: You can switch characters while talking to someone. Abuse this to keep your mark occupied while you rob them blind, and even distract bystanders so they don't notice what's going on.
Post by: Jopax on April 29, 2019, 11:31:40 am
And I gotta say, it's been suprisingly non-frustrating having to restart every several hours, mostly because in each instance the death was pretty much my fault and so far, the early content (first 30-40 levels or so) is still fairly enjoyable.
Post by: nenjin on April 29, 2019, 11:40:42 am
Post by: Folly on April 29, 2019, 11:43:43 am
It's a retro-graphics idle/clicker style game, where the goal is to gather resources and use them to craft tools and machines that let you gather more resources to build better tools and machines and so forth. There are some Zelda-like elements, with dungeons and puzzles and various tools needed to progress through them. There's also elements of Stardew Valley, with farming and collecting sets of rare junk to turn in for rewards.
Overall it's been a fun ride...but with 16 hours played all I have left is a bit of endgame grind for the completionist achievements, and $20 is difficult to justify with that length of gameplay.
Post by: Iduno on April 29, 2019, 01:01:59 pm
Thieving also makes more sense. People now notice when stuff is stolen, and make nearby characters prove they didn't steal their stuff. Guards also care if you stole someone else's stuff. The main thing I miss so far is using the pyramids to teleport the party back together (but not the teleporter puzzles, 2-3 is enough forever).
Protip: You can switch characters while talking to someone. Abuse this to keep your mark occupied while you rob them blind, and even distract bystanders so they don't notice what's going on.
Yep. Just need to be fast to get what you want before they close the window and wander off to start accusing people. At least in Definitive Edition. You can also use the anchor on the mini-map to teleport the thief away, meaning all of the stolen stuff is somewhere that they can't get to. Problem being that our thief plays on a resolution that makes everything too tiny to see and uses a trackball, so he's very prone to misclicks.
My weakness is not spinning the map often enough to see all of the chests and barrels that the camera hides. Are there visibility options or an alternative to holding alt that makes containers show up?
Post by: Folly on April 29, 2019, 01:41:51 pm
My weakness is not spinning the map often enough to see all of the chests and barrels that the camera hides. Are there visibility options or an alternative to holding alt that makes containers show up?
Let there be Tooltips! (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1506230499)
You might try this, though I cannot personally vouch for it.
Post by: spazyak on April 29, 2019, 02:59:35 pm
Oh okay
I'm currently playing a confusing game called life. Rather stressful and I don't know half the rules. I'd rate it....6/10
Post by: Biowraith on April 29, 2019, 03:11:31 pm
Yeah, I wasn't sure how much I could say without violating bullet point 5 of the forum guidelines; I figured a google search brings up the story, but I see others have filled in the details.City of Heroes :D :D :DYou cannot simply post that and not explain. City of Heroes shut down years ago, and last I checked the closest thing you could get to a private server was this character creator / free roam thing.
Provide more information or forever be considered an honorless scoundrel.
The 'Homecoming' servers are pretty overloaded (they had something like 8k people trying to play on 2 shards, but they extended that to 4 shards now), so there's been a lot of issues with disconnects, server crashes, etc... but there's also been hours at a time when it runs great :D
Post by: Folly on April 29, 2019, 03:31:09 pm
Has anyone made a life joke yet? No?
Oh okay
I'm currently playing a confusing game called life. Rather stressful and I don't know half the rules. I'd rate it....6/10
Sadly there's only one other game in town. And while it has gotten some glowing reviews, I'm pretty sure those guys have not actually played it yet and are just getting paid to publish lies.
Post by: Iduno on April 29, 2019, 03:41:17 pm
My weakness is not spinning the map often enough to see all of the chests and barrels that the camera hides. Are there visibility options or an alternative to holding alt that makes containers show up?
Let there be Tooltips! (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1506230499)
You might try this, though I cannot personally vouch for it.
I might indeed.
Post by: Yoink on April 30, 2019, 02:33:33 am
Post by: AzyWng on April 30, 2019, 08:51:33 am
Where smashing people through walls isn't an uncommon occurrence with a high enough Melee stat.
Where cops don't give a shit about anything that doesn't happen right in front of them.
Where having a special hat is the only true claim to authority you can have.
It's a fun, if hectic game.
Post by: Kagus on May 01, 2019, 02:47:20 am
Unless that's been changed in a recent patch, that is... I haven't played in a while. Haven't even been to downtown yet!
Post by: CABL on May 01, 2019, 12:55:15 pm
Post by: sokmund on May 01, 2019, 04:27:48 pm
Its very fun, like chivalry, but better somehow
Also.. you can halfsword and beat people with your crosshilt in it which is medieval as heck.
Also2.. Players often use actual battle lines in this game instead of charging randomly like if it was battlefield-like fps, i dont know how it even works, it must be intuitional or something... and that makes for a good game in my opinion.
Post by: King Zultan on May 02, 2019, 01:48:57 am
Post by: JimboM12 on May 05, 2019, 06:40:16 pm
x4:foundations (they really learned their lesson with x:rebirth)
no man's sky (which has been patched to amazingness)
avorion (also great, its billed for co-op on the store page but its good singleplayer as well)
elite dangerous (same as avorion, good singleplayer)
empyrion galactic survival (a different flavor of no man's sky with custom shipbuilding, its good if you're creative)
endless sky (a 2d version of of elite but with multiple ship ownership. also its FREEEEEE)
theres more i could add to this list too but i don't want to spread myself too thin, im mainly focused on no mans sky and x4. i had a simple yet somehow, great moment with x4 where i set my ship (im still in my elite vanguard) to scan mode (hunting smugglers while i ate) and i got up to walk around my tiny cabin (ingame) and it caught somebody. thats fucking amazing for some reason.
Post by: Telgin on May 05, 2019, 08:04:35 pm
Or maybe the game will kick me in the crotch in the next level.
Post by: Urist McSpike on May 06, 2019, 05:39:49 am
Quote
A mix between Portal, Zelda and Metroid.
While searching Reddit for comments about good games on the current Steam sales, I saw a reference to Supraland. Took a look at the RPS review, downloaded the demo... after playing for an hour and a half, I finally got to the end of the demo. Waffled a bit about waiting for it to go on sale, bought it, and played it all weekend.
It's good (if you like that style of game). Really good. There are a few quibbles I have, with some of the puzzles, but they're relatively minor. I'd easily rate it at 8/10.
Post by: lemon10 on May 06, 2019, 10:24:52 am
Yeah, I'm using it (and about 5 other mods that make the game far less of a pain in the ass) and its a lifesaver and ensures that I don't miss a huge amount of chests because I don't perfectly rotate the map for every single room or find some chest hidden in a secret room or hidden behind a crate. It isn't perfect, but its a hell of a lot better then nothing.My weakness is not spinning the map often enough to see all of the chests and barrels that the camera hides. Are there visibility options or an alternative to holding alt that makes containers show up?
Let there be Tooltips! (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1506230499)
You might try this, though I cannot personally vouch for it.
If you're curious my other quality of life mods are:
Toggle Sprint (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1499453694): Your party runs much faster. This saves a *huge* amount of time across the game as your characters are capable of moving faster then snails. It *is* slightly exploitable (as it makes sneaking and such easier as your dudes only spend 1/2 the time crossing the same area) but shaving hours of wasted time off the game is more then worth it.
Infinite Spirit vision (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1505956259): You don't need to cast spirit vision every 10 seconds to ensure you don't miss something. Highly recommended.
Bartering Tweaks (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1499450313): You use the bartering and persuasion of your highest skilled party members no matter who is actually trading (or optionally talking). This is mainly useful to avoid the massive trade micro needed as otherwise you need to individually move *every* *single* *item* over to your trader then sell it every single time, which is a huge pain in the butt.
Non-QOL mods:
Interesting Uniques]=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1499480076]Interesting Uniques (http://=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1499480076): Makes unique items slightly stronger and gives them actually unique abilities so that they aren't just trash that isn't any better then any halfways decent random item. They still aren't OP or anything (and you end up dropping them in a few levels anyways) but its nice.
Pet Revival (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1502077367): You can bring your pets back to life after they die randomly. Not a huge deal, but still rather nice.
Civil Freedom (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1189577063): Race specific class points are freely distributable at chargen. Note that it only works at chargen.
Fort Joy Respec (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1616232800): adds a respec mirror to fort joy. Very nice if you don't know exactly what you are doing and want to respec early on.
Post by: itisnotlogical on May 07, 2019, 01:56:23 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
At least I'll be able to play the MSX versions of Metal Gear 1 and 2, that should be interesting. It'll also be good to play MGS2 on a console that can actually handle all the particle effects in certain sections.
Post by: MCreeper on May 07, 2019, 11:38:48 am
Post by: itisnotlogical on May 07, 2019, 11:28:02 pm
People actually care about The Boss? She talks like filler in a Shounen Jump anime.
Post by: DominicNi on May 08, 2019, 06:09:58 am
Even I love these home teeth whitening kits (https://www.timesunion.com/marketplace/article/best-at-home-teeth-whitening-kits-18283018.php) by the standards of a series that features robot ninjas, mooing mechs, literal vampires, an otaku superscientist that wets themselves in their first appearance, spandex-clad supermodel cyborgs that suffer PTSD and half a dozen people that all look identical and are all named Snake, Metal Gear Solid 3 is striking me as a bit stupid.
People actually care about The Boss? She talks like filler in a Shounen Jump anime.
Right now I'm playing through Metal Gear Solid series for the umpteenth time. I'm on MGS 2 atm. haha
Post by: Egan_BW on May 08, 2019, 07:05:05 am
Post by: JimboM12 on May 08, 2019, 06:20:55 pm
MGS3 is the best
it's hideo kojima's magnum opus but he doesn't even know it yet. it had:
good plot (i could actually make sense of it, its like a really convoluted bond film)
good gameplay
fun bosses
AMAZING soundtrack- i now have snake eater stuck in my head
no game has ever made a really long ladder climb an amazing setpiece since
edit: oh, on topic, im playing X4 still. for real tho, they made it so i can sit back and let my captain fly my M-level ships (i have a frigate i found) and thats awesome. mostly because im no good at flying larger ships, so my souped up hotrod fighter is docked on the frigate just in case and i let my crew do all the work, its the same awesome feeling i got from modded X:rebirth and thats base game included, so my hopes are very high with this game after some more patching and modding.
Post by: Parsely on May 08, 2019, 09:16:09 pm
Post by: CABL on May 18, 2019, 01:20:56 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on May 19, 2019, 03:52:10 am
It's also one of the only RPGs I know of where you can kill a potential party member before they ever join you.
Post by: nenjin on May 19, 2019, 06:30:11 am
Post by: xaritscin on May 19, 2019, 11:53:26 am
Post by: Telgin on May 20, 2019, 03:52:42 pm
I'm a little curious what may have changed since I last played. I tried poking around in it again about 5 years ago with the free to play options, but don't remember much.
Post by: xaritscin on May 20, 2019, 04:34:33 pm
It's kind of surreal when I think about how Everquest and Everquest 2 are still around. I played the first for probably 6 or 7 years in total, but EQ2 only for maybe 2 years. It was kind of a shame since it objectively improved on so many things, but I guess by then I'd gotten kind of burnt out.
I'm a little curious what may have changed since I last played. I tried poking around in it again about 5 years ago with the free to play options, but don't remember much.
from what i gather there's the whole TLP servers (Time Locked Progression) where they advance one expansion at a time each year or so. but most of that is avaliable only to Membership players (subscription), they also opened a PvP server but from what i've read it turns out they may have made the same mistake as WoW, making player vs player content a separate thing with its own gear and so on. not really sure how popular is Nagafen server though, seeing that i have a free account and can only access the live servers.
there's also the whole Ascension thing which i dont really understand why was put in the game. having 110 lvls seems enough progression to eat throught so i dont see the point on adding a second layer of class progression. the Alternate Advancement thing on the other hand sounds interesting as it reminds me of the old WoW Talent Trees but a bit more meat(?).
i've barely scratched the surface of that game so im not really sure, but yeah, the population is low in the current servers. the Kaladim one tho, that one seems to be the most popular atm (TLP) but its Membership only.
as for the original Everquest, i dont really know, they just released a new expansion i think. i dont play it but it seems to be slightly more populated than EQ2 so there's that. and also Project 1999 if one wants to try and feel the classic experience.
im gonna just stick to EQ2 Live for now. it looks like the game had the potential to be a big hit but got released at the worst time, i'd even argue it has matured better than WoW in many aspects, just needs to get a proper marketing campaign to reignite interest and perhaps give a 3rd update pass on the models and animations? (i use the alternate 2006 asian versions as the original ones just havent aged well, even the current EQ1 models seem more polished and that's just a reskin, i think).
Post by: methylatedspirit on June 01, 2019, 06:21:32 am
I've linked GIF's of this thing in action just below. They're at 10 FPS, though.
The bike going straight (https://imgur.com/vKYkXkC)
The bike going sideways (https://imgur.com/HRsg8Ck)
It still needs Electric Charge to keep it upright, hence the reaction wheel, solar panels and battery.
The right solar panels are destroyed in the second GIF; that's just me being incompetent. It's hard to pilot this thing, even with SAS. MechJeb was entirely irrelevant; I was experimenting with a unicycle version of this, and I wanted to use MechJeb to keep it tilted slightly forwards, like a segway. That fell through when MechJeb couldn't keep it in that position. At best, it was flailing wildly around the intended point. At worst, it slammed into the ground, producing a large explosion in place of the unicycle.
If you look closely, it's named "Unicycle", despite being a bicycle. I was too lazy to rename it after adding a second wheel.
Post by: Telgin on June 02, 2019, 12:10:02 pm
It apparently takes a few hundred hours to figure this game out...
Post by: Nighthawk on June 04, 2019, 05:14:32 pm
This game is nuts. For those unfamiliar, it's a puzzle game where you push words around like blocks to change the properties of the objects in the level. For instance, in most levels, Baba is You, meaning you control baba, the little white sheep... bear... animal... thing, but if you push another word, say... Wall, to take the place of Baba, then... Wall is You. And you now directly control the movement of the walls in the level while Baba sits there without a soul to inhabit its body. Wait, that's kind of horrifying, actually, uhhhh, let's move on.
All of the levels take advantage of these insane mechanics. Sometimes there's a lake of killer lava in your way, but, oops! Now Lava is Push. And you can push the lava the same way you would push a rock around. Sometimes the flag (Flag is Win) is encased in a brick wall and is completely unreachable. But that's okay, because Baba is You, and if you push this word right heeeere, now Baba is Win instead. And you win.
I wish words could do justice to how genius these mechanics are, but suffice it so say I don't typically enjoy puzzle games and I completely adore this one.
Post by: Sirus on June 15, 2019, 09:28:01 pm
SE IS RED
VIO BL
LET IS UE
FL
AG IS WIN
BA
BA IS YOU
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Jopax on June 16, 2019, 04:05:26 am
Post by: MCreeper on June 18, 2019, 04:55:12 am
Post by: AzyWng on June 18, 2019, 12:33:53 pm
I think I’ve done something to it, though - because now there’s the option to enlist in a lord’s army as a soldier, all the training maps are much different, and battles have more options than “Charge”, “Auto-resolve”, and “Run away”.
I think this is all part of a mod that tries to make sieges less unpleasant.
Post by: Ulfarr on June 18, 2019, 02:05:59 pm
Mount and Blade: Warband.
I think I’ve done something to it, though - because now there’s the option to enlist in a lord’s army as a soldier, all the training maps are much different, and battles have more options than “Charge”, “Auto-resolve”, and “Run away”.
I think this is all part of a mod that tries to make sieges less unpleasant.
These are the Freelancer and Pre battle orders & deployment mods which are included in most mod packs are both excellent additions imo to the vanilla experience. I don’t want to spoil too much but you’ll get some more options as you raise your tactics skill.
I’m not sure about the training area one.
Post by: Arbinire on June 18, 2019, 04:14:15 pm
Post by: Kagus on June 18, 2019, 05:52:57 pm
Earth 2150, ooof this one hasn't aged well.Maybe not, but at least it's not 2160! Oh boy, the promised land did not deliver on its promise...
Personally, I've reinstalled The Binding of Isaac, with all the trimmings... Working my way through the challenges, generally only winning when some happenstance gives me completely and utterly broken item combinations that render the rest of the game into a cakewalk.
Every run that isn't one of those is just slow, agonizing, painful death.
Post by: Iduno on June 19, 2019, 08:28:14 am
just fired up another run of Dragon Age Origins. Oddly enough, never did the Human Noble origin and decided to give it a go
Yeah, after playing through once, I rarely did much more than just the origin portion of the game.
Post by: Mephisto on June 19, 2019, 10:21:22 am
But then my wife arrived with various types of EtOH so I haven't actually gotten a chance to play yet.
Post by: Jopax on June 19, 2019, 11:28:06 am
Still, a fun timewaster if you're looking to play an RTS and you've played most others over the years.
Post by: Kagus on June 21, 2019, 02:24:19 am
I'm still playing with BoI, and still utterly breaking the game. Shop items are busted, yo. I've managed to have one challenge win that didn't involve completely ruining all semblance of functionality in the game's internal economy, and that run mainly worked because of extreme luck with item rooms and boss drops.
...and then I went straight back to breaking everything again, with a run where I needed to run away from every room I cleared out before a flood of consumables just started appearing and filling the place up. After that, a different run where I managed to fill a room so full of hearts due to rune fuckery that they all started vibrating aggressively and I had difficulty pushing my way through to the exit.
And then I got obscenely lucky with a non-challenge run, and went from successfully unlocking The Forgotten straight into a five-time victory lap thanks to some excellent synergies.
Post by: CABL on June 23, 2019, 05:17:14 am
Post by: Iduno on June 23, 2019, 07:58:34 pm
Going through Serious Sam: The First Encounter (completed it: enjoyed it, but I've liked the third one more) and The Second Encounter (the game has a flamethrower, so it's automatically a 10/10 for me). Hoping to snatch Kenshi this sale, as I've played the demo and enjoyed it immensely.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Post by: wierd on June 24, 2019, 11:16:26 pm
Re-jiggerized it for free HDBoot, and been playing some golden oldies.
Earlier in the month I blasted Bully, and am now revisiting Dark Cloud 2.
I think I will revisit Destroy All Humans 2 after that.
Post by: x2yzh9 on June 25, 2019, 01:55:55 am
Post by: wierd on June 25, 2019, 01:58:26 am
I learned that the hard way way back in the 90s, when I obtained a VFX-1 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VFX1_Headgear). I kinda wish I still had it. I suspect it's collectable now.
Post by: MCreeper on June 26, 2019, 03:54:29 pm
On game itself... 3 minutes long matches? With 3 minutes stuff between them? Nah, nope. Although Seris is sure fun.
Apparently both things were not in game few years ago, but my attempts at playing it back then were thwarted by retarded EAC.
Post by: CABL on July 08, 2019, 12:31:10 pm
Post by: nenjin on July 08, 2019, 03:00:29 pm
I'm liking it...mostly. It's almost managing to suck me in with old timey adventurin'
But the character system and gear in the game is giving me a serious case of "do I even give a shit." When you've found nothing but the same ~20 items for the last 10 hours, and everything worth wearing is literally the same thing except "+5 Will" or "Fine"......it's not lighting a fire under me to see what comes next. It shouldn't take this many hours to find more than 2 things that don't scream "we're lame ass magic items as a token reward."
That and the story. Yeesh. It's like the Witcher in terms of the world setting and "intrigue", and Dragon Age in terms of the nonsense new fantasy IP alphabetical garbage. I feel like I had more weird nonsense words thrown at me in the first 10 minutes than the most Elder Scrolls-y game I've ever played. There's a slightly macabre vibe to some of the story and that's kept me engaged, but by and large I don't care for the world.
Also many of the areas, while painterly, are boring and barren, and full of the same repeated groups of enemies standing around doing nothing as per usual. I dunno what I expected, and I can't say I'm having a terrible time. But there are definitely some real flat spots to this game. If gear doesn't get more interesting soon I'll probably shelve it.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on July 08, 2019, 07:51:52 pm
It is
The story is incredibly, emotionally impactful. The visuals are just as impressive as expected, if not more so. The music is stuff that I'm still humming a week after I've heard it. The overarching antagonist(s) are complex and difficult not to relate to, something that the original release was somewhat lacking in. The twists in this story were impossible to fully predict, and I've been playing since 2.0 with a deep knowledge of the lore. I teared up during at least a dozen moments. I laughed at more. I flinched at a few others.
In short I enjoyed playing this even more than I enjoyed recent top-tier single/small multiplayer experiences such as Divinity 2. The only problem: It relies very heavily on previous story content. You'd have to start in Realm Reborn (2.0) to properly experience this, or it'll be nonsensical.
Post by: nenjin on July 08, 2019, 08:06:33 pm
What's getting me about Pillars of Eternity is the EXACT same thing that got me with Wasteland 2.
It starts really strong. There's voice acting, world building. Combat is inviting with the promise of more depth. You look at the character options and go "Yeah cool, I can see specializing this guy for this, and this guy for this....."
But about 10 hours later, you start to get the sense that very little truly matters. In PoE for example, there's the Survival Skill, which according to most places that are visible to you, only increases the variety of bonuses you can get from camping. Guess which one seems the most useful so far? Yep. The very first one, damage reduction. Which makes me go "Ok, so....no one actually needs points in survival then?" I'm sure there's some other benefits, provides bonuses to this stat or that stat, blah blah blah, so technically you can say it's good for more than one thing. But if it's not clear to me in the first few hours, is it actually that important? Sort of like how NWN 2 gave you the same, what, 6 skills all characters could buy? In that game I quickly identified that most of the skills provide corner-case bonuses to corner-case mechanics, and weren't worth the points I was putting in to them.
PoE is giving me the same vibes. And it's giving me the same vibes as Wasteland 2 where I don't see characters with advantages or disadvantages. I see blank templates where you can just throw on some skill points and whatever armor or weapon suits your fancy and there you go, have some adventurers. Am I just older and more jaded? Wait, don't answer that. I AM older and jaded, but plenty of games that I've played recently have given me that child-like delight and wonderment. Why have all these revivals failed to do so in the same way? Shit, Dragon Age felt like it had more going on than half the real time dungeon crawlers like PoE, Wasteland 2 and to a lesser extent, NWN. And I don't even really like Dragon Age or Bioware games in general anymore, but somehow their systems and mechanics managed to keep me engaged for longer until I eventually went "Oh wait, half this shit doesn't matter and is a waste of progression."
I think part of it is all these games promise by dint of the format to be more like an RPG, where all stats are supposed to matter or can matter in a given moment. Yet none of them really deliver on that. "Eh, put some traps in there so the rogue feels like its tabletop counterpart instead of its MMO counter part. Uh, give them some dialog options locked behind stat lines. We don't need an interesting magic system, just give them the +1, +2, +3 shit they're used to from tabletop, and give them their garden variety fire, ice, lightning and poison enchants and call it a day."
It's not that I think PoE is a bad game, and I'm still trying to give it a chance. But man, just like Wasteland, the amount of time it took me to see THROUGH the mechanics was disappointingly low. I keep hoping that after some point in the story shit is going to open up. But after....
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
My faith is running out. If I don't like the story enough to care to see it through to the end, and there's no pull mechanically for me to see what the rest of the game offers.....*plop*
Post by: Aoi on July 08, 2019, 08:10:56 pm
Finally installed and started to play Pillars of Eternity.Spoiler: Post Body (click to show/hide)
I grabbed Torment: Tides of Numenera and Pillars of Eternity, both of which, as I recall, considered as spiritual successors of Planescape: Torment, and totally agree... except for Torment, not Pillars.
Pillars I actually managed to get through (though I mostly glossed over the last quest hub after 100%ing the first few). Torment, on the other hand, had me glazing over in the middle of character creation, there was so much random world-specific lingo being tossed around.
Which kind of reminds me of Shadowrun. I remember, years ago, effectively raising an eyebrow at the utilization of traditional stock fantasy races. Now, I'm looking at it and thinking, 'That's remarkably practical.'. Generally speaking, we get the general features of elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. Please don't reinvent the wheel and call 1:1 copies of dwarves something like terraburgers.
Post by: nenjin on July 08, 2019, 08:17:24 pm
Post by: Persus13 on July 08, 2019, 08:35:00 pm
Being able to detect and disable traps is also important once you get out of Act 1's wilderness exploration and get into more cities and towns.
But I have a soft spot for Pillars because there's not a lot of games that have aquatic races that are playable, and running around punching things as an Aumaua monk was a lot of fun.
Post by: AzyWng on July 09, 2019, 10:27:05 am
Besides that, I've purchased DEADBOLT, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE, Dead Rising 2, Payday 2 Ultimate Edition, VA-11 HALL-A, Into The Breach, and Desert Child - All of which I've enjoyed at least somewhat.
Post by: catacombs on July 09, 2019, 10:39:28 am
Post by: xaritscin on July 09, 2019, 12:37:49 pm
sometimes i also check on Cookie Clicker or Crush Crush!
Post by: TamerVirus on July 09, 2019, 01:49:54 pm
Post by: catacombs on July 09, 2019, 04:14:45 pm
Post by: xaritscin on July 09, 2019, 05:22:11 pm
sometimes i also check on Cookie Clicker!
Have you played Universal Paperclips?
nope, im a bit of a graphics critic when playing these idles as in if there's not a proper visual interface i dont really check them.
Post by: catacombs on July 10, 2019, 10:31:43 am
Post by: Telgin on August 05, 2019, 10:06:15 am
So far I've managed to get through about half of the Mayahem level, in a grand total of maybe an hour and a half of playtime, so maybe I'm judging it a little too quickly, but I don't think I'm going to like this one as much as the first.
It feels like they tried to make everything bigger and better than the first, but so far that doesn't feel like it's doing the game any favors. The intro cinematic felt like it was 10 minutes long, and there's just so much more talking and things breaking up the action in ways that kill the pacing. The wider open areas and higher resolution textures are also causing a lot of frame rate problems. I'm not sure how I feel about the darker story either. I'm usually perfectly happy with that, but it kind of kills the mood here. It's also a real nitpick, but I'm irrationally bothered that they changed Banjo's goofy jumping voice overs into something more serious sounding.
On the other hand, listening to Jamjars talk is hilarious, and I did like the FPS section in the first level, so not all of the changes are bad.
Post by: nenjin on August 05, 2019, 01:15:52 pm
Now, 8 years and two other souls games later, I felt prepared (to not die), so I fired it back up.
And I'm honestly enjoying it, more than I thought I would, despite how janky it is and how low quality the remaster was. Smoked Smough and Ornstein solo in just two attempts. Four Kings solo in three attempts. I'm feeling pretty good about beating the whole game solo at this point, and I can finally cross DS1 off my Git-Gud list.
Post by: Jimmy on August 06, 2019, 04:26:17 am
It's a great man vs. nature game, with a slow, challenging gameplay that rewards thoughtful planning over twitch reflexes, which I love. No zombies, no mutants, just striving to craft survival tools, gather food, and avoid getting eaten by wolves or dying of hypothermia.
So far I've made it to 100 days survival on the game's hardest difficulty, which is a decent accomplishment. I'm preparing for a trip to one of the game's most isolated regions, searching for the last few scraps of pre-apocalypse equipment left in the game before time and the elements destroy them. After that, it's going to be a slow journey across the desolated winterlocked wastes, living off the land and battling the elements to see how long I'll survive before succumbing to the inevitable.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on August 06, 2019, 12:33:19 pm
All aboard the cholera train chugga chugga poo poo
Post by: Folly on August 06, 2019, 01:43:38 pm
Post by: Telgin on August 06, 2019, 01:57:04 pm
Oregon Trail II.
All aboard the cholera train chugga chugga poo poo
The dramatic / scare chord that plays whenever a wagon wheel breaks, a wagon tips over, someone shoots themselves or someone gets cholera will always be stuck in the back of mind.
As will the menu music, which was pretty catchy.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on August 06, 2019, 02:06:29 pm
Oregon Trail II.
All aboard the cholera train chugga chugga poo poo
The dramatic / scare chord that plays whenever a wagon wheel breaks, a wagon tips over, someone shoots themselves or someone gets cholera will always be stuck in the back of mind.
As will the menu music, which was pretty catchy.
Tis' the song of adventure. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=174288.0)
All of those things happened, three of them on the same day.
Post by: Khan Boyzitbig on August 06, 2019, 05:37:34 pm
Post by: TamerVirus on August 07, 2019, 09:01:39 am
The turn times, oh they can be absolutely dreadful
Post by: Dunamisdeos on August 07, 2019, 01:08:43 pm
I only have 1 ;-;
Post by: Kagus on August 07, 2019, 02:23:04 pm
Those items are SPEED! and Ultra Hard.
[weeping continues]
Post by: catacombs on August 09, 2019, 03:34:29 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on August 09, 2019, 03:50:22 pm
I wish more games limited fast travel to a late or mid game upgrade like this, instead of having it just be disabled or enabled.
Post by: Folly on August 09, 2019, 05:09:22 pm
I discovered Starsector and spent most of yesterday evening playing that. Pretty fun.
I want to get into Starsector...but I'm currently in the middle of an Elona game, so that's taking up all my sandbox gaming time atm. I had wanted to start Kenshi next, and then get back to X4 after that...so Starsector may have to wait a while.
Post by: catacombs on August 10, 2019, 08:23:15 am
Post by: JimboM12 on August 10, 2019, 11:02:06 am
edit; i also remembered my mount and blade warband with viking conquest and freeman:guerrilla warfare. i shall return from my gaming seclusion in 5 years when bannerlord finally comes out.
Post by: Folly on August 11, 2019, 02:34:32 am
After a long delay, Anthem finally got it's big update today! I can't wait to get back to flying around like an ironman~
Quick followup, I'm loving the new Cataclysm! It's a timed game mode with the goal of scoring as many points as possible by completing events, killing stuff, and finding secrets. It's great teaming up with a knowledgeable group, planning out routes, then splitting up and frantically racing to collect as many points as possible while still leaving just enough time to rush for the boss and burn her down before the clock runs out. I just can't stop playing~
Post by: wierd on August 11, 2019, 05:39:59 am
Post by: Iduno on August 11, 2019, 11:51:15 am
I just brought back an academy esper and some students. (http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/treasure) Sadly, I shot out the engine in their ship. Now my new friends can help me find the lab of the lady who captured us, and whatever other fun techs they've got. Truly,
Post by: Telgin on August 11, 2019, 12:56:31 pm
I am revisiting BoTW, in a hardcore "No deaths allowed" run. Ive had to restart about 6 times, but am doing much better this run.
Considering how easily things can one-shot you in that game, especially in the first 20 hours, that sounds pretty miserable. Good luck to you. I'm sure it can be done, and being careful and avoiding fights will help a lot, but you can still accidentally spook a goat and get headbutted down a mountain.
I'd definitely rush Mipha's Grace for that.
Post by: itisnotlogical on August 11, 2019, 03:35:00 pm
The part where you use the Memory Den to go in Kellogg's memories bugged out. The script won't advance and I'm stuck. So I exited the game to look for cheat mods... And, this being Survival, overwrote my one save slot. Being on Xbox, I had no means to back up my save nor can I use the console. All the cheat mods I found are implemented as pip-boy holotapes, which of course you can't access in the memory. So unless I find a different cheat mod or some sequence of events forces the script to advance, I'm stuck forever.
Post by: Trolldefender99 on August 11, 2019, 05:24:42 pm
Black Desert Online. But really casually, don't play too much but I do play it like once every 1-2 weeks. Its the only MMO I like cause I can play it as a singleplayer game.
Starcraft 2 arcade mode mostly against the AI or each other cause people piss us off. But only when my friend wants to play
heroes of the storm with me and my friend only against AI, cause playing against people makes us too mad like it does in SC2 lol
War Thunder on my own, just started and its pretty good. Honestly I only like it cause I'm actually good at it and I'm not very good with most games :P Maybe the people who play it just are really shit at playing it, but whatever I get so many kills and do so good against the other players and that is literally the only reason I play lol.
Daggerfall Unity, my 2nd most played game in the past 3 months (even though I only started a few days ago I've played sooooo much of it. But I dunno exact amount of hours). Its amazing even though daggerfall is older, but unity makes it really playable. Probably tied with morrowind for my favorite elder scrolls.
Minecraft Windows 10 edition (but I have java edition too), my 3rd most played game (but really close to daggerfall) in past 3 months. I play it with my friend so it doesnt get too much play time as it would otherwise. But we both still play when we get a chance. But not much to say about minecraft that no one already knows. More played (currently) than fortnite lol
And that is it that I've played past 3 months that I still currently play.
Post by: wierd on August 12, 2019, 02:06:26 am
I am revisiting BoTW, in a hardcore "No deaths allowed" run. Ive had to restart about 6 times, but am doing much better this run.
Considering how easily things can one-shot you in that game, especially in the first 20 hours, that sounds pretty miserable. Good luck to you. I'm sure it can be done, and being careful and avoiding fights will help a lot, but you can still accidentally spook a goat and get headbutted down a mountain.
I'd definitely rush Mipha's Grace for that.
Not exactly; You can cheese it after lots of grass-cut grinding to get some fairies, then rush to a great fairy fountain with 100R. Those are reliable spawn points for fairies.
So far, the plan has been to rush the above, and then stock up on hearty durians and iron mushrooms. (I have actually gone bombing crazy on forests, just to force bloodmoons, so that durians respawn on the trees.) I still only have 4 native heart containers, but 5 hearty durians gives you +20 temp hearts, and those persist after snacking on a 5-ironshroom mushy skewer. Those are holding me while I rush the other fairy fountains.
(I am still dreading having to face off with lynels to fully upgrade all my armor sets though.)
Post by: Cthulhu on August 12, 2019, 08:23:16 am
Dont really trust that after MGSV's part 2 mostly just being rehashed old missions.
Intrigued by the story
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Telgin on August 12, 2019, 09:42:54 am
Not exactly; You can cheese it after lots of grass-cut grinding to get some fairies, then rush to a great fairy fountain with 100R. Those are reliable spawn points for fairies.
So far, the plan has been to rush the above, and then stock up on hearty durians and iron mushrooms. (I have actually gone bombing crazy on forests, just to force bloodmoons, so that durians respawn on the trees.) I still only have 4 native heart containers, but 5 hearty durians gives you +20 temp hearts, and those persist after snacking on a 5-ironshroom mushy skewer. Those are holding me while I rush the other fairy fountains.
(I am still dreading having to face off with lynels to fully upgrade all my armor sets though.)
Forgot about fairies, and those would definitely help. In your position though, unless fully upgrading your clothes was explicitly part of the challenge I probably wouldn't bother with the lynels. They're a lot of risk for comparatively marginal gains, since the bosses and even Ganon hit for less if I remember right.
Post by: Nighthawk on August 12, 2019, 12:21:48 pm
Speaking of Switch, playing the new fire emblem. Its pretty good, I think I'm still relatively early in the story, no idea how long it is but I'm on 'part one' so who knowsThe game is... large. And it has a lot of different story route options, encouraging you to replay it a bunch of times, so it's arguably two to three times bigger than a single playthrough would suggest.
I myself have only just reached part two of my first playthrough, which is about halfway through a single campaign. And my playtime already totals 50 hours.
Save me.
Post by: catacombs on August 12, 2019, 01:00:20 pm
Post by: catacombs on August 12, 2019, 01:01:49 pm
Post by: Nighthawk on August 12, 2019, 03:59:19 pm
I enjoyed the Game Boy games but didn't know it was coming out for Switch. What has been the consensus on it?Positive on the whole, with quite excellent reviews all around. As for criticism, there have been all kinds of complaints from the more vocal members of the FE community, but the complaint most often repeated is that when replaying the game, the first half of your campaign will be very samey because important decisions and events only kick in about halfway through. However, considering a single playthrough will take around 30 hours if you're rushing like mad and up to around 80 hours if you're patient, you're probably still getting your money's worth even if you don't bother playing the other routes.
Personal consensus thus far: It feels slower than the old GBA games I played, mainly because the chillaxPersonaMode/story parts are emphasized and break up the strategy gameplay in a big way, but I didn't really mind it because the characters have been one of my favorite parts of the game. If you really hate that Persona-style-visual-novel-kinda-not-really-dating-sim stuff, you might be put off, but otherwise the story is engaging, the characters are fun, and it's pretty enjoyable on the whole.
Post by: wierd on August 13, 2019, 03:55:13 pm
I am revisiting BoTW, in a hardcore "No deaths allowed" run. Ive had to restart about 6 times, but am doing much better this run.
Playing like that would scare the shit out of me.
So, you're saying that if you get about 10 hours into a run, and you die, then you restart from the beginning?
Pretty much, yup. I want to see if I can actually beat the game without dieing even once.
Post by: Cthulhu on August 14, 2019, 09:10:22 am
Characters are fun though, i mostly enjoy the college interludes. Fave characters are hilda, lorenz, claude, and leonie, haven't given the other houses the time of day really. Maybe i should though, if my predictions are right about the story paths i can choose, i need to divest the religious characters and focus harder on the more secular or mercenary characters. (No spoilers please)
Going all in on romancing manuela, the only real choice. Dont fuck students.
Post by: Kagus on August 14, 2019, 01:39:32 pm
If those count, that should be the last one I need to finally get the "5-win streak in daily runs" for the achievement and unlock.
Post by: Nighthawk on August 14, 2019, 10:52:31 pm
Its good. Im gonna go out on a limb and say unless it gets substantially harder, its easier than sacred stones. Im on normal classic and by december year one I've outleveled the story content by at least a couple levels. Its pretty rare i have to use the timewarp ability even once, and I've got six uses per battle. Weapon triangle seems nerfed, even in sacred stones o remember it being nigh suicidal to attack on the wrong end of the triangleThe weapon triangle actually doesn't exist in Three Houses, unless you have one of the Breaker skills like Swordbreaker, Axebreaker, etc.
Characters are fun though, i mostly enjoy the college interludes. Fave characters are hilda, lorenz, claude, and leonie, haven't given the other houses the time of day really. Maybe i should though, if my predictions are right about the story paths i can choose, i need to divest the religious characters and focus harder on the more secular or mercenary characters. (No spoilers please)
Going all in on romancing manuela, the only real choice. Dont fuck students.
The game does get harder, though if you spam battles you'll probably still continue to outlevel the enemies, and yes, Divine Pulse has... probably too many charges. Apparently they're planning a Lunatic difficulty and possibly even one above that, which will be added in later updates.
You can in fact "steal" students from other houses (as the game has likely informed you), but this is only if you care to. You can absolutely get through the game without doing this, but if there's a character outside of your chosen house that you like, feel free to invest time in getting support levels with them so they'll join you.
Post by: Jimmy on August 15, 2019, 03:28:05 am
Dear god, even though the game's over 20 years old, it still offers solid hours of genuine enjoyment.
Post by: wierd on August 15, 2019, 03:34:54 am
Post by: Kagus on August 15, 2019, 04:02:31 am
good games dont need overdone graphics. Just solid suspension of disbelief, and engaging content.And a giant laser beam that obliterates entire planets.
Post by: Iduno on August 15, 2019, 11:27:02 am
good games dont need overdone graphics. Just solid suspension of disbelief, and engaging content.And a giant laser beam that obliterates entire planets.
And you only stole that technology to immediately use it on the homeworld of the people you stole it from.
Post by: Kagus on August 15, 2019, 12:32:13 pm
National Relaxation Day tomorrow, means there's the E-Z Win curated daily challenge for Binding of Isaac.
If those count, that should be the last one I need to finally get the "5-win streak in daily runs" for the achievement and unlock.
It counts! 5-run marathon completed with extreme prejudice! August 15th is definitely the day to cap off 4 hard-earned wins with...
Post by: Cthulhu on August 18, 2019, 10:45:56 am
Its good. Im gonna go out on a limb and say unless it gets substantially harder, its easier than sacred stones. Im on normal classic and by december year one I've outleveled the story content by at least a couple levels. Its pretty rare i have to use the timewarp ability even once, and I've got six uses per battle. Weapon triangle seems nerfed, even in sacred stones o remember it being nigh suicidal to attack on the wrong end of the triangleThe weapon triangle actually doesn't exist in Three Houses, unless you have one of the Breaker skills like Swordbreaker, Axebreaker, etc.
Characters are fun though, i mostly enjoy the college interludes. Fave characters are hilda, lorenz, claude, and leonie, haven't given the other houses the time of day really. Maybe i should though, if my predictions are right about the story paths i can choose, i need to divest the religious characters and focus harder on the more secular or mercenary characters. (No spoilers please)
Going all in on romancing manuela, the only real choice. Dont fuck students.
The game does get harder, though if you spam battles you'll probably still continue to outlevel the enemies, and yes, Divine Pulse has... probably too many charges. Apparently they're planning a Lunatic difficulty and possibly even one above that, which will be added in later updates.
You can in fact "steal" students from other houses (as the game has likely informed you), but this is only if you care to. You can absolutely get through the game without doing this, but if there's a character outside of your chosen house that you like, feel free to invest time in getting support levels with them so they'll join you.
I got Felix, but I'm at the big turning point of the first act
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Also, weirdly, Linhardt is the only dude with an S bond. Did they toss in a token gay romance option or is he a girl in disguise? I thought it was weird that the game makes you be straight, buthis art looks more like the art on the female characters. Hmmm
Post by: Nighthawk on August 18, 2019, 12:40:51 pm
I got Felix, but I'm at the big turning point of the first actDepending on which house you chose you might get railroaded. The critical decisions in the game are very, very apparent--you get a special prompt that straight up tells you with a dramatic heartbeat sound that the decision you're about to make will affect the story. Everything else has a minor effect, like who ends up joining you, etc.and now I really don't know where things are going.Spoiler (click to show/hide)Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Also, weirdly, Linhardt is the only dude with an S bond. Did they toss in a token gay romance option or is he a girl in disguise? I thought it was weird that the game makes you be straight, buthis art looks more like the art on the female characters. Hmmm
Regarding Linhardt and gay options: no, he's not a girl in disguise (as many seem to think), but he is basically... the only gay option for male Byleth. Female Byleth has a few more options, including Edelgard, which is clearly the superior choice in my, uh, completely unbiased and totally objective opinion. You have to pick Black Eagles as your house for that option, though, so unlike the minor characters, it's not always available.
Post by: Cthulhu on August 18, 2019, 03:21:49 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Nighthawk on August 18, 2019, 03:41:34 pm
Just made it to part 2. Pleasantly surprised, I didn't expect it to go in this direction though maybe I should've.I haven't done Blue Lions or Golden Deer yet, but I know a lot about them already. I'm playing through Black Eagles as we speak, so if you really want to know...Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Dunamisdeos on August 19, 2019, 08:19:20 pm
Post by: AzyWng on August 19, 2019, 10:04:19 pm
Never played it, but apparently it's a game about designing machines that can create chemical (or was it alchemical?) compounds as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Automachef is this, but with fast food.
And, well, having played a bit of it (some of the early levels and one contract in the game's contract mode) I can see the appeal. You have to worry about order of operations and the route your ingredients will take before they reach the assembler, not to mention power and ingredient usage.
I felt very, very clever when I realized I could do certain things to make my machines take up much less space or use one dumb robot arm instead of three smart ones.
In other words, I like it. I like it a lot.
Post by: Cthulhu on August 20, 2019, 09:10:54 pm
I'm in part 2 of Fire Emblem now. Things are getting interesting, but I think the length of the first sequence was a misstep. It's a fun combination, the two acts, sort of a deep space 9 scenario where you set up the characters and the world and then put it all to the test, but it's so long it takes some of the wind out of you, I'm light on motivation to keep playing unless something huge comes up. I'm also outrageously overleveled now which also hurts.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Lorenz is probably my strongest companion, I'd like to see him fight the avatar character, minus the special avatar item of course, I think he might be able to take him.
Post by: Nighthawk on August 20, 2019, 10:28:46 pm
I'm somewhat surprised to hear your comments about the difficulty. I can only assume you're playing on Normal, battling a lot more often than you should, are really good at SRPGs, or some combination of those things. I've played a lot of fire Emblem, and while none of the maps in Three Houses have pushed me beyond my limits thus far, I seldom find them outright boring and have used magical mystical timey-wimey stuff a decent number of times to fix problems (though never enough to feel like I might run out).Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I don't think the game intends to be frustratingly difficult, but considering I've never outright failed a chapter on Hard, I do agree it's probably a little too easy for most people who aren't absolute newcomers.
Post by: Folly on August 22, 2019, 10:16:49 pm
It's a twin-stick bullet-hell shooter co-op mmo roguelite. Free to play, with cash shop for inventory space and cosmetics.
I've only played a few hours, but definitely seems like it's worth a look if you're into any of the above genres.
Post by: Aoi on August 23, 2019, 12:56:04 am
Steambirds Alliance just came out on Steam.
It's a twin-stick bullet-hell shooter co-op mmo roguelite. Free to play, with cash shop for inventory space and cosmetics.
I've only played a few hours, but definitely seems like it's worth a look if you're into any of the above genres.
Or, for those familiar with it: It's a modern version of Realm of the Mad God. Without having looked it up yet, there's enough similarities that I'd be very confident in saying it's made by the same people.
Post by: JimboM12 on August 24, 2019, 11:00:02 am
all in all, its a ton of fun. be prepared to server hop to find the gear you want
Post by: Haspen on August 24, 2019, 12:23:03 pm
The game sure rakes your brain for creativity and outside-of-the-box thinking. Must have if you love puzzles!
Post by: King Zultan on August 25, 2019, 04:51:09 am
Post by: nenjin on August 27, 2019, 04:06:25 pm
Remnant: from the ashes its like darksouls, bloodborne and borderlands all mixed together. everyone's side dungeons are randomized and have different gear (like in my map, i had a boss who dropped a thing to get a weapon mod that summons little dudes and my friends had a bandit named barabus who, if you do a side thing, will give you bandit armor). all guns feel like they have a use and some bosses drop boss weapons that are usually pimped out versions of the base guns.
all in all, its a ton of fun. be prepared to server hop to find the gear you want
So how is this shaking out? Read the reviews and people are saying it's fairly light on content (weapon and armor choices, tilsets for the levels, enemies....) and people hacking can bork your save in MP by giving you additional levels you didn't earn as soon as they join you. Despite the levels being random, the chatter is it doesn't have much replayability. Thoughts? Worth it for the SP experience?
Post by: JimboM12 on August 27, 2019, 04:18:57 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on August 28, 2019, 01:53:40 am
This game is incredibly dense in terms of content and side-quests, which is both a good and bad thing IMO. It's good because the world feels alive and connected, instead of just a system for dispensing lore and missions. OTOH, there's so much to do that no matter how long I spend in a given area, I always leave suspecting that I missed something, and it drives me insane.
Post by: Aoi on August 28, 2019, 04:14:38 am
Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition.
This game is incredibly dense in terms of content and side-quests, which is both a good and bad thing IMO. It's good because the world feels alive and connected, instead of just a system for dispensing lore and missions. OTOH, there's so much to do that no matter how long I spend in a given area, I always leave suspecting that I missed something, and it drives me insane.
I usually give up playing about halfway through each time because of that...
Nowadays, I just pull out my printed hardcopy of a novelized version of the script (http://www.wischik.com/lu/senses/pst-book.html) instead. Though edited. I like Ignus, damnit.
Post by: itisnotlogical on August 28, 2019, 06:19:47 am
Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition.
This game is incredibly dense in terms of content and side-quests, which is both a good and bad thing IMO. It's good because the world feels alive and connected, instead of just a system for dispensing lore and missions. OTOH, there's so much to do that no matter how long I spend in a given area, I always leave suspecting that I missed something, and it drives me insane.
I usually give up playing about halfway through each time because of that...
Nowadays, I just pull out my printed hardcopy of a novelized version of the script (http://www.wischik.com/lu/senses/pst-book.html) instead. Though edited. I like Ignus, damnit.
No spoilers, please. This is one of relatively few classic RPGs that haven't been spoiled to hell and back for me.
Post by: Telgin on August 28, 2019, 09:54:58 am
I'm not going to pretend I'm an amazing game designer, but it just feels like the developers made some design mistakes with this game and it reminds me a little of Donkey Kong 64. The backtracking is so much worse in this game than the first one, and it has some things that feel just plain unnecessary, like the glowbos. I'm still not sure why they're in the game, since they only serve to unlock Mumbo and Wumba's abilities, but they're almost always right there with them anyway.
Want Mumbo help? (A) Yes (B) No
(A) Yes, want Mumbo help. Here glowbo. Found literally behind house. Not sure why had to go find it.
The only time so far I've found that glowbos had a purpose was in Jolly Roger's Lagoon, where hearing the glowbo's giggle informed me that I was actually close to Wumba's wigwam since I probably wouldn't have found it otherwise. But that kind of feels like a level design issue, and it wasn't the first time it's happened. I actually wasted like an hour in Witchyworld not knowing what to do next because I couldn't find Mumbo or Wumba, where I could have gotten to Wumba's wigwam if I rotated the camera in a specific way to realize I could climb a ledge I didn't even know was there.
Then there's the feeling that playing as Mumbo is also kind of a pointless time sink. All he does is walk to little pads and use an ability on them. It feels like they should have just had Mumbo waiting there for you and you gave him a glowbo to use his powers at that spot instead of having to hoof it halfway across the continent back to his skull when you find a Mumbo pad you missed earlier. Wumba's transformations are similarly annoying since I keep having to backtrack to her when I find a spot I missed when previously transformed. And a minor nitpick, but in the first game you could just leave the level while transformed and if you got far enough away, you transformed back. In this game, you have to go back to the wigwam to change back to leave a level, so no shortcuts there.
Man, that sounds harsh. I like this game, it's just not as much fun as the first one.
Was there a thread for ranting about game design? Seems like I saw one at some point...
Post by: askovdk on August 29, 2019, 08:08:38 am
I'm getting to the end-game in my single player world. I have beaten one boss and are collecting artifacts for the others.
But often the bloddy thing is not there when I finally reach the given part of the cave. Is there any tricks or hidden timers, or is it just pure luck? (And if it's just a random spawn/despawn, does anyone have a theory on how often it makes sense to check if it's there?)
Post by: Mephisto on August 30, 2019, 11:33:28 am
Post by: CABL on September 01, 2019, 02:39:12 am
*Not depressed or anything, and it's not the first time I have a burnout.
Post by: nenjin on September 01, 2019, 05:11:50 am
So it's.....ugh.....Assassin's Creed 3.
Now, I like Assassin's Creed games, vapid open-world sandbox glorified QTE simulator collecta-hells that they are.
But now I am remembering why I stopped playing AC3 after 30 hours and ~40% completion.
It's just so damn boring. Pretty, scenic, but boring. I can get immersed in pretty much any well executed setting, but there's only so much punching cougars and hunting mens in the wilderness that can sustain immersion, volumetric fog banks and Elk Song be damned! I like Last of the Mohicans just as much as the next guy but that can't sustain a whole game. And at least in other city focused AC games the moment to moment navigation kept your attention. Here it's kinda....just keep running in the direction you need. You'll either get there without having to do much or accidentally jump off a 200 foot cliff. One or the other. Hunting isn't refined at all, neither is shooting. Patches of infinitely infinitely respawning wlidlife kinda takes the teeth out of the hunt. Patches of infinitely respawning enemies sometimes adds a few too many.
The combat just feels off. Without seeming to change much, they've changed a lot. You're either just mutliating crowds with single strikes and flashy moves, or you end up hitting one guy 12 times before another six hits as part of a scripted kill animation actually starts. All the extra counter moves just make for confusion coming back to the game, where 3/4 are pointless except against specific enemy types compared to just counter-killing them. Tools are cute but add very little to the overall gameplay, except good ole Smoke Bomb. Who knew that black powder weapons that take an eternity to reload get little to no usage. After another 8 hours or so I've got it down mostly, but those first couple hours back really left a sour taste in my mouth. Again.
Connor just isn't really likable or believable. I kind of dread to hear him speak. A lot of delivery just sounds awkward and stilted.
And whoever thought AC needed a mercantile simulation should be double hidden bladed through their eyeballs. I don't think it matters a whit except as a way to maybe expedite getting some quests done. The money certainly doesn't matter.
The novelty of hunting animals and parkouring around nature was enjoyable for about an hour before I had a sincere longing for right angles and crowds again. Maybe doing more stuff in Boston will make the game feel a little more tolerable.
Once I finish this I can go be a pirate and have some actual fun instead of this bland, tedious game.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on September 02, 2019, 02:31:34 pm
It's also why I won't buy a single thing from Ubisoft ever again as long as I live because they straight-up deleted all my saves and then disabled saving just in time for Unity.
Post by: pondicherry on September 03, 2019, 06:30:59 am
Post by: AzyWng on September 03, 2019, 06:49:51 am
Pirate's Creed is the best one IMO
I posted something about this a while back, in the now seemingly-unused "Gaming Pet Peeves" thread, but the subtitles for that game (alongside the fact that the opening felt too similar to the openings of other games - far too slow for me to not decide to play something else) were what really turned me off of AC Black Flag.
"Come on Mate! We're getting off to a bad Start!"
As someone who's got some degree of interest in reading and writing? That really, really bothered me.
Post by: Iduno on September 03, 2019, 08:46:00 am
Those damn vomiting pigs are annoying, though. Frequently give diseases and drive stress up. I don't have so many people that I can afford to have someone out for 2-3 weeks.
Now, I like Assassin's Creed games, vapid open-world sandbox glorified QTE simulator collecta-hells that they are.
But now I am remembering why I stopped playing AC3 after 30 hours and ~40% completion.
It's just so damn boring. Pretty, scenic, but boring.
I think that's been the review of all of the Assassin's Creed games since the first one.
Post by: nenjin on September 03, 2019, 09:55:27 am
AC3 is "everyone is in shitty wood houses they built less than a decade ago and no more than 2 stories tall" or "forest." Going from exploring the great cities of Italy or Constantinople to the colonies is like going from a cathedral to a parish church.
Quote
I was bothered that I was losing people all of the time, but then I noticed the progress I'm making is in improving the buildings around town and maybe making a few gold. Now I'm happy enough with running in, visiting as much stuff as I can, and running away just before people die or go insane.
Just wait until you start actually investing in your heroes. Losing one that you've sunk $20k in upgrades in to sucks.
Post by: Egan_BW on September 03, 2019, 05:59:36 pm
Post by: nenjin on September 09, 2019, 11:31:05 pm
I looked up the other games in the series. Good lord, between all the different games and platforms, they've made 22 Assassin's Creed titles. If you subtract out just the mobile games, it's like 16. I don't think even Call of Duty has that many titles behind it.
After all that bitching, I do want to play Black Flag. For just two reasons: pirates and morbid curiosity to see how the series pivoted after this mess. (Other than spawning a legion of spin offs.)
Post by: itisnotlogical on September 10, 2019, 06:43:09 am
Playing the original game on Windows 10 wasn't a very fun experience; if you've played Fallout without patches, or experienced the Starcraft color glitch, you know what I mean. But Enhanced Edition unfortunately seems to have its own problems, mostly relating to cutscenes and scripted events. There's one scene I died in the middle of despite not being present, and one that seems like it's about to softlock the game every time it happens.
Despite these problems, PS:T is a very strong contender for my favorite RPG of all time. There's not been a single moment that I haven't enjoyed, and I can count the games that fit that criteria on one hand. The only weak point is that it gets a lot shorter and easier all at once with no drop-off; it seems like I'm at the endgame or very close, when just an hour ago I thought I was at the 1/3 mark.
Post by: Ltwhiskers on September 10, 2019, 07:45:42 am
Post by: Dunamisdeos on September 10, 2019, 12:59:34 pm
Thoroughly enjoyed it more than I thought i would. Will probably pick it up on sale this week.
Post by: Haspen on September 10, 2019, 02:47:12 pm
Still, EA Ernor and MA Ulm are best uwu
Post by: AzyWng on September 10, 2019, 06:21:19 pm
A few things to take note of:
* If you've played Lonewolf (also by SHD Games), you're likely familiar with the payment model this game has - free players have limited access to weapons and gear, and are also restricted by an energy system. This can be removed by purchasing premium for $4.99, which will also remove ads and give the player eight thousand credits to spend acquiring the newly expanded selection.
* Taking cover, first introduced in the final mission of the flash game, now pops up much more - it's an important way to defend yourself when you're being fired at by multiple opponents.
* Enemies have now evolved considerably from the stickmen from the flash game. These enemies include hostage takers, armored enemies, shielded enemies, and grenadiers (not to mention a few foes I probably haven't run into yet).
* Weapons now work on a "mastery" system - after achieving a certain number of kills, headshots, and hits, guns can be upgraded for improved stats.
* Gear is now a feature! Each piece of gear can influence things like the amount of ammo you'll have available on a mission, how much armor you have, and your "fear rating" (enemies have a chance to be intimidated and not shoot you).
* There is now an actual storyline - Operator 7 returns after a long absence to help take out a militia.
* Medium difficulty can be rather hard if you're not used to twin-stick controls on a mobile device, so don't be discouraged if you die a lot.
All in all, I'd say this is effectively the flash game but made better in several ways.
Post by: nenjin on September 10, 2019, 11:58:22 pm
A 2d Dark Souls-inspired Metroidvania is more or less accurate. If you've played Unworthy, Salt & Sanctuary, Dead Cells, Death's Gambit, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night.....you've perhaps gotten more than enough of either Dark Souls-inspired and/or Metroidvania's of late.
That said, I think Blasphemous is easily one of the better ones. All these games have a style and that's cool, but I feel like Blasphemous embraces its own ideas to the hilt. The entire game is like one of those apocalyptic religious pieces of art. It's a Spanish game, and I don't know what it is with the Spanish but when it comes to that intersection of art and religion, they seem to be able to go to some weird, extreme places. Blasphemous borrows crazy heavily from the Catholic art tradition in its look and style, its story, its characters, its UI, how things like the character system are conceptualized.....from top to bottom the whole game is saturated with religiosity. A whole world completely focused on religion, it seems, like some kind of crazy 40k novel. A religious world that just had its Rapture and no one is quite sure what to make of it.
It owns its style completely, from the menu screens to the Dark Souls YOU DIED and VICTORY texts that come up. It's got a lot of lore to share although it all is rather cryptic and the way it plays with religious ideas and concepts and terms can leave you a little mystified as to what it is being said. Where Dark Souls was cryptic but rather simple in its ideas, there's a lot of overwrought religious language used in Blasphemous that makes it hard to separate what's a specific Thing versus an Idea. Maybe it's a translation thing, maybe it's the kind of thing you need to actually understand the game world to understand most of the references being made to you, ala Dark Souls. Maybe it's just that whacked out of a game.
Visually it's dank as fuck, and I'm enjoying the look of most areas a lot. I don't know how much meat is on its bones but I think I'm already enjoying it more than I enjoyed Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. This has the kind of attention to detail and world building that I felt like BS:RotN was pretty lacking in. I don't know if it's "Dark Souls" hard, but it is pretty challenging, is not shy about one-hit kill mechanics and traps, or laying out enemies and areas in a way to really test you. I've beaten one of the first three big bosses without a ton of trouble, wiped a couple times in a row on a particularly vicious part. Other than that though, it seems on par for difficulty for most 2d action platformers.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on September 11, 2019, 11:28:27 am
Post by: nenjin on September 11, 2019, 02:09:57 pm
Post by: Yolan on September 13, 2019, 10:19:43 am
For the record, I've played into the end game with Black Flag, the first half of Syndicate, and two thirds of Origins. I'd always get bored and quit. Still kept coming back trying titles when they were on sale. I enjoy the detailed worlds, the climbing, the light stealth. Origin felt like a step in the right direction, but still far too easy even on Nightmare mode.
So far, loving Odyssey. First AC game I actually want to finish (although I hear the ending is a bit shit.) Still don't like the way that leveling and equipment are handled. Everything is clearly set up to help push people towards in-game purchases, meaning you can never entirely get away from the feeling that you're playing a very pretty mobile game. Buuut, the writing is definitely solid compared with Origins. The combat is tighter. There's always something to do and see, and not just... "help help, go attack bandit camp No. 4125). Everything feels pretty balanced. Now, if you could just get this level of fidelity of world size / prettyness and make it an actual RPG....
Post by: nenjin on September 13, 2019, 10:47:56 am
Hoping that the goodness of Black Flag means it doesn't take me 10 years to finish due to stopping halfway through from boredom.
Post by: marples on September 13, 2019, 01:15:46 pm
Hoping that the goodness of Black Flag means it doesn't take me 10 years to finish due to stopping halfway through from boredom.
The problem with AC 4, is that when the boat stuff gets going, you'll wish it were a different game with different objectives.
Post by: Cthulhu on September 13, 2019, 07:54:25 pm
WoW is obviously good of course, classic at least. I'm level 33 on my rogue and I've moved on to grinding. Grinding levels is really fast for a combat rogue thanks to all your cooldowns and no mana, and classic doesn't require you to actually train enchanting to DE high level items so you can park a level 5 mule in orgrimmar and just mail all your shit to it, make insane gold. Economy is still unstable without enough high level players for any serious liquidity, add onto that everyone knows how to make money now unlike the real vanilla, and it's pretty tough to make money. On Nostalrius though, which was more mature, I was able to buy my mount at 40 and twink myself out with a pile of BoE blues.
Post by: King Zultan on September 13, 2019, 10:55:32 pm
Post by: Trolldefender99 on September 13, 2019, 11:07:57 pm
Also playing tibia. Yeah that 2d MMO that is pretty old and rather basic graphics (I like how the art looks though). Its actually pretty good so far for a grinding very slow paced (though much faster than tibia used to be) gameplay. Though tbh dunno if I'll continue playing past the month sub is up and it isn't really playable as a free user (at least for me it isn't playable, too many limits)
Playing Star Wars battlefront 2 as well, probably my most played game this week. I have EA premiere thing, and its included. I enjoy it a lot, though can get frustrating if "pros" are active. Most of the time I get in and can actually get kills in and both teams are about equal...and then sometimes its apparent that the people playing way outclass my play skill level lol.
Got underrail, haven't got far but that is on my current playlist...not much more to say without more experience with it. It isn't my most played game this week, and it takes (for me) the right mindset to want to play it, but it looks really good gameplay wise just its such a massive game and I mostly want to play a game (right now that is) I can hop in and do stuff then hop out
Also imperator rome. Its my most played game in past couple months, at 367 hours played since I got it (back in july). Though I haven't played much this week, got other games going on.
Sims 4/Need for Speed Payback/Distance are all games I'm sorta playing too, but kinda barely any time put into them past couple weeks. Distance is a ton of fun though and has so many player made tracks on the workshop, which some are really good. And sims 4 I just get the basic edition with premiere, and the dlc adds up to be so much that its too daunting for my cobweb filled wallet so probably gonna uninstall it.
So quite a lot of games
Post by: wierd on September 13, 2019, 11:10:59 pm
I need to get a better video cable for the former though. The RF modulator I got with the system is... Snowy. Real snowy.
There was a useful cassette presetter/indexer posted at the AtariAge forum that I got working, so getting programs loaded on a base system has gotten a little easier. (which is why I have been playing with it more.)
Post by: Cthulhu on September 14, 2019, 09:00:35 am
Post by: Jopax on September 14, 2019, 09:18:06 am
Mostly ARAM and some TFT in league, nice and worry free murderfest in one case and a relaxing RNGfest in the other.
With WoT, they certainly evolved the game over the years, bunch of new stuff, from progression, vehicles to game modes. Of those the Frontline is probably the most interesting, a big ass 30v30 map with shifting objectives and respawns and repairs leads to some very fun 20ish minute matches, plus the rewards are pretty sweet. Only issue is that it's up a single week every month (since there's like, two maps atm there is the issue that it might get repetitive if kept around for longer) and that doesn't always correspond with my free time.
After the new desktop arrives tho I'll probably dive into Witcher 3 and MHW, maybe Doom, we'll see how much the 'test all the games you couldn't properly play before' bug takes me I guess.
Post by: King Zultan on September 14, 2019, 08:17:39 pm
and playing Stalker Anomaly.I've been looking at that sense you mentioned it on another thread, and I've been wondering how it plays and do all the extra items add anything or are they just there to make things harder?
Also it mentions on its page that it runs a 64x engine, and does that mean I can't play it on a 32bit?
Post by: wierd on September 15, 2019, 05:36:57 am
For the former question: It is "easier", in that you get armor and weapon drops like candy. It is "harder", in that repairing the stuff you get (because it seems to ALWAYS be in poor condition when you get it from a drop...) is complicated by "Get me the tools to fix it!" missions, and money. (Merchants are not interested in the items you get as drops if they are too damaged, and they nearly always are too damaged.) Monster difficulty is obscenely OP though.
For the latter question: It is 64bit, it needs a 64bit system and OS.
Post by: nenjin on September 15, 2019, 03:18:43 pm
Blasphemous is starting to get on my nerves. Actual death on falling is fine in Dark Souls where falling is more of a sporadic hazard, but in a platformer it's fucking obnoxious to have to go all the way back to the altar every time I miss a jump, especially when you get a stacking penalty every time you die.
I'm there with you. On the one hand, the first time you're getting through an area, the tight platforming tolerances keep things feeling tight and dramatic.
But once you're doing a lot of retreading, which this game has a ton of, those sections start to really get on your nerves. I think I played for like about 14 hours or over the course of yesterday, and toward the end I was repeatedly failing long, difficult jumping sections I'd aced before over and over again. To the point I finally put it down out of annoyance and exhaustion.
I think Blasphemous may be more or a platformer than most games in its genre. A great game but depending your on tolerance for stuff like that, it can start to wear on you.
Post by: Azerty on September 15, 2019, 04:34:54 pm
When starting (it was my youngest sister who started to play), I feared there would be less infiltration and stealth than in Blood Money, the previous entry of the series I used to play - but was satisfacted. On the hand, the Stories system in difficulties below Master might seem as if the player was a toddler but this is switchable (I've kept these indications) but, on the other hand, the additional interactions with the surroundings is very interesting and extending beyond weapons; for exemple, I can now use local products such as poison pills and frogs to poison targets.
While sedating characters in BM was too much limited, beating up them could now seems to be overpowered to some.
But overall, it's a good game - and I thought BM could never be bettered, apart from small details -, and enabling the creation of contracts might do wonders to lenghten the game.
Post by: King Zultan on September 15, 2019, 09:59:10 pm
For the latter question: It is 64bit, it needs a 64bit system and OS.Well damn, I guess I'll just have to bookmark it for now.
Post by: Iduno on September 15, 2019, 10:15:58 pm
Alternating between playing with that Ti 99/A4 I picked off ebay, and playing Stalker Anomaly.
I need to get a better video cable for the former though. The RF modulator I got with the system is... Snowy. Real snowy.
There was a useful cassette presetter/indexer posted at the AtariAge forum that I got working, so getting programs loaded on a base system has gotten a little easier. (which is why I have been playing with it more.)
I remember an adapter that worked with the old CRTVs, that switched between the TI system and Cable. Would that help?
I'm playing Hitman 2.
When starting (it was my youngest sister who started to play), I feared there would be less infiltration and stealth than in Blood Money, the previous entry of the series I used to play - but was satisfacted. On the hand, the Stories system in difficulties below Master might seem as if the player was a toddler but this is switchable (I've kept these indications) but, on the other hand, the additional interactions with the surroundings is very interesting and extending beyond weapons; for exemple, I can now use local products such as poison pills and frogs to poison targets.
While sedating characters in BM was too much limited, beating up them could now seems to be overpowered to some.
But overall, it's a good game - and I thought BM could never be bettered, apart from small details -, and enabling the creation of contracts might do wonders to lenghten the game.
How far have you gotten? The difficulty of the first few missions is real low, even when you're trying the weird challenges.
Post by: AzyWng on September 15, 2019, 11:13:10 pm
That, and a good deal of Brigador, too - the vehicle combat warcrime simulator.
Post by: Haspen on September 17, 2019, 11:43:00 am
...only to notice I didn't get 'Map is All' acheevo or what's it name. Turns out, I didn't finish Fragile Existence, but only
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And forgot about it. But now also this level is completed! Now time to venture into the final world of META...
Post by: itisnotlogical on September 18, 2019, 09:21:15 am
I seem to remember people saying at one point that this is the most sober, emotionally-charged game in the series. It's almost insufferably over-the-top and ridiculous. If it weren't for all the casual sexual assault, you'd think it was a Saturday morning cartoon.
Post by: nenjin on September 18, 2019, 11:06:49 am
Quote
It's almost insufferably over-the-top and ridiculous.
The intro song would be the first hint to that.
Post by: Haspen on September 18, 2019, 11:17:33 am
QuoteIt's almost insufferably over-the-top and ridiculous.
The intro song would be the first hint to that.
Is the source quote about God Hand?
Post by: Egan_BW on September 18, 2019, 11:47:14 am
also https://youtu.be/TzNtUwphjmo (https://youtu.be/TzNtUwphjmo)
Post by: scriver on September 18, 2019, 03:23:51 pm
I gave him his boar meat and we finished the deal standing over his unconscious wife and guard. Then he sent me off to get him some deer liver.
Post by: JimboM12 on September 18, 2019, 03:29:24 pm
Post by: kingawsume on September 18, 2019, 03:46:19 pm
Also my left shift key is simultaneously activating my "\" key, so I'm having to buck years of muscle memory or backspace every time I put a capital or symbol. Fun times.
Post by: IonMatrix on September 18, 2019, 04:35:06 pm
Watcher Knights is currently beating the shit out of me. (BTW we have a nickname in China for the Watcher Knights which roughly translates into "awkward dancing knights group". I swear it sounds much better in Chinese.)
Post by: nenjin on September 18, 2019, 04:59:55 pm
Other than that I'm getting back in to Monster Hunter World and getting my ass kicked as I have to relearn how to play in the mid to late game.
Post by: xaritscin on September 19, 2019, 11:18:49 am
also EVE Online, getting close to finish Engineering skills and moving onto weaponry (finally!), im also trying to do a recruitment program for a corp i founded, but it will probably take some time before i get recruits.
Post by: Haspen on September 19, 2019, 11:22:37 am
i decided to test Corruption of Champions II
Oh god.
I've already forgot about the first one, and now there's a sequel??
Post by: xaritscin on September 19, 2019, 04:45:31 pm
Oh god.
I've already forgot about the first one, and now there's a sequel??
yeah its a sequel, according to what i've read it happens in a different world but the story is connected to the first game. im really digging the mechanics, albeit it seems there's still a lot of development ahead. its a shame since a game like this could probably soar in Steam or other platforms given proper funding.
Post by: Frumple on September 19, 2019, 07:05:42 pm
Post by: Egan_BW on September 19, 2019, 07:10:55 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on September 19, 2019, 08:00:50 pm
edit: nvm, not porn, just uncensored content. http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/nintendo_has_no_plans_to_censor_video_games_like_sony
Post by: Parsely on September 20, 2019, 12:53:39 am
Post by: Mephisto on September 20, 2019, 12:35:13 pm
Now I'm just sad that people aren't discussing a sequel to any of the Call of Cthulhu games.
Post by: Telgin on September 20, 2019, 02:17:49 pm
My opinion of this game continues to oscillate like a roller coaster. I want to like it because of how much I loved the original, but I just feel so lost in it all of the time and it has a definite Donkey Kong 64 vibe of things being annoying for no good reason. For example, when Humba Wumba turns you into a washing machine in Grunty Industries, you can't use the teleport pads. Why? Because you can't. They added a service elevator thing you have to use instead, meaning you have to take long routes everywhere just because. I've already complained before about the transformations being inconvenient in general before.
But on the other hand, it is genuinely satisfying to finally figure out how to get some of the jiggies, and I certainly feel like I accomplished something when I finally 100% a level.
Post by: Haspen on September 20, 2019, 03:26:50 pm
This game offers you 7 lifetimes and so far I suck at all of those I've tried.
Post by: Frumple on September 20, 2019, 05:47:17 pm
Post by: Kagus on September 20, 2019, 06:00:45 pm
I was finishing off the leftover details of my BL2 account, but then I discovered that the free post-endgame DLC they released as marketing for BL3 has now been changed from "free for all Borderlands 2 players" to "fifteen dollah pleez".
So now I'm playing P-S, because fuck it.
Post by: Sirus on September 20, 2019, 06:18:05 pm
I am not surprised.
Post by: Aoi on September 20, 2019, 06:27:18 pm
Post by: AzyWng on September 20, 2019, 09:23:28 pm
Presently I've been playing Starsector and SYNTHETIK. In the latter I've been trying to complete the class challenge for every class before prestieging.
Post by: Trolldefender99 on September 21, 2019, 01:33:18 pm
i decided to test Corruption of Champions II
Oh god.
I've already forgot about the first one, and now there's a sequel??
Somehow never knew this game existed or anything similar even was a thing, though looking up I suppose its considered niche and not very well known. There is apparently a couple/few other similar games too.
But actually (playing first one) is rather surprisingly good.
Post by: Iduno on September 21, 2019, 02:50:47 pm
I still haven't managed to steal the groundskeeper's hat, which is part of an early objective in the first area. I also don't know if spreading your wings does anything at all.
Overall, pretty entertaining so far. It's a light puzzle game, so it's pretty relaxing.
Post by: itisnotlogical on September 23, 2019, 04:43:53 pm
The characters are still boring.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It's not for lack of trying to coerce dialogue out of the
Post by: Blastbeard on September 24, 2019, 06:18:08 pm
I also don't know if spreading your wings does anything at all.That's how geese T-pose.
*A take on MGS3 that doesn't applaud it as the greatest game evar*Well there's something you don't see everyday. Not an unwelcome sight to be sure, but it pokes a hole in my theory that the game has subliminal messaging that makes everyone regard it as a masterpiece.
I recently reinstalled Crusader Kings 2 to try out a mod set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. It couldn't get it to work, so I settled for the next best thing and installed a Warcraft mod instead. It's RC Cola compared to Coca-Cola featuring actual cocaine, but I need to justify the obscene amount of money I've spent on DLC for that game somehow.
The mod plays well with the other mods I use, and certain races even have unique unit models, but it doesn't seem very well-balanced IMO. The antagonists of the two eras have it way too easy, and a player could steamroll the entire world with relative ease if they opted to play as them. Still, a lot of effort has gone into the mod and it shows. I've enjoyed playing it more than I would have forming Spain for the twentieth time, that's for sure.
Spoiler: Local man cucks entire alien invasion (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Arthas sucks and so does his story (click to show/hide)
Also, this is in the mod by default.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: scriver on September 25, 2019, 08:21:46 am
I haven't checked in a long time but it used to be that CK2 kept a pretty big list of patch versions that you could backdate to and it's possible the version the Warhammer mod is compatible with is available. If you use steam you can check by right-clicking ck2 in the game list and choosing Options. There should be a relevant tab in there, I don't remember precisely how it's called or what it looks like without looking myself first.
Post by: xaritscin on September 27, 2019, 12:35:42 am
Ethiopia is now one of my favourites civs, it got a fair balance between micromanagement and base building. only having it rough against shit like Japan (too much strong in the age 2 rush) as i have to rely on well placed fortificatiosn and my religious units to keep the early game military alive.
anyways, i also found that the reason i couldnt use civs from the Warchiefs expansion was due to some old bug from several years ago, back when The Asian Dynasties came up so i had to do some changes to the registry data in order to enable them in the latest expansion (and thus have them avaliable in the modded version). sadly i found out about this later after asking about the issue in the Mod's discord channel and got embarrased by one of the admins due to playing in a standalone version i got from a Torrent. shameful? yes, but i dont have the means to pay for the game officially.
but yeah, i got to test it at the end of the day and played a nice match in the Rockies against the Sioux with the Aztecs. on the bad side i discovered that they didnt really change much with the mod, they got their own gimmick for the religion mechanics (generating faith with just totems rather than with villagers praying in temples) but their home city cards are pretty much vanilla. at least they could have gotten some extra cards relating them to the Mexicans or something but with the mod being pending for a complete revision from the ground up it means they will probably get a second look.
Post by: Yoink on October 02, 2019, 07:14:00 am
I did bring my notes/DIY guidebook on how to play One Hour One Life back with me this time, so that could be interesting, but I was also planning on diving into some Drawception with my mouse, so as to do something other than captioning.
Hmmmmmm.
And of course there's always Rimworld and DF, but I suck at both for various reasons, plus my computer tends to chug big time when I start up Rimworld even with my modest assortment of mods, and of course with DF I'm really kinda just frothin' for the next version.
I wonder if the new crooks and plots mechanics will start taking place on a new world, ported over?
I feel like this update will be big enough to break save compatibility, but it'd be pretty funny if you could port an old save and suddenly across the land all these villainous types have a lightbulb moment and get down to scheming, hehe.
@Iduno: the goose game sounds wonderful!
Post by: itisnotlogical on October 02, 2019, 07:55:37 am
Post by: Yoink on October 02, 2019, 09:41:43 am
One Hour One LifeWow, this game has gotten weird.
Not sure I can be bothered re-learning to play when many of the major changes seem to be for the worse. :-\
Post by: Yoink on October 20, 2019, 01:26:03 pm
Sorry for double-posting, but I just started playing Avernum: Escape From the Pit, which I've had sitting in my Steam library for ages but don't think I've ever actually played. I'm digging it, with its old-school sound effects and the cool little illustrations that accompany skills. :)
I also played the demo of Age of Decadence briefly yesterday, before deciding that it sucked too hard to be worth buying. Nice of 'em to offer a demo, though.
Post by: nenjin on October 20, 2019, 02:39:56 pm
I've played enough PoE in the last three weeks or so, I think I'm almost sick of it again.
Post by: Folly on October 20, 2019, 04:28:52 pm
The description made it sound like Harvestmoon/Stardew, except with zombie-defense mode to protect your crops at night. All of that sounded fun to me so I bought.
The game turned out to be much more arcadey than I expected. There is no saving, very few opportunities to heal, and generally unsatisfying character progression. I refunded with less than an hour played. Best part of this experience was learning that the Epic Games refund policy is just as lenient and easy as Steam's.
Mindustry
This is a factorio type game, with more refined tower-defense elements. It's very cheap on Steam and I'm quite satisfied that this one delivered what it promised.
Post by: Screech9791 on October 20, 2019, 06:35:10 pm
i decided to test Corruption of Champions II -snip-(http://magaimg.net/img/9bch.png)
Anyways, I've been having fun (as always) with the Zombie Survival gamemode for Garry's Mod. RimWorld with the HardcoreSK modpack is fun as well.
Post by: xaritscin on October 20, 2019, 09:47:14 pm
everything is so high in the graphics department nowadays that you cant even play properly with the lowest settings. its really sad because there's a lot of interesting games out there which could do very well without having to burn your computer unless you have bought the latest graphics card from Nvidia or some shit like that.
Post by: methylatedspirit on October 20, 2019, 10:41:00 pm
MindustryIt's also on itch.io for free (it's a name-your-own-price thing), though with the obvious caveat of not having Steam integrations.
This is a factorio type game, with more refined tower-defense elements. It's very cheap on Steam and I'm quite satisfied that this one delivered what it promised.
There's also an Android version, which I've been playing for the past couple of days. My only complaint is that there isn't a way to make straight lines of conveyors/conduits/whatever in a few taps. I had to tap, one by one, each tile of conveyor belt to make them.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on October 21, 2019, 01:03:10 pm
MindustryIt's also on itch.io for free (it's a name-your-own-price thing), though with the obvious caveat of not having Steam integrations.
This is a factorio type game, with more refined tower-defense elements. It's very cheap on Steam and I'm quite satisfied that this one delivered what it promised.
There's also an Android version, which I've been playing for the past couple of days. My only complaint is that there isn't a way to make straight lines of conveyors/conduits/whatever in a few taps. I had to tap, one by one, each tile of conveyor belt to make them.
Oh, I have that on android too.
I think it's called the cyclone? The big AA/Ground gun you can feed the green ammo into. It will kill everything forever. Made it to wave 100 of the higher level maps before I got bored.
Post by: Yoink on October 22, 2019, 05:26:37 am
I don't play too many puzzle games these days, but this one's pretty much perfection. Similar premise to Slayaway Camp from the same devs, but I don't think I've played that one.
Simple, clever basic mechanics which nonetheless can bend the brain at times, which makes it incredibly satisfying to work out a tough level. Also incredibly satisfying is the gore and accompanying sound effects. Throw in nice graphics, some dialogue and a streak of warped humour and you have a recipe for success.
You know a game has scratched my itches nicely when I'm willing to forgive it for subjecting me to bullshit ads, and even pay a dollar or two for cosmetics in order to get the ads to fuck off for good.
Post by: itisnotlogical on October 24, 2019, 09:38:51 pm
Nope, it just blows goats. Seriously, don't play it, it's not even worth the time it took to install. It's like they made a game out of all the worst parts of Fallout 1 and 2.
Post by: Aoi on October 24, 2019, 11:33:28 pm
Post by: scriver on October 25, 2019, 04:06:15 am
Post by: Kagus on October 25, 2019, 04:08:13 am
I thought there was no way Fallout Tactics could be as bad as its reputation. It has "tactics" in the name, how bad can it be?There is at least a mod that lets you start your character as any of the available races... Like ghoul, supermutant, deathclaw, robot... Or dog.
Nope, it just blows goats. Seriously, don't play it, it's not even worth the time it took to install. It's like they made a game out of all the worst parts of Fallout 1 and 2.
Post by: Iduno on October 25, 2019, 07:54:30 am
I thought there was no way Fallout Tactics could be as bad as its reputation. It has "tactics" in the name, how bad can it be?
Nope, it just blows goats. Seriously, don't play it, it's not even worth the time it took to install. It's like they made a game out of all the worst parts of Fallout 1 and 2.
It could have been a good game if it had fewer bugs, a plot that made sense, and half of the interesting stuff from Fallout 1 and 2. And they got rid of whoever thought a realtime (instead of turn-based) Fallout was an acceptable idea.
Post by: Robsoie on October 25, 2019, 09:04:43 am
But the maps were too linear despite their appearance, you needed to progress in specific buildings to access a specific outdoor then a specific other building, there was no clearing the map in different way etc... , making the maps ultimately boring.
Fallout Tactics was simply nowhere as good in "tactical gameplay" as the much older xcom1 and nowhere as good overall as jagged alliance 2 (i so hoped that Fallout Tactics would have been JA2 with Fallout atmosphere, but sadly no it wasn't that).
But it's been years i didn't played it, i read that there are several mods now (i often see people mentionning the mod Redux and Equilibrium on top of it), maybe one of them make it live to its potential ?
Post by: xaritscin on October 25, 2019, 11:31:33 am
Post by: Dunamisdeos on October 25, 2019, 05:33:58 pm
Everything you'll ever need is right there as far as gameplay fixes and quality of life upgrades.
Post by: lemon10 on October 25, 2019, 07:53:05 pm
Accidentally deleted my last save which was a pure strength build two handing a bigass greataxe which was super fun.
After a bit of consideration I decided that my new build would be just punching everything in the world to death via caestus (punchy gloves), although I didn't go super hardcore and just do the early part of the game using my bare fists (which is very difficult).
Post by: Yoink on October 26, 2019, 04:15:21 am
My respect for the
Post by: Jimmy on October 26, 2019, 04:16:40 pm
So I've been trying not to freeze to death in the Canadian wilderness while wolves take bites out of my frozen ass.
Post by: TamerVirus on October 26, 2019, 06:17:26 pm
It's actually pretty fun play as some flesh eating sci-fi worm monstrosity!
Post by: Kagus on October 27, 2019, 02:40:13 am
It's... God, how the mighty have fallen. I deeply miss Magicka 1. How did Paradox even manage to get this much wrong when the winning combination was sitting right there?
And as if that wasn't enough, they nerfed a bunch of the base game staves from their super-high boosts of +200% down to a more reasonable +100% (because of course Magicka is all about being reasonable)... And then slapped together a high-price DLC with new kits that have +200% and little to no downside, so they've even gone pay to win on top of everything else.
Post by: xaritscin on October 27, 2019, 09:30:24 am
Get the Xtended mod.
Everything you'll ever need is right there as far as gameplay fixes and quality of life upgrades.
installed and checked, seems better than the other alternatives for now. currently playing the "Beyond the Frontier" starting scenario and saving credits to improve the ship capabilities.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on October 27, 2019, 09:55:12 am
Get the Xtended mod.
Everything you'll ever need is right there as far as gameplay fixes and quality of life upgrades.
installed and checked, seems better than the other alternatives for now. currently playing the "Beyond the Frontier" starting scenario and saving credits to improve the ship capabilities.
X3 is easily the best entry in terms of overall quality. Enjoy!
Post by: Kagus on October 28, 2019, 08:04:02 am
Magicka 2Damn, I just... Gah.
I get it. Magicka 1 was most fun if you didn't understand the game that well, and as soon as you got a grasp of basic wards and the steam beam most challenges in the game ceased to be challenges. I understand why that would be considered a bad thing in need of tweaking.
But then Magicka 2 came along and just... Stopped you from doing anything. The enemies are fast and beefy, the areas are small and cramped, and the spells do very little damage... In order to get anywhere, you needed to specialize strongly in one or two elements, then find the most spammable, most efficient combination that you can whip out and then just mash that constantly. And the shields! Instead of having auras like the first game, you need to add multiples of an element in order to actually get any protection from it! You need 3 elements + shield in order to stop taking damage from that element, and at least 2 elements in order to cancel the status effects!
But in trying to make the game more "balanced" by changing shields in this way, they blundered completely... Because 4 elements + shield grants you absorption, so you now treat that element as healing instead of damage.
So, those spammable single-element spells you were already spamming? Now you're just flinging them out willy-nilly because you're healing from it too. Large portions of the game can be dealt with by just giving yourself arcane absorption and then running around while constantly summoning arcane-rocks onto your head.
Now we're back to square one with players being overpowered again, except this is a slow, dull slog of being OP instead of the flashy explosionating of the first game... Time to fix it some more by adding higher difficulties, specifically "BANANAS!" (it's a reference you guys!) difficulty where wizards have half health (so 500 across the board, since there are no longer wizards with different health values), the monsters have extra health and constantly regenerate, and the delay between casting magicks (that's right, can't cast them as fast as you can punch the combos in anymore! Gotta wait! 'Cause waiting is fun!) is increased!
Doing anything on BANANAS!, behind which a number of gameplay-affecting options and even new magicks unlocks are protected, requires even more specialization and spamming of only the most efficient burst combos to chew away at the shocking spell sponges of the enemy horde. There are boss time trials too! And they nerfed some of the base game equipment so that you're now more or less forced to shell out for unbalanced DLC items in order to defeat them within the time limit on the highest difficulty!
And it's a crying shame, because... There are some actually cool ideas here. Having harder challenges for those who've already conquered the main game is a good idea for something like Magicka, where the skill level range is huge. The crystal prism magicks have some real utility and there's a lot of potential with that concept. Weapon enchants got changed, so certain kinds of enchantment will actually "stick" to your weapon instead of getting used up after one swing, and there's a whole world of untapped potential in weapon enchants generally, so this is a great step in the right direction. Ice projectiles got tweaked to fill their own niche and would have been a great addition to the game if that kind of spell had any sort of usage.
But then we look at everything else... Water as an element is useless since collision damage is no longer a thing, and even the disrupting knockback is clamped down (also with the advent of the poison element as a fan-service patch-in, water can only be combined with healing beams. Not arcane). You can't save yourself from falling off a ledge with a quick-reaction teleport cast, because the death layer is set a couple feet down from the edge (if your teleport/magick usage is even off cooldown, that is!). The magicks are sufficiently clamped down in size, power and utility that there's really no reason to use anything except raise dead for a meatshield (especially useful in BANANAS! difficulty because the skellies benefit from the buffed monster stats, but this is balanced out by the fact that they're still considered enemies by the game and will prevent you from transitioning between certain scenes until you've killed your own minions), the prisms for beam crossing shenanigans in solo play, and of course revive.
While being able to customize your robe/weapon/staff loadout is indeed quite nice, it's somewhat ruined by how most objects are just minor stat improvements/alignments, and there aren't many unique or interesting quirks beyond that. But, of course, those stat adjustments are exactly what we're looking for so you can stack as much damage in one or two areas as possible to claw your way past the incessant enemy healthbars! And also the power discrepancy between vanilla and the DLC gear becomes even more blatant when you can compare things side by side. "Lessee... Do I want the base game staff with +100% fire/death/steam that halves cold/ice/healing (the bonus was reduced from its original +200%, penalty was kept the same, still one of the best staffs in the game, requires a tough fight to unlock), or do I want the DLC staff that's +200% earth and cold (no downside, no unlocks required)?". Oh, and of course there's a DLC sword that just one-shots the most common miniboss in the game... But the robes are probably the worst offenders.
And as if that wasn't enough, there are even stat changes that aren't documented at all, like how one of the unlockable weapons provides a 1.5x power modifier for enchantments cast on it, for no discernible reason. Which is kind of a big deal, even if weapon enchants generally aren't used that much in favor of spamming rocks of whatever flavor heals you.
Blah...
EDIT: Oh yes! And how can I forget always-online gameplay? That's always good fun! Even better is the little "private session" checkbox you need to click on every single time you start or continue a game if you want to play singleplayer, otherwise you'll just automatically host a session that some poor misguided fool will be able to join in on. Because it resets every time you go back to the menu, and the default is always to leave it unchecked! Isn't that great?
Post by: Iduno on October 28, 2019, 08:08:11 am
Inspired by recent Noita gaming, I decided to reinstall Magicka 2 and punch out a couple achievements and such that had been sticking around from before.
It's... God, how the mighty have fallen. I deeply miss Magicka 1. How did Paradox even manage to get this much wrong when the winning combination was sitting right there?
And as if that wasn't enough, they nerfed a bunch of the base game staves from their super-high boosts of +200% down to a more reasonable +100% (because of course Magicka is all about being reasonable)... And then slapped together a high-price DLC with new kits that have +200% and little to no downside, so they've even gone pay to win on top of everything else.
Paradox gotta Paradox. Your newer post on it kinda does sound like exactly the way Paradox designs games to be so balanced that nothing you do matters.
Post by: MCreeper on October 28, 2019, 08:55:07 am
Wolfcultists dungeon. After some jumping about, there is a room with some masked villain dude.
Ezio: Give up and write a confession and i will spare you, vile villain! I know everything you did! (First time i hear avout him, but whatever)
Villain: Never!
Chase ensues, villain runs by more convenient route while dropping conveniently placed grates behind himself, so Ezio is forced to jump by conveniently placed rafters. Sometimes they both go by rafters, one-way ones too. Then Ezio runs into a room with some freak carnival, with jesters and a bunch of identical masked dudes, "find the one you chased". I go WTAF, we are still in some random dungeon, what on earth you are all doing there? Villain is in the other room, of course, and when you go in there chase continues. Then there stand two horses, in a dungeon,
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Also, do i need to play trough 2\3 of the game for Ezio to commit earth-shaking feat of sidestepping from a wooden platform to huge embrasure? As in, is templar tower over dungeon with super-armor another one of those "troll towers", or did i just miss something obvious?
Post by: Kagus on October 28, 2019, 09:06:21 am
I remember a stealth segment that was a considerably thorn in my side because the failure condition was being spotted by anyone, even if that "anyone" happened to die a fraction of a second later... After some pondering about how to properly time my dash down a long hallway being patrolled by a couple guards, I had a thought...
"Hmm... I wonder if I can..."
And then I whistled for one of my assassin-padawans. Dude explodes out of a side door and stabs the guard in the neck before running off and slaughtering the rest of the mooks in the area.
This apparently didn't count as "being spotted", so I proceeded to just leisurely walk through the rest of the stealth segment.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on October 28, 2019, 12:40:46 pm
It's quite good.
Post by: itisnotlogical on October 28, 2019, 02:20:17 pm
Post by: AzyWng on October 28, 2019, 04:12:08 pm
I'd argue that helps dampen the unpleasantness at least a little bit.
Not enough to make the level fun, sure, but still.
Post by: delphonso on October 28, 2019, 07:53:08 pm
I haven't played much of the newer ones. Awakening wasn't appealing to me. Anyone know about Three Houses?
Post by: Kagus on October 29, 2019, 06:39:38 am
After dicking around some more with Magicka 2 and getting more and more fed up with some of the bizarre changes made, I decided to go back to Magicka 1 and just fool around a bit.
Apparently there's been a couple recent patches to the game, after years of zero activity. What do these patches do? Well aside from breaking save compatibility (meaning I have to go through the whole campaign again and recollect all the magicks, again... At least Steam saved my achievements), they've added a smattering of new paid DLCs! New robes taken more or less directly from Wizard Wars! New, uh... HUD skins? The heck? The game doesn't even have a damn HUD, what are you talking about? Why did you add an ingame store for this?
Oh yeah, and it also breaks the everloving fuck out of the game's already tenuous stability, meaning that it crashes to desktop after every level transition now. And judging from the patch notes, has just been left in this unplayable state for over a year now.
Because not only do we need to shit all over the franchise with the spinoff and sequel, we also have to go back and screw up the original as well. God fucking damn it.
Post by: Mephisto on October 29, 2019, 08:51:22 am
I should just uninstall it and free up like 80 gigs or whatever.
Post by: Iduno on October 29, 2019, 10:21:15 am
I had grand dreams of playing the free Destiny 2 thing. Installed. Played up til I got to the city. Didn't touch it for a few weeks. It was fun but I'm finding it hard to play lengthy games like this now that my free time is limited to a few hours every night. I could play one mission, or I could idle Soda Dungeon or do Minecraft shit in the background while watching YouTube videos with the wife.
I should just uninstall it and free up like 80 gigs or whatever.
You should be able to find longer games that are fairly episodic, which gives you a good stopping point. I enjoyed Hitman for a while, and I should get back to Dungeonmans for the Halloween thing. Any sort of dungeon crawler or game with levels (and saves) should work. Plus, you don't have to keep up with other people in a single-player game.
Post by: itisnotlogical on October 29, 2019, 08:30:12 pm
This will probably make purists cry, but FO1 has crashed more in this day of playing that FO4 has for the entire time I've played it. It always seems to crash right when a difficult fight is going my way, too.
Post by: Iduno on October 30, 2019, 07:49:56 am
Simultaneous playthroughs of Fallout 1 and Fallout 4 is a trip. I love them both, but for totally different reasons. I like all the settlement building, but a big plus on FO1's side is that it doesn't have FUCKING MIRELURKS.
This will probably make purists cry, but FO1 has crashed more in this day of playing that FO4 has for the entire time I've played it. It always seems to crash right when a difficult fight is going my way, too.
Windows 10?
Post by: scriver on October 30, 2019, 08:11:31 am
Post by: Kagus on October 30, 2019, 08:18:05 am
And saying that it's crash-happy won't annoy purists, everyone already knows that the first games are broken all to heck. What pisses off the purists is saying that they're not still better games than 3/4 even despite the crashing.
Post by: Robsoie on October 30, 2019, 08:46:31 am
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/fallout-fixt-next-release-will-be-some-time-in-dec-2019.194562/
( test version (https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/fallout-fixt-next-release-will-be-some-time-in-dec-2019.194562/page-188#post-4307860) should have even more crash fixes but may have some new bugs due to being still a test version i guess)
edit : i also noticed there's someone porting Fallout 1 into the Fallout 2 engine that is also said as being more stable than FO1 :
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/fallout-et-tu-beta-release.218045/
Post by: Iduno on October 30, 2019, 09:22:01 am
edit : i also noticed there's someone porting Fallout 1 into the Fallout 2 engine that is also said as being more stable than FO1 :
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/fallout-et-tu-beta-release.218045/
Wake us when they get around to porting back Fallout Tactics. I know it's as bad with cannon as FO4, but it's also unplayable turn-based.
Post by: Robsoie on October 30, 2019, 09:45:57 am
Post by: Ungul on October 30, 2019, 12:01:23 pm
Post by: Kagus on October 30, 2019, 12:16:44 pm
I like video games. I like the battle royale type games, like PUBG.
BEGONE, BOT!
Post by: scourge728 on October 30, 2019, 03:01:55 pm
Post by: Haspen on October 30, 2019, 03:11:51 pm
Post by: TamerVirus on October 30, 2019, 03:21:04 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Kagus on October 30, 2019, 04:17:53 pm
How often do bots register their accounts 3 years beforehand?Y'know you can sell old accounts for marketing purposes, since the registration time grants them "credence" that a freshly-registered account wouldn't have, and thereby potentially get more people to buy into it.
So yeah, registered 3 years ago... Didn't post until August of this year, 5 posts (three of which have now been deleted), in which there were links to a sex dating site and an online casino.
Yeah. BOT.
Post by: Iduno on October 30, 2019, 08:19:59 pm
I made my account and didn't post for 2 years....Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Yeah, but you're a somewhat entertaining bot.
Post by: Yoink on October 30, 2019, 08:28:57 pm
Y'know you can sell old accounts for marketing purposesFor real?! Hot damn, time to exhume all my old accounts from forums across the interwebs.
On-topic, though, I've been mostly playing the wonderful Soulforged, along with various games in my Steam library here and there.
As a side-note, what the flying fuck happened to the Steam library since last time I looked at it?!
Post by: Sime on October 31, 2019, 06:23:28 am
Post by: Nighthawk on October 31, 2019, 01:58:34 pm
I came for the anime, but I stayed for the ridiculously engrossing crafting system--in all seriousness. The game, despite its leisurely tone, has me scrambling around constantly:
> If I could just get a FISH I could unlock trait slots for this sword and make it even stronger but I can't get a fish because I don't have a fishing rod!
> To make a fishing rod I need BAIT. Where is the BAIT?!
> Okay, got the bait. Now I make the rod... but damn, if I just had a higher-quality ALCHEMY FIBER I could make this fishing rod catch more fish. Where do I get ALCHEMY FIBER?
> Ah, I see, I morph it from the cloth recipe. But all of my current cloth constituent ingredients suck. Where can I find some better THREAD?
> ... Wait, wasn't I trying to make a sword or something?
And so the cycle continues, and I set aside my journey to weebdom in exchange for the endless pursuit of power.
Post by: Egan_BW on October 31, 2019, 02:02:58 pm
Post by: Nighthawk on October 31, 2019, 02:12:34 pm
Never heard of that. Is it like stardew valley but for filthy weebs?It's more like a crafting-heavy RPG for filthy weebs. The basic loop is Gather Stuff/Kill Monsters -> Craft Items -> Access Better Areas with Better Loot -> Craft Better Items.
In-between all that is a leisurely story that follows some grotesquely cute and unrealistically proportioned anime girl who wants to be the very best like no one ever was... at throwing stuff in a cauldron to make bombs that will destroy the nearby wildlife. Fun for the whole family.
I really do love the crafting system, though. If every RPG had this system I would spend more time crafting than hitting things. And that's coming from a guy who really likes hitting things.
In games, mind you. My noodle-arms couldn't damage a piece of Styrofoam in real life.
Post by: Iduno on October 31, 2019, 02:14:05 pm
Never heard of that. Is it like stardew valley but for filthy weebs?
The Atelier series is a JRPG that has a crafting mechanic smashed in. Half of the ingredients you need are just past that next plot point, and then you can make a better version just past the next boss...
It's a very good crafting system, but it would fit a more open world game than a JRPG.
Post by: xaritscin on October 31, 2019, 08:00:47 pm
not sure how much complete the game is but there's a lot of chapters you have to complete so i guess it will be a long ride. and it seems the next beta patch comes in november so there's even more chapters to complete soon.
EDIT: man this game is so full of references to pokemon rumors and theories apart of other pop culture stuff from movies, books, shows, etc. just the way of obtaining Cubone is a thing on itself
Post by: Blaze on October 31, 2019, 11:13:17 pm
Started up an female avatar tuner that apparently turns into a valkyrie when going demon form; occasionally shifting back to fire special rounds from my gun and use healing skills. I spent most of the time traveling in dungeons and eating up every demon possible; and apparently I also have Main-Character-Swag-Syndrome as I keep getting generic male/female humans thrown at me on quest completion. To the restaurant with you bums.
Post by: Blastbeard on October 31, 2019, 11:37:40 pm
Post by: delphonso on November 01, 2019, 05:31:58 am
Can't do it on my current computer, but I have such fond memories of my hundreds of Skaven swarming up castles and through armies.
Post by: Folly on November 01, 2019, 02:42:30 pm
Mana Khemia 2, a spinoff of the Atelier series, stands as my all-time favorite turn based RPG just for the outstandingly engaging combat. Ar Tonelico, another spinoff, also gets honorable mention for some excellent music, world-building, and storytelling.
The mainline Atelier games are a bit less impressive compared to the spinoffs, but each Atelier game has a unique crafting system which generally has a lot of room for customizing and optimizing to make the most overpowered equipment you possibly can, and then using that gear to farm better materials and make even stronger gear. The games generally have very respectable story length and world size, and imo are easily deserving of a place alongside the Final Fantasy and Tales series of long-running quality RPG's.
Post by: MCreeper on November 02, 2019, 01:47:20 pm
The Warsword Conquest mod for mount and blade warband just updated. Looks like they fixed the 'if you lose your last town the game breaks' bug that had kept me away until now. The magic system looks interesting but I'm just glad to play a Warhammer game that isn't total war or left 4 dead.Downloaded, started in Nippon (wtf, why does this exists), asked lord for quests. He gave me a quest to give a letter to myself. Welp.
Also it crashed in two attempts to get in combat out of three - probably because i'm on 1.15 and it indeed requires 1.17. Version fuckery, here we go again.
EDIT: Looks like mod author is a bit of a pervert, but got screwed over by "no porn" policy. Elf females got bo bras, instead they got weird cups to cover the boobs. Fuck censorship! :P
Post by: Aoi on November 02, 2019, 04:10:35 pm
Playing a text-based version of Shin Megami Majin Tensei Digital Devil Children Survivor Summoner Persona; essentially a mish-mash of all Atlus games with additions from Puella Magi, FATE, Idolm@ster, and Touhou.
My searches are throwing up the originals; mind a link?
Post by: Blaze on November 02, 2019, 04:19:46 pm
My searches are throwing up the originals; mind a link?Not surprising, they're based on the Era engine, which is Japanese, so a lot of them are untranslated or are only partially translated.
https://wiki.eragames.rip/index.php/Main_Page Bottom of the page has a list of games, this one is EraMegaten.
EDIT: Looks like mod author is a bit of a pervert, but got screwed over by "no porn" policy. Elf females got bo bras, instead they got weird cups to cover the boobs. Fuck censorship! :PThat's why we have Dickplomacy (https://www.nexusmods.com/mbwarband/mods/6243).
Post by: AzyWng on November 02, 2019, 05:26:00 pm
Post by: MCreeper on November 02, 2019, 05:29:14 pm
lulz
Got link, got amused, now is probably time to remove it. ;)
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 10, 2019, 03:22:10 pm
I forgot how hard this game is. It's stupid hard. Not "reload a few times" hard, like a modern game on high difficulty. Not "practice and get it right" hard, like Touhou or similar arcade-style games. No, Champions of Krynn is "sometimes you get lucky, the rest of the time you die" hard. Hold Person and Charm Person are bullshit. They almost always work on you, but stop working on enemies by the second dungeon/town area. Ditto Sleep and Stinking Cloud.
Post by: xaritscin on November 11, 2019, 05:46:57 pm
Post by: Telgin on November 12, 2019, 12:47:11 am
I know this game got some grief back in the day for its visual style, especially compared to the first game, but I still think I like it more and played it a lot more. The coherent story helps, and I think the staged encounters are actually a bonus since it breaks from the constant adrenaline of expecting enemies like in the first game, even if it means that you can memorize the spawns.
The game's definitely not perfect though, and I forgot how much the aliens got stuck on the geometry or did other strange things, which is what people crucified Aliens: Colonial Marines for. Shooting your buddies is also an instant game over, which is normally not a primal except in the first Primal Hunt mission where you've got two who are actually following and doing a very poor job of helping. They're doomed to die, but if you try to help them by shooting the aliens you risk shooting them and losing instantly.
I also forgot how hard Primal Hunt was. I'm not sure if the aliens do more damage than in the base game or if there are just like five times as many, but I didn't make it too far into the first corporate mission. Only maybe halfway through the predator ship, right after the first praetorian spawn. I should probably play the base game again to refamiliarize myself before playing this part.
Post by: Mech#4 on November 12, 2019, 02:28:43 am
I decided to fire up Aliens vs. Predator 2 tonight on a whim. Or, well, I should say I fired up the Primal Hunt expansion, as DLC was called back in the old days before it could be downloaded.
I know this game got some grief back in the day for its visual style, especially compared to the first game, but I still think I like it more and played it a lot more. The coherent story helps, and I think the staged encounters are actually a bonus since it breaks from the constant adrenaline of expecting enemies like in the first game, even if it means that you can memorize the spawns.
The game's definitely not perfect though, and I forgot how much the aliens got stuck on the geometry or did other strange things, which is what people crucified Aliens: Colonial Marines for. Shooting your buddies is also an instant game over, which is normally not a primal except in the first Primal Hunt mission where you've got two who are actually following and doing a very poor job of helping. They're doomed to die, but if you try to help them by shooting the aliens you risk shooting them and losing instantly.
I also forgot how hard Primal Hunt was. I'm not sure if the aliens do more damage than in the base game or if there are just like five times as many, but I didn't make it too far into the first corporate mission. Only maybe halfway through the predator ship, right after the first praetorian spawn. I should probably play the base game again to refamiliarize myself before playing this part.
I recently played through Primal Hunt for the first time. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the base AvP2 campaign, since it was much more focused on waves of enemies without the break/tense horror parts the base game had. Particuarly the last mission for the marines campaign was stupidly difficult on Hard. I ended up cheating to get past it since the game gave me no items or health before it began.
Post by: Iduno on November 12, 2019, 09:37:08 am
I decided to fire up Aliens vs. Predator 2 tonight on a whim. Or, well, I should say I fired up the Primal Hunt expansion, as DLC was called back in the old days before it could be downloaded.
I know this game got some grief back in the day for its visual style, especially compared to the first game, but I still think I like it more and played it a lot more. The coherent story helps, and I think the staged encounters are actually a bonus since it breaks from the constant adrenaline of expecting enemies like in the first game, even if it means that you can memorize the spawns.
The game's definitely not perfect though, and I forgot how much the aliens got stuck on the geometry or did other strange things, which is what people crucified Aliens: Colonial Marines for. Shooting your buddies is also an instant game over, which is normally not a primal except in the first Primal Hunt mission where you've got two who are actually following and doing a very poor job of helping. They're doomed to die, but if you try to help them by shooting the aliens you risk shooting them and losing instantly.
I also forgot how hard Primal Hunt was. I'm not sure if the aliens do more damage than in the base game or if there are just like five times as many, but I didn't make it too far into the first corporate mission. Only maybe halfway through the predator ship, right after the first praetorian spawn. I should probably play the base game again to refamiliarize myself before playing this part.
I recently played through Primal Hunt for the first time. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the base AvP2 campaign, since it was much more focused on waves of enemies without the break/tense horror parts the base game had. Particuarly the last mission for the marines campaign was stupidly difficult on Hard. I ended up cheating to get past it since the game gave me no items or health before it began.
Ah yes, the age of half-assed expansions. See also, Alpha Centauri. Base game (for both) was really good, though. Didn't hurt that we were in college when we played it, so we had occasional blocks of time that we could just do stupid multi-player stuff in.
Post by: nenjin on November 12, 2019, 11:13:02 am
Killing Floor 2.
Path of Exile.
7 Days To Die really cleaned up its act in the last big update. Game runs a lot smoother and feels a lot better, and the 7 Days horde no longer proceeds at 10 FPS.
Post by: xaritscin on November 13, 2019, 10:36:21 pm
in addition to that i tried checking Shadowbane but apparently there's issues with both of the unofficial servers that carry on the legacy of the game. also need to find an updated version of it in order to access them.
also i found out that at least 2 classes in LineageII are based on the bard, the elven Swordsinger and the Dark Elven Blade Dancer. of course they dont really use instruments but they sing and dance and use light infantry equipment apart of giving buffs so close enough.
Post by: nenjin on November 14, 2019, 12:04:27 am
Post by: Iduno on November 14, 2019, 12:55:24 pm
so not sure if its worth the time to make an account with EA.
Very little (arguably nothing) is worth that cost.
Post by: Sanctume on November 14, 2019, 02:36:14 pm
I resumed my Champions of Krynn game. I'm in the mood for old CRPGs again.
I forgot how hard this game is. It's stupid hard. Not "reload a few times" hard, like a modern game on high difficulty. Not "practice and get it right" hard, like Touhou or similar arcade-style games. No, Champions of Krynn is "sometimes you get lucky, the rest of the time you die" hard. Hold Person and Charm Person are bullshit. They almost always work on you, but stop working on enemies by the second dungeon/town area. Ditto Sleep and Stinking Cloud.
Damn, those are fun games.
I remember Pools of Radiance. I kept rolling multi classes like mage/thief, cleric/mage, fighter/thief, and even had a 3 classes.
Then years later, I played it again, went with single glass. I did not know Fighter had multi attack and can kill multiple adjacent kobolds easily.
Also, internet was much more accessible, so I had map images ready instead of making one from graph paper.
Krynn was good too because I read most if not all of the DragonLance novels.
Post by: wierd on November 15, 2019, 01:20:03 am
I dug into my classic games archival dump, and pulled out a few gems. Considering a romp through the Ultima series
Post by: Sanctume on November 15, 2019, 02:39:03 pm
Post by: Trolldefender99 on November 15, 2019, 03:40:24 pm
My searches are throwing up the originals; mind a link?Not surprising, they're based on the Era engine, which is Japanese, so a lot of them are untranslated or are only partially translated.
https://wiki.eragames.rip/index.php/Main_Page Bottom of the page has a list of games, this one is EraMegaten.
.
Don't want to take over with off topic, so I'll make this quick.Does it take a long time to load or is something wrong on my end? For 5 minutes it was just "Connecting to DDS-Net". Or do I not launch it with the .exe? I have to go or I'd let it keep loading more, I'll have to try tonight or tomorrow again
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 16, 2019, 12:27:57 am
Post by: wierd on November 16, 2019, 02:26:03 am
I'm in the mood to play Wizardy 7, or Eye of the Beholder. Fun times.
I have wiz7 basically memorized now... Never really got into Eye of the Beholder...
As regards wiz7, are you gonna go the "gold" route (which runs on windows), or the dos CD version route? I have fond memories modifying the portrait data for the DOS version.
Post by: Folly on November 16, 2019, 06:33:50 am
Available now on PC through the Epic Store, as well as mobile on Android and iOS with crossplay. Battle Breakers is a freemium hero-collector with tactical combat.
First the combat. You've got the standard elemental RPS counters system, as well as field-element matching, which provide different ways to boost or reduce damage output. Then you have heroes with aoe/single-target dps, quick attacks and heavy attacks, buffs and debuffs, healers and tanks; so all the RPG classic roles. And just a bit of roguelite systems, with randomized dungeons and temporary consumable items found along the way. It's not exactly 4D chess, but I find the tactical use of these various elements to be consistently engaging.
Character progression is well balanced, with a variety of systems used to boost various attributes, and a lengthy treadmill that allows you to see significant advances in your power every time you invest resources in something, but also plenty of strong enemies to challenge that newfound power.
The freemium aspect feels good to me. I can make steady progress without spending money, but if I do decide to invest, the economy packages are very reasonable in the $5-$15 range, which is already more than justified by the hours I've put into this game.
BB is nothing revolutionary, and it's not some big new must-play thing that everyone is going to be talking about. But it's fun and free to try, so give it a shot if you've got some time to kill~
Post by: xaritscin on November 17, 2019, 11:43:26 am
EDIT: tried embarking into a desert with a bunch of Elves, terrible mistake. im currently doing some edits to the Raws to see if i can balance this thing a bit while still keeping it real to the feeling of each faction
UPDATE:
apparently the edits i did were good and the game ran, tried again with an elven settlement on a jungle with an aquifer, could have made some kind of screwpump to help me with this but turns out the Carpenter Workshop doesnt make Enormous Corkscrews (or i didnt find it in the list, something bust be missing?), will probably have to check again next time in a different biome.
Post by: wierd on November 19, 2019, 12:03:47 am
Sleepy now. Should not have done it.
Post by: Sime on November 19, 2019, 04:58:36 am
Post by: King Zultan on November 19, 2019, 06:07:47 am
Post by: Nighthawk on November 19, 2019, 04:46:28 pm
periodically my hallucinations punch the gas pumps causing them to explode and burn down my baseThis is a very Cataclysm-y problem to have, and also hilarious. You have my approval and my sympathy.
Post by: Kagus on November 19, 2019, 11:00:51 pm
Mostly I just fought my own hallucinations in order to train up and become a master of combat.
Is hobo still a starting class? If so, is it still just as overpowered as before?
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 20, 2019, 12:14:41 am
At least it doesn't leave you on a fucking cliffhanger.
Post by: King Zultan on November 20, 2019, 02:38:49 am
Is hobo still a starting class? If so, is it still just as overpowered as before?Its still a starting profession, but I think they've removed whatever made it overpowered, I don't remember what made it overpowered anymore.
Post by: Kagus on November 20, 2019, 03:26:23 am
You started off with rags and alcoholism, and in return got 4 points for character creation. Alcoholism was perfectly manageable until you could just go cold turkey and clean your system, so the huge point difference (-4, versus +2 to +8 or so for some of the other professions) was crazy.Is hobo still a starting class? If so, is it still just as overpowered as before?Its still a starting profession, but I think they've removed whatever made it overpowered, I don't remember what made it overpowered anymore.
And then there was an update that made you start with a big container of fortified wine for immediate alcohol needs (fortified wine was a ridiculously good consumable at that), and a sweet homestitched hobo bag to boot. All for the same -4 points.
Post by: King Zultan on November 20, 2019, 04:03:20 am
I just looked in my old version and apparently they changed it to -1 point, but you still get the bag and the gallon of wine, and you also get a bottle of gin and whiskey, so it still seems to be good just not as good as it was.You started off with rags and alcoholism, and in return got 4 points for character creation. Alcoholism was perfectly manageable until you could just go cold turkey and clean your system, so the huge point difference (-4, versus +2 to +8 or so for some of the other professions) was crazy.Is hobo still a starting class? If so, is it still just as overpowered as before?Its still a starting profession, but I think they've removed whatever made it overpowered, I don't remember what made it overpowered anymore.
And then there was an update that made you start with a big container of fortified wine for immediate alcohol needs (fortified wine was a ridiculously good consumable at that), and a sweet homestitched hobo bag to boot. All for the same -4 points.
Post by: Robsoie on November 20, 2019, 12:35:28 pm
But the very low point of Hedgewars is that the AI still can only use half of the weapons available in the game, meaning if you play with the most fun schemes/modes that aren't only focusing on the "default" weapons (that the AI can use), most of the time the AI will skip its turn when one of the fun weapons comes in.
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 20, 2019, 07:52:23 pm
It's fun and addictive, although the missions tend to get samey once you see all the towers and unit types the game has to offer. There's a handful of dominant strategies with regard to tower placement and upgrade paths, and the rest is just timing your abilities and trying not to misclick. It's fun enough that I paid for the sequel, using credit from Google Opinion Rewards.
Post by: Aoi on November 21, 2019, 02:22:25 am
And no, they really don't: Not eating for a day only penalizes them 1hp, or sets them to starving if they're at 1hp, whereupon they'll die the next night, but it means they'll survive by eating every other day. (Or every other, other day if they have more than 1maxhp, since they get +1hp healing from eating.)
Post by: Yoink on November 22, 2019, 02:26:05 am
So far, though, I'm loving it! Kind of like reading a good novel, but with gorgeous graphics, satisfying sound fx and, of course, you control your character and choose not only what actions to take but also (most of the time) how you should react to and feel about things.
It runs like arse on my computer even on lowest settings, but it's compelling enough that I'm pushing through and enjoying it a great deal.
Only annoying thing I've come across so far is the morale mechanic. Not gonna go into details and risk spoiling anything, but maybe I'm just missing something and it's not as stupid as it seems, who knows.
Post by: Iduno on November 22, 2019, 09:08:51 am
I caved and bought Disco Elysium. I had been put off after realising that rather than creating their own character, the player assumes control of some pre-made guy.
So far, though, I'm loving it! Kind of like reading a good novel, but with gorgeous graphics, satisfying sound fx and, of course, you control your character and choose not only what actions to take but also (most of the time) how you should react to and feel about things.
It runs like arse on my computer even on lowest settings, but it's compelling enough that I'm pushing through and enjoying it a great deal.
Only annoying thing I've come across so far is the morale mechanic. Not gonna go into details and risk spoiling anything, but maybe I'm just missing something and it's not as stupid as it seems, who knows.
There is literally a spoiler tag. For spoilers.
Post by: Yoink on November 22, 2019, 09:11:38 am
In any case, it turns out I was just missing something obvious. Whoops. 😅
Post by: AzyWng on November 22, 2019, 09:12:29 am
Not A Hero is a shooter platformer (sort of) involving gratuitous violence in order to get a bunny person elected mayor.
Chroma Squad is apparently Super Sentai: The Turn-Based Tactics Game. Teamwork is crucial.
Disgaea 2... might warrant its own post? Either that, or someone more familiar with these games can describe them for me. Just know that I like it too, just from some of the things I’ve heard about it.
Post by: Folly on November 22, 2019, 09:51:37 am
Disgaea 2... might warrant its own post? Either that, or someone more familiar with these games can describe them for me. Just know that I like it too, just from some of the things I’ve heard about it.
Disgaea, and it's various sequels and spinoffs, in brief summary, are turn-based tactical RPG's with an emphasis on having a wide variety of units with distinct abilities and attributes, as well as a wide variety of methods for empowering them and an extensive list of challenges to test their strength. Much of the fun in these games comes from figuring out creative ways to combine these many variables so as to make your combat power skyrocket and eventually reach damage numbers in the billions. Disgaea games also feature a distinct anti-hero motif which can be somewhat amusing at times.
Post by: delphonso on November 22, 2019, 10:12:15 am
I've been digging into Terraria again lately. I remember distinctly disliking it before, and now I'm not sure why. Really enjoying playing it in about 40 minute spurts.
Post by: Iduno on November 22, 2019, 11:00:39 am
Well, it's not as though I was discussing plot points. I just feel like it's best to experience this game for oneself. I very carefully avoided spoilers before buying it, myself.
In any case, it turns out I was just missing something obvious. Whoops. 😅
Nah, you wanted to add something, but didn't want to spoil anything. I meant that you could just go ahead and put it in spoiler tags. I can see now how it reads that way, though.
Disgaea 2... might warrant its own post? Either that, or someone more familiar with these games can describe them for me. Just know that I like it too, just from some of the things I’ve heard about it.
Disgaea, and it's various sequels and spinoffs, in brief summary, are turn-based tactical RPG's with an emphasis on having a wide variety of units with distinct abilities and attributes, as well as a wide variety of methods for empowering them and an extensive list of challenges to test their strength. Much of the fun in these games comes from figuring out creative ways to combine these many variables so as to make your combat power skyrocket and eventually reach damage numbers in the billions. Disgaea games also feature a distinct anti-hero motif which can be somewhat amusing at times.
Also, everything is grinding. Buying things in the shop increases the shopkeepers' experience, so you can buy better stuff. You can grind up the effectiveness of your weapons by going into a dungeon in each one and moving the stat bonuses around. Taking damage and then healing it gets you rewards.
Although end-game grinding is improving a single team member or their weapon at a time, and it gets wildly repetitive.
Post by: Aoi on November 23, 2019, 05:57:12 am
I caved and bought Disco Elysium.Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Disco Elysium is fantastic; it feels more like Planescape: Torment to me than Pillars of Eternity/Torment:ToN did by a longshot despite the more realistic setting... It also feels kind of like the SNES Shadowrun. It basically plays like P:T without the combat, and instead you're playing against stat tests in conversation. And if you were schizophrenic. It feels like half the dialogue is your subconscious being snarky with your consciousness, and it works gloriously.
And for the curious-- morale is basically mental health. My guy is effectively mentally unstable (1 morale...) and had a mental breakdown after throwing a ball in a game and missing the target. XD. Yes, I actually game over'd because my guy sucks at tossing a ball while chatting with guys at the park.
Update: Though, it is kind of annoying how
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Iduno on November 25, 2019, 12:33:42 pm
Also, everything is grinding. Buying things in the shop increases the shopkeepers' experience, so you can buy better stuff. You can grind up the effectiveness of your weapons by going into a dungeon in each one and moving the stat bonuses around. Taking damage and then healing it gets you rewards.
Although end-game grinding is improving a single team member or their weapon at a time, and it gets wildly repetitive.
Also, this conversation and a Humble Store sale means I'm now playing Disgaea 5 on PC (because 4 isn't available).
I have no idea if characters with a class still have better potential than story PCs (or why that used to be/appear to be), but I was mostly rolling with story PCs for the first chapter. Also, I one-shot Red Magnus with a thrown prinny (the H252 one that does >50k damage, but still). I need to start checking enemy levels and HP before assuming it's a fight I'm supposed to lose the first time and going overboard.
Edit: Looked up H252 Prinny, instead of going by bad memory.
Post by: Aoi on November 25, 2019, 03:47:12 pm
I have no idea if characters with a class still have better potential than story PCs (or why that used to be/appear to be), but I was mostly rolling with story PCs for the first chapter. Also, I one-shot Red Magnus with a thrown prinny (the H252 one that does >50k damage, but still). I need to start checking enemy levels and HP before assuming it's a fight I'm supposed to lose the first time and going overboard.
Can't speak for Disgaea 5, but at least for the original Disgaea (DS version), Thursday the robot was actually the strongest character because he got a stat bonus to equipped gear at the cost of being unable to reincarnate.
Beyond that, pretty much all the... grand maijin(or whatever the top tier generics were) were even with the storyline characters, barring unique movies if you needed them for some reason.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on November 25, 2019, 06:28:27 pm
Post by: Folly on November 25, 2019, 06:45:27 pm
Enderal, the Skyrim mod that is better than actual Skyrim.
But the most important question, is it CBBE compatible? 0_o
Post by: nenjin on November 25, 2019, 09:04:19 pm
(Fucking Kenshi. So goddamn tedious trying to enjoy that game sometimes.)
Post by: TamerVirus on November 26, 2019, 06:04:17 pm
That usually means I’ll spend an inordinate amount of time scouring for mods, flirt with the idea of learning 3D modeling, lose interest after two weeks and move on.
All without actually building a city
Curse my short attention span...
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 26, 2019, 09:48:39 pm
My party, based on the example party from the manual, was getting its ass kicked. I deleted my saves and resolved to make the most overpowered party I could imagine, starting with a thorough reading of the manual and rules that I'd just glanced over.
It turns out that the sample I'd based my party on is actually the second of two examples. The other sample party is way better; I can cast more spells, hit more attacks and generally fare a lot better in combat. Maybe I can beat Champions again, and finally play Death Knights without smashing my head into the wall.
Post by: Yoink on November 27, 2019, 05:46:41 am
I have no idea how much longer it goes for, but I'm already getting that feeling of sadness one experiences upon finishing a really, really good book.
The soundtrack probably helps with this. It's pretty great.
Post by: Robsoie on November 28, 2019, 08:07:38 am
In the Skulz hideout i "talked" to everyone that mostly told me to get lost until i met Victor one of the named gang member.
I didn't knew about this as i usually never played the game with such character.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I wonder if the game can be completed with that kind of character, it sure is fun so far.
Post by: Iduno on November 28, 2019, 10:53:50 am
After a long time not having played Fallout 1, i started with a low intelligence character and ran into Junkyard town.
In the Skulz hideout i "talked" to everyone that mostly told me to get lost until i met Victor one of the named gang member.
I didn't knew about this as i usually never played the game with such character.Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I wonder if the game can be completed with that kind of character, it sure is fun so far.
I assume so. It's also a great playthrough for Arcanum (up until the last 10% where they probably ran out of time to write more content just for the dumb character).
Post by: Robsoie on November 28, 2019, 12:32:21 pm
Doggie is me good friend, travelled and helped kill many scorpims dead.
In village Tandi not here, Tandi father tell me to go Tandi.
Found Tandi in raiders big house not too far from village, her not happy being there i don't know why.
Tell doggie to wait out , me no want friend doggie hurt when going to hurt raiders soon.
Me go kill every baddies in raider big house, dynamite big boom helped when dropped in big room with raiders
Good hunting rifle found here helps me kill all baddies outside too, good hunting rifle, good new friend.
Me now go talk Tandi in cell
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Me not sure, me head hurt too much thinking.
Must go ask doggie for advice.
:D
more seriously, about Tandi it's nice that
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 28, 2019, 05:37:11 pm
Post by: Robsoie on November 28, 2019, 06:30:16 pm
But once you get to some enemy that pack a more nasty punch, that is starting to become much more difficult to not having to save/reload :D in order to keep the usefull
But anyways, in Fallout you have the classic "war never changes" , but as my dumb character proved once he managed to use his science skill on a working computer when he went back to the Vault :
Spoiler: there are other things that never change (click to show/hide)
Post by: Akura on November 28, 2019, 08:54:38 pm
Spoiler: Canonically (click to show/hide)
Post by: Dostoevsky on November 29, 2019, 12:03:30 am
(I think there was another joking fate of dogmeat getting killed by friendly fire from Ian?)
As to the topic at hand... I picked up Inquisitor: Martyr after some input from Nenjin on these forums, and am finding it interesting-but-flawed as advertised. That said, the pseudo-cover system, slower pace, and more focused choices in skills really gel. Tried playing some Grim Dawn afterwards and found it comparatively bland.
The expansion DLC adds a pet class, the tech adept, that while interesting is also a) rather overpowered but b) not really engaging enough. Classes in the game generally get up to 6 skills - 4 from their equipped weapon(s), 1 from their belt (which has a set number of charges, with periodic supply caches on a map), and 1 from their armor.
Generally, that's pretty engaging - weapon choice is a heck of a lot more meaningful than most ARPGs, as the majority of one's skills are actually from the weapon (with differing classes having different sets available). The belt slot seems to have the same options across all classes, generally serving shoring up a weakspot or providing an 'oh crud' button, and the armor slot is class-unique.
For the tech adept, though, their weapons (of which they have a much more restricted set than other classes for some reason) only have 1-2 skills out of 4 - the other two are slots for their pets. Similarly, the belt and armor slots can also be pet slots instead (and the other armor skills are not very interesting, being a heal and a shield). So of your 6 skills you can have up to 5 be summon slots or a max of 3 be combat skills.
Thus, you can end up playing an ARPG where your mass of pets is doing pretty much all the fighting, with you kind of like the commissar on the top of the tank.
They did an excellent job with the pets, at least, as you can freely pick between about 6 of them, each have different weapon choices and equipment slots (and drops, of course), etc. And they really do a great job at slaughtering the hordes of foes. You the player just kind of end up a bit superfluous, hah. Playing as the space marine is more engaging.
On another note, I found myself being quite grateful they just dumped the whole 'open world' thing that's been so popular since Diablo 2 in ARPGs and instead stuck to a hub and individual combat maps. The genre is kind of going that direction already, I think, and doing it here both makes sense thematically and works well functionally.
Post by: Robsoie on November 29, 2019, 08:59:20 am
The good thing with a Fallout 1 run with low intelligence is that dialogues can be sometime funny, more funny with the npc that have voices (as they have better dialogues) than the regular npc that end mostly with "oh you're a moron, go away".
But the bad thing about such run is that you're going to miss nearly all of the side quests because nearly every npc will stop talking to you once they see you're stupid, so they don't give anything to do, they don't launch side stories.
Basically there's no alternate quests for such character , no variation of an event etc... , there's just quests/npc/allies that will not happen/talk/join, in summary playing a low intelligence character isn't an alternative way to replay the game but more of a "challenge" game but with some more funny dialogues.
Post by: Kagus on November 29, 2019, 11:38:20 am
Post by: Robsoie on November 29, 2019, 11:45:51 am
Post by: Aoi on November 29, 2019, 01:22:46 pm
As to the topic at hand... I picked up Inquisitor: Martyr after some input from Nenjin on these forums, and am finding it interesting-but-flawed as advertised. That said, the pseudo-cover system, slower pace, and more focused choices in skills really gel. Tried playing some Grim Dawn afterwards and found it comparatively bland.Spoiler (click to show/hide)
That description kind of reminds me of Victor Vran, if you haven't looked at that before.
As I recall, and it's been a while, ability customization goes as far as having two weapons, both with two attack modes, a charged equippable special, armor (that mostly deals with how your special charges), and some modifiers, like +dam/-life, +drops, etc.
It's much more gameplay focused than loot grind, and there's no open world to speak of; it's basically a set of mission-driven maps, and post-storyline replays of the maps have objectives like "Kill 50 units in 20 seconds with the lightning gun without taking damage."
Post by: nenjin on November 29, 2019, 03:27:44 pm
Post by: Biowraith on November 29, 2019, 05:42:41 pm
Post by: Dostoevsky on November 29, 2019, 07:48:21 pm
That description kind of reminds me of Victor Vran, if you haven't looked at that before.
As I recall, and it's been a while, ability customization goes as far as having two weapons, both with two attack modes, a charged equippable special, armor (that mostly deals with how your special charges), and some modifiers, like +dam/-life, +drops, etc.
It's much more gameplay focused than loot grind, and there's no open world to speak of; it's basically a set of mission-driven maps, and post-storyline replays of the maps have objectives like "Kill 50 units in 20 seconds with the lightning gun without taking damage."
Huh, for some reason I had set that one to 'ignore' on my steam account. (I think I might have quickly dismissed it as a Van Helsing clone.) Thanks, I'll move it to the 'give it a whirl some time' camp.
And yeah, balancing in Martyr is not exactly perfect. Progression in ARPGs always come across rather weird to me, so that's usually not what I focus on. I'm not aiming to get 100+ hours out of this or any ARPG - more of a 'scratch an itch' thing than a genre I love. And... I'll admit the 40k (or even just sci-fi) setting is definitely part of the appeal.
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 29, 2019, 08:45:40 pm
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Post by: Nighthawk on November 30, 2019, 01:06:49 pm
After watching a lot of Elder Scrolls speedruns, I felt the urge to play Skyrim again. This time I wanted to do something different: instead of being a psychic murder hobo who zooms through the main plot, I turned away from the first main quest marker and started walking.Let us know how long you spend wandering the wilds before your character reverts to psychic murder hobo.
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on November 30, 2019, 02:49:19 pm
After watching a lot of Elder Scrolls speedruns, I felt the urge to play Skyrim again. This time I wanted to do something different: instead of being a psychic murder hobo who zooms through the main plot, I turned away from the first main quest marker and started walking.Let us know how long you spend wandering the wilds before your character reverts to psychic murder hobo.
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Play Enderal Instead.
Post by: itisnotlogical on November 30, 2019, 07:06:33 pm
noAfter watching a lot of Elder Scrolls speedruns, I felt the urge to play Skyrim again. This time I wanted to do something different: instead of being a psychic murder hobo who zooms through the main plot, I turned away from the first main quest marker and started walking.Let us know how long you spend wandering the wilds before your character reverts to psychic murder hobo.
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Play Enderal Instead.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on November 30, 2019, 07:41:27 pm
noAfter watching a lot of Elder Scrolls speedruns, I felt the urge to play Skyrim again. This time I wanted to do something different: instead of being a psychic murder hobo who zooms through the main plot, I turned away from the first main quest marker and started walking.Let us know how long you spend wandering the wilds before your character reverts to psychic murder hobo.
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Play Enderal Instead.
Do it anyway though
Post by: Robsoie on December 01, 2019, 08:43:31 am
As a low intelligence character it involved mostly killing people and mutants nearly everywhere as there was no alternative way for low level intelligence in that game unfortunately (as everyone refuse basically to talk to you) and nearly no side quest to complete due to npc not giving them to you due to the "not talking to moron" part.
Sad to see that low level intelligence character run result in being the most boring and linear way to play Fallout 1 (as killing everyone and ignoring all side quests is already possible with any kind of character, with a low level int guy you're forced into this) instead of being different.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: nenjin on December 01, 2019, 03:25:48 pm
I'm only a couple hours in, doing the collecathon busy work as is per my usual....
And I'm struck by just how bad the combat is. Where to start.....
It feels paper thin. Fights are over so quickly I barely even realize I had one.
It feels so sloppy. Within the first hour or two I've seen tons of half-finished animations during kill syncs, weapons just disappearing out of Edward's hands, or these janky little gestures where you're like "What was that even?" Hidden blade animations despite not having the hidden blades. Animations not synching up correctly. AC3 had this problem worse than AC Revelations, which had it worse than AC2 Brotherhood.....I swear it's like the technical craft of their own work just degrades over time.
It feels easy. I'm pretty sure I've countered kill guys without even hitting the counter kill button. Or the timing is so generous it beggars belief.
It's buggy. On one of my very first missions I was supposed to flee the guards. Well, you can't outrun them and they chase you down and then do that tackle move that you use. Not sure what to do so I figured, maybe you're supposed to dodge it or something? I hit jump right as he goes for me. Some....thing happens, and suddenly I'm underneath Havana, in the water, inside the level geometry. Too much Dark Souls and For Honor I guess, I must have timed that dodge perfectly. Anyways the guards can't find me, I swim away and complete the mission and go roaming around the waterways of Havana for a few minutes until I decide I'm trapped and just fast travel.
Edward is....dirty. I think the truth is I'm not super down with pirates because they're generally kind of dicks. That combination of being a rogue and also boastful and brash. We'll see how he shapes up later but so far all I want is to give him a bath.
I get that Black Flag is really about the islands and naval gameplay and that's what makes the game but man.....I sort of expected Black Flag to be fresh start before the series starts to decline again.....but so far it seems in serious ways to be a downgrade from AC3 in terms of tech and handling. From what I know of later games this actually looks like the start of the badness that really shows in Unity and other titles. I guess I'm just a little disappointed so far because AC IV was kinda hyped up, but it looks like all the things that are classic AC game play in it seem shoddily executed.
It makes me wonder if the game later on is so good it overshadows these problems, because I didn't really hear about how technically pisspoor it is.
Post by: Kagus on December 01, 2019, 04:02:49 pm
And of course the old woman wondering aloud why the fuck this idiot is the chosen one
Post by: xaritscin on December 02, 2019, 10:06:41 am
Post by: Arbinire on December 02, 2019, 10:59:28 am
noAfter watching a lot of Elder Scrolls speedruns, I felt the urge to play Skyrim again. This time I wanted to do something different: instead of being a psychic murder hobo who zooms through the main plot, I turned away from the first main quest marker and started walking.Let us know how long you spend wandering the wilds before your character reverts to psychic murder hobo.
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Play Enderal Instead.
Do it anyway though
I tried playing Enderal, but it kept crashing at the beginning when I tried leaving Cliche Cabin. And my PC is more than capable of handling it
Post by: Dunamisdeos on December 02, 2019, 03:43:01 pm
noAfter watching a lot of Elder Scrolls speedruns, I felt the urge to play Skyrim again. This time I wanted to do something different: instead of being a psychic murder hobo who zooms through the main plot, I turned away from the first main quest marker and started walking.Let us know how long you spend wandering the wilds before your character reverts to psychic murder hobo.
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Play Enderal Instead.
Do it anyway though
I tried playing Enderal, but it kept crashing at the beginning when I tried leaving Cliche Cabin. And my PC is more than capable of handling it
Aw. That sucks.
Did you do the steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/app/933480/Enderal_Forgotten_Stories/)? That's probably the most stable version.
Post by: Arbinire on December 02, 2019, 03:46:39 pm
noAfter watching a lot of Elder Scrolls speedruns, I felt the urge to play Skyrim again. This time I wanted to do something different: instead of being a psychic murder hobo who zooms through the main plot, I turned away from the first main quest marker and started walking.Let us know how long you spend wandering the wilds before your character reverts to psychic murder hobo.
There's a lot of things I never noticed about Skyrim due to fast-travel abuse. Like how instead of using magic or ranged weapons, vampires will chase wild animals on foot and try to punch them.
Bears and sabre cats are still OP.
Play Enderal Instead.
Do it anyway though
I tried playing Enderal, but it kept crashing at the beginning when I tried leaving Cliche Cabin. And my PC is more than capable of handling it
Aw. That sucks.
Did you do the steam version (https://store.steampowered.com/app/933480/Enderal_Forgotten_Stories/)? That's probably the most stable version.
Yep, Steam version is the version I tried saddly
Post by: xaritscin on December 04, 2019, 09:54:51 am
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 07, 2019, 09:42:17 pm
However, one of them is a bloody math problem.
Quote
Link wants to hide in whichever spot he can get to first. The tree is 180 feet away, while the boulder is only half that distance. But the boulder is up a steep hill, while the tree is downhill from where Link stands. Link can run downhill three times as fast as he can run uphill, but it will take him 60 feet to get up to full speed. Until then, he can only cover one and a half times as much ground running downhill as running up. Which can he reach first, the boulder or the tree?
If I were the age this book was aimed at I would already have ample reason to skip this puzzle, but the solution takes it even further.
Spoiler: The solution (click to show/hide)
Post by: Aoi on December 07, 2019, 10:10:43 pm
QuoteLink wants to hide in whichever spot he can get to first. The tree is 180 feet away, while the boulder is only half that distance. But the boulder is up a steep hill, while the tree is downhill from where Link stands. Link can run downhill three times as fast as he can run uphill, but it will take him 60 feet to get up to full speed. Until then, he can only cover one and a half times as much ground running downhill as running up. Which can he reach first, the boulder or the tree?
If I were the age this book was aimed at I would already have ample reason to skip this puzzle, but the solution takes it even further.Spoiler: The solution (click to show/hide)
...Are you sure about that?
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 07, 2019, 10:24:15 pm
Post by: Aoi on December 08, 2019, 02:41:31 am
Post by: xaritscin on December 08, 2019, 09:25:34 am
Post by: MCreeper on December 08, 2019, 10:40:48 am
First impressions:
1. WTF, why is everyone borderline chibi?
2. WTF, why there are no mid-chapter saves again?
3. WTF, why i'm getting humilated at first non-tutorial level?
4. WTF, why i can't restart the chapter without quitting it first?
5. WTF, why settings revert to default after quiting or game over? At least they saved on finishing the chapter.
6. Rinkah xD. Double xD for name.
Post by: nenjin on December 09, 2019, 11:38:22 am
I get why people call this a Souls-like.
It's about the same polish level as Absolver though. A game very inspired by Dark Souls but that's also quite clearly indie, that fumbles and gropes its way through the themes, execution and gameplay. It's clear in the first 10 seconds after the publisher and developer splash screens that it's an indie title just from how it present itself.
Remnant isn't bad, it's just thin in most places. The story is really trying to be vague like Dark Souls but it has none of the artistic refinement of that series. It thinks by being vague it's being mysterious, but it's really just a bunch of themes smooshed together. Post apocalypse, the Bioshock intro, creepy tree growths, demons, people going crazy. They even went the route of putting 99% of the world lore in their item descriptions, but only about half of them are even relevant and the other half are basically "OMG, aren't things ccrrraaaazzzzzzyyyyy?!?!"
I started it on Hard and have played solo through the first boss.
The three reasons I think this game has a Dark Souls level of challenge is:
-There is no shooting from the hip. You're either staring down a reticule or you're not shooting a gun. This slows down gameplay SO MUCH, and leaves you vulnerable to the mass amounts of enemy projectiles so you're constantly aiming down sights, dodging, aiming down sights, dodging.....ad infinitum. There is no running and dealing damage short of ONE melee attack move. If you can't "stand and deliver" you're not hurting stuff. You could argue Dark Souls has a same philosophy but there's options for moving and attacking in that game that are absent here, and most importantly, average enemies give you the time and space to breathe. Remnant's enemies do not. They get up on you and in your grill and shoot stuff at you and swoop around so there's no hiding and making space to fight is the real challenge, which you solve in most cases by just repeatedly backing up.
-Your class choice is very important to how you play, or at least it feels so to me. Close, mid or long range classes, and what they don't tell you is your damage fall off directly relates to your choice. And then they design enemies so that no one class has it the easiest. If you're a close range brawler, they will throw enemies at you that attack from range and teleport away as soon as you get close. If you're a long range guy, they will swamp you with hordes of little melee shits that never give you a chance to get some range and attack. And if you're mid, you have to maintain that medium range for best damage (although IMO it's closer to a short range class in terms of the overall engagement ranges of the game.)
-And lastly adds. OMG adds. This entire game's difficulty comes down to "give you a reasonable challenge, then throw adds at you every 30 seconds so you can never actually focus on the biggest enemy threat." Playing solo right now, this design choice really stands out. A boss I could probably kill in under two minutes alone now takes 10 minutes as you get your couple shots off, then immediately have to evade your ass off and kill off adds, just in time to get a couple more shots in on the main guy before another wave of adds spawns.
Other than that, the game is minimal both from a design standpoint and a content standpoint.
1. The UI is slate grey, functional and boring. It does just enough to be functional and take up all the screen real estate and not a whit more.
2. Your options for things to do are: upgrade your guns' power level, upgrade your armor's defense level, slot different mods (i.e. abilities) in to either of your guns, sink some skill points in to health, stamina and for me, class resource regeneration traits. That's pretty much it. There's a very small list of gear options per class, and some new traits become available to put points in to as you progress through the game, but by and large that's it.
3. Remnant makes the most out of the levels you get offered that it can, and the difficulty of the opponents makes the levels feel much larger than they actually are. But there's a drab sameiness to everything in the game, that is only broken up by the fights and the occasional consumable item tucked away here and there, and the occasional chest filled with cash (scrap.) Once you've slain all the enemies in a particular "pack" or spot in the level, it feels barren and empty and bland to get through. Navigating in this game kind of sucks because everything looks the same and the levels have that randomly generated feel to them. Very few landmarks, no real sight lines, just a lot of densely packed buildings and rooms and corridors. It's the one thing multiple people who have just picked up the game or seen it played have commented on, is how as soon as the combat is over the game is enveloped in blandness. Where Dark Souls used its emptiness to evoke a sense of isolation and desolation, in Remnant all it evokes is a feeling that there's not enough content and soul to it.
I do give props for some of the ideas though. Randomly selecting minibosses to sprinkle throughout the level really makes the level layout matter when combat happens, especially against the nastier ranged opponents. Plunging ahead is dangerous as fuck as you'll quickly get overwhelmed by all the stuff that spawns and the various mechanics they bring to the table. So slow and meticulous it is, and that works for the game.
What it really misses from the Dark Souls formula is that, at least so far, most fights take place in wide open spaces OR you have the option of backpedaling through the whole level if need be. Level design matters in some instances but unlike Dark Souls it doesn't seem to try to challenge you by putting you in a shoebox with some enemies and asking you to survive. Or if it does, it's a very large and square shoebox. By the way they've designed the game, with so many adds, I guess they can't really do that anyways. Everything takes place on a flat plane, there's almost no verticality to the game I've seen. So while there's the visual window dressing that is average I'd say, the actual level geometry is nothing more than walls, some stuff to vault over and vast stretches of flatness. Whereas in Dark Souls it might take a specific enemy type and then use the environment to leverage that enemy's design in to something interesting (say a room with archers all on the top floors that refuse to come down and fight you), here it's just a spew of enemies in big open spaces and the response to most of them is all the same: dodge and shoot. I guess that's a consequence of random generation, is you can't hand craft challenges around your enemies.
The enemy design I'd say is also not very strong. They have that "Devil May Cry" look where they're weird and inscrutable but nothing really stands out about them. I've met one enemy I can see the details of clearly in my mind, but the rest are mostly organic looking messes of red and black.
All in all I'm not unhappy for what I paid and I'm glad to understand this newest thing to get labeled a soulslike. And I do find the combat somewhat engaging, if very frenetic because the game refuses to give you any breathing room or the tools you're used to having. I'm sure it's a lot more fun with friends than solo. I am still interested to see how the game opens up and changes once you get further in.
Post by: Kagus on December 09, 2019, 02:54:04 pm
...so, now I've picked up every achievement, and completed every character's big quest.
Post by: nenjin on December 09, 2019, 05:03:35 pm
Post by: Kagus on December 09, 2019, 05:05:57 pm
Post by: nenjin on December 09, 2019, 05:10:58 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 09, 2019, 07:26:54 pm
It's so bizarre. It feels like I'm in a time warp. It feels like a video game from some alternate universe where as computers got stronger, design principles never advanced past 1985 or so. "Haha, that means it's an epic retro game for hardcore role-players, right?" No, I mean it feels like they had two people work on the same game without talking to eachother, and a third person combined all their ideas into the final product.
It's not a bad game by any means. It just feels like all of Tom Hall's cheesy nonsensical ideas from the early development of DOOM ended up in this game from beyond the grave.
Post by: Aoi on December 09, 2019, 07:38:14 pm
... I feel like I'd actually play that. Or a turn-based version of Grimrock.
Post by: Nighthawk on December 09, 2019, 09:10:26 pm
So... It's what you get if you take a dungeon crawler and cross it with Doom?DoomRL is a thing. It's Doom, but a roguelike. It's pretty awesome.
... I feel like I'd actually play that. Or a turn-based version of Grimrock.
Post by: Kagus on December 10, 2019, 03:11:53 am
Total conversion of Doom 3 into a FPS roguelite.
Post by: Robsoie on December 10, 2019, 07:17:14 am
- Oblige (http://oblige.sourceforge.net/) (+ Obaddon (https://github.com/caligari87/ObAddon) ) -> for the random maps
- Doom RPG SE (https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=63766) -> for the skills/leveling/shops/etc.. system
- DoomRL Arsenal (https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=37044) -> classes/items/weapons/assembies system from DoomRL in Doom
There are also several randomizer mods around, some crazy like Aeons of Death (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHtvc8O3i3o)
Post by: CABL on December 10, 2019, 10:29:01 am
Spoiler: * (click to show/hide)
** Hopefully we'll have a PS4 emulator in the next decade.
Post by: Iduno on December 10, 2019, 11:08:58 am
So... It's what you get if you take a dungeon crawler and cross it with Doom?DoomRL is a thing. It's Doom, but a roguelike. It's pretty awesome.
... I feel like I'd actually play that. Or a turn-based version of Grimrock.
It is. Also, someone made a mod for Doom that adds in a lot of stuff from the roguelike.
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 11, 2019, 05:30:35 am
It was a fun little time-waster. It was pathetically easy, but if it had been any harder I would have quit rather than power through to the end. I would have been stoked to have it on a flip-phone in 2005, and that's the only context I can imagine being excited to play it.
Post by: Sime on December 11, 2019, 07:14:55 am
I do the latter. I just can't bring myself to learn through trial and error. And once i've understood the mechanics, i sometimes then lose interest in playing the actual game.
Post by: Kagus on December 11, 2019, 07:34:40 am
Then again, I also jumped straight into the latest God of War game (my first time actually playing any of the series) and immediately put it on hard mode. Made it through a few areas before I got wise and decided it would be prudent to learn how to play first.
Post by: Robsoie on December 11, 2019, 08:44:30 am
I imagine nowadays with games featuring ingame tutorials this need of reading manuals is lessened.
Though some manuals were mostly must read because of the extra and additional content that contributed to world building, setting the lore and etc... of some games, even when said games were easy to learn ingame.
Post by: Iduno on December 11, 2019, 09:00:17 am
When you buy a complex game, do you just jump in and learn how to swim, or do you first spend ages reading the manual and watching let's plays to understand the mechanics?
I do the latter. I just can't bring myself to learn through trial and error. And once i've understood the mechanics, i sometimes then lose interest in playing the actual game.
I play on an easier mode for a first playthrough, if that's a thing they offer. Otherwise, I try to learn just enough to get started.
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 11, 2019, 02:48:17 pm
When you buy a complex game, do you just jump in and learn how to swim, or do you first spend ages reading the manual and watching let's plays to understand the mechanics?
I do the latter. I just can't bring myself to learn through trial and error. And once i've understood the mechanics, i sometimes then lose interest in playing the actual game.
If it's so complex that I can't reasonably deduce the mechanics and need to seek information outside the game, I usually can't be asked nowadays. My time is too scarce and my patience is too thin.
I still play games that I did know once upon a time, like X-Com and Dwarf Fortress, but if I had to learn DF all over again I don't think I would be able to stand it.
Post by: Sirus on December 11, 2019, 04:10:06 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 12, 2019, 08:18:57 pm
Post by: CABL on December 13, 2019, 09:23:19 am
Also, big thanks and shout-outs to Il Palazzo for gifting me the game for free!
Post by: Biowraith on December 14, 2019, 09:44:22 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: xaritscin on December 14, 2019, 01:31:08 pm
I've recently gotten back into EVE Online. Now that I have an actual income, I can play for longer than a two-week trial period on a throwaway account.
aww come on, Alpha Clone state isnt that bad....i quite enjoy not being tied to farm plex in order to have a good time in the game.
as for what im playing, i just finished a new run of Trials in Tainted Space. modifying your character using mutations and stacking them to get unique appearance is really cool. my avatar is basically an herm with traits of different alien insects while still having its human visage. i quite enjoy the result, and it took a while to figure out the proper steps to ensure i can still keep a percentage of human DNA apart of all the other alien genes.
wish i was talented enough to make a drawing of him...her...they....whatever
Post by: Jopax on December 15, 2019, 02:42:58 pm
Post by: Kagus on December 15, 2019, 03:02:12 pm
...why am I doing this?
Post by: Egan_BW on December 15, 2019, 05:40:14 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on December 15, 2019, 06:12:41 pm
my next goal is the red rebel ice pick so i can extract from reserve easier with a full pack on. (cant use body armor but hey, thats what armored rigs are for)
escape from tarkov. for those not in the know, its basically stalker crossed with arma and its pretty hardcore, you can lose everything you have equipped on a bad run, and that could include some decent gear.
Post by: Nighthawk on December 15, 2019, 06:31:10 pm
I have no idea why people 100% games. Probably some kind if brain parasite?Is it the same brain parasite that makes me never actually complete a 30 hour game's main campaign, but still sink hundreds of hours into co-operative and competitive multiplayer games with no end goal?
Because I'd like to find that little sucker and give him a talking to.
Post by: Kagus on December 16, 2019, 07:06:43 am
Checking the Steam overlay, it apparently took me 7 minutes of running the game before I managed to send it into an infinite loop.
Post by: delphonso on December 16, 2019, 11:03:48 pm
Post by: Iduno on December 17, 2019, 09:03:31 am
Started up Graveyard Keeper - not sure why, but the constantly moving clock bothers me too much for me to enjoy this game in the same way I've enjoyed Rune Factory/Harvest Moon.
It helps to absolutely screw up the timing on something, like missing a meeting with a weekly NPC (which I manage to miss about 1/4 of the time). Then you just...have another week to try again.
Post by: delphonso on December 17, 2019, 09:51:08 am
Post by: Iduno on December 17, 2019, 10:06:46 am
Yeah, I might give it another crack and just not worry about it too much. I don't mind the spoilers - but is there much of a time limit on things?
As far as I've seen, you can't actually miss anything in the game. Doing things in a particular order is sometimes better, but it just affects how much time you need to put in.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: nenjin on December 17, 2019, 03:15:57 pm
It's Fantasy XCOM in full 3d, and while I really enjoy it, for a perfectionist/save scummer it is easily the most tedious and bug prone TBS game I've ever played. I meticulously played a story mission over 7 goddamn hours yesterday. Easily slew 5 full warbands worth of overleveled enemies while trying to complete the mission objectives....only to learn that the game's own buggered save logic essentially soft locked me out of completing the mission.
Great game, but jesus, what a colossal waste of time and effort.
Post by: Aoi on December 17, 2019, 03:23:06 pm
Started up Graveyard Keeper - not sure why, but the constantly moving clock bothers me too much for me to enjoy this game in the same way I've enjoyed Rune Factory/Harvest Moon.
What makes that different from practically every other game of its ilk out there, short of the original Harvest Moon whose clocked stopped at like 10PM? Though most HMs stopped when indoors, in dialogues, etc?
Post by: delphonso on December 17, 2019, 07:21:41 pm
Post by: Iduno on December 19, 2019, 09:08:58 am
for a perfectionist/save scummer it is easily the most tedious and bug prone TBS game I've ever played.
Well then, do I have a deal for you. (https://iwbtg.kayin.moe/)
Post by: Sanctume on December 19, 2019, 12:52:04 pm
I am on my 4th restart as I get a feel of what I need and want.
I think I got a start scenario that I can continue with: start dwarf 19. with 99k points.
Popcap is 19, strict is 30 to allow babies made.
I think I will have a decent 6 honeymoon suite candidates.
I might as well run set-orientation script to ensure marriage relationship can happen (instead of force marriage).
I already for carried away preparing Game of Thrones family names.
This will be a bloodline game of sorts at 1 of 54 embarks to completely fill the 16x16 local with 2x2 embarks, and a final 4x4.
Anyway, it might be overkill, but I want to get a feel on how fast 2 dedicated carpenters can convert 1 log to 5 wood blocks.
I also have 1 mason for some colored stone to make above ground houses visually different.
I also got 3 miners where humans will have a large rust rate and slow skill up. Open quarry style.
Post by: Kagus on December 19, 2019, 03:25:58 pm
Items of note:
- You can pet Cerberus and give him scritches
Definitely a contender for Best Game 2019, despite not being officially out yet.
Post by: Yoink on December 19, 2019, 08:38:09 pm
Definitely a contender for Best Game 2019, despite not being officially out yet.I'm pretty sure Disco Elysium already won that on every list/awards thingy worth a damn, haha. ;)
The idea of giving Cerberus a nice pat is highly amusing, though.
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 21, 2019, 07:10:48 am
I hate to say this because it makes me sound like such a pretentious asshole, but MGS2 really benefits from being looked at critically. I was barely a teenager when I first played it; it stands up a lot better after almost a decade of learning how to read stories as more than just entertainment.
Post by: Egan_BW on December 21, 2019, 07:40:36 am
Post by: itisnotlogical on December 21, 2019, 08:05:07 am
Kojima's works really work best from the pretentious asshole point of view~
If we want games to be treated like art then that means treating them like art, and sometimes that means that games will try to be more than what you literally see on screen and do with the controller. Saying it's "pretentious" any time any creator asks you to think laterally is just a flavor of anti-intellectualism, but one that fits nicely within acceptable, mainstream rational intellectualism where everything can be explained by observable, reproducable cause-and-effect, and if it can't then it's worthless.
Oops. I mean, haha, what was that wacky thing with the AI all about? I'm sure MGS4 will explain it all.
Post by: Parsely on December 21, 2019, 01:44:13 pm
After playing through MGS3, I went back and played MGS2, seriously paying attention to it for the first time since... well, the first time I played it.MGS2 is by far the best MGS game when it comes to themes. It's a shame that so many people came away from the game agreeing with the Patriots' idea that people can't be trusted and need to be controlled
I hate to say this because it makes me sound like such a pretentious asshole, but MGS2 really benefits from being looked at critically. I was barely a teenager when I first played it; it stands up a lot better after almost a decade of learning how to read stories as more than just entertainment.
Post by: Kagus on December 21, 2019, 02:09:20 pm
Considering you spend most of the game controlling someone, it's understandable.After playing through MGS3, I went back and played MGS2, seriously paying attention to it for the first time since... well, the first time I played it.MGS2 is by far the best MGS game when it comes to themes. It's a shame that so many people came away from the game agreeing with the Patriots' idea that people can't be trusted and need to be controlled
I hate to say this because it makes me sound like such a pretentious asshole, but MGS2 really benefits from being looked at critically. I was barely a teenager when I first played it; it stands up a lot better after almost a decade of learning how to read stories as more than just entertainment.
Post by: Egan_BW on December 21, 2019, 03:46:59 pm
Post by: Robsoie on December 22, 2019, 08:14:53 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: xaritscin on December 23, 2019, 04:45:55 pm
it kinda makes me want to try something similar while playing Cataclysm:DDA, but im waiting for the devs and contributor to finish the next stable release to try a woodland farm or something.
Post by: Iduno on December 24, 2019, 03:46:23 pm
never been a fan of farming games (ironic seeing that i know a few, some NSFW) but decided to give Stardew Valley a try. currently in early Spring on a Wilderness farm, nothing too fancy but im already hooked on the graphics and the gameplay.
it kinda makes me want to try something similar while playing Cataclysm:DDA, but im waiting for the devs and contributor to finish the next stable release to try a woodland farm or something.
I picked up Graveyard Keeper from GoG. It's a good time. I'm also not at all a fan of farming games (Harvest Moon is a terrible game, because it's work), but this one clicked with me for whatever reason. It's better for a relaxing game when you realize you can't possibly screw up, but that might be a downside for other people.
Post by: nenjin on December 26, 2019, 02:27:54 pm
Apologies if you actually like this game but.....
Holy shit. It's been a while since I've played a game whose very design fills me with such contempt.
It's a beautiful, artistic looking game with amazing pixel art and good music.
But the design choices in how the game is played feel like a deliberate attempt to waste my time and make the game unfun to play through.
It's a side scroller, where you run back and forth on your horse, ordering stuff to be built, recruiting peasants and assigning them duties and collecting money, always trying to expand your little kingdom outwards. That's basically all of game play.
Which would be thin on its own merits. Where it really pisses me off though is that none of what you can do as a player scales up as your kingdom grows. There's a day / night cycle, which means as your kingdom grows, you start spending more of each day just running back and forth across it.
What you can expand your kingdom out with is random in each game. So it might be fields to grow crops in, rocky outcrops to build an archer platform on or new walls that tell your guys where the edge of your kingdom is.
When the monsters come, they throw themselves at the outer most wall of your kingdom. If you've got archers, they'll stand there and shoot arrows with _random ballistic trajectory_ until either the monsters are dead, they break through, or day comes and they fuck off.
Likewise you can build a catapult that will absolutely waste monsters....WHEN it decides to actually hit them, because it too also has random ballistic trajectory.
Things seem fine for the first few days. But as soon as the monsters ramp up, they quickly smash down your walls. Once they do that, they mob all your soldiers, who make no attempt to flee and can't defend themselves at all. When they touch your guys, they bust them down to peasants, and steal their rather expensive gear and go charging deeper into your kingdom.
The absolute frustration sets in when you realize that, as your kingdom grows, the amount of time it takes your peasants to return to the castle so they can have their duties reassigned just continues to get longer and longer, setting you back that much more. The amount of money it takes to restore them to their assigned jobs means you have to spend that much more time riding back and forth across your kingdom collecting cash.
Meanwhile, in your first play through you will eventually learn (because the game doesn't tell you) that your mission is to find a boat at the extreme edges of the game map, sink a ton of money in to it so your builders will repair it, so they can eventually push it to the very edge of the map so you can sail away to another island and....start the whole process over again.
So rather than the relaxing kingdom building game it present itself as, it's a time trial, basically. Take too many days to find the ship and repair it, and the monsters will overwhelm your ability to maintain, because your guys are so shit and expansion actively makes it harder to recover from a big loss. You get almost no meaningful choices to make, and things that look like they should help like the archer platforms are both random in where they can go, which means you usually expand right past them so they stop being useful, AND they basically can't kill more than 1 or so monsters before they go running past its effective range. The best tool you get for defense, the catapult, you get exactly two of, one pointing each direction on the map. If that gets destroyed, the amount of time it takes to rebuild it and slowly push it back in to position means beyond a certain size of kingdom, the catapult also no longer becomes an effective defense tool once it's been destroyed.
It's like....whoever made this game looked at their AI, looked at the actions a player could take and just went "nah, fuck them." I've never felt a game so deliberately curtail what the player can do in the name of making it difficult. All the tweaks you'd expect a game like this to make to balance out the challenge, K:NL actively chooses not to do. Make the peasants run home faster. Give the player the ability to build things of their own volition where they would be most helpful like the game has some actual strategy. Allow the player to automatically collect some amount of money instead of having to ride around like a glorified tax man (which is 99% of gameplay.) Give the AI better than a 50% chance of actually hitting its targets. Allow players to deconstruct things that are no longer useful where they are. Allow you to relocate the job assignment stations closer to where the action is. The game allows for none of these things.
It's just, once you figure out how to play, a mad scramble to expand as fast as you can, find that boat, get it built and get off the island.
It feels like a complete bait and switch. What looks like it should be a low key kingdom builder on PC is actually a garbage mobile game time waster with several hard coded doom clocks and where all the challenge comes from what it deliberately DOESN'T do rather than what it does do.
I'm glad someone got this for me, because if I'd paid $15 for this fucking game I'd be livid.
Post by: Kagus on December 26, 2019, 03:09:18 pm
And yeah, it's time management. Manage it poorly, things end poorly. The game also opens up considerably once you start getting a grasp of how things work and opening up the other islands. Different mounts with various abilities, experts that allow construction of new buildings like the ballista tower (the REAL most important defensive option, aside from super walls), portals, shrines, so on.
You also learn about how knights work, and with that you get to take the fight to the enemy and smash their spawner. And then you learn that when you smash one spawner, that knight squad moves to the other side of your castle to bolster the defenses there.
Did you encounter winter at all? You kinda need the bank if you're gonna try and survive winter, at least the later winters that last longer. An early investment really pays dividends.
There's an achievement for surviving night #100. I've got that one. Most harrowing part was actually wondering if my computer would shit itself at all the death and arrows.
You know the catapults? Yeah, the trolls eventually get their owner boulder tossers, and they toss bigger boulders. By night 100, I had so many archers piled up that they ate boulders to the face and stopped the rock from rolling further.
Post by: nenjin on December 26, 2019, 03:20:00 pm
I can see where the game expands. I just have zero interest in pursuing it, because it doesn't really change the nature of the game. The randomness and lack of options in a time management game strikes me as trying to dig holes only with the tip of your foot. Sure, you can do it, but it's frustrating and tedious when even a stick would make the job quicker and more enjoyable.
It's learning to be as highly efficient as possible in game that deliberately designed itself to be inefficient. And my brain goes "why would I do that to myself?" That's the part that hacks me off. I can see spots where omissions exist for the sake of difficulty. And maybe if it was in service to an actual building game, I'd put up with it. But it's literally "do the thing as fast as you can, so you can go to the next island and do the thing again as fast as you can." Blech. Absolutely not my kind of game.
Post by: Iduno on December 26, 2019, 03:23:23 pm
Someone got me Kingdoms: New Lands for Christmas.
So it's like the old Defend the Castle games except with less clicking (good) and random upgrades (bad)?
Post by: nenjin on December 26, 2019, 03:27:28 pm
Quote
less clicking (good)
Replace clicking with holding left or right on a joystick for 10, 20, 30 minutes at a time. Often times you're just running around to collect money from hunters who randomly shoot randomly spawned animals with random aim, because at the time you have nothing else to really do. Either that or you're waiting for your mount's stamina to come back so you can be the Kingdom's most Hands-On revenue collector of a king. You even have some jerk off noble who strolls around in front of your keep, who does nothing from what I can see. Put that asshole to work!
Post by: Telgin on December 27, 2019, 09:32:30 am
I really like it so far too, though the controls feel a bit off. I probably just need to get used to it again, but steering while flying feels a bit more stiff, and Spyro feels like he has less forward momentum while jumping in this version.
More annoyingly, the game needed a 8.8 GB update, which was more storage space than my Switch had. I brushed it off as just patches and ignored the update, but turns out you can only play the first world in the first game without it, so... uninstalled some things last night and let it download overnight. I'll have to get some expanded storage for the console.
Post by: delphonso on December 30, 2019, 09:03:40 am
Post by: xaritscin on December 30, 2019, 08:45:44 pm
i guess my starvation for 3D Space Survival games will have to continue until i get a better PC.
Post by: delphonso on December 31, 2019, 10:17:21 pm
Post by: Arbinire on January 01, 2020, 02:44:52 am
Also gonna take a stab at Atlas tomorrow since I picked it up for $5
Post by: Robsoie on January 15, 2020, 09:39:12 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: nenjin on January 15, 2020, 10:39:51 am
I like this game as a shooty Dark Souls-lite (really light) but it is incredibly buggy and the devs seem to have zero interest in fixing any of them.
CTDs? you bet.
Menus stop functioning? Locked in.
Inputs stop being recognized? Of course.
Deadlocked logic on multiple screens? Fer sure.
Corrupted save files? Oh boy how.
The best part about corrupted save files is the developers' preferred solution is to have YOU back up your save files regularly. And the actual in-game logic of a corrupted profile will actually just straight up delete everything and make you start over. It took the sleuths of the internet to figure out file manipulation to get around the problem. And did the devs even try to implement that solution? No.
If these guys make another game, or a sequel to Remnant, I'm going to stay away. For what parts of the game are legitimately good, it sure as hell looks like they took the money and ran.
Post by: wierd on January 15, 2020, 08:37:04 pm
Been playing ocarina of time VC rom on wii.
Post by: Robsoie on January 19, 2020, 07:03:09 pm
And i've been having a lot of fun, oddly much more than the civ2-like Freeciv game to me when i recently tried on the browser version of it (https://www.freecivweb.org/) , not sure why but i guess you can't beat nostalgia :D
After eradicating England in very early time (poor buggers spawned their city close to my exploring starting warrior path) and later managed to repel Persia to the European continent and take over several of their cities, i finally could secure the whole Asian continent (i'm using a world map instead of a randomly made or fantasy one) to develop and improve my empire getting ahead in the ratings (can't wait to get to alpha centauri, ah yes one of the great thing of Test of Time was the ability of having multiple maps , a feature lost in the serie after that).
Things were going good my way.
But it's times like this barbarian uprising (i should probably have toned down the barbarian activity in the options) right next 2 of my cities that made me happy to have cowardly choosen the chieftain difficulty :D and recently completed the Great Walls wonders as walls bonus is something big in civ2 sieges.
I dread to think what such big elephant stomping army would have done otherwise.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Also learned the hard way that to be able to load a saved game your saved game must NOT be in your Civ2 directory directly, it must be in another directory or in a subfolder, as if it's directly in your civ2 directory the load game will just crash during load, very odd but confirmed when googling around.
Post by: Robsoie on January 20, 2020, 07:34:46 pm
(https://i.imgur.com/wwvEooI.png)
?
... Oh, you mean that was your empire ?
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Sorry my civilized friend, it's unfortunate but those nukes must fall somewhere after all, just bad luck it was on your cities.
Post by: Mephisto on January 21, 2020, 08:50:25 am
Post by: Yoink on January 22, 2020, 12:07:16 am
For a while the galaxy was being dominated by an empire known as the Istee Legion. I made a habit of blowing up some of their ships here and there. Then, I noticed this little peach-coloured uprising taking place in the center of their planets. Can't even remember what it was called, now (editor's note: turns out it was called the "Mighty" Federation of Deren, led by the fearless Denska Ettesva), but it was quickly superseded by a more formidable force: the Contingency of Nangming.
This new player on the scene burst dramatically out from the heart of Istee, forcing the latter apart from within like an unsuspecting arsehole after an especially brutal bad burrito. Now the Istee almost seem like underdogs, with their empire split in half with a huge distance between them - but in truth they were so massively powerful to begin with that they've only been toppled from #1 to #2 on the empire leaderboard.
Nonetheless, I don't think I'll be doing any more to sabotage them, unless I see 'em coming after the outmost reaches of the Detta Combine where my oldest created character, Lorritar Gathuri, is based.
Note that he certainly wasn't the first character I made - nor are the Gathuri even the first family! This game is brutal to the little guys. At least now the Detta have allied themselves (through my doing) with the Nangming, jumping aboard an existing alliance the latter had with some other empire (along with another smaller one I felt sorry for), so hopefully the Gathuri family's fortunes will change for the better.
Post by: Iduno on January 22, 2020, 09:21:42 am
Some more Civ2 Test of Time fun.
(https://i.imgur.com/wwvEooI.png)
?
... Oh, you mean that was your empire ?Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Sorry my civilized friend, it's unfortunate but those nukes must fall somewhere after all, just bad luck it was on your cities.
Nuclear "testing."
Post by: Teneb on January 26, 2020, 11:56:36 am
Currently have cleared out 3 of the Holds and one of the factions (Companions).
Post by: Folly on January 26, 2020, 05:46:45 pm
Spent most of last night wandering around Hyrule Field, trying to fight Guardians and more often than not cursing the game when a swarm of giant skeletons or goo-monsters would spawn right on top of me at the exact instant that I was about to deflect a Guardian's eye-beam.
Post by: nautilu on January 28, 2020, 09:00:20 am
Post by: Dunamisdeos on January 28, 2020, 08:07:38 pm
They made Rome:Total War 2.
Post by: Sartain on January 29, 2020, 02:45:18 am
I mean
They made Rome:Total War 2.
Which was even slower and duller, and somehow managed to make the family/character system feel like it had absolutely no relevance whatsoever. I'd almost rate it as bad as Master of Orion 3, personally
Post by: nautilu on January 29, 2020, 09:16:55 am
I mean
They made Rome:Total War 2.
Which was even slower and duller, and somehow managed to make the family/character system feel like it had absolutely no relevance whatsoever. I'd almost rate it as bad as Master of Orion 3, personally
And the province and building system is garbage. Its almost like an adventure game by the lack of strategic depth on the map. "Road goes to next city. Conquer? Y/N"
Post by: Sanctume on January 29, 2020, 09:20:17 am
I bought simply because I could not find my old CD anymore.
Post by: xaritscin on February 02, 2020, 10:50:41 am
im also playing LoL but ehhhh, there's not much to say about it. Taric top seems like a good pick with the current meta albeit some matches are difficult, Zyra mid is in a really good spot i cant believe it and im glad to see Nidalee support still works. i've had to change my usual roster of champs due to the latest updates, Sion doesnt work, Kha'zix doesnt work, Malzahar is still as fucked as i remember post-rework. Shaco is the only one from my personal picks that still keeps the show going on.
Post by: JimboM12 on February 02, 2020, 04:17:51 pm
i have Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries on deck (i was waiting for a few patches, it seems they added logical spawns now (less pop in i think) and optimized it a little so it'll play better) but i also have No Man's Sky (i was waiting for some patches and they just had one a month ago or so) and Final Fantasy 7 and 8 off of steam (both modded a little).
i need to take a week off sometime, lol. maybe around spring break.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on February 02, 2020, 08:07:22 pm
Post by: RoseHeart on February 10, 2020, 02:30:12 am
SW-3573-8324-1131
Post by: askovdk on February 10, 2020, 04:19:52 am
I just managed to 'Create Israel' and build the 3rd temple.
It has been a fun run of building up strength in the Caucasus and getting closer through Georgia, then taking the opportunity when the Caliphate shattered, and finally beating back two Muslim Jihads.
I now control 45k troops directly, and the High priest can probably call in around 80k.
Post by: Telgin on February 10, 2020, 11:54:44 am
I'm told the side content, like the boss rush, is vastly more difficult. We'll see shortly. The bosses actually were a bit of a challenge on occasion, but mostly because with 4 characters on screen beating on them it was really hard to tell what was going on half of the time.
Driblee is the best thing ever though. I almost managed to take my first driblee friend from like level 2 to the end of the game, but he got squished by a moving block and died where I couldn't revive him. :(
Post by: itisnotlogical on February 11, 2020, 02:19:48 am
Post by: JimboM12 on February 11, 2020, 11:44:58 am
Post by: Sartain on February 13, 2020, 05:37:11 pm
I've mostly focused on the new world, being content otherwise to stick to my islands, and have (obviously) been allied to France since the beginning. And now the French king went and died, bequeathing the nation of France to Scotland upon his death. Which would be awesome if it weren't for the fact that Austria is disputing that succession and I am in no way prepared for a land-war against those guys but on the other hand I can't really hand over mother-fucking France to them either. Great fun
Post by: nautilu on February 14, 2020, 10:09:24 am
How is Phoenix Point? Its on my to play list but everyone is saying its majorly flawed.
Post by: nenjin on February 14, 2020, 02:00:20 pm
Post by: ChairmanPoo on February 15, 2020, 11:13:01 am
Post by: Iduno on February 15, 2020, 01:23:32 pm
TBH the spell that is getting the most mileage from conjuration is stinking cloud. Particularily if you use metamagic to heighten it´s DC (which you can do without real limit. Really, you can theoretically turn it into a level 9 spell, which I assume means that you´re able to summon forth a pestilence of such intensity that even GODS can become nauseated by it.
If I remember correctly, in tabletop, if you want to be a mage good at doing damage, you go for conjuration, not evocation. Not that you'd want to, as most enemies have far too many hp for damage to be a reliable way to get rid of them.
Damage is much better in the computer games, because you only gain xp from enemies killed, not avoided or beaten through wits. You can't even KO them then coup-de-grace.
Post by: Biowraith on February 15, 2020, 01:28:16 pm
Post by: ChairmanPoo on February 15, 2020, 01:46:14 pm
The reason is that
- stink clouds are my mainstay weapon
- my stink clouds are so powerful they stun my own summoned angels and boogeymen
- my undead resist the stink clouds but get no benefit from said feats. And I have a staff that improves undead anyway
- anything stink cloud resistant is lilekly poisonous or leveldrains so I probably want to throw undead at it
So the new plan is to throw stink clouds, cloudkill and undead at things, support with my polyed pet and strategic usage of hellfire and scortching beams.
Post by: Aoi on February 15, 2020, 04:34:57 pm
Been playing Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem now that it's released.
Does it pick up later on? I watched somebody play from the start to the first sub-boss (looked kind of like a bulky burning thing that was summoning wyverns) and it looked oh-so-slow. Basically, the only thing that ever really happened was attacking with the default, which looked like a bouncing AoE that killed everything in a few hits, and leisurely dodgerolling out of red circles/rectangles.
...And I could've sworn the reviews for it were like 7.5 a few hours ago, dropping down to 6 now.
Post by: Biowraith on February 15, 2020, 05:31:47 pm
Been playing Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem now that it's released.
Does it pick up later on? I watched somebody play from the start to the first sub-boss (looked kind of like a bulky burning thing that was summoning wyverns) and it looked oh-so-slow. Basically, the only thing that ever really happened was attacking with the default, which looked like a bouncing AoE that killed everything in a few hits, and leisurely dodgerolling out of red circles/rectangles.
That sounds like the default mage staff attack, which builds up 'willpower' to spend on fancier powers. You get 1 (maybe it's 2, I forget) of those fancier powers after the 'tutorial' bit (e.g. a rapid fireball for mages), but it doesn't take long before you can find/buy more. As you gain xp your equipped powers level up, I think they get some straight stat buffs with each level but you can also pick specific upgrades at certain levels, e.g. extra shots on the fireball, or turn a pbaoe heal patch into a targeted heal patch. I spent my first 10 or so levels running an ice nova, a channeled beam/laser, and the heal patch, but I've since gone full summoner with 4 summon powers and the heal patch upgraded to also do damage to enemies that enter it. So in terms of having more interesting stuff to use, I'd say it progresses decently.
For difficulty though, it's been pretty easy so far. I dropped a couple of times on sub-bosses, though you get 3 self-revives if you're playing solo so I've not fully died at all yet (in multiplayer your buddies have to help you back up instead, I think). I'm still only on Act 1 though and I've been pumping the Toughness stat a lot. No idea what the endgame looks like.
Quote
...And I could've sworn the reviews for it were like 7.5 a few hours ago, dropping down to 6 now.Yeah, people are really unhappy with the amount of downtime on the online servers and are expressing as much. It's been down for almost 24 hours now, and is set to be down at least another 12. Even when servers were up it was kinda unreliable, with people having to make multiple attempts to connect, then getting disconnected during their game and losing progress. Offline play is still available, but since you can't play online characters offline and vice versa...
Post by: Persus13 on February 15, 2020, 08:16:35 pm
Post by: Aoi on February 15, 2020, 08:48:37 pm
Post by: Aoi on February 16, 2020, 02:46:29 pm
Been playing Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem now that it's released.
Does it pick up later on? I watched somebody play from the start to the first sub-boss (looked kind of like a bulky burning thing that was summoning wyverns) and it looked oh-so-slow. Basically, the only thing that ever really happened was attacking with the default, which looked like a bouncing AoE that killed everything in a few hits, and leisurely dodgerolling out of red circles/rectangles.
That sounds like the default mage staff attack, which builds up 'willpower' to spend on fancier powers. You get 1 (maybe it's 2, I forget) of those fancier powers after the 'tutorial' bit (e.g. a rapid fireball for mages), but it doesn't take long before you can find/buy more. As you gain xp your equipped powers level up, I think they get some straight stat buffs with each level but you can also pick specific upgrades at certain levels, e.g. extra shots on the fireball, or turn a pbaoe heal patch into a targeted heal patch. I spent my first 10 or so levels running an ice nova, a channeled beam/laser, and the heal patch, but I've since gone full summoner with 4 summon powers and the heal patch upgraded to also do damage to enemies that enter it. So in terms of having more interesting stuff to use, I'd say it progresses decently.
For difficulty though, it's been pretty easy so far. I dropped a couple of times on sub-bosses, though you get 3 self-revives if you're playing solo so I've not fully died at all yet (in multiplayer your buddies have to help you back up instead, I think). I'm still only on Act 1 though and I've been pumping the Toughness stat a lot. No idea what the endgame looks like.
Yeah... I just finished the A1 boss and, outside of that boss, I'm finding it kind of... boringly easy. If you have experience playing ARPG endgames, I suspect you'll be in a similar boat.
Much like the gameplay I've been watching, I'm running that staff since it seems to be a quick way to clear everything without faffing about with resources... I pretty much don't use my skills, and that's with me pumping everything into agility(attack speed). Stack whatever damage-on-attack or mixed damage boosters, and I deal more DPS with my base attack than any spell I have so far. (Embers is a sort of exception since I have a pile of +fire... as soon as I switch that gear though, it looses the advantage.)
...I do rather like the scripted battles though.
Spoiler: "A1 Boss Notes" (click to show/hide)
End of A2, the only skills I use in combat is Bulwark of Dawn for minibosses. Livor Mortis gets popped up as necessary, and Aether Jump is spammed... because I made the godawful decision of picking up Disallowing Vessel, which may as well read "Permanent -50% Movement Speed". -_-
Post by: Biowraith on February 17, 2020, 07:12:01 pm
Spoiler: "A1 Boss Notes" (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: some boss comments (click to show/hide)
I'm somewhere in Act 3 now. I'd say it's a gotten a little bit harder - I've had the odd knockdown and occasionally have to dodge for a breather instead of just facetanking everything. I even suffered one proper death outside of a boss fight - to a cursed chest spawn that included a particularly nasty champion (I forget the name, but the pacified guy that spins his weapon around melted me). It's largely been plain sailing though. Feels kinda similar to Diablo 3's pre-endgame difficulty to me (at least what I remember of it, it's been a few years...). Unsure how much my build is swaying that one way or the other though - I suspect more conventional builds probably breeze through the non-boss stuff faster (most of my passives are dedicated to keeping me and my summons alive), but I've not really watched anyone else play it to compare.
Post by: Enemy post on February 19, 2020, 12:34:12 pm
Post by: Haspen on February 19, 2020, 01:00:52 pm
Post by: nenjin on February 19, 2020, 05:02:17 pm
Post by: Sanctume on February 19, 2020, 05:58:16 pm
It's an app with twitch, captained by some twitch streamer.
Supposedly for just during those down times in between games.
Well, I end up having it on, while binge watching MCU movies in Disney+.
Post by: EuchreJack on February 19, 2020, 06:15:14 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on February 21, 2020, 04:21:53 pm
It wasn't really the graphics or sound that bothered me about the DOS version. It's just weird technical things that only apply to DOS games of a certain vintage. The game demands you make a "scenario disk" before playing, prompts to make a password for each character, and doesn't recognize the backspace key. If I were more patient I could get it working but the NES version seems identical, except perhaps a bit easier.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on February 21, 2020, 06:20:24 pm
Oxygen Not Included, currently setting up a natural gas generator scheme with NG geyser. Aww yiss.Really, the solution for most resource problems is to find enough NG geysers, pressurice the output at 20 atmospheres, and use that as a giant tank to run several NGenerators. The CO2 and polluted water give you dirt, purified water can be turned into oxygen... it's really convenient.
Only problem is heat runoff. What's the current status of heat management solutions? I know breezeworts are not as good as they used to be, and the neutronium freezers tend to be on ass-ends of the world.
I guess I ought to figure out a decent heat pump first... easier said than done
Post by: delphonso on February 21, 2020, 07:23:06 pm
Now I understand why I never finished this game as a kid.
Post by: MorleyDev on February 21, 2020, 07:34:20 pm
...did...did I miss a whole extra game in there somehow?
Post by: Nighthawk on February 21, 2020, 09:17:39 pm
Emulating Pikmin and giving myself that good old childhood anxiety whenever I waste a few dozen pikmin lives.I remember fighting a boss in Pikmin waaay back in the day, messing up one time, and seeing half of my squad die at once. I think a part of me died with them that day. Dear lord, it was traumatizing.
Now I understand why I never finished this game as a kid.
Nowadays I think I would behave in the exact opposite way. Heck, I'd probably be laughing as I hurl them at enemies and shout, "Yes! Die for my conquest, you hapless ones and zeroes!"
Oh, how times change.
Post by: scriver on February 22, 2020, 03:59:50 am
Just played through Death and Taxes. According to Steam achievements I somehow managed to get the best ending possible for humanity without even trying. I have no idea how. Some people seem to have spent a lot longer on their first play through than me xD One guy in his review said he took 6 hours? Steam says I took 116 minutes.
...did...did I miss a whole extra game in there somehow?
Speedrunning champion MorleyDev
Post by: MorleyDev on February 22, 2020, 01:16:01 pm
Turns out following the rules and only then ordering people so that you kill the people who you think 'most deserve it' and spare the everyone else is both efficient and productive. In your face, ethics!
Post by: Dunamisdeos on February 22, 2020, 01:31:28 pm
Added a buncha stuff, enjoying it immensely. They put Ruby Weapon in as an optional fight.
Post by: Aoi on February 22, 2020, 04:12:16 pm
Just played through Death and Taxes. According to Steam achievements I somehow managed to get the best ending possible for humanity without even trying. I have no idea how. Some people seem to have spent a lot longer on their first play through than me xD One guy in his review said he took 6 hours? Steam says I took 116 minutes.
Probably more like "Heartless MorleyDev didn't bother sitting and reading the rest of this persons profile when a quick skim showed that the rules said they had to die. Rules are rules after all. Oh, and today? The rules says that everyone on the bottom row has to die? No point troubling myself by reading their profiles then! Dead dead dead dead dead. Well that day was quick."
Turns out following the rules and only then ordering people so that you kill the people who you think 'most deserve it' and spare the everyone else is both efficient and productive. In your face, ethics!
Wait, you got the best ending for humanity doing that? I was cheerfully following orders for 59 minutes and got about the ending I expected:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
4-5 hours sounds about right if you're sitting there listening to the dialogues slowly and weighing the morality of each choice to let people live or die... and my hour is about right if you're just reading the text and scanning the documents for keywords while rubber stamping orders. (And, yes, I did read every single profile and news update... the voice of conscience I couldn't really read because I don't have audio and the subtitles are white text... and mostly show up when you're reading a profile that, most of the time, will cover the subtitle area.)
Despite some of the conceptual similarites, Death and Taxes just didn't grab me the same way that Papers, Please, Beholder, Orwell, This War of Mine, or any number of fairly recent morality plays did, like Frostpunk. I think it's partly the setting-- you're a figure literally born to kill people and you have the blessing from up on high to do so, unlike the rest of the list where you're an ordinary person placed into a tough situation
Also: Wow, that's a big game for, frankly, not much there. Were those lines of audio supplied in RAW or something? -_-
Post by: delphonso on February 24, 2020, 07:55:41 am
I remember fighting a boss in Pikmin waaay back in the day, messing up one time, and seeing half of my squad die at once. I think a part of me died with them that day. Dear lord, it was traumatizing.
Nowadays I think I would behave in the exact opposite way. Heck, I'd probably be laughing as I hurl them at enemies and shout, "Yes! Die for my conquest, you hapless ones and zeroes!"
Oh, how times change.
I have quickly switched to malice. A general apathy for the pikmin is healthy, I think.
'Alright, fine! Just drown to death, carrotman.'
Post by: Kagus on February 24, 2020, 08:03:47 am
Not even the poisonous Olimar akbar white pikmin from Pikmin 2 whose entire purpose was to get eaten.
Post by: xaritscin on February 24, 2020, 09:59:11 am
oh i also tried Elona, but didnt get too far in the start. thought i could play mutant tourist but the controls alone are tricky.
Post by: Mephisto on February 24, 2020, 10:14:04 am
That was a waste of time.
As for what I'm playing, I picked up Project Zomboid and PC Building Simulator again. Two games I've put some amount of time again, but they had recent updates and I haven't touched them in a while so why not.
Post by: Iduno on February 24, 2020, 11:15:05 am
*The tinker died in the last mission before retiring, so everyone except the player has agreed we definitely brought the body back to get rezzed, and didn't just leave the tinker to rot in the cave. The tinker retired to a farm upstate, but is happy and wouldn't want to be reminded of the adventuring life they left behind, and that's why we can't visit.
I'll probably be picking up either the cragheart to get some healing again, or the triforce character.
oh i also tried Elona, but didnt get too far in the start. thought i could play mutant tourist but the controls alone are tricky.
Yeah, it's partly based on ADOM, so there is some old-school weirdness to it, before it got Japan-ed up. You might want to start with a fighter or pianist (for weightlifting), and not a slug or tourist. Not because those classes are good, but because they're fairly easy to do early-game stuff with. Depending on what you're into, it's fairly easy to do most of the first continent stuff without any combat skills, if you pick good allies.
I'd recommend doing whatever non-combat quests you can in every town you go to, to gain the skill tokens. The god who gives you the goose can help with that as well. Step 2 is grabbing the gardening and cooking skills and some sort of portable equipment for cooking, then go south-southeast to the farming village (starvation can be an issue there, which is why you want cooking skill), and do all of the harvest quests there. It builds a lot of important stats, they're fairly easy, and your allies will get some combat training. You can eat food off the ground without stealing, but there's no good way to check to see if it's cursed without picking it up.
Once a town is overrun by aliens/clones, it's a good time to accept the nuke palmia quest, and just get rid of whatever town you want to. Leave town before the explosion (obviously), then return asap to collect the loot everyone dropped. Good way to fill your museum (which may or may not be worth buying before you get all of the nice NPC cards and figures).
Post by: Kagus on February 24, 2020, 12:57:44 pm
Post by: AzyWng on February 24, 2020, 01:57:03 pm
I did still did stupid things in boss fights, though, like trying to fight Seymour with dropkicks and the like.
Killed him by throwing a sawblade at him.
Maybe once I hit level 50 I’ll try the game without combo weapons. See how easy/hard it is.
Post by: Darkening Kaos on February 24, 2020, 06:57:39 pm
Hmmmm, gonna have to temporarily give up on that idea until I can figure out a new strategy to deal with that other than 'Run Away!' Maybe I can 'accidentally' find some smoke grenades in a hidden corner of the van and choke the Reapers with lung-cancer or something. Sitting inside the caves where Reapers are too big to go and zapping them for 30 rounds with no effect is not fun.
Post by: MCreeper on February 25, 2020, 08:02:01 am
Post by: Iduno on February 25, 2020, 08:55:23 am
Started up a new game of Openxcom-x-files but with the added challenge of only using stun rods/tazers and capturing everything. Early game is possible but stalled on Reapers who shrug off stun rods and tazer shots.
Hmmmm, gonna have to temporarily give up on that idea until I can figure out a new strategy to deal with that other than 'Run Away!' Maybe I can 'accidentally' find some smoke grenades in a hidden corner of the van and choke the Reapers with lung-cancer or something. Sitting inside the caves where Reapers are too big to go and zapping them for 30 rounds with no effect is not fun.
You can also panic them with fire, but it's like 50-50 if they'll burn to death first.
Post by: TamerVirus on February 25, 2020, 09:45:54 am
Apparently finishing off the list of acclaimed VN classics that look tolerable with Ever 17. Impression from the first "playtrough" - god, it's finally just a fine book, without gratuitous fucking (although there are some light and funny jokes in it's direction), wacky superman fights, WILL POWERS, slice of life alternatives, and even without (much :P) magibabble. Many a thing set up for Grand Reveal in second playtrogh, yet first is not worse for it. Some suspicious "technical details"... Googled, facepalmed a bit - 50% of things related to water physics is "artistic license" all the way. Went to see what Oracle of Half-thruths aka tvtropes: russian version says about this. Nothing much, but i facepalmed harder after reading it a bit. There is at least one thing true to "canon" - among characters, there is exactly one Totally Ordinary Schoolboy. Or maybe there are none, i didn't read too hard into that.But who kicked the can tho?
Post by: itisnotlogical on February 26, 2020, 02:49:56 am
On the other hand, it feels very masochistic. I've suffered a TPK at the height of my power, and resurrecting certain party members is so expensive that I have to keep replacements on standby to grind the requisite gold. My cleric refuses to learn "dialko" on level-ups, so paralysis (a relatively common attack starting on level 3) instantly ends an expedition. My most powerful fighter, an absolute beast with hit points in the low 90s, was turned to ash by the temple and now they're charging double the price to try resurrecting him again.
I have a feeling this is one of those games I'll come back to occasionally but never get close to beating, like Long Live The Queen or FTL.
Post by: scriver on February 26, 2020, 07:53:37 am
Post by: jocan2003 on February 26, 2020, 06:02:24 pm
Im seriously thinking about cheating to kill them.... I cannot see the argon being able to clear 5 I.
Post by: nenjin on February 26, 2020, 06:40:11 pm
I'm playing Wizardry 1 for the NES and can't really decide if I like it. I've played it every day for a few hours for at least a week, so it must be doing something right.
On the other hand, it feels very masochistic. I've suffered a TPK at the height of my power, and resurrecting certain party members is so expensive that I have to keep replacements on standby to grind the requisite gold. My cleric refuses to learn "dialko" on level-ups, so paralysis (a relatively common attack starting on level 3) instantly ends an expedition. My most powerful fighter, an absolute beast with hit points in the low 90s, was turned to ash by the temple and now they're charging double the price to try resurrecting him again.
I have a feeling this is one of those games I'll come back to occasionally but never get close to beating, like Long Live The Queen or FTL.
This checks out for Wizardry for the NES. I remember trying to beat it at friend's house in grade school. Things would go swimmingly for the first 3 levels, next two levels they get a little spicy, and then floor 6,7, TPK.
Post by: Imic on February 27, 2020, 11:21:05 am
Making abominations of nature is fun, though.
Post by: AzyWng on February 27, 2020, 11:58:41 am
Problem is, I can’t get close enough to my foes to reliably hit them without being shot first - and since none of my mercs have any armor, those shots are gonna hurt.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on February 28, 2020, 09:50:58 pm
Post by: xaritscin on March 01, 2020, 01:04:48 pm
Finally got Spore to work on my PC, and it only took like three years. I am quite comfortable in now passing judgement: this game is definitely underwhelming for what it claims to be. There wasn’t really any doubt about that, but there we go.
Making abominations of nature is fun, though.
dont forget to add the DLCs. and there's some coold mods still standing (albeit they can only do so much to improve the experience). there's also several sites and artists that make cool content. not sure how many blogs are still living but yeah, there was a time where you could download cool creatures and props to replace those vanilla organisms. i personally recommend playing around with a concept for the race and try to theme the buildings and vehicles on that. i had some cool empires going on my other PC. SPORE had something going on despite having lost so much potential in its development but it can be a good passtimer.
hopefully Thrive will get there eventually, Microbe stage seems to be getting better and better as time goes on, the first part of multicellular shouldnt be too far in the future.
as for me, im currently playing Underrail when not working on EVE. character build is mostly focused on being stealthy with good communication skills but having thermokinesis(or whatever is called) as backup. visiting Junkyard at the moment but still havent done the old junkyard mission, need to improve skills first before delving there.
EDIT:
naaa fuck that, i decided to start again with a different build. stealth oriented but no psionics, just good ol pistols (with versatility feat in case i need to run into melee). currently running the GMS compound mission.
Post by: Yoink on March 05, 2020, 11:19:11 am
Also a bit of the CTR reboot. Oh, and a couple of phone games I try to keep up with. Now I'm spoilt for choice as to what games to play, though.
Post by: Iduno on March 05, 2020, 11:32:30 am
as for me, im currently playing Underrail when not working on EVE. character build is mostly focused on being stealthy with good communication skills but having thermokinesis(or whatever is called) as backup. visiting Junkyard at the moment but still havent done the old junkyard mission, need to improve skills first before delving there.
EDIT:
naaa fuck that, i decided to start again with a different build. stealth oriented but no psionics, just good ol pistols (with versatility feat in case i need to run into melee). currently running the GMS compound mission.
I enjoyed the first 1/2-2/3 of Underrail, but I remember the last portion that I played being wandering around trying to find places, or trying to grind better crafting materials so I could grind better equipment. The crafting system was moderately interesting, but way too granular. It's a game I still have installed because I liked it, but also I know I'll never play again because it was too frustrating.
Post by: Rince Wind on March 05, 2020, 11:55:44 am
Trying to get into Jagged Alliance 2 with its 1.13 mod.
Problem is, I can’t get close enough to my foes to reliably hit them without being shot first - and since none of my mercs have any armor, those shots are gonna hurt.
Fight at night, especially with mercs that are night fighters. The enemies don't have 360° vision either so you can get at them from behind. When you take them out without being noticed the others are not alarmed. Melee and throwing knives are good at this. Takes practice though, especially melee.
You can also take a few (not many) hits from the firearms the enemies carry at the beginning, or you could pay for a merc that has a decent starting weapon/gear.
Post by: Blastbeard on March 05, 2020, 09:07:34 pm
Post by: delphonso on March 08, 2020, 01:12:24 am
Post by: Iduno on March 08, 2020, 09:59:24 am
La Pucelle: Ragnarok. I'm still undecided on how I feel about it. Interesting mechanic with the energy lines stuff. And the semi-Fire Emblem combat thing is also a refreshing change from other NIS games. Story is...well, it's Nippon Ichi, so it's trash. Recruitment is very weird.
N1 is entertaining trash.
Edit: I just lost my first attempt at ascension 17 as Silent in Slay the Spire. Snecko skull is almost a replacement for being not that great at this game. Toss in a catalyst to shave a few rounds off the fight, and you're golden.
Post by: xaritscin on March 08, 2020, 10:48:52 pm
not sure what is happening with the site. i could play the game right on but i kind of wanted to fix the visuals and bugs first (that character and NPC models overhaul is just too good to not install it, also the unofficial patches)
Post by: delphonso on March 09, 2020, 01:03:53 am
Post by: Iduno on March 09, 2020, 07:41:06 am
I really don't know how Nexus got to become the "hub" for mods. Their registration is a nightmare. I've lost like three accounts and finally ran into that same problem as you - since then I've just stopped going there unless the mods can be downloaded without signing in.
I think they used to be the easiest. You used to be able to download anything without registering, then they decided they hate people, and you need to spend 30 minutes trying to reset your password and reactivate your account before you can download anything. At least it sounds like everyone hates Nexus enough that people will find some new site that lets you upload files at some point.
Post by: Mephisto on March 09, 2020, 08:17:59 am
Post by: Robsoie on March 09, 2020, 10:26:19 am
I really don't know how Nexus got to become the "hub" for mods. Their registration is a nightmare. I've lost like three accounts and finally ran into that same problem as you - since then I've just stopped going there unless the mods can be downloaded without signing in.
I think they used to be the easiest. You used to be able to download anything without registering, then they decided they hate people, and you need to spend 30 minutes trying to reset your password and reactivate your account before you can download anything. At least it sounds like everyone hates Nexus enough that people will find some new site that lets you upload files at some point.
ModDB has always been a hugely popular modding hosting website for near to 2 decades, and never required you to have an account (and do the "change your password" that nexus do every couple of years after getting things compromised) to download any mod.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 09, 2020, 04:07:03 pm
Metal Gear has been a huge part of gaming for me since I was little, so it's a shame to see it go out because Konami decided to force Kojima out and ruin themselves as a games company. Kojima forcing out David Hayter was a crime in itself, too; Kiefer Sutherland hardly says anything and sounds disinterested and hung-over when he does. OTOH at least it ended with a bang and finally closed the gap between MGS3 and the original Metal Gear.
The multiplayer stuff is obnoxious, since Metal Gear has always been the series I think of when someone says "single-player." At least it's optional; I only did the online stuff when absolutely forced, and wasn't locked out of any single-player content for it. I'm curious how the story will be affected when the servers are inevitably shut down.
As for the story, well, it's a Metal Gear Solid plot; you probably already know if you like it or not. Personally, I really enjoyed it. I was glad to realize that cassette tapes fill the role of long-winded Codec calls, a tradition that fell by the wayside in MGS3 and never recovered. It has the typical prequel problem where a LOT of stuff happens that you think would be mentioned by games later in the chronology, but is never brought up again.
Spoiler: Spoiler territory (click to show/hide)
Post by: xaritscin on March 10, 2020, 09:19:53 am
Post by: delphonso on March 10, 2020, 09:27:48 am
Itisnotlogical, a criticism I heard before I played and agree with was that since the conversations are so spread out, it's constantly jarring that the wrong voice comes out. In spoiler territory, I totally agree with your first statement, real missed opportunity. Who knows, that might have been the plan but cut because Kojima was walking out the door before the game was half finished.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 15, 2020, 09:21:50 pm
Maybe I'd appreciate it more if I liked The Bard's Tale to begin with, but I don't.
Post by: Iduno on March 15, 2020, 10:25:39 pm
Bard's Tale Trilogy: Remastered is on GamePass. The Bard's Tale has aged poorly, even compared to its contemporaries. The 3D view is nice I guess, but all the portraits and such look like the original game was put through a 6000x smoothing filter; it's "faithful" but still pretty damn ugly.
Maybe I'd appreciate it more if I liked The Bard's Tale to begin with, but I don't.
You killed 3 rats, gained a level, and don't get anything for it for another 76 hours while you scrape up the gold to pay for training, and that's not good enough for you?
Yeah, Bard's Tale was terrible in multiple ways.
Post by: nenjin on March 16, 2020, 11:11:18 am
I respect Bard's Tale though as a game from an era where your dudes could actually die, and you could recruit new ones.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 16, 2020, 11:25:52 pm
Post by: askovdk on March 17, 2020, 04:18:46 am
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-10-vagrant-story-one-of-the-greatest-jrpgs-ever-turns-20 (https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-10-vagrant-story-one-of-the-greatest-jrpgs-ever-turns-20)
I (re-)bought Vagrant Story for my Vita, and I must say it has aged very well, - perhaps also because you don't really see the rough textures as much on the minimal screen. But the story, progression and (somewhat silly 'beat a dragon in one chain attack') combat is still solid.
Post by: delphonso on March 17, 2020, 04:56:32 am
Post by: nenjin on March 17, 2020, 09:48:48 am
Post by: Dakorma on March 17, 2020, 03:17:53 pm
Post by: AzyWng on March 17, 2020, 09:46:46 pm
Surprisingly difficult. I actually had to watch myself a few times and run away when spotted.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on March 18, 2020, 06:15:48 pm
Dis GeForce now shit is bangin. I got a 2 pack of lil' C-plug/USB converters and I've got my 360 controller plugged into my phone. No problems yet.
Post by: Iduno on March 18, 2020, 09:25:13 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 18, 2020, 10:07:27 pm
The minor inconvenience of switching between DOSBox and the walkthrough PDF is surprisingly annoying. If I had the physical book or even a second monitor it would be easier. I can't believe I'm complaining about how difficult it is to cheat.
Post by: scriver on March 20, 2020, 10:07:12 am
It's funny to media the have am the years worth of making cloning games and you still can't even climb a tree.
Post by: Iduno on March 20, 2020, 10:16:30 am
It's funny to media the have am the years (https://youtu.be/hPpG2Hf4hMA)
Did you trust autocorrect?
Post by: scriver on March 20, 2020, 12:40:32 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 20, 2020, 05:08:04 pm
Post by: nenjin on March 20, 2020, 05:43:36 pm
Quote
It's funny to media the have am the years worth of making cloning games and you still can't even climb a tree.
I mean...technically you've been able to climb trees since Assassin's Creed 3. Just a very special kind of tree.
I've resisted playing any disease or plague or survival or apocalypse-related games because I don't really want my entertainment to remind me of RL right now.....but tbh I thought of Prototype and couldn't help but install it.
Post by: methylatedspirit on March 21, 2020, 02:30:46 am
Maybe next time, I'll side with the Board, so that
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 21, 2020, 04:00:40 am
Reading the manual, it's amusing to see that Lord British really is an incompetent idiot, as the meme goes.
"Hey Lord British, we shouldn't really need your permission, but can we form the Fellowship?"
"No"
"Pleeeeeease here's some money!"
"No"
"Pretty please"
"ugh fine"
"Okay, so we're--"
"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW JUST GO DO IT"
For all LB knows, the Fellowship could have been a plot to burn down Trinsic or build nuclear bombs or something. Despite the thou's and goofy ink drawings, this seems like the beginning of a Spongebob episode.
Post by: Robsoie on March 21, 2020, 08:52:36 am
the combats were incredibly simplified in comparison to most other rpg of the era but at least they're not lasting too long considering their lack of battle options (at least until you get companions that adds at least some placement fun).
My best memory was walking along the coast and seeing a pirate ship coming to attack, waiting and once the ship came close, went in and killed the lonely pirate ... and i was then the proud owner of a ship i could board to navigate around while hopeless land monsters were hopelessly moving around trying to get to me :D
the thing i really disliked was the dialogue system, as the game only know a very limited amount of word, so out of "job", "name", "look", and sometime a word coming from a reply an npc does (by example asking a lord about his job, he tells that he rules the province, so you can ask "province"), the npc will reply with tons of "can"t help thee" type of answer.
I wish they would have done the same as they did on the NES or Master System ports (the sega master system version had the best visuals) for the dialogues in which you select the words instead of playing the "hey game do you know that word ? no ? let's try this one ... still no ? and that one ? still no ? *sigh* "
That said, it's also worthwhile to try to play the nes/sega (the master system one is very recommended) version of Ultima 4 on some emulator, that version benefit from several "quality of life" improvements (and oddly replaced all those default "thou", "thee", "thy" ancient english text by their "you" "your" modern version ) .
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 21, 2020, 10:13:25 am
I actually rather like the graphics in DOS Ultima IV. The little dancing stick figures are cute, and the limited detail on top of a black background speaks to me in a way that the not-quite-Final Fantasy aesthetic of the console ports doesn't.
Post by: Robsoie on March 21, 2020, 11:21:25 pm
Spent much more time than i thought i would with this very nice game, it really surprised me by the depth the further you progress.
Gameplay is rather fast as scenarios aren't too long so you don't have time to get bored.
There's a lots of unlock coming regularly with more classes (that comes with their own dices and abilities) , new scenarios, new items, special stuff happening (just got a mutation possibility for monsters) that relaunch the interest everytime and open new tactics.
Very good gameplay mechanics too with dices, the captures etc... , and interesting choices when you level up in a scenario as it will influence your strategy further (need more money to buy different dices ? need more XP to reach the next level and get more bonus ? need more gems to use the special abilities ?) in a good or bad way depending on what you're going to face and your current situation.
the replay value is rather high and it has lot of content already, looks like the dev continue to develop it as a new version just came today.
Post by: Persus13 on March 22, 2020, 01:32:49 pm
Post by: Iduno on March 23, 2020, 07:10:57 am
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 24, 2020, 04:54:28 am
Post by: nenjin on March 24, 2020, 10:17:13 am
Just got back into playing Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, and almost quit again after spending a large amount of time wandering through the sewers for an eternity. Some of the puzzles involved were actually kind of interesting, but getting stuck in places I couldn't get out of and resetting a ton of progress, or trying to find the way forward when all the pipes look the same was not. I'm hoping now that I've found the sewer vampires I don't have to ever do that again and I can sidestep all that.
I think you can do everything you need there in one shot.
Also almost certain you unlock a short cut to get back there.
Post by: Persus13 on March 24, 2020, 10:38:06 am
Post by: Iduno on March 24, 2020, 01:03:13 pm
Post by: Dunamisdeos on March 24, 2020, 02:37:44 pm
With no internet, single player games of yore are getting plenty of attention.
Post by: oldark on March 24, 2020, 03:28:46 pm
Post by: Iduno on March 24, 2020, 03:37:34 pm
X3: Terran Conflict.
With no internet, single player games of yore are getting plenty of attention.
Yeah, until I run out and have to plug my movie drive in.
Post by: nenjin on March 24, 2020, 03:41:01 pm
That's good to hear. The game's a lot of fun, but dialogue free wanderings through early 2000's graphics is not the game's strong suit.
The sewer section in VtM:BL is notorious for how awful most people found it. It is the one complete stinker in an otherwise solid game. Depending on your build its not that hard. If you're a gun guy, you'll run out of ammo. If you're a melee guy, you'll need to regen health at some point. If you use disciplines for heavy lifting you'll quickly find there are more guys than you have blood to deal with. Basically, if you didn't know about it ahead of time and stocked up on blood packs and ammo, it will be a rough time.
That said I think you can sprint through the vast majority of it.
Post by: Robsoie on March 24, 2020, 05:05:01 pm
Lost so many attempts before with all the classes on this one, this scenario is just insane, the amount of enemy with disease effect (that cumulate and spread at every rolls, with more diseased dice removing even more health each turn) and none have only 1 attack power it seemed like a miracle i managed to beat this one.
Lots of luck was involved too.
And there are 3 harder scenario still waiting for me to unlock more stuff, this game is going to drive me crazy :D
[spoiler]
Circadian Dice
(https://i.imgur.com/v1G6dXum.png) (https://i.imgur.com/v1G6dXu.png)
[spoiler]
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 24, 2020, 08:14:44 pm
KOTOR 1: I hate Pazaak edition. I'm kidding, everyone hates pazaak always. Even when you're enjoying it, it's because you're you're finally overcoming the bastard game's RNG.
I don't remember ever playing Pazaak in either KOTOR game. As gambling minigames in RPGs go, it seriously blows.
Post by: Teneb on March 25, 2020, 09:22:10 am
Ah, reminds me of the time when I grinded Pazaak like a madman and got hundreds of thousands of credits out of it.KOTOR 1: I hate Pazaak edition. I'm kidding, everyone hates pazaak always. Even when you're enjoying it, it's because you're you're finally overcoming the bastard game's RNG.
I don't remember ever playing Pazaak in either KOTOR game. As gambling minigames in RPGs go, it seriously blows.
Post by: Robsoie on March 31, 2020, 06:45:52 am
Spent some time recruiting and roaming around the Empire to look if i could join ongoing battles .
It was usually the best way to get started and leveled in Pendor due to crazy difficulty for early characters as what was considered weak "bandits" in Native usually in Pendor has some very strong warriors amongst the fodder that can one shot most of your early troops with ease.
So joining lords battle is at least a way to have on your side some strong fighters while you're trying to not die.
At the head of 50 low level troopers, i finally ran into a battle between an Empire lord and a Sarleon one, with the empire guy having slightly more troops, perfect !
After jumping in the melee with my warband to help the imperials
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Iduno on March 31, 2020, 12:42:58 pm
Ah, reminds me of the time when I grinded Pazaak like a madman and got hundreds of thousands of credits out of it.KOTOR 1: I hate Pazaak edition. I'm kidding, everyone hates pazaak always. Even when you're enjoying it, it's because you're you're finally overcoming the bastard game's RNG.
I don't remember ever playing Pazaak in either KOTOR game. As gambling minigames in RPGs go, it seriously blows.
The only place I know to do that is on the first planet, when your deck is worse than theirs, and the game suggests the character cheats. You make/lose 40 per game, so even 1,000 credits is too many games.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 31, 2020, 04:09:18 pm
I also have no idea when or how the expansion content is supposed to begin. If it isn't obvious by the time I beat the game, I'll use a walkthrough to get started on that.
Post by: Robsoie on March 31, 2020, 04:40:39 pm
At least it was like that during my run with Exult , though i never went on location myself.
Post by: itisnotlogical on March 31, 2020, 04:54:08 pm
Post by: delphonso on April 02, 2020, 09:53:19 am
I never played it as the pawn art style never jived with me. Gotta say, wish I had gotten into it earlier. Feels quite like Warband in some ways - like losing somewhat rolling you far back to the start and the game having lots of different random things that are basically the same two things.
Died to a zombie horde while I moved in too close and thought - it's slow going but it's going. Then the necromancer undid all my work and the fatigue set in. Svien the Swallowed almost made it, but a possessed zombie hit him twice after catching up to him and that was the end of my forst game...
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 12, 2020, 08:35:50 am
Does anybody happen to know how, in the Fallout 4 creation kit, you would place a weapon/armor that already has mods (as in craftable attachments, not game mods) attached to it? All I've found is a short YouTube clip that apparently showed it being done, but no explanation of what was happening.
Post by: Iduno on April 12, 2020, 10:32:08 am
Now that I can play Fallout 4 on PC, I get to relive theself-inflicted agonysheer joy of banging mods together in various combinations until they do what I want and look good doing it. Then when my world is all set up to explore, I feel like going to bed and never looking at a computer screen again.
Does anybody happen to know how, in the Fallout 4 creation kit, you would place a weapon/armor that already has mods (as in craftable attachments, not game mods) attached to it? All I've found is a short YouTube clip that apparently showed it being done, but no explanation of what was happening.
Pretend I posted a picture of Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill, and the rock was labelled "modding Fallout 4."
Post by: Haspen on April 12, 2020, 11:43:55 am
No luck so far.
Post by: xaritscin on April 12, 2020, 10:37:03 pm
Post by: delphonso on April 12, 2020, 11:44:58 pm
Post by: itisnotlogical on April 13, 2020, 12:19:16 am
It's hard to skip through it in a quick manner, because a lot of it is "ambient" lines where two NPCs are talking to each other, meaning you can't click through it. I know about the quicksave/quickload trick but it doesn't always work and besides, it's annoying to do.
Still, I'm excited for my two-handed light armor berserker to slowly descend into stealth archery once again. I never completed Dragonborn in the original game, maybe I'll do that this time.
Post by: Haspen on April 13, 2020, 02:14:12 am
Crying Suns is cool - FTL with tactical combat (hex based RPS of different units). I like the atmosphere. A little frustrated with the endurance of enemies - some fights are just a bit better than even and takes ages to chip down the enemy hull. Makes it less snappy than FTL and more frustrating if you lose a run.
Fighters. You want fighters.
They're fast to travel, and their decent damage is made better by fast rate of fire. They are my first choice to destroy enemy battleships.
Post by: Imic on April 13, 2020, 04:00:38 pm
Post by: xaritscin on April 13, 2020, 10:49:48 pm
Post by: nenjin on April 14, 2020, 10:11:33 am
Had avoided this one for a while, because the vaguely cute art style really didn't do it for me. Neither did the idea it's about bugs.
But after 8 hours it's won me over. It's the combination of the Dark Souls-esqe story and world, the excellence of the Metroidvania design and just the general execution, mostly music.
Having now played many of the big name 2d Soulslike Metroidvanias, Salt & Sanctuary, Blashphemous, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night (to a lesser extent) and this.....I think Hollow Knight is one of the most well rounded of the group. Thematically I certainly enjoy Blasphemous more. And Salt & Sanctuary has better gearing options.....but for what it does, HK does it well.
Levels _almost_ overstay their welcome sometimes, and I can't say I enjoy the platforming sections because of how far you'll end up running back if you die.
But what I really like is the exploration tension. You DELVE in HK, and because travel points are so few and far between, there's real tension in trying to stay alive, deciding when to head back, and all that. It also really, really makes you use your money which I love. I hate games where you can just grind cash and buy out everything you can see super easily, leaving the rest for purposefully overpriced stuff. HK makes money feel like it matters, so you have a reason to keep slaying baddies.
There's also just so much side content, and tons of backtracking due to unlocks. Every other screen it feels like has some backtracking loot, or a hidden secret or something.
The world is even starting to grow on me a little bit. HK takes the melancholy to 11, but also gives me that Super Metroid "wandering through a buried ancient civilization" vibe.
If I have one gripe it's that they over did the after effects. The whole screen shake/sound muting when you get hit is over way over the top. The gas explosions and what not, the weird floaty shit in certain areas of the game, and the overall additional "stuff" used to enhance the visuals, while generally good, more than often goes too far over the top and becomes a distraction.
That's a pretty minor gripe overall though. Really enjoying it, glad I finally gave it a chance.
Post by: delphonso on April 14, 2020, 11:55:13 pm
Post by: MCreeper on April 20, 2020, 12:27:36 pm
Post by: Yoink on April 20, 2020, 01:26:36 pm
I've only just bought it and haven't played enough to get a feel for it, but I plan on changing that this morning. Time to make a new, more entertaining character and start fresh! Still tryna decide what kind of build to go for, though.
Edit: I think I like this game! At first there was a definitely a moment of "oh jeez what did I just spend sixty bucks on" but no, now I'm getting into it and it is quite nice. There's plenty of surprisingly enjoyable dialogue, I'm starting to like a lot of the characters, and of course there's a fair bit of lovely scenery.
Still wish there were more options when it comes to quests, though. Like, I find a missing person, they're fine, I'd expect to go tell folks there's no cause for alarm (or, better yet, tell 'em I found said missing person's corpse), but instead the game expects me to do a whole pain-in-the-arse runaround to convince them to go back to their previous, even shittier living situation? Pass.
Instead I guess I'll just start killing people, starting with the biggest pain in my posterior and working my way down from there until that part of the quest breaks and the survivors can get on with their lives. At least this game lets you take that approach to problem-solving, unlike pretty much any Bethesda game I'm aware of!
Post by: Fire and Glory on May 05, 2020, 06:13:49 am
Picture:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It's a side scrolling game about a knight(?) with a big sword determinedly walking to the right and fencing with whatever gets in his way, including peasants, cows, other knights, and desert hobos with sticks.
You can
It's difficult although not that difficult as I've reached level 3 of 5 in the span of one or two hours. Still, there's a lot of dying and doing the level again and the game has hit me with at least one cheap shot*. It also feels somewhat unreasonably difficult to tell if an enemy is attack left or right. Still, I'm enjoying it more or less, especially for the price. (1.79 NZD, cheaper for Americans.)
One of the reasons I bought the game was that I was curious why we're killing random peasants and farmyard animals in the demo. I've no answer at the moment but perhaps it'll become clear in the end. Or maybe the reason is just that we're a Bastard?
It's on sale and it has a demo so some of you might enjoy it a bit too eh?
*Certain enemies will fling their weapon up into the air when dying, at least one's weapon will hurt you if it makes contact when it comes down.
Finished the game, it was pretty alright. Had a bit of ambiguous plot stuff to think about too. I don't regret dropping two dollars on it.
Post by: Rince Wind on May 05, 2020, 03:44:28 pm
Post by: nenjin on May 05, 2020, 04:39:47 pm
At this point in the game's lifespan, there's about 14 different ways to all reach the same end goal: max out your character level and get the sickest gear possible. There's a strange inequality between activities, where no one activity can totally meet all your needs (credits, because high end upgrading is fairly random and so mind bogglingly expensive, Fate in case you still don't own all the DLC or are spending it routinely on fat loot chests and cosmetics, Influence because unless you methodically cleared each system there are gaps in older areas you've leveled past, and gear. Because of the repeatable missions with loot crates vs. random drops, regular missions end up being less profitable on the credits and gear front by comparison.)
So you bounce around to a lot of different kinds of activities in Martyr. Then you mix in the Tarot cards to further tweak what you want to get out of missions.
My psyker has ascended to new levels of brokenness as I've started filling out all his gear with sockets and putting Pslam Doctrines together. Gear is a little harder to find real upgrades for now (and expensive as hell to tailor to your needs), so Pslams and Shards make up the real upgrades for me right now. And I'm a little annoyed that Archeotech and Ancient Relics are actually often sub-optimal compared to just regular relics. You wait all this time to find a new sexy drop and it turns out to be so marginally better in some areas while objectively weaker in others, and can range from "can't re-roll the big special stat" to "can't be re-rolled at all" so....you just shard it. Wah wah.
All in all though, still enjoying it despite the grindiness. Mostly because I'm so disgustingly OP and have not yet found the ceiling on that.
Post by: Fire and Glory on May 05, 2020, 08:09:14 pm
Did you find out why you had to fight peasants and their animals?Nothing definitive but it does give you a few possible reasons. The story is only told through a picture you're given at the end of every level and most of these pictures aren't centered on the Bastard so it's hard to know what's going on.
Post by: nenjin on May 06, 2020, 06:39:53 pm
In these really trying times, I think I felt the need for some really quality nostalgia.
I have a good friend who I've played games with since we were kids, and I asked him "Have you ever played Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines?" And he was like "no." (We basically played the last 1/3rd of Hollow Knight together.)
He has a mixed relationship with the World of Darkness. A lot of it he likes. But the rules system, the tone and the players have always been a huge turn off for him. He's not goth, he hates anything remotely mopey, and he hates getting shit on by NPCs. All of which are kinda features of VtM.
I've always generally liked it, for many reasons, even though I have my own reservations about the WoD in general. Some of which I share with him.
Which is why I've always like Bloodlines so much. For me it was everything I like about WoD with just enough humor and absurdity to stop it from being completely melodramatic and up its own ass, with "Interview with a Vampire" levels of "woe is me."
So I invited my friend to play through it. He wanted to switch off but differing control schemes and and the fact I've beaten it like 3 times, made me just want to let him drive while I provided as much context, explanation and guidance as I thought was fun. I didn't want to spoil anything for him or drive him toward what I'd do in every instance.
Anyways, he's really been enjoying it. It's gratifying as a fan of the video game, and as a fan of the table top, it's nice to see him find an appreciate for WoD that isn't totally smothered by his dislikes. It doesn't do anything for his actual problems of the ruleset or tone or w/e of the table top, but it's a delivery of WoD he can appreciate and that brings him closer to the setting instead of being an instant turn off.
He went with a Ventrue which, on reflection, is basically easy mode as far as the roleplaying portion of it is concerned. Need someone to do something? *DOMINATE* Problem solved. It's interesting watching him play it how sections I thought were enormous are actually kinda small. (Although the fucking Hollywood sewers were still a massive slog as always.) I feel like he's also had the experience that the game generally gets better the deeper in to it you get. Fresh things, novelty and variety.
Anyways, just kind of a warm fuzzy to see someone get in to a game you've always cherished.
Post by: Iduno on May 06, 2020, 08:59:55 pm
But the rules system, the tone and the players have always been a huge turn off for him. He's not goth, he hates anything remotely mopey, and he hates getting shit on by NPCs.
If he's going to pick problems with WoD, he kind of hit all of the big ones.
Post by: nenjin on May 10, 2020, 04:24:43 pm
Seems like a pretty solid Roguelike. I enjoyed Bastion but never finished it, less because of the combat and more because of the aesthetic. Didn't play Transistor because the theme and art didn't grab me, and I'd already played RUINER which seemed like almost exactly the same thing.
Hades looks pretty quality though. Almost 10 gigs big, which guaranteed is almost all voice acting. The art is lovely, the game handles pretty snappily and there's oodles and oodles of roguelike unlockable goodness to be had. Along with lots of just flavorful dialog. It's a nice take on the whole "Die and Fight Again" theme. You're a god of the underworld and so can't die for real. Some allusions to Dark Souls-esqe challenge from some of the NPCs.
Gonna enjoy the hell out of this, might play it hot seat with a friend.
Post by: Telgin on May 10, 2020, 07:45:04 pm
Overall, I really enjoyed the game. The bosses were all pretty easy, but that's okay, I was using the game as a means of relaxing anyway. I'm curious to see what some of the post game content is like, and expect that some of it will probably be very challenging since it's optional.
Post by: Sergius on May 12, 2020, 02:15:26 pm
Having a fun time, I must say, even tho combat takes forever, even tho I have it accelerated to 25x speed.
Also, Bethesda games has nothing on W8 regarding leveled enemies. Levels are so meaningless and enemies are always your level±1, and your skills go up without leveling, so the more you level the harder it gets for no apparent gain, other than spells having level AND skill requirements. OTOH you CAN choose not to level.
Post by: Folly on June 07, 2020, 03:48:48 pm
Played it more than a year ago. Enjoyed the gameplay, but not enough progression to hold my interest for long.
Started DRG up again after the 1.0 update, and I'm happy to say there's some progression now. Each of the four classes has two quests to unlock alternate weapons, Promotions are a thing after hitting level 25, and there are endgame missions which award bonus effects that can be pinned to weapons. Graphics have also been improved since I last played.
I called it barely worth buying last time I played, but now I consider it well worth the purchase price.
Post by: da_nang on June 20, 2020, 08:09:23 am
I'm four badges in, went through hell catching everything in the Safari Zone (including the elusive resident Dr. Eggman AKA Chansey), and I figured I might as well start prepping for The Endgame with some training. Charizard ain't gonna save our butts alone and all that.
I now realize I've probably screwed up on the training a bit since I've trained on the Cycling Road and Route 18. EVs are probably all out of wack with a lot of focus on speed and defense.
Of course I solve that with overcorrection, grabbing the resident pupper Growlithe out of vacation and hitting the weights. But first, Celadon Department Store.
And lo, after spending 200k+ pokedollars and a kidney on vitamins, I hit the road for some Attack, Special Attack, and Speed training.
Only to later find out all of those boosted stats were sub-5 IVs.
In other words, my Growlithe is now one of the world's most expensive puppers.
RIP wallet.
Post by: MCreeper on July 07, 2020, 02:01:01 pm
Post by: nenjin on July 07, 2020, 03:17:24 pm
Playing a lot of the new update for Hades as well. Not much else going on there, but I'm starting to push into the higher heat levels which has made for some exceptionally spicy runs. If you want to really see everything in that game, you have to talk to NPCs dozens and dozens of times to get through all their dialog to the quest-bits. If the gameplay weren't as fun or addictive I'd probably be annoyed, but I enjoy doing runs enough in that the continued evolving NPC dialog just comes across as a bonus.
Also been playing Inquistor: Martyr. My roommate and several friends picked it up over the summer sale and we've been crushing our way through the campaign. The game is definitely better in coop IMO, you start getting some crazy big enemy groups that makes the combat crazier and more engaging than playing solo and just picking guys off.
Still trying to get some time into Terraria as well but plenty of other gaming opportunities keep coming up.
Post by: Nighthawk on July 10, 2020, 01:57:14 am
Impressions after 20 hours: it's fun! Perhaps a little oversimple, but maybe that's just because I expected Etrian Odyssey levels of team-building complexity from Atlus. Then again, I'm not particularly fond of how punishing Etrian Odyssey is right from the get-go, and Persona 4 has been a lot nicer in that regard. Unlike Etrian Odyssey, it actually gives you all of the tools you need to succeed instead of expecting you to scrounge up the resources from nothing and somehow defeat a boss that can debilitate your party into submission when you don't necessarily have the abilities to stop that from happening.
It's also been ramping up in difficulty at a decent pace. The first dungeon was a bit of a snorefest, but the second is actually starting to threaten me, even with mooks, so that's cool. I enjoy the fact that the game plays around with different combinations of enemies and makes you think about what to prioritize; it feels like everything is carefully crafted and the game does a lot with a very little. For instance, I freaked out when I saw a powerful caster enemy paired with a bunch of birds that spammed insanely powerful attack buffs, but then I realized the caster was the only real damage dealer in the enemy group and inflicted Silence on it to effectively remove the entire threat.
It never gets old seeing enemies be rendered completely impotent by status effects, and I enjoy an RPG that lets me get good use out of them like this.
I'm also enjoying the whole school-life aspect a lot more than I thought I would. The game may be Japanese as heck, but it feels a lot more grounded and a bit less anime-esque than I expected, which is honestly a huge relief. The characters are generally pretty likable (Yosuke is a bro and I will never remove him from my party) and the time-management aspect somehow keeps me invested in trying to micromanage effectively without stressing me out.
I'm definitely starting to see why so many people praise the Persona games. I'm confident I'll finish this one, which is something I can't say of a lot of RPGs nowadays, and I'm really hoping to see Persona 5 become available on PC like this in the future, 'cause if it's anything like Persona 4, I'll probably enjoy it, too.
Post by: scriver on July 10, 2020, 03:46:56 am
I've never played any of them. The thread of being too grindy puts me off
Post by: nenjin on July 10, 2020, 10:16:08 am
Post by: Nighthawk on July 10, 2020, 01:15:28 pm
I own Persona 3, but the random and kind of uninteresting dungeons sorta killed my interest in it.Yeah, that's probably one of my few complaints about 4, actually; the dungeons are randomly generated bland corridors with a theme. I honestly wouldn't care if they weren't as long as they are, but they do tend to drag on a bit. At least the battles are pretty fun, since that's pretty much all you're there for.
Post by: nenjin on July 10, 2020, 01:35:10 pm
Post by: TamerVirus on July 11, 2020, 10:51:45 am
Actually getting around to playing a modded run instead of what I usually do: spend weeks downloading and configuring a modlist together only to drop the game a few days later
Post by: nautilu on July 11, 2020, 03:36:29 pm
Tried civ 5 with the conversion mods and they are badly balanced. Finding something reasonable seems impossible, its not a bad game.
Post by: MCreeper on July 12, 2020, 05:45:54 am
I got Stellar Tactics, Space Haven and Civ 5 in the summer sale. So far I am disappointed in both. Tactics is extremely light on tactics. Its not well done at ALL. I have played better 10 year old tactical rpgs. And Space Haven is so far just one big demo. Feels like DF-9 all over again.Civ 5 haves conversion mods? :o
Tried civ 5 with the conversion mods and they are badly balanced. Finding something reasonable seems impossible, its not a bad game.
Unrelated to post above, have been trying civ 5 again. And once again came to a conclusion that civ 5 on around default settings is a gloryfied clicker (maybe even on any? :o ), and that between civ 1, civ 3, civ 4 and civ 5 i genuinely like civ 1 the most. Huge map, 22 players, archipelago, prince difficulty. First war was declared by bot around year 1700. Before that everyone just spammed freindship declarations at each other like it's MLP and spammed denouncements at two seemingly random nations like it's a political caricature. First player was eliminated by me in 1800, because i got bored from sitting around. Apparently, bot conquered a city for first time at the same time. ::) From the nation everyone non-stop spammed denouncements at for the past 100 turns and finally declared war at.
I'm currently at the top both by research and income (by building a total of four cities and just building non-military buildings as they become available), so i guess i either will inevitably win by conquest, or inevitably lose by some yet invisible death timer. Most likely the latter. And on "default" default settings game isn't even playable, because default max map size and default max player amount do not align at all. :P
EDIT: Tried sixth difficulty. This one already seems to be all about outexploiting axe-crazy AI who haves 3 times as much of everything that player does. One civ gone in BC. Not sure if i want to check the fifth.
Post by: nautilu on July 13, 2020, 09:26:39 am
Im a die hard Civ IV player and hated Civ V when it came out. I tried vanilla last month and it was too easy. I built every wonder as single city Venice. But the simple UI grew on me. Looked at mods and lots of people said Vox Populi was good so I gave it a try. It was more challenging in a way because someone improved the AI in a different mod. The problem is that so many years after a civ game is out, only die hard modders are left and they like to get wacky with things. There are not enough players to complain so they break formerly good mods. VP and others are so out of balance that you are guaranteed to win if you play up your civ's bonuses no matter what, and the only challenge is other players getting their win condition because of huge bonuses as well. Its too formulaic in what you have to do. No randomness, no real difficulty, games are over by medieval era. So many idiots bragging they beat it on deity level when they only play a war civ against 8 other peace civs. Thats not an accomplishment.
Civ 5 haves conversion mods? :o
I always play max map, max civs. Civ IV had the best stories.
I cant find anything else to play now.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on July 14, 2020, 09:10:11 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
As you can see I have some strong points
- Energy wise I'm frigging loaded. I have three hydrogen generators (four really,but the fourth is for the electrolyzer setup hydrogen runoff) and two natural gas generators, and two huge reservoirs of both (two hydrogen and one natural gas geysers feeding them)
- I have an oil rig in the basement. Given that it's fed by a glacier and a salt water geyser, I have potentially unlimited oil and natural gas. Right now I'm feeding that oil to the plastic generator to make a transit tube system, but when that's done I'll set up a number of petroleum reservoirs for a rainy day in which my gas burnables geysers go dormant at the same times.
- Resources wise I have a gold volcano and a copper volcano. The gold volcano is located in a convenient area. The copper volcano is a bit far away, but I wont complain.
- I've managed to more or less control temperature in the living and crops area, which is good.
Now ongoing problems
- The steam geyser feeding my main electrolizer rig is a bit short on water. I might sort it out diverting water from the other steam geyser soonish.
- I only have one anti-entropy thermo nullifier. Good enough for my base but I'd like to have a spare to refrigerate some other areas, esp. the electrolyzer rig which kind of worries me medium-term) I'm desperatedly looking for another, but it either doesn't exist or is very far away from the base, and neither is convenient.
- I'm a bit poor on potential pilots, although with a 300.000kcal food stockpile I can afford to risk to hire another guy just to train him up.
- Spacesuit setup for space exploration pending
- I'll probably have to make a steam generating rig for my first rockets, which is annoying as heck.
- I really should turn all that spare salt water which is mostly bothering me into a clean water source for my dupes
- I probably should do some animal husbandry, with hatches, at least. but gah, its such a pain in the ass
Post by: AzyWng on July 16, 2020, 08:48:36 am
Also, started getting into Cataclysm again. Quarterstaff is useful, even if I find the spear strap (a piece of clothing you can store weapons like quarterstaffs in) to be too encumbering to be used with any kind of backpack).
Post by: Yoink on July 29, 2020, 12:22:46 am
Doesn't seem like the kind of game I would be remotely interested in at first glance, but I'm glad I gave it a closer look. Its interesting permadeath mechanic was what really caught my attention: you recruit randomly generated hunters to play as, leveling them up upon surviving a match, but once they die they die and you get just half of the XP you earned in their final mission.
Kinda wish it had a "graveyard" or something - like a lot of permadeath games - where you could look back at all your fallen hunters, but I guess there probably wouldn't be too many folks interested in sifting through all that useless information.
Anyway, the gameplay/gunplay is great, the metagame is great, the atmosphere is great, I personally think it's just plain great. Also, there's still a decent playerbase - and crossplay between platforms, which probably helps.
I also bought a game called Maneater where you play as a shark and presumably tear shit up, but I'm so hooked on Showdown that I am still yet to try it.
Post by: Robsoie on July 29, 2020, 06:22:13 pm
Replayed a flash game I used to enjoy called Road of The Dead 2 (It’s good except for the parts where the controls freeze up. Don’t know why that happens, but it does and it’s inconvenient for an action game.)It's definitively one of the best action flash game i ever played (along with Sierra 7 ) . The sound atmosphere is just incredible.
But i found it very necessary to set the quality to low and disable the zombie "tint", as i guess the control freezing have a lot to do with the game being so heavy (especially from mid game with so much happening in the screen at once) that the flash player have difficulty to cope with it.
The first road of the dead is still very good.
edit : oh just got the control freeze, fortunately switching drivers fix it.
Post by: scriver on August 09, 2020, 04:06:08 am
I'm not a huge Final Fantasy fan in general. Mostly I play 7 and 9 every so often when I get in the mood because I want to have finished them (never have so far). So I recently got 8 in a sale because I remember it from when I had it for PS1 (I was so in love with the edgy characters, being a tween or whatever myself at the time). I remember the furthest I ever got in it was a prison boss or something that I just couldn't beat. I didn't really understand any of the mechanics at the time. It was the same situation with the FF 7 and 9 games we owned, so when I got those for pc, the first thing I did was actually bother to learn how the abilities and materia worked in them. And for 7 and 9 they both were intuitive and easy to understand.
8 though. It's not that it's complicated in theory. I get it. But it's so fucking hassly to actually do anything with it with the UI. I hate it. And I am going to have to force my way that mire of triteness every time the party changes up and for every change of dungeon/area theme. I hate that there is no equipables progression. I hate that there's no way of knowing ahead what design your offences and defences around except looking in guides. I hate that you have so few ability slots that you can't even fit "use an item from the inventory" on there if you want to be effective (but you can't remove the useless "attack" command!). I hate the awful edgy characters ("Squall" -- what a stupid name -- really is like the most awful parts of Cloud except concentrated). I hate the stupid card game (and get anxiety from the thought of losing my good cards) and I hate that I need to play it for advancement and item collection.
I hate this game.
Post by: nenjin on August 09, 2020, 04:30:35 am
It's all the reasons you mentioned (consumable spell uses? Having to farm up more casts of a spell? Whoever thought of that should be shot.)
The story was also the last nail in the coffin for me though. We go from this sweeping, peculiar but heartfelt story in FF7 to some shit about an evil witch and time travel and something something I've blocked it out.
I played FF9 and looked askance at it because of 8 and because it seemed to be a game made for kids.
I skipped FF10 because of everything I saw about it, memes and spheres and what not.
I played FF11 only because it was an MMO and I suppose it was alright for what it was trying to be.
FF12 seemed to be like an actual return to form and quality for Final Fantasy games but in the end it didn't grab me enough to stick with it. I still think about firing it up from time to time.
That was the last FF game I bothered to look at. But it all goes back to FF8, and the colossal waste of time it represented after the highs of FF7. That game pretty much irrevocably damaged my respect and interest in the entire franchise, to the point I could never play a FF game without doubting the choices that were made somewhere. Maybe I just grew up....but I'll never forget or forgive how bad FF8 felt to me.
Post by: Yoink on August 09, 2020, 04:35:54 am
I played the demo a while back via Steam and kinda digged it, but it didn't run particularly well on my laptop. Not well enough to really warrant shelling out for the full version, at least. Recently, though, I learned that there is also a PS4 version - and, after having eyed that for a while, the other day I realised it was something like half-price in the Playstation store.
I hesitated only briefly. I managed to restrain myself from grabbing the console version of the Mordheim videogame, which is apparently also a thing, as well.
Pretty rad so far. I'm only slightly further than I got in the demo way back then, but it is so much smoother playing on console as opposed to my poor old laptop. Sure, you play as pre-made characters with their own personalities and dialogue as opposed to some kinda X-Com type deal, but I can stomach the occasional game with an actual story and shit from time to time, right? Though tbqh I'd rather be playing as the crazy, flesh-eating feral mutant types you come up against in the Zone, but that's just me.
One thing I'm especially tickled by are the amusing descriptions of pre-apocalypse items and what their original purpose was, as divined by the most 'knowledeable' researchers of the Ark - who do as best they can, I suppose. I like it when post-apoc settings have little touches like that.
Post by: delphonso on August 09, 2020, 04:38:01 am
Struggled through 10, then bounced down to 8 followed by 7.
I went completely ass-backwards through the FF series, and boy, what a ride that was.
EDIT: Mutant's post-apoc look at items is like that albatross from The Little Mermaid and it's great.
Post by: scriver on August 09, 2020, 05:43:53 am
It's all the reasons you mentioned (consumable spell uses? Having to farm up more casts of a spell? Whoever thought of that should be shot.)
YES
How could I forget that part
The part where you literally have to spend the beginning of every fight doing nothing but suckling spells from the monstrous teets your are trying to defeat like a perverse monster hunter Oedipus
And the part where you don't get any limit breaks unless you're at like 10% health
And the part where they gave the ridiculous edgy main character a ridiculously edgy sword gun but then there's actually no point in using it because your attacks are mosquito bites
Quote
I played FF9 and looked askance at it because of 8 and because it seemed to be a game made for kids.
It definitely looks a lot more "childish" but I see it more a fresh, fairytalesque, naivoptimistc palette and visual design. The story itself isn't super heavy or anything but it's not less mature than jrpgs generally are either.
Been playing a bunch of games lately, but I just started Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden.
I played the demo a while back via Steam and kinda digged it, but it didn't run particularly well on my laptop. Not well enough to really warrant shelling out for the full version, at least. Recently, though, I learned that there is also a PS4 version - and, after having eyed that for a while, the other day I realised it was something like half-price in the Playstation store.
I hesitated only briefly. I managed to restrain myself from grabbing the console version of the Mordheim videogame, which is apparently also a thing, as well.
Pretty rad so far. I'm only slightly further than I got in the demo way back then, but it is so much smoother playing on console as opposed to my poor old laptop. Sure, you play as pre-made characters with their own personalities and dialogue as opposed to some kinda X-Com type deal, but I can stomach the occasional game with an actual story and shit from time to time, right? Though tbqh I'd rather be playing as the crazy, flesh-eating feral mutant types you come up against in the Zone, but that's just me.
One thing I'm especially tickled by are the amusing descriptions of pre-apocalypse items and what their original purpose was, as divined by the most 'knowledeable' researchers of the Ark - who do as best they can, I suppose. I like it when post-apoc settings have little touches like that.
I had this on my to buy list myself (it's based on the X-COM engine, right? It looks similar in the way Phantom Doctrine (https://store.steampowered.com/app/559100/Phantom_Doctrine/) and Battletech (https://store.steampowered.com/app/637090/BATTLETECH/) do) but I was a bit dissuaded when I realised they weren't letting you create your own characters. It seems a bit counterintuitive to have a world full of silly animal people and then not have you able to make your own ducks.
Post by: Iduno on August 09, 2020, 11:08:49 am
Well it's official. I absolutely loathe Final Fantasy 8.
I'm not a huge Final Fantasy fan in general. Mostly I play 7 and 9 every so often when I get in the mood because I want to have finished them (never have so far). So I recently got 8 in a sale because I remember it from when I had it for PS1 (I was so in love with the edgy characters, being a tween or whatever myself at the time). I remember the furthest I ever got in it was a prison boss or something that I just couldn't beat. I didn't really understand any of the mechanics at the time. It was the same situation with the FF 7 and 9 games we owned, so when I got those for pc, the first thing I did was actually bother to learn how the abilities and materia worked in them. And for 7 and 9 they both were intuitive and easy to understand.
8 though. It's not that it's complicated in theory. I get it. But it's so fucking hassly to actually do anything with it with the UI. I hate it. And I am going to have to force my way that mire of triteness every time the party changes up and for every change of dungeon/area theme. I hate that there is no equipables progression. I hate that there's no way of knowing ahead what design your offences and defences around except looking in guides. I hate that you have so few ability slots that you can't even fit "use an item from the inventory" on there if you want to be effective (but you can't remove the useless "attack" command!). I hate the awful edgy characters ("Squall" -- what a stupid name -- really is like the most awful parts of Cloud except concentrated). I hate the stupid card game (and get anxiety from the thought of losing my good cards) and I hate that I need to play it for advancement and item collection.
I hate this game.
Having played the first ten games, and also the ones on gameboy, 8 and 10 are by far the worst. 9 was back to the early weird game that gets more serious as it goes style the first 6 had. Even 7, which tried too hard to be edgy, at least had a sometimes-fun world.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on August 09, 2020, 11:10:47 am
Post by: Yoink on August 09, 2020, 10:12:14 pm
I had this on my to buy list myself (it's based on the X-COM engine, right? It looks similar in the way Phantom Doctrine (https://store.steampowered.com/app/559100/Phantom_Doctrine/) and Battletech (https://store.steampowered.com/app/637090/BATTLETECH/) do) but I was a bit dissuaded when I realised they weren't letting you create your own characters. It seems a bit counterintuitive to have a world full of silly animal people and then not have you able to make your own ducks.Well, it's not really an X-Com-like, despite having similar combat.
I was disappointed when I first realised there was no character creation, too, but it makes sense when you realise what type of game it is - one of those ones with (what appears to be) a deep story and voice-acted dialogue and stuff, probably even character development and all that, not one where you take over as commander of something and start throwing expendable grunts into the meatgrinder whilst cackling.
Here you only have a couple characters or so on your team, at least as far as I've seen. A lot more stealth is involved.
Too early to say whether the story this story-driven game is driven by is actually good at driving, but y'know, that's why it doesn't have you make your own characters. I guess. Remember when Fallout 4 added voice acting for the supposedly custom protagonist and it was awful? I'd rather follow the story with a character designed to fit it than be teased with making my own only for them to get railroaded into oblivion.
...I think I kind of lost track of what I was trying to say there and started on a general rant against FO4, but. Hopefully you get the idea.
I normally prefer creating my own characters but I can understand not getting that option if the devs are trying to tell an actual story.
Post by: MCreeper on August 11, 2020, 04:00:28 pm
But then you realize: that shit - you don't want that shit. You want something decent! Now, you don't need to pile the mods to the sky, just a select few. Crawling trough piles of junk, things that you would choose but that just wouldn't work and links to a huge site that went out just two months ago, you find them. All perfect, except the colors. That should be simple to do, but revolting realization comes: EA are fuckwits, and not in the way you are. Knowing no reason, they removed color wheel from the game and all colors are now fixed. To do that simple task, you need to endure a gatekeepy guide (https://simscommunity.info/2015/11/08/the-sims-4-tutorial-how-to-create-clothing-recolors/), register on some forum and install three separate programs (don't forget the fourth - that bow looks a bit too small, aye?). The job is long and tedious, and in four hours GIMP's over-the-topness will make you give up on placing proper color on sandals. And when all that is done, you'll see that trying to twist sim's face into a likeness of anime-chan is inherently futile effort, and that no amount of mods and cheats can make sims have something resembling proper emotions instead of having them grimace and flail their arms around at slightest provocotions. Stop squirming, bitch.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Disturbingly enough, it seems like you can make a sim that is close enough to Weird-Akiha from anime. Too bad that relevant clothes happened to be in "went out" (spring4sims) and "refuse to work" piles. I did not expect a deficit of japanese schoolgirl uniforms, of all things.
EDIT: Now i see what they meant with "you can paint van Gogh's Starry Night on cats, but not have skin tone you want for humans".
Post by: scriver on August 12, 2020, 04:33:39 am
And now I've found out that you're not supposed to level up your characters in this game.
Because of course the game fucks you over for grinding despite the fact that it's built around grinding.
I do not like this game.
Post by: delphonso on August 12, 2020, 06:59:38 am
It's aggressive enough that wasting time to enjoy the areas open to you and avoiding the boss a bit can put you into this unwinnable condition.
Post by: Egan_BW on August 12, 2020, 11:02:30 am
Post by: Nighthawk on August 12, 2020, 11:54:28 am
In the RPG The Last Remnant - if you grind at all before the first boss, the level-matching of the game will increase its difficulty to the point that you will not be able to beat it. (beating the boss unlocks multiple units, for which the game is balanced at higher levels, the boss gets a "disable unit" move.)I'm pretty sure there's a mod that makes the BR (Battle Rank) static instead of dynamic, but yeah, it's a really dumb system that probably should not have existed.
It's aggressive enough that wasting time to enjoy the areas open to you and avoiding the boss a bit can put you into this unwinnable condition.
Post by: Ai Shizuka on August 12, 2020, 01:28:42 pm
Almost completed my first campaign and it's been a great experience so far. Definitely going to try higher difficulty levels and different game modes.
Post by: Yoink on August 13, 2020, 08:34:37 am
Digging it so far! It even seems to more-or-less run on my laptop on low settings. Hooray! There is the occasional, minor translation derp here and there in the text, but the voice acting so far has been superb, which is surprising really since I tend to grit my teeth at the dialogue in most games, especially when they try to do accents.
I don't know, maybe British people seem so cartoonish to me that they can get away with going a bit over the top here. :P
Haven't seen enough to comment on the combat and other mechanics, yet, though brawls seem bloody satisfying. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna close my browser before opening the game up again so that my computer doesn't chug too badly. I hope.
Post by: delphonso on August 13, 2020, 06:31:39 pm
In the RPG The Last Remnant - if you grind at all before the first boss, the level-matching of the game will increase its difficulty to the point that you will not be able to beat it. (beating the boss unlocks multiple units, for which the game is balanced at higher levels, the boss gets a "disable unit" move.)I'm pretty sure there's a mod that makes the BR (Battle Rank) static instead of dynamic, but yeah, it's a really dumb system that probably should not have existed.
It's aggressive enough that wasting time to enjoy the areas open to you and avoiding the boss a bit can put you into this unwinnable condition.
That's great - I really enjoyed the game as far as I played it, but had to restart after soft-locking up against the boss. I recommend people check it out, if they like JRPGs - but uh...maybe pick up that mod first.
Post by: Telgin on August 13, 2020, 08:05:18 pm
I can't remember the last time I've been so infuriated at a video game, as I am trying to beat the tau stronghold mission. The unending stream of knarlocs + ranged attackers who can shoot me outside of vision range is impossible to deal with.
I've heard the IG stronghold mission is even worse somehow.
Post by: Biowraith on August 14, 2020, 01:44:18 am
Company of Crime came out the other day and this evening I've finally started playing it.
Digging it so far! It even seems to more-or-less run on my laptop on low settings. Hooray! There is the occasional, minor translation derp here and there in the text, but the voice acting so far has been superb, which is surprising really since I tend to grit my teeth at the dialogue in most games, especially when they try to do accents.
I don't know, maybe British people seem so cartoonish to me that they can get away with going a bit over the top here. :P
Haven't seen enough to comment on the combat and other mechanics, yet, though brawls seem bloody satisfying. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna close my browser before opening the game up again so that my computer doesn't chug too badly. I hope.
I played about 6 or 7 hours of it and enjoyed it to start with, but saw more and more issues as I went on (skip this entire post if you don't want me bringing you down :p).
I really like the general aesthetic and stylistic choices, especially around the campaign map. The music is great. And as you say, brawls are very satisfying - I especially enjoy the Bouncer class with all the abilities to throw opponents around the room, and stuff like slamming heads into walls or tables is fun.
For downsides, in order of severity (least to worst), I found:
- As you say, minor grammatical issues - missing words, the wrong tense, plural when it should be singular, that kind of thing. Not a big deal, but noticeable.
- Some apparent glitchiness or outright bugs - abilities that didn't appear to work, failing a mission that showed all objectives completed, failing the max heat 'emergency' when I'd brought heat to zero for several days before the deadline was up, that sort of thing. In some cases I'm not sure whether it was a bug or I'd just misunderstood because...
- It needs more feedback on a lot of things - why things did or didn't work, that sort of thing. That civilian ran off after I used the immobilise ability - did it fail, did I misuse it, or did was it just a bug? One mission (apparently) forced me to autoresolve instead of playing it out, and it killed one of my characters in the process. Don't know why I couldn't resolve manually or how to select autoresolve for other routine missions (not that I want to if it kills my gang).
- Some balance stuff - robbery missions I can apparently complete in a single turn with no opposition for example.
- AI is bad - the AI *really* values getting into flanking positions, way more than it values avoiding zones of control, so you get a lot of free hits and the AI loses a lot of action points unnecessarily.
So far these are things I can live with even if I'd prefer they were fixed and polished a bit. But these last couple of issues ultimately caused me to shelf the game for now:
- Although the brawling is fun, it felt like it takes a bit too long to get more interesting opponents to fight - there was the occasional 'story' mission against other gangs, but far too much beating up civilians where I know I'm going to win with almost zero chance of failure, even at higher heat levels. Even assets held by enemy gangs, once you kick them out it switches to civilian control so you still have to do the basic civilian mission afterwards. I'm concerned that the game will get too bogged down in running those same civilian brawls over and over as the meat of the game, since each new territory you'll have to take over or extort civilian businesses.
- Heat - heat went up *way* faster than it ever goes down, and there's no reliable way I can see to reduce it. Bribing a journalist can bring it down by a big chunk, but there's only a chance of that result for every £100 you spend. Passing time reduces it, but very very slowly. And since passive income tends to be lower than gang costs, to do either of those options you have to run missions to get cash... which raises heat by more than the waiting reduces it. You could maybe grind robberies and papers for an overall net heat loss, but that'd get old real fast. Though I did read that if you upgrade Laundry businesses it lets you use them to reduce heat (at whatever level I have them at I can only remove heat from a specific gang member, but none of my gang members have heat, despite the gang as a whole being over level 4).
Hopefully these aren't a problem for you or others, but for me it got a bit too much to ignore.
Post by: Mkok on August 16, 2020, 06:02:49 am
The game has a bunch of improvements compared to galciv II, but it does not feel like a game that has been through 5+ years of development at all, unfortunately...
TL:DR won a game of galciv III by pretty much having everyone pay me money they didnt have as tourists which I used to buy all the stuff noone could produce.
Post by: Yoink on August 16, 2020, 08:31:07 am
-Company of Crime stuff-Yeah, I'm not very far into the game yet but I've already experienced a lot of the issues you mentioned.
I think - and I'm not sure, since this has only happened once - the "being forced to auto-resolve" thing happens when you have a story mission in the pipeline at the same time. Like, when the first, non-story mission happens, the setup for a story mission is about to complete? Not sure, that's just my best guess for why it happened to me.
I didn't actually use auto-resolve, though. Cancelled the mission, since if I'm gonna send my mooks to die or get knocked out I at least want to watch them get their arses kicked! Not that it makes much difference, since most of the missions you can do are, as you said, against a bunch of hapless civilians.
I can understand going in and visiting extreme violence upon a place of business to begin with, to get them to start giving you money or sell up or whatever, but just why does the game give you messages like "oh no! [RIVAL GANG] is robbing people at [BUSINESS YOU OWN/EXTORT FROM]! You oughta do something about this!" but then when you click on said business and choose the "beat up" option, when you eventually show up the targets you're supposed to beat are just the same terrified civilians who pay you money every week. ???
Definitely agree that it could use a fair bit of polish. That said, I haven't played enough to get bored of it yet. Haven't even encountered any weirdness with heat, since I've been playing pretty carefully in that regard. I saw something on the Steam discussions about better heat-reduction options unlocking later on, but who knows.
Edit: I just realised it's page 69. Tee hee.
Edit 2: Wait, so heat is just an outright "game over" screen after thirty days? Eurgh. I went and bought a laundromat and everything.
Considering there are all of two or three ways to lower it in the early game (that the game does not tell you how to do) and each takes ten days at the least, this seems like a pretty poor design choice.
Perhaps I'll try the fuzz side of the game, see if that's any more functional in the current version. I was a bit disappointed that you don't get to start your own gang in the main story, anyway - playing as a vaguely defined, partially genderflipped Kray twins analogue was not exactly what I'd hoped for, haha.
Speaking of fuzz, prior to the heat thing my biggest gripe with the game was the way police officers can magically arrest you by simply throwing handcuffs at you. If the target character was grappled or stunned or something it'd make sense, but nope - suddenly a pair of handcuffs just appears on your wrists.
I wonder if you can pull that sort of BS whilst playing as the coppers, or if only the AI gets to pull such a daft stunt... hmmm.
Post by: Biowraith on August 16, 2020, 04:22:31 pm
I can understand going in and visiting extreme violence upon a place of business to begin with, to get them to start giving you money or sell up or whatever, but just why does the game give you messages like "oh no! [RIVAL GANG] is robbing people at [BUSINESS YOU OWN/EXTORT FROM]! You oughta do something about this!" but then when you click on said business and choose the "beat up" option, when you eventually show up the targets you're supposed to beat are just the same terrified civilians who pay you money every week. ???I thought it meant you could go and intercept them or something to prevent the attack, but apparently it actually means that a) you lose some respect because 'your' stuff got attacked and b) if you attack one of that gang's properties you'll get bonus respect because you dealt out justice/revenge. Not that any of that's clear in the game - I found it on a dev post on the steam forum.
Quote
Edit 2: Wait, so heat is just an outright "game over" screen after thirty days? Eurgh. I went and bought a laundromat and everything.That thirty day emergency was a bit buggy for me, but I did get through it on the 2nd (savescumm) attempt - first try I got it down to the last 5% or so with several days to spare and just let it tick to zero via passive heat loss. But the emergency didn't end when it hit zero and it sat at zero until time ran out and ended the game. I reloaded and held off on the last of my journalist bribes until it was low enough for the bribe to take it to zero in one go, and that worked and the emergency ended without a game over (though I was still at about 4 heat afterwards).
Considering there are all of two or three ways to lower it in the early game (that the game does not tell you how to do) and each takes ten days at the least, this seems like a pretty poor design choice.
Post by: Yoink on August 17, 2020, 12:08:29 am
Clearly this has nothing to do with, say, performance issues or computer specs, no, it's my laptop voicing its displeasure at the kind of games I make it run. :P
Now let's see if it can run The Dope Game. If worst comes to worst, I got the special edition on sale which includes an alternate version of the game in the style of an oldschool text adventure, so I guess that's always an option.
Post by: Iduno on August 18, 2020, 01:34:48 pm
So I'm doing the challenges now.
Post by: nenjin on August 18, 2020, 02:25:25 pm
Post by: IonMatrix on August 20, 2020, 09:31:46 am
Post by: nenjin on August 20, 2020, 10:19:32 am
Post by: delphonso on August 20, 2020, 06:00:04 pm
It's a lot like CK2, except I actually know what is happening most of the time. Definitely recommend.
Post by: LoSboccacc on August 21, 2020, 04:01:13 am
not gonna claim it's the universally best 4x but it has just the right mix of things to keep me entertained.
Post by: scriver on September 01, 2020, 07:29:33 am
Post by: Yoink on September 01, 2020, 09:14:25 am
Oh, and probably at least a couple of obscure games buried in my Steam wishlist that I probably wouldn't be able to run anyway.
Post by: scriver on September 01, 2020, 11:23:34 am
And that was all I remember right now.
Post by: Telgin on September 04, 2020, 09:42:40 am
But boy, I just hated every last stronghold map. They're almost all the same: there's a gimmick of some kind, but otherwise there are 3-4 bases scattered around the map that produce a specific type of unit, and if you destroy that base they stop making it. The problem is that the AI gets an endless stream of free stuff from scripted spawns, and destroying their bases doesn't stop these. This is usually basic infantry at first, but scales up to elite infantry and high tier vehicles as the mission progresses. Or, in the case of the tau, knarlocs, which I'm pretty sure are a relic unit.
"The rescue fleet is not coming, we will have to make do with what we have..." apparently meant every last knarloc in the tau empire. Which is also probably the highest DPS unit in the game, tied for the toughest unit, and they get an endless stream of them mixed in with ranged units that can fire beyond visible range and destroy anything that gets tied up in melee with the almost unkillable knarlocs. I can only guess what happens if you fail to stop the rescue fleet from arriving, but they probably just immediately blow up your base.
The strongholds are just huge slogs because of this. Even for the other strongholds, like the Imperial Guard, the enemy attacks constantly and in big enough numbers that you have to leave a garrison force at your base and frequently switch back to it to get the braindead defenders to do what they should without dying, because turrets aren't going to cut it, and you're doing it with a skeleton crew because you have to send out large attack waves to make any headway. Even with space marines I just resorted to human wave tactics because I was sick of it and just wanted the mission to end.
And then the game crashes after finishing most stronghold missions. I learned to save before finishing the mission every time, just in case. Once I had to use a workaround that ran the game in safe mode with minimum settings just to get past the ending cinematic, else it would crash consistently.
No wonder this game had a rocky reputation among the fans.
Post by: nenjin on September 04, 2020, 11:20:59 am
Went back to Vermintide 2 and have been getting slaughtered playing Cataclysm difficulty.
Also fired up Salt & Sanctuary because I watched someone's playthrough and I realized I'd only done one run through it with your standard sword wielding, armor wearing, miracle casting warrior. This time around, I decided to do a mage build. It's definitely an interesting change of pace from how I typically play these games. It's not hard per se, since most of the boss fights and what not come back to me as I play. It just doesn't have much margin for error due to wearing robes.
Will probably shift over to Necromunda: Underhive Wars when it releases on Monday.
Post by: Yoink on September 05, 2020, 08:09:19 am
It tries to do something different with a weird magic system where you have gauntlets enchanted with different elements allowing you to cast various spells and stuff, but... maybe I'm not the target audience for the game, but it doesn't really grab me. With all its attempts at innovation, combat still seems pretty dang boring.
Most of the gameplay consists of looking through fiddly clusters of items that float and glow and show you only one of their descriptions at a time. You also have to spend a lot of time chugging health potions and absorbing extra armour scraps into your codpiece (at least, that's where I assume it goes - you can't use armour until you have a belt equipped. Go figure) if you want to survive for long.
It gave me a serious Realm Royale vibe, or whatever that one game was called, right down to the zoomed-out camera angle and derpy flying. Also all the tedious picking-up of items around the map. I think there were even little forges of some kind where you can presumably upgrade/build stuff, but I'm not sure - I just saw a teammate stand in front of a fiery hole in a wall for a while doing something.
Combat itself, well, I can't really give a proper opinion since I only played briefly and didn't really dig too deep. In fact, I skipped the tutorial. For all I know there's a tonne of depth to the combat system, but I didn't really see it - you have your handful of different gloves to choose from and a few different levels of each, but they seem to have fairly similar effects: one AoE spell (which admittedly look pretty cool, at least) and one that's a sort of rapid-fire thing.
It also takes a leaf out of (eugh) Fortnite's book and has you playing as a random character each time, with their outfit the only thing you can customise. Now, after playing Hunt: Showdown I actually really like the idea of random gen'd characters, but this really isn't the same.
Also, it seems like most times at the game-end screen your character changes to someone entirely different, anyway. Not sure what that's about.
Also, there's no sprint button, and clicking the left stick on a controller sends a 'ping' to your teammates instead. Believe me, there were a lot of meaningless pings in the first game I played. It just feels unnatural not being able to run or boost, aside from the slow flying you can do with the jump button or these mini-spells you can equip that mostly seem to launch you forwards a short distance. Weird.
On a more positive note, it's a pretty pretty game. Well, the concept-art type illustrations that pop up occasionally in menus/loading screens/tutorials are kinda hideous, but the in-game graphics themselves are kinda neat. Cel-shaded and bright, without looking as eye-bleedingly garish as a certain popular BR I could name.
Anyway, I'm not entirely sure why I decided to type out a review of this game I played briefly at the recommendation of absolutely no-one, didn't particularly enjoy, and might not even play again, but... well, there ya go. *shrug*
Otherwise, I've still been playing a heap of Hunt: Showdown and PVZ: Battle For Neighbourville.
I have a bunch of games in my Steam library I need to try properly (especially Beholder, it seems like it could be really interesting if I could only get into it), but I'm really slack with that these days. Of course, it doesn't help that my laptop doesn't run all that well, but it's not that bad.
Maybe I should get a comfier chair.
Post by: Biowraith on September 06, 2020, 02:27:56 am
Post by: IonMatrix on September 06, 2020, 08:35:57 am
I mean, I'm suppoesed to enjoy it and stuff, but somehow I just dont.
Post by: delphonso on September 06, 2020, 09:14:06 am
Mild spoilers on a game that's approaching 20 years old.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Ive been playing Kenshi recently, and while it sounds great on paper and all, I just realized for the first few hours all I have been doing is grind ???
I mean, I'm suppoesed to enjoy it and stuff, but somehow I just dont.
I played for like 200 hours or some shit before I realized I didn't enjoy half of that. I still recommend it as worth the price for a pretty unique RPG experience. The lore is similar to Morrowind in that it doesn't really give it to you straight and you get to figure it out on your own - however it's not as thought-through as TES's stuff is - but respectable for the small team that made Kenshi.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on September 06, 2020, 11:03:05 am
Post by: delphonso on September 06, 2020, 07:17:27 pm
@Delphonso, that's the genius of Morrowind I think--whether or not it's intentional idk, but an for RPG that's really centred around godhood and achieving godhood it allows you to get awfully close to it and become super OP, it's kind of an open question whether or not the Nerevarine is really Nerevar and it's pretty much lore that because nerevarine == player they achieve CHIM.
Yeah, there's a good bit of it that feels earned as well - which is missing in Skyrim. Although there's a suitable amount of cheese involved, kitting yourself out in crazy enchantments still feels like you did it "yourself".
I really like that when you talk to Dagoth one of the options is basically, "I'm not the Nerevarine, I'm just here to kill a monster."
Post by: nenjin on September 07, 2020, 06:21:47 pm
It's Windows 10 only. I didn't read the reqs before hand. I have a copy of Windows 10 sitting here in front of me, I just can't be assed to rebuild my system.
Post by: Folly on September 08, 2020, 08:39:58 pm
Post by: Yoink on September 10, 2020, 12:08:10 am
This sounds pretty crazy, but it (and presumably the PC version) is actually worse than the mobile version. Sure, it kinda looks nicer (though with more pop-up and tearing) and it's cool to have dead bodies lying around rather than people just transforming into crates, but in so many other ways it's inferior. No directional sound, no marking while ADS - well, more importantly there is no ability to customise your control schemes, it seems like there are less challenges to do and less limited-time items in the store, following your squad mates is derpier and there's no option to invite folks to follow, and somehow they've managed to streamline the menu but make it more confusing than the clusterfuck that was the mobile equivalent.
...I think. Actually, that last one might just be me not being used to it. Probably. The others are all for real, though.
Post by: BoujeeTheAlan on September 10, 2020, 12:25:11 am
Since it's free on PS+ this month, I've been wasting my time playing the console version of PUBG.
This sounds pretty crazy, but it (and presumably the PC version) is actually worse than the mobile version. Sure, it kinda looks nicer (though with more pop-up and tearing) and it's cool to have dead bodies lying around rather than people just transforming into crates, but in so many other ways it's inferior. No directional sound, no marking while ADS - well, more importantly there is no ability to customise your control schemes, it seems like there are less challenges to do and less limited-time items in the store, following your squad mates is derpier and there's no option to invite folks to follow, and somehow they've managed to streamline the menu but make it more confusing than the clusterfuck that was the mobile equivalent.
...I think. Actually, that last one might just be me not being used to it. Probably. The others are all for real, though.
It's real. Say what you like but tencent are the kings of quality mobile ports right now. Their knock off Chinese phone LOL that they had another subsidiary make after the newly acquired Riot Games said a LOL port couldn't be done is also heat
Post by: nenjin on September 13, 2020, 06:25:27 am
Gotta say, it ticks all the right boxes for me. After months of playing Vermintide 2, it's nice to play something that, at least on the lower difficulties, is kind of a chillaxing exploration experience with some combat to spce things up. It's a nice combo of a grindy unlock system, environmental exploration and navigating geographical obstacles, looting,harvesting and some decent combat. It has the map I wish every frickin 3d game ever made had, it's so good. I've seen it around for a while but never got around to getting it, but I'm pretty excited to play it with a full team of people.
Post by: delphonso on September 13, 2020, 06:43:17 pm
I booted up Oblivion and was immediately faced with a quest I'd never seen before. God I love that game. Oblivion definitely aged well if you're fine with everyone looking like thumbs.
Post by: Nighthawk on September 13, 2020, 11:33:53 pm
Friend bought me Deep Rock Galactic. Just spent the last 5 or 6 hours playing it. Only meant to do a mission or two after the tutorial but ended up playing it the whole night.Cool to see more people getting into Deep Rock. I've always loved dwarves in any game universe, so I was basically sold on the concept, but the devs have really done a good job bringing the game to life throughout Early Access. It's one of those co-op games that really feels... cooperative. That sounds kind of asinine, I know, but there are so many games with co-op that barely feel like you interact with your pals, and Deep Rock is not one of those. It really nails the teamwork aspect.
Gotta say, it ticks all the right boxes for me. After months of playing Vermintide 2, it's nice to play something that, at least on the lower difficulties, is kind of a chillaxing exploration experience with some combat to spce things up. It's a nice combo of a grindy unlock system, environmental exploration and navigating geographical obstacles, looting,harvesting and some decent combat. It has the map I wish every frickin 3d game ever made had, it's so good. I've seen it around for a while but never got around to getting it, but I'm pretty excited to play it with a full team of people.
Post by: nenjin on September 14, 2020, 09:11:19 am
Post by: Fire and Glory on September 16, 2020, 09:58:51 am
Can't really say much, because everything is spoilers to some degree. Generally a nice game I reckon.
Post by: gamer31 on September 16, 2020, 03:43:10 pm
Post by: Yoink on September 16, 2020, 08:30:25 pm
Post by: Dunamisdeos on September 16, 2020, 08:35:52 pm
It's p cool
Post by: Biowraith on September 17, 2020, 02:37:49 am
It's a bit smaller scale than e.g. X-Com - squads and maps are both smaller - but it introduces a few features that make for an interesting game. Battles often feel more like a puzzle where you're trying to figure out the right sequence of moves to kill/delay/interrupt an enemy with as little loss of health as possible (healing is very rare/difficult, even between battles, and some abilities cost health to use). So far I'm enjoying the mix of difficulty and ways to mitigate that difficulty. I've even enjoyed the boss fights, which is rare for me.
Post by: Aoi on September 17, 2020, 06:40:07 am
I've been playing Othercide.
One of the main complaints I've heard about it is that there's some kind of really repetitive grindiness due to something like how you have to progress by feeding units to each other, so you end up sinking a lot of time into leveling new units to throw them into the chipper, so to speak. Any personal thoughts on this issue?
Post by: Biowraith on September 17, 2020, 10:55:34 am
Short version: I'm starting to find it a bit grindy by era 4 (out of 5), but I wouldn't say any more than I've experienced in other games in the genre at a similar point of progress.I've been playing Othercide.
One of the main complaints I've heard about it is that there's some kind of really repetitive grindiness due to something like how you have to progress by feeding units to each other, so you end up sinking a lot of time into leveling new units to throw them into the chipper, so to speak. Any personal thoughts on this issue?
Long version:
The feeding units thing is mostly because it's the only way to heal any damage your daughters take. It does also give the 'fed' daughter a bonus of some kind (e.g. extra health), but the healing's the main thing. How often you have to do that largely depends on how well you play in the missions - some damage is unavoidable, but playing well usually means minimal damage taken (I don't always play well :p). Summoning new daughters is relatively cheap, but yeah if you've made a lot of progress you'll find they're sorely underleveled, which is where bonuses on subsequent runs come in - letting you skip stages and summon at higher starting levels. You can also get resurrection tokens to revive a dead daughter (including one you sacrified) but the mission type that gives them is rare.
In terms of how many missions you have to run, the game consists of 5 eras which consists of 7 days - 6 days with 1-4 missions per day (usually 2 or 3) and a boss on the 7th day. You can hit the boss early from I think day 4 onwards if you feel ready, but I've always played the whole week/era. You can skip any of the missions (besides boss) if you like, though obviously that means less xp - I've skipped a handful of them when I didn't have enough daughters (they can only do one mission per day each).
If you die/lose, you can spend shards you've gained doing missions in the previous runs to get bonuses in the next try, which as I say includes skipping any eras you've already completed and increasing the level that newly summoned daughters start at.
For my own progress I'm at the start of era 4 and on my 3rd attempt:
Attempt 1 I beat the era 1 boss, got to the end of era 2 and died to that boss (dying to the boss is instant loss vs dying in other missions where you can soldier on).
Attempt 2 I was able to afford all the bonuses I'd unlocked so far, allowing me to skip era 1 and my new daughters are summoned at level 4. I got through era's 2 and 3 bosses on this attempt and gave up on day 2 of era 4 (my team was all on a sliver of health after the era 3 boss and summoning level 4s wasn't cutting it at that point).
Attempt 3 I was able to afford all but one of the bonuses, and this time skipped eras 1-3 with my new daughters starting as level 7s. I was also able to resurrect 3 level 10 characters from my 2nd attempt.
I am starting to feel a bit of fatigue now at era 4, but I wouldn't say especially more than other games in the genre by this point in the game - most of the X-Coms and similar I reach a point about 70-80% of the way through where the non-story missions start to feel a bit of a chore. Here the missions are arguably a bit simpler and less varied (and so grindier) but the 'puzzle' element of trying to find a way to win without taking damage is keeping me engaged. I suppose if someone was struggling and having to restart frequently the grind would be a lot worse - I have no idea if my progress is particularly good, bad, or average.
Post by: Robsoie on September 20, 2020, 10:10:12 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Rally_(1993_video_game)
World Rally was a coin-op game from Gaelco that was made in 1993.
The oddity about World Rally is that Gaelco released the rom for Mame as freeware back in 2008.
The website went down with time as websites do but you can find it easily around.
Anyways, it's still fun, and i'm still bad at it, but surprising myself i was less bad than when i had played it on coin op back in its years as i managed to complete the easiest rally , i guess i'm more used to keyboard than to old arcade joysticks :D
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Biowraith on September 21, 2020, 04:49:39 pm
However, the final boss (Era 5) is kinda bullshit and if you don't have an optimal team you'll likely lose (as I did) especially going in blind. If you lose you have to do at least Era 5 all over again, and in my experience there's not enough loot in Era 5 to gear up your team on the way to the boss, or enough xp to get more than a couple characters to max level. While you can resurrect your previous team - so don't have to regain the levels - they come back without any memories (read: equipment), and I found it very hit or miss whether the 'good' memories would drop while fighting back through the era, or whether there was enough Vitae (read: money) to 'buy' them. As a result my 2nd attempt, although a bit better than my first, wasn't as good as it could have been and I lost again. So now I'm doing another run and this time I'm going to replay Era 4 to essentially farm loot to ensure (assuming I don't screw up and get my best girls injured) the best chance of winning on attempt 3. It took me about 4 hours to fight through all of Era 5 and do the boss fight.
So yeah, that's feeling awfully grindy all of a sudden.
Doesn't make me regret getting the game or anything - I got about 30 hours of enjoyment out of it before that kicked in - but I'd maybe knock it down a grade if I were scoring it as it's capped a pretty enjoyable experience with a dose of annoyance and fatigue.
Post by: Yoink on September 22, 2020, 09:59:48 am
So far I've just installed Verdun and barely started scratching the surface, but it seems pretty neat. Well, at first I was like "oh gods all this tiny text across my TV that I can barely if at all read what the hell's going on, why can't I re-bind crouch to R3?! Ugh," but it has its satisfying moments.
Plus in a later match I joined a squad with another player in it, who seemed to actually have some clue what they were doing, and as they led me and the
Running back and forth along the tree line by our trenches, backing up my squad leader, taking pot-shots at approaching enemies and lobbing the occasional grenade, it definitely felt like a Moment. I have high hopes for more Moments coming from this game.
Just as well, too, since this is a game I really wanted to like. It can get extremely frustrating when you really wanna like a game but it just doesn't do it for you. Honestly I kinda feel like most of the games I have high expectations for fall into that category, haha.
Anyway, I'm gonna go play some more. It'd be nice to have a friend or two playing the game, but apparently no-one on my friends list has so much as tried it. Might have to see if there's a PSN group or a place to find folks on the game's subreddit or something.
I noticed a couple of other surprising titles on offer when I bought it, too, ones I had no idea had console ports. Ancestors: Legacy for one (not sure how well a RTS would go on console, though) and the other was... I can't actually remember, but point is both games were a pleasant surprise to see in the PS Store.
Post by: AzyWng on September 22, 2020, 06:41:31 pm
It's going well. Went for Gold this time 'cause I didn't have a reason not to, but haven't really begun to do anything like create new hideouts just yet. One day, though... one day...
Post by: IonMatrix on September 25, 2020, 10:48:17 am
Does anyone know how you are suppoesed to beat the arctic boss? I mean, she moves more than a fly, her throw three-icicles-and-another-one-slightly-later is just unavoidable for me, especially in some cases they actualy come FUCKING back, and her melee attacks for some reason I can't react in time. But then again I not wxactly great at it or anything...
Also I'm having a bit of trouble playing anything other than the first loadout of Saffron. She has a 1200hp and also an artifact that revives her with 600hp, in contrast to shield guy who only has 800hp ??? Also I just NEED a spammable normal attack which apparently only she has.
Post by: Rince Wind on September 25, 2020, 02:27:49 pm
XCOM style combat with anime charakters. The first game of a Korean developer, the story is told in visual novel style, the fights are fun, and the characters mostly pretty good. The main character ist bland, and the first npc in your company as well, but the side characters come to life over the course of the game, I am in chapter 2 at the moment, no idea how many there are.
The game just told a bit of the story of one dead policeman that you met a few missions earlier.
The storytelling overall is pretty interesting, while the main story revolves around a spoon religion which I still can't wrap my head around.
There are way to many mechanics, but as they don't really get in the way yet it is ok.
Post by: Haspen on September 25, 2020, 02:39:56 pm
This time not saving Japan, but hunting for achievements after wiping my save with newest update.
Just gotta survive the fight with Something Truly Evil, and then I have 100% of achievements... then back to modding we gooo~
Post by: Sirus on September 25, 2020, 07:23:27 pm
/me ducks thrown tomatoes
No wait, I can explain! It was on sale in the Humble Store and everything I'd heard said it had been improved greatly since launch! Anyway, I'm pretty hooked. Planets are huge and pretty nice to wander around on, and I found a crashed starship that I've been fixing up in between improving my base and gathering resources.
Coincidentally, the game had yet another major update just a couple days ago. It altered planet generation by quite a bit, and added the apparently long-awaited giant sand worms not seen since the pre-launch trailers.
Post by: Egan_BW on September 25, 2020, 08:45:09 pm
Post by: Nighthawk on September 25, 2020, 09:59:36 pm
Norman's Sky is one of the very few games which survived making everyone mad about it. It came out, everybody collectively flipped from irrational hype to irrational hate, the hate slowly wore out and in the mean time the game's just been there, slowly getting better.It really did make a remarkable recovery. I don't think by any measure it excuses the blatant lies people were being fed about it when it was first coming out, but I absolutely respect Hello Games' dedication in slowly turning No Man's Sky into the game it was supposed to be. You don't see that kind of about-face very often when it comes to game developers (though I don't suppose they had much choice if they wanted people to buy in to any future stuff they produced).
Post by: delphonso on September 25, 2020, 10:03:35 pm
Post by: Yoink on October 03, 2020, 08:07:12 pm
I've also been playing a fair bit of Spelunky 2, still, as well as a game called American Fugitive that I picked up whilst heavily discounted along with For the King (which seems kinda lame, though I only had a brief look). It's not that great, honestly, but it has the occasional kinda sweet moment.
Pretty sure the monthly free Playstation + games should be out today, too, so I'll go have a gander at that.
Post by: nenjin on October 05, 2020, 01:44:56 pm
Deep Rock Galactic: Still digging, still enjoying it.
Hades: Finally brought *spoiler* home, brought peace to the underworld. Now just grinding through ever harder runs.
Post by: Yoink on November 07, 2020, 12:43:07 am
I would certainly like to play with other people, though. I thought I encountered a couple of players early on, but in hindsight I'm pretty sure they were actually the hostile NPCs who spawn nearby, haha.
Post by: scriver on November 07, 2020, 09:25:39 am
Post by: ThtblovesDF on November 08, 2020, 01:02:39 am
I found Conan Exiles interesting but I ended up not continuing playing because I didn't really find any players to play with and I'm too shy to engage people.
Same... also it feels a bit grindy towards the mid/lategame. At the end of the day I found 7daystodie multiplayer to be more exiting. I stoped singleplayer once I relized NPC slaves take a day+ to break and then you still need to get gear for them. Its very fun to adjust your movement speed and fling yoursself across the map to explore a bit, it is very pretty.
Post by: Folly on November 08, 2020, 06:09:42 am
Available on PC, Switch, PS4, Android and iOS.
This is a gacha game, free to download and start playing. Money comes in when you want to start unlocking more classes; you can either grind daily quests and live events for premium currency to spend in a slot-machine and hope it spits out new heroes for you to play with, or spend some cash to play the slot machine faster. Payment options include the standard instant money->premium currency, a monthly pass that gives login bonuses each day, and a Battle Pass that gives increasing rewards as you complete objectives in the game. The instant option can be quite pricey, but the other two options are each in the $5 range, which is very reasonable for the amount of hours you'll likely spend playing this game.
Gameplay is heavily influenced by Zelda:BotW. Big open world where you can climb any surface, and lots of little puzzles and challenges around every corner that you can complete for chests full of shiny loot. The world is also full of diverse characters and landscapes, and storylines to experience.
Honestly, you need to play this game. Even if you don't intend to spend a dime, you can still find dozens of hours of excellent gameplay that is 100% free. Very highly recommend.
Post by: Jopax on November 08, 2020, 07:44:11 am
But after a bit I could feel the looming specter of grind or pay up to progress rear its ugly head. It's mostly noticeable with the characters, where, after you get your starter free hit of the gambles you're kind of stuck with them for a while as the amount of dailies you can do to grind out further free rolls is way way slow and you'll be stuck grinding for a while only to get a random grab bag of duplicates of the same 5 weapons you've gotten many times before whose only purpose is to serve as upgrade fodder.
Which is a shame because the party progression is probably the most interesting part of it and figuring out character combos that work against certain things is super fun, so being limited to the starting half a dozen or so characters is both limiting in that sense and quickly gets kinda dull because seen individually, each of them is fairly shallow in terms of combat moves and mechanics and the depth really only comes from their combos.
So yeah, if it was a regular premium title with a non-gambling progression system (say getting a drip feed of characters as you encounter them trough quests) it'd be pretty fucking good, as is, the good stuff quickly wears out under the weight of the monetization scheme they've opted for (which, if any of the numbers are true is working great for them, so expect more shit like this I guess)
Post by: Nighthawk on November 08, 2020, 01:15:32 pm
Getting more characters wasn't too bad, but the progression system really hampers your ability to use a large variety of them; after you increase your world difficulty by increasing your Adventure Rank (which goes up when you do basically anything) it becomes unviable to use new characters without investing a lot of resources into them. So the more you progress, the more costly it becomes to invest in a new character. This really hurts if you're like me and you want to try everything out.
I threw a modest amount of money at the game because I love the world they're building, but I'm not gonna drop any more cash until they really work out the kinks. I still love exploring, though, and I don't think that'll change. I'm really looking forward to the next region they're adding.
Post by: IonMatrix on November 08, 2020, 05:43:10 pm
Really, look closely into the mechanics, and what do you actually find? A FUCKING mobile game! I mean seriously, what open world makes it's main way of aquiring weapons a ruffle draw? Well yes, you can find them in chests, but they only drop garbage. I would ramble on and on, but I don't have a keyboard, so I'll just list some of the most glaring points:
Ruffel draw (and they combine characters and weapons in one pool just to insult you)
Open empty world: You can spend a few hours opening the chests that spout garbage. What else are you going to find? Sorry, nothing.
Grinding campaigns: The only way to aquire material for progressation are those "campaigns" and they consist of...slimes. Also energy mechanic WTF?
DiabloIII randomness: The things beside weapons you equip all have random stats. Random amount of stats. Random type of stats. Random usefulness of stats. Random stat upgrades. Good luck grinding.
I would link to several videos, but they're chinese so you guys probably wont understand what they're saying.
Post by: Nighthawk on November 08, 2020, 07:56:28 pm
Oh, right Genshin Impact! It's made from a company in China. Said they were going to revolutionize the market here. Well, maybe they did, but not in a way they expected. We've been busy hammering its frustrating mechanics here.Wow. Uh... I don't know quite how to react to this. I don't want to start a war or anything, but it feels like you just took the most common complaints about the game that most people are aware of and repeated them, only louder, and possibly with a predisposition toward really disliking Chinese developers? Dunno. I get that impression. Could be wrong.
Really, look closely into the mechanics, and what do you actually find? A FUCKING mobile game! I mean seriously, what open world makes it's main way of aquiring weapons a ruffle draw? Well yes, you can find them in chests, but they only drop garbage. I would ramble on and on, but I don't have a keyboard, so I'll just list some of the most glaring points:
Ruffel draw (and they combine characters and weapons in one pool just to insult you)
Open empty world: You can spend a few hours opening the chests that spout garbage. What else are you going to find? Sorry, nothing.
Grinding campaigns: The only way to aquire material for progressation are those "campaigns" and they consist of...slimes. Also energy mechanic WTF?
DiabloIII randomness: The things beside weapons you equip all have random stats. Random amount of stats. Random type of stats. Random usefulness of stats. Random stat upgrades. Good luck grinding.
I would link to several videos, but they're chinese so you guys probably wont understand what they're saying.
I'm not saying Gacha games are the future or anything, and I certainly think they're predatory, but they only work because people are stupid and willing to spend $1000 for a JPEG or something. If people are going to be that dumb, game developers would have to be equally dumb not to take advantage of it. Again, I do not think charging a fistful of cash for a chance at getting digital loot is a good system in any universe and I would be happier if it wasn't a thing, but yelling loudly about it on a forum isn't going to make it go away; people being smart is going to make it go away. So... it'll never go away.
I also think it's worth noting that you can play Genshin Impact as a Breath of the Wild-esque experience, completely ignoring the grindy end-game stuff and the gacha, and still have a decent time. The mechanics are a little shallow, yeah, but then again, Breath of the Wild didn't have very complex combat or a lot of enemy variety and people still loved it because it was fun to explore, so... yeah.
Yes, it's grindy. Yes, chests mostly give you upgrade-fodder. Yes, equipment stats are random. And does any of this stuff matter if you're just here to hang out for a few hours to hit some random goblins while enjoying the sights and sounds? No. Not really. And considering the fact that doing so costs you nothing other than some bandwidth to download it all... I don't think the game warrants such an explosive response. Please chill.
(Oh, and you mean raffle, not ruffel. I don't think a ruffel is a real thing, but if it was it would probably be the name of a generic dog Pokemon.)
Post by: scriver on November 09, 2020, 08:14:08 am
I'm not saying Gacha games are the future or anything, and I certainly think they're predatory, but they only work because people are stupid and willing to spend $1000 for a JPEG or something. If people are going to be that dumb, game developers would have to be equally dumb not to take advantage of it.
"People who get taken advantage of deserve to be taken advantage of or they wouldn't have been taken advantage of in the first place" is an awful and predatory way of thinking.
Post by: Nighthawk on November 09, 2020, 01:46:47 pm
Yeah, it is. Which is why that's not my view. I don't want to see people taken advantage of, because I'm not a psychopath, and I genuinely hope you don't assume I'm the kind of person who says, "Hell yeah, I want to go on to develop a game that abuses human psychology in order to make huge bank!" No. Just... no. It's just that I understand the reason it happens, especially in regard to gacha games--because it works. People running a business want to make money, and human beings are practically hardwired to take the easiest route to success. If consumers continue to pour unreasonable sums into a monetization scheme that takes little effort on the part of the game developer, of course the developer is going to keep using said scheme.I'm not saying Gacha games are the future or anything, and I certainly think they're predatory, but they only work because people are stupid and willing to spend $1000 for a JPEG or something. If people are going to be that dumb, game developers would have to be equally dumb not to take advantage of it.
"People who get taken advantage of deserve to be taken advantage of or they wouldn't have been taken advantage of in the first place" is an awful and predatory way of thinking.
There are complex solutions to this issue, but if you boil it down to bare essentials there are two simple ones: either the developers stop doing it, or the consumers stop falling for it. In an ideal world, yeah, the first is preferable, but we don't exactly live in an ideal world.
Of course, not every developer is like this. There are some very passionate developers out there who are still making great games because they want to make great games, and that's awesome. But the vast majority of them also aren't making fat stacks of cash like the guys who use effective monetization schemes the way gacha games do. That's a damn shame, but again, that's partially due to the fact that developers pursue these money-making methods, and partially because people fall for them.
I'm not out to make miHoYo look like heroes. They're game developers. They run a business and they want your money like everyone else. I just don't like the idea of anyone taking a look at their latest game and pretending it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I for one love how well the music compliments the game. I spent an embarrassing amount of time just hanging out in one of the mountainous areas in the game's second region to enjoy the ambiance. That's cool, and in my eyes, worth defending, because if all people see is an evil corporation trying to make money, they miss out on some very worthwhile aspects of the experience (which again, costs nothing, because the game is free to play).
Edit - Corrected minor spelling and grammar errors.
Post by: IonMatrix on November 09, 2020, 04:35:58 pm
Oh and yes I am from China.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Egan_BW on November 09, 2020, 04:40:54 pm
Post by: Nighthawk on November 09, 2020, 05:34:05 pm
Sorry, I didn't mean to have my original post to be so explosive. It was supposed to be more of a "so yeah I don't really like this game" instead of "hey you are all idiots for playing this garbage game!". I wrote that post after seeing a comment that roughly meant "bruh Genshin is the glory of China why the hell are you bashing it" somewhere else so I wasn't really in a good mood.Yeah, I won't argue that; there are plenty of RPGs that make Genshin Impact's systems look pretty dull. I, too would have vastly preferred it if the game was a one-time purchase like any other with better-implemented mechanics and characters that join your party as you advance the story and stuff. And it's kind of depressing to think that such a game probably would have been way less lucrative for miHoYo even though it would also be way less scummy.
Though in my opinion if you already opened your computer,then why not pop in some other game that's, well, better?
Sorry if I came off somewhat brash myself. Your major complaints about Genshin are pretty valid, and I can understand wanting to counteract the words of some of the more... extreme fans of the game.
And if the BotW-esque open world trend (see Immortals Fenyx Rising) continues across gaming, we can always hope for a proper AAA title that makes Genshin look like a prototype, eh?
Post by: Sirian on November 10, 2020, 09:42:07 pm
It's really very well made and polished and I did have some fun with it for about a week. Although, ultimately, it feels repetitive and shallow, it has redeeming features, for instance the combat has some depth to it due to how you can swap team members, and you can totally play it for free and not feel like you have to spend money to enjoy it.
The exploration feels like an almost endless easter egg hunt, so even though 99% of what you find is 'whatever', there's some childlike enjoyment about finding little chests in every nook and cranny. Also, there's a decent amount of little riddles and puzzles to fill in the world a little.
In the end, of course, I wouldn't expect many to play it long-term and non-casually, at least not if their tastes are like mine.
Post by: JimboM12 on November 11, 2020, 05:46:43 pm
Assassin's creed valhalla (i could not stop myself)
Mount and blade viking conquest (a classic in my eyes)
Assassin's creed black flag (where my little rotation started)
sid meiers pirates! (another blast from the past, this was my childhood right here)
man' o war: corsair (weirdly satisfying to krump ork pirates)
crusader kings 2 and 3 (being a clan chief is funnnn)
tempest (a fantasyish version of sid meiers pirates crossed with kind of like a board game, its hard to describe)
its leaning more pirate, its too bad theres not a lot more video games set in the early middle ages where i can be ragnar jimbrok raiding ships, bringing loot back to my longhouse and generally praising odin.
Post by: Robsoie on November 12, 2020, 08:47:30 am
After the first couple of missions that mostly are used to teach you the ropes, i've taken the 1st peaceful mission, Capua, a simple one to relearn my ressource management instead of going into a military one.
Once done, i continued to take another peaceful mission. This time it was Tarraco, with increased requirement to fullfill it.
I forgot that Caesar 3 could features earthquakes, a great way to destroy your planning .
I was somehow lucky as the earthquake destroyed half of my ressource gathering location, taking out many wheat, animal and fruit farms (the faults do not disappear and you can't make bridges over them for some reason).
Fortunately i managed to recover from this as i built more farms elsewhere and my population never went into full famine fortunately.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Apparently the earthquake on Tarraco is always at the same location, i should have remembered this :D
It was going really nicely after this disaster, i had to trade around to get furnitures as there's no way to manufacture them in that mission, and was selling a lot of marbles (making good money in trade from my southwestern island industry dedicated to marble extraction) to another city in exchange.
Caesar seemed to like fruits and pottery, as he asked me a lot of them regularly, my worshops and farms were numerous enough to provide everytime.
Meaning that after a few years i reached all the requirement to have this mission completed. Could also send gifts to increase my Favor rating faster.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
For my main housing, i was using a variation of the very popular simple 9x9 block system described here :
https://caesar3.heavengames.com/strategy/housing/block10.shtml
I'll try a military mission next time for a change, though this one, Mediolanum, at this point of the game is a challenging mission.
Incredible how Caesar3 aged so well, and with the Augustus features and quality-of-life addition it's going to stand the test of time for a long while.
Post by: Nighthawk on November 13, 2020, 08:19:26 pm
Difficult game to love, this one. Everything feels a little one-dimensional and slow. Money is all-important, and there are a few rather risk-free avenues toward making it, but it tends to be grindy regardless. You can raise your characters' strength and athletics easily enough, but if you want to raise combat skills you either need to base-build for training dummies, which is risky and investment heavy (not to mention they don't even train you that much), or get yourself beaten to a pulp countless times by animals and ne'er-do-wells.
Or you can capture a random bandit guy and repeatedly beat him up then heal him, effectively using a living being as a training dummy until said dummy's usefulness is at an end. But that feels like an exploit. And it's pretty mean.
The one thing I do like is that there aren't a lot of situations that instant game-over you. Yeah, you'll get beaten within an inch of your life, but if it's just bandits they'll likely take your stuff and leave you. And if it's the law, they'll probably just chuck you in a cell and let you rot there for a while. There's always a way to scratch out a living, even if you've hit rock-bottom, so it feels like the game is intended to be ironmanned.
I just wish there were more enemies that didn't require two-dozen fighters (which I could only afford by hitting rocks for an in-game month) to defeat.
I've decided it's probably better to focus on adventuring with a very small squad for now. Just my main character Nose, his bonedog Dog, and Sensei, a random old guy I picked up to have a second person to carry the injured in case something goes awry. Which it probably will.
Post by: delphonso on November 13, 2020, 09:55:51 pm
Post by: Sirus on November 13, 2020, 11:59:36 pm
Post by: Cyroth on November 14, 2020, 01:12:29 pm
... I'm now quite angry at those people.
This has to be one of the lowest effort events I've ever seen in a big name MMORPG.
They basically just added 3 or 4 very boring daily quests to the icecrown area and gave each mob there a new drop that can be exchanged for catch-up gear at absolutely horrible rates.
Every 20 minutes a boss mob spawns, taken from the pool of old WotLK undead dungeon/raid bosses that have, like, one ability from their old skillset and 3 apparently randomized ones (from a positively gigantic pool of... maybe 4? 5?).
20 minutes is just short enough that you can't do anything elsewhere during the wait, so most people in my guild/friendslist just afk during spawns to watch youtube/netflix/whatever.
Farming the new drops ingame during the breaks is also not really viable because of the horrible exchange rates.
I know that at their core the old WoW pre-expansion events were the same, a half dozen quests (sometimes repeatable), some mob farming for exchangeable drops, a CGI video or two for the newer expansions... but here they have such a "we didn't even care" feel that I'm positively mad at Blizz.
Where Legion hat giant battleships in the sky that bombarded quest areas, Cata had doomsday prophets everywhere, WotLK had armies of undead at most city gates and even BfA had at least some work put in to make it look good; Shadowlands gets bosses that spawn with a horribad classic-WoW era graphics whirlwind and a CGI video thats 5% action and the rest a still frame of Tyrande while her VA tries to hit a gravelly batman voice.
Post by: xaritscin on November 15, 2020, 04:14:21 pm
at this point WoW as a whole doesnt have much time left to live. its gameplay while being a staple 20 years ago hasnt aged well (specially due to Blizzard's stubborness to improve what was instead of churning out new and fresh content so people forgets the underlying mess).
Azeroth has potential if given a reboot under a new development team. specially if they invest into making it less focused on dungeon powerfarming and more into sandbox territorial control. the time of the whole Horde vs Alliance storyline with BBEGs looming on the distance has to die already, the game would be several times more fun if you could just roll the race you like and WILLINGLY join a faction that is much more dynamic and in depth than just "Good" vs "Evil" teams. that sh*t belongs to ancient mmorpg design doctrines like Everquest which should also be a dying breed nowadays.
Post by: Nighthawk on November 16, 2020, 02:25:01 pm
I can actually win fights against random bandits, up to roughly four or five at a time. Which isn't bad, because being outnumbered hurts (I installed Attack Slots x2 so numbers actually impact a fight more). If there's anything I learned, it's that getting your teeth kicked in is actually beneficial most of the time, provided your opponents don't outright kill you (rare) or eat your dog (less rare). Basically if the bandits are hungry, have doggo flee and let the humies get kicked around for maximum stat gains. Nothing to raise your Toughness like almost bleeding out in the dirt.
So, I'm on the up and up. I'm starting to wander the wastes looking for trouble, which let me tell you, is a lot more fun than hitting rocks. If the team gets buff enough from random scraps, I think I'll start taking on bounties.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on November 21, 2020, 04:55:06 pm
Post by: xaritscin on November 21, 2020, 11:43:43 pm
also Crusader Kings II plus...
Post by: AzyWng on November 22, 2020, 11:04:26 am
It’s pretty good. And free, too.
Post by: Sime on November 22, 2020, 03:47:05 pm
Post by: AzyWng on November 23, 2020, 01:34:32 pm
Meanwhile, I'm back playing some Let It Die, and a bit of Fallout Tale of Two Wastelands (Mod that combines Fallout 3 and New Vegas) with a mod that's meant to make combat much more hazardous, adding bleeding wounds and other nasty things.
It also makes everyone die much faster in general.
It's pretty nice, even if I do have to do a lot of quicksaving and quickloading (I tend to be pretty reckless in combat).
Post by: JimboM12 on November 25, 2020, 11:59:34 am
this now includes:
the x-series
evochron legacy
mechwarrior 4 mercenaries
mechwarrior 5 mercenaries (while i am disappointed by the watering down of the lore/systems (im talking about solaris here, i want to fight in the arena with duncan fisher reporting!), i still enjoy the combat; its so visceral and AC/10s feel like powerful cannons which is really nice)
battletech
while the randomization in battletech annoys me, i thoroughly enjoy it. with good tactics and combined warfare you can mitigate some of the randomness and its good fun. im playing the campaign now and i was given the random callsign of "Graceland" so i named my merc company "3000 Lightyears to Graceland" with a nice little picture of earth as our sigil.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on November 25, 2020, 01:45:08 pm
I had a crowd of like 20 people last night it's so fun to just play things for people, even if it's just scripted music.
Post by: Iceblaster on November 29, 2020, 09:43:15 pm
It's... peak RPG I dislike, but I've sunk enough time into it at this point I kinda have to see it through.
Main issue that I have tho is that the menus are clunky af, it takes forever to do things like 'open the area map' bc I first have to hit select, then wait for the menu to load in, move to Intel and then get the area map. Versus being able to just call it up in any other game.
There's also the issue of 'I honestly don't have the time investment to sink into this to play every single path' that a lot of RPG's have, where I get really annoyed and try and brute force an 'everything in one playthrough' playthrough. Maybe I'm weird but honestly unless an RPG really hooks me or it is fun regardless of the story, I really hate playing it more than once bc of the stupid length some can be if you factor in grinding. At least Alpha Protocol -even on the Recruit starter character- doesn't make you grind and even with my relatively gung ho style I so far haven't missed any collectibles or whatever while moving through levels.
Post by: Egan_BW on November 29, 2020, 10:30:28 pm
Why be so worried about "seeing everything"? Part of the magic of the one playthrough I have in that game is that I know for a fact that many things could have gone differently in the plot.
Post by: Aoi on November 29, 2020, 10:42:31 pm
As for what I've been playing: Catherine. Totally did not expect the ending I got.
Post by: Iceblaster on November 30, 2020, 10:40:53 am
Man, I love Alpha Protocol.
Why be so worried about "seeing everything"? Part of the magic of the one playthrough I have in that game is that I know for a fact that many things could have gone differently in the plot.
I'm not saying I'm not being fine with missing things, I just have this feeling in the back of my mind when I do play some of these types of games haha, not a knock on the game moreso than me I should clarify, I have been really bad recently about wanting to do everything in a game on my first playthrough.
Post by: nenjin on November 30, 2020, 11:27:04 am
Played about 4 or 5 hours, get the quest done so my brother can join my faction....and he doesn't show up in the inventory screen to actually be assigned gear. Can't be assigned roles or put in to his own party or anything.
Researching it sounds like yet another bug, where I have to finish the Dragon Banner quest before he'll join my faction in full.
I like the game but I am flat out sick of restarting my campaign to get new features and fix bugs only to have another one crop up that massively affects my enjoyment. Early access and all that, yadda yadda, but I think I'm going to shelve this game until full release. I just can't bear to go through the hours of building up again from nothing. I've gotten so good at using a bow I can solo packs of 15+ looters, because I've now spent close to 20 hours just doing that.
Post by: LoSboccacc on December 01, 2020, 02:15:36 am
Too bad I'm late to the party and the community around it is mostly dead, but such is life for steam salers
Post by: Sergius on December 01, 2020, 09:15:11 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
That reminds me, when I beat Morrowind, I never got the chance to fight the BBEG, as he ran towards me and then somehow jumped into the lava.
Post by: AzyWng on December 01, 2020, 10:47:55 am
My main problem is I’m rather bad at spotting or shooting people, which, as you might expect, results in a lot of lost gunfights.
Still, was able to get over a million roubles, so I mist be doing something right.
Post by: nenjin on December 01, 2020, 11:21:28 am
Post by: Magmacube_tr on December 01, 2020, 11:22:48 am
Post by: Iceblaster on December 01, 2020, 02:15:55 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on December 01, 2020, 02:22:15 pm
theres so much more here but the key thing is, is that Tarkov is hardcore and you have to be a little hardcore to love it.
Post by: nenjin on December 01, 2020, 02:58:49 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on December 01, 2020, 03:32:40 pm
Post by: Egan_BW on December 01, 2020, 06:33:45 pm
Post by: nenjin on December 01, 2020, 06:58:09 pm
What redeems Tarkov in my eyes, just as an observer, is the point is NOT to run out there and shoot people. There's a meta that goes well beyond just ganking people. There's a point that isn't just being the last man standing. You're playing for something more than just skins and bragging rights. There's varying levels of play too, whether you're scav or w/e. A persistent inventory where you can choose what to risk and what not to.
So there's lots to Tarkov that appeals to me. (I gave up on COD and Battlefield, like, 8 years ago. I'm now an old man with very little patience for Mountain Dew-fueled run 'n gun grenade spamming UAV Nuclear Weapon Strikes that spawn behind you gameplay anymore.) Tarkov looks INCREDIBLY rage inducing, I've seen some of the dirty stuff that goes on there. Which is probably why I haven't yet tried it. But on release, maybe I'll give it a go, especially when it's closer to rounded out with all its imagined features. (And isn't wiping inventory like, every 6 months or a year or w/e.)
In a way, all the edges of the FPS market these days (fast run and gun games like CoD, hero shooters like Overwatch et al., Battle Royales like PUBG (do people still even play that? :P) Fortnite, Apex Legends, etc....) don't really appeal to me anymore. Too fast and spammy, too wonky and fantastical, too boring and seemingly like a time waster. (If you're in to these games, not trying to offend, just saying that's why they don't work for me.) Tarkov seems bizarrely in the middle of all of that. Realistic (except for I guess mutants or something?), crunchy in terms of the meta, slow and tense, and having various ways of being rewarded. (If you truly suck, making it out alive with ANY loot will feel like a victory, versus crawling through the grass for 20 minutes only to be blown away by the first guy that sees you.)
So yeah, TLDR, as someone who has felt increasingly distant from competitive FPS for a while, Tarkov is the first MP FPS I've seen in years that made me want to know more about it.
Post by: Nighthawk on December 02, 2020, 06:54:57 pm
Anyway, it's set in a semi-magical alternate history French Revolution, which is a far cry from the monsters and dragons I've come to expect, and so far I'm liking it. Story is nothing to write home about yet, and the English translation is a little bit off at times, but the strategic gameplay is enjoyable and exquisitely well balanced.
I should mention the art is really good. It's also really, uh... how do I put this? Anime? The character art is like anime meets halfway with France's own neo-classical portraits of the time, which I find cool. Or at least it is when it's within reason and not stripperific, which it dabbles in, because anime. Being someone who watches anime a fair bit but still sighs when I see silliness that exists only for the purpose of titillation, I can forgive this game its questionable character designs most of the time (especially because everyone looks so damn stylish no matter what they're wearing).
After being largely disappointed by Three Houses and its rather bland strategy gameplay, I'm surprised to find something so remarkably unique and immediately engaging from an indie studio with literally this one game to their name. Here's hoping it continues to be fun.
Post by: delphonso on December 02, 2020, 07:58:52 pm
I share your sentiments for FE. I blame Awakening because it was the worst so far but a breakaway commercial success. Taught them a bad lesson, I think.
Post by: Nighthawk on December 02, 2020, 11:03:36 pm
Hmm... Extremely anime, but the gameplay does look good.Yeah, that does make sense, what with how Awakening was supposed to be the last Fire Emblem game but it ended up reviving the series. It's only logical that they would try to use Awakening as a model for the series after that.
I share your sentiments for FE. I blame Awakening because it was the worst so far but a breakaway commercial success. Taught them a bad lesson, I think.
Following that game I kinda enjoyed Fates (Conquest) for the more straightforward gameplay despite its terrible story, and Shadows of Valentia for its characters and writing, despite its pretty awful maps.
It's been a long time since a Fire Emblem game has genuinely impressed me in every aspect, and I kinda wish IntSys would just sit down and make a game that is more focused and less... silly. I mean, did we need to make a medieval high school and force you to feed people lasagna in order to fill a bar so you can expend that bar to level their weapon skill? It's so many steps, and none of them are really that fun. Why can't they just... level weapon skills as they used them, like the old days? It was simple, but it worked.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Glad to hear I'm not the only one feeling a little disillusioned, though.
Post by: delphonso on December 03, 2020, 01:16:26 am
That's a minor gripe I have compared to my complaints about gameplay. But...
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Nighthawk on December 03, 2020, 03:36:32 am
I compare FE (GBA) to Awakening a lot. One thing that came with the 3DS was Nintendo's better localization teams. I don't know if they're connected, or just part of a trend, but I find almost all dialogue on 3DS and newer games to be insufferable. Old Fire Emblem was stiff, serious, and dour in tone. The newer games are a lot less serious, and I can't help but think that is just better translation.The games definitely feel like they underwent a tonal shift, and it's especially noticeable in the characters. Before Awakening, we had simple, relatively grounded characters who didn't try too hard to stand out in a crowd. It was easier to get attached to them for their gameplay value in these older games, though if you were willing to delve into support conversations, there was still some character development and fun to be had.
That's a minor gripe I have compared to my complaints about gameplay. But...Spoiler (click to show/hide)
After Awakening, it felt like everyone had to have some kind of stupid trope or quirk attached to them that defined their entire character. "This guy is super huge but nobody ever notices him!" "This kid is really competitive with his older siblings!" "This girl is just... really creepy!" It was fun for about ten seconds, until I realized that they were all actually really boring because they had no depth.
Then Three Houses came along, doing the same thing, but tried to reconcile it by giving everyone some kind of tragic backstory. I just... couldn't. As much as I wanted to like the characters in that game, none of them felt genuine at all. Because in reality, most people are not super quirky and weird all the time; they're relatively normal, and you get to know their little quirks the more time you spend around them.
Shadows of Valentia, as a remake of an older game, felt like the best of both worlds to me. The characters were a bit silly and more colorful, with some great voice acting that really brought them to life, but they were still way more grounded compared to the rest of the 3DS fare. Most of them behaved they way people would, and a lot of them actually commented on the goings-on of the story if you bothered to chat with them during spare moments, so they felt more like genuine companions than just... accessories for your lord and the few who are deemed important by the story.
Except Faye. But guess what? Faye was chucked into Shadows of Valentia as an extra--she wasn't in Fire Emblem Gaiden originally. It's actually not all that surprising that she ended up being the most unbearable character in that game; she was a walking trope in a band of far more realistic characters.
... Not that Shadows of Valentia had a script with any kind of emotional heft, either. In fact, the most powerful storytelling moment in the game for me was actually in the midst of gameplay...
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on December 03, 2020, 10:32:23 am
Post by: Iceblaster on December 03, 2020, 11:33:33 am
Post by: Teneb on December 03, 2020, 12:33:10 pm
Beat alpha protocol. Fuck the Darcy boss fight. Jesus that was the most BS fight, no other boss fight has had that much BS in it. Brayko, Marburg, even fuggin Championchik were easier.Wait, Championchik is a boss? He just appeared in a single cutscene for me and never again.
I had an easy time with Darcy because of the pistol active skill, which is utterly broken. Being able to line up 5 headshots while the world stands still? It's absurd.
Post by: delphonso on December 03, 2020, 07:13:03 pm
and here I am just wanting another Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Yes please.
Also, totally agree, Nighthawk. Haven't played Valentia, but that sounds completely in keeping with modern IntSys.
Post by: Egan_BW on December 03, 2020, 07:35:13 pm
Post by: xaritscin on December 03, 2020, 09:43:48 pm
Post by: Dunamisdeos on December 09, 2020, 09:59:50 pm
Post by: scriver on December 10, 2020, 05:43:48 am
[physical] (https://i.postimg.cc/Kc3Qc7CK/O-Tav-Mc-Tav.png)
Khal Drogo, eat your heart out
Post by: Dunamisdeos on December 14, 2020, 09:28:27 pm
[physical] (https://i.postimg.cc/Kc3Qc7CK/O-Tav-Mc-Tav.png)
Khal Drogo, eat your heart out
The second one represents Mrs. Khal Hobbit Drogo's dream lover, and it also looks like Tim Curry's head on a woman's body. Good luck mind-bleaching the implications of all of that.
Post by: JimboM12 on December 15, 2020, 02:48:13 pm
Tim Curry's head on a woman's body.
IM JUST A SWEET TRANSVESTITE FROM TRANSSEXUALLL TRANSLVANIAAAAAA
sorry i had to, that immediately jumped to mind
Post by: Kagus on December 16, 2020, 03:46:39 am
The second one represents Mrs. Khal Hobbit Drogo's dream lover, and it also looks like Tim Curry's head on a woman's body. Good luck mind-bleaching the implications of all of that.
Honestly, I'm seeing a lot more Dave Grohl than Tim Curry, but maybe that's just me. Also kinda looks like the drummer from Nirvana.
sorry i had to, that immediately jumped to mind
You're doing good work, soldier. Don't apologize for upholding sacred duties. o7
Post by: Bobbop on December 16, 2020, 04:35:20 am
Post by: Dunamisdeos on December 16, 2020, 08:20:07 pm
I've been playing banished lately
I love that game, and there are some wonderful expansive mods for it. It's such a peaceful game.
Post by: MrRoboto75 on December 16, 2020, 09:34:11 pm
Mission is some pirates wanna steal some tanks, mainly a Demolisher and some other assets. My job was to capture the base the tanks are stored in, and then escort the stolen tanks to a place where they can be extracted. The escorts have their own AI and more-or-less do what they feel like.
This Demolisher pilot though. On securing the tank I'm notified they found ammo in the tank, and the tank is armed with dual AC/20 (big fuck-off cannons). Tank rolls up, first shot caves in a mech's chest, destroying it. Rolls up more, next shot blows the head clean off another mech. And later in the mission just before loading into the dropship, a third and final shot kneecaps a fresh mech, knocking it prone and crippling it for the rest of the mission.
Post by: Iduno on December 16, 2020, 10:56:49 pm
Which you wouldn't do, because they're supposed to have internal combustion engines, which explode if Battletech's weapons hit them.
Post by: MrRoboto75 on December 16, 2020, 11:41:11 pm
Which mod?
Actually I'm playing without mods, nor any of the DLCs.
Post by: AzyWng on December 19, 2020, 12:16:08 am
Though my laptop has a bit of trouble running it, it's still a pretty nice game - even if being able to steal stuff and sell it at a fence can kind of mean money is super easy to come by. Haven't gotten very far in yet, though, so I haven't found everything yet, of course.
Post by: King Zultan on December 19, 2020, 12:37:09 pm
Post by: Lukepop on December 22, 2020, 07:16:21 pm
Post by: Urist McSpike on December 22, 2020, 08:56:02 pm
Post by: ollobrains on December 23, 2020, 03:35:57 am
Post by: askovdk on December 23, 2020, 04:07:57 am
https://store.steampowered.com/app/254200/FortressCraft_Evolved/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/254200/FortressCraft_Evolved/).
It can be described as a combination of Factorio and Minecraft, and is currently at 80% sale at 2.60 EUR.
I guess what I love about it is the slow but steady progression curve. I.e. like Factorio, then even small tasks takes a long time, but step by step your factory snowballs and makes the effort you put into the previous steps worthvile.
I have been playing with a friend over the net and it's great to share what you make with somebody. So despite the negative reviews, then it IS possible, but it DID take him half a day to make it work. >:(
So you should probably get it for single player, and consider multiplayer a potential bonus.
Post by: Sirus on December 24, 2020, 02:03:53 pm
Now if only I could stop dying all the time :P
Post by: Yoink on December 27, 2020, 10:24:20 pm
Post by: JimboM12 on December 28, 2020, 08:36:11 am
Post by: nenjin on December 28, 2020, 01:28:32 pm
After realising that King of Dragon Pass was a completely different game to what I thought (I believe I had it confused with another title), I bought it and have just started playing today. I gotta say, I'm only just starting, but I love the soundtrack.
It's a swell game overall.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on December 28, 2020, 08:40:20 pm
Gonna raid some tooms.
Post by: MonkeyHead on December 30, 2020, 05:37:50 am
I wish I hadn't.
The tactical side still holds up great. Complex, brutal, rewarding.
The strategic side though... Blargh. There is no real choice, or subtlety. You literally have to do certain things in certain ways\orders no matter what, lest you will lose. I know its like 8 years old, but it smacks of bad game design I overlooked in the past.
Post by: Telgin on December 30, 2020, 11:51:24 pm
Anyway, I started playing Sonic Mania since I got it for Christmas. Overall, very much liking it, which is probably from the nostalgia of the Genesis era games.
My only gripes so far are:
1. Some levels are just too long. I actually ran out of time on Flying Battery Zone Act 2, which means it took 10+ minutes. I also died a lot to the boss, but that was mostly me being dumb. I found out afterward that you can turn the timer off, and I probably will next time.
2. I'm not really a fan of the Sonic CD style bonus stages. I can recognize that I'm better at the Sonic 3 & Knuckles style bonus stages from experience, but they seem really hard, and I'm very bad at finding the giant rings so far. I'm at Oil Ocean Zone now and have only gathered 3 emeralds.
Post by: MonkeyHead on December 31, 2020, 12:14:53 pm
Post by: Telgin on December 31, 2020, 06:19:21 pm
It would be better if there were some way to recover countries that left the project, and I think some mods introduce things like that.
Post by: Egan_BW on December 31, 2020, 06:53:35 pm
Post by: Fire and Glory on January 01, 2021, 03:18:21 am
The game is pushy, it'll throw way-off objective markers in your face and prod you constantly to scan every new plant you come across. I have eyes, game, I can see that there're new plants here, leave me alone. Add that to the constant audible pinging of any unvisited fast-travel/respawning stations and race challenges nearby and it's really reminiscent of bombarding a easily distracted child with lights and sounds, trying to get them to bounce from thing to thing without rest. Which seems apt considering the main character.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Only instead of the player going along with it because they're easily distracted, it's so that the game will finally stop bothering you.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
All in all a lot more tiresome than its predecessor.
Post by: Micro102 on January 05, 2021, 10:12:54 pm
Post by: Kagus on January 06, 2021, 04:52:49 am
Also I'm level 55 already and haven't even started Act III...
Just finished, or hit the current storyline end, of Subnautica Below Zero. Not sure what to play next.
What are your feelings on it versus the original? I played the demo a long while back and although I did like certain additions, it sorta felt a bit... I dunno... More cramped/linear? Which does make perfect sense for a demo, bear in mind :P
Post by: Urist McSpike on January 10, 2021, 12:02:53 am
Been a few years since I played GTA 4, but the driving model for 5 seems to be more irritating. Bikes constantly doing wheelies, twitchy steering, and all of that. Still, having fun with it, for the price per fun unit.
Post by: MCreeper on January 10, 2021, 10:28:44 am
3D cutscenes!
Buttons from playstation in the tutorial!
Fully voiced dialogues!
Open equipment screen by holding A and pressing left arrow!
Amazing chracter art!
E for ESC menu and no rebinds! Did you guys seen a PC game?
Have nothing to say about game itself yet, I just left tutorial dungeon. :P
Post by: Iduno on January 10, 2021, 11:02:41 am
Boring is the worst sin. The game hands out loot, money, and xp so much that doing any exploring at all gets to overpowered to the point that nothing is worth exploring. Then the only way they can challenge you is swarms of enemies too fast to aim at properly, or BS puzzles that kill you if you don't guess the correct solution quickly enough (Dead Money is the worst DLC for anything ever, and I remember when a game was charging actual money for colored horse armor).
Post by: Urist McSpike on January 10, 2021, 11:12:58 am
Just finished, or hit the current storyline end, of Subnautica Below Zero. Not sure what to play next.
What are your feelings on it versus the original? I played the demo a long while back and although I did like certain additions, it sorta felt a bit... I dunno... More cramped/linear? Which does make perfect sense for a demo, bear in mind :P
Hmm. I fully understand that BZ is still in progress. I had picked up the original way back when fragments all had the same default safe graphic, and you couldn't explore the Aurora. With that said, it is more cramped. I've only built one base, where the original (felt like it) needed multiple as you push the exploration. Part of that could be map size, part because you can have a Seatruck with a fabrication module. I have over 200 hours in Subnautica, and just over 100 in Below Zero.
But that could be part of the draw of Subnautica - you are stranded and all alone. And everything reinforces that - wide open horizon with nothing but ocean. The sounds. Finding only notes left behind by the others. In BZ, you go there on purpose, end up with a companion of sorts, and there's just a different.. purpose. Tracking down what happened to your sister, instead of survival & escape.
There are improvements over the original gameplay though - being able to pin recipes, UI layout, that kind of thing. If you liked the original, you'll probably enjoy Below Zero. But there is a difference, kind of like Dead Space 2 lacking the existential dread of Dead Space 1.
Post by: xaritscin on January 10, 2021, 10:13:36 pm
Post by: Telgin on January 11, 2021, 01:06:18 am
I forgot that it was about 50% longer than the previous two games, and that its combat was much more tedious. I've never played co-op in it and never will, but I hear that the game doesn't adjust the number of enemies you face depending on if you're playing solo or in co-op, which explains a lot. Unlike the previous two games, most enemies are difficult to stun, run at you a lot faster and are generally tougher.
It doesn't help that my mouse's right button is dying, making combat in all three games a lot more difficult than it needed to be, but I rolled my eyes many times in Dead Space 3 because I turned around and there was yet another waster that just ignores me shooting its legs, which would have stunned enemies in 1 or 2. At least ammo and health packs are common enough that you usually don't care.
I also kind of forgot how cringey the story got at times. I came to like the twist about the origins of the necromorphs, but I hate how pretty much all of the characters are written.
Post by: Egan_BW on January 14, 2021, 09:01:32 pm
Post by: Kagus on January 18, 2021, 06:11:31 am
There's a lot of good in that game, and while there are certain aspects of the first one that I prefer, this is a worthy sequel and I had a lot of fun with it. But it's also buggy/glitchy as fuck and there are areas where you can really feel how it's not living up to its full potential.
Still though, I spent 120+ hours faffing about to get to this point, and I plan on spending a few more at least.
Post by: Dunamisdeos on January 20, 2021, 09:39:04 pm
Post by: nenjin on January 21, 2021, 12:18:22 pm
And with that, I've now fully 100%-100%'ed Shadow of War. All quests, collectibles, and cheevos. Even ended up getting the cursed buggy sword of entirely too much power and discovered the caragor donk on my own.
There's a lot of good in that game, and while there are certain aspects of the first one that I prefer, this is a worthy sequel and I had a lot of fun with it. But it's also buggy/glitchy as fuck and there are areas where you can really feel how it's not living up to its full potential.
Still though, I spent 120+ hours faffing about to get to this point, and I plan on spending a few more at least.
I think I have like 175 hours in the game but still haven't beaten it. Need to do the last battle of the Shadow War.
But INSTEAD, I got the stupid idea in my head to try and build an entire fortress full of Legendary Assassin Necromancers w/ Great Strength. The idea being to make it a complete deathtrap for anyone that tries to attack my forts in online. The Necromancer side of it means they'll rez any trash the player manages to kill. The Assassin part means that if they down a player, that's pretty much it for them. And the Great Strength part means their throwing knives can literally one shot a player.
I think of the 30 or 40 hours of this I've done so far, I've managed to recruit like 5 or 6 Assassins that fit the bill. Necromancer is an exceptionally rare trait, and finding Assassins that have it, and aren't crippled by some stupid weakness, takes a lot of time. I'll probably never complete it. But that's ok. I enjoy just generating and slaughtering dozens of orcs an hour.
Post by: hector13 on January 21, 2021, 06:01:11 pm
And with that, I've now fully 100%-100%'ed Shadow of War. All quests, collectibles, and cheevos. Even ended up getting the cursed buggy sword of entirely too much power and discovered the caragor donk on my own.
There's a lot of good in that game, and while there are certain aspects of the first one that I prefer, this is a worthy sequel and I had a lot of fun with it. But it's also buggy/glitchy as fuck and there are areas where you can really feel how it's not living up to its full potential.
Still though, I spent 120+ hours faffing about to get to this point, and I plan on spending a few more at least.
:o
How did you kill a captain while riding an olog? That’s the only thing I’m having great difficulty in doing.
Post by: AzyWng on January 22, 2021, 11:48:36 am
It's tough, but it's also pretty fun. I like to choose the security guard loadout 'cause I'm a sucker for looting things.
Post by: Haspen on January 22, 2021, 04:53:38 pm
The pirates in early 2500s can be quite strong and even successful in capturing an outpost or two,
Spoiler: Or so they think until they turn their ships around (click to show/hide)
Post by: Sergius on March 01, 2021, 09:57:31 am
That game can be fun but also brutal.
Post by: scriver on March 01, 2021, 10:02:27 am
Post by: Kagus on March 01, 2021, 10:16:33 am
And with that, I've now fully 100%-100%'ed Shadow of War. All quests, collectibles, and cheevos. Even ended up getting the cursed buggy sword of entirely too much power and discovered the caragor donk on my own.
There's a lot of good in that game, and while there are certain aspects of the first one that I prefer, this is a worthy sequel and I had a lot of fun with it. But it's also buggy/glitchy as fuck and there are areas where you can really feel how it's not living up to its full potential.
Still though, I spent 120+ hours faffing about to get to this point, and I plan on spending a few more at least.
:o
How did you kill a captain while riding an olog? That’s the only thing I’m having great difficulty in doing.
(Haven't checked this thread in ages) It's honestly a fair bit of luck involved, but there are some important considerations that can help you set up the right circumstances:
- It doesn't care what level the captain is
- The captain doesn't need to be taken from 100%-0% while on an olog, just the final blow
- The olog can also be a captain
With that in mind, you can do things like shame someone with an olog gang down to level 1 so they die to pretty much just a stiff breeze and then hop on one of the ologs, or find an olog captain with clumsy and get them close to someone else who's been weakened, so you can just keep jumping on their back and smashing them into each other for great justice.
An olog captain's mace swinging can actually do a respectable amount of damage if it hits, but hitting is very tricky due to timing and a fairly small hitbox for the attack.
Addendum: You *might* be able to cheese it by finding someone who's mortally flammable/sickly, hitting them with their vulnerable element, and then making sure that you're riding an olog when they finally die
EDIT: Want to be a complete dick? Brand an orc, give them the "Mighty Ologs" epic trait and a gang of ologs, then shun them and shame them down to level 1. They retain Epic traits even at low levels. Then just stun one of them and hand out some slappings
Post by: Dunamisdeos on March 06, 2021, 12:36:06 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Frumple on March 06, 2021, 01:33:54 pm
Breath of the Wild on PC?From a few days ago, but there's apparently a working Wii-U emulator (cemu), that checking its wiki can run BotW to completion without too much trouble. It's not officially released PC side or nothin'.
Post by: scriver on March 07, 2021, 05:48:22 am
Post by: Kagus on March 07, 2021, 12:17:29 pm
I wonder if you can give someone that's afraid of caragors a pack of caragors
So, the caragor *pack* (i.e., the "gang" made of caragors) is to my knowledge exclusive to beastmasters, who will start with it. ...and that's also the class that really makes the least use out of it, because their bestial roar ability will always summon a pack of caragors (up to a limit of current follower caragors, which the gang counts towards). If you swap it out with a different gang for the beastmaster, the first thing they'll do in combat is roar, at which point they're now being backed up by the caragors AND the gang they walked there with.
Also, the basic fear of caragors is only triggered upon being attacked by one, not when just seeing it. It needs to be a terror in order to trigger upon sight.
That said... Caragor mounts are still a thing, and there are actually certain captains who cannot be given one. I think it's mostly just those with a 'gor-related rage which are blocked, but it might be extended to fears and terrors. Can't say I've experimented with this much, as I generally don't want my captains to be riding caragors in the first place and there's no way of fully removing them from a captain that I know of :P
Post by: Folly on March 16, 2021, 12:55:50 pm
It's basically Mount and Blade strategic castle sieges, but with damage-cones instead of directional combat. Also PvP matchmaking.
Free to play, supported by a Battle Pass system. New season starts today, and there's a heavily discounted option for first-time buyers!
Post by: nenjin on March 16, 2021, 01:42:37 pm
Also it seems like the minute you yourself mount a Caragor and start going, the game summons a Beastmaster Captain to ambush you, so he can wreck your Caragor mount. Even if there's none in play at the moment, if it needs to generate one specifically for that it will.
Post by: Stench Guzman on March 16, 2021, 05:07:33 pm
Post by: AzyWng on March 18, 2021, 11:35:50 am
I'd recommend giving it a try, though I've heard some classes are much better/reliable than others. For instance, all the guides I've read criticize Engineer for having an extremely long setup and poor payoff (that is, by the time an Engineer has everything up and running to do mediocre damage, the other party members will have killed everything).
Post by: Aoi on March 18, 2021, 05:03:43 pm
Been playing Starcrawlers.
I'd recommend giving it a try, though I've heard some classes are much better/reliable than others. For instance, all the guides I've read criticize Engineer for having an extremely long setup and poor payoff (that is, by the time an Engineer has everything up and running to do mediocre damage, the other party members will have killed everything).
I found the random mission maps in Starcrawlers to be kind of annoying (it uses fixed maps, and shuffles around PoI, as opposed to something like a modular room system) and strategy to be simplistic. It's not a bad entry in the realm of recent-ish dungeon crawlers (though it's a fairly slim category, nowadays), but I wouldn't put it anywhere near the top.
Post by: AzyWng on March 18, 2021, 05:24:49 pm
Post by: Aoi on March 19, 2021, 12:51:35 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Haspen on April 03, 2021, 07:13:14 am
It's quirky little Fire Emblem game, it has apparently 7 installments. I'm playing the very first one and its absolutely cliche story of 'evil army invades and kidnaps princess, wandering hero sets out to free her and defeat the evil'... if only there were cutscenes or mission objectives to check ::)
I find its fun, even if the difficulty rises fast and ranged enemy mages are absolutely OP.
Post by: Felius on April 03, 2021, 09:26:56 pm
Post by: xaritscin on April 04, 2021, 12:56:50 pm
Post by: Kagus on April 07, 2021, 03:34:54 pm
It's been loads of fun! I was quite pleasantly surprised, I hadn't actually expected this much out of it. There is some very solid game design here, and the graphics work out remarkably well in my opinion.
We've just discovered iron, and are drooling over both proper longboats and the concept of a two-handed axe... I fear we may have to squabble a bit over that one, as I'm the primary woodcutter, but he thirsts for axe-shaped carnage
Post by: Frumple on April 07, 2021, 05:23:18 pm
Post by: Folly on April 07, 2021, 09:33:39 pm
2H axe is also generally regarded as the worst weapon in the game for fighting.
Post by: Kagus on April 08, 2021, 05:17:51 am
2H axe is not ideal for tree chopping. Due to the slow swing speed and high stamina cost, you'll get lumber much faster with a 1H axe.
2H axe is also generally regarded as the worst weapon in the game for fighting.
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of this huge badass axe
As the person with the most wood, you clearly have the girth of need to axe for priority. Just drop a tree on them and win the contest of axe shafts.
Honestly, there's so much phallic energy going on here that it's a tough call. I've been ramming my long shaft into things up close with a spear, and he's been skeeting wood into people over long distance with a bow. Meanwhile we're both going on about whether or not we've got wood, and how we need more rods in our construction.
I've also managed to convince him to enter into a mutual ignorance pact, and we've been staying away from wikis and other sources of information for the time being, to allow our stupidity to fully blossom.
As such, we've (so far) lost two full sets of gear and a couple ships to deathquitos.
Post by: BurnedToast on April 17, 2021, 08:39:09 pm
The people who seem to really like it are the same people who say things like "it's a hardcore game for hardcore gamers and it's not ruined by all those filthy casuals with their ezmode handholding, you're just too casual to understand". And then they proceed to brag about how you can grind money to buy potions to max every skill out and become overpowered so you can 1-shot everything and they don't have enough self-awareness to realize how contradictory that is.
I don't absolutely hate it though. If games were actually rated fairly instead of the "7-10" scale, it would probably be a solid 6. It apparently gets better, but the problem is there's just too many other, better games in the world so I'm having trouble deciding if slogging through the bad parts is worth the good parts.
Post by: nenjin on April 18, 2021, 12:09:27 am
Post by: Blaze on April 18, 2021, 12:59:37 am
I think I got into a place that was way too high for my level 20 butt because I just got mauled by a mechanical T-rex with dual assault cannons and back mounted artillery. It was terrifying and I loved every moment of it.
I just got the Banuk Striker bow which turns my basic arrows into 60-damage per shot penetrators, so if I run into it again I might actually survive.
Or I could wear armor that'll let me survive more than one hit, but defense is for sissy faces.
Post by: Folly on April 18, 2021, 03:09:44 pm
I'm sorely tempted to buy it again now that it's on PC and try it with a mouse this time.
Post by: Kagus on April 18, 2021, 05:33:56 pm
Instead, I figured out that just roughly thrusting my hardened spear into everything's haunches was a pretty chunky strat. Especially with the ropecaster.
this huge badass axe
Why did they have to reduce its damage against trees? Why?:'(
Also, fuck the two pieces of wood I picked up instead of the wolf fang spear that my buddy had just made for me, meaning that there are now two almost-unused spears just sitting in the middle of nowhere (the first one being lost when I figured it'd be a good idea to kill a drake by throwing my spear at it while on top of a very narrow peak. For once, I overestimated the arc).
But eh, doesn't matter... We've done some serpent whaling and I've got the fancy shield to prove it. Plus that fantastic trophy over the gates of our main base.
Post by: McTraveller on May 04, 2021, 03:18:04 pm
Last night I did the next chapter in Final Fantasy XV (Leviathan). Holy crap is that game confusing - like there is no continuity or explanation for things at all.
Spoiler: Is this game old enough that it doesn't need spoilers? (click to show/hide)
Post by: nenjin on May 04, 2021, 04:30:06 pm
By all rights, I should have stopped playing weeks ago. Gotten the gist of it in single player.
But now I'm committed to bashing over the head and kidnapping every Legendary NPC out there, and building my "Water Palace" and all its sundry wings for stuff that has no real impact on gameplay at all.
There is just something so compelling about it to me. The environment. The climbing around. The build (mostly) anywhere thing. The nudity (*cough*). It's like playing early gen Terraria. Yeah there's content out there yet to see, gear to grind, yadda yadda...but instead I spend 90% of my time building stuff simply because it makes me happy.
Post by: Mkok on May 04, 2021, 06:14:26 pm
And also sending thousands of farmers for a quick war just cause I kinda decided to disband half my army before marching straight into china, as I though they were draining too much of my budget. Stuff happens ::)
Post by: Dunamisdeos on May 04, 2021, 06:20:20 pm
Been playing Conan Exiles.
By all rights, I should have stopped playing weeks ago. Gotten the gist of it in single player.
But now I'm committed to bashing over the head and kidnapping every Legendary NPC out there, and building my "Water Palace" and all its sundry wings for stuff that has no real impact on gameplay at all.
There is just something so compelling about it to me. The environment. The climbing around. The build (mostly) anywhere thing. The nudity (*cough*). It's like playing early gen Terraria. Yeah there's content out there yet to see, gear to grind, yadda yadda...but instead I spend 90% of my time building stuff simply because it makes me happy.
Conan Exiles came out 7 years after Terraria XD.
Also that's basically what I do in it. Build fancy things for fun.
Post by: Micro102 on May 27, 2021, 09:42:15 pm
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on May 27, 2021, 10:11:52 pm
Been playing Conan Exiles.
By all rights, I should have stopped playing weeks ago. Gotten the gist of it in single player.
But now I'm committed to bashing over the head and kidnapping every Legendary NPC out there, and building my "Water Palace" and all its sundry wings for stuff that has no real impact on gameplay at all.
There is just something so compelling about it to me. The environment. The climbing around. The build (mostly) anywhere thing. The nudity (*cough*). It's like playing early gen Terraria. Yeah there's content out there yet to see, gear to grind, yadda yadda...but instead I spend 90% of my time building stuff simply because it makes me happy.
Conan Exiles came out 7 years after Terraria XD.
Also that's basically what I do in it. Build fancy things for fun.
It really is special--I just wish there was slightly more life to single player... then I might put in a few hundred hours to say the least.
Post by: nenjin on May 27, 2021, 11:27:08 pm
Really overpriced for all the DLCs considering it's a port of a PS2 game, and has DeNuvo, but I'm really enjoying it none the less. JRPG 4 party member kinda game where all your party members are made up of demons you fight during the game. Really liked this game but it was so punishingly grindy back in the day if you want to make the most out of it. But with the Remaster DLCs, they added two areas that let you easily grind cash and XP to your heart's content. (And they made it so you can pick skills during fusion if you want rather than have it be random.) Not quite sure how I feel about the money/xp farming. Half the time I think it's great, the other half of the time I feel like it's made the game way too easy when it comes to the actual story. But there is no real other economic way to make a truly BA demon. I don't plan on putting 1000 hours into this.
Post by: Folly on June 17, 2021, 11:58:13 am
Even though full release is still 2 weeks away, I'm already busy grinding out thousands of levels.
This time around they've added some tools to facilitate the grind, including auto-battle. There is a fairly deep AI-programmer that allows each unit to be heavily customized. I'm sure some people will dislike this change to the series norms...but I've always appreciated Disgaea more for the strategizing and less for the actual grind, so this is right up my alley. Now I can spend a few hours carefully setting all my pieces into place, and then sit back and watch some TV or play with my phone while the game grinds itself for a while, until I'm ready to come back and invest all those points I've accumulated and use all the new options I've unlocked to meticulously reevaluate all of my previous strategies, and repeat until I'm reasonably satisfied with the absurdly large numbers flying across my screen.
This one is gonna be the greatest yet!
Though I do miss my nekos.
Post by: martinuzz on June 20, 2021, 08:34:18 pm
Tower defense, recource grind, with idle game elements (prestige reset).
It used to be a mobile game, but it saw lots of updates that removed much if not all of the mobile feel.
Post by: Rince Wind on June 21, 2021, 06:13:01 am
Post by: Mkok on June 21, 2021, 09:56:20 am
Post by: JimboM12 on June 21, 2021, 07:19:59 pm
same game but the ground war side is pretty cool, as is exploring planetary settlements.
i read some posts complaining about the cookie cutter-ness of this but think about it: they had to generate it for almost every planetary system in the game, alongside missions for them.
it helps that i had an interesting experience where i was asked to use a maverick suit (for it's cutter) to salvage a core sample from an abandoned mining settlement the next system over. so i hopped into my sidewinder and flew over. as i came upon the planet i got a conflict zone warning from the planet but it was a ways away so i didnt care, and went on my merry way to the settlement. i approached very carefully but it was dead empty, almost like a prescripted scene from a different game; fires and dead bodies everywhere, power down, and a lot of the loot containers were open and empty. as i got to work scavenging what was left, i ferried at least 3 pockets worth of leftovers to my ship and upon going back for the objective, pirates landed down outside and were waiting for me. after a tense fight (i spent my beginner cash on the suit and couldn't afford a better gun), i scanned the pirates for their bounties. on my way out i decided to fly over to the on going battle. on a whim i joined the rebelling faction of the local government, and fought my way to victory using grenades cuz i still only had my pistol. i had randomly made 300k credits worth of bonds from the fight.
long story short, i returned to the station and immediately upgraded my gun and got back into the fight across the sector until i made 10 mil in under 2 hours.
after fighting a while i got this very strong feeling this is only a test run of the system before they apply it to more things, like the major powers and their power plays, with the battles expanding from these small skirmishes to much bigger battles over actual settlements. fingers crossed.
Post by: Yoink on June 22, 2021, 08:38:26 am
I've mostly played as the "peasant-y" classes (the man-at-arms and archer), since I'm still rubbish at the game and it's less embarrassing to get the snot beaten out of you as some pleb with a pointy stick than as a fully kitted-out knight, in my opinion anyway.
I have discovered, though, that there's nothing quite like playing as a 'vanguard', chucking on a blue-and-white robe with a colour-coordinated bucket helm, and going into battle using the dialogue options to shriek His praises whilst smiting heathens, as well as offering blessings and reassuring prayers to your comrades.
We were capturing a bridge on one level, calmly standing there watching as the red tide of Mason scum charged towards us, and I hit the prayer button and my character goes, "fear not the heathen rabble, for their mouths are full of lies and their arms weak and sinful", or something to that effect. What a moment.
We won that match, too. xD
Each class and faction has at least a couple of unique voice sets to choose from, by the way. Definitely a neat touch. Character customisation is pretty decent.
Post by: Akura on June 22, 2021, 03:14:34 pm
Discovered 'Infinitode 2' on Steam for 2 or 3 euros. Good fun so far.
Tower defense, recource grind, with idle game elements (prestige reset).
It used to be a mobile game, but it saw lots of updates that removed much if not all of the mobile feel.
You might also enjoy what's sucked me in recently: The Perfect Tower 2, also on Steam. Has all that, is free. There's some kind of cash shop, but I haven't found what you actually spend real money for. Might not be implemented yet; there's a few things not fully implemented or marked work-in-progress, as the game is in EA, but is otherwise fully playable. It *is* a mobile game, and in fact has the option to link your Steam account to theirs so you can sync your progress on your mobile device.
Post by: Horizon on June 23, 2021, 10:14:06 am
Post by: JimboM12 on June 23, 2021, 01:26:18 pm
Warframe
you only spoke one word, and yet somehow i can understand you completely
Post by: Horizon on June 23, 2021, 02:01:42 pm
Warframe
you only spoke one word, and yet somehow i can understand you completely
The Greybeards taught me well. XD
Post by: Sime on June 23, 2021, 02:14:46 pm
Post by: Telgin on June 23, 2021, 04:32:26 pm
So far, I'm pretty happy with it. It's not revolutionary in any way and I've got a few small gripes, but overall I've enjoyed it. It nails the atmosphere pretty much perfectly so far and looks pretty good for a $40 game. I appreciate that they include some behind the scenes stuff that didn't make it into Terminator 2, like the HK silverfish.
Combat difficulty feels a little inconsistent at times. My first death came from a floating scout drone that I couldn't just blow away with my M16, but I've had surprising success just shooting the larger spider robots with minimal effort of ducking into cover that they can't figure out how to walk around. Maybe it's a statement about the quality of the AI in most drones and HKs, which isn't hard to believe. Many of the spiders are situated near conspicuously placed explosive plasma cannisters though, which feel a little out of place.
I think my biggest issue so far is that the crafting interface doesn't seem to have any way of telling you how many of each resource you have and instead just tells you if you don't have enough. Grabbing dozens and dozens of little things in every building is getting a bit rote too.
Sneaking past invincible T-800s was fun though.
Post by: MrRoboto75 on June 25, 2021, 08:38:36 pm
Post by: Horizon on June 25, 2021, 10:30:10 pm
- VAMPYR
- Dragon's Dogma; Dark Arisen
- Darkest Dungeon; Ancestral Edition
- Hellpoint
Post by: Sirus on June 27, 2021, 08:04:06 am
Spoiler: Minor spoilers if you haven't played it yourself (click to show/hide)
This game will either start or aggravate a lot of phobias.
Post by: DeKaFu on June 27, 2021, 11:04:48 am
I haven't played Subnautica yet but it's one of the most highly anticipated horror games on my list.
Post by: Nighthawk on June 28, 2021, 10:19:19 am
I have a preexisting and highly specific phobia of being in a body of water with oversized fish and unknown life forms.My feelings exactly. It looks really cool, but simulating the experience of being immersed in a substance which could not only asphyxiate me, but is also teeming with dangerous creatures that are far more adapted to the environment than I am... yeah, that sounds like those nightmares I used to have about the shark in Banjo Kazooie when I was a kid.
I haven't played Subnautica yet but it's one of the most highly anticipated horror games on my list.
Post by: Great Order on June 28, 2021, 01:18:55 pm
The issue is that sometimes you get into an impossible situation. You can't find ammo and there's five drones forwards and backwards, or a turret that barely moves and is staring down the only viable hallway, or a drone just seems to apparate out of thin air as best as you can tell. The audio could have done with some work too, you only seem able to hear things if there's an unobstructed line of sight between you and it, so you might not realise there's a drone right by the door you're going through until you've actually gone through it.
EDIT: Oh yes, the movement's wonky as well. Most of the time you don't notice it, but there's been a few situations where I've died because I jumped up onto a ledge, and even though I let go of W my guy decided to keep moving forward. Other times you get the opposite issue, you hold W after landing on a ledge and your character decides that even though they're firmly on it, they'll fall backwards.
Post by: delphonso on June 28, 2021, 06:15:16 pm
I've never felt more joy just reading chatlogs on other people's computers.
Post by: Urist McSpike on July 03, 2021, 06:00:35 pm
I would love to find something like Subnautica though, that has that mix of exploration & building.
I have a preexisting and highly specific phobia of being in a body of water with oversized fish and unknown life forms.My feelings exactly. It looks really cool, but simulating the experience of being immersed in a substance which could not only asphyxiate me, but is also teeming with dangerous creatures that are far more adapted to the environment than I am... yeah, that sounds like those nightmares I used to have about the shark in Banjo Kazooie when I was a kid.
I haven't played Subnautica yet but it's one of the most highly anticipated horror games on my list.
If you like that style of game, I would highly recommend Subnautica (https://store.steampowered.com/app/264710/Subnautica/). It is currently on the Steam Summer sale for $15. I bought it way back, so had several restarts over the years as they updated it, and have 220 hours in it.
It does a fantastic job of giving you that vibe of being stranded & alone, while nudging you into new areas to follow the story, get new schematics, and get resources to build the new stuff. Heck, with the Steam refund policy, buy it, set a timer & play it for <2 hours, then refund it if you don't like it.
And yes, it does have a bit of a pucker factor. Although the area you start in is pretty tame (and pretty), other areas are less so. Staying close to the rocks, listening for hostile sea life, while staying still? Yeah.
Unfortunately, I can't quite recommend Subnautica: Below Zero (https://store.steampowered.com/app/848450/Subnautica_Below_Zero/) as much. It's decent, but didn't feel quite as immersive to me - probably because I felt more hemmed in by the map, instead of the (perceived) wide open map of the original.
Post by: JimboM12 on July 03, 2021, 06:11:00 pm
im intent on repairing devries space's economy right now, starting at the top to supply their shipyard and then work my way down.
Post by: scriver on July 04, 2021, 10:07:41 am
Spoiler: The whole family out fighting psychic hivemind bugs together (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Oh and yeah Cally Mac is kinda turning into a crow. They like her. (click to show/hide)
Post by: Rince Wind on July 05, 2021, 07:48:14 am
Post by: Kagus on August 17, 2021, 07:44:54 am
The project: To fill an upgraded fort entirely with uruks named Dûsh. There are 7 slots, not counting bodyguards which I may or may not deal with, and I currently have 4 Dûshes pulled together.
Post by: nenjin on August 22, 2021, 01:03:38 am
Post by: Dunamisdeos on August 24, 2021, 02:37:31 pm
I have a preexisting and highly specific phobia of being in a body of water with oversized fish and unknown life forms.My feelings exactly. It looks really cool, but simulating the experience of being immersed in a substance which could not only asphyxiate me, but is also teeming with dangerous creatures that are far more adapted to the environment than I am... yeah, that sounds like those nightmares I used to have about the shark in Banjo Kazooie when I was a kid.
I haven't played Subnautica yet but it's one of the most highly anticipated horror games on my list.
Well that's because when you first meet him HE MAKES A FUCKING GO AT YOU WITH HIS HUGE RUSTED TERROR JAWS before deciding to be your horrible rotted metal shark buddy.
https://youtu.be/kJwS9wfGblo?t=51 (https://youtu.be/kJwS9wfGblo?t=51)
Post by: GandalfTheGreyt3791 on August 24, 2021, 04:54:46 pm
I am working on taming a bunch of rexes to take in to the 1st boss fight on the Island Map, and getting destroyed in the process
Post by: Eric Blank on August 24, 2021, 06:37:12 pm
. It seems that oblivion has also been oblivious by the harddrive corruption that is slowly consuming my entire computer. I lost Skyrim LE, Stellaris, ARK, SW: KOTOR, KSP, Bannerlord, and a few others to the corruption. Skyrim (non-legendary) dwarf fortress and Starmade are all that's left.
Post by: Folly on October 26, 2021, 04:24:37 am
Some friends returned to the game for the recent Scourge update, and I decided to reinstall as well.
The last time I played there were only 3 Acts. Now there are at least 10! I just made it to Act 4, so it's all new to me from here onward.
Definitely having a lot of fun already, and there's still so much more to explore!
Post by: nenjin on October 26, 2021, 01:55:18 pm
Path of Exile
Some friends returned to the game for the recent Scourge update, and I decided to reinstall as well.
The last time I played there were only 3 Acts. Now there are at least 10! I just made it to Act 4, so it's all new to me from here onward.
Definitely having a lot of fun already, and there's still so much more to explore!
Oh man you have *so much* content to get through. Good luck!
For me, I've been playing a set of spooky games for October.
-Total Warhammer 2 Vampire Counts campaign. It's going well. I confederated all the Vampire Count legendary lords before the AI devoured them. I beat the short campaign around turn 95 or something, had completely taken over the Empire without much struggle. The long campaign could probably be completed by turn 150. I've basically already won, now I'm just doing things like building fun doomstacks.
-Source of Madness. Talked about it in another thread, but it's an Early Access Castelvania-style roguelike, with procedurally generated levels, level textures and monsters, wrapped up in a Cthulhu theme. It's still a WIP but the art is amazing, the action is very action-y in a high physics, body parts flying around sort of way. I'd still consider it a casual title but what they have already is pretty fun and engaging.
-Ghost Master. I had a bit of a nostalgia wave and re-installed this. I....I love this game. In some ways because it's so different from what I normally play. It's barely even edgy. It's silly and cheesy and doesn't take itself even remotely seriously. It's full of dumb puns and dad jokes. It's still one of the best "be the ghosts" simulators out there despite being almost 20 years old. The little stories of ghosts you need to rescue or the human dramas you're involved in while playing the game are simple and yet wonderfully flavorful. And there's something charming about interacting with the SIMs-like AIs and screwing with them using your ghost powers. Which is also the biggest frustration when you're replaying it going for high scores, is waiting for the AI humans to do shit that you need for the level completion. I spent a good hour on a level where my speed run time (which is directly tied to your end of level score, and how much cash you get to buy new ghost powers) was directly dependent on an AI deciding they needed to take a poop. Love the game to bits though, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes hauntings, ghosts and simulations.
Post by: AzyWng on October 26, 2021, 07:04:50 pm
Post by: nenjin on November 07, 2021, 10:47:24 pm
I love the game but man it became a real slog in Chapter 2. That point where most of your needs were taken care of so there really wasn't a lot of motivation to loot everything anymore, and yet to see everything and understand everything, you had to tromp across the swamp, do the night time events and criss cross the map 3 dozen times. Which is true of most of the game, but by the swamp it had become pretty tedious.
Also slightly annoyed your game gets saved at the start of the epilogue. So I can't try and go get the other ending with the same save game.
Spoiler: Ending (click to show/hide)
This run took me 50 days, and I imagine 30 or so hours of actual playtime. Probably won't be playing Darkwood again for a long while but if I do , I'll make a speedrun of it. I've crawled over every inch of this game now, and while I think it was a worthwhile experience it's not one I'd repeat again.
Post by: AzyWng on November 08, 2021, 12:11:38 am
PC Building Simulator's pretty nice if you're into fixing things up (though I'm still wary of jobs like "Upgrade my graphics card" or "Make sure my PC can get this 3D Mark Score" - it often leads to me scrolling through the lists of graphics cards to see what will or won't work). Haven't gotten far enough into the game to see the other features yet, though I have received my first requests to build PCs for people - which is interesting.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts feels a lot like your usual first-person stealth shooter, though the sniping mechanics are pretty cool - you can adjust your scope's distance in order to more easily see and shoot far targets, you get special bullets that can do things like lure enemies or disable electronics. You're pretty dang fragile, though, so head-on gunfights are very likely to end in death - even if you pull out the shotgun you brought with you.
Post by: MCreeper on December 16, 2021, 09:46:03 am
Post by: Sirus on December 16, 2021, 10:12:05 am
Post by: JimboM12 on December 16, 2021, 11:16:06 am
this shows the love and support this cult classic rpg series has and it continues to this day, surprisingly to me.
and just a few days ago on steam they released a massive megamod for Gothic 2 called The Chronicles of Myrtana Archolos that i downloaded to try this weekend and thought id share it for any other Gothic fans.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1467450/The_Chronicles_Of_Myrtana_Archolos/
its basically a whole other game based on the G2 engine. you don't even play as the nameless hero either and its got overwhelmingly positive reviews too
Post by: nenjin on December 16, 2021, 11:38:11 am
Someone had linked me the Chaos Reborn project. Which are faithful recreations of, I believe, the Amiga versions of Dungeon Master 1, Chaos Reborn and Dungeon Master 2.
It's quality work, but I never played the Amiga version of DM2. Just the PC. So when I booted it up and started playing, lots of UI differences started to bug me. Like the fact that it only displayed items in the right hand of each hero for use in combat, where as the PC displayed items in both hands. And like rotating objects required you to cycle through a menu on the Amiga, whereas the PC had a nice clickable UI interface. The PC version just had a nicer, more detailed UI in general. The CR UI by contrast was functional but minimalist.
So I dove into nostalgia, found a copy of the PC version on Abandonia and got DOSBOX installed.
Man I enjoy this game. It's so simple and limited feeling by today's standards. But something about the charming quality of the art (particularly the weapons and armor) and the "learn by doing" XP system just enchants me. I do think it's not my favorite Dungeon Master game. DM1 took place entirely in a dungeon, and resource scarcity and the threat of starving to death really gave the game tension. DM2 on the other hand largely takes place outdoors for the first 3/4 of the game, has farmable respawning enemies that drop food and loot to sell, vendors to buy food and the best gear in the game from and generally yeah....DM2 is eminently grindable compared to DM1. Which is both part of its appeal and why it's a different feeling game than DM1.
Post by: MCreeper on December 22, 2021, 03:03:04 pm
Entering Taurus Demon boss room, there is a knight dude on the arena. Is he boss now? *fighting, Taurus' HP line appears.* Holy shit, he isn't! I climb at tower and do a plunge attack, then run away to get them away from the ladder. Oh, they are fighting each other! :D
Speaking of Daughters of Ash, it appears to be the mod "everybody" plays but nobody likes. I installed it once. Asylum Demon broke trough the floor and died before i enter boss room, as intended, but i restarted to check if it really is. This time fight went as normal, then I broke trough the floor and died. What there is to be expected from a mod that doesn't works correctly from the very beginning? ::) Looked at comments, there are people swearing about obscurity, bugs and bullshit, and other people saying they are just bad at playing.
Post by: Akura on December 22, 2021, 04:58:25 pm
Restarted once and maybe again because of how slow I feel I'm progressing. Last attempt, I missed the peak time of the year for my starting inner to breakthrough to Golden Core, though a total lack of viable materials for a decent cultivation room didn't help(or poor Law compatibility). Current attempt, it took me 15 days for my starting inner to actually become an inner disciple - I avoid using the starting Forming Pill for two reasons: first, it's going to be a while before you can replace it and it has other benefits besides instantly building an outer's foundation, and second, because there's simply so much work to be done initially building up the place that I can't spare the labor. Luckily my second attempt I picked up a wolfgirl early on, which helps(because she runs fast, and over 200 days before her tribulation).
Both attempts I my starting inner was setup for a the Sunflower Refining Law and a massive Social skill. This can be done by re-rolling the character stats until Social is at least 50, and taking the Hedonist perk, which increases both Social skill and Charisma(which Social is based off of) and gives them 100-quality clothes. You need a massive Social skill to do the main story stuff. I'm finding Sunflower is a slow Law to start up since you need to make a cultivation room out of fire, which has a lot of problems(like fire).
I've heard of a run where someone got a tier-1 Golden Core with True Sun Refining Law by day 5, but I haven't seen how they did that. Nor am I going to attempt that. My concern with slow progression is due to the fact that I've lost runs because I didn't get strong enough quickly enough to defeat the demon beast on the map - which is stronger than the average beastie, gets stronger over time, eventually wakes up, and finally attacks your base. There's also some time-limited stuff, primarily with the main story, and generally has little to do with how strong your sect is as far as I know.
Post by: Robsoie on December 22, 2021, 06:33:52 pm
Just completed the 12th mission of the campaign (and finally unlocked the 13th and last mission) and applied the ninja stealth rule
Spoiler: to avoid being seen, kill everyone that could see you (click to show/hide)
What a fantastic Commando/Deseperado game it has been so far, those 12 missions were great and very well designed (some feel impossible until you review your approach and progressively clear a path) as each ones added a design quirk or some different kind of map feature in comparison to the previous, allowing then the game to avoid being too repetitive.
Only cowardly played in beginner difficulty but i have a hard time to imagine how i could have done on some situation i managed to overcome if it had been even slightly harder.
Loved each moment of that game, the characters are rather charismatic thanks to the vocal actors that really play them well in english ( my favorite is Yuki, a supposed street urchin turned thief but that ended being my biggest murder machine thanks to her "pretty little trap", the dialogue lines she has are excellent, you feel there's something wrong with her head everytime she talks to her trap, tools and the environment while murdering all those people :D )
Took nearly 2 hours by missions (and quicksave/quickreloaded between 40/50 times due to mistakes), man i'm really either terribly bad or way too cautious, as amongst the badges you can get in normal difficulty it looks like the missions can be each completed between 10 and 20 minutes.
Post by: MCreeper on July 27, 2022, 06:15:36 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And between all that we both apparently managed to kill some people outside.Bother. There was a wonderful russian site for witcher 1 containing detailed walktrough and info about all things in the game. Now it isn't, and highest stuff in search results is an epitome of uselessness, because those wiki editors consider the most important thing to be quest logs and in-game descriptions and don't tell a word about how to actually complete a quest or what a given thing is. Who needs that? Who needs that? And walktrough is kinda needed, because few quests in first Witcher resemble those in Dark Souls.
Post by: scriver on July 28, 2022, 03:52:43 pm
Post by: eerr on July 28, 2022, 05:50:25 pm
It's one of the few games that gives that sci fi ship crew feeling!
Finally! The Star Trek style game I always wanted.
I manned the weapons in a few games, shooting enemy (and friendly) ships with a giant laser.
The away missions are a little bland, but the game is overall really good!
I need someone with more experience to make a thread, the last one was posted on about five years ago.
Post by: BurnedToast on July 29, 2022, 11:28:49 pm
I don't know if I've ever loved and hated a game so much at the same time. There's just so, so many frustrating things about it. In particular, but not limited to:
Spoiler: a long kenshi rant (click to show/hide)
I know mods fix some of the problems, but that's not an excuse IMO.
Anyway despite the rant I do like the game, like... a lot. And I've put dozens of hours into it over the last few weeks, I even had a plan for a second playthrough forming in my mind but lately the more I play the more the flaws stick out and I think I probably won't even "finish" (such as you can finish an endless sandbox) my first game. I got my money's worth and I don't regret buying it but it's such a missed opportunity, the core gameplay is so good I wish it was not held back by technical issues and a few questionable design decisions.
Post by: EuchreJack on July 30, 2022, 12:44:56 am
At least it wasn't being Krashi on your system, although in recent years it only gets Krashi when I try to load too many mods or the wrong mods.
I wasn't aware about the spawning. In my games, it seems nothing respawns, but maybe my settings are different?
Note that respawning requires a location not be under observation: You could leave someone hidden and the maps won't respawn.
I often theorize that Kenshi is a moon only a fraction the size of the Earth. It's the only way to explain the speeds high Athletics can generate.
Post by: nenjin on July 30, 2022, 03:16:59 am
Post by: Iduno on July 30, 2022, 12:17:39 pm
Binged on Witcher 1 for whole day (and some of the night)
How much of that was trying to figure out the combat system? One of the few games to kill me during the tutorial, and without me having the slightest clue what they actually wanted me to do.
Post by: Robsoie on July 30, 2022, 12:53:15 pm
Basically first you must select correctly your combat stance so it corresponds to your current enemy (there are 3 combat stances : one for stong enemies, another for fast enemies and one when you're facing a group of enemies) using the wrong combat stance make Geralt doing very small damage and getting spanked a lot more, and when fighting a group, remember to change your stance when you have only 1 enemy left as the group stance is very bad on a 1vs1.
Then press your attack button/key and wait for Geralt to do his opening combo, when the sword will flash press once more your attack key For Geralt to extand his combo, do that until the enemy is dead or you reaching Geralt last combo (increasing his skill will add more combo extension).
If you're not patient enough and click when the sword isn't flashing your Geralt will stop his combo and you're going to get hurt by the enemy.
Depending on difficulty level, you may have to jump dodge/retreat between a few combo serie, or you can just combo things to death on lower difficulty
Of course you need to also use steel for normal enemies and for silver for unnatural things and monsters
I completed the game because there was some nice things going on in there and i really wanted to get to the end of the story, but i didn't really enjoyed the combat system, Witcher 2 changed it completely into something a lot more satisfying and enjoyable for me as it reminded me more of those Soul-like/Mnster Hunter-like games, knowing when to roll away, when to attack, when to combo etc..., Witcher 2 combat system was a massive improvement to me, feeling more in control instead of being mostly a spectator of the fights like in Witcher 1.
Post by: hector13 on July 30, 2022, 12:56:24 pm
Post by: scriver on July 30, 2022, 01:38:25 pm
I never enjoyed the Witcher series, as it seems a lot of Geralt’a motivation seems to be whether or not he can fuck something at the end of a quest.
Tinder Quest lol
I can see that for 1 and 2 but for 3 it's not quite that, though he does take time to do the old romance quest during the game too of course.
Post by: Robsoie on July 30, 2022, 01:52:42 pm
I never enjoyed the Witcher series, as it seems a lot of Geralt’a motivation seems to be whether or not he can fuck something at the end of a quest.
That's unfair, sometimes in the game he can have sex before starting a quest !
Post by: MCreeper on July 30, 2022, 10:35:00 pm
None - that may have been seventh start. Never understood complaints about combat system being hard to figure out. I remember it being awkward in the tutorial first time i played, yes, but after that it was totally fine. Except being generally awkward. :P I consider all Witchers' combat dull clickfest, but first one was at least original about it.Binged on Witcher 1 for whole day (and some of the night)
How much of that was trying to figure out the combat system? One of the few games to kill me during the tutorial, and without me having the slightest clue what they actually wanted me to do.
Post by: BurnedToast on July 30, 2022, 10:50:32 pm
I wasn't aware about the spawning. In my games, it seems nothing respawns, but maybe my settings are different?
Note that respawning requires a location not be under observation: You could leave someone hidden and the maps won't respawn.
It must have been a bug, I thought it was weird that I didn't notice any corpses anywhere or anything either. So somehow I guess the area got reset? I don't know. But I went back and killed some more guys and they actually seem to stay dead now.
The "1 vs whole city" strategy is actually crazy good, compared to trying to fight in a mob. I actually replaced my main fighter's armor with assassin rags, samurai cloth pants, wooden sandals, and some no-penalty hat and it seems massively better than actually wearing armor. He's not eating constant unblockable AoE anymore so even though the chest hole in the assassin rags is scary, he takes virtually zero damage due to super fast blocks. He managed to blender his way through all the regular guards and even kill a few elite paladins before he took enough "chip" damage that I had him run away. Surprisingly enough, he didn't even take *that* much more damage per hit with light armor than he did in full specialist heavy plate.
Kind of makes me wonder what the point of being able to control so many people is. I expected to have to raise a small army of sorts to beat up the main factions, but actually that's bad and it seems better to just have maybe 3 - 4 fighters and maybe a few workers making food or something. Unfinished/unbalanced game is unfinished, I guess. Still feels kind of awful that the game advertises "you aren't special at all in any way" and yet after a few months of running around killing bandits you're capable of solo'ing a whole major faction's capital city.
I have a great time in Kenshi for about the first 5 to 8 hours. Then I try to build a base and it's just a matter of time before unfinished content is unfinished and I find the tedium too much to deal with. Hopefully they actually finish Kenshi 2.
That's extremely fair. The technical issues are the biggest problem, imo but a very close second is that the game only feels maybe 50% - 60% finished. The core is there, but it just needs..."more" of everything. I'm really hoping kenshi 2 turns out good, or at least less buggy.
Post by: Aoi on July 31, 2022, 02:00:27 am
Post by: Sirus on July 31, 2022, 08:35:42 am
Post by: AzyWng on July 31, 2022, 12:50:06 pm
It's pretty fun, though I initially struggled a bit when I did things like mess up block timings. I'm liking the three player characters, too.
Post by: nenjin on August 01, 2022, 12:19:54 am
It is pretty engaging once you get over the initial learning curve on interacting with stuff, and sort of what they expect you to do. Then a few hours later you start getting a little more comfortable with combat.
I can't even imagine what this game like before the checkpointing system. Right now my biggest frustration is just having to go back and loot all the rooms over again for the armor that's there. It just gets tedious, especially when the checkpoints are so far in between. Losing 45 minutes of careful play really shotguns my desire to get back to where I was.
Also realized a little bit late that, even though the game encourages you not to fight, random guys have keys on them to doors. So in truth you actually kinda need to fight if you don't want to be missing side areas.
The combat is....interesting. I'm still not quite good at it but at least I've learned how to space foes decently. But if it wasn't for Derrin, I probably wouldn't even be half as far as I am now. Dude just clobbers shit with a two handed weapon while I'm over here whiffing half of my attacks because my torso is derping the wrong direction or something.
If it weren't for the repetitive looting after dying, I'd gives this real high marks. It reminds me a bit of original Diablo for how dark everything is and the room-by-room exploration. It's a little low key on the spookiness though, and I wish it wasn't so incredibly drab. It's very easy to miss brown vambraces on a brown barrel on a brown stone floor.
The game has its massive share of frustration though too. After the best single life I had ended at that stupid trap corridor (first I lost Derrin trying to run it, then I slipped in trying to line myself up to run back) I did a few more runs from the checkpoint. My last one ended while I was looting a body and looking at the armor, when a guy literally ran in from off screen and overhand chopped me in the head with a billhook. Kinda bullshit how fast they move. Up until now nothing has really gotten the drop on me, but after 2 or 3 restarts from the checkpoint that was kinda the last straw for the night.
I've seen some of the late game already so I know a bit of what's in store. It's a cute little game but I agree with some comments that it's a little tryhard for its own sake, when it'd be a more enjoyable experience if it loosened up a little bit.
Post by: EuchreJack on August 01, 2022, 11:32:34 am
That still happens, which is why it's generally not recommended to go building a base until you're ready (rather than as soon as you have a handful of building material). It is much safer to buy a house in a town somewhere and use that as a starter base where you can conduct basic research and stockpile goods while training your dudes to survive bandit attacks.But losing to bandits will train you to survive bandits. The real problem comes down to reserves.
But yeah, its easier to get your basic research and forge training done in town.
Post by: MCreeper on September 17, 2022, 02:35:50 am
While searching for Skyrim face that isn't either vanilla or a violent atrocity:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Result of searching for for the love of god not another bikini was pretty much just this (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/35381?tab=files&file_id=188719). I will not even see Cicero this time around, and if i do, the mod will probably FUBAR itself anyway, but rule 63'd Cicero is just too hilarious.
Also, hair mods in general are odd. You can have a fuckton of outlandish constructions that one would only see IRL in modish magazines, if at all, but can you have, say, just simple twintails? Nay nay nay.
WTF thead material: my first results for googling 'twintails' are pictures from some old magical girl schlock. Then a minecraft mod for having twintails.
Another one: This (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dta2OeOoB6M), apparently, is still Skyrim. Why would someone choose to use Skyrim as MMD is anybody's guess, but someone did. CLIPPING.
Post by: darkhog on September 19, 2022, 09:53:28 am
Post by: delphonso on September 21, 2022, 08:00:36 am
It's almost exactly the same as the original, but with more cards and a second island (that also has a casino because children love gambling). It's great.
Post by: MCreeper on December 21, 2022, 11:23:55 am
Post by: Horizon on December 21, 2022, 04:58:53 pm
Post by: Robsoie on December 21, 2022, 08:36:35 pm
This one really surprised me because i wasn't expecting to like it so much despite its choice of "no combat"
Sable at its base is a Zelda: Breath of the Wild-like with a huge open world for you to explore and npc to meet and help around.
To work around the lack of combat, what makes Sable actually interesting even in the long term is because there's so many different awe inspiring places, ruins, derelicts, strange places to explore, climb (your character can climb nearly everywere in the world, those locations are really well designed for that) and jump around those detailled and very varied locations that makes you really feel it's rewarding to explore this world to learn more about its story, why things are like they are, and find some very cool vista, etc...
The visual art style really grew on me, because of the Moebius look that reminds me so much of this artist cool work.
It's a bit odd that every of the many npc you'll meet is someone good natured, but i guess with the lack of combat they really wanted this to be very child friendly, though some of the quests you get from npc or puzzles on some places are a bit tricky.
But there's also unfortunately a lot of emptiness in Sable when you travel between all those cool locations.
That is probably where the lack of combat is the most felt as usually open world games have combat happening mostly randomly around to break the monotony , i think without adding combat it would have been nice to at least find travelling merchants, explorer, or whatever moving between places as it would have make things a bit more lively.
The landspeeder physics are also not really great as you spend a lot of time with it doing some accidental barrel roll or having odd flipping during your travels.
Post by: nenjin on December 21, 2022, 08:41:35 pm
Post by: Horizon on December 21, 2022, 11:24:29 pm
Post by: hector13 on December 21, 2022, 11:53:35 pm
Post by: EuchreJack on December 22, 2022, 03:25:53 am
I mean, I've owned cats and ducks before, but it's too cold to own a crocodile in RL, so Ultimate Wish fulfillment would be Mr. Croco.
But I think it's OK whichever you choose.
Post by: King Zultan on December 22, 2022, 04:14:02 am
Post by: scriver on December 22, 2022, 10:14:18 am
Sable
This one really surprised me because i wasn't expecting to like it so much despite its choice of "no combat"
Sable at its base is a Zelda: Breath of the Wild-like with a huge open world for you to explore and npc to meet and help around.
To work around the lack of combat, what makes Sable actually interesting even in the long term is because there's so many different awe inspiring places, ruins, derelicts, strange places to explore, climb (your character can climb nearly everywere in the world, those locations are really well designed for that) and jump around those detailled and very varied locations that makes you really feel it's rewarding to explore this world to learn more about its story, why things are like they are, and find some very cool vista, etc...
The visual art style really grew on me, because of the Moebius look that reminds me so much of this artist cool work.
It's a bit odd that every of the many npc you'll meet is someone good natured, but i guess with the lack of combat they really wanted this to be very child friendly, though some of the quests you get from npc or puzzles on some places are a bit tricky.
But there's also unfortunately a lot of emptiness in Sable when you travel between all those cool locations.
That is probably where the lack of combat is the most felt as usually open world games have combat happening mostly randomly around to break the monotony , i think without adding combat it would have been nice to at least find travelling merchants, explorer, or whatever moving between places as it would have make things a bit more lively.
The landspeeder physics are also not really great as you spend a lot of time with it doing some accidental barrel roll or having odd flipping during your travels.
I tried it's demo some time ago, drawn in by it's pretty art, and unfortunately the last paragraph was what made me eventually not want to buy it. But in hindsight it's really informative about the need for filler combat in design – or at least how design have conditioned me to have that need. Maybe they should have invested more in making the travelling like a motocross, bmx or skateboarding-ish game so there's stuff to do while you roam the land, taking advantage of the environment. But that just might be my attention addled brain needing stuff to happen all the time.
Post by: Robsoie on December 22, 2022, 10:18:22 am
Though with the unity engine running this game it's already a miracle this is playable with relatively smooth framerate (but with noticable drop in performance on some more populated/busy places) , i imagine with a more lively world ...
Post by: Chiefwaffles on December 24, 2022, 06:22:45 am
Unity just makes it easy for people to make games. This includes people who are bad at optimizing games. That's all.
Post by: Robsoie on December 24, 2022, 07:16:58 am
Sure some coder may be bad at optimising or may not be interested in spending any optimisation time (as after all they're more interested of finally getting money from selling their game instead of pushing release for a while until they optimise the stuff and not getting any sales), but as a player those aren't my concerns , i care more about loading time and performance not going to be a pain to me enjoying playing a game.
Fortunately there are some exception, Sable by example is rather large scale and complex and run surprisingly well (out of some performance issues on some location for some reason) and load rather fast.
Post by: scriver on December 24, 2022, 07:35:12 am
Post by: Iduno on December 24, 2022, 12:15:42 pm
I'm playing through the free games Epic has been giving away, because I happened to be running low on other games I wanted to play.
Post by: Chiefwaffles on December 24, 2022, 06:33:49 pm
At its base, optimization is two things:
1.) Reduce the things the computer has to do. This is a very broad category but deservedly so. It's the same idea of efficiency present literally everywhere.
2.) Use all the resources the computer gives you. Using 100% of 1 CPU core and 0% of the many others computers nowadays have? Poorly optimized.
And there's a reason Unity is widely used. Many reasons. Many, many reasons. Honestly, people who blindly complain about games on Unity are almost (but not quite) as bad as people who complain about Bethesda games using the Creation engine.
Post by: scriver on December 25, 2022, 07:01:24 am
Yes I am one if those people :P
Post by: Chiefwaffles on December 25, 2022, 07:38:59 am
Post by: Horizon on January 02, 2023, 08:23:48 pm
Post by: nenjin on January 03, 2023, 12:30:37 am
Post by: Nighthawk on January 03, 2023, 01:19:32 am
Replaying Resident Evil 5 for the 3rd time with yet another friend.I had so much fun playing through that game with my brother back in the day. A great co-op experience, even if it is a bit littered with quick-time events.
Post by: nenjin on January 03, 2023, 02:26:34 am
But yeah. A solid coop experience after RE4 set the pace of gameplay. Mouse and keyboard aiming also makes it quite a lot of fun to play.
Post by: AzyWng on January 03, 2023, 11:15:18 am
Post by: Sirus on January 03, 2023, 05:36:58 pm
Post by: Horizon on January 03, 2023, 06:05:00 pm
I picked up Elden Ring during the Winter Sale and so far I'm having fun. I'm also dying a lot and I'm stuck on two different bosses (early ones, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the game), but still it's pretty fun. Running a Warrior with Dualblade mainly, along with a flail for foes that want striking damage.Which bosses? I suggest summoning help, that and I too am getting back into ER. Beeg sword, unga bunga strength build.
Post by: Robsoie on January 03, 2023, 08:24:27 pm
Harlaus army was fighting 3 rhodok lords at the same time.
The swadians were also more numerous than their 3 enemies and were winning that fight as their troops were losing less men than the other side, so despite i was still at the beginning of the game with a bow that deal peanuts damage and a small axe that does not do much more and some useless leather paper thin armor, i decided to courageously join the obviously winning side .
For some reason after a few waves of reinforcements, no more troops appeared on my side for reason i don't really know (as there was more troops in Harlaus army than what i fought along) .
But the Rhodoks had easily still +20 guys that decided to just run at me and shoot various shots in my general direction, i decided to bravely retreat.
My brillant tactical decision got the massive approval of all my army ... well i mean approval from Ymira
Spoiler: my future 2nd in command (click to show/hide)
(playing the most excellent Bannerpage mod for M&B Warband)
Post by: Sirus on January 04, 2023, 02:30:05 pm
Margit the Fell and Leonine Misbegotten, though I managed to kill the latter last night so I'm hoping that Margit will soon follow. I haven't tried summoning actual people yet because it seems like that uses consumables, and I tend to hoard such items in case I really need them later.I picked up Elden Ring during the Winter Sale and so far I'm having fun. I'm also dying a lot and I'm stuck on two different bosses (early ones, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the game), but still it's pretty fun. Running a Warrior with Dualblade mainly, along with a flail for foes that want striking damage.Which bosses? I suggest summoning help, that and I too am getting back into ER. Beeg sword, unga bunga strength build.
Also managed to kill the Tree Sentinel (the horseman in golden armor that prowls the starting area ready to murder helpless newbies), so I am making a sort of progress. I'm just slow because I don't play many soulslikes.
Post by: lemon10 on January 05, 2023, 05:12:40 pm
If you are having a bunch of trouble on a boss though (like Margit) just use a summon if you want to, there are enough of them you don't need to worry about running out plus you can craft more using a very common item forever. So you can run literally the entire game (where you are allowed to have a summon) with a bro or two if you feel like it.
Post by: Horizon on January 05, 2023, 07:36:01 pm
Post by: Felius on January 05, 2023, 10:56:51 pm
Post by: nenjin on January 05, 2023, 11:58:07 pm
Quote
I haven't tried summoning actual people yet because it seems like that uses consumables, and I tend to hoard such items in case I really need them later.
The consumable it uses is the Erd Tree flower. 1 Erd Tree Flower = 1 Furled Finger. Erd Tree flowers are insanely common, and you even get rewarded Furled Fingers for doing MP itself. So I'd just recommend taking 10 minutes to farm some flowers and you'll probably never need to again.
I will say the game goes from pretty tough to only moderately challenging once you start doing MP. So depending on what your priorities are (gettin gud vs. beating the game), coop may change how you view it.
Post by: Egan_BW on January 06, 2023, 03:09:51 am
Post by: Sirus on January 06, 2023, 02:04:26 pm
Also yes, I didn't realize that the MP-enabling item was so damn easy to craft until I poked around the crafting menu some. So I may be making use of that periodically.
Post by: Horizon on January 06, 2023, 02:30:19 pm
Post by: hector13 on January 06, 2023, 02:30:59 pm
Post by: Horizon on January 06, 2023, 02:33:20 pm
Post by: Horizon on January 06, 2023, 02:34:43 pm
Post by: MCreeper on January 06, 2023, 02:38:05 pm
Post by: nenjin on January 06, 2023, 07:36:36 pm
Post by: Horizon on January 06, 2023, 08:40:53 pm
Post by: nenjin on January 06, 2023, 08:52:15 pm
Post by: Great Order on January 06, 2023, 11:25:45 pm
Just playing. The forum search function ain't what it used to be.Half the time I can't go beyond the first page of results, it's definitely a wee bit fucked.
I'm currently on a Rimworld/The Long Dark binge. Usual pattern, I'll obsessively play a game or several for a month, then they'll fall to the wayside and I'll go back to a mix. Current game of TLD's going well. Spawned in mountain town, took Milton House as my base, found a revolver and a good chunk of ammo for it. Been getting loads of meat, guts and hide because of an abundance of rabbits and deer carcasses, and because there's loads of wolves that keep coming up to the house and shot by me.
I'm going to make a bow. At least that way the ammo's reusable.
I've also snagged a hatchet from the farmhouse and two hunting knives. I've only had one whetstone though, and I'm wearing through the hatchet pretty fast. I've also got some decent clothing through scavenging the town and plane crash. Loads of food too just from a combo of hunting giving me enough to survive and accumulating crisps, canned goods, MREs, jerky and so on, as well as an overabundance of water because I've found five(!) cooking pots that I've used for water every time I've had any stove time spare after cooking.
Life is good. If only the wolves would piss off. I might move out of Milton for some exploration soon.
Post by: darkhog on January 07, 2023, 10:19:42 am
Post by: Telgin on February 06, 2023, 04:05:22 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Folly on February 06, 2023, 04:20:00 pm
The nude mods were surprisingly easy to set up, and look amazing.
Story has lots of cutscenes, which I used to hate, but lately I've come to appreciate as a chance to do stuff on my phone.
Combat is dynamic enough to keep things interesting, with most enemies having both elements and attributes which I can actively counter while simultaneously timing dodges.
Definitely happy I purchased this one.
Post by: BurnedToast on February 25, 2023, 08:05:10 pm
I'm really, really confused by it though. The combat system is actually interesting - there's no RNG, you characters have a 100% hitrate but everyone has an "awareness" bar that lets them duck or dodge out of the way and avoid shots (you only take minor graze damage). So you might use "full auto" which uses your whole turn and a boatload of ammo, but drains enemy awareness really fast, or if the enemy is already low on awareness you can use a pistol or sniper weapon to do a headshot and get big damage. There's also a cover system, overwatch, the ability to revive down teammates and carry them off the map, multiple types of grenades etc. There's even an "assault" system where you can have multiple agents rush a room at the same time and simultaneously shoot everyone in it. In addition, almost all the perks and many of the items and modifications for weapons are all based around combat.
So it's heavily combat focused, right? Nope. It's almost 100% stealth focused. If you fire an unsilenced gun, or an enemy spots you (even if you instant-KO them) the whole map goes on alert, the enemies all psychically know exactly where you are and rush your position, and there's infinite reinforcement waves every 4(?) turns. In other words, despite the interesting combat system, breaking stealth is basically instant mission fail unless you're already done with all your objectives and ready to extract anyway. And even then, you only have a few turns to extract once the map is alerted or your extract is compromised and Bad Things can happen.
But... stealth is honestly not that much fun. It's the same generic video game stealth where enemies patrol set routes forever, you can club a guy on the head and his buddy 3 feet in front of him won't notice, there's absolutely no sound system at all, guards don't think it's suspicious if your guy disguised as an electrician sprints and jumps out a second story window, the last guard patrolling around does not notice the other 30 guards are mysteriously missing, nobody ever turns to look to the side they always stare straight ahead forever, etc.
So I can't figure out how the game is supposed to flow. Combat is penalized so heavily it feels like it was designed for savescumming munchkins but if that's the case, why did they bother adding the combat system?
I don't know. I'll give it some more time and see if it becomes interesting but for now it's kind of a letdown.
Edit: I just had a situation where a guard was staring at a door I needed to get into, so I "snuck" into the room by jumping through the window like 5 feet to his left, sprinting behind him, and clubbing him on the head. Such sneak, much realisms.
Post by: Persus13 on February 26, 2023, 01:13:25 pm
Its been awhile, but the main thing I remember about combat is that cover and flanking are really important, and you should prioritize equipping medkits. When I had to break stealth I usually tried to set up a defensive zone where I was in cover and they had to come to me. If you play the stealth sections right, you should know where most if not all the enemies are. Its definitely not like XCOM where you want to get in and out as fast as you can.
Post by: scriver on February 27, 2023, 07:33:59 am
Post by: Magmacube_tr on February 27, 2023, 09:30:37 am
Post by: Horizon on February 27, 2023, 12:42:03 pm
Post by: Magmacube_tr on February 27, 2023, 05:28:36 pm
Trying to find a fucking Vy'keen dagger!
Good news, found the goddamned dagger.
Bad news is that now I have to find the 16 glyphs!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
Post by: EuchreJack on February 27, 2023, 10:45:08 pm
Post by: delphonso on February 27, 2023, 11:36:04 pm
Since Kerbal Space Program 2: Space Boogaloo is a festering pit of despair, I've gone back to the original game.
I just came down from a KSP stint and was surprised to see KSP2 on early access. What's the issues, as you experienced them?
Post by: BurnedToast on February 28, 2023, 06:16:25 pm
I had an absolute blast playing Phantom Doctrine, so I'm sad to hear you're not having as much fun as I did.
Now that I've realized some of the mistakes I made, it's starting to grow on me. For example, I mistook the agent for a normal enemy and I thought some normal enemies always did that much damage. Also, I got really bad luck with reinforcements in the beginning and they kept spawning basically right on top of me, but in later missions they spawned far away so it was not quite as bad. I also discovered that if you leave before your escape is compromised, and don't kill any civs there's no heat penalty at all for getting spotted.
I still wish the stealth was less brainless, and I think it's sometimes frustrating that agents get a free move after they spot you to chunk off 80% of your HP, but now that I know what I'm doing I think I like it enough to finish it.
Since Kerbal Space Program 2: Space Boogaloo is a festering pit of despair, I've gone back to the original game.
Is it really that bad? Do you think there's hope that it gets fixed or is it just an irredeemable mess?
KSP2 was one of the *very* few games I was really looking forward to, and it was kind of a gut punch seeing the absurdly inflated system requirements and hearing about all the issues it has
Post by: EuchreJack on March 01, 2023, 03:36:51 am
Since Kerbal Space Program 2: Space Boogaloo is a festering pit of despair, I've gone back to the original game.
I just came down from a KSP stint and was surprised to see KSP2 on early access. What's the issues, as you experienced them?
I'm not paying money for that dumpsterfire.
...
Today, I booted up the Sims 3. Wow, are things archaic! Tech we take for granted is super expensive.
Trying to outfit a Dive Bar, I can't justify those hanging wall TVs that line the place.
I did manage to use outdoor furniture to outfit the tables and chairs, so at least I was able to be authentic in that part...
Post by: Culise on March 02, 2023, 10:09:30 pm
I just came down from a KSP stint and was surprised to see KSP2 on early access. What's the issues, as you experienced them?
Is it really that bad? Do you think there's hope that it gets fixed or is it just an irredeemable mess?With the caveat that I haven't played it for myself and am going entirely off second-hand reporting and the company's own official lists of features and plans:
KSP2 was one of the *very* few games I was really looking forward to, and it was kind of a gut punch seeing the absurdly inflated system requirements and hearing about all the issues it has
1. KSP2 right now is about as complete as KSP1 was when it first hit EA. This worked well for KSP1, which was a fly-by-night garage production by a team that was still running in their spare times around their day jobs and had no real competitors. KSP2 is competing against KSP1 and being produced by a development company under a major publishing firm, which went to some effort to ensure that it was under their control. Thus, not only does it draw more ire from fans, those fans have alternatives available that many of them already own.
2. One of KSP2's major advantages over KSP1 is a graphical overhaul. Unfortunately, this resulted in very steep system requirements, particularly in the graphics card. KSP1 has the advantage of being ten years old in this respect. While it was fairly demanding computationally in the day, it is a rare game that would still be demanding on processing power after so many years (Crysis memes aside).
3. Another of KSP2's major advantages over KSP 1 was supposed to be a rework in the core engine in an attempt to reduce what's vernacularly referred to as "jank," including the kraken. Unfortunately, KSP2 still has quite a few major bugs, including a loss in processing scaling to total parts in the system (not just loaded in the local area). The kraken (and kraken drives) are still alive and well, and KSP2 is still shackled to Unity, which is a viable platform for many games, but brings many of its own complications to a game that seeks to do what KSP does. Low FPS and stutter are regular occurrences, and
4. Mods. Much of what KSP2 offers or promises can be done in KSP1 via mods, so long as you don't mind a certain amount of jank. They offer procedural parts: procedural tanks and wings are KSP1 mods, including custom recoloring. They promise extrasolar colonies: KSP1 mods offer extrasolar systems and colonies. I mention it here rather than under the graphics note above, but KSP1 with mods like Scatterer and Parallax 2 is almost as good and far less system-intensive. KSP2 is not just competing with Squad's work on KSP1, but 12 years of free, volunteer development done by random people all over the world.
What KSP2 promises at its heart is not just its feature base, but a chance to improve the core engine, parts of the game mods can't touch, and improve the modding experience. As of its very first EA release, it has yet to deliver. That's not to say it won't deliver, however. I'll give them a chance, but I won't give them my wallet just yet.
I'm also playing KSP1 again, though I might give Distant Worlds 2 another spin with the new patch that just released.
Post by: hector13 on March 02, 2023, 10:17:28 pm
Post by: lemon10 on March 03, 2023, 12:08:42 am
2. One of KSP2's major advantages over KSP1 is a graphical overhaul. Unfortunately, this resulted in very steep system requirements, particularly in the graphics card. KSP1 has the advantage of being ten years old in this respect. While it was fairly demanding computationally in the day, it is a rare game that would still be demanding on processing power after so many years (Crysis memes aside).To expand on this: The graphics requirements are absurd. (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/kerbal-space-program-2s-system-requirements-are-as-harsh-as-they-look)
Four years ago I made a new computer and got a at the time new graphics card (1660, $200 at the time). It wasn't the best, but even today I haven't run into a single game it can't run just fine.
It could not run KSP2 properly.
Three days ago I got a new graphics card released two years ago (3060, $380), which is a significant upgrade over the old one (mainly for AI image generation). It has 0 trouble keeping most AAA games at 60 FPS at a significantly higher graphics quality.
It does not meet the recommended system requirements for KSP either. (Although it does meet the minimum ones, so it should be able to run it).
No, to meet system requirements you need the $650 3080.
If you have a normal human graphics card you get stuff like 10 FPS launches or even low FPS while actually building your rocket.
On the subject of Crysis memes; Kerbal 2 actually has higher requirements then the upcoming Crysis 4.
---
The requirements should go significantly down with some optimization, but the game should not have been even pre-released in such a state.
Post by: hector13 on March 03, 2023, 12:30:47 am
It struggles a bit with CKIII in the court bit, but it still works, and I don’t care for the court stuff anyway so I don’t generally go on that screen heh.
Post by: Robsoie on March 13, 2023, 01:05:51 pm
Spoiler: nice place, i'm sure nothing bad can happen there (click to show/hide)
Alien Isolation
Post by: fathatgunderson on March 15, 2023, 08:58:53 am
Post by: Funk on March 15, 2023, 05:37:53 pm
At least the AI cheats less in banner lord no cheesing army's from nowhere.
Post by: delphonso on March 15, 2023, 06:30:53 pm
What KSP2 promises at its heart is not just its feature base, but a chance to improve the core engine, parts of the game mods can't touch, and improve the modding experience. As of its very first EA release, it has yet to deliver. That's not to say it won't deliver, however. I'll give them a chance, but I won't give them my wallet just yet.
Fair. Yeah, this has been my take away as well - much like the original KSP, I'll just wait 5 years or so before I actually start messing around with it. Or, if lemon10's run down is correct...maybe 15 years until I have a computer up to snuff.
I think part of the problem will be many folks expecting KSP1+ from an early access sequel. I think people don’t realize that early access means getting a game that’s still in development, rather than getting a full game before anyone else.
To be fair, game companies have poisoned all these terms by releasing "pre-alpha" footage of finished games.
Post by: Telgin on March 29, 2023, 11:29:38 am
I also started playing Deep Rock Galactic last week when my brother suggested it. It's pretty fun, but so far I've only tried playing as the gunner and engineer, and find the engineer quite hard to play properly with the way platforms work. I'm a bit disappointed that I haven't found any Dwarf Fortress references in it anywhere yet, and it's a little shocking that some of the dwarves don't have beards by default and that you have to pay for the luxury of a beard with in-game currency.
Post by: Egan_BW on March 29, 2023, 08:50:35 pm
A friend has suggested a few times that I play Signalis, so I started playing it a couple of days ago. The atmosphere is pretty cool and I like the presentation, but combat feels a little too punishing even early on in the game with the scarcity of ammo and respawning enemies.
There's not much difficulty in actually executing the combat, so the main difficulty is indeed in managing your ammo and not getting punished by respawns. I played pretty careful and ended up with a reasonable surplus of supplies by the end. Reasonable if that's not gameplay you're into though.
Post by: askovdk on March 30, 2023, 04:47:20 am
https://store.steampowered.com/app/270790/Etherlords_II/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/270790/Etherlords_II/) 5 EUR (don't get the bundle Etherlords 1 is apparently not working on modern machines at all)
It's essentially old 'card' collector and battler, and I'm (again) delighted how well made the enemies 'decks' are. I.e. in almost each battle I get a 'Ah, that's the idea with your deck, - very clever' experience, and may get beaten, but then modify my deck.
The battle animations can drag out, but can be fast forwarded with 'space'.
As the AI plays very well (including not wasting time defending if it know it's doomed) the FIRST map in each campaign can be next to impossible when not playing on 'easy' (as you don't yet have enough cards to have creative freedom of your deck), but after that I recommend switching to 'normal'.
Post by: Telgin on March 30, 2023, 08:36:53 am
A friend has suggested a few times that I play Signalis, so I started playing it a couple of days ago. The atmosphere is pretty cool and I like the presentation, but combat feels a little too punishing even early on in the game with the scarcity of ammo and respawning enemies.
There's not much difficulty in actually executing the combat, so the main difficulty is indeed in managing your ammo and not getting punished by respawns. I played pretty careful and ended up with a reasonable surplus of supplies by the end. Reasonable if that's not gameplay you're into though.
It's just taking some getting used to, I think. I didn't die any before the first boss, but did die to that because I wasted too much ammo before figuring out what to do.
The real problem I have with the game is that I have a terrible memory, and that's not good for puzzle games!
Post by: Akura on March 30, 2023, 04:13:21 pm
Also, the Ancient Guardians seem to make no distinction between "military ships" and "exploration ships armed with a single phaser for self-defense just stopping to buy some gas before leaving". I only have the latter wandering around, and they've started both complaining about military incursions and shooting my explorers.
Post by: Robsoie on March 31, 2023, 05:25:30 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Cthulhu on April 02, 2023, 06:49:12 pm
Wild Hearts - It's monster hunter. Not inspired by, not similar to, this is monster hunter. It is pretty good but also strictly worse than monster hunter and therefore has no reason to exist. It's to monster hunter what nioh is to dark souls, but nioh fulfills an interesting niche in the souls genre and this doesn't really bring anything special. karakuri isn't special.
Dredge - It's pretty good. Lovecraftian horror fishing game. The lovecraft stuff is pretty mild and not overbearing or annoying, and while there's really not much to the game it's short enough that by the time you start to feel the repetition it's almost over.
Resident Evil 4 Remake - Easy game of the year contender. The only "flaw" is that some of the campiness is gone but in its place los illuminados and the general vibe are more sinister and threatening and that fits really well with the graphics upgrade. The first regenerator attack is the closest thing a video game has come to being scary in a long time. It's so god damn good, I can't wait for mercenaries.
Immortals: Rise of Fenyx or whatever - Ubisoft breath of the wild ripoff. Typhon is taking over the world. It has a fun framing device where Prometheus is telling Zeus the story about how your character is gonna save the day, and generally takes a kind of silly atmosphere. But it's a breath of the wild ripoff without the minimalist sandbox vibe which is what made botw good. It's clear it was made with a lot of love and heart which is sad because it's the video game equivalent of elevator music. Fuck ubisoft, fuck open world games, I'm sick of this shit.
Forspoken - Fuck ubisoft, fuck open world games, I'm sick of this shit.
Horizon Whichever - Fuck ubisoft, fuck open world games, I'm sick of this shit.
Days Gone - Fuck ubisoft, fuck open world games, I'm sick of this shit.
Legend of Dragoon - It's on PS5 now. I dunno. I have nostalgia for it but it's kind of boring. JRPGs are boring. The story is just a string of cliches and the only interesting thing about the gameplay, even once dragoons become a thing, is the QTE mechanic, which is not actually interesting. If anything dragoons make it more boring because that replaces the magic system so whenever you're not dragooning the only option is basic attack.
Post by: Iduno on April 02, 2023, 08:25:16 pm
Edit: I named myself after the character whose birthday it is after the game said I couldn't name myself Sonic.
Post by: EuchreJack on April 02, 2023, 10:04:25 pm
Post by: martinuzz on April 04, 2023, 09:21:36 am
It's actually pretty fun though. Voxel blocks meets factorio meets tower defense.
Post by: Telgin on April 04, 2023, 11:59:48 pm
The only thing I really disliked is the inventory system. And by disliked, I mean hated. You can only carry 6 items at a time, and you cannot drop things. That means that very frequently you'll find yourself in a room with a key item and no way to pick it up. You then have to either destroy ammo, which is pretty scarce and thus a bad idea, or you have to run back to the save point to dump stuff in your safe box. Oh, and you have to hope that no enemies come back to life in the process. The flashlight you get takes up an inventory spot too, and after you get it you need it frequently enough that you never want to put it away, so you sort of have 5 slots. Since ammo is rare and enemies can be tough, I usually carried 2 guns and ammo for them. 2 guns + ammo + flashlight is 5 slots, leaving just 1 for key items or a healing item. Thankfully, the healing items are pretty generously scattered around and you're fairly tough yourself, so I eventually learned to just not carry them with me.
The limited inventory capacity means the game asks you if you're sure you want to pick something up before you do. I eventually learned to not pick up most of the healing items I found because I'd be stuck with no way to pick up a keycard, but this has a side effect: you can't just grab stuff while running away from enemies. A few times there are items on tables that you'd like to just grab and run, since fighting is bad whenever you can avoid it. But... the game pops up a modal window asking if you're sure you want to grab a thing, while it is not paused, meaning you frequently take a hit before you can confirm or cancel. My personal best was 3 hits from this. The final boss fight was more than a little frustrating because of this.
Post by: delphonso on April 05, 2023, 08:30:10 am
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Edit: I named myself after the character whose birthday it is after the game said I couldn't name myself Sonic.
I'm very excited to play this.
I booted up Hacknet once again and am having an absolute ball. What a game. It's wild how exciting it can be to just type 'cd log' and 'rm *'
Post by: MCreeper on May 01, 2023, 03:21:58 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: nenjin on May 01, 2023, 03:55:17 pm
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Edit: I named myself after the character whose birthday it is after the game said I couldn't name myself Sonic.
I'm very excited to play this.
I booted up Hacknet once again and am having an absolute ball. What a game. It's wild how exciting it can be to just type 'cd log' and 'rm *'
Spoiler: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (click to show/hide)
Post by: Funk on May 01, 2023, 06:07:36 pm
So far it's a poor looter shooter, even the costuming is poor, why no masks ?
you have a plague story line so let me pick a gasmask, let me have a choice of gloves.
Hell just let me have blue hair, what no fancy hair dyes? well sod it i'll play darktide then an bemoan my chance to be an Escher ganger.
Post by: nenjin on May 02, 2023, 11:19:21 am
Although IIRC, you can get a mask? I think there's a toggle to show your face or show your mask.
The Division 2 is a little bit....more colorful? Except I couldn't get past the first mission without it crashing. :\
Post by: nenjin on May 02, 2023, 10:13:19 pm
It's been rough. They're slow to start and expensive. Their Lord isn't great. Cool, but not great. I beat Malus Darkblade by the seat of my pants very early on and was feeling secure so I sent my Lord off through a Sea Lane to a part of the map closer to a friend and started expanding. (Since to my east was my other friend and to the west is just endless reaches of territory that aren't the Empire.)
I knew it was going to happen but Sigvald eventually declared war on me. I scrambled to get some armies together, blowing through my cash reserves that were just starting to get spicy, and fought a couple nail biter fights that I won but left me so broken I couldn't finish them off. My money was tied up in troops, and when a second army showed up and hit another settlement from a different angle my finances immediately tanked 1000 into the red. My already damaged armies started taking attrition and couldn't heal, the enemy was at my doorstep, my Lord was half a world away....oy vey.
So I had to give up some territory, which hurt my finances even further. Had to ditch half an army to stay in the green. At this point I turned my Lord around for an agonizing ~8 turn trip back to the homeland. Going into the Sea Lane, apparently, takes away ALL the global bonuses your Lord provides. So all that upkeep reduction on Daemon units? Gone. You know what DOESN'T go away when your Lord uses a Sea Lane? Their army's upkeep. So my income tanks even further. Now I have one army that I can't even fully support so I have to start letting troops go.
Luckily Sigvald's armies backed off. I'm not sure why, they'll probably be back. Kinda frustrated with this turn of events. I left two whole provinces half the world away undefended, and they're the only thing keeping me afloat. If people down there start declaring war on me.....I'm probably finished. The Daemons of Chaos economy kind of blows, I feel. Their global recruitment is super punishing in cost too, more than 2x the base cost. A setback is a setback in TWH3 but since I usually play SP campaigns, I never let things get to this point.
Post by: Telgin on May 04, 2023, 01:05:51 pm
I'm surprised at how it's not as totally cryptic and filled with inscrutable nonsense as I expected. It's also surprisingly forgiving with the way continuing works. That said, it's still pretty hard at times, and I've earned a hatred for blue darknuts in particular (which is the dumbest name that I wish they'd fixed in later games). It still hasn't made me rage as much as Metroid did.
The biggest gripes I've had with it are how there's zero indication of where the dungeons are, and how it's evidently possible to run out of keys in some dungeons if you do them wrong and force you to go grind rupees so you can buy one from a random dude in a cave somewhere. That's happened twice so far. For the dungeons, I found and completed the first two pretty easily, but I spent literally 3 hours wandering around looking for the third one, only to accidentally work my way all the way to dungeon 6 before I found another one. I finally gave up and googled it, only to learn that it was the one nondescript path I evidently neglected to explore.
Post by: Folly on May 04, 2023, 03:49:33 pm
This one breaks from their pattern of action-games, instead switching to a turn-based combat system. In my opinion they have made the change quite effectively; there are a variety of heroes and equipment options, all with unique abilities which can be mixed and matched to form an optimized team which will be effective against a variety of challenging foes.
Another aspect which really stands out in Star Rail is the creative writing. Our main protagonist seems to have a dramatic flair which they apply liberally to every mundane encounter, particularly when interacting with inanimate objects in surprisingly energized ways. It can honestly become a bit tedious at times for my ADHD brain...but whenever I'm able to focus long enough to get into it, the little stories are quite rewarding.
It's free to try if you can stomach the whole Gacha system, so I definitely recommend giving this one a shot.
Post by: Aoi on May 04, 2023, 03:50:12 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Not to throw the manual in your face again, but... :D
Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)
Post by: Telgin on May 04, 2023, 04:04:29 pm
Post by: Egan_BW on May 04, 2023, 05:27:08 pm
Post by: Folly on July 04, 2023, 12:30:20 am
Started playing this about 1.5 months ago and still enjoying playing each day. They delivered their first big content patch a couple weeks ago, and I'm very impressed with how much new content and refined existing content they managed to include. I thought their roadmap was overly ambitious, but now I think they just might pull it off. Very excited for what they still have planned.
I've been rolling with the Steam group 'Joint Space Force', and they have organized groups running hard maps pretty much all day every day.
Post by: nenjin on July 05, 2023, 10:34:36 am
Post by: AlStar on July 05, 2023, 02:36:27 pm
Overall, I'd say the changes have been positive; although I wish they were a little less stingy about the number of leaders you can have without them getting negative experience modifiers - it makes it very hard to get governors for your sectors and admirals for your fleets; much less hiring scientists or, God forbid, generals.
Also opens up some new choices between leaders that are good at what they do, versus ones that have useful abilities while sitting on the council, which are empire-wide bonuses (and maluses.)
It's been a sorta strange game, overall - the current version of the AI likes subjugating its neighbors, leading to huge Ur-Quan-like systems of battle thralls. My empire is in a three-nation federation, and if I try doing anything to any of the surrounding star nations, the entire galaxy explodes into conflict due to WWI-like chains of treaties.
On the other hand, the end-game calamity popped in one of their systems with a good 600-700k of ships... which were smacked down by their combined fleet. I didn't even have to help out, other than to take care of a 100k splinter fleet that wandered into my territory (and killed my space whale breeding system; poor things never stood a chance.)
Post by: Yolan on July 06, 2023, 08:39:35 am
Currently playing Go again after a hiatus.
Post by: Iduno on July 07, 2023, 01:08:57 pm
Edit: And for some reason the background music was Raining Blood's guitar intro. Pretty good.
Post by: Robsoie on July 07, 2023, 01:18:43 pm
Post by: Funk on July 09, 2023, 09:21:05 pm
Its just fun when you in to a rhythm with the combat.
Post by: Adeptus7 on July 14, 2023, 02:06:42 am
Post by: King Zultan on July 14, 2023, 03:14:13 am
Also I did something new for this game and set it to eternal night which means that the usual approach of having shit loads of solar panels to solve power issues is out the door which means all that fuel is even more important now.
Post by: Kagus on July 14, 2023, 08:29:01 am
Now, I say "nostalgia", but I never actually played Soulstorm before... Most of my hours were in Dark Crusade. But Soulstorm was on sale and I figured I owed it a real chance.
And... Well... Uhm. I've basically just been playing the campaign, and wew there are some weird decisions here... I mean sure, one thing is the obvious lack of funding evident in the sparseness of voice lines (done by completely different actors who don't voice those units regularly, leading to some interestingly disjointed scenes the few times anyone does say anything), and I really don't remember having this strong of an aversion to stronghold missions compared to DC... Sure, I was younger back then and maybe I was just more interested in the hour+ slogs, but some of these things are just nutty.
(Quick interjection here to complain about how the "Normal" campaign difficulty gives your troops 200% of normal HP, while the next level up of "Hard" puts you at 100%, but the enemies at 120%...)
The general ease of the campaign is also wildly different across factions... Namely because of how equipped certain factions are for dealing with the strongholds.
Dark Eldar lack any form of beefy frontliners to spearhead an assault and break through defensive lines like Orks do, nor do they have artillery like the Guard or even just long-range direct fire like the Tau for dealing with priority targets and softening up an emplacement. Their extreme focus on rushes and harassment completely falls apart when dealing with an already-established defensive bastion and map control.
Meanwhile the Necrons have their normal levels of hilarity with powerful honor guards (that can be both resurrected and even multiplied with the orb), in addition to now having an option that lets them say "Lol I win now" by teleporting an entire army of anti-building specialists directly on top of the HQ building you need to destroy in order to win.
My Dark Eldar win against the Ork stronghold took 1 hour 56 minutes. My Necron win against the Space Marines took 18 minutes.
I've found myself repeatedly booting the game up, wanting to play it, and then wishing it was just a very slightly different game when I do play...
Also is it just me, or is the normal province to stronghold ratio worse in Soulstorm than DC? I feel like I slurp up all the normal provinces in a moment, while skirting around stronghold after stronghold
Post by: Robsoie on July 14, 2023, 08:49:05 am
Post by: delphonso on July 14, 2023, 09:23:15 am
Post by: lemon10 on July 14, 2023, 01:48:39 pm
Meanwhile the Necrons have their normal levels of hilarity with powerful honor guards (that can be both resurrected and even multiplied with the orb), in addition to now having an option that lets them say "Lol I win now" by teleporting an entire army of anti-building specialists directly on top of the HQ building you need to destroy in order to win.My assault on the Eldar stronghold as the Necrons took me 20 minutes of solid fighting in their fortified "capital area". Their artillery would knock my necrons down, but since even my basic infantry groups had 2k HP, no morale, regeneration, and leader bonuses on top of that they would just heal and stand back up again completely fine again like 3 seconds later... only to be knocked down again after another 0.1 seconds. Sometimes they even got a shot off before they fell back down. They very very slowly managed to whittle down the defensive units and fortifications of the base, and not a single one of these infantry groups actually died. (They did slaughter all the vehicles I sent in during the course of the battle though).
The fight lasted so long that my Monolith even had the time to very slowly inch its across the entire map to get to the battle, and it combined with the base already having taken significant damage was enough to end the fight.
Post by: Frumple on July 14, 2023, 03:35:41 pm
I haven't seen anyone praising soulstorm as a game (while dark crusade gets a lot more good memories from the players) but it seems the praise is for the mods of soulstorm that are mostly recognized as the best in the dow series (mostly the Apocalypse and Unification mods) .Soulstorm was fine as a game, iirc... not particularly better than dark crusade, but not meaningfully worse, either. Which admittedly is something of a let down for a sequel, but it's not like it's unenjoyable as a base game experience.
... that said, yeah, you mod the hell out of soulstorm because the mods for soulstorm are pretty much the peak of DoW modding. All sorts of neat stuff going on on that front, probably unambiguously a better reason to get the game than the base game itself.
Post by: Persus13 on July 14, 2023, 05:55:28 pm
And... Well... Uhm. I've basically just been playing the campaign, and wew there are some weird decisions here... I mean sure, one thing is the obvious lack of funding evident in the sparseness of voice lines (done by completely different actors who don't voice those units regularly, leading to some interestingly disjointed scenes the few times anyone does say anything), and I really don't remember having this strong of an aversion to stronghold missions compared to DC... Sure, I was younger back then and maybe I was just more interested in the hour+ slogs, but some of these things are just nutty.I swear a solid 50% of DoW memes I've seen come from Soulstorm's voice acting, since it gave us gems like "METAL BAWKSES" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO3MttgvHUY), Spehs Marines, and "multiple simultaneous devastating defensive deep strikes". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJMLfACod48)
Iirc, Relic outsourced Soulstorm to a different company as well, which is why it has a bit of a knock off feel.
Post by: nenjin on July 14, 2023, 07:27:22 pm
Post by: Kagus on July 15, 2023, 05:55:23 pm
Meanwhile the Necrons have their normal levels of hilarity with powerful honor guards (that can be both resurrected and even multiplied with the orb), in addition to now having an option that lets them say "Lol I win now" by teleporting an entire army of anti-building specialists directly on top of the HQ building you need to destroy in order to win.My assault on the Eldar stronghold as the Necrons took me 20 minutes of solid fighting in their fortified "capital area". Their artillery would knock my necrons down, but since even my basic infantry groups had 2k HP, no morale, regeneration, and leader bonuses on top of that they would just heal and stand back up again completely fine again like 3 seconds later... only to be knocked down again after another 0.1 seconds. Sometimes they even got a shot off before they fell back down. They very very slowly managed to whittle down the defensive units and fortifications of the base, and not a single one of these infantry groups actually died. (They did slaughter all the vehicles I sent in during the course of the battle though).
The fight lasted so long that my Monolith even had the time to very slowly inch its across the entire map to get to the battle, and it combined with the base already having taken significant damage was enough to end the fight.
I did actually have some issues with the Eldar stronghold as Necrons, but that was due to one particular quirk with my strategy... Namely, the fact that the Essence of the Deceiver does not, in fact, have detection.
So I teleported the lord in, saw all the base with his detection, transformed into the Deceiver to call for the boys, called the boys in, and... Everything went stealth. 8 full squads of immortals just stood around aimlessly getting shot at by sneaky D-cannons for the remainder of the Deceiver timer, before reverting to the lord and regaining vision...
...and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you take the Resurrection Orb :P
Just knocked out the Orks in my Chaos campaign, which ended up being way less painful than I'd anticipated, due primarily to the fact that orks have terrible detection options. And also possessed flames absolutely shatter orky morale, meaning that one squad could almost singlehandedly defend the killy spot from the flood of MANz coming down the hill. This is pretty much rounding out all the wargeear slots for Carron, which means I'm bumping into the options in his upgrades that actually reduce his damage and usefulness rather than improve it...
Soulstorm was fine as a game, iirc... not particularly better than dark crusade, but not meaningfully worse, either.
I mean, it is kind of a bad look when several of the wargear/honor guard options erroneously refer to the Dark Crusade faction leaders rather than the ones in Soulstorm, and stuff like the Eldar seer council accidentally getting one of the guardsmen's lines when attacking the Chaos stronghold... Seer council? More like Suh! council, amirite?
Post by: Jopax on July 16, 2023, 01:35:15 am
This lead to some silliness as you can expect, like bombers following ramps to get to higher ground, or aircraft getting knocked back by explosions and into impassable terrain, leaving them stuck for the rest of the game.
Didn't help that the first patches came in months after the game release, leaving a fairly bad impression with a lot of people.
Post by: Kagus on July 16, 2023, 02:33:06 am
Post by: AlStar on July 17, 2023, 01:12:42 pm
I've put in 9 hours so far, but I'm really digging the "Serf City, but on a timer" gameplay.
Spoiler: Game Overview (click to show/hide)
I'm only on my fifth city so far (third after the two tutorial towns, where they basically spoon-feed you how to play), but I'm finding that I'm really liking the "city builder, but you're done in about an hour, and also with roguelike unlocks."
Post by: Haspen on July 17, 2023, 01:23:36 pm
Its electronics and math and cables puzzle and it made me think. Me likey.
Post by: EuchreJack on July 24, 2023, 11:34:59 pm
https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/cataclysm-game.1493807/ (https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/cataclysm-game.1493807/)
Post by: King Zultan on July 25, 2023, 02:36:09 am
Post by: Kagus on July 26, 2023, 08:50:45 am
Toady made it seem like the ban was temporary maybe we should ask him if we could get a new one.
A new ban? I'm sure that can be arranged.
Post by: Telgin on July 26, 2023, 10:48:34 am
Spoiler: My thoughts (click to show/hide)
Anyway, overall I did still really like the game and what it was trying to do. I'd like to see something else like it that iterates on the idea and maybe smooths some of the rough edges out a bit more, spreading some of the puzzles out through the game a bit better, making navigation less of a chore, and making combat less infuriating.
Post by: King Zultan on July 27, 2023, 01:38:20 am
I'd rather there not be a new ban but I would like a new thread.Toady made it seem like the ban was temporary maybe we should ask him if we could get a new one.
A new ban? I'm sure that can be arranged.
Post by: nenjin on July 29, 2023, 04:22:59 pm
Post by: EuchreJack on July 29, 2023, 11:50:36 pm
Can we get one without the other?I'd rather there not be a new ban but I would like a new thread.Toady made it seem like the ban was temporary maybe we should ask him if we could get a new one.
A new ban? I'm sure that can be arranged.
Frankly, I'm worried this discussion could lead to a scrubbing.
Post by: King Zultan on July 30, 2023, 03:48:14 am
That's why we need two threads, gotta keep the different forks separate to lessen the drama.Can we get one without the other?I'd rather there not be a new ban but I would like a new thread.Toady made it seem like the ban was temporary maybe we should ask him if we could get a new one.
A new ban? I'm sure that can be arranged.
Frankly, I'm worried this discussion could lead to a scrubbing.
Post by: Robsoie on July 30, 2023, 05:43:04 am
And frankly the drama getting out of hand has been vastly exaggerated, nearly every time the threads got closed said drama was dying down by itself or wasn't really exploding as it was only on a "arguing" level, it's just that some people are overprotective of their prefered version and spam the "report to moderator" getting enough reports to annoy Toady and trigger his Hammer of Threadclosing :D
Post by: King Zultan on August 01, 2023, 04:46:31 am
Post by: a1s on August 01, 2023, 09:18:45 am
Post by: Chiefwaffles on August 02, 2023, 01:13:52 am
Post by: EuchreJack on August 02, 2023, 05:05:52 am
This is dangerously off-topic but honestly I love Toady's nuclear style of moderating and the community it curates. If the rare loss of ability to make threads for drama-magnet games is a cost for that moderation, it's one I'm enthusiastic to pay, personally.Agreed!
Hence why I created a thread elsewhere to discuss Cataclysm DDA. (https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/cataclysm-game.1493807/#post-42068873)
It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
Post by: King Zultan on August 02, 2023, 05:13:16 am
Also what's stopping people from mentioning Cataclysm here in this thread?
Post by: Robsoie on August 02, 2023, 01:16:28 pm
Post by: Jopax on August 04, 2023, 07:09:39 am
So with a proper x-box controller in hand I decided to give Elden Ring another go, and boy it's a completely different game, like I'm learning to play it all over again. Even if I know the enemies and what they do, it's an experience wrestling with the controls to do what I want.
Post by: AlStar on August 04, 2023, 09:06:43 am
The graphics are definitely showing their age - the overhead map, where you'll (luckily) be spending 99% of your time, has BG1-style pixel graphics, which work fine. However, for some reason they decided to go with 3D CGI for character portraits, and it's about as bad as 90's-era CGI can get.
Everything that I'd previously heard about this game is that the combat and gameplay generally take a back-seat to the excellent character interactions. I agree strongly that they've really managed to pack an amazing amount of characterization into just about everyone you meet and talk to - you really get the feeling like you're dealing with a bunch of eccentrics who are stuck in a city where the dead walk, horrors roam the streets, and just about any doorway can be an inadvertent portal to a different universe.
What I did not realize was that, when people said the combat wasn't the main focus of the game... they were saying that it's not very good, not that it wasn't constantly thrown at you. You can't walk through the city streets without getting beset by packs of brigands. Crypts are nonstop hordes of zombies, skeletons, bats, and rats.
Things have gotten easier now that I've found an enchanted dagger, trained up my skill with blades, and finally gotten my AC down, but at the start I was in danger of going broke, just because every fight ended up costing multiple healing items.
Post by: scriver on August 04, 2023, 10:23:41 am
What I did not realize was that, when people said the combat wasn't the main focus of the game... they were saying that it's not very good, not that it wasn't constantly thrown at you. You can't walk through the city streets without getting beset by packs of brigands. Crypts are nonstop hordes of zombies, skeletons, bats, and rats.
So true. One of the worst games in the genre when it comes to filler combat
Post by: Aoi on August 04, 2023, 12:26:19 pm
What I did not realize was that, when people said the combat wasn't the main focus of the game... they were saying that it's not very good, not that it wasn't constantly thrown at you. You can't walk through the city streets without getting beset by packs of brigands. Crypts are nonstop hordes of zombies, skeletons, bats, and rats.
If you roll a spellcaster...
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Culise on August 06, 2023, 11:24:31 pm
Spoiler: Class quest spoilers (click to show/hide)
Since everything I have is at or almost at the level cap, I'll likely be running through the rest of the class quests over the next couple days since they're all unlocked. After that, I'll start on the Shadowbringer postgame content as I find time to run through each in sequence: Eden, Nier, Bozja, and MSQ, likely in that order.
Post by: askovdk on August 07, 2023, 02:46:20 am
Visited an open server created by 2 other players I didn’t know before, and I’ve been spending most of last week there.
I really love this game. The focus on engineering over combat, and the (high) level of details when constructing setups fit very well with me. I can’t wait to get back and experiment with the phase changes NO2, - yes, the ‘puzzels’ this ‘game’ throws at you involves full temperature/pressure diagrams for various chemicals.
Step by step this gem is getting closer to ‘Space Station 13’ (which I’ve never dared to play).
Post by: askovdk on August 07, 2023, 04:43:33 am
Stationeers! https://store.steampowered.com/app/544550/Stationeers/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/544550/Stationeers/)
...
BTW: I will be happy to show anyone the ropes, if you leave a comment or manages to contact me. :-) It would be great to have a Bay12 server some day, as the potential for catastrophe is only rivaled by Dwarf Fortress. ;-)
Post by: MCreeper on August 15, 2023, 04:10:15 am
Post by: Micro102 on August 15, 2023, 04:32:31 am
Stationeers! https://store.steampowered.com/app/544550/Stationeers/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/544550/Stationeers/)
Visited an open server created by 2 other players I didn’t know before, and I’ve been spending most of last week there.
I really love this game. The focus on engineering over combat, and the (high) level of details when constructing setups fit very well with me. I can’t wait to get back and experiment with the phase changes NO2, - yes, the ‘puzzels’ this ‘game’ throws at you involves full temperature/pressure diagrams for various chemicals.
Step by step this gem is getting closer to ‘Space Station 13’ (which I’ve never dared to play).
I've been eyeing that game exactly because I want more of what SS13 has to offer, without the client from 1996. But I've been hesitant because it's in early access and who knows how much content will be added. Don't want to burn myself out. Any idea how close to "done" it is?
Post by: Rince Wind on August 15, 2023, 05:02:33 pm
What I did not realize was that, when people said the combat wasn't the main focus of the game... they were saying that it's not very good, not that it wasn't constantly thrown at you. You can't walk through the city streets without getting beset by packs of brigands. Crypts are nonstop hordes of zombies, skeletons, bats, and rats.
If you roll a spellcaster...Spoiler (click to show/hide)
You have to find out how to become a spellcaster first. And you'll probably have too many fighter levels by then if you are playing for the 1st time. Not to learn cloudkill, of course, but to be a really good spellcaster.
On topic: Baldur's Gate 3 as a Tiefling warlock and another run with a friend where I play a Gith eldritch knight and my friend a Drow bard.
Post by: MCreeper on August 17, 2023, 03:42:46 am
As for 3D-moddeling, racemenu's face editor that borders on being full-fledged 3D-editor occasionaly becomes be-all end-all, with modder demonstratively throwing potatoheads at people. Presets? Nope. Not much from users either, as they, understanably, burn with hatred to all that lives by the time they manage to make something decent.
Post by: Iduno on August 17, 2023, 05:19:30 pm
Skyrim modding. The deeper you dig, the worse it gets. At this point, i believe users are expected to be 3D-modellers, and ability and willingness to use mod editor is taken for granted. Like, there is an anime race mod that is pretty nice, but has a miserable selection of hairs. It doesn't pick up any from other mods by default, at least not from two that i have. Those that are made for that mod specifically are posted on one-by-one basis on some korean website. Why, yes, you probably can move those you want yourself! Do you dare to enter this magical realm? I'm certain that it is often nowhere near as simple as changing a race name string.
As for 3D-moddeling, racemenu's face editor that borders on being full-fledged 3D-editor occasionaly becomes be-all end-all, with modder demonstratively throwing potatoheads at people. Presets? Nope. Not much from users either, as they, understanably, burn with hatred to all that lives by the time they manage to make something decent.
And wasn't skyrim one of those they tried to make all mods for-profit on?
Post by: nenjin on August 17, 2023, 07:55:02 pm
If you buy it during launch week at -10% off, you automatically get the Perpetual Edition, which means you own any and all DLCs they release.
-edit-
Right there in the first text blurb screen: "Book of Hours is not a punishing game, unless you want it to be."
Ha! There's remixes of tracks from CS. Man this feels right at home.
After an hour or so of feeling my way around.....this is going to be a good one.
Post by: Micro102 on August 18, 2023, 04:49:05 am
I also tried the exile, but after finding out that you need to just straight up get lucky and know all the details of all the locations and items to win.... Well that's just annoying. At least add some plot to make me feel like I'm suppose to be dying over and over.
I hope book of hours gives me the same feeling the game first did.
Post by: nenjin on August 18, 2023, 10:11:10 am
Post by: Il Palazzo on August 18, 2023, 06:11:23 pm
Post by: MCreeper on August 19, 2023, 01:16:25 am
Tell me more about it. I'm on the fence. How different is it from CS?From what i have seen so far, mostly in less deaths (none at all that i could see, at least). Despite some QOL improvements, game still seems to consist of grinding up few things you need among a pile of things you don't and desperately trying to not mess up your inventory. Except inventory is now pre-messed up cluttered house the size of a palace.
Crafting is pretty much CS rituals, but crosspaths and ritual kinds have been swapped for skill categories. Crafting station usually doesn't matter - i was very confused when i got "alchemical reagents" by putting a bunch of non-physical things in a piano.
My own question - where do you spend normie cash? All i see is spending it on hiring help to clear the rooms, but base income you are given feels like it will be enough for hiring every day, which is poignantly not the case.
And books not showing memories they give you after reading is annoying.
Post by: lemon10 on August 19, 2023, 03:28:12 am
You starve, you get sick, the detective comes after you, you go insane, you go broke, ect.
On and on and on, so every moment counts, sometimes a second doesn't matter much, but sometimes being a single second slower can ruin minutes worth of plans or even kill you if things are tight enough. You have to juggle cards and plan things out and make bad choices.
There is no time pressure in BoH, instead of cards expiring based on seconds everything instead expires/renews at the end of the day.
Because of that everything is more chill and stuff like card juggling is completely out the window.
Instead of frantically trying stuff you slowly and methodically progress a single day's worth of actions at a time.
Exploring the house and looking at everything in the room when you find it, working out how skills work, and puzzling out how to read the next book or unlock a new room without having to worry about everything crashing and burning because you were two seconds slow pausing the game and your maid in the mirror disappeared.
There are a number of UI upgrades, such as the game flat out telling you what item types go in which slots that makes things a great deal clearer and makes discovery feel better since you don't need to check every single space with every possible item type.
Also yeah, so far (5 hr) no death or even any true threats.
Is it better without time pressures/constant fear of death?
Dunno, its certainly a different feeling one, that's for sure.
I can say though that the time pressure and worry made made some parts of CS really fun when things got tight and you barely manage to squeak through, so it isn't just a flat out upgrade.
Personally I would recommend it if you think you would like a more chill CS.
I've had some issues and bad luck with cultist simulator. My first attempt at it was a gimmick ending, followed by a quick death, followed by me picking "the medium" as my first real go at the game, which turned out to be the hardest plotline and required basically going through every card in the game, meaning I didn't have much mystery waiting for me for the rest of the characters. At least I beat that one.The way permadeath in CS was implemented was a pretty big mistake. Making you restart and do the exact same thing in a long grindy game with no real randomization where you are expected to collect every item in the game simply isn't good design.
My own question - where do you spend normie cash? All i see is spending it on hiring help to clear the rooms, but base income you are given feels like it will be enough for hiring every day, which is poignantly not the case.Only hiring as far as I've gotten, although you can spend a lot on hiring help. Hiring the priest/smith once a day is easily doable, but the better helpers from the inn are pretty pricey and if you hire them too much you can easily use up all your money. (Also sending a letter costs a single pence).
Still enough areas left in the game that I would be vaguely surprised if there wasn't anything else to spend the money on though.
Post by: EuchreJack on August 19, 2023, 10:19:05 am
It's 1600, and my tiny island nation is the only one slowly breaking into the Caribbean. I was going to sell land to jump start colonization, but nobody in my marginal culture group has the wealth to buy, and nobody else wants "useless land of the wrong culture group".
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: zhijinghaofromchina on August 21, 2023, 09:08:27 pm
Then the game of chrome little dragon caught my eyes and I gradually become addicted to it.
Also the dan ball game stick ranger 2 is also very good , it seems like the dwarf Fortress 矮人要塞’s adventure mode.
Post by: AlStar on August 22, 2023, 10:55:59 am
Shit's still hard as all hell. I've only just managed to semi-regularly get to the first boss, and I'm currently only 50/50 on getting past him.
I'm playing on the 1BC difficulty level, a legacy of my 0BC win all those years ago. The fact that the game goes all the way up to 5BC is downright depressing.
Post by: Iduno on August 22, 2023, 05:33:36 pm
Decided to get back into Dead Cells after a five-year hiatus.
Shit's still hard as all hell. I've only just managed to semi-regularly get to the first boss, and I'm currently only 50/50 on getting past him.
I'm playing on the 1BC difficulty level, a legacy of my 0BC win all those years ago. The fact that the game goes all the way up to 5BC is downright depressing.
You get...more caveman the better you are?
Post by: Frumple on August 23, 2023, 03:15:49 pm
Post by: Great Order on August 23, 2023, 03:49:22 pm
These days I am learning how to drive a car however during the time when I was at a rest, I was bored and want to find something to play.Man, it's been a long time since I saw that site referenced. I've been playing Logi Box when I've been hankering for a puzzle this past couple of years, but Powder Toy is still fun just to mess about it.
Then the game of chrome little dragon caught my eyes and I gradually become addicted to it.
Also the dan ball game stick ranger 2 is also very good , it seems like the dwarf Fortress 矮人要塞’s adventure mode.
Post by: AlStar on August 24, 2023, 09:01:13 am
It's short for Boss Cells, apparently. It's less that you get more cavemen when you're better, and more that the more cavemen you have, the harder the game tries to murder you. It doesn't appreciate your neanderthal harem.You know, it's funny - I went back and forth on writing a post explaining what BCs were. In the end I decided that Iduno was probably just going for the joke, rather than actually curious what they were.
But yes, each time you manage to make it all the way to the end boss, you basically open up a New Game+ mode (and then to a New Game++, and so on) which changes up the enemy balance, number of enemies, etc. to make things more difficult.
As a bonus for playing at the higher levels, they also increase the number of cells you earn (which are used to unlock items/powers/skins), as well as making the weapons you find and can buy more powerful (although that's directly countered by the fact that you need that additional power to deal with the harder enemies.)
Even at the base difficulty, the game is hard. Once you start adding Boss Cells, it gets punishing.
On Topic - I've also been playing Baldur's Gate 3, both single player and in a two-player party. I'm only still in the first (non-tutorial) area, but they've really done an amazing job. Graphics are great, good voice work, combat's sufficiently difficult and allows/encourages non-obvious solutions (like setting oil on fire, or pushing a difficult enemy off a cliff), and the map appears to be absolutely massive, with all kinds of side-quests and points of interest.
Post by: Iduno on August 24, 2023, 01:55:11 pm
The next level is the first time I've seen the "stop no trains" challenge.
Edit: Just lost twice in a row by accidentally clicking on a train as it passed while trying to build more tracks.
Post by: Great Order on August 27, 2023, 10:20:09 am
Weirdly, I'm struggling with the characters a bit and I think it's just that having to do four separate character/class builds is proving difficult.
Post by: sofanthiel on August 30, 2023, 04:27:59 pm
It's the weekend, so I feel obligated to play some more Lifeweb.
I know it's been quite a while since this post, but the thread is active and you're still on the forum, so I thought I'd ask (I realize that the SS13 topic (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=123140) may be a more suitable place for this, but I don't feel like necroing a thread for a single question): do you, as an insider, have any information regarding the next wave of applications and when it may occur? I've been fascinated with the concept of the server and whatever gameplay footage there is for months now; it just seems like such a unique and interesting experience! Shame it's this closed, though I do understand why that's necessary.
Post by: callisto8413 on September 03, 2023, 08:29:21 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Schmaven on September 04, 2023, 08:28:56 pm
Post by: Folly on September 06, 2023, 05:47:43 pm
Punching and kicking wild animals to slowly train my kung fu skills was growing a bit tedious, so I decided to try learning directly from other martial artists instead. Of course, they have to like me enough before they are willing to teach me anything. And thus I found solace in the Unwritten Rule of Acquisition: Exploitation Begins at Home. Several of my family members and blood relatives already liked me a lot, so I began pressing each of them to teach me all their secrets.
Once I had learned all I could at home, I began looking for more knowledge from random strangers. I found several business entrepreneurs who were seeking loans, which I gave them. They were so grateful for the investment that they immediately agreed to teach me every trick they knew. And some days later, most of these investments actually paid off with generous returns!
Seeking more ways to appease random strangers, I began talking to various people about their jobs and hobbies. They appreciated the conversation, but not enough to share their secrets with me. It would take weeks of such conversations to make any headway. Then I found a flirtatious man and whispered a few sweet words in his ear; he liked that a lot. He liked it almost enough to share his secrets with me. I planned to come back the next day and flirt some more, which should be enough for him to open up to me.
Before my plans could come to fruition, the flirtatious man tracked me down and demanded that I marry him. I tried to decline, but the man became aggressive, threatening violence. He was considerably stronger than me, and there were no friendly guards around to come to my aid, so I reluctantly agreed to the union. I was already planning out how I would poison him in his sleep...after I had learned everything he could teach me, of course.
Knowing kung fu skills is only half the battle; the other half is epic weapons! I decided the explore a village I had recently discovered, which had a Forge and several nearby iron deposits. After crafting a bunch of swords and knives, I kept the best of the batch for myself and sold the rest to anyone who would take them. This left my pockets bulging with more money than I'd ever seen before! And I knew from experience that if I left town with that much money, Bandits would soon find me and liberate me of my coin. So I began roaming the town, looking for merchants with useful crafting ingredients or recipes I could buy.
Before I could spend much of my coin, a friendly townsperson intercepted me with a warning that bandits were already targeting me, and a stern suggestion that I should entrust most of my money with the townsperson, who would keep it safe for me. Of course I saw through this blatant attempt at exploitation and refused, but they became insistant and aggressive. I knew that if I refused a second time I would be attacked; but the townsperson was a bit weaker than me, and I really did not want to part with my hard earned coin, so I refused again and let them attack me. To my dismay nearly half the people in town decided to side with my attacker, assisting him in the battle. By the second exchange it was clear that if I continued to fight I would be killed, so I conceded. My attacker did not take my coin, deciding to instead break my leg and toss me in a cage. Healing a broken leg actually costs only a fraction of the coin sum the man had demanded, so I decided to chalk this one up as a win.
I could easily pick the lock on the cage, but there was a jailer watching, and I would have difficulty fighting him with my leg broken. Fortunately, at this very moment my Spouse decided to show up and fight the guard on my behalf; I may have to reconsider my plan to poison him. Once the guard was knocked out I was able to make my escape and limp away. I did not get very far before a chivalrous citizen intercepted, scooped me up, carried me to the nearest clinic and even gave me some coin for treatment. I did not need the coin of course, still having my riches from before, but it was nice to see that there are kindhearted people in this city as well.
Unfortunately the Doctor at this clinic was too drunk to treat me, or any of the other injured people accumulating in his waiting room. There really are all kinds of people in this world. I was forced to limp all the way to the next city over, where a more competent and sober Doctor was able to mend my broken leg.
The journey continues...
Post by: EuchreJack on September 10, 2023, 04:24:24 am
I might have to check this out. Sounds like Kenshi and Amazing Cultivation Simulator crossover event!
Post by: quinnr on September 10, 2023, 08:51:00 am
It's the weekend, so I feel obligated to play some more Lifeweb.
I know it's been quite a while since this post, but the thread is active and you're still on the forum, so I thought I'd ask (I realize that the SS13 topic (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=123140) may be a more suitable place for this, but I don't feel like necroing a thread for a single question): do you, as an insider, have any information regarding the next wave of applications and when it may occur? I've been fascinated with the concept of the server and whatever gameplay footage there is for months now; it just seems like such a unique and interesting experience! Shame it's this closed, though I do understand why that's necessary.
I used to obsess over SS13 in the BYOND prime but I haven't heard of this one or really realized SS13 had such an active fanbase. Googling around it looks like an RP-heavy fantasy version of SS13? Neat.
I need to drop in a SS13 server but I'm afraid of the people who dedicate themselves to that game. The communities I feel like were always very...hit or miss.
Post by: Great Order on September 11, 2023, 07:31:57 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Broseph Stalin on September 11, 2023, 08:10:27 pm
I love the game but it's so Bethesda it's gross.
Post by: Laterigrade on September 11, 2023, 11:33:07 pm
(Elden Ring)
Post by: EuchreJack on September 12, 2023, 06:34:29 am
They appear as a resource on the map screen, but I can't figure it out.
Post by: Kagus on September 20, 2023, 07:44:24 am
It's the weekend, so I feel obligated to play some more Lifeweb.
I know it's been quite a while since this post, but the thread is active and you're still on the forum, so I thought I'd ask (I realize that the SS13 topic (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=123140) may be a more suitable place for this, but I don't feel like necroing a thread for a single question): do you, as an insider, have any information regarding the next wave of applications and when it may occur? I've been fascinated with the concept of the server and whatever gameplay footage there is for months now; it just seems like such a unique and interesting experience! Shame it's this closed, though I do understand why that's necessary.
I haven't played Lifeweb for years, and wasn't involved in the community (inasmuch as there even is one, given the strict restrictions on talking about the game out-of-game) even when I was semi-active there. Afraid I can't help with any news regarding the thing.
It's... It's absolutely a unique and interesting experience, I'll definitely give it that. There's a huge amount of style and atmosphere that drips with menace and hints of the deeper mysteries behind.
However, it's also ludicrously unintuitive and utterly unforgiving. If you weren't logged in for the very start of the match (and sometimes even if you were), you spawn as a migrant out in the caves. You take one step forward onto what looks to be solid ground, because you're not aware that the subtly darker shading indicates that the tile is a z-level down, and you fall to your death within a minute of the game starting (or your torch runs out before you reach the city/you can't figure out how to make one, and the world is plunged into darkness, resulting in falling and dying somewhere else).
You might be fortunate enough to rise later as a skinless and attempt to kill the living souls wandering around, but this usually just means you'll die again within a few steps thanks to the other wildlife out there. Or someone simply bashing your head in thanks to how slow you are. Now you get to just wait out the rest of the 30-40 minute round, without even observing things because even ghosts are restricted in the game.
Maybe you got lucky and did spawn in at round start! But since you're new to the game, you grab one of the "easy" classes like a serving girl in the baron's manor. Your primary job is to just run around cleaning up dirt with a bucket and a rag. You spawn with a bucket in the room, and easy access to a water source.
You do not spawn with a rag. Nowhere in the servant's chambers is there a free rag. Nothing else works for this chore. If you don't perform your duties, the baron will either execute you so you die immediately, or have you shuffled off into the Lifeweb to be locked inside your own body for a while before finally dying (and then your ghost gets trapped in a labyrinth because it's the Lifeweb).
You fumble your way around the interaction menus and come upon the brilliant idea of trying to tear a strip of cloth off your clothes. This will look promising and your character will attempt it, but the action will never ever succeed because your skinny little orphan arms are too weak to tear clothing. You pick up the pair of scissors in the room in the hopes that it'll help, guess blindly at the interaction menu since it doesn't tell you a damn thing, stab yourself in the leg, get infected, and die.
Next round! You roll up as a farmer instead, and dedicate your life to pooping in a bucket. The merchant who owns you comes by to whip you because you don't make enough tomatoes and the ones you do grow are terrible quality (you do not know what causes this). The wounds get infected, and you die.
Try again! This time the merchant is off getting high and ignores you for the entire round. You're quietly tending to your garden when the church bells ring out; looks like the bishop is trying to arrange a prayer to God-in-Coma. Attendance is mandatory; you either follow the group and activities or you get executed as a heretic. The ritual starts, and you are commanded to shed blood from your hand as part of the prayer. You do so, the prayer takes longer than usual because the congregation isn't pious enough (you do not know what this means or what affects it), and once it's over the nun is too busy to treat your hand. You get infected and die.
One more time! You try a gravedigger instead, and miraculously manage to innately understand the absolutely arcane combat system, and instinctively select the correct settings for grip, intent, targeting zone and attack style (and weren't fucked by RNG on your character's strength), allowing you to successfully knock out the hobo NPC with a sneak attack, allowing you to feed the Lifeweb and keep it running for a little while longer so you can keep your head attached to the rest of your body. Whoops! Turns out the captain of the guard was a cultist and spotted you while you were walking through one of the alleyways to work, so you have been thoroughly slapped and then eviscerated in sacrifice to Tchernobog.
Aaaand... That's the weekend over folks, see you next week! Also if you try and help anyone learn how to actually do things, your account will be permanently banned from ever accessing the game again and you'll have to create a new account and pay the new-account fee in order to join up and try again.
Eventually that whole culture just ruined the cool stuff for me. And that's ignoring the pedophilia and sexual assault side of things.
Post by: EuchreJack on September 21, 2023, 07:50:13 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: AlStar on September 21, 2023, 09:28:03 am
I didn't realize I was playing the Amazing Drug Addict Simulator!I mean, that's basically the entire cultivation / Xianxia genre. Becoming a god-like hero is like 10% hard work, and 90% consuming a pill that's made of dragon scales, phoenix feathers, and bark from the tree of life.
Edit: FFS, how do I keep ending up at the top of a new page with only moderately relevant replies?
I'm still working my way through Baldur's Gate 3. Just entering Act II with both my single player game and a multi-player game (2 PCs). They really did an amazing job of keeping what can be a very text/conversation-heavy game relevant for multiple players. Any conversation can be dropped into so that you can listen in, and when the other player is choosing replies, you can mark which option you favor, which will highlight it on the screen and put a little portrait of the person voting for it next to it. For combat, we've divvied it up so that each of us is controlling our both our player character and one of the NPCs, which usually results in always having things to do.
I've heard that the game loses some of it's focus in Act III, but at least up to the start of Act II, I've just been blown away - the developers have done a really great job in tying things together and allowing for very different playstyles, even without going on the fully evil path. For instance, my single player game has an entire additional (friendly) town, since my murderhobo of a brother picked a fight with the high mushroom lord of the Underdark.
Post by: Laterigrade on September 21, 2023, 05:26:27 pm
-Kagus Lifeweb summary snip-that sounds… really cool but also mostly awful
Post by: Aoi on September 21, 2023, 10:34:44 pm
-Kagus Lifeweb summary snip-that sounds… really cool but also mostly awful
Sad thing is, I was curious about what on earth was going on in there and did a quick search on it... the most informative result was a Reddit post from about seven years ago that was substantially the same.
Post by: Kagus on September 22, 2023, 01:23:03 am
-Kagus Lifeweb summary snip-that sounds… really cool but also mostly awful
That's an incredibly apt summary. So many really really cool ideas and implementations, drowning in the morass that is everything else. A tragic shame.
And yeah, it's really difficult to find any real information on the thing... You really have to dig around, and eventually find random private domains where someone got pissed off and decided to try putting up an anonymously-posted partial guide (when these are discovered, and when possible, they're forcibly made obsolete by changing the game to no longer match the advice given. Because that's a healthy way of running a game)
Although, bizarrely, there are a few gameplay videos on YouTube. ...the question remains as to how informative those videos are, but eh.
Post by: EuchreJack on September 24, 2023, 10:26:51 pm
Sunrise on another world
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: brewer bob on September 25, 2023, 07:55:57 am
Lots of old 80/90s Sierra EGA adventure nostalgia (without the constant dying). Quite a short one, but entertaining. I'll have to check the second and third parts, too.
Post by: Sirus on September 25, 2023, 08:45:25 pm
Like, for all the schlocky B-movie plot and voice acting it is genuinely and intensely unnerving to play on some stages. Whether it's a swarm of four-meter-tall ants in a massive underground cavern (crawling over the walls and even the ceiling in their attempts to kill you) or a formation of ten-story mechs stretching across the horizon with energy weapons blazing.
Post by: Great Order on September 26, 2023, 05:55:32 pm
Post by: Magmacube_tr on October 03, 2023, 04:17:44 am
Anyways. Paimon is cute. The wind town castle thingie is neat. It is very fun to climb. You can climb over almost anything in the game, which is very great. I also love the gliding ability. It is so convenient.
Female character wise... ehhhh just your garden variety anime girls. But male character wise... twinks. Twinks, twinks, twinks, EVERYWHERE!. I do get the idea that the people in the studio love twinks (and so do I) from the sheer abundance of them at every corner of the game world. But why no larger man exist? Like, even the mountain trolls are twinks. That's kinda over-twinkage. Kinda hate it how handsome they all are.
Magic system is kinda cliche. Elemental magicks, water, air, fire, whatever have you.
It is neat, but just, kinda weird? 7/10
Post by: Micro102 on October 03, 2023, 05:50:56 am
Fingerprints, footprints, surveillance cameras, sales records, handwriting types, phone records, photographs, passwords, air vents, breaking into apartments, and a bunch of other things I've forgotten about.
Post by: Frumple on October 04, 2023, 08:09:27 am
Female character wise... ehhhh just your garden variety anime girls. But male character wise... twinks. Twinks, twinks, twinks, EVERYWHERE!. I do get the idea that the people in the studio love twinks (and so do I) from the sheer abundance of them at every corner of the game world. But why no larger man exist? Like, even the mountain trolls are twinks. That's kinda over-twinkage. Kinda hate it how handsome they all are.This is the second time in the last few months I've seen someone comment on this, heh. And yeah, GI's basically wall to wall twink, the thickest thing on there is probably Itto and Itto is... not thicc. At all. The game basically has one (adult) male body type and it ain't got no heft to it.
Forget which ones, but there's apparently one or two other major gacha games out there that do have swolebois of note, but genshin ain't it (it ain't FGO, either, iirc -- they got some, but they're apparently pretty boring about presentation, which is removes any credit they get on that front).
Post by: delphonso on October 05, 2023, 01:27:56 am
I tried playing it on the PS Vita ages ago, and the controls just broke me on it, then for ages I couldn't run it on anything (it's not particularly poorly optimized but I guess there's too much going on for a weak laptop.) Now...like 15 years late, I'm finally playing it. I played a ton of Starbound when it first came out, which I enjoyed as a time waster in uni, but Terraria feels a lot more...sharp? It's a tighter experience. Been wasting time building bases instead of fighting bosses/getting good gear. Loving every minute of that.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on October 05, 2023, 11:24:06 am
Honestly ny gameplay loop in trrraria is to unlock the demolitionist and then get money to dig deep wells using lots of bombs
Post by: Frumple on October 05, 2023, 09:06:58 pm
I can't see myself ever playing terraria again without magic storage, though, or at least one of the other storage managing mods. The vanilla experience regarding inventory management and crafting is kinda' miserable in comparison, heh. Tmodloader being integrated into steam makes it mostly super painless to mod, happily, which is nice.
Post by: delphonso on October 05, 2023, 11:21:20 pm
For example, I got some of the Snow Armor set from zombies and was about to sell it when I saw it was a 'material'. I then looked it up, expecting to see some fancy upgraded snow armor or something, but it's actually just dyed pink. It'd be nice to have either a bottomless pit to throw stuff into if I'm unsure about it, or an in-game way to check that stuff.
Post by: Sirus on October 06, 2023, 04:35:16 am
It's not perfect. He won't tell you how to acquire those other materials, and if the resulting item is also a material he won't tell you what can be done with that (not until it is in his hands, anyway). But short of tabbing over to a browser with the wiki open it's the best source of crafting information in the game.
Post by: delphonso on October 06, 2023, 04:59:59 am
Post by: AlStar on October 06, 2023, 09:19:48 am
I've been trying to go in relatively blind, but I do occasionally look up /why/ something is labelled as a material, as well as some advice on what to keep (silt/slush, any accessory) for later useage.I assume you probably already know this, but both silt and slush can be fed into a Extractinator - a building which, if I remember correctly, can be found in chests or sometimes set up in ruins. Take a stack of slush and it'll turn into a small pile of copper and silver coins, as well as some metal ores.
Its main use is that those ores can be ones that aren't 'native' to your world - so even if your world has tin instead of copper, or lead instead of iron, you might still get copper/iron ore from processing slush.
Post by: Frumple on October 06, 2023, 12:51:47 pm
It's not perfect. He won't tell you how to acquire those other materials, and if the resulting item is also a material he won't tell you what can be done with that (not until it is in his hands, anyway). But short of tabbing over to a browser with the wiki open it's the best source of crafting information in the game.Second best :P
Recipe browser (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2619954303) is like the guide in your pocket, except with even more functionality. There's still occasionally times you probably end up going to a wiki to find stuff out (some mods in particular have odd spawning or drop conditions), but mostly the browser is all you need.
E: The real hot shit with crafting is turning on magic storage's recursion, though. Trying to make a bottle but don't have glass? Turn that on and if you got the sand and the furnace it'll make the glass for you when you hit craft. It's a seriously helpful quality of life feature, especially if you're doing other crazy mod stuff that adds more involved recipes than vanilla sees. Even without the recursion on, you can right click on a recipe component you don't have, and if it's makeable, it'll take you to the crafting prompt for that item. It's just, so, so much more user friendly than the vanilla system, heh.
Post by: Iduno on October 07, 2023, 02:01:44 pm
The Forest Quartet: puzzle game. Pretty. I got stuck at a puzzle where I have 6 poles that I can rotate, which spins 3 different levels of balls. Sometimes that balls line up facing a direction if you spin them long enough (usually several minutes). I'm probably supposed to line them all up in a particular way, but don't know what way, have no way of knowing if I got one or more correct, and got tired of waiting for even a single one to get lined up nicely. Including the 10 minutes trying to figure out this puzzle, I'm around 15 minutes into the game, and don't feel anything keeping me interested.
Out of line: platformer with some puzzles. Figured out the things on the ground that I can jam the spear into are supposed to be levers when the spear is in there, and control platforms. Now I'm on one with a partner who can hit a button for me if I do the right thing while using the lever. I've also trial-and-errored myself into know which spots are for them only and which ones are for me only. One spot I can put their platform spins 2 spiked platforms. They are perpendicular to one another, so I can't get them both at a usable angle, and one side is covered in spikes so the best angle also kills me. I can maybe figure out something so I get stuck on the next puzzle instead, but not being able to tell where I could and could not go without dying repeatedly already frustrated me enough that I need a break.
Black Books: it looks like a deck-builder so far, with choices affecting how you progress through the game. Looks like I'm going to damn my own soul to save my beloved from hell. Metal.
Post by: martinuzz on October 12, 2023, 05:53:07 am
Post by: Great Order on October 12, 2023, 09:42:40 pm
It makes a more ponderous, logistics-focused game. The energy used by the drive combined with its low speed means that ships have very limited range, but this makes power plant techs super important for increasing efficiency. It also means that you have to set up resupply stations all over the place so exploration ships can explore, and any ships following the colonisation wave can make it between colonies without having to turn back halfway or risk running empty.
Some resources are also rarer and more difficult to get around. I'm running into a chromium and aculon crunch because I've got *one* planet that produces chromium, and only a few aculon planets. Then the civilian ships take a long time to transport the goods between colonies, stations, ships etc.
It's definitely interesting.
Post by: Folly on October 13, 2023, 01:47:08 am
Since I last posted about it shortly after launch I've sunk over 600 hours into ST:E, and I'm still going strong with the 'Joint Space Force' Steam group. Today they dropped a big update with a new Hive game mode, and lots of new guns and utilities to play with! Now is a great time to join up or return!
Post by: AlStar on October 13, 2023, 11:09:54 am
It really is one of the best roguelike-Metroidvania games I've ever played. The excellent musical score, amazingly responsive controls, huge variety of weapons, challenging bosses - the developers have really just put everything together in an amazingly tight package.
Props on the longevity of support, too - the game came out 2018, and there's a new free content patch that just entered beta testing this week.
Hollow Knight might have it beat for straight-up Metroidvania experience, and I probably like Slay the Spire or Dungeons of Dredmor for more traditional roguelike fare; but if I want to just spend half an hour trying out a new combination of weapons/mutations, running through levels and killing dudes (and probably dying horribly), Dead Cells is my go-to.
Post by: AzyWng on October 15, 2023, 10:52:54 pm
It's a pretty fun time, even if I don't survive very long (longest so far is 10 days).
Post by: nenjin on October 16, 2023, 12:11:03 am
Also playing some Stoneshard. It's definitely a smoother experience than it used to be, I'm overflowing with cash, repairs are easy to stay on top of and the enemies feel fairly balanced for where you're at in the beginning of the game. My biggest need is storage space right now because I have so much stuff. I'm hung up on one part of the quest that I know there's an alternate solution for but I don't want to look it up yet. Stoneshard is just such a cozy RPG. The charming pixel grahpics, the earthy vibe of being out in the rain in the dark, your cloak protecting your gear from rusting, your pack loaded with food, water, bandages and painsalves, bandits on the road to your right, wolves to your left, combat being fast and escalating in lethality quickly.....it's just a very wholesome experience now that they've whittled the world down to a more manageable size and the challenges don't feel like brick walls.
Post by: Akura on October 16, 2023, 06:09:18 pm
Found a map that I liked, as I had plenty of tin where I settled. Discovered something I've never seen before: hot springs. Not sure what they're for besides burning things trying to swim in them to death. Also managed to secure a resource I've tried and failed many times to find before: bees. I've got more wax than I have uses for now, since I have six skeps with 80-100+ flowers around each. Took me a decently long time to find iron, about 1000-2000 blocks south of my base. Took a lot longer, including flying in creative mode for 10k blocks in each direction before finding limestone(for leather production, isn't for steel) about 4000 blocks south, also finding bauxite(is for steel) many thousands of blocks away in the east and west. Didn't find any borax(required before I can work steel), but the propick said there's traces near the limestone, so there's still a chance to find it. Otherwise the entire world seems to be made of Andesite, Granite, and Peridotite(in that order).
It's mid-October in the game(as well as the time of this post).
Spoiler: Here's my house(BIG pic) (click to show/hide)
Post by: scriver on October 21, 2023, 09:36:26 am
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/527626130824364032/1165298339500265533/image.png?ex=654657a6&is=6533e2a6&hm=e0ad75138ce071276ae576e6fddc87dc6195be014a3a5b17dc9ca261b32c2388&)
Post by: King Zultan on October 22, 2023, 02:13:06 am
Post by: scriver on October 22, 2023, 04:47:49 am
Post by: EuchreJack on October 22, 2023, 07:26:53 pm
Post by: Aoi on October 22, 2023, 07:33:35 pm
What game?
In scriver's image? That's Rimworld.
Post by: scriver on October 23, 2023, 02:17:34 am
Back to an older save it is, and back to the original plan of iust sending a small force first to establish basic essentials before the rest of the colony arrives. I can only hope they don't get raided in forces relative to the full wealth of my faction because that would crush them.
Post by: ChairmanPoo on October 26, 2023, 02:48:30 am
I might try creating a few transgened soldiers and ideal slaves too. I have this plan of actually keeping lots of slaves but adding the incapable of violence and peaceful tantrums to all of them if I can.
Post by: MCreeper on October 28, 2023, 04:59:57 am
1. City-state. Festive day. Suddenly, a grand horde of tatars lays seige to the city! Spies? Refugees? Them recently going on conquests? No? No. Tatars got very fast horses.
2. Also suddenly, a whole tatar-hired merc fleet pulls in and blockades the port! Spies? Maritime passerbys? No. Ships are also, apparently, very fast.
3. Sometime later, throne room. A garishly dressed foreigner strides in along with his honor guard. Claims that he is next in line to the throne, so if something happens... *wink* *wink* He is. Hardly anybody knows a prominent heir, much less queen herself. Later it transpires that he has an ostentatious mansion inside city itself. Fucking nobody knows about who owns it.
Also later, main chatacter wonders if she should recruit an urchin magical girl as one of the spies. Nope. You don't have any. Haven't seen one even halfway through the game, must be sneaky. And you are a clueless mofo.
There is rather a lot of things that make me go "Ok, ok, author doesn't know his shit (and neither do I), moving on". But the last was just laughable.
FAKEEDIT: Biggest merchant in the city needs help to name a price of it's exported good and say "Hey, look, those guys buy it and like it, you'll still profit much from this"? Come on. ::)
EDIT: And of course, an MC that never even touched a weapon unless strictly necessary still has to fight a hulking superpowered monster of a dark overlord in single combat and win.
Angry EDIT: In Telltale Games fashion, saving or not saving somebody ultimately doesn't matter. Like saving that oddly powerful magical girl midway through the game. She would be mighty useful in a given situation, right? And such talent needs to be preserved anyways, right? Totally worth own eye, right? >:( After that, she is never mentioned again until epilogue. Neither is the eye. It was inevitable. >:( >:( >:(
Post by: lemon10 on October 28, 2023, 06:10:40 pm
I completely failed, though. Ship-site colony fell to massive tantrums and myrserous moods within days, presumably due to too high expectations or some other issue. I haven't played anything at all with moving colonies in Rimworld, I had made the flawed assumption that if you did their expectations would lower again like they are at colony start but oh well.
Back to an older save it is, and back to the original plan of iust sending a small force first to establish basic essentials before the rest of the colony arrives. I can only hope they don't get raided in forces relative to the full wealth of my faction because that would crush them.
Quote
"Storyteller Wealth" = (Colony Wealth Items + Colony Wealth Creatures + (Colony Wealth Buildings * 0.5))Expectations (and raid size) scale to colony wealth.
Presumably, you brought all your pawns (and their expensive weapons, armor, and prosthetics), creatures, and as many valuable items as you could carry, which given you felt you were ready to end the game means you probably started at maximum expectations but without any of the rooms that you would need for everyone to not be suicidal.
Post by: callisto8413 on November 15, 2023, 12:17:22 am
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: nenjin on November 15, 2023, 09:50:24 am
I just can't put it down. I've already tapped out most of the Roguelike progression goodness and seen most of the high end gear you can get.
And yet I keep coming back. The gameplay is just that satisfying. I love gladiator games, whether that's a gladiator manager or actually fighting as one. And WWABTD just scratches the action itch so well. Sure, the graphics are a little chunky. Sure, the physics are a little goofy. And yet it's found that fine edge between easy to play but depth of mastery.
It really sunk in when last night I was playing and I was fighting a guy. And I said to myself "Self, when he approaches and drops that shield to attack you, send a horizontal cut right across his face and take his head off." And that's exactly how it played out, in a split second of action. After 40 hours I get combat. I can figure out where I want to hit a guy and land my strikes exactly where I plan. I can see the moves in combat I want to make, the counters and responses and I can execute even in the heat of combat. There have been some patches to address how the game handles sure, but mostly it was learning HOW to fight a foe correctly and win that's felt so good.
And it really is a feeling. Especially in the late game where guys have excellent weapons and armor just like you do. It feels easy now...until a guy hits you full power with the right weapon in the weakest piece of armor vs. that weapon and suddenly it's a fight for your life. Fights can be quick, as fast as 15 seconds when there's just one or two combatants. Or it can be a full on brawl lasting several minutes when there's 16 gladiators in the arena.
The best part is I think it's still got room to grow, improve and add features. But the foundation of it, the combat, is so enjoyable to me that I could keep playing it in its current state for a long time. I'm usually not the type to seek higher difficulties for their own sake. I like my challenges fun and beatable rather than ball breaking. But I've so thoroughly dominated medium difficulty I'm going to kick it up to max because I really want to hone my skills even further.
There are like 7 legacies to beat, and last night I almost had three wins back to back to back.
I just can't say enough good things about the game. For a $20 indie game made by one guy (now has some contractors helping out) it's one of the best indie games I've played in a while.
Post by: Laterigrade on November 17, 2023, 07:36:00 am
It’s really fun, although sometimes it’s genuinely unfairly punishing, in a very DS1 way. The discovery aspect is awesome, though, and so is the lore, which is quite well-written. The aesthetic in general is very cool, a catholicism-inspired dark-fantasy setting ends up looking extremely cool done in 2D pixel art.
The combat is quite fun, too, and hard as well as satisfying to master. It can sometimes feel a little clunky, though, as can the platforming — hitboxes colliding when you think they shouldn’t or mechanics not being fully explained. If you approach it having learnt its own rules, though, it gets much more fun and manageable.
Edit:
And yet I keep coming back. The gameplay is just that satisfying. I love gladiator games, whether that's a gladiator manager or actually fighting as one. And WWABTD just scratches the action itch so well. Sure, the graphics are a little chunky. Sure, the physics are a little goofy. And yet it's found that fine edge between easy to play but depth of mastery.Also, Nenjin, this sounds awesome. I might check it out.
It really sunk in when last night I was playing and I was fighting a guy. And I said to myself "Self, when he approaches and drops that shield to attack you, send a horizontal cut right across his face and take his head off." And that's exactly how it played out, in a split second of action. After 40 hours I get combat. I can figure out where I want to hit a guy and land my strikes exactly where I plan. I can see the moves in combat I want to make, the counters and responses and I can execute even in the heat of combat. There have been some patches to address how the game handles sure, but mostly it was learning HOW to fight a foe correctly and win that's felt so good.
Post by: nenjin on November 17, 2023, 11:29:47 am
Blasphemous 2 is also pretty good. A better game overall, however the world building isn't as strong as the first game.
Post by: Folly on November 21, 2023, 08:10:43 pm
Picked this up a few weeks ago during a sale for the Steam release. Though I did not purchase it on Steam, but directly from Blizzard, who were mirroring the sale price. I had intended to get it on Steam, but with a bit of research I determined that Steam does not have the option to download the game without the 4k textures, which are optional on Blizzard's launcher. Those textures cut the game's footprint nearly in half, reducing a 90GB install to just under 50GB. Since I'm always low on storage space, that was an absolute dealbreaker for me.
I was hesitant when I saw the dreadful 'Mixed' reviews on Steam. But with a bit of research I learned that D4 has been subject to a massive review-bombing campaign, with dozens of redditors bragging about how they each created thousands of dummy accounts just so they could spend weeks doing nothing but leaving a slew of bad reviews across multiple platforms.
I'm not going to claim that D4 is absolutely perfect, but it's faults are generally minor, while the good points are sufficient to warrant multiple hundreds of hours of enjoyment, easily justifying the purchase price. Definitely recommend.
Post by: The_Explorer on November 21, 2023, 10:13:24 pm
Rome 2 Total War with DEI mod, and some graphical ones. Very fun total war, and still my favorite historical total war. The bronze age mod is shaping up well too.
Warhammer 3 total war, my most played total war. Do have a bunch of mods though and one that expands the map to be the entire world of warhammer, which is neat
Colony survival, a few mods, but this is actually a pretty neat colony(?) city builder. You can have up to 50,000 colonists(?) inside a city. Its more really a city builder than a colony builder. But its pretty unknown imo, and a really good game. I do turn off the random attacks though, I just want to build a city.
Noita, a few mods but not too many, super fun roguelike but I just got it so haven't played too much yet
Tropico 6...ITS TROPICO always love tropico
And finally Astrox Imperium, its EVE Online...but singleplayer. Literally.
thats the current games I'm playing
Post by: The_Explorer on November 22, 2023, 03:15:19 pm
Post by: Eric Blank on November 23, 2023, 05:58:37 pm
Post by: Laterigrade on November 27, 2023, 01:58:24 am
but it’s a blast, so far, and the raw terror of losing your souls and humanities is overwhelming
interesting to see the greater emphasis on blocking and parrying compared to Elden Ring, too
Post by: Sirus on November 27, 2023, 08:18:46 am
Aside from a couple of rough spots, it is safe to say that I am thoroughly enjoying the game so far.
Post by: Egan_BW on November 27, 2023, 05:51:11 pm
just started Dark Souls Remastered, which I’m trying to go into as blindly as I can, in this day and age
but it’s a blast, so far, and the raw terror of losing your souls and humanities is overwhelming
interesting to see the greater emphasis on blocking and parrying compared to Elden Ring, too
Spoiler: mechanical spoilers, perhaps (click to show/hide)
Post by: Laterigrade on December 07, 2023, 01:01:02 am
just started Dark Souls Remastered, which I’m trying to go into as blindly as I can, in this day and agejust got up to O&S, they’re kicking my ass hard — very fun, though
but it’s a blast, so far, and the raw terror of losing your souls and humanities is overwhelming
interesting to see the greater emphasis on blocking and parrying compared to Elden Ring, too
Post by: lemon10 on December 07, 2023, 01:24:38 am
just started Dark Souls Remastered, which I’m trying to go into as blindly as I can, in this day and ageYeah, the game is a masterpiece, especially for the time where many of the mechanics and tropes it used didn't exist to the extent that it flat out created its own genre. They made some decisions they backed away from in later games (most notably the no fast travel and stuff like the skeleton key starting item), that really gave the game a lot of flavor and made it a unique experience.
but it’s a blast, so far, and the raw terror of losing your souls and humanities is overwhelming
interesting to see the greater emphasis on blocking and parrying compared to Elden Ring, too
interesting to see the greater emphasis on blocking and parrying compared to Elden Ring, tooAll of bandai's soul-likes have slightly different combat systems that make them feel more unique: DS1 has extremely powerful blocking and stamina runs out quickly; DS2 has dodge iframes change with stats and drinking health potions takes you like 3 seconds :/. Bloodborne has a huge emphasis on fast paced combat and removes blocking entierly. DS3 is the most similar to elden ring, but it still ends up playing a bit different.
Post by: MCreeper on December 07, 2023, 01:27:03 am
Post by: nenjin on December 07, 2023, 01:34:29 am
Of all the things though, I'd say it was the concession to convenience and the addition of fast travel to the Souls series that really changed it from a really unique experience to something somewhat more commonplace. Some do say that there's no value to slogging through the same enemies over and over again and it's just a waste of the player's time; I'd argue though that 1) it created a really intimate connection to the game and added that degree of tension and paranoia that the other games lost. You really got to know areas and enemies like the back of your hand, and took in more environmental details just by sheer exposure to them over and over again. And 2) it totally affected level design. Which is what most people remember most about DS1, is how truly interconnected everything felt. You lost that with later games in the series. There are still good level designs, but nothing where it all felt tied together like DS1. Less of a sense that someone truly labored to achieve that effect. DS1 felt like the world got built first and the game came after. Later entries in the series had the opposite vibe.
Post by: lemon10 on December 07, 2023, 02:04:33 am
Most notably in DS2 getting a 100% block shield (which is pretty much a requirement for being properly tanky) is significantly harder.
In DS1 basically from the start of the game you can get a 100% block shield that you only need 8 strength for. In DS2 you need 12 strength, the shield weighs twice as much, and it takes several areas for you to get it, it isn't a huge difference, but it's a meaningful one.
Post by: Egan_BW on December 07, 2023, 12:52:47 pm
I do appreciate how many builds are viable in ER, as compared to DS3 where it really feels like you're supposed to play it like bloodborne but in plate armor and the other equipment and stats are only there because it's supposed to be a Dark Souls sequel.
Post by: Frumple on December 07, 2023, 09:56:22 pm
Though some colony builders are definitely roguelikes, for what it's worth. Against the Storm is built around it :P
Post by: Laterigrade on December 08, 2023, 07:52:39 am
DS1 has extremely powerful blocking and stamina runs out quicklyyes, I noticed the stamina thing early on — and I quite like it, actually; managing stamina adds this extra bit of complexity and enjoyability to combat, for me; makes it just this little bit more a puzzle to solve
They made some decisions they backed away from in later games (most notably the no fast travel and stuff like the skeleton key starting item), that really gave the game a lot of flavor and made it a unique experience.likewise I enjoy the initial lack of fast travel (and the limited access later on); it feels much less gamey than Elden Ring, where you can teleport from anywhere to virtually anywhere that you’ve been, almost any time — DS1’s requirement that you be at a Bonfire to teleport, and then can only teleport to certain places, feels a lot more authentic, as well as making new shortcuts actually meaningful, both early in the game and continuing on into it
Post by: Micro102 on December 10, 2023, 04:59:53 am
Post by: Telgin on December 12, 2023, 11:07:06 pm
Time to play as usual, with a nonlethal approach on realistic difficulty. Unfortunately, I'm very out of practice so I had to resort to a lot of save spamming even on Liberty Island. I was able to knock most enemies out with the baton by crouch walking up behind them, but groups of two kept killing me with random headshots. Had to break out the tranq darts I was saving for a few of them.
Post by: darkhog on December 16, 2023, 02:04:19 pm
Post by: nenjin on December 18, 2023, 11:53:13 am
They've made an obnoxious change to the combat AI.
I've always played on the max AI difficulty. It was challenging but the AI could be a little derpy and fall prey to spamming attacks and not blocking enough.
Well in the most recent update, now Challenging AI is a master of combat.
They'll block 80 to 90% of your attacks.
With shields it's even worse. They will block close to 95% of your attacks. And your shield always seems to break long before their's does.
It makes me mad but I had to back the Combat AI down to veteran, which is closer to what the old challenging used to be.
It's really only an issue for the Arena. No longer can you roll in as an unskilled, under equipped pleb and clean out the heroes of the realm. Because the AI's block acuity and their stats, they will block and then counter you with swing speed that vastly outstrips your's, meaning they will block all your attacks then counter attack you for 80 to 115% of your health in one hit.
I feel like there could have been a middle ground. Or they could have added another level of combat AI above challenging and just called it "Unfair." Because that's what it feels like.
Post by: Jopax on December 18, 2023, 12:23:00 pm
And then there's the big meta change they've introduced this time around in the form of transfigured skills, which is basically taking around a massive number of existing skills and introducing wildly different takes on them. Like a variation on the summon zombie which no longer uses corpses to summon minion zombies but rather conjures zombies above the target at which point they plummet down and deal damage to it like a phys damage meteor of sorts. But since it still counts as a minion it benefits from minion relevant passives and gems. Not all of them are viable or good but they introduce so much variety that it makes trying out stuff pretty fun.
Additionally the beta for PoE 2 should start sometime in the spring so there's that to look forward to (especially with the recent stuff they revealed about it)
Post by: MCreeper on December 23, 2023, 02:33:39 am
No changelog for mod in Steam, because author loves Steam not. No links except piecemeal one to Discord either, because Steam hates modder also. Modding in general is all about hatred, you know.
Post by: Folly on December 23, 2023, 02:13:15 pm
At first glance, very much like all the other updates since the Plains. A new Hub, and some new NPC's giving missions and selling goods in exchange for the unique currency I get from these missions. And a new dungeon tileset, with slight variants on old game modes and a bunch of new hidden treasure rooms to discover.
However, after giving the update a bit more time I found that it does stand out a bit. Many of the new monsters have multiple destructible hitboxes, which makes combat against them feel a bit more dynamic. There's a new set of melee mods adding a timed heavy-attack gimmick which is fairly satisfying to execute. And the NPC's actually have some interesting drama that unfolds gradually as I level up their faction.
Overall this update feels like the best thing to happen to Warframe in years.
EDIT:
Last night I discovered that the recent updates have added several new weekly rewards, and that was the last night before the new week. Next thing I knew it was 5 hours past my bedtime. I regret nothing.
Post by: MCreeper on December 25, 2023, 04:12:16 pm
Post by: darkhog on January 20, 2024, 04:14:22 pm
Post by: Mkok on January 20, 2024, 06:18:59 pm
Post by: EuchreJack on January 20, 2024, 07:10:39 pm
Modding in general is all about hatred, you know.I do
Post by: nenjin on January 20, 2024, 08:45:30 pm
Also a ton of Monster Hunter World. Finally getting through Iceborne. Appropriate for the weather. I probably still have hundreds of hours in that game of getting layered armor sets.