Video Games Thread

[CrimsonFox]

Saw a YT "speed run" of FO:NV, one that was extremely glitch heavy.

And it kinda hit me: what does it say about the state of gaming in the past year or two that there are people who would rather figure out a number of crazy glitches to shorten their speed run than play new games that have been released?

I'm afraid that's been around for a long long time :(
I don't like it either. But some people REALLY get off on streaming their game plays so that other people can see "how fast" they can play.

Or as I like to say how fast they can ruin a game and completely ignore its purpose.

At least now there are achievements that can more satisfy these people.
Heck I remember being excited to play Warcraft 2 onlnie and ran into nothing but asshole kids that did that exact thing...saw how quickly they could kill me through exploits of the game. No long sprawling epic battle...just make as many orcs even peons as possible and rush me. every time. what's the point. oh yeah rankings and ladders. things like that kill the magic of gaming

[JonInMiddleGA]

Not a thing. Speed runs have been a thing forever, and glitches have been a part of it (although the record books are typically split between 'clean' runs and runs that rely on glitches).


I'm familiar with the longevity of speed runs, and glitching in them to a lesser extent.
But the amount of time invested - particularly some of the bizarre glitch finding - in them seems to be up.

YMMV, but that's my take.

[CrimsonFox]

haha that's the second time this week i've seen someone say YMMV and i didn't know what it was but the first thing i thought of was "You Make Me Vomit"

it totally works here! :)

[Alan T]

Your Mileage May Vary (ie: my take on it but you may have seen or experienced differently)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Vince, Pt. II]

I'm afraid that's been around for a long long time :(
I don't like it either. But some people REALLY get off on streaming their game plays so that other people can see "how fast" they can play.

Or as I like to say how fast they can ruin a game and completely ignore its purpose.

At least now there are achievements that can more satisfy these people.
Heck I remember being excited to play Warcraft 2 onlnie and ran into nothing but asshole kids that did that exact thing...saw how quickly they could kill me through exploits of the game. No long sprawling epic battle...just make as many orcs even peons as possible and rush me. every time. what's the point. oh yeah rankings and ladders. things like that kill the magic of gaming

As someone who loved Real Time Strategy games and was super ecstatic to get into the online multiplayer scene when I went to College (circa Warcraft III / StarCraft days), I was hugely disappointed that my online skill was not determined by tactics or strategy, but by how quickly I could click around the map, macro building queues, and spit out units. It was my first real experience with both min/maxing and the challenge / interpretation of game balance. There was simply no way to keep up unless I was moving as rapidly as possible, and the learning curve was steep. Combine that with the general (but as of then still relatively tame) toxicity of the online gaming world, and you had a barrier for entry that was maddening for a game style that I absolutely loved.

Though this is a bit of a tangent, this steep learning curve and toxic environment is fully-formed now in the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) world and is exactly why I do not play them (League of Legends particularly), despite likely enjoying them a lot if I could get through that learning curve.

Back to the topic at hand, I think something like this particular instance (RTS games) begs for a house rule type implementation, but how do you do that without neutering a legitimate strategy (the rush)? And if you are going to handicap against this, how do you compensate for factions that are designed around this type of play style (thinking of the Zerg in StarCraft particularly)? Obviously, it's up to me (and those I play with) to determine what is "legitimate" or "fair" - hence, house rule - but where do you draw the line? It seems awfully arbitrary.

This could even be expanded to game design in general - how much of the onus for customizability is on the game developer versus how much is on us, the player, to implement house rules to make the game play like we want it to? I mean, as much as we might not like it, there is nothing broken or "unfair" about the rush strategy in RTS games - we're just not very good at it, and it reduces our enjoyment of them. For something like a text-sim, this onus is easy: does the game mirror reality well? For an RTS set in a fantasy world of mythical races, it's far less simple to account for "realism."

As someone who is a long time (literally 15 years now) player of an MMO in World of Warcraft, I am constantly reading opinions about how the devs are "ruining the game" with their choices. It has been fascinating to watch the game evolve - especially trying to determine how design decisions are made. I play in the PvE environment, and am probably in the top 10% or so of players in the world there (/humblebrag); this means there are literally millions of players who play the game but never see the content I play. A lot of the discussion around these design decisions has to do with the "whales" - the far, far larger portion of the population who play the game, but not at this level, and are almost invariably silent about said design decisions. As designers, how do you level the fact that the majority of your player base (and therefore revenue stream) makes up this silent majority, yet this miniscule portion of your player base is insanely loud, vocal, and opinionated?

Meh, this rambled quite a ways away from the original thought, but you get the idea.

[CrimsonFox]

lovely post vince!

[CrimsonFox]

i played wow for a long while. like you i was only in it for the stories, the pve content and the exploration. however i did love playing that one mass player pvp whateverit was. i rarely played theothers. oh yeah and i was BIG on going after achievements with friends :)

i loved that game and my characters and the whole world
and most of the players were 100% about pvp
that's what most of the online world wants.

[Radii]

I'm familiar with the longevity of speed runs, and glitching in them to a lesser extent.
But the amount of time invested - particularly some of the bizarre glitch finding - in them seems to be up.

YMMV, but that's my take.

Mostly a side tangent, but many games have multiple speedrunning categories, I spent a little time messing around with speedrunning strategies in Ori and the Blind Forest, there isn't a "glitchless" category, but rather a "no out of bounds" category. So the primary speedrunning category for the game does incorporate some more minor glitches but you still actually play the game and go through many of the zones in the game, which to me feels like a much better experience both to play and to watch.

[Radii]

I don't like it either. But some people REALLY get off on streaming their game plays so that other people can see "how fast" they can play.

Or as I like to say how fast they can ruin a game and completely ignore its purpose.

Its odd to me how much someone else's fun bothers you.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As designers, how do you level the fact that the majority of your player base (and therefore revenue stream) makes up this silent majority, yet this miniscule portion of your player base is insanely loud, vocal, and opinionated?

This actually reminds me of a situation that seems similar that I've been intimately familiar with for decades: radio stations & requests.

The talking point in the business (once upon a time at least) was usually stated as "90% of your requests come from 10% of your listeners" but the reality was likely even more skewed/extreme than that.

There were, I guess, three basic schools of thought:
1) accommodate it, at least those few care enough to request
2) fuggem, trust your instincts and play what you believe is best for most
3) tolerate it and pay lip service to it with a specialty hour/show for it

I'm not sure that doesn't do a pretty good job of describing the three basic game design approaches to the situation as well.

[Honolulu_Blue]

At least now there are achievements that can more satisfy these people.
Heck I remember being excited to play Warcraft 2 onlnie and ran into nothing but asshole kids that did that exact thing...saw how quickly they could kill me through exploits of the game. No long sprawling epic battle...just make as many orcs even peons as possible and rush me. every time. what's the point. oh yeah rankings and ladders. things like that kill the magic of gaming

I ran into this same issue with Warcraft 2. We used to play Warcraft 2 versus other people a fair bit back in college, especially the summer after I graduated when I didn't have a job for a few months. We'd go to the computing center, install Warcraft 2 on machines (somehow, I forget how it all worked) and play against other people in the computing center.

For a while there, me and my friends were pretty decent. We wouldn't win always, but won a lot and it was competitive.

Fast forward a year or so later, and me and my buddy decided to go to a computer center one day to give it another try. We ended up playing against some guys who absolutely destroyed us using "only sappers". After that, we just accepted that the game had passed us by and it was time to move on.

[miller9163286]

Hello,

I'm trying to download fortnite games on my pc using 7downloads (https://7downloads.com/) but when I download the launcher a notice pops up telling me it won't open. Does anyone know how to fix this? Please help...

[Edward64]

I'm really looking forward to this game Ace Combat 7. Its been a while since I'm played a flight sim.


[linked deleted]

[Neon_Chaos]

Just built my new gaming PC and bought Monster Hunter World for the PC. :D

Any of you guys playing MH:W on Steam?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Watching the ongoing comedy that is Bethesda's patch attempts on F76, something hit me ...

Y'know, we used to complain that Bethesda never fixed obvious bugs in any of their games. Given what we've seen, I think we were probably better off.

[SackAttack]

Edward, can you delete that link? The thread is broken in Firefox and even Brave is having issues.

[RainMaker]

Just built my new gaming PC and bought Monster Hunter World for the PC. :D

Any of you guys playing MH:W on Steam?

It looks fun but I haven't bought it yet. Let me know how it is. I have so many games on my wishlist.

[Edward64]

Edward, can you delete that link? The thread is broken in Firefox and even Brave is having issues.

Sorry, done.

[SackAttack]

Thank you!

[spleen1015]

Played about 12 games of Tetris 99 last night. Once I realized how the whole thing works, it was a lot of fun.

Basically Battle Royale Tetris against 98 other people.

Nintendo with a lot of good announcements this week with the latest Direct.

[stevew]

Is origin access any good?

Also does anyone have that house flipper tycoon game on steam?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Origin everything is awful.

That being said, it's been years since I've given it a shot, so maybe they've improved it.

[Atocep]

Is origin access any good?

Also does anyone have that house flipper tycoon game on steam?

I paid $100 for origin premier on pc and I've gotten my money's worth and then some. Madden with early access was part of the subscription. As was battlefield, fifa, and Anthem. They also have a collection of non EA games you can play as well (they are billions is the only one I've been interested in).

Madden and fifa are annual buys for my son and those alone put me in the positive. Everything else has been gravy.

I can't say the service has blown me away, but it's been a good fit for my house.

[stevew]

I was looking at basic, I think I'm gonna throw 5 bucks in for a month. Wanna play madden anyways, and OOTP is on there to hold me over until the new version comes out. Seems like a reasonable collection of games for 30 bucks a year.

[SackAttack]

Played about 12 games of Tetris 99 last night. Once I realized how the whole thing works, it was a lot of fun.

Basically Battle Royale Tetris against 98 other people.

Nintendo with a lot of good announcements this week with the latest Direct.

I pulled a 3rd place finish out of my ass the other night.

That game is way more addictive than "battle royale Tetris" has any right to be. :D

[spleen1015]

I pulled a 3rd place finish out of my ass the other night.

That game is way more addictive than "battle royale Tetris" has any right to be. :D

Best I have done is 6th.

My strategy is to keep my board clean, doing 1-2 lines at a time and when I get hit with trash, I use that to make tetrises. I have found I last much longer this way.

Next strat will be to learn how to target folks for kills. I think to be really good at this you need to be able to target those closest to dying to get the badges for powerups.

[SackAttack]

Best I have done is 6th.

My strategy is to keep my board clean, doing 1-2 lines at a time and when I get hit with trash, I use that to make tetrises. I have found I last much longer this way.

Next strat will be to learn how to target folks for kills. I think to be really good at this you need to be able to target those closest to dying to get the badges for powerups.

There's a couple ways to do it. You can use the left stick to target specific users, or you can use the right stick to target specific categories.

If you target folks with badges, you can try to kill them to steal their badges.

If you target people closest to getting knocked out, you can earn your own badges.

If you target your attackers, maybe you can make 'em back off.

Etc.

The thing is, some of it is keeping your head down to a certain extent, because if you get targeted by multiple badge-holders, it won't end well.

[bob]

Thimbleweed Park is free on the Epic games thing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yes, I have a bad feeling I'm going to end up not thrilled with the console port of Stellaris (based on an 18 month old build instead of the recent improvements) ... but that didn't stop me from buying it anyway.

So, yeah, if I end up unhappy then its on me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Turns out I'm reasonably happy with Stellaris port thus far (and so is the kid, so make that 2 votes out of 2 from our precinct)

I know there's room for improvement with the build version but I think they did a great job with the UI in the port. I was comfortable zipping around menus within the first 15-20 minutes and that really isn't something that happens for me.

[bob]

Has anyone played Phantom Doctrine? If so, any good?

Phantom Doctrine on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/559100/Phantom_Doctrine/)

[nilodor]

Has anyone played Phantom Doctrine? If so, any good?

Phantom Doctrine on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/559100/Phantom_Doctrine/)

I know the early reviews were pretty mixed. There was a good game in there, but the bugs and some balance issues took away a lot from the experience. I have heard they have patched the game pretty significantly, but haven't heard how much it has changed.

[nilodor]

Dola:

Posted yesterday from the lead developer:

Error | rpg codex >_< xedoc gpr (https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/phantom-doctrine-tactical-cold-war-conspiracy-thriller-by-hard-west-devs.117897/page-21#post-6033264)


Dear Codexians,
I do lurk here frequently, and I must apologize for not replying to any questions - things have been rather hectic.
I will try to make it brief, and here are the major bullet points:

* PD didn't sell as expected (there's little doubt it will break even somewhere along the way, but in Poland your game is always compared to Witcher 3 and Frostpunk ;))
* hence the previous, original CEO "resigned" (strong House of Cards vibe here)
* I was asked to step up, and I did (my major reason being keeping the team intact)
* we supported PD as much as it could have been supported (having lost the lead programmer) without jeopardizing daily operations
* late Dec it became clear that the CEO role was to become a shareholder puppet (you can check out the company statue changes prepped to be voted in late Jan)
* that was when I flipped the table and resigned from the CEO job
* the moment it became apparent that we'll have to struggle with even basic operation tasks, I grabbed that table mid-air and flipped it again and quit
* and the rest of the team also quit
* and CFG as you know it ceased to exist
* but on our last days on the company payroll we yet managed to push out as much as was possible of the modding support

The Polish game dev job market is in very good shape (imagine HR people dressed as mad max-ian warboys scouting the wasteland and fighting for any experienced gamedevs they can find) so there's no drama here, and meanwhile a handful of us came together and will try to do something.

[Critch]

Has anyone played Phantom Doctrine? If so, any good?

Phantom Doctrine on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/559100/Phantom_Doctrine/)

I have Phantom Doctrine, played it a bit and my early reviews are pretty mixed. It's got a XCom 2 vibe without being as good as XCom 2, build up a team and send them on missions. The mechanics are a little strange, shots generally dont miss so it forces very stealth play. You cant be spotted or you'll be shot and probably killed, and you cant shoot or all the other guards will rush over and kill you. So you need to be stealthy, generally you'll have a two-person team so you'll mainly be avoiding combat. There is a fairly good mix of missions though. Definitely not a game to play on Ironman Mode.

It's a James Bond-like international conspiracy with two campaigns: one playing as a rogue CIA guy trying to stop it and one playing as a rogue KGB guy trying to stop it. I didnt get very far but at the risk of sounding disloyal to the West, the KGB campaign is better. I believe if you finish a campaign, it opens up a third campaign. I didnt stick with it long enough to get anywhere near ending a campaign though.

So there's a good game in there, but it has some strange gameplay choices and it looks like it's not going to get any better. Worth buying on a good sale, but not at full or near-full price.

[Travis]

Anybody picking up or pre-ordered the Division 2? Played the first one for over 700 hours with a couple of buddies and was involved in a couple of the betas. Haven't been this excited for a game release in quite some time.

If there's people playing on PS4 and interested in joining up for raids, etc, let me know!

[oykib]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sYJR4Ts-ylE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Early build video of the next game from the developer of Gunpoint.

[Atocep]

Dragon Age 4 is sounding like it may be the final nail in the coffin for Bioware.

Before a 2017 reboot Dragon Age 4 was about wizard heists | Rock Paper Shotgun (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/04/09/before-a-2017-reboot-dragon-age-4-was-about-wizard-heists/)

The original concept for DA4 sounded interesting, but using Anthem assets and including an online service component pretty much kills the DA series.

[Izulde]

Dragon Age 4 is sounding like it may be the final nail in the coffin for Bioware.

Before a 2017 reboot Dragon Age 4 was about wizard heists | Rock Paper Shotgun (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/04/09/before-a-2017-reboot-dragon-age-4-was-about-wizard-heists/)

The original concept for DA4 sounded interesting, but using Anthem assets and including an online service component pretty much kills the DA series.

Fuck.That.

[MizzouRah]

I plan on getting Anno 1800 this weekend, anyone getting it today at release?

[Kodos]

I'll say this much for RDR2 (after about an hour), it sure feels like a worthy successor. The sound in particular could have been a continuation of the previous installment, made it "feel right" to me.

I will say too though, for as amazing as the game looks, I didn't get past the 2nd "chapter" before running into one of the clipping issues I'd read about. Amazing looking world ... and then you walk right through the corner of a building with a stray board passing through your head. Pops the immersion bubble really quick.

Been playing RDR2 from time to time lately. It is such a beautiful world. Makes me a bit sadder that we are so intent on trashing the real world.

[Atocep]

I plan on getting Anno 1800 this weekend, anyone getting it today at release?

I'll be playing today. Between this and Imperator Rome my gaming is set for a while.

[MizzouRah]

I'll be playing today. Between this and Imperator Rome my gaming is set for a while.


Let me know what you think! I'm off Friday so I'll grab it from Uplay since Steam isn't selling it after today due to Ubisoft going exclusive to Epic games.

[NobodyHere]

I plan on getting Anno 1800 this weekend, anyone getting it today at release?

Maybe not release but I'll definitely be getting it!

[Atocep]

Let me know what you think! I'm off Friday so I'll grab it from Uplay since Steam isn't selling it after today due to Ubisoft going exclusive to Epic games.

Really enjoyable city builder. I started off my first playthrough and about 2 hours in I felt it was rather simplistic as they've cut out some common mechanics of city builders/management sims. I decided to start over and the 2nd time starting the campaign I picked up on things and understood the mechanics much better. It made the game a hell of a lot more enjoyable and helped me appreciate the game more.

Definitely the best Anno game IMO. I came directly from Tropico 6, which is a fantastic game in itself, and I really don't know which is better. Both have strengths. Anno much slower paced with a campaign. Tropico is lighthearted, moves quickly, and the missions add a lot of variety to the gameplay.

If you like Anno games. This is a no-brainer.

If someone is looking for a city builder with less convoluted mechanics and faster pace. Tropico 6 is at least on par with the best of the Tropico games.

[MizzouRah]

Really enjoyable city builder. I started off my first playthrough and about 2 hours in I felt it was rather simplistic as they've cut out some common mechanics of city builders/management sims. I decided to start over and the 2nd time starting the campaign I picked up on things and understood the mechanics much better. It made the game a hell of a lot more enjoyable and helped me appreciate the game more.

Definitely the best Anno game IMO. I came directly from Tropico 6, which is a fantastic game in itself, and I really don't know which is better. Both have strengths. Anno much slower paced with a campaign. Tropico is lighthearted, moves quickly, and the missions add a lot of variety to the gameplay.

If you like Anno games. This is a no-brainer.

If someone is looking for a city builder with less convoluted mechanics and faster pace. Tropico 6 is at least on par with the best of the Tropico games.


I started the campaign last night.. didn't have much time but what I played, I enjoyed.

[BYU 14]

I rarely get console games outside of MLB The Show, but Days Gone looks really interesting to me, just curious if anyone has picked it up?

[bhlloy]

Cross posting a bit between this and the Steam thread, but still really interested in Imperator: Rome reviews if anyone has it. Seems to be a big delta between publications who have reviewed it (all well over 80%) and folks on Steam claiming to be Paradox fanboys who seem to hate it.

[djsatu]

I rarely get console games outside of MLB The Show, but Days Gone looks really interesting to me, just curious if anyone has picked it up?


Picked it up and loving it. Getting mixed reviews, but the game world is beautiful and alot of fun. My kind of game where I can take my time and just grind through. Ammo is really scarce so far in the beginning, but melee weapons are aplenty. Story isn't anything new, but it does it's job. Has a Last of Us feel to it which is one of my favorite PS4 games. Happy with my purchase.

[NobodyHere]

So I bought meself a SSD as a little present. I did not know that they looked more like a ram stick than an internal hard drive. I did not even know that my motherboard even had a slot for the drive (luckily it did). But it does work and work it does!

Slow down technology.

[MizzouRah]

So I bought meself a SSD as a little present. I did not know that they looked more like a ram stick than an internal hard drive. I did not even know that my motherboard even had a slot for the drive (luckily it did). But it does work and work it does!

Slow down technology.

You got a micro SSD. They do make regular SSD drives that are about the size of a laptop HD.

[NobodyHere]

Yeah it was a M.2 SSD to be more precise. I had never heard of it before. It had me worried when I opened the box because it wasn't what I was expecting and I had never seen that format before. Luckily Youtube showed me the way on how to install it.

[MizzouRah]

Yeah it was a M.2 SSD to be more precise. I had never heard of it before. It had me worried when I opened the box because it wasn't what I was expecting and I had never seen that format before. Luckily Youtube showed me the way on how to install it.

I have one like that, it's 32GB for mainly my REALLY important stuff (as a backup), then I have a TB regular SSD.

You'll never go back to a normal HD again.

[Atocep]

Yeah it was a M.2 SSD to be more precise. I had never heard of it before. It had me worried when I opened the box because it wasn't what I was expecting and I had never seen that format before. Luckily Youtube showed me the way on how to install it.

Splurged and put a 1tb Samsung 970 Evo in the computer I build last summer and there's a noticeable difference between that drive and the 960 I'm now using for storage.

[BYU 14]

Picked it up and loving it. Getting mixed reviews, but the game world is beautiful and alot of fun. My kind of game where I can take my time and just grind through. Ammo is really scarce so far in the beginning, but melee weapons are aplenty. Story isn't anything new, but it does it's job. Has a Last of Us feel to it which is one of my favorite PS4 games. Happy with my purchase.

I ended up grabbing it as well as agree. no earth shattering stuff here, but gorgeous game world and it is immersive for me. I do like the Sons of Anarchy meets The Walking Dead feel as well.

Ultimately I value a game on how much enjoyment it provides and this one definitely hits the spot as I had to tear myself away from it last night to get enough sleep. Totally happy with my purchase.

[djsatu]

I ended up grabbing it as well as agree. no earth shattering stuff here, but gorgeous game world and it is immersive for me. I do like the Sons of Anarchy meets The Walking Dead feel as well.

Ultimately I value a game on how much enjoyment it provides and this one definitely hits the spot as I had to tear myself away from it last night to get enough sleep. Totally happy with my purchase.


I love looting in this game. Every house or building is accessible. Grab those boxes of nails and craft better melee weapons. Bats, boards and posts are "upgradable " and do immense damage. Utilize the gas pumps for your bike as well. Not looking for gas cans is nice. Just cleared my first camp which was awesome. Love the mood the music sets during combat and exploration. I'm totally hooked.

[bob]

Not directly related to 2019 video games but don't know where else to post.

My kids have Lego Dimensions on the Xbox 360. Suddenly, the 360 has stopped reading only this disc (other discs are just fine). The disc does not appear to be scratched at all and I can't find any other damage to it. Anyone with any idea on what I can try here? For all its flaws, my kids still liked this game, and I can't find it anywhere else to upgrade them to the PS4 since you can't just buy the digital version.

[Kodos]

I love looting in this game. Every house or building is accessible. Grab those boxes of nails and craft better melee weapons. Bats, boards and posts are "upgradable " and do immense damage. Utilize the gas pumps for your bike as well. Not looking for gas cans is nice. Just cleared my first camp which was awesome. Love the mood the music sets during combat and exploration. I'm totally hooked.

Ooooh. Sounds like my next purchase after I'm done with RDR2.

[Lathum]

My 9 year old loves Harry Potter. Saved his money and bought Lego Harry Potter the complete collection. He started Sunday and loves it but gets frustrated at times. He turned to me at one point and says " I love and hate this game!"

Welcome to being a gamer kid.

[Honolulu_Blue]

My 9 year old loves Harry Potter. Saved his money and bought Lego Harry Potter the complete collection. He started Sunday and loves it but gets frustrated at times. He turned to me at one point and says " I love and hate this game!"

Welcome to being a gamer kid.

Heh! So true.

Those LEGO games are a special kind of frustrating. I’ve played some with my stepson and I get frustrated at times and have had to consult the google to figure out how to get past something. For games targeted at kids, some of the puzzles and such aren’t at all intuitive.

[Thomkal]

LOL Lathum, good thing he learned this lesson early :)

[SirFozzie]

preload for Total War Three Kingdoms have begun :)

[MizzouRah]

preload for Total War Three Kingdoms have begun :)


Yessssssss


now I need to finish my Thrones of Britannia campaign

[Ben E Lou]

Fixed

[JonInMiddleGA]

Fixed

Thanks.

[whomario]

Plague Tale Innocense is pretty damn great, defintely recommended if you have any interest in adventure games. Solid story, good mechanics, great atmosphere

[Vince, Pt. II]

Shameful admission: AFK Arena is a pretty fun idle time waster on my phone.

[MizzouRah]

American Fugitive is a fun little game similar to GTA.

[Izulde]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses... holy crap. It's gone mainstream in its success. Snagged what is probably the last available physical copy in Vegas Thursday night and it's the first game in a good 15-20 years that has consumed me. I literally burnt my entire weekend playing.

What a phenomenal game - first one in the genre I've played capable of challenging FFT for the gold standard (and yes, I've played other FE games).

[Neon_Chaos]

Shameful admission: AFK Arena is a pretty fun idle time waster on my phone.

Dola. :)

[QuikSand]

(thread fixed, it appears)

[Vince, Pt. II]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses... holy crap. It's gone mainstream in its success. Snagged what is probably the last available physical copy in Vegas Thursday night and it's the first game in a good 15-20 years that has consumed me. I literally burnt my entire weekend playing.

What a phenomenal game - first one in the genre I've played capable of challenging FFT for the gold standard (and yes, I've played other FE games).

Wow. That is high praise, especially from you. I might have to pick this one up.

[NobodyHere]

Wow. That is high praise, especially from you. I might have to pick this one up.

Ditto, I'm going finally play through at least one story of FE: Fates first and then hope for a sale.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm hard pressed to think any player base has ever been trolled harder by a dev than the current Fortnite player base dealing with mechs.

Not like I'll be too upset if they end up killing their own game with that mess.

[RainMaker]

I'm hard pressed to think any player base has ever been trolled harder by a dev than the current Fortnite player base dealing with mechs.

Not like I'll be too upset if they end up killing their own game with that mess.

Can you explain this? I don't play Fortnite but hear constant complaints about "mechs".

[Atocep]

Can you explain this? I don't play Fortnite but hear constant complaints about "mechs".

Based on what I've read so far:

They've introduced Mechs which have made winning more about luck (getting a mech) and less about skill. There's a been a ton of pushback from the community but Epic has said there's no plans on making changes for now because they like the "anyone can win" element it brings to the matches.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Based on what I've read so far:

They've introduced Mechs which have made winning more about luck (getting a mech) and less about skill. There's a been a ton of pushback from the community but Epic has said there's no plans on making changes for now because they like the "anyone can win" element it brings to the matches.

Seems pretty close, best I can tell, though no mention of mechs is complete without referencing how comically o.p. they are. I mean, I don't even play the damned thing & I sit with my jaw dropped when seeing them in action.

It's some epic trolling by the devs, who clearly hold their fanbase in lower regard than the WWE.

[Izulde]

So The Council complete saga (1 season) is on sale on PSN for $15 now through September 2nd.

Bought it yesterday and am in the first chapter of Episode 4. Some cringingly bad writing, but it adds some interesting RPG elements to the TellTale-style narrative choice genre and overall is good enough that it's worth picking up for $15. Not something I'd buy full price, but for $15, it's good enough to snag.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't think I mentioned this here so I guess I will now.

I've played (I think) 13 of the 15 games in the Call of Duty, surely several thousand hours worth at this point. I'd never once managed to max out the prestige on any of them ... until Sunday night.

My K/D is still trash but there's something to be said for perseverance. It turned me into a Prestige Master.

The difference for me in BlOp4 was discovering Hardcore mode. Without that change (somewhere around the end of 4th prestige I think), zero chance I would have kept playing. That changed my success (such as it is) completely. I'm now a legit threat to win, or at least place, in any FFA match and that's been my preferred mode for years so it's a good fit.

Nobody may care, but I was pretty damned pleased to finally get that particular monkey off my back.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As much an idle thought as anything maybe but ...

For a relative novice, it takes all of maybe 5-10 minutes for thinking about streaming some sort of gameplay to make me dizzy.

I _think_ that it's probably easier than I'm making it in my head but, good grief, it gets overwhelming in a hurry.

[Radii]

As much an idle thought as anything maybe but ...

For a relative novice, it takes all of maybe 5-10 minutes for thinking about streaming some sort of gameplay to make me dizzy.

I _think_ that it's probably easier than I'm making it in my head but, good grief, it gets overwhelming in a hurry.


What platform? It is 100% easier than you're making it, I guarantee it. Some services have integrated streaming tools but there is a free program called open broadcaster software (OBS for short). If you're streaming to twitch for example, download OBS Studio, create a twitch account, and you can find a 5 minute youtube tutorial on how to find your stream key and where to put it in OBS, how to set up a very basic monitor or game capture and how to get your game audio and a mic working and you're done.

Adding a webcam or a bunch of fancy overlay stuff gets a little more complicated, but the basics seem confusing for sure, but its not that bad.

[JonInMiddleGA]

What platform? It is 100% easier than you're making it, I guarantee it.

You started with one of the headspins: platform

I think - presuming internet suitability anyway - I could manage to get up on Mixer on XB1 without too much trouble. That'd suit my "noob stumbles through Stellaris console edition" temptation well enough.

Buuuuuut then we get to "noob stumbles through CDDA" on PC ... which brings us to OBS ... which brings me to "oh God, could my underwhelming laptop handle both" ... which runs to the frequent warnings about the learning curve for OBS ...

and then I start thinking, well, what about doing this game? or that game? and to which platform(s) for PC? And "can OBS stream AND record at the same time"? And would I figure out how to edit this stuff for multi-platform use? And ... well, you start to get the idea.

It's not a big deal in the grand scheme. I'm not going to unseat Ninja from his throne any time soon.

It's really mostly born from a combination of "since I talk to myself while gaming anyway ... " and "games are a big part of my life day to day, while not add that to the parts I share" and "maybe I could be a little more motivated to spend time with games I enjoy / enjoy the thought of at least, rather than staying on the app game treadmill".

Meanwhile, I don't even know if there's a working XB1 headset in the house so there's probably a number of things to sort before anything ever happens anyway lol

edit to add: I mostly posted about it here/in this thread because I felt like I probably wasn't the only person who'd ever had that general reaction to it

[Radii]

Ah yeah, all fair :D Console streaming I believe is easier but has more limited features. I would not care about that at all just to try it out, that only matters if you ever got more serious about it for any reason.

OBS is a resource hog. That does become an issue for lots of laptop users with older machines.

You can stream and record in OBS. there is a start stream and a separate start recording button. You can press both. Doing anything with a recording other than keeping it to archive is beyond me.


On the other stuff - if I stream things I enjoy doing anyway, then I just have fun and I don't care if anyone watches or not. If someone does watch and chat it adds to the fun. Easy win/win there. Most people do stream to zero viewers or at least very few.

And I get that its an idle thought, no worries! But I'd be happy to help most anyone here get pointed in the right direction if interested.

I'm only intimately families with Twitch. Streaming to mixer will be pretty much the same. I have less knowledge of facebook or youtube streams.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm only intimately families with Twitch. Streaming to mixer will be pretty much the same. I have less knowledge of facebook or youtube streams.

I think there's some part of me that wants to at least do occasional FB / YT -- something less gamer-centric, more mainstream -- as part of my hypothetical streaming.

My social media universe contains a relatively low percentage of gamers. Eh, who knows, maybe it's just an average number, whatever. But there's some notion in my head that if you don't have at least some idea what I do, how much do you really know me?

You don't have to dig it, you don't have to understand it even, there's just some odd thing in my head at the moment that has me wanting to put it out there in all its glory (more like glorious failures) for anybody who cares to take a gander.

[Izulde]

Picked up the FF8 remaster and am loving it. It's the kind of game where your experience when you play it at 40 is far different than when you're 20 - I'm noticing a lot more things, and there's just something oddly relaxing about Draw spamming for spells.

What I can't decide at the moment is whether to keep playing FF8 (still on Disk 1 20 hours in) or cave up and pick up Greedfall after work.

[Thomkal]

Greedfall does look interesting from what I've seen-a medieval fantasy with lots of lore to learn

[Izulde]

Greedfall does look interesting from what I've seen-a medieval fantasy with lots of lore to learn

Actually, it's Age of Exploration, not medieval (16th C) and it looks like the game I've finally been waiting for ever since Expedition: Conquistador was such a bland disappointment.

[NobodyHere]

I guess beware buying Greedall on XBox?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2019/09/10/greedfall-is-a-greatfail-on-the-xbox-one-x/#507fffe84ebc

[Atocep]

I guess beware buying Greedall on XBox?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2019/09/10/greedfall-is-a-greatfail-on-the-xbox-one-x/#507fffe84ebc

I picked it up on PC. Got a couple of hours in last night.

[Atocep]

Thoughts on Greedfall:

This isn't a AAA title so I'm not expecting AAA polish. With that said, it's like a combination of Vampyr's (lack of) polish and Dragon Age Origins.

*Combat is love it or hate it. It's deep and challenging, but nothing feels like it has weight. It does have drastically different playstyles between pure melee, range/melee, magic/ranged, magic/melee, and magic/ranged.

*I think the dialogue and story are very well done. A lot of depth in to the story. It's heavily politically driven and inspired by real world politics and wars. You're essentially playing as an adventuring diplomat so expect lots of dialogue, political intrigue, lying, and half truths.

*Quests are varied although, at least in the early going, it's a lot of A to B to C to A type stuff. No fetch quests or anything like that.

*Facial animations are Mass Effect 3 bad.

*The camera can be a bit wonky.

*The polish (lack of) and feel of character movements reminds me Vampyr. I really struggled to get into that game, but the story and dialogue here has kept me interested.

*It's not open world. Like Dragon Age Origins it's open area.

This is going to be a very polarizing game. It's a big step forward for Spiders as a studio, but it's a game with moderate flaws. How heavily you weigh those flaws against its strengths is going to be the difference between a game that's a 6 and a game that's an 8.

[Izulde]

I caved and played a few hours last night (about to leave the starting city).

Very much a Dragon Age in Age of Exploration colors feel.

Agreed that the camera can be wonky. Moving your player is inconsistent, too. It took me about 2 hours to get used to it - so be prepared for a learning curve while you deal with that technical hassle.

There's a *ton* of subtitling errors - wrong words, typos, etc. It's clear absolutely nobody did quality control, though frankly I'm just happy to have subtitles. This not being a AAA title, I checked before I purchased, because my hearing is getting worse and worse.

Quests, dialogue, and story are all great so far (subtitling issues aside), and it's going to be the thing that saves this game and keeps people going. Even folks initially harsh of it have admitted the meat of the narrative keeps sucking them back in.

Haven't done much combat - it feels just kinda there right now. I, too, get that weightless feeling. Doesn't really feel like true combat at all, and to me, it's where you see the starkest difference between this and a AAA title.

Based on the first 3 hours, I'd put it in the firm 7 camp, with upside to get to 7.5 or 8. I agree a lot with Atocep here and part of my agreement is that this game's range is 6-8. It's definitely better than average (hence the 6 floor), but its issues cap it out at great (8) max potential.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just wondering, so I'll ask

Anybody here spent much time with Surviving Mars?
And if so, anybody at all played it on XB1?

Just curious if there were any FOFC thoughts.

[spleen1015]

Just wondering, so I'll ask

Anybody here spent much time with Surviving Mars?
And if so, anybody at all played it on XB1?

Just curious if there were any FOFC thoughts.

When it first came out, I watched some streaming of it and it seemed to be pretty simple compared to other Paradox games. When it was on sale this summer, I bought it and found out it was much more complex than I thought. It is a cool spin on strategy type games.

[Izulde]

Atocep, how did you handle that bleeping tree when you go to leave the starter city in GF? I now hate trees more than Fozzie because no matter what strategy I try, I can't beat it. Reflexes are too slow.

[Atocep]

Guns

I ran around just shooting it. Every time I went in for melee I got hit pretty hard.

[bhlloy]

Holy shit NBA 2k20 is getting trashed... anyone have it on PC and can comment on it? Seems like they made myPlayer and myGM less accessible and more railroaded, but as I quit playing those modes a few years ago if myLeague is still customizable and playable I'll probably still pick it up eventually

[RendeR]

Just pulled up Stellaris for the first time in at least a year, was stunned to see they changed in layout. Took me awhile to get going again. Still seems much slower of a build up than before. Anyone got a good review of the changes?

[rjolley]

Holy shit NBA 2k20 is getting trashed... anyone have it on PC and can comment on it? Seems like they made myPlayer and myGM less accessible and more railroaded, but as I quit playing those modes a few years ago if myLeague is still customizable and playable I'll probably still pick it up eventually

I'm enjoying it, but I haven't started playing myGM yet. I usually wait a few patches in before starting. From what I've read, though, there are issues.

MyCareer is fun so far.I haven't hit anything major except the name bug where the name of your myplayer doesn't stick for whatever reason. Had to start a new build to fix that.

It plays well, but I haven't gotten into the part of the game I play the most (myGM) to know if it's better than 2K19.

[CrimsonFox]

ignore steam messages from me and don't click any links.
my account got hacked :(

[RainMaker]

Picked up Borderlands 3 over the weekend. If you like Borderlands 1 and 2, it's nearly identical. That's not a bad thing (despite some reviews bashing them for it). The company knows the formula fans want and repeats it. Unlike Fallout where they decided to completely upend what worked.

With that said, unless you absolutely love the old games, I think it's best to wait for a sale down to $40.

[Atocep]

Picked up Borderlands 3 over the weekend. If you like Borderlands 1 and 2, it's nearly identical. That's not a bad thing (despite some reviews bashing them for it). The company knows the formula fans want and repeats it. Unlike Fallout where they decided to completely upend what worked.

With that said, unless you absolutely love the old games, I think it's best to wait for a sale down to $40.


I used a GMG coupon to Preorder it fairly cheap a few months ago and it took up most of my weekend. It's not groundbreaking, but I do think it's the best Borderlands game out of the box. The guns seem more balanced and interesting than in previous games. The humor is there. The story is par for the course for a borderlands game.

Hopefully the DLC is on par with what we saw from Borderlands 2.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I have it pre-ordered. I played through Borderlands 2 with some friends. We loved it. Played through it a few times. I think the Tiny Tina DLC is one of the best DLCs I've ever bought. Absolutely great.

We've been playing with the BL2 DLC they just added to lead into BL3 and should be firing up BL3 this week.

[CrimsonFox]

got my account back. whew

[MizzouRah]

Borderlands 3... can't wait to grab it this weekend.

[NobodyHere]

got my account back. whew

So what happened?

I remember years ago when someone from Russia tried to log into my account but luckily he didn't succeed.

[Critch]

got my account back. whew

Glad you were hacked because I got some steam messages from you yesterday and you were a dick :)

[CrimsonFox]

Glad you were hacked because I got some steam messages from you yesterday and you were a dick :)

it's what I do...

[CrimsonFox]

Thank you Coffee Warlord for informing me quickly that I was hacked! <3

[Izulde]

I haven't beaten it yet, but after playing it quite a bit, I've pretty much settled on 6.5/10 for Greedfall (with 0.5 points tacked on due to it being a small studio).

The more I play it, the more I settle in on "Not bad, but not great, either" in pretty much every facet of the game (except the romance options - those are all uninspiring and poorly time-gated, reducing the sense of accomplishment in completing an arc).

Here's to hoping it's successful enough to allow Spiders to expand their team and do better next go-round with more resources.

[RainMaker]

While I'm enjoying Borderlands, the map UI is horrendous. It doesn't show you side missions on the map you're on. You have to use the fast travel map and see where they are, then remember the location when you get there.

[SackAttack]

While I'm enjoying Borderlands, the map UI is horrendous. It doesn't show you side missions on the map you're on. You have to use the fast travel map and see where they are, then remember the location when you get there.

That hasn't been my experience.

Are you using the left- and right-directional buttons to make a particular sidequest actively tracked? They show up just fine on the UI map when you do that. You sometimes have to use the fast travel map to figure out how to get to them if you run into a dead-end canyon or something, yeah, but using the quest tracking I haven't had any trouble finding my side missions.

[NobodyHere]

So somehow in someway this happened:

I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colonel_Sanders_A_Finger_Lickin_Good_Dating_Simulator/?snr=1_4_4__145_2)

[Izulde]

Mom Draws Massive, Highly Detailed Zelda: Breath of the Wild Map (https://kotaku.com/mom-draws-massive-and-highly-detailed-zelda-breath-of-1839317580)

Amazing map. Makes me wish I was a fan of the series.

[JediKooter]

So somehow in someway this happened:

I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colonel_Sanders_A_Finger_Lickin_Good_Dating_Simulator/?snr=1_4_4__145_2)

Do you like your dates extra crispy or original flavor?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well THAT was different.

Playing MW, three games of TDM (since my preferred FFA is among the modes not available on launch day) and I get to Lvl 4 and can customize loadouts.

I do the first one, move to the second, and ... BUZZZZ ... and my console didn't just freeze/lockup, it crashed so hard it powered down & off.

I've seen a lot of buggy shit on release but can't say that I recall one so bad that it literally turned off my console.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Minor update: FFA mode went live on MW about 3p eastern.

Haven't hardcrashed again (knock on wood) but that spectre sure looms large in my head after last night.

[MizzouRah]

Urtuk: The Desolation

Found this game on a 4x site, a one man studio, releasing on Steam Q1 2020 but you can purchase early access for $15.

Really cool combat system and art style.

Urtuk: The Desolation by madsheepstudios (https://madsheepstudios.itch.io/urtuk-the-desolation)

[Izulde]

Great work by Skybound Entertainment on the final season of The Walking Dead Telltale Games series. Man, I'd love to be a writer for video games or M:tG.

Started up Outer Worlds this weekend. Planned to play a good dude. Murdered someone in the first town. My current NPC kill count is like 4 or 5 so far.

[MizzouRah]

COD MW - finally a campaign again and it's a blast so far, and in 4k hdr, it's the best looking game I've played so far on xb1x

[Ramzavail]

I have an extra copy of Battletech burning a hole in my PC pocket. Let me know if anybody wants to offer something for it.

[Groundhog]

Picked up Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC a few days ago. Outside of the shitty experience actually downloading and installing via the Rockstar Games page/downloader, I'm having a blast, and I haven't even made it past the tutorial intro portion of the game (at least I assume that's what it is).

[cartman]

New Half-Life game is coming! Not HL3, but more like 1.5 as the main character in the VR game is Alyx. More details are to be announced at noon Central.

hxxps://www.theverge.com/2019/11/18/20971514/valve-announces-half-life-alyx-its-first-flagship-vr-game

[cartman]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B1dDfuzbvgo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[cartman]

hxxps://www.theverge.com/2019/11/21/20975423/half-life-alyx-vr-price-release-date-screenshots-trailer-valve-steam

some key points:

But if all these things make you think it’s just going to be another glorified tech demo for VR, you might want to read Valve programmer David Speyrer’s answers to a few questions we asked:

1) “It’s not a side story, nor an episodic one — it’s the next part of the Half-Life story, in a game around the same length as Half-Life 2.”

2) “While it does take place before the events of Half-Life 2, we actually recommend that you play through Half-Life 2: Episode 2 before you play Half-Life: Alyx, for reasons that will become clear as you progress.”

3) “Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how people react to Half-Life: Alyx once it’s out, but we’d love to continue pushing forward.”

[SackAttack]

Got into the GOG Galaxy 2.0 beta last night. Kinda neat how it's able to connect with everything (including console stuff) but it's got some display bugs on that front. Showing PS4 games as Xbox games (and vice versa) and showing demos downloaded 5 years ago as part of my library.

Still neat, but definitely a WIP.

[Kodos]

Anybody tried Jedi Fallen Order yet?

[Thomkal]

I don't have a Nintendo Switch, so I'm not sure how good these games are, but you can get 10 games free if you follow these steps:


10 Free Nintendo Switch Games Are Up For Grabs--Here's How To Get Them - GameSpot (https://www.gamespot.com/articles/10-free-nintendo-switch-games-are-up-for-grabs-her/1100-6472080/?ftag=NLS-04-10aaa2j)

[Atocep]

Anybody tried Jedi Fallen Order yet?

The gameplay is similar to Sekiro with the level design of a Souls game as well. It borrows heavily from multiple games across its different systems , but does everything fairly well. The only knock I'd put on the gameplay is nothing really feels new. It's all been done before, but in the Star Wars universe this time

I'm about halfway through and the story is solid but not outstanding. It's not a RPG by any means. It's a metroidvania action game that's 100% single player with no micro-transactions. What you see is what you get.

I've been playing on hard and it's definitely a challenge. There's a ton of star wars universe lore and additional background info.

Overall I have it as a 8/10 type game (maybe 8.5) and a friend of mine that's a huge Souls fan has it as his Game of the Year.

[Kodos]

Sounds good! Thank you!

[Radii]

Oh wow, I'm pretty much out on the Star Wars Universe so I hadn't even looked into Jedi Fallen Order, but given your comparisons to Sekiro/Souls, even if its nothing terribly new, I'll almost certainly give it a try when I'm ready for a new game.

[stevew]

Redbox supposedly moving games for 24.99$ or less. Use the site to find the one near you.

[MizzouRah]

The gameplay is similar to Sekiro with the level design of a Souls game as well. It borrows heavily from multiple games across its different systems , but does everything fairly well. The only knock I'd put on the gameplay is nothing really feels new. It's all been done before, but in the Star Wars universe this time

I'm about halfway through and the story is solid but not outstanding. It's not a RPG by any means. It's a metroidvania action game that's 100% single player with no micro-transactions. What you see is what you get.

I've been playing on hard and it's definitely a challenge. There's a ton of star wars universe lore and additional background info.

Overall I have it as a 8/10 type game (maybe 8.5) and a friend of mine that's a huge Souls fan has it as his Game of the Year.


I picked this up yesterday on my day off. Playing on XB1X with HDR and surround sound, it's like I'm watching a Star Wars movie.


They definitely hit on all the little Star Wars nuances with great attention to detail. I love the fact that it jumps around having you go from battle/puzzles/exploring.


Maybe nothing revolutionary but so far it's been better than I expected. Too bad it's going to be a one and done type of game, but to me feels like Tomb Raider set in a spectacular Star Wars universe.

[NobodyHere]

Good lord, what happened to Blizzard?

Warcraft 3 Reforged is getting absolutely trashed by the internet right now. It has a .5 metacritic user score.

I was hoping to pick this one up too.

[Atocep]

Good lord, what happened to Blizzard?

Warcraft 3 Reforged is getting absolutely trashed by the internet right now. It has a .5 metacritic user score.

I was hoping to pick this one up too.

Well they didn't deliver what they promised. If you want to play Warcraft 3 as it was originally released and not have it look like shit by today's standards then it's not bad at all. However, because Blizzard listened to the vocal minority in their community they ditched promises to tweak the story for the better and overhaul the UI. It's also somewhat buggy with some cutscenes not playing and crashes between missions.

Calling it reforged makes it sound like work was done to modernize the gameplay and other elements, which was what they were initially leading everyone to believe it would be. Instead it's just a straight Remaster.

[Fidatelo]

I think it goes beyond that. They also changed the ToS on mods in such a way that basically gives them ownership over anything created by the community. And they then went and applied all of the changes (aside from graphics) to the original version of the game, which is force-updated when you connect to battle.net.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Played my first round of the new Warzone add-on, basically MW does Battle Royale.

Finished 9th out of 150 (playing solo, cause I hate feeling like an albatross on strangers) without a single kill. Made it to the final circle before biting it.

I mean, I guess it's okay but the XP gain feels pretty marginal for what turned into a 29 minute investment. About the same as what I'd have gotten from 10 minutes on Shipment.

If you enjoy the BR genre then it's worth a try I guess just to see what you think but, if you're like me and don't really see much point or fun in the genre, a couple rounds is probably going to be plenty for you.

edit to add: one other note, the maps feel a bit oversized to me. I've played a handful of matches of Fortnite so that's kind of my benchmark for busy/slow and crowded/uncrowded, in each of the 3-4 matches I've played, you can be on the move steadily for several minutes at a time without encountering another player. And that's with lobbies that start at 150 players (though whether there are some bots being thrown in there to fill I can't tell you)

[BYU 14]

Though MLB the Show 20 looks about the same as the last 2 versions (some minor improvements in fluidity) It is IMO the best tuned out of the box of any version I have played. Playing straight All-Star default and having some great games. The relocation feature is nice too, moved the Mariners to Salt Lake and playing in the old Rangers ballpark. Now to hope they don't screw up franchise with patches.

[MizzouRah]

Picked up BioShock: The Collection


Just playing through the first game again gives me chills late at night. One of the best series of games ever, imho.

[Thomkal]

I think the new Animal Crossing due later this week has to have made their company happier than most over the virus. Bet their sales are through the roof and every kid/some adults will be playng it non-stop

[MizzouRah]

Watched a friend play Doom Eternal and yeah, I need to grab this one.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I think the new Animal Crossing due later this week has to have made their company happier than most over the virus. Bet their sales are through the roof and every kid/some adults will be playng it non-stop

Picked this up to check it out, and the wife decided she wanted to try it out. Turns out you can only have one island per Switch. So if I want to play on my own island, I have to buy an entirely new game console...or I can delete my wife's save.

That's...unfortunate.

[Thomkal]

Picked this up to check it out, and the wife decided she wanted to try it out. Turns out you can only have one island per Switch. So if I want to play on my own island, I have to buy an entirely new game console...or I can delete my wife's save.

That's...unfortunate.


For your marriage that is :) I'm not too familiar with the series, but there is a mobile version of the Animal Crossing game that might tide one of you over before Nintendo fixes this pretty obvious omission.

[Vince, Pt. II]

For your marriage that is :) I'm not too familiar with the series, but there is a mobile version of the Animal Crossing game that might tide one of you over before Nintendo fixes this pretty obvious omission.

Haha! Reading online, apparently this is the way it's been for all games in the series; if you wanted a separate village, you had to buy an entire new game cartridge/disc/whatever. Unfortunately with the Switch being based on Profiles, even if I bought a second version of the game I'd be stuck with the same island because of the profiles on the device. Not sure there's a fix coming, unfortunately.

Edit: I've got Stardew Valley if I really get a hankering for that type of game, I'm not too miffed about it. Fun to watch my wife get excited for a video game!

[spleen1015]

My wife, daughter and I are all playing the new Animal Crossing.

We've just decided we need to share more. :)

You have the ability to buy ticket to fly to randomly generated islands. You can gather resources on those islands. I get my resources from these random islands and let them have them on the main island.

One thing that needs to be considered when you are playing with other folks, the progress of the island is mostly tied to the person who started the island. We restarted because my wife was first to play, but we realized I should be the 'leader' because I will progress the island faster than anyone else.

[ISiddiqui]

I've been playing a lot of Animal Crossing as well! Though my wife isn't into video games so I don't have to share my island ;).

[NobodyHere]

The demo for Bravely Default II dropped today on the switch. It's a pleasant surprise for me because I didn't even know they were making it.

IMO the other two games in the series were some of the best games on the 3DS.

[stevew]

Everyone shares the same switch? We have 3 here

[bhlloy]

So I got some time with Imperator Rome as it was free on Steam (and discounted heavily so figured if I liked it I'd just grab it) - and I really don't get it. I've heard people say it's a far better game than it was at release and so it must have been really bad back then.

Positives - it doesn't crash all the time (which is an achievement for a Paradox game less than a couple years old) and is pretty nice to look at, but that's about all I can say that is good for it.

Fundamentally it feels like they based it off the wrong game, it's basically an EU4 clone (with the Total War family interface bolted almost verbatim on top which is an interesting choice) - why didn't they follow CK2 in both cases? The setting just doesn't seem to work and everything just feels jarring, like I'm playing some half baked EU4 mod that keeps the core concepts together but has just changed the era and a few of the mechanics. There doesn't appear like there's fundamentally anything to do other than ally a bunch of countries around you, declare war, blob a bit, wait for truce to expire, declare war and blob a bit more, which is the least interesting part of an EU4 game. Is that how diplomacy and warfare worked in pre-AD Britain - I can't believe it is, but even if it is it's nowhere near a fun game.

[ISiddiqui]

I've been playing a lot of Animal Crossing as well! Though my wife isn't into video games so I don't have to share my island ;).

I spoke too soon (and didn't update this thread until I saw it bumped). My wife kept watching me play until she was like.... I want to play too. Oh well... well, sharing the island isn't that bad. We just have to remember not to be too greedy (until after 9pm when my wife is sleepy and I know she's not to wake before 5am when the next 'day' starts).

[spleen1015]

Who's playing Animal Crossing?

We should exchange friend codes and visit each other.

I have peaches, pears and cherries to share. Haven't gotten apples or oranges yet.

Mums are my native flowers.

[AnalBumCover]

Who's playing Animal Crossing?

We should exchange friend codes and visit each other.

I have peaches, pears and cherries to share. Haven't gotten apples or oranges yet.

Mums are my native flowers.

I gotta get this game. I'm feeling a bit left out with friends and family always posting about it.

[rjolley]

Who's playing Animal Crossing?

We should exchange friend codes and visit each other.

I have peaches, pears and cherries to share. Haven't gotten apples or oranges yet.

Mums are my native flowers.

A friend of mine streams his play sessions on Twitch. I join in to watch him play and chat a bit. Seems like a fun game.

I installed the Pocket Camp version on my tablet. Decent game. Not sure how long it's going to hold my attention, but I can see the appeal.

[spleen1015]

I have a beta invite for Minecraft Dungeons.

I'll give it to the first person who can answer this question. Please no cheating. The answer is on the Google.

Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. were the first father-son duo rostered as players on the same team in the same season. The second father-son combination rostered as players was found later on which team together?

I want to know who they were and what team they were on.

Send me a PM with the answer.

[spleen1015]

Thomkal wins!

[Thomkal]

Thomkal wins!


Because clearly I don't have enough games to play already :)

[rjolley]

What's the answer?

[Thomkal]

What's the answer?


Tim Raines Sr and Jr played for the Orioles together

[AnalBumCover]

Question: Two Point Hospital Digital Download is currently on sale for the Switch (25%, all-time low). The Switch version includes Bigfoot and Pebberly Island DLC.

I have it on my Steam wishlist waiting for the next sale. The last 4 times the base game has been on sale on Steam, it was at 66% discount, as recently as Jan 2020. (I don't know if any DLC went on sale at the same time).

I'm wondering if it's worth the Switch purchase? or if this game is best suited for the PC?

[CrimsonFox]

Tim Raines Sr and Jr played for the Orioles together



there were two speeddemons?

[SirFozzie]

If you know someone who's a humble bundle subscriber (besides me, I already gave my copy away), two point hospital was in the Humble Bundle in January, ABC

[AnalBumCover]

What timing! Two Point Hospital is now on sale at Steam. 50% off for the base ($17.49), or 53% off for the bundle - base+3 expansions ($29.24).

Compare that to the Switch sale, base + 2 expansions for $29.99.

[Thomkal]

What timing! Two Point Hospital is now on sale at Steam. 50% off for the base ($17.49), or 53% off for the bundle - base+3 expansions ($29.24).

Compare that to the Switch sale, base + 2 expansions for $29.99.

I recently got Two Point Hospital. I think it would have been just another builder game without its quirky humor. Hope you are enjoying it.

[stevew]

FF7 remake anyone

[Atocep]

FF7 remake anyone

I really want to, but I haven't enjoyed FF gameplay in over 10 years. This does look amazing though. It's just disappointing that it's not the full FF7 story even if it is the content of a full game (30-40 hours per reviewers).

[Vince, Pt. II]

I'm only an hour and 45 minutes in, but it's pretty great. The combat system is a little weird to get used to - it's sort of a hybrid of action games and turn based. You perform basic attacks, blocks, and dodges actively by "button-mashing," but after you build up enough of a resource you can use things like abilities, spells, items, and Limit Breaks which puts everything in super-slo-mo while you pick from the menus.

It's beautiful, the music is incredible, and the voice acting is awesome so far.

[Brian Swartz]

I recently got Two Point Hospital. I think it would have been just another builder game without its quirky humor. Hope you are enjoying it.

In case you aren't aware, it's basically a remake of the retro game by Bullfrog (Theme Hospital). My impressions from others who've played it is it does pretty well at modernizing the concept.

[Flasch186]

Anyone play mount & blade 2? Thoughts?

[thesloppy]

Anyone play mount & blade 2? Thoughts?

I am. It's pretty much just the exact same game with better graphics and/or performance, for better or worse. It's been a compelling enough gameplay loop to keep me distracted for the past week or so, but it also still feels just as hollow as the first game ever did.

[Atocep]

Anyone play mount & blade 2? Thoughts?

More of the same, in a good way. It's more of a Mount and Blade 1.5, but I don't really mean it as a knock. They've taken what worked for Warband and expanded and improved most areas and made it look prettier. It's early access so it's still a bit buggy and not everything is implemented yet, but there's still enough to enjoy.

If you want the full experience, I'd suggest holding off a bit. If you really want some mount and blade and enjoyed the original there's plenty to do for now.

[Thomkal]

In case you aren't aware, it's basically a remake of the retro game by Bullfrog (Theme Hospital). My impressions from others who've played it is it does pretty well at modernizing the concept.

I had not played Theme Hospital, but I wondered if there was a relationship between the two

[Vince, Pt. II]

I have been incredibly impressed with the Final Fantasy VII Remake. I'm a little bit more than halfway through at this point.

Wall Market was phenomenal.

[Ironhead]

Anyone play mount & blade 2? Thoughts?

I never played the first Mount & Blade; however, I am a big fan of the Total War series. M&B2: Bannerlord is an early access game so it definitely still has it's raw edges but it has sucked me in harder than any game in recent memory. It has been a super welcome distraction.

There is just something really satisfying about the basic loop on the game: recruiting troops, commanding them as an actual solider on the battlefield using tactics and getting stuck in yourself, training your troops and expanding your army while trying to carve out life as a vassal (or form your own kingdom) is just fun. There are a ton of Let's Play videos up on Youtube that you could watch to get a feel for the game.

Having never played before there was definitely a bit of a learning curve at first. The one strong downside so far is that while the developer has been providing fantastic support so far the amount of almost daily patching that has been required has resulted in me needing to scrap a few of my saved games. There is enough variety though that even in restarting a new character a few times I am still having a blast.

The world map and nations in the game are fictional but are clearly drawing directly from real medieval cultures. It is all very recognizable if you have played similar strategy games based on the relative era.

If this type of genre floats your boat then there is definitely enough in the game right now to enjoy it. Otherwise it might be worth waiting until they iron more kinks out. Long term the future of the game seems bright given the content that is already there and the fact that the game was made with mod friendliness in mind and the modding community appears to be very active.

[Thomkal]

For you PS4 players:

Here's How To Claim Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection And More For Free On PS4 Today | HotHardware (https://hothardware.com/news/how-claim-uncharted-nathan-drake-collection-free-ps4)

[MizzouRah]

I never played the first Mount & Blade; however, I am a big fan of the Total War series. M&B2: Bannerlord is an early access game so it definitely still has it's raw edges but it has sucked me in harder than any game in recent memory. It has been a super welcome distraction.

There is just something really satisfying about the basic loop on the game: recruiting troops, commanding them as an actual solider on the battlefield using tactics and getting stuck in yourself, training your troops and expanding your army while trying to carve out life as a vassal (or form your own kingdom) is just fun. There are a ton of Let's Play videos up on Youtube that you could watch to get a feel for the game.

Having never played before there was definitely a bit of a learning curve at first. The one strong downside so far is that while the developer has been providing fantastic support so far the amount of almost daily patching that has been required has resulted in me needing to scrap a few of my saved games. There is enough variety though that even in restarting a new character a few times I am still having a blast.

The world map and nations in the game are fictional but are clearly drawing directly from real medieval cultures. It is all very recognizable if you have played similar strategy games based on the relative era.

If this type of genre floats your boat then there is definitely enough in the game right now to enjoy it. Otherwise it might be worth waiting until they iron more kinks out. Long term the future of the game seems bright given the content that is already there and the fact that the game was made with mod friendliness in mind and the modding community appears to be very active.

Thanks for this post. I never played the first one but after watching some videos, this game looks fun as hell. Someone on YT has the same older video card as I do and can run it on max so I purchased today and with this free time, I'll dig into it tonight.

I figured an EA game with over 71k reviews on Steam, it must be a decent game. :)

[Maple Leafs]

Started up Outer Worlds this weekend. Planned to play a good dude. Murdered someone in the first town. My current NPC kill count is like 4 or 5 so far.
Anyone else given this a try?

I could use a Fallout-ish RPG that had some humor and wasn't too shooter-y, but I'm not sure this is it.

[SirFozzie]

X-Com meets superhero game Sentinels of Freedom comes out (at least Chapter 1) today.

[Edward64]

X-Com meets superhero game Sentinels of Freedom comes out (at least Chapter 1) today.

Looks interesting but will wait for reviews to come out. Thanks for the heads up.

[Ironhead]

Anyone else given this a try?

I could use a Fallout-ish RPG that had some humor and wasn't too shooter-y, but I'm not sure this is it.

My wife is a big Fallout fan and was really excited to play this one given all of the hype leading up to it. She bought it when it came out and said she was very disappointed. She felt the game was boring and just could not get interested in the story or the characters.

[BYU 14]

Anyone else given this a try?

I could use a Fallout-ish RPG that had some humor and wasn't too shooter-y, but I'm not sure this is it.

My wife is a big Fallout fan and was really excited to play this one given all of the hype leading up to it. She bought it when it came out and said she was very disappointed. She felt the game was boring and just could not get interested in the story or the characters.

I would recommend Encased, a lot like Fallout 1 and 2 IMO

[bhlloy]

X-Com meets superhero game Sentinels of Freedom comes out (at least Chapter 1) today.

I'm decidedly meh on this one after playing for a few hours today - for a game about superheroes it's surprisingly tedious. Powers are generally pretty boring, tactics are pretty lacking, it's really about offense and grinding baddies down as far as I can tell so far. It's possible that I'm not smart enough to see the deeper game underneath, but there do seem to be a lot of people on steam complaining about similar things.

The coolest part so far has been creating my character at the start, but then you really are just picking a bunch of bog standard attack/support abilities and then adding flavor which are basically just slight stat tweaks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

My wife is a big Fallout fan and was really excited to play this one given all of the hype leading up to it. She bought it when it came out and said she was very disappointed. She felt the game was boring and just could not get interested in the story or the characters.

I watched a fair bit of the game via several different YTers that are regulars for me.

The thing that jumped out to me from the outset was how bad the AI could be, even worse than the Bethesda Fallout issues that are familiar to anyone who played those games much.

There's an early scene involving you talking to a particular NPC and you potentially being attacked by some baddies as that happens. The NPC literally never reacts to anything that's happening, not even if they attack her directly ...and that pretty much killed any chance I'd ever bother to play it.

It was simply TOO immersion breaking, and without immersion, there's no appeal for me.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm decidedly meh on this one after playing for a few hours today - for a game about superheroes it's surprisingly tedious. Powers are generally pretty boring, tactics are pretty lacking, it's really about offense and grinding baddies down as far as I can tell so far. It's possible that I'm not smart enough to see the deeper game underneath, but there do seem to be a lot of people on steam complaining about similar things.

The coolest part so far has been creating my character at the start, but then you really are just picking a bunch of bog standard attack/support abilities and then adding flavor which are basically just slight stat tweaks.

Disappointing to hear but glad to save my money for now and go for something else.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The latest update / patch for Modern Warfare has got to be one of the cheesiest things I've ever seen a developer do.

First you install a 15 gig update, despite it containing virtually nothing to account for the size. No new map, no new game modes, nothing that should need that sort of heft.

Once completed, THEN you need the 18 gig "Data Pack 1", which comes through the MS Store (for XB1 users) priced "free" ... but in order to be able to access it you must first at least start one game of the fucking Warzone bullshit.

That has to be THE most transparent attempt to pad user numbers I've ever seen.

[Mota]

The latest update / patch for Modern Warfare has got to be one of the cheesiest things I've ever seen a developer do.

First you install a 15 gig update, despite it containing virtually nothing to account for the size. No new map, no new game modes, nothing that should need that sort of heft.

Once completed, THEN you need the 18 gig "Data Pack 1", which comes through the MS Store (for XB1 users) priced "free" ... but in order to be able to access it you must first at least start one game of the fucking Warzone bullshit.

That has to be THE most transparent attempt to pad user numbers I've ever seen.

That's the biggest problem with AAA gaming these days. It's everything BUT gaming. Revenue streams, user numbers, retention, etc. But the thing I never hear is FUN.

[Thomkal]

The latest update / patch for Modern Warfare has got to be one of the cheesiest things I've ever seen a developer do.

First you install a 15 gig update, despite it containing virtually nothing to account for the size. No new map, no new game modes, nothing that should need that sort of heft.

Once completed, THEN you need the 18 gig "Data Pack 1", which comes through the MS Store (for XB1 users) priced "free" ... but in order to be able to access it you must first at least start one game of the fucking Warzone bullshit.

That has to be THE most transparent attempt to pad user numbers I've ever seen.

That's pretty awful Jon

[JonInMiddleGA]

That's pretty awful Jon

Yeah, I was pretty jawdropped by it (never mind being irritated by some 33 gigs of d'loads that amount to nothing more for me than a couple new weapons -- in a game where virtually every weapon is pretty much identical to the others in its class)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Next week should bring the 2.2 (?) patch for Stellaris Console Edition.

That's the one that changes pop management, does away with tiles, adds the fleet manager thingy, and a bunch of other stuff.

Doing my reading, honestly, it looks like it becomes an almost completely different game, so kinda looking forward to at least trying it

[MizzouRah]

Old World comes out via early access on Epic Games tomorrow.


It's developed by Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civ IV and Offworld Trading Company.


I've really liked what I've seen so far in the LP's. Kind of cool to use "orders" instead of typical movement points. I also like you have to marry and have kids to take over the throne when you die.



Old World

Orders

Orders are a resource used to issue commands across your nation. Instead of moving every unit every turn, as is traditional in 4X games, each unit can be moved as many times as desired, until the player runs out of Orders. There are many other ways to spend this resource: Combat, Construction, Events, Diplomacy, and so on.
Legitimacy

Each ruler must prove that they are worthy of the throne. As you accomplish Ambitions, finish Wonders, and gain renown (as “the Wise” or “the Avenger” or “the Peacemaker”), your Legitimacy increases, granting additional Orders each year and improving your standing with the people.
Succession

Every turn in Old World represents a year, and the rulers are mortals who won’t last forever. They will need to get married and produce an heir to continue their line. When a ruler dies, the heir who takes the throne chooses a new Ambition to make a new name for him/herself.
Events

Old World has a powerful and deep dynamic event system that generates a procedural story for your nation based on your decisions, your accomplishments, and your characters. The game has over 1,000 unique events, many of which are inspired by historical events from the period. These events give characters Memories, Traits, and Relationships, which can then trigger later events, so be careful what you choose.
Ambitions

Your dynasty achieves victory by fulfilling 10 Ambitions, each one more difficult than the last. These Ambitions are dynamically generated from the Events of your game and the desires of your Characters. No two games will ever play out the same way, and the wise ruler will know when to change direction.
Territories

Cities form cohesive blocks of territory, with an urban center and rural hinterlands. Each improvement occupies a single tile, including Wonders and urban buildings, such as Shrines, Amphitheaters, and Garrisons. This territory grows based on where the player constructs improvements and trains specialists on the map.


https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/old-world/home

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks for that MizzouRah. I'm going to be watching that closely. I have a historical project going on that … well, I might be changing how the series continues after the current game based on where Old World's at. Looks really interesting!

[Thomkal]

I've been watching Quill19's Let's play of Old World-certainly an interesting take on the Civ type game.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks for that MizzouRah. I'm going to be watching that closely. I have a historical project going on that … well, I might be changing how the series continues after the current game based on where Old World's at. Looks really interesting!

Yes indeed.. from what I've seen and read, it's definitely a different take on the typical 4x historical/civ type game.

Soren's wife is doing the unique events and is shooting for 3,000 on full release.

[Brian Swartz]

I've been watching Quill19's Let's play

Is that Quill18's brother or cousin or something ;)

[MizzouRah]

Is that Quill18's brother or cousin or something ;)


:lol:


I just can't watch someone who puts their mug on the screen while they play, I guess I'll never understand why some YT's do that?

[Brian Swartz]

It's about having a personal connection to the audience. A lot of bigger channels espescially, people don't watch as much for the games as do because they enjoy the entertainment provided by the person playing. They could watch anyone, but they want to know what quill, pravus, christopherodd or whomever thinks of a particular product. Mannerisms, real-time reactions, etc. It's sort of a half-way between youtube and twitch kind of thing in a way, but a lot of people find it less stale. So long as it's kept reasonably small and out of the way of the game itself, I don't find it to be an issue.

[MizzouRah]

It's about having a personal connection to the audience. A lot of bigger channels espescially, people don't watch as much for the games as do because they enjoy the entertainment provided by the person playing. They could watch anyone, but they want to know what quill, pravus, christopherodd or whomever thinks of a particular product. Mannerisms, real-time reactions, etc. It's sort of a half-way between youtube and twitch kind of thing in a way, but a lot of people find it less stale. So long as it's kept reasonably small and out of the way of the game itself, I don't find it to be an issue.


I find it annoying and always drawn to the person rather than the game itself, the same with those annoying "Johan Subscribed" messages that pop up. Maybe I'm just a nut job. :D


I'll stick with those who don't that.

[Thomkal]

Is that Quill18's brother or cousin or something ;)

Yeah actually he just had a birthday (for real) so its 19 now :)

[Thomkal]

:lol:


I just can't watch someone who puts their mug on the screen while they play, I guess I'll never understand why some YT's do that?

I think because its a replay of a Twitch live stream in many cases, where they always have their faces seen and are interacting with their viewers-asking questions and polling them on what they want him/her to do.. Some do it so viewers can see their reaction to in game events.

[NobodyHere]

Now here's a name I have not heard of in a long time.

The publisher behind classic Civilisation and XCOM is releasing a trio of new games | PC Gamer (https://www.pcgamer.com/the-publisher-behind-classic-civilisation-and-xcom-is-releasing-a-trio-of-new-games/)

I'll definitely be taking a closer look at these games.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I think because its a replay of a Twitch live stream in many cases, where they always have their faces seen and are interacting with their viewers-asking questions and polling them on what they want him/her to do.. Some do it so viewers can see their reaction to in game events.

Yep, there seem to be relatively few organic/original content YT streams these days, most all the ones I watch are simply edits of Twitch streams.

[Thomkal]

Now here's a name I have not of in a long time.

The publisher behind classic Civilisation and XCOM is releasing a trio of new games | PC Gamer (https://www.pcgamer.com/the-publisher-behind-classic-civilisation-and-xcom-is-releasing-a-trio-of-new-games/)

I'll definitely be taking a closer look at these games.

Nice to see them back even if its unlikely I'll be drawn into their new games

[RainMaker]

Anyone playing Bannerlord? It's fun as hell.

[MizzouRah]

Anyone playing Bannerlord? It's fun as hell.


I played it for a bit. So many damn good games out there right now, even with the free weekends I have now, it's hard to keep up.


I plan on really diving in after a couple more patches, but what I have played it is fun as hell.

[Scarecrow]

Just an FYI....

Red Dead Redemption 2 is now available on XBox Game Pass

[JonInMiddleGA]

Stellaris Console Edition 2.2 patch has dropped (4 gig update today, give or take, if you applied the larger one from 7-10 days ago in advance)

Not sure anybody else here is console'ing this one but for those familiar, this is the one that removes the original tile system and switches console over to districts & population management, etc.

With it comes the need (or not) to buy a new DLC season pass. First up is Synthetic Dawn, with two more to follow later. For now I'm gonna hold off on another season pass investment. I suspect there are many many hours of learning curve ahead of me with the massive overhaul of the game's structure. I'd hate to buy DLC and then discover that I don't like the game after the changes.

[Thomkal]

I just picked up Synthetic Dawn and Ancient Relics in the Stellaris Green Man Gaming 10th birthday sale Jon. Haven't had a chance to play a game with them yet. I think the switch over in districts, etc is easier to understand and deal with than the old way

[SackAttack]

Stellaris Console Edition 2.2 patch has dropped (4 gig update today, give or take, if you applied the larger one from 7-10 days ago in advance)

Not sure anybody else here is console'ing this one but for those familiar, this is the one that removes the original tile system and switches console over to districts & population management, etc.

With it comes the need (or not) to buy a new DLC season pass. First up is Synthetic Dawn, with two more to follow later. For now I'm gonna hold off on another season pass investment. I suspect there are many many hours of learning curve ahead of me with the massive overhaul of the game's structure. I'd hate to buy DLC and then discover that I don't like the game after the changes.

I snagged the Deluxe edition on PS4 a while ago. Thanks for the heads up on the second expansion pass. I'm not gonna buy it right away but I'm gonna throw it on my wishlist and wait for a sale.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I just picked up Synthetic Dawn and Ancient Relics in the Stellaris Green Man Gaming 10th birthday sale Jon. Haven't had a chance to play a game with them yet Jon. I think the switch over in districts, etc is easier to understand and deal with than the old way

Took me about, I dunno, 2-3 hours of my first session to at least kiiiiiiinda feel like I had a little notion what I was doing.

The biggest difference to me thus far however isn't those changes, it's what feels like much more glacial pace for things like movement, research, and surveying. The original didn't have things popping like the first 100 turns of Civ or anything but it sure didn't feel this slow. Maybe that's to balance against the additional resources in place at start up (which are definitely higher than before)

And I'm playing on the 2nd lowest difficulty setting right now but the things I've run into feel like they're at least 1 if not 2 levels tougher than my last experience with the original.

My personal jury is still very much out on this, although the biggest drawback for me getting deep into the game is the fact I have to sit in a really uncomfortable chair (as opposed to the couch I'm normally on for gaming) in order to see well enough to read everything. I'm a marathon session guy with pretty much any/all games, but my (literal) ass protests if I try that with Stellaris. Even going up a full TV size since last played didn't help, I simply cannot read the text well enough with being less than 6 feet from the screen.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm not gonna buy it right away but I'm gonna throw it on my wishlist and wait for a sale.

Yeah, given the massive changes in 2.2, I really don't feel the need to try to learn it at the same time as I'm dealing with unfamiliar starts. Heck, I went Random for my first try and got Hive Mind civ (which I haven't played) and was like "nope, let's re-roll that".

(the first of the next batch of DLC trio is Synthetic Dawn, and I'll gladly try an AI-based civ at some point I'm sure ... but not on Day One)

[SackAttack]

Yeah, given the massive changes in 2.2, I really don't feel the need to try to learn it at the same time as I'm dealing with unfamiliar starts. Heck, I went Random for my first try and got Hive Mind civ (which I haven't played) and was like "nope, let's re-roll that".

(the first of the next batch of DLC trio is Synthetic Dawn, and I'll gladly try an AI-based civ at some point I'm sure ... but not on Day One)

Biggest roadblock for me is gonna be playing with a Dualshock once I really dig in. The mechanics will be what they will be because I've never been able to get real deep into a game on my potato PC, but I've never really done grand strategy on anything but a mouse/keyboard before either.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Biggest roadblock for me is gonna be playing with a Dualshock once I really dig in. The mechanics will be what they will be because I've never been able to get real deep into a game on my potato PC, but I've never really done grand strategy on anything but a mouse/keyboard before either.

fwiw, I've found it reasonably okay. Stellaris is about 2x - 3x tougher on a controller than, say, Civ 6 but it can't be too unmanageable since I'm able to do it.

I have significant issues with, I dunno, muscle memory or whatever applies when it comes to controllers. For example it's nearly impossible for me to switch between shooting games because the MW/COD layout is so ingrained.

The toughest thing with Stellaris controllers by far for me today has been that right stick is strictly pan/tilt rather than camera movement. (that's the Civ6 default, move camera and right click to center cursor ... and I've played a lot of Civ6 in the past few weeks).

[Edward64]

Man, I couldn't play on PC games on a console knowing that I would be 6+ months (or is it 12+ months) behind the PC folks on updates. The Stellaris DLC's are significant structural changes plus the modding community is great.

[SackAttack]

Man, I couldn't play on PC games on a console knowing that I would be 6+ months (or is it 12+ months) behind the PC folks on updates. The Stellaris DLC's are significant structural changes plus the modding community is great.

Comes down to what you're after. Mods = PC, full stop.

Playability? Being totally up to date might be the sacrifice you make for quality of life.

[CrimsonFox]

You can always get the console playing experience on a PC just by having a console controller that's PC compatible. That also gives you access to patches and mods.
I usually don't care about mods unless it is for an old game. But patches are very important!
If you like playing NEW games PC is a MUST!

however...that double edged sword is when you play new games you'll have to run them on the lowest graphic setting usually since it's impossible to keep up with the tech.

new games usually stink anyhow tho unless they are indeis. Granted many indie programmers kinda suck tho too heh.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Man, I couldn't play on PC games on a console knowing that I would be 6+ months (or is it 12+ months) behind the PC folks on updates. The Stellaris DLC's are significant structural changes plus the modding community is great.

The option, for me, is play the occasional console port or don't play them at all. Short of a lottery win, there will never be a time when I can (personally) justify the cost of trying to stay current with a gaming PC.

For most PC games that port never comes and those remain simply stuff I watch on YouTube until the next thing I'm unlikely to ever play comes along & I watch that instead.

[sabotai]

Demo of Unreal Engine 5 running on a Playstation 5

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qC5KtatMcUw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[JPhillips]

I used an earlier demo video to help explain realism to my Intro to Theatre class.

[Atocep]

Demo of Unreal Engine 5 running on a Playstation 5

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qC5KtatMcUw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And what makes this more impressive than the typical engine reveal is that this is apparently an internal playable Demo.

[MizzouRah]

Demo of Unreal Engine 5 running on a Playstation 5

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qC5KtatMcUw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Wow... that looks and sounds incredible.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As of yesterday we're once again a dual-console household. First time in over a decade best I can figure.

Using -- or trying to at least -- a PS4 controller was one of the strangest / most awkward feelings I've had in a long time.

(Entirely driven by the kid's intense boredom and his desire to play MLB The Show again. He'd had it while away at school for the last two years thanks to the housemates)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Dabbling with MLB The Show 20 is my first experience with the franchise and my first baseball game in years. AND my first PS controller time in about a decade.

As a virtual beginner, one detail I appreciate quite a bit is not just the "dynamic difficulty" option but that they've split that into separate hitting and pitching difficulties that seem to scale independently of each other.

That's something that more games probably ought to try to incorporate.

[maxlewis]

Hello guys, I like to play a role-playing game and shooter games.
I'm a big fan of Fortnite and Mass Effect Andromeda (https://vogatech.com/gaming/mass-effect-andromeda-top-weapons/).

[JPhillips]

My wife is number three prostitute in all of Kazakhstan.

[JonInMiddleGA]

My wife is number three prostitute in all of Kazakhstan.

Don't give up, if she keeps working hard ...

[NobodyHere]

My wife is number three prostitute in all of Kazakhstan.

This post need pics

[JPhillips]

https://static1.fjcdn.com/comments/This+is+my+sister+she+is+3+prostitute+in+all+_f3f11ebae9723747862fe89a7e3c8c54.png

[Abe Sargent]

Anyone with any experience with Ostriv? I'm considering an early access dive


https://ostrivgame.com/home/

[Brian Swartz]

It was recommended to me but I haven't tried it. Go for it Abe, and let us know what you think so that my lazy arse doesn't have to be bothered and can crib off of your free playtesting ;)

[Thomkal]

Put it on my wishlist :)

[Atocep]

Anyone with any experience with Ostriv? I'm considering an early access dive


Ostriv – a city building game (https://ostrivgame.com/home/)

I played the first early access build, but shelved it to wait for more content. It has enormous potential.

[Abe Sargent]

Ostriv - a few hours in -

1. Definite Banished inspired
2. Can be slower than Banished if you keep it on the normal speed
3. Love the graphics and music. Very setting specific (Ukraine in early 1700s)
4. The minions build graphically not by stage. It's well done animation.
5. No grids or anything similiar.

6. Plays well. Industry makes sense.

7. Early recommenation not dissimilar to Atocep. Looks like a game with a good engine that could do a lot. As of right now probably has 7-9 hours o play before you have done everything. I have put in 7 hours today.

[spleen1015]

What sites are your go to for gaming news and commentary? The ones I try to hit every day have jumped all over the Animal Crossing bandwagon and there's a latest 1 top story every day for it.

I want to see some other stuff. Tired of AC.

[JonInMiddleGA]

What sites are your go to for gaming news and commentary? The ones I try to hit every day have jumped all over the Animal Crossing bandwagon and there's a latest 1 top story every day for it.

I want to see some other stuff. Tired of AC.

Honestly, I don't have a go to anymore. It's just catch as catch can at this point, whatever useful / interesting item I happen to spot via an occasional Tweet or RT, YouTuber, or something my kid passes along.

[Thomkal]

What sites are your go to for gaming news and commentary? The ones I try to hit every day have jumped all over the Animal Crossing bandwagon and there's a latest 1 top story every day for it.

I want to see some other stuff. Tired of AC.

I go to Gamespot for news.

[Atocep]

What sites are your go to for gaming news and commentary? The ones I try to hit every day have jumped all over the Animal Crossing bandwagon and there's a latest 1 top story every day for it.

I want to see some other stuff. Tired of AC.

It's not what it once was, but RPS is still solid for PC gaming. IMO, it strikes the best balance between news, reviews, impressions, ect.

Outside of that it's occasional trips to PC Gamer and IGN. I like IGN for their TV show reviews as they see them through the eyes of gamers rather than critics. Kotaku is a shell of its former self and smaller sites tend to be really niche or simply don't carry enough content.

Opencritic is essentially a gamer-streamlined version of metacritic if you're looking for reviews.

[MizzouRah]

I like Strategygamer.com

[MizzouRah]

Troy: A Total War Saga is now an Epic exclusive and will be FREE for the first 24 hours after it releases on 08/13.

[Edward64]

I like Strategygamer.com

I have that as a saved bookmark. In case you don't already, consider wargamer.com also.

[MizzouRah]

I have that as a saved bookmark. In case you don't already, consider wargamer.com also.

Yes forgot to mention that one as well!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Notched my first ever Victory Royale tonight.

Folks, when I win a game of Fortnite, I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse scarier than anything 2020 has brought so far.

[Thomkal]

Notched my first ever Victory Royale tonight.

Folks, when I win a game of Fortnite, I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse scarier than anything 2020 has brought so far.


Well I guess it was nice knowing you all. :) Congrats Jon. I tried the battle royale version sometime ago, but it never really grabbed me. I'm much more interested in the supposed to be free someday Save the World version of the game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well I guess it was nice knowing you all. :) Congrats Jon. I tried the battle royale version sometime ago, but it never really grabbed me.

I'm not sure I'm prepared to say it's grabbed me either. I picked it up a few days ago largely as a lark, as much to amuse the young 'un as anything. (Yeah, he enjoys seeing me REALLY suck at a game now & then, imagine that).

I don't care much for the b.r. genre, I'm largely entertained by trying using my very limited skillz to meta the XP bonuses, bonus whoring at it's finest. And the skill based matchmaking makes for a MUCH easier time of things now than when the game first launched.

The other benefit, honestly, is that it doesn't strain my eyes and worsen a headache that I've head for over 3 days now. It's not "close work" like Stellaris or even like playing COD, so I can play something on the console without my head hitting the eject button and departing my shoulders.

[Neon_Chaos]

Monster Train has its hooks on me. :O Such a great game.

[MizzouRah]

I know Phoenix Point wasn't well received on release but I purchased it and the first DLC last week and I'm having a blast so far.


Dare I say I actually prefer the combat over Xcom?

[Warhammer]

A lot of the bad press early was the fact it was an exclusive on the service that shall not be named.

[MizzouRah]

A lot of the bad press early was the fact it was an exclusive on the service that shall not be named.

Yeah... I enjoy both "that service" and Steam.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I know Phoenix Point wasn't well received on release but I purchased it and the first DLC last week and I'm having a blast so far.


Dare I say I actually prefer the combat over Xcom?

I just picked it up myself! Eager to fire it up once I’m done with Chimera Squad. Gears Tactics has, also, received a ton of positive reviews. I’ll definitely grab that once it’s on sale. Current $60 price point is a bit steep.

[NobodyHere]

A lot of the bad press early was the fact it was an exclusive on the service that shall not be named.

This is why the gaming "press" is terrible. They to focus too much on issues other than the game itself in a gaming review.

[MizzouRah]

I just picked it up myself! Eager to fire it up once I’m done with Chimera Squad. Gears Tactics has, also, received a ton of positive reviews. I’ll definitely grab that once it’s on sale. Current $60 price point is a bit steep.


Grab the DLC too (just the Blood and Titanium) if you can. Also, they have a great LP series on YT with the DLC. It's good for learning the ropes.



YouTube (https://youtu.be/4v_21RmeenQ)

[SirFozzie]

Phoenix Point was buggy as fuck and had issues at start (and I speak as someone who bought it unseen)

[JonInMiddleGA]

8 days, 160 matches give or take, of Fortnite and there's enough credit earned to cover the battle pass for a season.

Not bad for an old guy with poor reflexes.

Now if my K/D would just get over 1.00 that'd be great.

[Thomkal]

Good job Jon! You give hope to all of use old men