Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

[Drazzil]

Lara Croft would be 52 years old in real life.

https://www.wikiraider.com/index.php/Lara_Croft

February 14th 1968

Now THATS a GILF!

[Skinypupy]

Was bored this afternoon, so I did some analysis of the games I’ve played over the past 18 months. I discovered a trend...my backlog is absolutely littered with games that I have played between 12-16 hours:

- Divinity OS 2, 13 hours
- Tyranny, 13 hours
- Dragon Quest XI, 16 hours
- Baldurs Gate 2, 12 hours
- Neverwinter Nights, 14 hours
- Children of Morta, 12 hours
- FF XII HD, 14 hours
- Last Remnant, 12 hours
- Outer Worlds. 16 hours
- Diablo 3, 13 hours
- Elite Dangerous, 13 hours
- Astral Chain, 12 hours
- No Man's Sky, 11 hours
- FF VIII, 16 hours
- Torment: Tides of Numenera, 12 hours

Apparently 12-16 hours is the exact limit of my attention span these days. The only thing that received more attention are MMOs (FF XIV and SWTOR) and Jedi Fallen Order (21 hours), while there were a whole truckload of games that got less attention.

It bugs me that I can’t keep focused for longer than that and actually finish a game I start, but it’s not terribly surprising. I always just simply lose interest and wander off. Weird thing too is that it’s usually not a slow decline of interest. It’s typically one day of “I’m having fun with this” and my brain saying the next day “Yeah...we’re done”.

[JetFred]

Mine is 01:20:00 so good job.

[coopasonic]

- Divinity OS 2, 13 hours - Coop 148 hours (abandoned twice)
- Tyranny, 13 hours - Coop Tyranny 24 hours (finished)
- Dragon Quest XI, 16 hours - Coop No
- Baldurs Gate 2, 12 hours - Coop finished a thousand years ago and not going back
- Neverwinter Nights, 14 hours - Coop - uhhh, don't remember
- Children of Morta, 12 hours - Coop what?
- FF XII HD, 14 hours - Coop no
- Last Remnant, 12 hours - Coop what?
- Outer Worlds. 16 hours - Coop finished
- Diablo 3, 13 hours - Coop uhhh, hundreds of hours
- Elite Dangerous, 13 hours - Coop no
- Astral Chain, 12 hours - Coop no
- No Man's Sky, 11 hours - Coop 215 hours ("finished" twice)
- FF VIII, 16 hours - Coop no
- Torment: Tides of Numenera, 12 hours - Coop no

Hitman 2 - 5 hours
Dicey Dungeons - 3 hours
temtem - 9 hours
Control - 10 hours

My "Not interested" bucket in steam has 538 games most of which are completely unplayed or have less than two hours play time (thanks Humble Monthly).

[Skinypupy]

I should clarify, overall I have hundreds of hours in Diablo 3 as well. 13 hours was my most recent effort at completing the current season (which I abandoned before I was finished). Same with Elite Dangerous...tons of previous hours, but couldn’t keep interest this last go-round.

Also, I did finish BG2, NWN, and FF XII a decade+ ago, but have gone back to them with the “enhanced editions” or HD remasters. They haven’t kept my attention a second time.

[Skinypupy]

- Children of Morta, 12 hours - Coop what?

Rogue/Diablo mash-up with gorgeous pixel art and a cool story. It's actually pretty awesome. The Switch version was kinda buggy though, so I wandered off.

- Last Remnant, 12 hours - Coop what?

Squeenix JRPG from 2008 for XBox, remaster version came out on Switch last year. It's got lots of potential with fantastic graphics, a great soundtrack, and a really cool story...but the combat system is completely baffling.

[Kasey Chang]

It seems my tolerance for difficult games went downhill as I got older. It's only the long adventures that kept me going, and even then... Kinda meh.

I hate games that force a "gamefied" mechanic on you that doesn't really make sense. For example, in Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers, there's this weird mechanic that lets you switch planes. You have multiple squadrons of 5 planes each in the air, but your AI pilots don't do anything while you're not flying them. There are random RPG growth like promotion to Lt JG from ensign, gaining a perk like "survival master" where they survive ejections and thus retain their experience, but they don't affect how YOU play the game. The extra planes are like... extra ammo. If you used up all the ammo in one plane, switch to a different plane and keep fighting. And somehow, automagically, while you're NOT flying the plane, it gets re-armed. WTF...

Ace Combat series at least acknowledges this gamificatioon by giving you gajillion missiles (well, dozens, hundreds) instead of just a handful on a real fighter.

I'm going retro and play Dogfight 1942. I know it's a turn-and-burn type of game. And it uses magically regenerating ammo gamification, which makes a little more sense.

[Skinypupy]

I picked up a Sega Genesis Mini this afternoon. I’m not usually one for old-school consoles (there’s a reason gaming has progressed), but the nostalgia for this one was real. Played until my thumbs were sore, just like the old days. Just wish NHLPA 93 was part of the package...

Always funny to watch todays kids play and get super-frustrated with old school games. The Wonder Twins lasted 10 minutes before quitting Sonic. Less than 5 minutes with Earthworm Jim. About 90 seconds with Ghouls N Ghosts.

[Isgrimnur]

About 90 seconds with Ghouls N Ghosts.

That and Ghosts 'n Goblins can die in a fire.

[hitbyambulance]

at a previous job there was a MAME-style arcade cabinet - some of the games were very competitive for coworkers to get the high score (there was someone who was unbeatable in Robotron 2084), but my top score on Ghosts 'n' Goblins went completely unchallenged - not that i can get too far in that.

[Daehawk]

Ghosts 'n' Goblins is notoriously difficult. Even back in the day. Hell even the arcade game was tough in 85.

[Skinypupy]

They were all watching me play more of the games this morning. Went through Golden Axe, Ecco the Dolphin, Earthworm Jim, Vectorman, Toejam & Earl, and Raiden before Little B 10.11 asks “Dad, was everyone who made Sega games taking drugs?” Yes dear, I’m pretty sure they were.

Of course, she then goes back to playing Plants vs Zombies as if that’s perfectly normal.

[Daehawk]

Golden Axe is a great game. I used to think about re buying a real Genesis and playing all my favorites but never did. Just not the same as it used to be.

[hitbyambulance]

i hope you weren't playing Toejam & Earl by yourself... you really need two people on that one

[Skinypupy]

i hope you weren't playing Toejam & Earl by yourself... you really need two people on that one

That’s one I had missed when I had my Genesis, so I literally knew nothing about it. Basically ran around for about 30 minutes wondering in the holy hell was going on. Will give it a shot with one of the kids.

They mostly just thought it was hilarious because it says “Toejam is a wiener”.

[hitbyambulance]

i hope you weren't playing Toejam & Earl by yourself... you really need two people on that one

That’s one I had missed when I had my Genesis, so I literally knew nothing about it. Basically ran around for about 30 minutes wondering in the holy hell was going on. Will give it a shot with one of the kids.

They mostly just thought it was hilarious because it says “Toejam is a wiener”.

it actually is also best when neither person playing really knows what's going on, since there's more luck than skill involved. there's not much 'game' to it, period - it's a lot of 'what does this mysterious present do?' and sometimes finding ways to mess up the other player just to annoy them. it's more of a laid-back, exploratory experience and it's still one of my favorite Genesis titles, because it does that so well.

(i feel Don't Starve took more than a bit of gameplay inspiration from Toejam & Earl)

[Rumpy]

Metro Last Light can really suck at times. I really hate the single save point. I'm low on ammo due to the last chapter. I'm low on money so can't buy ammo, and the next part forces me into a battle with many guys. and of course that doesn't go well.

[Daehawk]

Between finding ammo and looting ammo off the dead I don't think I ever purchased ammo. I never used my good ammo either. If I ran low of ammo for a gun I just switched it off a dead guy for one with more ammo I tried to stick with a pistol, shotgun and rifle as much as possible.

[Rumpy]

Yeah, I don't normally do, but this time I was in an extraordinarily short supply. I got passed that part, finally, and what I did was I ended up selling some of the stuff I never use like knives and claymores in order to be able to buy ammo. Thing is, I only did that after realizing I was stuck due to a save point and low on ammo and no way to backtrack due to its linear nature.

[Rumpy]

I must REALLY really suck at this game. It's kind of hilarious. I'm now stuck in a level with no ammo whatsoever. To add insult to injury, I find an ammo cache, but for a gun I don't have on me. I just don't know if I have the will to continue with this game.

[Daehawk]

That is strange. Ive completed the first two games at least 3 times each and never had that happen. Ive worried about it before but never had it happen. I mean I have run out of a guns ammo but I have other guns.

Stop carrying 3 same ammo guns

[Hipolito]

You may remember that, some years ago, someone wrote a book called 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.

A YouTuber named Gaming Jay has made it his mission to play them all. He's up to #467 with Grand Theft Auto III. He also does videos on games not on the list, and is pretty amusing.

[Rumpy]

Stop carrying 3 same ammo guns

I try to have guns with 3 different ammo types, but what happens is I'll sometimes end up using most of one, then move on to another, and then there are some situations where what I have just isn't enough. And it's not like I'm spraying bullets everywhere. I try to conserve them by only going for one bullet at a time when possible. I've seriously never struggled so much with a game before. Feels like I'm fighting less against the enemies and more against the design decisions.

[Kasey Chang]

With more understanding of AI, I went back to play "while true: learn()", a cartoonish puzzle game that ostensibly has some stuff to do with machine learning. The overall objective is to build an interpreter for your pet cat. Haven't quite optimized all the solutions yet, but I'm starting to get a bit better at it.

[jztemple2]

The overall objective is to build an interpreter for your pet cat.

I can save you the trouble...

[dbt1949]

You may remember that, some years ago, someone wrote a book called 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.

A YouTuber named Gaming Jay has made it his mission to play them all. He's up to #467 with Grand Theft Auto III. He also does videos on games not on the list, and is pretty amusing.

I noticed there weren't many turn based games.
Anyrate I counted 82 that I played or tried to play.

[hitbyambulance]

just picked up Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II for the NES last night for $5. debating if i should have also gotten Air Fortress or Trojan (both were $7).

[Rumpy]

That is strange. Ive completed the first two games at least 3 times each and never had that happen. Ive worried about it before but never had it happen. I mean I have run out of a guns ammo but I have other guns.

Stop carrying 3 same ammo guns

So, I'm at the boss fight with Pavel and his snipers. Is there a trick to getting passed this? I can shoot out the two spotlights and kill the snipers, but then they eventually completely surround me and I get overwhelmed and die.

[Daehawk]

https://www.pcgamer.com/as-anger-over-t ... hats-next/

As anger over the Epic Store subsides, what's next?

By Tyler Wilde

PC gaming isn't going back to how it was.

With over 100 million users now building libraries on the Epic Store, and a billion Steam accounts already in existence, how Valve and Epic work together, if at all, feels like the next stage in this story. If some of my friends are going to reject the Epic Store entirely, and others like me are going to have both Steam and Epic libraries, I'd love for those friends lists and multiplayer functions to talk to each other. That's something Epic CEO Tim Sweeney expressed interest in when I spoke to him at GDC last year, where he suggested that platform social features ought to be more like email: tyler@steam should be able to talk to james@epic. But as with crossplay, this is the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from the company that doesn't own a majority of the market. Meanwhile, Discord becomes more useful with every new platform.

[Rumpy]

Lara Croft would be 52 years old in real life.

https://www.wikiraider.com/index.php/Lara_Croft

February 14th 1968

Now THATS a GILF!

Technically, Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever would be older

[Drazzil]

Lara Croft would be 52 years old in real life.

https://www.wikiraider.com/index.php/Lara_Croft

February 14th 1968

Now THATS a GILF!

Technically, Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever would be older

Technically I believe Kate Archer would be a GGILF, were that my kink, and it's not. Although Suzan Serandon and Tina Turner are both really hot.

[morlac]

So that is a Gaming Graphic I'd Like to F?

And Neither Tina Turner or Susan Sarandon has been hot in well over a decade...at least.

[dbt1949]

Those two are older than me.

[Paingod]

I picked up a Sega Genesis Mini this afternoon.

I don't know if it exists for the Genesis - I assume it does - but when I got my SNES Mini I was able to take ROMs of games I've had stored for years and upload them into it using a utility I downloaded and installed. Basically it allows you to connect the Mini console to your computer using it's power port, copies out all the ROMs currently installed, and then flashes an OS back in along with all the old and new ROMs you want in there.

So the SNES Mini went from like 29 games to 70+ in one shot.

[Skinypupy]

I picked up a Sega Genesis Mini this afternoon.

I don't know if it exists for the Genesis - I assume it does - but when I got my SNES Mini I was able to take ROMs of games I've had stored for years and upload them into it using a utility I downloaded and installed. Basically it allows you to connect the Mini console to your computer using it's power port, copies out all the ROMs currently installed, and then flashes an OS back in along with all the old and new ROMs you want in there.

So the SNES Mini went from like 29 games to 70+ in one shot.

I can guarantee with near-100% certainty that I would manage to brick both my PC and my mini-Genesis if I tried that.

While I’d love some of the sports titles, I think I’ll just stick with the 42 installed games.

[hitbyambulance]

got the 're-releases' for NES, SNES, Playstation and Genesis - would like to get the Turbografx-16 one next. would get the new Atari Flashback if i didn't have several already (the latest model actually emulates the original 2600 in appearance, rather than a rough approximation) and i'm waiting for a decent Neo-Geo. almost got the Commodore-64 mini, but the next release will have an actual working keyboard, so i'll wait for that. i have several DIY emulation setups, but i like these re-creations.

I can guarantee with near-100% certainty that I would manage to brick both my PC and my mini-Genesis if I tried that.

a little hyperbolic, but it really is easy to do.

1) copy Linux OS image to USB flash drive
2) copy game roms to OS games directory
3) insert USB flash drive into miniconsole

i guess it ultimately depends on your tolerance for pirating 30-year-old games (but if you own the original cartridges or any previous emulation collection in software or hardware, you legally own those ROMS)

[Skinypupy]

I bounced off the new Fire Emblem Three Houses game when it first came out. I couldn't figure out the character advancement systems, my expectations were out of whack on the social elements vs combat, and I mostly just couldn't wrap my head around it. Fast forward a few months, and I decided to give it another shot. i figured now that there would be more details/guides online, I might have better chance of figuring it out.

I was hoping it would click...and boy, has it ever. I can't stop playing it. I keep thinking about ways to build my characters even when I'm not playing it. I absolutely love the layered social interactions and the world it builds. I'm figuring out the unique combat elements that lead to success. It feels a lot like how Final Fantasy Tactics felt when it finally clicked. So glad I went back and gave it another look.

It's a good feeling, considering how many games I tend to bounce off of these days.

[Isgrimnur]

You should have just called Blackhawk.

[coopasonic]

I used to love the Fire Emblem games but now I can't get into them at all. I think it is more that I have changed than the game changing.

In other news, Monster Hunter: World has moved into my second most played game spot on steam at 295 hours and I don't think I am done with it.

[Blackhawk]

You should have just called Blackhawk.

Or, rather, my son. I have never played a Fire Emblem. My son subsists on it.