Octopus Overlords

Call me crazy but I miss 256 color SVGA games. Especially old 3/4 overhead games and of those RPGs stand out. Theres just something about those 256 colors and the amazing way they used them that stands out to me. Think of the Star Trek games like 25th Anniversary or Judgement Rites.

^^^^
Crazy

Thats uncalled for. No wait I called for it. Carry on.

Last night I reinstalled Surviving Mars, the game which on Steam I've played the most, but haven't touched in months. I was just checking to see if I might be interested in picking it back up for slow times, so I fired it up...

Next time I came up for air it was five hours later , the middle of the night, and it took all my willpower to shut down and get to bed

It is weird that I'm so engaged by this city/colony builder, but I just can't seem to get traction anymore in Cities: Skylines or any of the Anno series. There's just something about the approach to planning and building in Surviving Mars that is just like catnip to me.

jztemple2 wrote: Thu May 28, 2020 6:01 pm Last night I reinstalled Surviving Mars, the game which on Steam I've played the most, but haven't touched in months. I was just checking to see if I might be interested in picking it back up for slow times, so I fired it up...

Next time I came up for air it was five hours later , the middle of the night, and it took all my willpower to shut down and get to bed

It is weird that I'm so engaged by this city/colony builder, but I just can't seem to get traction anymore in Cities: Skylines or any of the Anno series. There's just something about the approach to planning and building in Surviving Mars that is just like catnip to me.

Congrats on the new crack!

This is one that's on my short wishlist, but I'm not in a mood for it so it's a deep sale item. Good to know it's not a wasted wish.

Paingod wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 9:33 am This is one [Surviving Mars] that's on my short wishlist, but I'm not in a mood for it so it's a deep sale item. Good to know it's not a wasted wish.

Sadly then you missed it when it was an Epic Game Store freebie

jztemple2 wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 2:27 pm

Paingod wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 9:33 am This is one [Surviving Mars] that's on my short wishlist, but I'm not in a mood for it so it's a deep sale item. Good to know it's not a wasted wish.

Sadly then you missed it when it was an Epic Game Store freebie

Not so sad, honestly. I don't mind supporting developers, and don't care for the way Epic plays ball or the way their launcher functions. I don't mind catching it on Steam or GOG.

One of my favorites from a long time ago. An updated version to be released by Kalypso in the fall, but you can buy it now and get immediate access to the beta.

I still play Startopia from time to time. its the only game of that type I do that with.

I have a lot of colony games that have appealed to me over the years, but Startopia may be the tippy-top.

I really need to start making a journal of my abandoned games and why I abandoned them. There are a few that have appealing facades that I keep bouncing off of. I'll play for a little while, find I hate [whatever], and walk away. Then a year later all I can see is the facade. No Man's Sky is an excellent example.

I have a notebook just for game notes in OneNote. I should just add a page for this.

We have a Games Abandoned thread for a reason.

Which I've used, but sometimes my reasons for abandoning a game are petty and thin. Those I prefer not to post about.

Isgrimnur wrote: Sat May 30, 2020 2:31 am We have a Games Abandoned thread for a reason.

We do?

Whats it called?

So, Hard Truck Apocalypse is a fun game with a surprising amount of depth to it. I had also bought the standalone expansion Rise of the Clans. But while I was able to play the main game flawlessly, the expansion has a certain issue. Couldn't figure out why it kept crashing and giving an unhandled exception whenever I tried starting it after the first time and many people have this same issue and all think that the game doesn't work on Windows 10. The trick is apparently to set the in-game filtering to Antilinear as Anisotropic makes the game bug out and corrupt some files that lead to the error. When I kept having that error, validating the files lead to 3 files being redownloaded. Don't know how or why that would happen, but there you go. Then you can go into your videocard settings and override the settings and it works beautifully.

jztemple2 wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 3:00 pm One of my favorites from a long time ago. An updated version to be released by Kalypso in the fall, but you can buy it now and get immediate access to the beta.

... ...

Guess I'll have to pre-order that. I bought the original on CD back when it was like $50 on store shelves, then the CD exploded in a bad CD-ROM tray - so I bought it again in order to have it again. Then I bought it a third time when it came out on GOG.com so I didn't have to dig up my disc again (it looks like they've since stopped selling it).

You've got to like a game to buy it three times. Either that or you're insane.

One of my favorite things was putting together biomes and terraforming on the Bio-Deck to create fun little pools and places for aliens to relax. It looks like they've got that, but it's a really dark color pallet in there. I hope they brighten it up. Just looking at screenshots, they moved away from "Hot - Cold" and "Dry - Wet" sliders (giving, IIRC, 9 biome types) to "planetary" biomes, including Plains, Jungle, Volcanic, Lunar, and Desert.

*Edit: The game's coming in two flavors - Standard and Extended, which costs a few bucks more and gives a couple skins, a helmet for visitors to find in lootboxes, and a soundtrack. It'll be released on Steam for Beta with no other platform mentioned until release when it hits everything - PS4, XBOX - and then eventually the Switch in 2021.

Looks like they're still using the old "10 Mission" formula, sandbox mode, and multiplayer modes. 10 missions might not sound like much, but in the original, one mission could take hours to beat - and sandbox/multiplayer offered replayability without being handcuffed to mission parameters.

A Total War Saga: TROY will be released on the Epic Games Store on 13 August 2020 - and will be free to keep if claimed within the first 24 hours of release

TROY will be an Epic exclusive for one year, and will be available on Steam on 13 August 2021. We know some of you might want more information on this decision so please read our blog about this: https://www.totalwar.com/blog/a-total-w ... mes-store/

Max Peck wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:00 pm A Total War Saga: TROY will be released on the Epic Games Store on 13 August 2020 - and will be free to keep if claimed within the first 24 hours of release

And on the calendar it goes! Thanks for the heads up

A new player enters......

MY.GAMES Store to offer 90/10 revenue split to game developers

Daehawk wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:42 pm A new player enters......

MY.GAMES Store to offer 90/10 revenue split to game developers

That would be the Russians

Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:57 pm

Daehawk wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:42 pm A new player enters......

MY.GAMES Store to offer 90/10 revenue split to game developers

That would be the Russians

So you either support the Chinese with EPIC, the Russians with My.Games, the Polish with GOG.com, or Americans with Steam. I'm so far enlisted with the last two, and more heavily with Steam than GOG.com.

Paingod wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:06 am

Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:57 pm

Daehawk wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:42 pm A new player enters......

MY.GAMES Store to offer 90/10 revenue split to game developers

That would be the Russians

So you either support the Chinese with EPIC, the Russians with My.Games, the Polish with GOG.com, or Americans with Steam. I'm so far enlisted with the last two, and more heavily with Steam than GOG.com.

Given the ratio of free to paid games in the typical actively-managed EGS account, that meme should reflect the Chinese supporting you with EPIC.

Of all of those, the one I'd actually be leery of is My.Games. From a cursory examination, the leadership of their parent company does seem to be cozy with Putin.

The economy is so scrambled that its impossible not to support the Chinese on a daily basis. Epic isn't something I'll lose sleep over.

I'm personally waiting for the North Korean platform - KimPlay - to come out. I've heard it was the first one made, ever, and coded by golden monkeys using an angelic script unknown to mankind.

Never let it be said that I only collect games and don't play them, for a month ago I decided I should have played Mysteries of the Sith back when it was new, and it is now finished. Even if I did have to play it on easy.

Oddly, back in the day I played all of Jedi Knight 1 and 2. I had the expansion to 1 but didn't bother. Don't know why. And yes, I'm still ignoring Star Wars Doom Forces, the actual first game.

Dark Forces. Star Wars noob!

Daehawk wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:04 pm Dark Forces. Star Wars noob!

I guess you didn't get my joke. Not that it was a very good joke.

By the way, my review is here.

I didn't get it...thats me though hahaha. I was kidding too. Its ok not to play it anyways. I tried years ago and just couldn't stand it and I liked it a lot the first time when it was new. Between the graphics and controls its bad now. My favorite is still 2.

I get three days off this weekend. Will I actually boot up a game? Or just fantasize about it without actually doing it, like I have for the past three weeks. Let the betting commence.

My FFXIV character is sitting at level 9. Will he ever get to 10? I've been feeling the gaming itch heavily, but I've been in such a funk. I feel like there's no point in starting a game unless I can do so at the start of my day.

This could technically go in General Computing, but since it's a PS4 issue, I decided to put it here.

A week ago, my PS4 started exhibiting a peculiar issue. It seems to be a video output issue rather than a graphical issue, as the PS4 has been rock solid. Periodically since last week, I'd be using it and then my TV would lose the picture or even display an invalid format error before eventually coming back. It's not the TV as I checked out the HDMI ports by plugging the HDMI cable into a different port. Possibly the HDMI cable itself? Dunno. It happens both when in-game and when using Netflix, sometimes even spazzing out, rapidly coming back and off before settling down. It seems to only happen within 10-15 min into powering it up, then once it does its thing, it doesn't seem to be doing it for the rest of the session. I know the PS4 had a system update last Tuesday, and it was consequently after that that it started happening, although I doubt it has anything to do with that. Any ideas?

I'd try another HDMI cable. I had one go bad that was causing display issues and a new cable completely resolved it. It's an easy enough thing to check.

Fair enough. I don't have any others with me now to check, so I might have to order one from monoprice. But is it normal for HDMI cables to go bad? It otherwise looks perfectly fine.

Rumpy wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 8:05 pm Fair enough. I don't have any others with me now to check, so I might have to order one from monoprice. But is it normal for HDMI cables to go bad? It otherwise looks perfectly fine.

Unless they're really shoddy, they typically don't simply go bad over time. More often than not, most problems stem from physical damage. It largely depends on the quality of the cable, and how well you treat it. If you're interested, you can read more about it here:

Do HDMI cables go bad?

It almost sounds like one of the onboard timers has problems warming up, but once warmed up, can do its job properly.

Thanks! That'd certainly be a relief if that's all it is. I'll definitely try a different cable and report back.

We have an older TV with only two HDMI ports. One of them is taken by the cable box, and the other my PS4, although I tend to share that port with other devices as needed, so there is a bit of shuffling about and moving the cable around, so It's understandable that it'd be damaged over time. It's the same cable I've used with my PS3.

The frequent disconnects it describes seems to be what I'm experiencing.

jztemple2 wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 3:00 pm One of my favorites from a long time ago. An updated version to be released by Kalypso in the fall, but you can buy it now and get immediate access to the beta.

I will not EA another game
I will not EA another game
I will not EA another game

Startopia really was the successor to Dungeon Keeper 2. I'm tempted to find the DVD and see if 10 will run it and if it's still patchable. I went to look to buy it prepatched but I don't see it for purchase anywhere. Only abandonware sites, which I don't trust.

edit: google says steam has it, but I couldn't find it when I searched. I will search again...

Edit: got in through google "Notice: At the request of the publisher, Startopia is no longer available for sale on Steam."

Edit: Square Ennix says I can buy it through Steam and now it's officially too much work when I own the DVD.

Sudy wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 2:21 am I get three days off this weekend. Will I actually boot up a game? Or just fantasize about it without actually doing it, like I have for the past three weeks. Let the betting commence.

My FFXIV character is sitting at level 9. Will he ever get to 10? I've been feeling the gaming itch heavily, but I've been in such a funk. I feel like there's no point in starting a game unless I can do so at the start of my day.

So what happened?

Actually it appears you buy Startopia on Square's site but activate it on Steam.

The Shadow Hearts: Covenant soundtrack came up on my video game OST shuffle list this afternoon. Made me nostalgic for the Shadow Heart series, which was one of the best JRPG's on PS2 (the first two games, anyways). Led me to this retrospective:



Which then led me to the same guy's retro review of the Xenosaga games.



Which then led me to a Chrono Cross review (by mention of Mitsuda's incredible Xenosaga soundtrack)



It has all hit me with a massive wave of gaming nostalgia today.