Paingod wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:31 pm
It's fun when you play a game for a couple hours and then realize you've botched the mechanics.
Deadnauts. Did you know you have to deliberately scan for threats and shield your allies? I didn't. Wasn't anywhere in the tutorial. You're supposed to intuit it. I assumed the characters acted as equipped. The soldiers and hacker work that way. Why not the defense and scouting?
Took a couple good team wipes before I had to go find out WTF I was doing wrong.
Deadnauts is a great game but your criticisms are entirely fair. I really enjoyed it though, wonderfully atmospheric. You might want to check out Duskers.
stessier wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:09 pm
I was reading some reviews of Fall Guys on Ars after people talked about it here and it was mentioned that Steam has a Family Share thingy. Does that mean I could get my kids Steam accounts and then share my games with them? I assume only one person could play it at a time - but they would each have their own saves? This could be a big deal in my house.
Correct on all counts. Be warned though - the restriction isn't just to the game, it applies to the whole library. In other words, if someone is using your library you can't use it, so you can't play anything at all.
stessier wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:09 pm
I was reading some reviews of Fall Guys on Ars after people talked about it here and it was mentioned that Steam has a Family Share thingy. Does that mean I could get my kids Steam accounts and then share my games with them? I assume only one person could play it at a time - but they would each have their own saves? This could be a big deal in my house.
Correct on all counts. Be warned though - the restriction isn't just to the game, it applies to the whole library. In other words, if someone is using your library you can't use it, so you can't play anything at all.
Oh, well that won't work then. Bummer.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 7:35 pm
by Rumpy
Recently started Rise of the Tomb Raider on PS4, and good god, the jaggies! Did they not use antialiasing in this game? It's odd to see so much obvious antialiasing on a console game like this. It's very noticeable particularly when you move the camera around around trees.
1999’s Pharaoh is lauded as one of the greatest ever citybuilders for a reason, and that reason is that it was very good. A sibling to the similar Caesar and Zeus: Master Of Olympus games, Pharaoh saw you managing an Ancient Egyptian city in great detail. My favourite bit was always waiting for the Nile to flood and gift my grain farms with more delicious, life-giving silt, which in turn meant my granaries would be full of grain. Mmm, lovely.
Pharaoh: A New Era, which will include 2000’s Cleopatra: Queen Of The Nile expansion, is being developed with “all new code”, so it’s a remake not a remaster. But the two screenshots the devs are sharing, and that snippet of it in action in the trailer, make it look very very much like the original Pharaoh.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:54 am
by Paingod
Paradroid wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:35 pmDeadnauts is a great game but your criticisms are entirely fair. I really enjoyed it though, wonderfully atmospheric. You might want to check out Duskers.
I'll give that a poke, too.
I played more into Deadnauts and made it as far as my third ship before failing. I expect it's a matter of learning the curve and maybe random equipment blueprint luck more than anything. For example, I might get access to a heavy soldier suit, but my Defender doesn't really get upgraded so I can't make use of that fine shield we can make ... or maybe my guns are still kind of weak and enemies aren't dropping quickly ... or maybe even the best scanner I can equip doesn't "see" the enemies until they're right on top of us.
*Edit: I went to look at Duskers and it looked pretty familiar. I could have sworn that I've played it, it looked so familiar, but I can't find it in either my Steam or GOG libraries. I already had it wishlisted on both platforms. I'll give it a whirl.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 8:14 am
by Paradroid
Yeah it's a similar concept but the execution is totally different. There's some mouse control but the better you get at scripting commands in the console, the more successful you'll be. Another game absolutely dripping with atmosphere. I'm crap at it but I like it anyway!
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:05 am
by Kasey Chang
Went back to play Thunderwolves again. I don't remember it being this hard... Then I realized I completely suck on gamepad. I switched back to mouse and keyboard and I was breezing through the level, at least on EASY.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:00 pm
by Daehawk
ArcheAge Unchained is doing a free weekend but I cant install it. Doesn't matter if I use the Steam one of the Glyph one they both want me to install through Glyph. SO I click install and it says I must activate the game using code SUMMERTRIAL first. I try that and it says I cant do that because I already have those entitlements...but I dont so I cant..bah.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 9:56 pm
by Blackhawk
Bad gaming day today. I ended up bouncing from one game to the next, each time because of terrible design decisions that made games a pain to play (Underworld Ascendant was the culprit for this one), or convoluted systems with no guidance, or mechanics that force one playstyle whether it's possible to play that way or not. It left me annoyed and frustrated rather than entertaining me.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 10:04 pm
by Daehawk
I didn't play anything at all today. I tried to install that ArcheAge thing but that was it.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2020 2:32 pm
by Kasey Chang
Was I better or did the game got easier? Finished Thunder Wolves "again". Decided reinstall twin-stick shooter Furious Angels, and it's... interesting? I remember I died a lot and I stopped playing. This time, I actually got on the top ten of the day?!? Then I realized the game had gotten easier. In V1.00 you only shoot in the direction you're pointed at. In 1.01, they unlocked it and made your shot direction independent from your facing, making the game MUCH MUCH easier. Hmmm...
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2020 3:38 pm
by Skinypupy
Daehawk wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 10:04 pm
I tried to install that ArcheAge thing but that was it.
Not worth it, ArcheAge is terrible.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2020 5:57 pm
by hitbyambulance
Kasey Chang wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 2:32 pm
Decided reinstall twin-stick shooter Furious Angels
this looks like my kinda thing
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2020 6:04 pm
by hitbyambulance
i so wanted this to be good, but ... eh. potential wasted.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:19 pm
by Kasey Chang
Trying to get a little further in Chrome, and I guess I did, but the lack of autosave before cutscenes is just horrible. I can't take it anymore. The idea that you can carry ONLY one weapon and one sidearm is kinda ridiculous as well in a game, esp. when your enemies show up in multiple types with different weapons: SMG, assault rifle, shotgun, and some sort of heavy weapon.
Just made it into second map, fought my way through the island, found the database, then fought my way out, and into the 2nd building, made it through a corridor of baddies, fought the level boss "Dexon", and just when I was about to defeat him for good, his reinforcements shows up and tossed a flash-bang. And somehow, it didn't orient the other guy, just me. He made a run for it, and just as I engaged the new troops, SOMETHING exploded nearby and I died... AND I realized I didn't save the game before I had the boss encounter... because I wasn't expecting the boss encounter. WTF. That's it. I'm done.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 12:12 am
by Blackhawk
Chrome was one game that I should have loved, and I hated almost everything about it. The writing, the acting, the inventory, the gameplay, the level design. It was awful.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 12:49 pm
by Paingod
Paradroid wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:35 pmYou might want to check out Duskers.
I find that I like Duskers a lot more. It has a far more predictable, mathematical approach. When I screw up, it's my fault for taking a calculated risk. I don't just die because the RNG didn't give me the right gear to detect enemies in the ship I boarded.
Like that time I boarded an Outpost with a Transporter and forgot to equip my spotter with a Motion Sensor (I had sold the nearly broken one). That horrible failure was entirely on me. All I could do was race to the nearest transporter-compatible room before I vanished and escape.
Thanks!
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 2:45 pm
by Paradroid
Glad you liked it!
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:57 pm
by Kasey Chang
I promised myself I'm not buying any games in the near future. I already have humble bundle subscription and that's way more games than I can play.
Tried to play Audiosurf, decided I'm not really ready to play speed Connect - 3 .
Have a whole bunch of games, but decided to play Molek-Syntez. I see Jetfred is a fan of the game, but he's not into optimizing for clock cycles. And I have to say, the puzzles are pretty ingenious, and I would want to see some of those odd solutions that managed to shave off a couple cycles off the standard ones.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2020 4:45 pm
by hitbyambulance
one of my favorite indie studios is calling it a day (decade):
Kasey Chang wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:57 pm
I see Jetfred is a fan of the game, but he's not into optimizing for clock cycles.
I did, however, briefly get into serious optimization in Opus Magnum. And then like everything else, I drifted away after the first 10-12 hours.
It's alright. I'm hitting a wall with some of the late 2nd tier puzzle myself. With only six emitters, you have to think like 3-4 steps AHEAD of time. And it seems you can't rotate something into space of something erased until NEXT turn. That serious crimps on possibilities.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2020 2:51 pm
by Blackhawk
I decided that it's time to jump back into Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I started it last year, but quit when I started running the Pathfinder 2 tabletop game, and I didn't want the PF1 rules hanging out in my head while I was trying to learn PF2. Since my group imploded, and since the bad taste that left has faded, I'm ready to jump back in. With all the new patches and new features I decided to start over from scratch.
Comes now the character creation, trailed forthwith by the decision paralysis!
The rest of this applies to any RPG I've ever played. You see, I'm a role player at heart. I play for immersion and story. Just like when playing a tabletop game, I think first about who the character is, then about the mechanics. That makes character paralysis so much worse. I don't just need to pick a race and class, no. That would be easy! First I need to decide on a character concept, and that includes all sorts of baggage. First, I need and idea of the class/race, but then I need to understand my character's motivation. Yeah, you read that right. As an example of why that's a problem, let's say I feel the urge to play a druid. Awesome! Now I just need to figure out why a druid would be interested in leaving his grove, helping to conquer a nation, and then rule that nation, commanding troops and treating with neighboring nations. That's a very non-druidy thing to do. Easy motivation? A retired military officer, tired of being a pawn, sees an opportunity to form a new nation with the wisdom his years have given him. That limits classes, though. And then there's the whole 'why is this veteran military officer full of wisdom level 1?' problem.
Next I check companions. I really like companions A and C. That means that I don't want to duplicate the roles they fill, thus eliminating more classes.
So, finally I find a character concept that I can get into that works with a class that doesn't negate a chosen companion. Yay!
The one trick I've found is to pick a portrait first. I'll look through them all and see if any really kindle my imagination. If so, I'll start trying to create a concept/backstory/motivation around the portrait.
And then I get into the game, play five minutes, hate the character, and start over.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2020 3:46 pm
by Kasey Chang
Tried the Moncage Demo. It's... VERY CLEVER. Basically, you solve puzzles by lining up stuff from different sides of the cube, in a "perspective puzzle". Except each side of the cube is like a view in a parallel universe. You can sometimes zoom in or out of certain areas, or interact with bits in some way, like open a drawer, flood a tiny room so things float up, so things line up with you rotate the cube around a little bit And once they line up, they combine to behave in an unexpected and delightful way.
In one of the puzzles, a truck is broken down on the road. And there is a toy truck in a toy chest. It's clearly the same model. If you move it just right, you can line up the toy truck with the real one, and VOILA, you've fixed the truck, which continues into a different part of the level...
The demo has like may 10-20 of the initial puzzles, some of which do depend a little on time! My brain clearly isn't designed for such, but I admire the cleverness.
----
Also tried a couple levels of Void Bastard. Art style is good. But I'm a little weary of those infinite spawn enemies, as you never seem to have enough ammo around. Tourists are easy enough to pop, even better in groups. The best way to kill an outpatient seem to be get it stuck on a corner so it can kill itself with repeated shots. And those gunpoints, ARGH! I lost most of my health to gunpoints. Seems best to just run past them, if possible.
----
Decided to try one of those games I have in my backlog, but never tried... Iron Grip: Warlords. It's kinda like a WW1-ish version of Battlefield, with a lot of bots. Your job is to hold on to a town (or attack a town) with a couple AI guys, against an whole onslaught of enemy soldiers from bazooka to MG to shotgun and even some tanks. You have bazooka, Molotov, pistol rifle/musket, sniper, MG, and more. It's actually not too bad although the graphics are from yesteryears even with eye candy turned up to ultra. The soldiers dress as if they are from Roman times but armed with WW1/WW2 weaponry. I'm not really into FPS twitch games. I prefer to take my time, snipe enemies to death, so I like Sniper series a lot. This one? Way too fast for me. Not bad, but not mu cup of tea.
----
Tried to play infested Planet again, was reminded why I don't like constant respawn enemies. Meh. It does provide a bit of back and forth, and the random mutator giving the critters new abilities every time they lost a nest is kinda challenging. But when there are just too many nests on the field, the only way forward is basically "turret walking" build turrets to backstop yourself, advance far enough to plant one turret, recycle the ones too far behind, repeat until you cover the whole map. The map gets challenging when they throw in small paths that you can't cover by one turret, or they introduce turbo enemies that barely take turret hits.
-----
Since I liked SimplePlanes (well, I'm too lazy to build my own, but flying them's okay), I tried SimpleRockets, as the author jokingly called it Shanzhai Kerbal Space Program. It's basically KSP in 2D. Assemble rockets in 2D, and take them out for a spin, do various challenges like land back from the smoon back to smearth (including retro rocket burn and de-orbit) My sole attempt was successful because I managed to use up every last bit of retro rocket fuel slowing down to a decent speed before popping the parachute. And even then it was kinda close. Makes a little more sense than the penguin one.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:54 pm
by xwraith
Well this is one way to advertise your game:
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:38 pm
by Rumpy
Started playing Exiled Kingdoms. I'll say it right off the bat. It's rather crude, but it more than makes up for it in terms of world development, and for a one-man team, it's rather impressive what's been done. The world is super huge, and what I like about it is not only will it show a full local map/dungeon map, it will also show you exactly where you are on the overland map. For the price, it's hard to go wrong.
Why is it so hard to find a space game that isn't just an economics simulator in disguise? What happened to all the story based games about space combat? I've tried so many games over the past decade, and they all seem to be cargo hauling simulators.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2020 11:22 pm
by wonderpug
Blackhawk wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 11:04 pm
Why is it so hard to find a space game that isn't just an economics simulator in disguise? What happened to all the story based games about space combat? I've tried so many games over the past decade, and they all seem to be cargo hauling simulators.
Blackhawk wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 11:04 pm
Why is it so hard to find a space game that isn't just an economics simulator in disguise? What happened to all the story based games about space combat? I've tried so many games over the past decade, and they all seem to be cargo hauling simulators.
Have you tried Everspace (if you don't already own it, it's currently available for less than $5 from the HumbleStore)? Granted, it is a roguelike yet it does have a surprisingly enjoyable story-driven campaign that specifically incorporates the roguelike gameplay. From the PC Gamer Everspace review:
PCgamer.com wrote:
As the writer William Edward Hickson never said: if at first you don’t succeed, try a bigger laser. When you die in Everspace you’re dead. But money earned carries over and can be spent on upgrades, which means you’ll be more powerful for your next run through the cosmic gauntlet. And these perks keep adding up, allowing you to travel deeper into space, and more boldly, with every successive attempt. It’s a compelling loop, and when I die I’m never frustrated: just excited to start again, wondering how far I’ll make it this time.
It helps that the ships are such a delight to fly. This isn’t a weighty, complicated sim like Elite Dangerous. It has more in common with an arcade shooter, with forgiving, responsive flight controls and fun, immediate combat. I can’t help but think of Sega classic After Burner when I play it in third person, although you can select a cockpit view if you’d prefer. The weapons feel fantastic too, particularly the scatter gun, which is essentially a shotgun designed for space dogfights. The violent explosion of glowing, red hot shrapnel when you fire it is hugely satisfying, reminiscent of Unreal Tournament’s mighty flak cannon.
More superficially, Everspace is astonishingly pretty. Powered by Unreal 4, its dazzling starscapes, hulking freighter wrecks, and burning alien suns make every moment worthy of hitting the screenshot key. And developer Rockfish knows it, including an option to toggle the HUD and a photo mode that freezes the action and lets you spin the camera freely around your ship. And when you take damage you see cracks, scorches, and dents on your pristine spacecraft, giving you instant visual feedback on just how close to death you are.
The first time you die, you unlock an achievement called Welcome to Everspace. This is the game telling you that death is something you’re going to have to get used to. But there are ways to keep the grim reaper at arm’s length. It’s possible to scavenge materials to repair your ship, whether it’s the integrity of the hull or a subsystem that’s out of action like your weapons or shield generator. This brings a survival element to the game, and there’s a thrill in limping to the next sector in a battered ship, moments from death, only to find some nanobots lurking in an asteroid belt and repairing yourself back to full health.
But if you’re really busted up, sometimes it’s better to just ram into the nearest space rock, kill yourself, and start a fresh run. I find myself doing this a lot when I’m backed into a corner. Rather than try and fight my way through a swarm of enemy fighters with a depleted shield or a malfunctioning ship, I just hurl myself into something heavy until I explode. You’ll enjoy Everspace more when you let go of any sense of ownership of your vessel. It’s a disposable tool, and the next iteration will always be better thanks to a steady stream of perks.
These include boosting your chance of scoring a critical hit, improving your sector scanner so more resources and points of interest are visible, and increasing the amount of credits you earn. And with every run these upgrades continue to pile up on top of each other, which gives you a palpable feeling of increasing power and progression. You can even increase your standing with a faction who lurk in most areas until they like you so much that they’ll jump into a battle if they see you get in trouble. It’s a deceptively deep game, and only gets more rewarding over time.
There’s crafting too, and any blueprints you find will carry over to your next life. Not to mention an entertaining, non-linear story to follow and space exploration between combat encounters. It’s a great example of a roguelike, and the persistence makes even a bad run feel like it wasn’t a complete waste of time. You’re always improving, which makes each life a little easier and a little more fun. And there’s an unpredictability to the game that makes each run feel wildly different. But even if you just want to fly around in space and shoot things, and don’t particularly care about the progression stuff, that’s fun too.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 12:04 am
by Blackhawk
I will look at a few reviews, but I generally look at roguelikes the way I do splinters under my fingernails. I do not enjoy losing progress and repeating content.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 1:23 am
by Anonymous Bosch
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Sep 05, 2020 12:04 am
I will look at a few reviews, but I generally look at roguelikes the way I do splinters under my fingernails. I do not enjoy losing progress and repeating content.
I know what you mean, but don't knock 'til you've tried it. Everspace really does do a terrific job of providing a genuinely compelling core gameplay loop. When you die in the game, it really doesn't feel like you're losing progress because you don’t lose the essential items and equipment that make each successive run easier. Quite the opposite in fact, because you'll likely then have more earnings to spend on nifty upgrades to further enhance and power up your next run in all kinds of different and interesting ways. The way in which the story unfolds as you make each new run attempt is really quite clever, and definitely encourages repeated journeys. Also, each sector of space is procedurally generated, so even when you do fail to make it to the other side your next run is highly unlikely to be the same (so no need to worry about any tedious repetition). The game looks and feels gorgeous in action, with an easy-to-grasp flight model and an engaging mystery waiting to be uncovered. So if you're looking for a title that emphasizes space combat over cargo-hauling, Everspace may surprise you even with its roguelike elements.
The following video lets you see it in action and provides a useful, if heavily-accented, overview of why it's still worth playing in 2020:
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 1:51 am
by Blackhawk
The description (of the dying gameplay loop) reminds me a bit of Void Bastards, which I did enjoy, as there was no repetition, and progress was through dying. As it turns out, this is four bucks on Humble right now, so that's not much to lose.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 2:40 pm
by Rumpy
Everspace, heh. I got that one for free on GOG awhile back and I didn't like it much. Then again, I don't like roguelikes in general. Some roguelikes seem to go to extraordinary lengths to make things really difficult just they can fit it into their mechanics of rinse-and-repeat, and overall I just find them frustrating and not particularly enjoyable. I've never met a roguelike that I liked.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:16 pm
by Daehawk
I hate them also. But I know a guy online that just loves that type.
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:16 pm
by hitbyambulance
whereas the general characteristics of such (randomized environments, one-shot runs, randomized items and such) are present in pretty much all of the games i actually enjoy playing now.
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Sep 05, 2020 12:04 am
I do not enjoy losing progress and repeating content.
not a fan of arcade games, i take it
Re: Video Games Randomness
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 6:22 pm
by Blackhawk
hitbyambulance wrote: Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:16 pm
whereas the general characteristics of such (randomized environments, one-shot runs, randomized items and such) are present in pretty much all of the games i actually enjoy playing now.
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Sep 05, 2020 12:04 am
I do not enjoy losing progress and repeating content.
not a fan of arcade games, i take it
I used to live for them, but not since the early 90s when things like 'progress' and narrative became an option.
And I have to say, the puzzles are pretty ingenious, and I would want to see some of those odd solutions that managed to shave off a couple cycles off the standard ones. 
