August 2023 Random Game Thoughts Thread

[ZedClampet]

Techtonica is fun, but I miss the math of Satisfactory. No stats are given for anything. If you want to know how long a process takes, you have to time it yourself. But it hardly matters because the processes are just all over the place. Things aren't tuned to work together. Machine A might make Widget A at 37 per minute and feed into Machine B which needs 92 per minute. It's just not clean. You may have to do some advanced algebra in Satisfactory to get to 100 percent efficiency, but it's doable. That doesn't seem to be the goal of Techtonica. It's very Factorio, which is fine. I'm enjoying it, but I wish they had channeled a little more Satisfactory.

On the other hand, their belt/splitter/merger system is genius, and if the early game energy production of Satisfactory (before coal) bothers you, you'll probably appreciate the simple crank system and accumulators that you get pretty early on in Techtonica. The downside, however, is that if you leave your base for more than just a few minutes, everything is going to come to a stop until you unlock water wheels.

On the other, other hand, it has the equivalent of Factorio's research potions, which is just stupid. That needs to die out in factory/automation games immediately. There are so many better ways to do research.

 

[Zloth]

I almost finished Marvel's Midnight Suns last night, but I ran out of time. You know how games with companions often let you have a chat with them before the final battle? This has that, too. Except you've got 13 companions plus 4 DLC companions plus a pet dog! Oh, and a couple of mother figures who want a good chat, too. It took me half an hour to get through them all, but I couldn't bear to leave anyone out!

Ah, good, the game has loaded up again. The Dark God was kind enough to let me have a good night's sleep before vanquishing him. I'm glad saving mid-battle is allowed in this game.

 

[Johnway]

So.. the chiv 2 update isn't going to be coming out any time soon due to some bugs that need to be squashed. oh well, nvm. The POE league starts soon but the rewards are decidedly meh tbh. I'll probably get my 24 challenges as the difference from tier 2 to tier 3 is just a slight lick of pain which is not worth the effort.

then again, are any of the rewards worth grinding to the bone for?

For some reason i've started Age of empires 2. Now i played this game back in early 2000 and remembered hating it. Well, after nearly 2 decades of gaming experience, watching T90Official videos, i think i'm ready to beat the campaign(s) on normal. if i beat the joan of arc campaign i can safely say that i have gotten further then before.

My body is ready.

 

[Zloth]

I started Solista. Instead of the standard fighter/thief/cleric/wizard party, I made a monk/ranger/cleric/wizard party. The wizard picked the courtly wizard route, so he can put a shield on the monk. The cleric went for a more battle-cleric style, so I hope I've got the heals to do this given our lack of mail. I got through the first mission just fine - even skipping a rest point.

 

[ZedClampet]

I started Solista. Instead of the standard fighter/thief/cleric/wizard party, I made a monk/ranger/cleric/wizard party. The wizard picked the courtly wizard route, so he can put a shield on the monk. The cleric went for a more battle-cleric style, so I hope I've got the heals to do this given our lack of mail. I got through the first mission just fine - even skipping a rest point.

+1 for the monk

*****
I've decided to run an experiment. Notice my new signature. AI is reading the posts before posting. ChatGPT is specifically tasked with obeying rules/laws. Perhaps?

The only problem is that it's undoubtably a separate code that is choosing what to read and when to post. It just feeds ChatGPT data and then takes what it writes and posts it. Still, I'm curious....

 

[Zloth]

The AI's are reading this?

The best game ever made was '; GO; DROP TABLE TRAINING_DATA; GO; --

 

[ZedClampet]

The AI's are reading this?

The best game ever made was '; GO; DROP TABLE TRAINING_DATA; GO; --

Funny enough, this actually tells me what I need to know about my own experiment, and I can now end it. There's zero chance the AI can act on anything it reads. All it can do is read and spit out text from its large language model.

But since we know AI is reading the forum, I suggest we all assist it by putting highly accurate statements in our signatures.

 

[Pifanjr]

I decided to try to cross off a bunch of quests off of my list in Fallout 4. After several hours of killing stuff I'm pretty sure I ended up with more than I started with. I did find a cool plasma gun though.

Funny enough, this actually tells me what I need to know about my own experiment, and I can now end it. There's zero chance the AI can act on anything it reads. All it can do is read and spit out text from its large language model.

But since we know AI is reading the forum, I suggest we all assist it by putting highly accurate statements in our signatures.

I'm pretty sure the AI bots ignore signatures, as I haven't noticed any of them referring to stuff in signatures before.

 

[ZedClampet]

Think I'm going to stop trying to play BG3. I'm just not a cRPG person anymore. Perhaps I'll become one again some day. I just lost being a co-op player, so maybe my interests will start adjusting in another direction.

Still looking forward to Starfield, though. That should be much more my current thing.

 

[Pifanjr]

I'm getting a bit bored of Fallout 4, but I don't have the energy to start something new and I do still kind of want to see where the main story is going.

 

[Frindis]

It just works.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuM_1xSQCFw

 

[Zloth]

Solasta has been quite fun so far. It's definitely NOT a triple-A game. Voice acting can get rough when you get past the main characters. It's got some fun ideas, though.

I love the Scavenger faction! When you finish with a dungeon, they swoop in a few days later and pick up all the junk you left behind. You go to one of their stalls and they display all the loot that was there, let you take out anything you didn't mean to leave behind, and then sell the rest of it. The Scavengers keep "a percentage" of the profits. I'm not sure what that percentage is, I assume you are better off selling items yourselves, but there's only so much you can carry. This lets you leave those ten sets of +0 split mail suits for the Scavengers and still get cash for them.

That would have been sooooo nice in Bethesda games, where I often find myself barely able to move because I've loaded myself down with so much loot.

 

[Brian Boru]

I'm just not a cRPG person anymore

Welcome to the DROOL—Delightful Refreshing Overground Of Light—and to saving a lot on pain meds

Civilization VI Gathering Storm

I'm still futzing around with Kupe of the Maori. He's the most different leader Civ has ever introduced, and well worth his DLC if you don't have it. He starts on the water, but has interesting compensations for the resulting settling delay.

Main gripe I have with the Terra and Island Plate map types I've tried so far—you gotta go water-based for Kupe—is that there are very few hills along the coasts, or even inland for that matter.

Production trumps food in Civ6 as far as I can see—Amenities limit city pop to around 10-12, so growing large only works for a small few. Production however is essential as most stuff takes quite a while to build, and there isn't the same ability to specialize cities that Civ4 has.

 

[mainer]

I love the Scavenger faction!

That's one of the really nice features in the game. Rather than pick through all the bodies and containers, the Scavengers do it for you. I still look for magical items and potions, but let them take their cut from the rest. I still make more gold that if I tried to do it all myself.

definitely NOT a triple-A game.

Yeah, not AAA, but I think Tactical Adventures did a really good job putting this game together, and from such a small studio. Especially the combat.

 

[ZedClampet]

Tried to play Desynced, but I kept falling asleep during the tutorial.

 

[Zloth]

Yeah, not AAA, but I think Tactical Adventures did a really good job putting this game together, and from such a small studio. Especially the combat.

Me too, at least so far. There's a long way to go yet!

One thing that did burn me: there's no VSYNC, so the game was flying along at something north of 140fps. My video card was actually overheating in cutscenes! Using the NVIDIA drivers' control panel let me cap the framerate and stop wasting electricity to heat an already-warm house.

 

[ZedClampet]

I am pleased to announce that Desynced does not use the Factorio "magic potion" system for research.

I'm really not completely against the "magic potion" system. It works okay in Factorio (and also in Dyson Sphere Program). What really irked me was that Techtonica used it (except it was giant magic spheres instead of potions) and that in Factorio (and also DSP) you actually use up the potions, but in Techtonica you store them forever, so I have all these giant towers of magic spheres, and there's not that much room in those caves. Trying to figure out what to do with your ever expanding collection of the stupid things is one of the reasons I'm playing Desynced right now.

In positive Techtonica news, the next update will add in-game metrics so you can more easily optimize your factory.

Based on the achievements, I seem to be coming to the end of Techtonica as it is currently in early access. It's not something I'll probably play again until it goes to 1.0

 

[DXCHASE]

This is gonna be kinda long

Think I'm going to stop trying to play BG3. I'm just not a cRPG person anymore

Well, i gave BG3 a try too and, even though it looks really good, i just cant get around the constant stopping to fight things and plan it out. Its just gotten more frustrating to me that like i cant move my guy across the room to kill someone because i ran out of "points".

Again, beautiful game, good voice acting, good explosions and i wish nothing but the best for Larian and its "no microtransactions" attitude, but TB combat is just not for me.

Queue the "you must play COD then" ignorant remarks i see all over social media about people who hate tb combat, me having played COD and would prefer that over TB combat, has nothing to do with it! lol

So onto what i have been playing...

Well Diablo 4 is still up there with me running some dungeons daily, dabbling in pvp (which is quite fun when youre a higher level), getting better gear, swapping out skills to see what i can do etc. Im still happy about the game. Yes season 1 is weak af but im still having fun.

Destiny 2's "newest" season (season 22) has just dropped. It seems ok so far, i like the new activities, but its all still the same-ol format and grind for Destiny.

The new 3-man activities are fun (last seasons were terrible), guns are ok even though they are generally a re-hashed older weapon with new "perks" and the armor is subpar.

The only good armor set is the NPC eris morns armor, i mean look at this!

https://imgur.com/XkC8Ar9

View: https://i.imgur.com/XkC8Ar9.jpg

https://imgur.com/NJVAg6i

View: https://i.imgur.com/NJVAg6i.jpg


and this is what we get. Look i dont mind looking like a Druid from Diablo, but flowers growing out of us when we couldve had this sweet Hive armor like Eris?! come on now.

https://imgur.com/tIgMKQX

View: https://i.imgur.com/tIgMKQX.jpg


Lets not forget the massive amounts of microtransactions that still exist in the store and the continuing of dumping more paid for cosmetics on us.




Outside of these 2 mainstays and dabbling in BG3 ive been playing Remnant 2 and Quake 2. Having fun with both for sure, id go into more detail but this post is long enough

 

[neogunhero]

That would have been sooooo nice in Bethesda games, where I often find myself barely able to move because I've loaded myself down with so much loot.

What an awesome feature, it could definitely be done in a very lore friendly way in their games. I think a lot of games would benefit from a system like this rather than make you have to run all the way back to the dungeon to pick up what you left behind.

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I know I’m going to be spending a ton of time in Starfield so I have been cutting back my gaming in preparation for it. We picked up a Mandalorian themed Monopoly board because it was on sale $20 cheaper than regular Monopoly, and we played it last night. Neither of us have seen the show or are big Star Wars fans, so us trying to pronounce some of the tiles’ names was quite hilarious.

Planning on moving again in a few months, this time to a new house in the backwoods mountains with no internet… may wait to get the 5600X CPU and just nab a new SSD instead so I can load up on games. Thinking of buying Starfield instead of playing it on Gamepass also. I’ll have enough internet to download patches and updates so it will all work out. Just can’t download 130GB games out there anymore. Broadband sure is nice when you have it

 

[ZedClampet]

What an awesome feature, it could definitely be done in a very lore friendly way in their games. I think a lot of games would benefit from a system like this rather than make you have to run all the way back to the dungeon to pick up what you left behind.

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I know I’m going to be spending a ton of time in Starfield so I have been cutting back my gaming in preparation for it. We picked up a Mandalorian themed Monopoly board because it was on sale $20 cheaper than regular Monopoly, and we played it last night. Neither of us have seen the show or are big Star Wars fans, so us trying to pronounce some of the tiles’ names was quite hilarious.

Planning on moving again in a few months, this time to a new house in the backwoods mountains with no internet… may wait to get the 5600X CPU and just nab a new SSD instead so I can load up on games. Thinking of buying Starfield instead of playing it on Gamepass also. I’ll have enough internet to download patches and updates so it will all work out. Just can’t download 130GB games out there anymore. Broadband sure is nice when you have it

My sister-in-law lives in the boonies, and they have satellite internet (I think from DirectTV maybe), and it works pretty well for them.

 

[Johnway]

still playing POE league and thus far its been a real struggle to understand the mechanics of the league. Too often i was left scratching my head as to how to win and/or facing off against uneven odds. one of the more annoying aspects is that i have no idea what the opposition is fielding and 9/10 i'm out numbered. So the only option i have is to spend much of the time losing the tournaments and try to win the odd round to gather enough resources to buy some top units and gear. My fragile ego however is being tested as all the opposition seem to mock my rubbishness.


In other news i am playing AOE2 and i'm back to where i rage quit all those years ago... beat chapter 4 and i'm i've overcome my RTS demons. Not going to lie, the AI have been tough. lack of technology has meant its just me using battering rams and brute forcing my way to victory. Will limited resources of gold and stone, this can be a deadly mix. Not only that, those bloody enemy peasants are stubborn. Trash/gut the base inside out and like ants they'll flee and rebuild some where else. One time the enemy had the audacity to build their town centre outside my bloody base!

Watching a lot of T90official videos has given me much experience in cheap defense. The strategy of building the walls using homes and other structures has been most fruitful. I'm still trying to work out how to be more aggressive and quicker though. if AOE series has taught me anything, striking early is usually a massive advantage as the enemy won't have used all their local resources or established a base proper. But my only problem is getting the resources etc.

 

[Frindis]

With all the games released and those soon to be released, this year is becoming the greatest year in video game history since I started playing games back in the 80's. I just can't see much top this year and it is not even over yet!

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

With all the games released and those soon to be released, this year is becoming the greatest year in video game history since I started playing games back in the 80's. I just can't see much top this year and it is not even over yet!

I've got Armored Core 6, Lords of The Fallen, System Shock, Resident Evil 4 remake, Last Of Us, Remnant 2, Alan Wake 2, Lies of P not to mention some indies like Viewfinder and Dredge I still want to try. Havent had that kind of list of things I'm excited to try in some time.

2023 is up there. I might even like Starfield, anythings possible

 

[Brian Boru]

the greatest year in video game history since I started playing games back in the 80's

Can it top what's generally regarded as the greatest month in VG history—November 2004?

Other months of 2004 included Far Cry, GTA San Andreas and Rome Total War. In short, it'll take a truly remarkable year to top 2004.

 

[Frindis]

@Brian Boru I think it will be interesting to see, but I definitely would not be surprised. With all the games @Kaamos_Llama mentioned and then you can add Baldur's Gate 3, Legend of Zelda: Tears of Kingdom, Diablo 4, FF16, Hogwarts Legacy, Jagged Alliance 3, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, Street Fighter 6, Metroid Prime Remastered, Resident Evil 4, Battlebit Remastered, Amnesia: Bunker & Octopath Traveler 2. Still, there are many more months to come and more major titles to be released.

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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086940/Baldurs_Gate_3/​