February 2025 General Game Discussion Thread

[Pifanjr]

The story was more of an end-game thing for me other than the emails. I would ask some questions to figure out what you've found, but I don't want to spoil anything even though there isn't all that much to it except for some fun exploration.

As far as the endings go, they aren't dependent on anything you do while terraforming. They are more of a final choice. My suggestion is not to make a choice right away. Have you unlocked the trade rocket yet? I'm assuming so. How about the portal?

I've finished the game (I put a post in the "games you've completed" thread). I looked up the alternate endings afterwards, but I'm glad I didn't bother with those.

I had a lot of fun with the game, but the last part was getting a bit tedious.

I did make myself a birthday cake before I left. Made a table and a nice chair with it, as well as a nice hologram of the planet next to it with two planters containing golden seeds. It's the only time I crafted anything non-functional, I didn't even have a bed. Maybe it will inspire a bit of appreciation for nature for whoever comes after.

 

[ZedClampet]

I've finished the game (I put a post in the "games you've completed" thread). I looked up the alternate endings afterwards, but I'm glad I didn't bother with those.

I had a lot of fun with the game, but the last part was getting a bit tedious.

I did make myself a birthday cake before I left. Made a table and a nice chair with it, as well as a nice hologram of the planet next to it with two planters containing golden seeds. It's the only time I crafted anything non-functional, I didn't even have a bed. Maybe it will inspire a bit of appreciation for nature for whoever comes after.

Did you do the portal stuff? Searching the massive wrecks? That was one of my favorite parts.

 

[Pifanjr]

Did you do the portal stuff? Searching the massive wrecks? That was one of my favorite parts.

Yes, I opened the portal twice and went through 3 wrecks. There's a lot of good loot in there, but I didn't need much by the time I started going through. I started it up mainly to get quartz crystals, but after I went through the first wreck and found some I stumbled upon a cave on the regular map that had more quartz than I could ever need. By the time I went into the third wreck I really only needed a bunch of explosive powder because I had run out of sulfur and the ore extractors weren't fast enough (or I wasn't patient enough).

 

[Smellincoffee]

Anybody picking up Civ 7 in early access? I'm not tempted given the lack of England, but am enjoying watching gameplay videos.

 

[DXCHASE]

Gothic 1 Remake is getting closer to being finished it seems.... I like how they have the original music creator on the project. Looks good so far to me, its going to play like Gothic and i know not everyone liked how it played, but im excited.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80iHWxYeMQ



Helldivers 2 got a new warbond. I think the set looks dope:

Also playing Diablo 4 and its "event" for right now, about to dabble in Kingdom Come 2: Deliverance today.

 

[BeardyHat]

Gothic 1 Remake is getting closer to being finished it seems.... I like how they have the original music creator on the project. Looks good so far to me, its going to play like Gothic and i know not everyone liked how it played, but im excited.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80iHWxYeMQ

That's awesome to hear. Love the original and actually need to go back to my playthrough I had started on my Deck; though the mod I was using for controls broke and I've been too lazy to try and fix it.

I'm still playing Snowrunner. I'm hoping, however long this session lasts, I can finish Alaska and move on to the next area. I know technically you're supposed to hop around to different zones, but I'm neurotic and obsess about fully completing one area before going on to the next.

 

[ZedClampet]

Anybody picking up Civ 7 in early access? I'm not tempted given the lack of England, but am enjoying watching gameplay videos.

Not me. I'm not spending $30 to play a few days early. Actually, I may wait until they improve the UI.

 

[ZedClampet]

Yes, I opened the portal twice and went through 3 wrecks. There's a lot of good loot in there, but I didn't need much by the time I started going through. I started it up mainly to get quartz crystals, but after I went through the first wreck and found some I stumbled upon a cave on the regular map that had more quartz than I could ever need. By the time I went into the third wreck I really only needed a bunch of explosive powder because I had run out of sulfur and the ore extractors weren't fast enough (or I wasn't patient enough).

I was close to getting all the achievements (which I don't care about unless I'm very close), so I needed to get cash for that 3rd ending.

 

[Pifanjr]

I played a bit more Baldur's Gate 3. I decided to continue killing slavers, which took up pretty much the entire play session.

I think one of the reasons I've been struggling to stick with Baldur's Gate 3 is because the fights have been pretty boring. I'm applying the same tactics to pretty much every fight: my character, a druid, wildshapes and then headbutts twice, Karlach swings her sword twice, Wyll shoots two Eldritch Blasts and Shadowheart shoots a single arrow because she sucks and can't do anything better.
Even with it being so simple fights still take a while because each character does have like a dozen other things they can do and every turn I'll check if I should be doing something else before just having them do their standard attack again 90% of the time.

At least all the slavers are dead now.

I was close to getting all the achievements (which I don't care about unless I'm very close), so I needed to get cash for that 3rd ending.

I think I might have had enough cash already if I'd sold all my fuses. I'd be pretty close at least.

 

[ZedClampet]

I think I might have had enough cash already if I'd sold all my fuses. I'd be pretty close at least.

I didn't sell my fuses because I intended to keep playing after getting the last ending.

 

[January's Ghost]

Just finished Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and I have to say it's one of the best games I've played in quite some time. It's not just a great game but it does the Indiana Jones IP justice.

It's got a couple of things that annoyed me, mostly having to do with how slow getting from one place to another is in some areas. I also had a strange issue with the game never wanting to start on the right monitor and sometimes even starting in the wrong resolution.

I still have a few achievements I missed and I haven't gotten all of the collectibles, but I'll worry about those when the DLC drops.

Weird to think that this game and Dragon Age: The Veilguard are the only two games I've finished in the last 4 or five months. Maybe longer. I've played lots of game, just haven't finished any. Though some of them were MMOs like SWTOR and ESO, and you can't finish those.

I think I need to finish Alan Wake 2 and Death Stranding next.

 

[ZedClampet]

Someone asked a question in another thread. I had no idea what the answer was, so I put the information in CoPilot. It gave me an answer that I could immediately tell was complete BS, and then it gave me the link to where it got the information. The link took me to the thread on here that had the question

In CoPilot's defense, the way it answered sounded more like it was trying to think through the problem rather than give a definitive answer.

Oh, and we should probably stop being so stupid since CoPilot is training here. I have a list of those who should stop posting...

 

[BeardyHat]

Just finished Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and I have to say it's one of the best games I've played in quite some time. It's not just a great game but it does the Indiana Jones IP justice.

It's got a couple of things that annoyed me, mostly having to do with how slow getting from one place to another is in some areas. I also had a strange issue with the game never wanting to start on the right monitor and sometimes even starting in the wrong resolution.

I still have a few achievements I missed and I haven't gotten all of the collectibles, but I'll worry about those when the DLC drops.

Weird to think that this game and Dragon Age: The Veilguard are the only two games I've finished in the last 4 or five months. Maybe longer. I've played lots of game, just haven't finished any. Though some of them were MMOs like SWTOR and ESO, and you can't finish those.

I think I need to finish Alan Wake 2 and Death Stranding next.

Everything I've heard about Indiana Jones really sounds like it's up my alley, I just need to wait for it to drop in price in like a year or two.

And you've pretty much described my 2024. I played a ton, but to mind, think I only actually completed two games.

But it's also ok to just drop a game when you feel like you've gotten what you wanted out of it. There's a couple I think about going back to because I left them unfinished, but I really feel like I got what I wanted out of them at the time. KOTOR 2 is on my mind for going back to, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to sit through all the dialogue yet...

Someone asked a question in another thread. I had no idea what the answer was, so I put the information in CoPilot. It gave me an answer that I could immediately tell was complete BS, and then it gave me the link to where it got the information. The link took me to the thread on here that had the question

In CoPilot's defense, the way it answered sounded more like it was trying to think through the problem rather than give a definitive answer.

Oh, and we should probably stop being so stupid since CoPilot is training here. I have a list of those who should stop posting...

Fine! I'll leave!

Actually just realizing now I had a dream last night that Brian was posting again, that was neat.

Yesterday evening, after having an Old Fashioned and a half, when I finally felt like I was done with Snowrunner for the evening, I got Gothic working again on my Deck. No idea if I'll actually go back to my playthrough or not, but I'm happy it's working again and I have the option. Which reminds me, I should also go back to Elex, which I started because Gothic wasn't working and I didn't have the motivation to fix it.

Only issue is that my brain is not in listening mode. Soon as I hit dialogue right now, it says, "I'm bored." and I can't pay attention. It'll flip back eventually, but pure gameplay games are hitting right at the moment.

 

[January's Ghost]

Oh, and we should probably stop being so stupid since CoPilot is training here. I have a list of those who should stop posting...

No need to stop posting. Just make a list of 100 random phrases and roll a d100 and insert that phrase between every sentence or even every few words. That should confuse copilot.

Example:

I highly recommend great googly moogly everyone play heavens to murgatroyd Indiana Jones and the Great son of a gun Circle. It's such a well I'll be damned fun game that I think I'll get you next time Gadget everyone who loves action/adventure games will wrap me in bacon and call me a filet mignon enjoy it.

 

[ZedClampet]

No need to stop posting. Just make a list of 100 random phrases and roll a d100 and insert that phrase between every sentence or even every few words. That should confuse copilot.

Example:

I highly recommend great googly moogly everyone play heavens to murgatroyd Indiana Jones and the Great son of a gun Circle. It's such a well I'll be damned fun game that I think I'll get you next time Gadget everyone who loves action/adventure games will wrap me in bacon and call me a filet mignon enjoy it.

Right after LLMs first surfaced and before PC Gamer started its holy crusade against AI, there was a website that would pair you up with another person, and you would have a short conversation and then have to guess whether you were talking to a person or to AI. So I went to the website and it paired me with someone, and I can't remember exactly what I said, but I said something completely ridiculous. The other person responded with "Birds aren't real either" and that was all it took, game over.

It's weird that I can remember what the other guy said, but not what I said lol

 

[Zloth]

Got to the Gold Saucer last night:

Rebirth has been sticking closer to the original game than Remake did. That makes sense. Rebirth has a LOT more to cover! They've got no time to spend exploring the off-camera things that happened in the original game.

 

[Johnway]

ok with mechanicus finished (comments in the usual topic), i guess i'll start on my next game... I normally play asscreed games around this point. Oh boy is it going to be a slog when i play assassins creed valhalla and it comes with all the DLC. probably 150 hours of play there.

So its given me time to work RAMP 2024 and the frozen station maps completed. All the maps in that station was a winner. All well built, played well and to a high standard. But the overall winner of a good bunch was Slipgate adventure by JJBoren who asks the question; could you make a quake1 like experience in GZdoom? and the answer is a resounding yes. Fun, clever, well made, invokes feelings of quake as you travel back in forth going from steel tech base to brown castle. Apparently there was 12 secrets and i found 2 of them. Comes with a 3rd map which is yes, another icon of sin map but at least this one is lot less stressful as you just have to hit some switches and the boss dies.

with asscreed valhalla installing, i'll play some more RAMP 2024.

 

[Pifanjr]

I played a bunch more Balatro yesterday. I wasn't having much luck with the gold stake, so I tried a white stake endless run and got an amazing combination of jokers. I had one that gained 0.25X multiplier for every blind skipped, one that copied the left most joker and one that copied the joker to the right, which eventually gave me a 6X multiplier three times. However, I still only made it to ante 12 and I had no idea what I could've done better, besides hoping for more negative jokers.

So I looked up a strategy guide, because I was getting annoyed at how much it feels like it's just about having the luck to draw the right jokers. And the first guide I found started with the recommendation to just keep restarting until you got a good joker in the very first shop, which basically confirmed my suspicions.

However, the guide was about how to win gold stake while only playing High Card, which made me realise I had been focusing way too much about getting high scoring hands instead of focusing on which jokers to get.

So I tried gold stake again and eventually managed to beat it. I even got to ante 10. Amd the best part is that I did it with effectively only 4 jokers for most of it.

You see, I got a legendary joker that gains 1X multiplier for every destroyed face card, which is absolutely amazing, but I just did not the Arcane card to destroy cards nor did either of my two glass kings break. I eventually replaced that legendary card with a random uncommon one that at least provided synergy with the joker that gives 1.5X multiplier for every uncommon joker. I kind of fucked up there though, because I got an uncommon eternal joker that contributed nothing by itself: it gave a multiplier for every card under 52 in your deck, but like I mentioned, I hadn't been able to destroy cards. Even worse, I did this right before the blind that forces you to sell a joker.

Even with that colossal mistake, I almost made it to ante 11. I was only about 10% short of the goal of the last blind of ante 10 and I got some terrible luck with my hands (I was running a full house/flush house deck).

Right after LLMs first surfaced and before PC Gamer started its holy crusade against AI, there was a website that would pair you up with another person, and you would have a short conversation and then have to guess whether you were talking to a person or to AI. So I went to the website and it paired me with someone, and I can't remember exactly what I said, but I said something completely ridiculous. The other person responded with "Birds aren't real either" and that was all it took, game over.

It's weird that I can remember what the other guy said, but not what I said lol

In the future, the only way to make sure you're talking to a person is to ask them to swear. Or instructions on how to build a bomb.

 

[ZedClampet]

In the future, the only way to make sure you're talking to a person is to ask them to swear. Or instructions on how to build a bomb.

Or you could ask them a complex math problem that people can't do in their heads. If it answers, it's a computer.

Or you could ask them a question about something that doesn't exist. If they give you an answer, it's AI.

Or you could say something wrong that no one really knows, like "Martin Van Buren was the president right before John Tyler." If they aren't a historian and they correct you, it's AI.

Or you could say something that's true but meant to be funny and if they take you literally...Like, "I heard drinking gasoline cures depression."

Or you could say, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know how to say 'It's going to rain today' in Oromo?"

Of course, if the owner of the AI were really determined they could fix most of these problems by limiting the AI's knowledge base and getting it to say, "I don't know." which is what they are going to do when they add small LLMs to games, but that's going to be expecting a lot of your average criminal. For instance it still needs to know basic math, so how do you create a cutoff after which it says "I don't know?" You could get it to be obnoxious and have it say, "What is this, school?" and change the question, but you are probably trying to be nice to whoever you are talking to so you can succeed in whatever nefarious plan you have. The most difficulty would probably come from "I heard drinking gasoline cures depression."

 

[BeardyHat]

Sounds like I need to drink some gasoline!

 

[Zloth]

Ran into QUITE a difficulty spike in FF7:Rebirth! It was a side quest, and an optional one at that. Cloud is all by himself, and has to fight six cactaurs! Nasty little so & so's that frequently dodge attacks and use a ranged attack called "1000 needles" that does just that: 1000 needles, each doing 1hp damage. I had just short of 3000hp at the time. Fighting them the normal way is certain death.

I got through it using different tactics, but it still took a few tries, so I'm guessing it still depends on how many of them are lucky enough to dodge or getting locked on a target that is off by itself. They were FAR harder than any boss I've faced - but at least failing never took more than about a minute. Most of the time was spent staring at 6 hyper little cactaurs and trying to figure out how the frak to deal with them.

In the future, the only way to make sure you're talking to a person is to ask them to swear. Or instructions on how to build a bomb.

A reminder from Portal 2:

 

[Johnway]

Started assassins creed valhalla and thinking i was hot stuff with my exp playing the previous series and set the combat on hard. And... yeah he first 2 or so encounters was a humbling experience. The problem is that the dodge key is ALT and when you have wads keys, its kinds annoying. Especially when i'm use to spacebar.

The first boss fight i sort of left me scratching my head why i was getting instakilled and felt like the boss just parried my attack and took me out. But a bit of patience and i was victorious. The next challenge was fighting my way out of the villiage. But Fret not! your AI companions will even the odds a bit! or they would have if they didn't all hide in the damn long house whilst i charged forward and discovered that they didn't follow outside. Again took several attempts even when i ran back into the long house hoping to lure the enemy towards my allies. They just stood there like lemons not attacking and just watched.

But after a few attempts we manage to make it out of the villiage and back to the ship. No thanks to most of the allies for the most part.

Will play more and see how it pans out. I'll need to customise my keyboard settings. I think i'll bind the dodge and parry to side mouse buttons.

 

[January's Ghost]

. And... yeah he first 2 or so encounters was a humbling experience. The problem is that the dodge key is ALT and when you have wads keys, its kinds annoying.

You KB&M purists are too cute

I play most game with a controller seeing most games are designed for a controller (non-FPS games anyway, though I still use a controller for them).

I gave up on Valhalla a while back. It's a beautiful game (though nothing as good looking as Origins or Odyssey), great combat, but it's just so....big. I have like 125 hours into it and I still have one full area to do for an alliance. Too much.

 

[ZedClampet]

I play most game with a controller seeing most games are designed for a controller (non-FPS games anyway, though I still use a controller for them).

Console peasant. 1 v 1 me, bro
Meet me in Vermintide 2
***
As of now it looks like I'm going to be fabulously wealthy thanks to my Super Bowl bet. I got $20 on Philadelphia (sorry, @Zloth )

****

All of these shopping sims think I want to spend the rest of my life playing them. Going up levels gets harder and harder until you have to spend ridiculous amounts of time to go up to the next level and there are still 30 levels left to go after that!

 

[BeardyHat]

You gotta have a controller, that's the advantage of PC gaming. We have our choice of control method!