January 2024 General Game Discussion Thread

[Brian Boru]

a never ending story

Might be sth for you in this 13m Gameranx video:

@gldflcn​

1 day ago
0:25 Hitman Trilogy1:47 Risk of Rain 2 2:40 Monster Hunter World 3:42 Vampire Survivors5:26 Battle Brothers 6:38 Deep Rock Galactic 7:36 Dead Cells9:04 7 Days to Die9:56 Stellaris10:55 Rim World
Bonus: Binding of Isaac, Stardew Valley, Skyrim, Minecraft

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv5CwA3MVJ0

 

[Pifanjr]

I finally went through the Aurora in Subnautica and got a bunch of lore, then went looking for another escape pod and got a whole bunch more lore. Also there's a countdown now and while I have a decent idea of what will happen when the countdown ends, I'm not sure what the consequences will be.

I'm tempted to look it up, but I can also just wait until I can play again. There were less than 10 minutes left when I had to quit.

I also got a bunch of new blueprints, so whatever happens I do hope I get some resources out of it.

 

[Johnway]

As promised i think i'll start playing Assassin's creed odyessy just looked at the download its 102gb in size. Yikes. make sure i play the game and complete every bit of content as i dare not go back to downloading it again...

 

[Colif]

Might be sth for you in this 13m Gameranx video:

Already had one... Stellaris. I am not really into 4x games. Too much conflict.

I wish they had a list of names in description so I didn't have to skip through entire thing to see what they suggest... wonder how many ads in that video.

Rest of the games don't interest me. I am very picky 😀

 

[Pifanjr]

As promised i think i'll start playing Assassin's creed odyessy just looked at the download its 102gb in size. Yikes. make sure i play the game and complete every bit of content as i dare not go back to downloading it again...

I wasn't quite prepared for Baldur's Gate 3's having a 150GB install size either. Luckily we have fiber now, so it didn't take all that long, I think about 45 minutes.

 

[Pifanjr]

My wife claimed the PC this evening, so I played a bit of Frogcomposband on my work laptop instead. I had been thinking about doing another run as a Ring for a while, but I hadn't had enough motivation to get through the beginning again before.

As a ring, you cannot equip items or even move around by yourself. You are dependent on dominating another creature when it decides to wear you. Your starting power is to glimmer and wait until something picks you up. Hopefully something not too powerful or they'll reject your domination and just attack you.

In my case, the very first thing that showed up was Smeagol, which seemed very fitting. He's also pretty hardy, which is nice, and so far hasn't turned against me.

 

[Brian Boru]

4x games. Too much conflict

Civ4 has an Always Peace—and Always War—setting in Custom game, other versions probably have too. I'm surprised if other 4Xs don't have the same, it's an important setting for learning the game—but if not, there may be applicable mods.

list of names in description

Yeah that's annoying. Sometimes a friendly viewer has posted it in a comment, I've edited it into post above.

Rest of the games don't interest me. I am very picky

Me too and me too 😀

 

[Zloth]

I wasn't quite prepared for Baldur's Gate 3's having a 150GB install size either. Luckily we have fiber now, so it didn't take all that long, I think about 45 minutes.

That's too long for a Gigabit/s speed! 150Gb (small b for gigabits) would take 150 seconds, so under 3 minutes. Multiply by 8 to change the little b to a big B and you should be under half an hour easily. Is this slower fiber? Or maybe Steam (or whatever) was going slow?

(By the way, you can tell Steam to give you download speed in Mb/s in the settings somewhere.)

As a ring, you cannot equip items or even move around by yourself. You are dependent on dominating another creature when it decides to wear you.

So you don't phone the characters up one by one, say "7 days," and then wait for them to freak themselves out until they die? 😉

 

[Pifanjr]

I got to the end of the countdown in Subnautica and had a good view of the happenings, but sadly did not get resources out of it. I did built the Cyclops, a mobile base, and filled every available spot at the entry way with storage lockers, which I filled with all of the resources I had spread over 4 different bases. I even got them somewhat organised, though I want to switch some stuff around next time so the most common crafting resources are closer to the fabrication station. It was more stuff than I realised I had, I actually had to make two more storage lockers upstairs.

That's too long for a Gigabit/s speed! 150Gb (small b for gigabits) would take 150 seconds, so under 3 minutes. Multiply by 8 to change the little b to a big B and you should be under half an hour easily. Is this slower fiber? Or maybe Steam (or whatever) was going slow?

(By the way, you can tell Steam to give you download speed in Mb/s in the settings somewhere.)

I should have 1 Gbps. I didn't time the download though, so maybe it was closer to half an hour.

So you don't phone the characters up one by one, say "7 days," and then wait for them to freak themselves out until they die? 😉

I don't think anyone owns a TV for me to crawl out of.

I ended up dying at level 15 or so. I accepted a quest that started off pretty well, until someone blinded me. I should have just cut my losses, but on low levels getting quest rewards is the fastest way to get stronger, so I stuck around too long and got killed.

At the next attempt I got picked up by a leper, who ended up dying on the second floor of the first dungeon, after which a wild cat destroyed me before I could get picked up again.

For my newest attempt I got picked up by a novice ranger, which is nice because he can shoot at enemies before they reach melee range. Smeagol was okay as a minion because he has a decent amount of HP and he's fast, but he doesn't really do any damage.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Busy, busy. Playing some Total War with Guido today, though, because he starts classes again tomorrow.

 

[BeardyHat]

I got to the end of the countdown in Subnautica and had a good view of the happenings, but sadly did not get resources out of it. I did built the Cyclops, a mobile base, and filled every available spot at the entry way with storage lockers, which I filled with all of the resources I had spread over 4 different bases. I even got them somewhat organised, though I want to switch some stuff around next time so the most common crafting resources are closer to the fabrication station. It was more stuff than I realised I had, I actually had to make two more storage lockers upstairs.

I love the Cyclops so much. It's so cool what a resilient piece of hardware it is and it was always exciting navigating it to deeper and deeper depths; loved the mobile base aspect of it and that it has the bay to carry the Seamoth. I always kept mine fully stocked on the distraction beacons, just in case.

Well, I was playing a lot of Wizardry 8 up until recently. Playing Realms of Arkania - Blade of Destiny (Remake) gave me a taste for a first person RPG and after poking around on the GoG and Steam stores for a new game, I decided I'd just play what was in my library.

Wizardry 8 is pretty interesting and coming out in 2001, it has a lot of aspects that remind me of playing Everquest back in the day, between the graphics, the music and the creature models, but of course, it's all much more fleshed out being a singleplayer RPG.

Really loving it and played 11-hours, but I think I've kind of reached the end of my time with it for the time being. I've been really loving it and absolutely want to continue it, but as of last Saturday, I've fallen down a hobby hole and have been devoting every free moment to that (building and painting), so I'm now wanting something a little less serious and more immediate to play with my gaming time. Not entirely sure what that is yet, but I may go back to Snowrunner on my Deck for the time being.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Well, I'm officially on an indie development team. I'm only doing it part time on an as needed basis. Well, until the crap hits the fan, then I'll probably get dragged into doing it non-stop, 7 days a week (although they assure me this doesn't happen). Actually, the bulk of what they want me to do I could probably do in a week, but I'm also consulting on one aspect of the game that I have extensive experience with in real life. I'm also attempting to create an AI for the game, but it's not going to be included in the release, so there's no pressure there. It's more of a "how could this help us in the future" sort of thing.

All of this is to say that between this and my waning interest in the forums that I intend to post very infrequently going forward. I'm only letting everyone know because of the whole Mainer thing. I've been very active, and if I drop out of sight for a few weeks, I don't want you to wonder whether I'm still alive. I will, at a minimum. start the monthly threads. And it's possible that I'll post more than I think I will, but I just wanted to give a heads up just in case.

 

[Zloth]

I love the Cyclops so much. It's so cool what a resilient piece of hardware it is and it was always exciting navigating it to deeper and deeper depths; loved the mobile base aspect of it and that it has the bay to carry the Seamoth. I always kept mine fully stocked on the distraction beacons, just in case.

I didn't have mine for very long, as I recall. I certainly didn't stock it up all that much - just enough to do the last area of exploration. I finished the game not long after. I wonder if anyone found my time capsule?

Wizardry 8 is pretty interesting and coming out in 2001, it has a lot of aspects that remind me of playing Everquest back in the day, between the graphics, the music and the creature models, but of course, it's all much more fleshed out being a singleplayer RPG.

It was pretty hard, too! I never did finish the game.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I was in a hurry yesterday and want to explain the AI part since everyone is against AI these days. I was speaking carelessly. This is traditional game AI. We're working on an American football game. The way the game is going to work, you call an offensive or defensive play and the game looks at a table that tells it the result of those two plays when used against each other. The result is then modified based on the stats of the players and RNG. The game then simulates this result graphically for the player to watch.

That's all great, and it's probably never going to change. It's easy and it works. But I've convinced the developer to let me attempt a more complex AI that simulates each player's actions. For instance, what happens on this play when this offensive lineman tries to block this particular defensive linemen. Simulate that for all the players and see if I can get realistic play results, The primary advantage to this is that it would open up letting the player draw up their own plays and formations, which is impossible if you can only use the ones included in the results table. The primary disadvantage to this is the rather significant potential to get unexpected, unrealistic results.

This isn't ground-breaking. Madden has done this for as long as I can remember (but it actually isn't that great at it--see people running the same play over and over again against the AI). But I've dreamt of giving it a shot myself for probably 40 years, and now I get to try.

 

[Zloth]

I was in a hurry yesterday and want to explain the AI part since everyone is against AI these days.

Wait, what?? I hear a lot of folks for, against, for stuff they do but not stuff that's their job to do, and plenty of opinions based on completely bizzarro stuff they are calling AI.

The primary disadvantage to this is the rather significant potential to get unexpected, unrealistic results.

You mean like the Raiders getting 14 points off the Chiefs in just 7 seconds. On CHRISTMAS DAY!?

But I've dreamt of giving it a shot myself for probably 40 years, and now I get to try.

Great!!

Remember, clipping is annoying in RPGs but we can look past it. In a football game, though...

View: https://youtu.be/zSSy1lVlm9k?si=cB9BJ9fDyghnvxRJ&t=66

 

[Brian Boru]

primary disadvantage to this is the rather significant potential to get unexpected, unrealistic results

Could also be a strain on the CPU, so bear that in mind—good luck with it 🙂

 

[Johnway]

Started assassins creed odyssey a few days ago and it so far i'm enjoying it. granted its your formulaic Assassins creed game, but hey, its fun so i don't mind. We'll see how my tune changes after 100+ hours though.

On the 3ds i'm still working through mario sticker star (my first foray into paper mario series). I'll put my comments and opinions once i beat the game. On the sid (and on a whim) i decieed to play shin megami tensei VI, your persona based dungeon craweler on the 3ds. Just like strangers journey it feels like a grindfest.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Wait, what?? I hear a lot of folks for, against, for stuff they do but not stuff that's their job to do, and plenty of opinions based on completely bizzarro stuff they are calling AI.

You mean like the Raiders getting 14 points off the Chiefs in just 7 seconds. On CHRISTMAS DAY!?

Great!!

Remember, clipping is annoying in RPGs but we can look past it. In a football game, though...

View: https://youtu.be/zSSy1lVlm9k?si=cB9BJ9fDyghnvxRJ&t=66

Haha. I'm not doing anything with penalties, which are going to be random but partially based on one of the stats of the players.

The only thing I'm really doing for this game is rating players and coaches and filling tables with those ratings, and trying to keep a realistic balance based on real life college football.

I had to talk him into my simulation stuff, and it definitely isn't going to be in the game that releases in August, and there may never be a second game (if there's even time to work it into the next one), although he is optimistic as of today that he will release a new version every summer. It's more of a small passion project than an attempt to compete with EA, which is releasing its own college football game this summer.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Wait, what?? I hear a lot of folks for, against, for stuff they do but not stuff that's their job to do
View: https://youtu.be/zSSy1lVlm9k?si=cB9BJ9fDyghnvxRJ&t=66

Just clarifying that if you thought I was against any type of AI then that was incorrect. I love AI of all types (that I'm aware of).

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I've been away from home but mostly back now. Still playing Against the Storm when I get a chance and still having fun with it.

 

[Zloth]

Cyberpunk is trying to wrap up, and I'm trying to prolong it. The main quest for this game is actually quite short - maybe 20 hours. It's actually not easy to know which quest line IS the main quest line either, so I was a bit surprised when I started to get near the location for one of them and a popup showed up telling me so. There's still PLENTY more to see and do! My street cred maxxed out a long time ago, though, and tier 5+ is dropping pretty often now.

Different types of clothing still drop all the time, though. I don't believe I've ever seen a single player game with so many different styles of threads! Maybe even more than City of Heroes! Stunning, given the game is mostly played in first person mode.

 

[Pifanjr]

I didn't have much time to play the past few days, but I did make it to the next area in Subnautica. After finally finding the last escape pod (which sadly didn't have any new blueprints), I found the deep cave system, upon which the ship computer told me that the environment checks 7 out of 9 criteria for inducing terror in humans...

So I decided that if I had to go down there, I should be as well prepared as possible, so I built a base right on the edge of the ravine, which took quite some time, in part because I made it too big, which caused the hull integrity to fail and my base to flood.

The only reason I made it so big was because I needed a way to charge my cyclops. It turns out using it as a mobile base drains its 6 power cells really fast. However, I don't have the blueprint for the power cell charger, but I can make a vehicle bay that recharges the vehicle in it and the prawn suit is powered by 2 power cells. It's a bit bothersome, but it's better than having to craft new power cells each time they're empty.

However, after finishing my base I had run out of water and I didn't see any resources to create new water, so I built a filtration machine... which then drained every bit of power from my base within a minute or so. Turns out I'll need an entire new reactor just to power it.

It's probably going to be a while before I'm ready to actually get to these caves, which I can't say I really mind.

I was in a hurry yesterday and want to explain the AI part since everyone is against AI these days. I was speaking carelessly. This is traditional game AI. We're working on an American football game. The way the game is going to work, you call an offensive or defensive play and the game looks at a table that tells it the result of those two plays when used against each other. The result is then modified based on the stats of the players and RNG. The game then simulates this result graphically for the player to watch.

That's all great, and it's probably never going to change. It's easy and it works. But I've convinced the developer to let me attempt a more complex AI that simulates each player's actions. For instance, what happens on this play when this offensive lineman tries to block this particular defensive linemen. Simulate that for all the players and see if I can get realistic play results, The primary advantage to this is that it would open up letting the player draw up their own plays and formations, which is impossible if you can only use the ones included in the results table. The primary disadvantage to this is the rather significant potential to get unexpected, unrealistic results.

This isn't ground-breaking. Madden has done this for as long as I can remember (but it actually isn't that great at it--see people running the same play over and over again against the AI). But I've dreamt of giving it a shot myself for probably 40 years, and now I get to try.

You're living my dream.

 

[dxchase]

Well, I'm officially on an indie development team.

All of this is to say that between this and my waning interest in the forums that I intend to post very infrequently going forward.

Its great to hear about your new gig! Sad youll be posting less tho. If you get any new info or have a steam page, lmk

Busy, busy. Playing some Total War with Guido today, though, because he starts classes again tomorrow.

My son starts next wednesday but moves in this weekend. having got to work all week. Ive been squeezing time in with my son on Lethal Company (30 days without restart is our max. 35 with 2 restarts)

Played some Lethal Company yesterday with the wife and son. It was a good time. Started out on the hardest moon eclipsed which was fun considered my wife (whos played very little) was the one that had to take off with the ship because my son and i were eating by giants on a set of stairs.


Have spent more time with Cyberpunk 2077. I am milking the dlc story mission though because i am going for a 100% completion of the game. It just looks so damn amazing. Im pretty much wrapped up on side gigs for Night City (maybe 5-10 missions left in total) and then about 7 left in the new DLC so i got some time). Loving the story so far too with Phantom Liberty. Idris Elba is great in this.

Different types of clothing still drop all the time, though. I don't believe I've ever seen a single player game with so many different styles of threads! Maybe even more than City of Heroes! Stunning, given the game is mostly played in first person mode.

Oh yea, im changing my outfit all the time now actually lol. I wish i didnt have to pick them up and then break them down in my inventory so it wont take up space, it should just unlock when collecting it imo.

Love that you can wear the jacket too from the Edgerunners anime.

 

[Zed Clampet]

They have a ranked "match" type thing in Lethal Company now, but it doesn't really work out in our favor because it is essentially timed, and we don't have a full team, running with only 3 people instead of 4. Plus, while I was having the game of my life, the kids were uncharacteristically terrible. Out of 160000 teams, we finished 3000th, but it was awful because we could have done so much better. It was just bizarre how much Guido and Elly May were dying. We didn't have a single complete run where we all survived, and most of the time it was just me. I wanted to keep going because I felt we had to be on the brink of a great run, but Elly May got so frustrated she just suddenly dropped out. I guess being in the top 1.8 percent isn't so bad, but it was a very frustrating session. We could have easily scored up to 50% more points on a normal day.

 

[Zloth]

Oh yea, im changing my outfit all the time now actually lol. I wish i didnt have to pick them up and then break them down in my inventory so it wont take up space, it should just unlock when collecting it imo.

I've been just stuffing everything I'm not really wearing ("really" as in actually wearing as opposed to appearing) into the stash. I think I sold or broke down a few duplicates, but I mostly just ignore them after that.

I've never run out of carrying capacity, and that's as a wussy stealth archer... I mean stealth sniper. She can carry over 400... units? Kilograms maybe? Of course, the titanium bones do help a bit.