July 2023 Random Game Thoughts Thread

[mainer]

Do you have to fiddle about when changing these things? That was one of the main design flaws in FC6, who the heck wants to be scanning enemies to see which type they are so you know which ammo type works best against them—and then futz with your weapons to find and equip said stuff Oh yeah, when you're done, that enemy has gone behind cover and there's a diff type charging in your direction!

No, just hit "T" to change ammo types with a slight animation delay. Most ranged weapons have 2 ammo types, one that's more effective against organics (and sometimes have an incendiary effect), and one that's better at armor piercing which is more effective on robotic type enemies. It's still tricky when facing certain cyborgs, which are both mechanical and organic, or when facing a mix of both types (organic & robotic). Stealth, observation, and getting the first shot are critical at times, and when all else fails toss a grenade (frag, gas, or emp) and run like hell.

One good thing, at least for KB&M users, is the ability to change key bindings in the options menu. Some are locked, but even with those you will most times have the option to assign a secondary key, so you can configure the controls to your preferences.

Ugh again, I don't even play those casual sliding puzzle games. In my employed life, we rented extra external warehouses when we needed more temp inventory space. I so much prefer the 'loadout' and 'max' inventory systems—choose which 3 'bags' you want …eg ammo bag, syringe bag, rockets bag… and you get max 4 grenades, max 30 pistol ammo, etc—which achieve the same objectives without taking me out of the gameplay via unnecessary complication.

If this were a newly released game, and not a remake, I'd definitely be frustrated, as inventory management is one of my big things in gaming (I think I did a post about inventory management a couple of years ago). The method SS employs, which is a limited space inventory, is my least favorite. But it's a design choice by Nightdive to stay true to the original SS.

I tend to keep everything, or at least have a storage place, so there are some tough choices to make (even as early in the game that I am). But you have some options. The first being that there is something called a "cargo lift" on each level. I functions much like a "dumb waiter" would function, storing & transferring anything you put into it to another level. You do have to discover each cargo lift to have access to that equipment, and the space is only about 1/3 the size of your inventory.

You can also drop anything and have it remain where you dropped it without worrying about it disappearing. So my method is to drop things I want to keep (and won't fit in the cargo lift) at the same location as a cargo lift so that I can find them again, rather than just randomly dropping them. It's not a perfect scenario, but it functions when using a basically older system of game mechanics.

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A word or caution about difficulty for those considering this game. When you start the game you can set the difficulty (easy/normal/hard) for combat, cyberspace, and puzzles (electrical panels). While each has its own difficulty setting, once you chose and start the game, you're locked in. There is no changing difficulty after that. If you want to change, you have to start a new game. I've already done that once, fortunately it was very early in the first level.

 

[Pifanjr]

If this were a newly released game, and not a remake, I'd definitely be frustrated, as inventory management is one of my big things in gaming (I think I did a post about inventory management a couple of years ago). The method SS employs, which is a limited space inventory, is my least favorite. But it's a design choice by Nightdive to stay true to the original SS.

I tend to keep everything, or at least have a storage place, so there are some tough choices to make (even as early in the game that I am). But you have some options. The first being that there is something called a "cargo lift" on each level. I functions much like a "dumb waiter" would function, storing & transferring anything you put into it to another level. You do have to discover each cargo lift to have access to that equipment, and the space is only about 1/3 the size of your inventory.

You can also drop anything and have it remain where you dropped it without worrying about it disappearing. So my method is to drop things I want to keep (and won't fit in the cargo lift) at the same location as a cargo lift so that I can find them again, rather than just randomly dropping them. It's not a perfect scenario, but it functions when using a basically older system of game mechanics.

Why don't you just not hoard everything? I can't imagine the developers intend for the player to work around the inventory limits they set like this, so it seems like you're just making the game more tedious for yourself than it needs to be.

 

[Zloth]

I got Storm last night in Midnight Suns. She's got a power that knocks back everything from a given point, like so:

Yeah, I'm going to love this!

Honestly stuff looks sick. Cyberpunk looks gorgeous.

Except, I presume, the NPCs that are ill. Those NPCs look sick.

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm still playing Per Aspera and its good. Story is getting more interesting and taking some unexpected turns.

Anno 1800 is on sale for cheap and theres also a nice reduction on the bundle. Anyone played it? Is it worth getting any of the DLC's while theyre also reduced?

City/Colony games are fitting in pretty well with my life at the moment and I'd like to grab something else for the queue once I'm done with Per Aspera.

I'm enjoying city/colony games these days myself. Terraformers has been pretty fun. There's no colony in that one. You are building outposts/cities all over Mars. There's a decent level of strategy to it. Cliff Empires, also no real colony management, has also been pretty fun. I'm going to eventually get Per Aspera, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with games I'm in the middle of right now.

**********

Playing Cosmoteer with Guido and having a good time with it. Killed some pirates and sent my crew out to salvage the pirate ship. A couple of minutes later, I imagine the following conversation probably took place:

Fred: Don't worry, Frank. They'll notice we're not on the ship soon enough and come back for us.

Frank: Sure they will, Fred. They're probably turning around right now.

back at the ship....

Captain Zed: I'm sure they'll automatically come off the payroll...

First Mate Guido: *laughing*

Don't worry, we got what was coming to us. Not too long after that we were overwhelmed by bandit ships and completely annihilated. Somewhere Fred and Frank were cheering our demise.

 

[Pifanjr]

I'm getting bored of Watch Dogs. I like sneaking around and I even like the driving now, but it's too easy and repetitive. I suspect part of it is that I've done too many side activities, because the game keeps notifying me there's one nearby. The side activities have you do the exact same thing as the story missions, but your only reward is cash, for which I have yet to find a purpose.

Another big problem is that I don't care much about the story. And since the story missions don't unlock anything but more story missions, it gives me little incentive to keep playing when the missions themselves aren't interesting any more.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I'm enjoying city/colony games these days myself. Terraformers has been pretty fun. There's no colony in that one. You are building outposts/cities all over Mars. There's a decent level of strategy to it. Cliff Empires, also no real colony management, has also been pretty fun. I'm going to eventually get Per Aspera, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with games I'm in the middle of right now.

Thanks for the recs, might grab Cliff Empires as its pretty cheap and looks interesting. Fancy a break from the Mars setting after Per Aspera so leaving that one for later.

 

[Pifanjr]

I grabbed the GOTY edition of Fallout 4 on sale and have zero regrets. The intro could have been a bit shorter in my opinion, though it didn't help that I had to go through it four times while fiddling with mods. However, after I was allowed to roam about I immediately got sucked in.

I had planned not to really bother with the settlement system as it sounded tedious, but as soon as I found the workbench in Sanctuary I knew I needed to restore it to some semblance of its former glory. Then when I found Preston I immediately got emotionally invested in improving their life.

Also, being able to turn pretty much everything into scrap is amazing. I'm not sure how I'm going to resist hoarding anything and everything I can get my hands on.

 

[ZedClampet]

I grabbed the GOTY edition of Fallout 4 on sale and have zero regrets. The intro could have been a bit shorter in my opinion, though it didn't help that I had to go through it four times while fiddling with mods. However, after I was allowed to roam about I immediately got sucked in.

I had planned not to really bother with the settlement system as it sounded tedious, but as soon as I found the workbench in Sanctuary I knew I needed to restore it to some semblance of its former glory. Then when I found Preston I immediately got emotionally invested in improving their life.

Also, being able to turn pretty much everything into scrap is amazing. I'm not sure how I'm going to resist hoarding anything and everything I can get my hands on.

I prefer Bethesda's stories to Ubisoft's. They draw me into the game more effectively. Out of all the Ubisoft games that I've played, I couldn't even tell you the story to most of them. I finished Watch Dogs 2, and all I know is that some tech company was evil and invading your privacy. All the AC games? Same bad guys in every one trying to take over the world. Far Cry? Topple the evil dictator every game. Ghost Recon? Basically the same as Far Cry. The Division? I don't even know what was going on there. There was a pandemic and half the population decided to become bandits? Not sure. Ubisoft's philosophy really is, I think, that the story doesn't actually matter.

 

[Brian Boru]

Ubisoft's philosophy really is, I think, that the story doesn't actually matter.

Yes I agree, Ubi are a wise and discerning company. I've heard some of them even read books… without trying to make a game out of it. Truly ahead of their time.

Bethesda

I've always wondered: Are they named after the leper colony, the pap smear system, or the rugby team? All 3 seem equally likely and suitable, don't they?

Anyway, I checked 'em again, in case I'd missed something—but no, I hadn't. Their games cycle thru a carefully curated vault of synergistic bugs which they know are suitable for community fixing. No idea what stories might be, since we never get that far before leaving for a playable game.

Remember those Drag Racing games from nearly 20 years ago? The wigs kept falling off at every speedbump, and makeup used to run on sharp corners

Bethesda's philosophy really is, I think, that the gameplay doesn't actually matter. Strangely tho, they suffer relatively little Fallout for that, I wonder why

However… and it's a big HOWEVER:

Bethesda games are ideal for discerning Patient Gamers, as it usually only takes ~5 years for the games to be fixed by the community, and of course modded to Oblivion.

 

[Zloth]

I have neither the face nor the palm to properly reply to that post...

 

[ZedClampet]

Yes I agree, Ubi are a wise and discerning company. I've heard some of them even read books… without trying to make a game out of it. Truly ahead of their time.

I've always wondered: Are they named after the leper colony, the pap smear system, or the rugby team? All 3 seem equally likely and suitable, don't they?

Anyway, I checked 'em again, in case I'd missed something—but no, I hadn't. Their games cycle thru a carefully curated vault of synergistic bugs which they know are suitable for community fixing. No idea what stories might be, since we never get that far before leaving for a playable game.

Remember those Drag Racing games from nearly 20 years ago? The wigs kept falling off at every speedbump, and makeup used to run on sharp corners

Bethesda's philosophy really is, I think, that the gameplay doesn't actually matter. Strangely tho, they suffer relatively little Fallout for that, I wonder why

However… and it's a big HOWEVER:

Bethesda games are ideal for discerning Patient Gamers, as it usually only takes ~5 years for the games to be fixed by the community, and of course modded to Oblivion.

Bethesda is named after the city in Maryland where they are located,

Wise is the last thing I would call Ubisoft. I assume you were being sarcastic.

I'm curious what Bethesda game you tried and discovered too buggy to play? I've been playing both Skyrim and Fallout 4 without mods and haven't encountered any bugs. I suspect you've been too influenced by word of mouth.

The real problem between you and Bethesda is that they make narrative games and you have a severe case of mental akathisia owing to the thirty-two times your mother "accidentally" dropped you on your head.

Also, calling yourself "patient" is rather like calling Ubisoft "wise". What you are is cheap.

 

[Brian Boru]

akathisia

Hey, I learned a new word, thanks!

What you are is cheap.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Is being a little dear truly better?

I … haven't encountered any bugs. I suspect you've been too influenced by word of mouth

Not too far off—words of print and pixel. Your singular experience is an anecdote, whereas the reported experience of many is data—ref Gallup etc.

The real problem between you and Bethesda

…is not what you surmise, altho that's a good guess. I've been leery since Altman's involvement—I followed the BCCI case back in the day—and also Weaver's ousting.

Anyway, all good fun

 

[ZedClampet]

Not too far off—words of print and pixel. Your singular experience is an anecdote, whereas the reported experience of many is data—ref Gallup etc.

That's not right and not how Gallup works, but it doesn't matter at this point. I'm going to bed.

 

[Pifanjr]

I prefer Bethesda's stories to Ubisoft's. They draw me into the game more effectively. Out of all the Ubisoft games that I've played, I couldn't even tell you the story to most of them.

I think I remember the Ubisoft stories about as well as the main stories of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls games. The difference is that the latter two also have over a hundred side stories in each game, so something is bound to stick.

However, I think the main difference is just that Bethesda games are role-playing games whereas Ubisoft games are action-adventure games. The stories I remember best from Bethesda games are the ones I create myself through the choices I make for my characters.

 

[Pifanjr]

Bethesda's philosophy really is, I think, that the gameplay doesn't actually matter.

Not the gameplay that you're interested in. Bethesda games are roleplaying games first and foremost and the most important philosophy mentioned by Todd Howard is "say yes to the player". Which is why, for example, in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games you can go into almost every building you see.

The action part of Bethesda games is overall mediocre at best, but their roleplaying gameplay is unmatched, especially in what you can do outside of the written stories.

 

[Brian Boru]

Not the gameplay that you're interested in

@ZedClampet I know that guys, I was just teasing Zed by repeating his words back to him. This is a RPG-heavy forum, so I like to poke our overlords

But in a serious vein, no one needs to tell me about the classic nature of most of Bethesda's main 2 franchises—those are both at the apex of gaming. Their gems to duds ratio must be one of the highest in the industry.

But if you try to quote me on that, I'll deny it!

 

[Johnway]

Still haven't bought anything in the steam sale (no killer deals or anything that makes me fork out money). Atm i'm playing Darkwood and despite its a tough game to be sure. Died countless times and struggling to get decent weapons until you've levelled up your crafting table several times. Why i couldn't just use a massive wooden branch like a bat i don't know. I have to make do crafting a wooden board with nails. ok against single prey, but against anything bigger then a dog and you're history. Thats on top of scavenging for supplies and upgrades and buying stuff is pricey as hell. Sure survive the night and you get reputation to buy stuff, but it gets harder and harder so its either sleep in safer safehouses or stay and fight off the night. My strategy of just barricading the door with furniture doesn't seem to work quite as well as the monsters seem to push through it with ease and it gets bloody annoying.

The game is growing on me for sure, but the challenge and the pace of the game is certainly not going to be working in the game's favor. looking at the achievements 71% finished the prologue, but less then 10% got to the second chapter...

I'm playing it on normal and i've managed to get into the second wooded section and just running from everything using my spade as a weapon. I've got a shotgun, but i only have 2 shells...

 

[mainer]

However, after I was allowed to roam about I immediately got sucked in.

That's what I love about FO4 and all Bethesda RPGs, once you get through the intro or prologue, you can do anything (or try) and go anywhere.

I had planned not to really bother with the settlement system as it sounded tedious, but as soon as I found the workbench in Sanctuary I knew I needed to restore it to some semblance of its former glory. Then when I found Preston I immediately got emotionally invested in improving their life.

Also, being able to turn pretty much everything into scrap is amazing. I'm not sure how I'm going to resist hoarding anything and everything I can get my hands on.

The settlement building was what really hooked me on FO4, it's my favorite part (and what most of my mods are focused on). Finding new settlements and building them up then linking them together by assigning settlers to run the "supply line" between settlements so all your resources are linked. I'm constantly going on scavenger runs just to keep up my building supplies.

This is a RPG-heavy forum,

We'll convert you eventually.

 

[Pifanjr]

I experienced a weird bug in Fallout 4. For some reason my health automatically regenerated, but it didn't show any status that would explain why. I eventually found the console command to turn it off, hopefully it sticks.

Talking about sticking, every time I start the game either all my mods or the very last mod is deactivated, so I have to manually enable it and wait for the game to reload.

I've also had my first CTD. Luckily I had a recent autosave, but it did remind me to quicksave more often.

Furthermore, I've had some mild issues with the game freezing for a bit occasionally in the Weapon crafting menu, especially if I exit and immediately open it again.

All in all it's not game breaking, but I do hope nothing worse pops up.

The last issue I had was with the controls in the settlement building mode. Having to use arrow keys to select what to build was not ideal, but the worst part was that the return key both confirmed which object to build and what object to pick up, which made putting furniture in a self-made shack a real hassle. However, while writing this post I decided to look up if there's a better way and there are apparently other buttons you can use, so I'll have to try that next time.

 

[Zloth]

I'm missing out on some friendship points with Ironman. He's an absolute genius when it comes to physics, but magic? Nope, not at all. And now he's working in a magical abbey, using a forge powered by something somebody conjured up. He's NOT in his 'comfort zone' at all and could probably use some reassurance. But he ain't getting it. Sorry, Tony, but you make better jokes when you're nervous.

 

[Brian Boru]

We'll convert you eventually

Now that genres have become super-fluid, it may have happened. I like what's probably 'RPG-lite' where you have base development, skill trees and levelling of character and weapons. But there's a cut-off for me re over-complication, ie too much of a good thing—eg 100 different rifles or armor bits, or Civ6's plethora of this-with-that combos.

And I'm hopeful Starfield will become desirable at some point

 

[ZedClampet]

I experienced a weird bug in Fallout 4. For some reason my health automatically regenerated, but it didn't show any status that would explain why. I eventually found the console command to turn it off, hopefully it sticks.

Talking about sticking, every time I start the game either all my mods or the very last mod is deactivated, so I have to manually enable it and wait for the game to reload.

I've also had my first CTD. Luckily I had a recent autosave, but it did remind me to quicksave more often.

Furthermore, I've had some mild issues with the game freezing for a bit occasionally in the Weapon crafting menu, especially if I exit and immediately open it again.

All in all it's not game breaking, but I do hope nothing worse pops up.

The last issue I had was with the controls in the settlement building mode. Having to use arrow keys to select what to build was not ideal, but the worst part was that the return key both confirmed which object to build and what object to pick up, which made putting furniture in a self-made shack a real hassle. However, while writing this post I decided to look up if there's a better way and there are apparently other buttons you can use, so I'll have to try that next time.

You can't complain about bugs if you are using mods. You have user-injected scripts all over the place. I'm not using any mods, and I got about 14 hours in on my current game and have had no problems at all.

Games where you just make database adjustments or add XML you generally don't have many, if any, problems. Bethesda's games are a whole different animal. If you use mods, you are almost guaranteed bugs. Not always, of course, but they are much, much more likely.

 

[Pifanjr]

You can't complain about bugs if you are using mods. You have user-injected scripts all over the place. I'm not using any mods, and I got about 14 hours in on my current game and have had no problems at all.

I had a couple more CTDs, so I tried turning off some mods to see if that helped, but it kept happening. A bit of research however indicated that the Weapon Debris option has been known to cause crashes. After turning that off I haven't had any CTDs.

I did turn off part of a bug fix mod that I hadn't realized tweaked a bunch of gameplay mechanics after I realized my laser musket wasn't consuming any ammo when firing. They did split the mod in a bug fix part and gameplay tweak part, so I should have just been paying better attention during installation.

 

[ZedClampet]

I had a couple more CTDs, so I tried turning off some mods to see if that helped, but it kept happening. A bit of research however indicated that the Weapon Debris option has been known to cause crashes. After turning that off I haven't had any CTDs.

I did turn off part of a bug fix mod that I hadn't realized tweaked a bunch of gameplay mechanics after I realized my laser musket wasn't consuming any ammo when firing. They did split the mod in a bug fix part and gameplay tweak part, so I should have just been paying better attention during installation.

That must be where your magical health regen came from, too. It's kind of annoying when people put a bunch of different, unrelated things into one mod.

*****

Finished up the sale by buying Dave the Diver, Havendock and a DLC for Conan Exiles, and, much to my own disgust, several DLC for Total War Rome 2. Those should have long ago been collected into one $20 game.

*****

I kind of got caught up in Christopher Livingston's stories on Dave the Diver. I've played a few minutes of it here and there and hoping it will catch on with me.

 

[mainer]

Talking about sticking, every time I start the game either all my mods or the very last mod is deactivated, so I have to manually enable it and wait for the game to reload.

Out of curiosity, are you using a mod manager like Vortex or Mod Manager 2, or are you downloading & installing them from Bethesda.net and then start the game from the Steam "play" button? I've always used a mod manger for Bethesda games and then start from a script extender shortcut, or the mod manager, and never had an issue with a mod not loading. You can also sort your mod load order with a mod manager, which is fairly important in Bethesda games.

I did turn off part of a bug fix mod that I hadn't realized tweaked a bunch of gameplay mechanics after I realized my laser musket wasn't consuming any ammo when firing. They did split the mod in a bug fix part and gameplay tweak part, so I should have just been paying better attention during installation.

It's kind of annoying when people put a bunch of different, unrelated things into one mod.

There are definitely mods that try to do too much and end up causing more problems than they help by causing conflicts. As far as bug fixing mods go, the only one I use is the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch (UFO4P) which fixes hundreds of bugs but doesn't try to do anything else, and is compatible with most mods.

Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch - UFO4P

A comprehensive bugfixing mod for Fallout 4. The goal of the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch (aka UFO4P) is to eventually fix every bug with Fallout 4 not officially resolved by the developers to the limit

www.nexusmods.com

A bit of research however indicated that the Weapon Debris option has been known to cause crashes. After turning that off I haven't had any CTDs.

Turning off Weapon Debris in the options menu has been an issue since FO4 released. I had the same issue years ago when I first played the game unmodded. Some people claim it's a Bethesda issue, others claim it's an Nvidia FleX issue. I have no idea myself, but turning it off in the options solves the issue.