March 2025 General Game Discussion Thread

[Colif]

i can't help you in USA but I could at least hope Australian Govt did similar.

 

[ZedClampet]

i can't help you in USA but I could at least hope Australian Govt did similar.

Hopefully lots of place will do similar and the US will add age verification. That would stomp it out for sure.

But I'm guessing they'll just raise the price of games to something like $120

 

[Colif]

Thats another way to reduce number of kids playing the games, if they can't actually afford them.

They price themselves out of the market. Only games like GTA 6 maybe deserve that USD cost... as well, games been over $AUD120 for years now. AAA anyway, indie and steam specials mean I can still buy some. Reminds me.

 

[ZedClampet]

China still doing China things...stealing US technology. The Apple Vision AR/VR headset now has competition from Vivo Vision. That's right, they just went ahead and named it the same thing.

Vivo Vision Looks Like A Blatant Apple Vision Pro Clone

China's Vivo Vision was unveiled today, and it looks like a blatant Apple Vision Pro clone.

www.uploadvr.com

 

[Colif]

Not that its a valid justification but Apple probably made them there.. sort of asking for a copy. Not saying exact factory but you never can tell.

 

[ZedClampet]

Not that its a valid justification but Apple probably made them there.. sort of asking for a copy. Not saying exact factory but you never can tell.

That's reason #2 on why we should make things somewhere else.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Finally doing Xen for the first time this year, it wasn't that bad, especially in comparison to other stuff I've played and it goes pretty damn quick overall.

As for "Half-Life" likes, Titanfall 2 is pretty good--though I haven't played it since release.

Quake 2, while not quite as good, is a pretty solid story campaign; I was actually playing through it in maybe 2023 and need to go pick it back up, but it has that maze like level design, as well as back tracking (which is partially why I took that break).

Selaco is a newer one, though I haven't made it too far in that yet.

Sucks about your laptop, at least you were savvy enough to notice, In bet a few people get ripped off that way.

Titanfall 2 is great, played it a couple years ago. Loved the time switching level, wall running and mech stuff, wish they would have made another one instead of Apex Legends. Selaco looks interesting when it releases 1.0 and Quake 2 I had on a CD ROM and never finished. Wishlisted them both now, thanks!

 

[ZedClampet]

Sucks about your laptop, at least you were savvy enough to notice, In bet a few people get ripped off that way.

Titanfall 2 is great, played it a couple years ago. Loved the time switching level, wall running and mech stuff, wish they would have made another one instead of Apex Legends. Selaco looks interesting when it releases 1.0 and Quake 2 I had on a CD ROM and never finished. Wishlisted them both now, thanks!

Maybe it's just the way they did the trailer, but Selaco didn't interest me when I looked at it. Maybe I need to look closer at it. They seemed to be playing it in the style I would expect you to play a boomer shooter, but maybe that's just my preference for slower play.

 

[ZedClampet]

Now Playing:

Black Mesa
Transport Fever 2
Big Ambitions
TCG Card Shop Simulator
Schedule 1
Highrise City
Diplomacy is not an Option
Zombieville USA 3D

plus a few more on the spur of the moment like Center Station Simulator.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Maybe it's just the way they did the trailer, but Selaco didn't interest me when I looked at it. Maybe I need to look closer at it. They seemed to be playing it in the style I would expect you to play a boomer shooter, but maybe that's just my preference for slower play.

Thats fair. I'm not always averse to fast movement, liked the new Doom games quite a lot and theyre fast. I should walk back a bit in that I wrote off Boomer Shooters here for me based off of playing some Doom and some Warhammer 40K BoltGun in the last couple of years and finding them both a bit meh, so I might be able to find some juice there for something a bit different. Looks like Selaco has an upgrade system and also a Sniper Rifle in the video so based on that I'll keep an eye on it.

Edit, I also wishlisted Check and Clear but I have some reservations about the rhythm based stuff, it does sound pretty original though.

 

[Colif]

That's reason #2 on why we should make things somewhere else.

So you just want to reverse globalism? Hmm, you might have a fight on your hands

Last 30 years of exporting all your industries to them might have its downsides after all.

 

[ZedClampet]

Thats fair. I'm not averse to fast movement neccesarily, liked the new Doom games quite a lot and theyre fast as hell. I should walk back a bit in that I wrote off Boomer Shooters here for me based off of playing some Doom and some Warhammer 40K BoltGun in the last couple of years and finding them both a bit meh, so I might be able to find some juice there for something a bit different. Looks like Selaco has an upgrade system and also a Sniper Rifle in the video so based on that I'll keep an eye on it.

I'm not completely against it either. Just looking for something different.

I just got my crowbar in Black Mesa, which kind of makes me sad. My flares and chairs strategy is now obsolete

I crashed though. Think I need to reboot after goofing with AI earlier. It tends to make my PC unstable.

 

[ZedClampet]

So you just want to reverse globalism? Hmm, you might have a fight on your hands

Last 30 years of exporting all your industries to them might have its downsides after all.

Don't necessarily want to reverse globalism, but there are other places than China that can make stuff. Also, as we are finding out about computer chips, it wouldn't be a bad idea to make some stuff here.

 

[Pifanjr]

Would you consider Crysis to be similar to Half-Life?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Would you consider Crysis to be similar to Half-Life?

Dont know, Ive never played it. I mentioned in another thread somewhere when I tried to play it it crashed out on me after an hour and I couldnt get any further. Was on an older system so maybe I should try again.

 

[Colif]

Would you consider Crysis to be similar to Half-Life?

I haven''t played either but I was alive when both were out, does that count?
I think there is more focus on combat in Crysis compared to HL. Its main claim to fame was being impossible to run on PC at time it was released. Not sure it did anything new as such.

HL was more physics based movement/combat using gravity gun. It bought scripted story events into RPG for the first time.

gameplay wise, it depends if its a speedrun or not, as they fly in speedruns of HL.

Unrelated:

I already bought one of these... might play on weekend.

 

[BeardyHat]

Selaco definitely has some fast paced gameplay, but the environments are detailed and exploration is encouraged. You have log entries to find on computers, as well as other stuff lying around levels; it's almost a bit ImSim like.

It's much more like Half-Life than it might look from a trailer.

 

[neogunhero]

Found a new, extremely unknown game last night and picked it up, called A Merchant’s Promise. It’s a physics based trading game, where you roam a land while tugging a cart full of stuff to sell behind you. You must go to different towns, set up shop, and earn a good reputation for yourself. The endgame seems to earn such a reputation that you become the King’s merchant.

I normally don’t buy games like this. The game is super early in development, buggy as hell, but there were a few things that drew me to it. I really liked the concept of it, and can imagine some really cool features being implemented. I also really liked how the solo dev updates the game at least once a day, often multiple times a day. The dev seems genuinely appreciative of anyone who decided to pick up his game, and is committed to making this game great.

He has a Discord server where you can chat with him directly and report bugs. I know @ZedClampet loves games like this, and I can see why. It was refreshing being able to talk to the creator of the game you are playing. He was very friendly and appreciated me reporting a bug to him.

The game is built on Unity, so it doesn’t have the greatest graphics. However, I absolutely fell in love with the style of the world. It’s very whimsical and high fantasy, with lots of beautiful flora and winding mountains roads.

Spoiler: Screenshots

I got some pretty major TES Oblivion vibes from playing this. Walking down a stone road in a beautiful high fantasy world, picking up mushrooms along the way, I definitely used to do that in Oblivion. The towns are full of NPCs wandering around, not really doing much, but I suspect in future updates they will be given more to do, but just seeing all these people walking around these towns really reminds me of TES.

It’s a fun little game. Again, super early in development, so there’s a ton of bugs. I got totally soft locked at one point last night, which is what I reported to the dev. Apparently he already knew about it and pushed out a fix, but I was still experiencing it after that patch, so he noted he needed to work on it some more.

 

[ZedClampet]

Found a new, extremely unknown game last night and picked it up, called A Merchant’s Promise. It’s a physics based trading game, where you roam a land while tugging a cart full of stuff to sell behind you. You must go to different towns, set up shop, and earn a good reputation for yourself. The endgame seems to earn such a reputation that you become the King’s merchant.

I normally don’t buy games like this. The game is super early in development, buggy as hell, but there were a few things that drew me to it. I really liked the concept of it, and can imagine some really cool features being implemented. I also really liked how the solo dev updates the game at least once a day, often multiple times a day. The dev seems genuinely appreciative of anyone who decided to pick up his game, and is committed to making this game great.

He has a Discord server where you can chat with him directly and report bugs. I know @ZedClampet loves games like this, and I can see why. It was refreshing being able to talk to the creator of the game you are playing. He was very friendly and appreciated me reporting a bug to him.

The game is built on Unity, so it doesn’t have the greatest graphics. However, I absolutely fell in love with the style of the world. It’s very whimsical and high fantasy, with lots of beautiful flora and winding mountains roads.

Spoiler: Screenshots

I got some pretty major TES Oblivion vibes from playing this. Walking down a stone road in a beautiful high fantasy world, picking up mushrooms along the way, I definitely used to do that in Oblivion. The towns are full of NPCs wandering around, not really doing much, but I suspect in future updates they will be given more to do, but just seeing all these people walking around these towns really reminds me of TES.

It’s a fun little game. Again, super early in development, so there’s a ton of bugs. I got totally soft locked at one point last night, which is what I reported to the dev. Apparently he already knew about it and pushed out a fix, but I was still experiencing it after that patch, so he noted he needed to work on it some more.

This reminds me a bit of Hydroneer, one of my favorite all-time games, with no inventory and how you carry things around. I'm going to give it a try.

 

[ZedClampet]

Found a new, extremely unknown game last night and picked it up, called A Merchant’s Promise. It’s a physics based trading game, where you roam a land while tugging a cart full of stuff to sell behind you. You must go to different towns, set up shop, and earn a good reputation for yourself. The endgame seems to earn such a reputation that you become the King’s merchant.

I normally don’t buy games like this. The game is super early in development, buggy as hell, but there were a few things that drew me to it. I really liked the concept of it, and can imagine some really cool features being implemented. I also really liked how the solo dev updates the game at least once a day, often multiple times a day. The dev seems genuinely appreciative of anyone who decided to pick up his game, and is committed to making this game great.

He has a Discord server where you can chat with him directly and report bugs. I know @ZedClampet loves games like this, and I can see why. It was refreshing being able to talk to the creator of the game you are playing. He was very friendly and appreciated me reporting a bug to him.

The game is built on Unity, so it doesn’t have the greatest graphics. However, I absolutely fell in love with the style of the world. It’s very whimsical and high fantasy, with lots of beautiful flora and winding mountains roads.

Spoiler: Screenshots

I got some pretty major TES Oblivion vibes from playing this. Walking down a stone road in a beautiful high fantasy world, picking up mushrooms along the way, I definitely used to do that in Oblivion. The towns are full of NPCs wandering around, not really doing much, but I suspect in future updates they will be given more to do, but just seeing all these people walking around these towns really reminds me of TES.

It’s a fun little game. Again, super early in development, so there’s a ton of bugs. I got totally soft locked at one point last night, which is what I reported to the dev. Apparently he already knew about it and pushed out a fix, but I was still experiencing it after that patch, so he noted he needed to work on it some more.

At one time you were looking for something quick and easy for short play sessions. You should check out the demo for Zombieville USA 3D

Zombieville USA 3D on Steam

Zombieville USA 3D is a stylized arcade shooter combining retro gameplay with strikingly polished visuals. Fight through an endless undead horde in the bleak hellscape of suburbia! Choose your weapons, grab a friend, and see how long you can survive.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Pifanjr]

He has a Discord server where you can chat with him directly and report bugs. I know @ZedClampet loves games like this, and I can see why. It was refreshing being able to talk to the creator of the game you are playing. He was very friendly and appreciated me reporting a bug to him.

One of the things I've really enjoyed with the Minecraft Blightfall modpack I've been playing is how nice the people on the Discord are and seeing the discussions by the developers and the long-term players.

It's also great when you have a question and someone just pulls up the source code and points out exactly how something works. Or they immediately jumps into a test world of the game they have ready to go to test it out for you.

 

[ZedClampet]

One of the things I've really enjoyed with the Minecraft Blightfall modpack I've been playing is how nice the people on the Discord are and seeing the discussions by the developers and the long-term players.

It's also great when you have a question and someone just pulls up the source code and points out exactly how something works. Or they immediately jumps into a test world of the game they have ready to go to test it out for you.

This is one of the best things about the small team and solo indie dev games I play. The developers, many of them, are just great. One day I was playing Center Station Simulator and came up with an idea that would make something easier, and I posted it on the Steam forums, and about two days later there was an update that included my suggestion.

Other times I've reported bugs for a game and had them fixed within about an hour. The Astro Colony dev did this multiple times.

I've gotten to the point where on these indie games I actually browse the Steam forums to see how active the developer is before I buy the game.

 

[BeardyHat]

With this whole laptop "fiasco" (the seller still hasn't responded yet, but they technically have 3-days. First world problems.) I've decided to just reconfigure and use my old laptop anyway.

I very much doubt I'm going to get the money I'm asking for it, so I might as well just use it for the time being, as I'm feeling the need to use a laptop right now. I'm going to do some experiments with it and see if I can eek out some extra performance for now.

Wish I wasn't so enamored with the usability of the Trackpoint. I'd just go and buy a gaming laptop at Microcenter otherwise; they are looking pretty nice these days, but living with just a trackpad sucks.

I'm still playing Battletech Advance 3062 and in spite of the jankiness inherent to modding, I'm enjoying myself. I didn't think I'd like the additions of tanks and Battle Armor, plus the added mech configuration options, but it turns out I'm having a pretty great time with it and loving the options it gives me.

 

[Johnway]

i took the opportunity to download the clanfolk demo. i'm interested in a rimworld like game but the mixed opinions leaves me thinking i need to play a demo and sample it.


beyond that no other updates. Still playing Asscreed valhalla and we're coming close to the 75hr mark so all thing considered i'm getting my money's worth clocking in at least 3 hours per pound. Maybe more by the time i finish it.

 

[BeardyHat]

I'm sure everyone is chomping at the bit to hear more of my laptop saga.

Ended-up filing the return for the wrongly sent one--still debating if I should leave poor feedback. I think I will, once the dust has settled--and looking at another that I had been eyeballing previously, but felt was a little too high on the price for the one issue it had, which was some backlight bleed on the lower right of the screen.

Person with that one had dropped the price late last week, so I figured I'd take a stab and offer them even less. We ended-up compromising in between and now I'll have that computer coming. All said and done, with the screen issue--which I don't think will bother me, as I have similar issues on other devices and I don't even notice--it ended-up being $200 less than I paid for this other, incorrect one.

I must say, I feel way more comfortable with that price ($675 altogether) than the previous price. Even with the issue, less than $700 is exactly what I wanted to pay for these particular specs, so I'm pretty pleased.

The nice thing is, after all is said and done, it should leave me with a bit of money leftover, so I may end-up buying myself Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

When I feel like I'm done with Battletech, anyway.