November 2023 Random Game Thoughts Thread

[ZedClampet]

I was invited, I suspect I'm in a select group of about every member of humanity, to virtually attend NVIDIA's LLM Developer day on Friday. That sounds interesting, so I looked at the different presentations and signed up for 5 of them. I've been working on AI a lot lately, so hopefully it won't be completely over my head. One of the presentations is on cybersecurity, so I should find that especially interesting.

 

[Johnway]

I was invited, I suspect I'm in a select group of about every member of humanity, to virtually attend NVIDIA's LLM Developer day on Friday. That sounds interesting, so I looked at the different presentations and signed up for 5 of them. I've been working on AI a lot lately, so hopefully it won't be completely over my head. One of the presentations is on cybersecurity, so I should find that especially interesting.

When ever i get the chance to go to these tech events, i'm after the promotional goodies. You know free pens, sweets, stress relievers etc.

So after an hour or so playing i'm begining to understand why some professional gamers prefer 24" over 27" as yeah, playing games might be too big for some as i noticed i had to move my head to see/check things. haven't played enough to decide whether this is going to annoy me as well. playing path of exile i can begin to understand people's complaints of the needing a zoom as, yeah i would have liked to see more of the map with my higher resolutions. it just feels claustrophobic.

The other thing i've noticed, so far 1920x1080 vs 2440x1440 hasn't made a huge difference in my life. I was playing yakuza 3 and experimenting back and forth to get a feel. So far i'm comfortable with 1920x1080 and so is my rig. The pc can handle 1440, and it is slightly nicer but i don't really notice it unless i scrutinize it. That said, should i have gotten a 27" 1920x1080 i don't think so. The extra DPI on the screen helps smooth things over.

Will play a few more games and see. i do have AOE2 and classic doom 2 to see what happens with those games.

 

[ZedClampet]

When ever i get the chance to go to these tech events, i'm after the promotional goodies. You know free pens, sweets, stress relievers etc.

So after an hour or so playing i'm begining to understand why some professional gamers prefer 24" over 27" as yeah, playing games might be too big for some as i noticed i had to move my head to see/check things. haven't played enough to decide whether this is going to annoy me as well. playing path of exile i can begin to understand people's complaints of the needing a zoom as, yeah i would have liked to see more of the map with my higher resolutions. it just feels claustrophobic.

The other thing i've noticed, so far 1920x1080 vs 2440x1440 hasn't made a huge difference in my life. I was playing yakuza 3 and experimenting back and forth to get a feel. So far i'm comfortable with 1920x1080 and so is my rig. The pc can handle 1440, and it is slightly nicer but i don't really notice it unless i scrutinize it. That said, should i have gotten a 27" 1920x1080 i don't think so. The extra DPI on the screen helps smooth things over.

Will play a few more games and see. i do have AOE2 and classic doom 2 to see what happens with those games.

I looked at monitors today and think I'm going with a 24 inch 1080p. So far this is the one.

I've decided I'm going to convert my recliner set-up into desktop instead of laptop. I'll just keep the monitor and keyboard on my very stable lap table. Not sure what I'll do with the cables, but I'll think of something.

 

[Brian Boru]

what I'll do with the cables

Doesn't sound relevant for your setup, but for what it's worth:

Simplest best DIY cable setup I ever had was old garden hose slit along length, and running along some coat hooks on underside of desk—and down leg of desk too, the time I couldn't fit tower on desk. Hose is strong enough that it stays closed even when slit open, so it's great for routing.

Currently got a rat's nest of cables tho

 

[ZedClampet]

Doesn't sound relevant for your setup, but for what it's worth:

Simplest best DIY cable setup I ever had was old garden hose slit along length, and running along some coat hooks on underside of desk—and down leg of desk too, the time I couldn't fit tower on desk. Hose is strong enough that it stays closed even when slit open, so it's great for routing.

Currently got a rat's nest of cables tho

Sounds like a pretty good idea. My other concern is that the 24 inch monitor will just be way too big. Think I'll cut out a 24 inch monitor-sized piece of cardboard so I can visualize it. The problem is that they don't really make good monitors under 24 inches, at least not that I could find glancing around Amazon today.

 

[ZedClampet]

Ugh. 24 inch monitors are just too big for my setup. The carboard was very helpful. Then I pulled out the Pythagorean theorem for the first time in years and 24 inch monitors are very nearly twice the size of 17 inch monitors. I guess I'll be getting a crappy 75 Hz monitor if I stick with this plan.

 

[ZedClampet]

BingAI comes in to save the day. It pointed me to this monitor, which will work just fine. I just needed to search for "portable".

 

[neogunhero]

Decided to buy Age of Empires 4 on Steam yesterday. I’ve played it just about every time I get Game Pass over the past 2 years, so I thought I should just go ahead and buy it. It was on sale for $20 due to the first major expansion being released yesterday and I’m very tempted to get that as well for $15, mainly because it features the Japanese civ, which was my favorite civ in AoE3, and also because I’m partly Japanese so there is some bias I must admit. There is also the Byzantines, and both civs have brand new units and strategies that look awesome to play.

I’ve started to prefer going back to AoE4 over the older games mainly because it feels a lot more modern, looks slicker, and overall is more user friendly. As someone who only enjoys RTSs occasionally, AoE4 is great for people like me who only like to play casually against AI. Though a lot of the criticism I’ve seen of this game is that devs seem very interested in pushing online ranked play, which is true if you look at the update blogs and patch notes, it still offers a great experience for people wanting to play solo. The campaigns are fun and lengthy, I really need to finish them. They feature live action video with narration about some of histories greatest battles, and they are great to watch while doing the campaign because of how well produced they are. It is TV/movie documentary levels of quality. Sad to hear this expansion opted for animated cutscenes rather than beautiful shots of Japan and Italy+Greece (I believe that’s where the Byzantine empire was located), but apart from that the amount of content you get for $15 seems like an amazing value in todays gaming industry. Anyone here play AoE4?

I am also like 80-90% done with Cult of the Lamb, I’m hoping to finish that by/over the 4 day Thanksgiving weekend. I’m taking off work tomorrow to take my girlfriend to get her tooth removed, so maybe I will have time to finish CotL tomorrow, if I focus hard enough on trying to beat it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Decided to buy Age of Empires 4 on Steam yesterday. I’ve played it just about every time I get Game Pass over the past 2 years, so I thought I should just go ahead and buy it. It was on sale for $20 due to the first major expansion being released yesterday and I’m very tempted to get that as well for $15, mainly because it features the Japanese civ, which was my favorite civ in AoE3, and also because I’m partly Japanese so there is some bias I must admit. There is also the Byzantines, and both civs have brand new units and strategies that look awesome to play.

I’ve started to prefer going back to AoE4 over the older games mainly because it feels a lot more modern, looks slicker, and overall is more user friendly. As someone who only enjoys RTSs occasionally, AoE4 is great for people like me who only like to play casually against AI. Though a lot of the criticism I’ve seen of this game is that devs seem very interested in pushing online ranked play, which is true if you look at the update blogs and patch notes, it still offers a great experience for people wanting to play solo. The campaigns are fun and lengthy, I really need to finish them. They feature live action video with narration about some of histories greatest battles, and they are great to watch while doing the campaign because of how well produced they are. It is TV/movie documentary levels of quality. Sad to hear this expansion opted for animated cutscenes rather than beautiful shots of Japan and Italy+Greece (I believe that’s where the Byzantine empire was located), but apart from that the amount of content you get for $15 seems like an amazing value in todays gaming industry. Anyone here play AoE4?

I am also like 80-90% done with Cult of the Lamb, I’m hoping to finish that by/over the 4 day Thanksgiving weekend. I’m taking off work tomorrow to take my girlfriend to get her tooth removed, so maybe I will have time to finish CotL tomorrow, if I focus hard enough on trying to beat it.

I just tried this in Game Pass. It's not the game I thought it was. Not sure what I was thinking about. This is very similar to the battles in Total War except you can't pause the battles. For some reason I was thinking it was more of a colony sim with battles. There's a game like that that was on Game Pass, but now I have no idea what it was. Or maybe I do. Maybe it was Rise of Nations. Going to try that now.

 

[neogunhero]

I just tried this in Game Pass. It's not the game I thought it was. Not sure what I was thinking about. This is very similar to the battles in Total War except you can't pause the battles. For some reason I was thinking it was more of a colony sim with battles. There's a game like that that was on Game Pass, but now I have no idea what it was. Or maybe I do. Maybe it was Rise of Nations. Going to try that now.

Not Rise of Nations, as it’s pretty similar to AoE in terms of what happens in a match. Build your base, build your army, level up your Ages, construct new buildings that produce different units, then fight your enemies. The only “colony sim” type games I can think of on GP is Humankind which is very similar to the Civ series, and Medieval Dynasty which is first person survival craft with colony sim elements, you can build your colony and deal with economics with other settlements.

 

[ZedClampet]

Not Rise of Nations, as it’s pretty similar to AoE in terms of what happens in a match. Build your base, build your army, level up your Ages, construct new buildings that produce different units, then fight your enemies. The only “colony sim” type games I can think of on GP is Humankind which is very similar to the Civ series, and Medieval Dynasty which is first person survival craft with colony sim elements, you can build your colony and deal with economics with other settlements.

It was a long time ago that I played it. I guess it's not on there anymore.

 

[Brian Boru]

Anyone here play AoE4?

I played a bit, but got interrupted and never got back to it—it didn't draw me in strongly then, but maybe I just need to give it some extra time. I also have AoE 2 HD to revisit—I recall enjoying the original over 20 years ago.

take my girlfriend to get her tooth removed … if I focus hard enough on trying to beat it

Lamb to the slaughter?

colony sim with battles … I have no idea what it was … Maybe it was Rise of Nations

Nope, not RoN—that's much more a Civ and C&C combo. A RTS which covers the span of history. But RoN is a great game if its style appeals, it's by the guy who was a major designer for Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri.

My guess is Civilization IV: Colonization, which is quite good.

 

[Johnway]

Anyone here play AoE4?

Not yet. like the other AOE's i sell more expansion packs along the way. not sure how AOE4 will improve/different from the other ones apart from looking a bit nicer etc. I'll be playing the SP and to see the joan of arc campaign again after playing it in AOE2 makes me eyeroll seeing it again in AOE4.

I might get AOE4 when its a dirt cheap price, but for now, i can wait.

I also have AoE 2 HD to revisit—I recall enjoying the original over 20 years ago.

I recommend AOE2: DE as it looks even nicer, adds a whole load of QOL features, rebalances a whole load of things (including the maps) and adds a few more bits and pieces. You can usually get it at a dirt cheap price. I wouldn't get the DLC though, there is so much (repetitive?) content that after doing all of it, should you decide whether you want more.

Speaking of AOE2 DE, i have to say that my AOE2 demons are well and truly banished having beaten multiple campaigns. it does get progressively easier on standard compared to the earlier age of kings campaigns. Whether its actual balancing of missions, the AI being less agressive, me getting better (cheesing them) i don't know. Part of the challenge is when you don't have many siege elements. Getting stuck in the castle age and having nothing but battering rams to break down buildings is just a nightmare. high casualties etc. Its not much better in the imperial age, but at least you have better siege/artillery to take out stuff. Problems arise when you're up against other siege like trebs that counter your trebs etc.

 

[Pifanjr]

I've been sick since the beginning of the week and haven't had much time, opportunity and/or energy to play anything until today.

I decided not to continue with Disco Elysium, but instead installed Stellaris again. It's been several years at least since I last played, so I just picked a random faction and a small galaxy and followed the tutorial to get started.

I happened to get a religious, pacifist faction, which has worked out pretty well so far. I've only made contact with three factions, one of which is indifferent, one is only interested in trade and one is violent but so far not interested in conquest. Honestly, I'm just enjoying surveying the systems around me and completing the various quest lines I encounter.

I have no clue what I should be focusing on regarding my colonies, armies or technologies, so I have automated the first, am largely ignoring the second (which fits as a pacifist anyway) and just do whatever for tech.

 

[ZedClampet]

I've been sick since the beginning of the week and haven't had much time, opportunity and/or energy to play anything until today.

I decided not to continue with Disco Elysium, but instead installed Stellaris again. It's been several years at least since I last played, so I just picked a random faction and a small galaxy and followed the tutorial to get started.

I happened to get a religious, pacifist faction, which has worked out pretty well so far. I've only made contact with three factions, one of which is indifferent, one is only interested in trade and one is violent but so far not interested in conquest. Honestly, I'm just enjoying surveying the systems around me and completing the various quest lines I encounter.

I have no clue what I should be focusing on regarding my colonies, armies or technologies, so I have automated the first, am largely ignoring the second (which fits as a pacifist anyway) and just do whatever for tech.

I can't believe you've quit the greatest game ever made.

Also, I keep meaning to get back to Stellaris. Had a blast learning that game, but now it's been so long, I'll be learning it all over again.

 

[Pifanjr]

I can't believe you've quit the greatest game ever made.

I haven't given up on it yet, but honestly I consider Disco Elysium like reading a novel instead of playing a game. It's a good story, but I haven't been able to focus on reading stories lately. I found a great in-progress science fiction story online a few weeks ago and binged the available chapters within 2-3 days, but I haven't read any of the new chapters for the last 3 weeks or so.

Also, I keep meaning to get back to Stellaris. Had a blast learning that game, but now it's been so long, I'll be learning it all over again.

I believe they changed a whole bunch of mechanics over the years as well, though it's been so long for me I don't really remember what used to be different. One thing I do vaguely remember is that you had to assign population to districts manually and I don't think that's a thing any more.

 

[Johnway]

been looking at the Humble bundle choice options this month and there are some pretty tasty games on offer for just 8.99 (namely prodeus/unpacking). I might consider getting it just for the games or perhaps invest in a yearly subscription or something.

unless someone wants to give me a key of course...

 

[ZedClampet]

been looking at the Humble bundle choice options this month and there are some pretty tasty games on offer for just 8.99 (namely prodeus/unpacking). I might consider getting it just for the games or perhaps invest in a yearly subscription or something.

unless someone wants to give me a key of course...

I redeemed those two and Hardspace Shipbreaker, but I will gladly give you any of the other games if you are interested. Offer is available to anyone.

Weed Shop 3 is fun but a bit hectic and simultaneously tedious. I can't be playing it correctly. The most money I've ever had at one time was about $3300, and the first set of real upgrades for the shop cost $50,000. Hmm. I know one thing I should have done already. Maybe that makes a big difference.

 

[Johnway]

I redeemed those two and Hardspace Shipbreaker, but I will gladly give you any of the other games if you are interested. Offer is available to anyone.

Weed Shop 3 is fun but a bit hectic and simultaneously tedious. I can't be playing it correctly. The most money I've ever had at one time was about $3300, and the first set of real upgrades for the shop cost $50,000. Hmm. I know one thing I should have done already. Maybe that makes a big difference.

Atm the other games are unpacking , The Legend of Tianding , SCP: Secret Files and Souldiers. So yeah, quite a few...

 

[ZedClampet]

I wish Parkitect would let you name rides.

 

[Zloth]

 

[ZedClampet]

@Brian Boru Maybe it isn't obvious to everyone, but that ride I wanted to name looks like your standard picture of a part of male anatomy. Funny thing is, I didn't mean to make it shaped like that. I was just trying to make it fill up an exact amount of space and get the correct excitement and intensity ratings. But when I was done I looked at it and kind of laughed.

But the whole thing is inside now in a building blueprint I made (which is why I wanted it to fill exactly the right amount of space).

Anyway, that's why I posted the picture of the Junior Rollercoaster above. It's actually a crappy coaster, but it fits inside a building I'd already made. Plus the ratings on it are high because of the magic of cheese.

Game has a bunch of quirks you can take advantage of if you are unscrupulous like myself. For instance, every time the cars go underground, it gives you a nice increase in the Excitement rating, and that ride goes underground 4 times. Also, you get boosts for going uphill through a turn, going downhill through a turn, the number of cars in a train, etc.

Also, if you need to boost the Intensity rating. Just put some brakes right at the end, as rapid deceleration significantly raises your Intensity rating.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I wish Parkitect would let you name rides.

I'll go, you should call it 'The Big Dipper'

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Few hours of Wartales here and there. I didnt realize but the game doesnt have a proc-gen map, but it does have binary story choices and more narrative in each zone. Decent replayability but not sure if it compares to Battle Brothers in that way. I keep comparing them because I found Wartakes through the BB comunity, but theyre pretty different games apart from being turnbased.

Still fun, lots of crafting systems and decent build variety to play with. Bit annoying there arent more shop types. Having to murder roving bands of people for cloth to make light armor? Cant find a single clothes shop in a town.

Tactics combat good though, AOE's, battlefield control, different buffs/debuffs to play with. Looking forward to trying again on harder difficulty as its a bit too easy on easy. Worth doing first time though as theres a fair amount to figure out.

 

[Pifanjr]

fill up an exact amount of space and get the correct excitement and intensity

I'm sure it has a great balance between going hard and fast and going slow and gentle.

 

[ZedClampet]

Woo! I just solved a 2 month old mystery of "What game was this" with Copilot.