October 2024 General Game Discussion Thread

[Pifanjr]

I've been getting into the Blightfall Minecraft modpack. It's an entirely pre-made world almost entirely covered by the Taint from the Thaumcraft mod and the goal is to remove all of the taint. You get a quest book that guides you along the different mods included in the modpack, as well as to the couple of teleport beacons dotted around the world in different biomes which you can use to set up bases once you've activated them.

I haven't gotten very far yet, mostly because the modpack adds some complexities to upgrading your tools. You can't mine iron with stone tools, you need to find copper or the newly added promethium ore first, but ore generation is significantly dialled back and copper specifically is a lot more rare than normal. I eventually looked up directions to my first copper because I just could not manage to find any.

Luckily, once you do find your first copper, you can order more with the points you get from completing quests. Which can also be used to get random seeds, saplings, sugar cane and a bunch of other stuff.

Now once I find some gold I can start crafting higher grade metal tools and get started on the magic mods, at which point I can finally start automating stuff.

 

[ZedClampet]

If you ever need a gaming safe space in which to hide from the perpetual existential nightmare you find yourself in, the Farm Together games might be worth a try. I've got 365 hours in the two combined.

 

[neogunhero]

More Far Cry 6 last night. Just goofed around but did get a few missions completed. I’ve been turning off the HUD and enjoying the sights while flying around in my car/helicopter thing. One thing I find a bit weird compared to other FC games is the third person cutscenes. They really emphasized the player character as being more integral to the story in this game, which isn’t bad at all, just different and never fully clicked in my head until last night.

I also switched from Story Mode to Action Mode which is supposed to make the gameplay difficulty a bit more in line with your traditional shooters but it’s still a bit easy. Enemies do deal more damage towards me but it’s not much of a challenge over all. I turned it on right before a mission where you storm Castillo’s compound trying to find him, and there were a good 20-30 enemies in there you had to fight. I noticed myself taking more damage but killing enemies just as easily as I was on Story Mode.

I also got an hour in on Rogue Legacy 2. The game is great but it’s lost its initial excitement over me, perhaps due to me not playing it very often. I bought it maybe 2-3 weeks ago but only played for a good 5 hours total. It’s a damn good game but maybe I’m not in the right mindset to play it a bunch. I’m also busy playing Minecraft most of the time I get a chance to play games.

I’ve been wanting to get a new game to really dive into but I also have a growing backlog that’s starting to eat at me. Earlier this year I started Death Stranding again, got the furthest of the 3 times I’ve attempted to play it, but just fell off. I also need to beat Yakuza 0, I believe I’m over halfway done and could just grind through the rest of the story if I wanted to. Those are the two biggest games I want to finish.

I’m actually quite proud at how many games I’ve finished this year. I don’t tend to complete games fully, so the amount that I have completed so far is really good for me. This year I’ve beaten Cyberpunk 2077, Dead Island 2, DUSK, and Lightyear Frontier (what was available at Early Access launch). May not seem like a big list but it definitely is an improvement over previous years. I have a really bad habit of starting a game but never finishing it. I think last year the only game I fully finished was Cult of the Lamb.

 

[Brian Boru]

a bit weird compared to other FC games is the third person cutscenes

I'm not a TPP fan—as in I can't play it for long—so you can make the cutscenes FPP via the FCmodding mod I've mentioned, if you want to… works flawlessly.

 

[BeardyHat]

I'm not a TPP fan—as in I can't play it for long—so you can make the cutscenes FPP via the FCmodding mod I've mentioned, if you want to… works flawlessly.

Facts. First person makes everything better.

I don't usually do Demo's for games, as I already have so many of the damn things, I can't be bothered with more. That said, I recently tried the demo for this game, Erenshor, and couldn't stop playing; I finally finished all the demo content I could find at just over 5-hours.

Erenshor on Steam

Erenshor is a single player nod to the MMORPGs of the past. Partner up with our signature "Simulated Players" to experience all of the joys of open-world MMORPG gameplay on your own schedule and without the time commitments. There are thousands of items, quests, raids, and secrets to discover!

store.steampowered.com

It's basically a singleplayer throwback to Everquest and it's been absolutely wonderful. The graphics leave something to be desired, but it's fun to play and explore the little demo island; it even has quests similar to EQ where you need to say hello (Hail!) to people and the interpret what they want out of their text.

Unfortunate that there is no date for release yet, as I've been having a great time with it.

Still also hammering away at Cyberpunk, which I'm very much enjoying. Haven't put as much time into it recently, but I still want some more.

 

[Pifanjr]

I continued the CK2 game with my friends where we all took turns being the king of Germany. It had been probably over three months since we last played, so none of us even remembered we had actually formed the Holy Roman Empire already, which was a nice surprise.

Sadly, I didn't get a turn as emperor because I died 4 times in quick succession and ended up as a woman who isn't eligible to be elected emperor. I even lost my kingdom for a bit, but got given it back by my friend who was the emperor at the time.

I did manage to claim a piece of Italy through marriage and kept most of it. I'm now trying to do the same with Bohemia.

I'm not too sad about not getting a turn as emperor though because it's a bit of a mess. Three of us have been in a secret Shia cult most of the game and my friends decided to stop being secret about it, which has resulted in a lot of Catholic revolts. Overall it's going well though, we're gaining land faster than we're losing it.

 

[SHR-51]

I continued the CK2 game with my friends where we all took turns being the king of Germany. It had been probably over three months since we last played, so none of us even remembered we had actually formed the Holy Roman Empire already, which was a nice surprise.

Sadly, I didn't get a turn as emperor because I died 4 times in quick succession and ended up as a woman who isn't eligible to be elected emperor. I even lost my kingdom for a bit, but got given it back by my friend who was the emperor at the time.

I did manage to claim a piece of Italy through marriage and kept most of it. I'm now trying to do the same with Bohemia.

I'm not too sad about not getting a turn as emperor though because it's a bit of a mess. Three of us have been in a secret Shia cult most of the game and my friends decided to stop being secret about it, which has resulted in a lot of Catholic revolts. Overall it's going well though, we're gaining land faster than we're losing it.

The stories that come from CK never fail to amuse me.

 

[Otto Levin]

And it doesn't matter if the player talks crazy or says stupid things. You can just have the NPCs act the way people really would to someone who said something crazy. What's even better is that the NPCs could talk to each other, and if you act bat$hit crazy all the time, your reputation with the NPCs in that particular town could suffer, and they would treat you differently.

Can't wait for the day when my in-game reputation is as unpredictable as my real-life one 😏

 

[Frindis]

Been playing some more BG3 Honor mode. I am finishing up Act 1 hopefully not getting wiped by the Githyankis at Crèche Y'llek. Also got myself a friendly undead companion after a "failed" summoning somehow made me its master. Always nice with some extra help even if he is stinks like hell.

 

[ZedClampet]

Cozy Keep: Farm, Craft, Manage on Steam

Experience the daily life of a shopkeeper! Clean and decorate the place, pay taxes, gather resources and craft products that can be sold for maximum profits! Explore the world, hunt, and cultivate the land! Own the best shop in the region and save your father from the wrath of the King!

store.steampowered.com

This game, while enjoyable enough, doesn't tell you anything. Apparently I was supposed to pick a type of product, like tools or food, and only sell that type of product. I tried to be a "general store" and it's impossible to maintain.

Plus, people keep buying all my yarn/cloth and I need that to make armor so I can go kill stuff.

Doesn't matter. I'm going to start over so that I don't have to keep telling my customers that I don't have things I've decided I don't want to sell anymore.

 

[DXCHASE]

How i got 2 corsair K70 keyboards for the price of 0 dollars:

So, the "G" key on my K70 was giving me problems but i had the warranty on the keyboard so i decided to start an RMA.

About 2 weeks after this started, i still had not received my new keyboard which was irritating, but i still had a functioning keyboard so i didnt get too annoyed.

Around that time i sent corsair an email explaining that it had been 2 weeks since i paid the deposit and ordered a new keyboard and yet the carrier says they havent received the keyboard yet.

About 2 hours later, the keyboard shows up at my door. I checked the tracking info and it was still saying it hadnt shipped.

I went back and emailed corsair again saying that it had gotten delivered.

About, 3-4 hours later, the tech from corsair replys saying that they had SHIPPED a NEW KEYBOARD because the tracking info was wrong.

So, now im thinkin i have to wait even longer for the deposit because a new keyboard was coming and id have to send it back.

2 days after that, the deposit refunds to my account but i hadnt received the new keyboard so i just assumed it wasnt coming because i had gotten one.

Last week, shows up at my house and i have waited a couple days to see if my deposit was to get re-withdrawn (if thats a thing) because of the 2nd keyboard being delievered.

Nope, so now my son and i have a K70 keyboard.

 

[Brian Boru]

Yakuza series

I see these guys release 1 game per year on average for past 20 years. Yet I don't hear any repetition or formula complaints about that, players here are broadly complimentary about it.

What's their secret?
[can we tell EA, Ubi etc?]

 

[Zloth]

OK, I guess my assumption that the Zero Dawn upgrade would just be a quick & dirty one to let PS5 Pro purchasers preen was very wrong, according to Digital Foundry:

View: https://youtu.be/yNkC2BOaboM?si=PCyQTima5mTVJTox


So, now I'm back at 'how are they going to justify all that work?' I'm certainly appreciative, but are they going to make their money back?

What's their secret?
[can we tell EA, Ubi etc?]

They mix things up. The fighting system is never quite the same (especially going to the new series), the stories are well done, the side quests are well done - it works out nicely. The part of Tokyo is the same area with the same streets, but the buildings change from year to year, and you spend time in other towns as well. It all stays pretty "fresh."

 

[neogunhero]

After work tomorrow I’ll be checking out the new Call of Duty game. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m kind of excited. I’ve never been a huge CoD fan, but whenever I do play one the campaign is always what I like best. They’re big, bombastic blockbuster action schlock, but sometimes that’s what I crave. Mindless fun, mowing down enemies while chewing through ammo. It’s coming out day one on Game Pass so I really don’t have to pay for it which just adds to my excitement. No way would I ever pay full price for a COD game.

 

[DXCHASE]

It’s coming out day one on Game Pass so I really don’t have to pay for it which just adds to my excitement. No way would I ever pay full price for a COD game.

Right there with you, only playing it because of this way, i dont think CODs are worth the full price or even pre-ordering.

 

[Pifanjr]

My resolve was finally broken and I succumbed to a Steam sale. I got a notification that Shadow of War was only €3.99 and I still had €1 in my Steam wallet.

I honestly don't know when I'll have/make time for it, but I loved Shadow of Mordor and have been wanting to play Shadow of War for years. And it can't really get much cheaper than this.

 

[neogunhero]

I snuck in about 20 minutes of COD on my lunch break. It would have been more if not for the annoying system of having to open a launcher, then selecting a gamemode opens a whole new program, which takes a while on initial launch for shaders to cache and all that. Finally got into a solo Zombies match and the performance was a bit choppy. I think it may be due to textures still “streaming” or whatever, but the frame rate was jumping around a bit on my RTX 2060.

So far, it’s just Zombies. They’ve really evolved that gamemode in the nearly two decades it’s been around. Most of my Zombies experience still comes from the originals World at War and Black Ops 1. Compare those to what it is today, it’s almost and entirely different game. You’re actively encouraged to keep exploring the map and unlock new secrets. This so far doesn’t seem much different from the last one I played in 2019’s Modern Warfare, but again I only played for 20 minutes.

I’m more excited to check out the campaign but since I had such little time I just hopped in Zombies since it’s the quickest.

 

[ZedClampet]

Friday Joker of the Week Award *​

The first ever (and possibly the only ever since I'm unreliable these days) Joker of the Week award is given to @Brian Boru . When someone asked whether anyone went to haunted attractions during October, Brian responded,

I don't, it's enough to double the number of mirrors around the house.

Maybe CoPilot wasn't completely off in it's annual awards last year after all.

* Note: I only read Brian's posts.

 

[ZedClampet]

I see these guys release 1 game per year on average for past 20 years. Yet I don't hear any repetition or formula complaints about that, players here are broadly complimentary about it.
What's their secret?
[can we tell EA, Ubi etc?]

Stupid players. But other than that, I only played 90 minutes of one (the longest 90 minutes of my life), and it seemed wildly creative, so they are probably at least different from that standpoint.

 

[Brian Boru]

Joker of the Week

* quickly dusts off mantelpiece *

"Ahem…
"I would like to thank the Academy…"
"Uh…
"Aw shucks, just gimme the shiny thingy!"

Thank you Zed, this shall occupy a place of honor right beside my certificate from Frindis for… um, for… er, that thing back then which I totally appreciated… probably.

PS @Zloth Peace bro

PPS that's actually a nice art job Zed

 

[Brian Boru]

I can’t tolerate excessively hard games very much anymore. I know that’s the whole point of them

No it's not, that's completely your choice. It's the 00s since I felt a need to beat Brutal or play Civ4 to usually win at Emperor.

My choice these days is enjoyment of the gameplay, and difficulty setting is one of the supporting infra for that. Another is mods—the 2 main big games I'm currently playing are Far Cry 6 @ Action and Civ4 @ Monarch …after a couple of warm-ups @ Prince… and both are modded to my specs.

Enjoy

 

[ZedClampet]

PS @Zloth Peace bro

It was just a joke. I didn't even remember who specifically played it and didn't read the thread. When I opened up the thread it started me at your post, I just vaguely remembered that it seemed like everyone had played it, and so it was a great opportunity to save time and call everyone stupid at once.

But I wish I had the non-ADHD ability to play those games. I could tell from my time in Hell that it was actually a very good game. They just aren't for me, although I almost reinstalled one to try it again today. Some day I'm going to click with it.

 

[Zloth]

What happens if the joker-of-the-week post wins joker of the week?

 

[ZedClampet]

What happens if the joker-of-the-week post wins joker of the week?

Is this like a time-travel conundrum?

@Colif I don't suppose you've tried this?

Save 10% on Technotopia on Steam

Welcome to Technotopia, a city-builder card game. Take on the role of an AI designed to build a perfect city. Build districts, meet the needs of diverse communities and maintain the delicate balance between factions vying for control over you!

store.steampowered.com

Looks interesting for under $5. I'm not getting on with Citadelum and looking for another city-building sort of thing. Might try the demo for the Cthulu one. Unfortunately Technotopia doesn't have a demo.

 

[Colif]

Between PC problems and doing two courses at the same time, I haven't had time to look at any games apart from to see if Titan Quest 2 is any closer to release yet.