Random Game Thoughts Thread—November 06-November 13

[Brian Boru]

Still wandering thru the games I picked out of my Steam backlog.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2

Started that up, played an hour or so. Very linear and limited so far, basically just following my spotter and doing what he tells me—one of the mission objectives was even called 'Follow Diaz'! Not enjoying it at all, but will give it another hour to see if I get some agency.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux

Tried 1-2 hours of that earlier. Beautiful world, a bit hemmed in so far but I believe it opens up fully soon. Not sure what I'm supposed to do yet, just trying things with no obvious progression. Alt-Tab freezes the game on return, but repeating it frees it up

 

[mainer]

I finished Mass Effect 2 Legendary on Friday, and I'm still amazed at how well this basically older game holds up today. There's not much exploration to be found as you'll see in many RPGs, as the "maps" are more combat & obstacle oriented. But the story, the character personalities and interactions drive this game forward. The combat is challenging but fun, and even the final mission, known as the "suicide misson", is not brutally-stupidly-bullet-spongy hard, but a lengthy set of combat challenges and personal choices that will determine the outcome. And the outcome definitely gives you a bit of foreshadowing to where ME3 is headed.

I had initially planned to move on to ME3 Legendary, but I'm still waiting on a specific mod that I won't play without called the Citadel Epilogue Mod (CEM), which utilizes the Citadel DLC as the ending to the trilogy. It works with the already released AHEM (Audemus' Happy Ending Mod) and combined provides a proper ending to a great series (my opinion anyway). CEM is supposedly still to be released this year, but in the meantime, I need to move on to something else.

For those interested in specifics of those mods here are the links:
Audemus' Happy Ending Mod at Mass Effect Legendary Edition Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com)
(The CEM mod link is for the original ME3, as the LE version does not yet exist)
Citadel Epilogue Mod at Mass Effect 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com)

I want to do modded replays of Fallout New Vegas, as well as Fallout 4, but those are WIPs as it takes some time to mod those games, especially FO4. Skyrim is also calling me, as I usually get the Skyrim-itch during the winter months (which we're currently heading into up here). I thought about Cyberpunk 2077, which I've yet to play, but I just didn't feel like dealing with the massive download/installation yet.

So I'm currently going with a replay of Dragon Age Origins (unmodded) which I already had installed, at least for the time being. I wish I had @Brian Boru 's determination to chip away at my Steam backlog of games, but nothing really jumped out at me.

 

[Zloth]

Yeah yeah, next you'll be looking up the version of the Bambi movie where Bambi's mother lives.

I don't think I've done DA:O without at least one mod, but now I can't remember what it was! Something that made it so new companions had no skills picked when you first recruit them, maybe? (That's something that the Pathfinder games could really use.)

 

[Pifanjr]

I played three games of Vermintide 2 today, two with one friend and two randos and one with two friends and a bot.

We lost the first game. Apparently it was the first game of one of the randos as well, so not too surprising. We won the second one.

The third game went pretty well until an assassin pounced me just as the rest had fallen down a ledge they couldn't jump back up on. Luckily you get to join back in after a bit, same way as Left 4 Dead.

There's a whole bunch of menus and mechanics to the point it feels like a mobile game, with daily and weekly challenges, loot boxes (though you earn them by playing) and a whole bunch of microtransactions. You can get some of the cosmetic ones with a special currency you earn by playing the game, but most of it is paid (and I'm including a lot of the DLC as there's a bunch that are just a few bucks).

I also have no idea what the power rating of items actually mean or how the crafting and upgrading system works, so that's something I should look into.

The gameplay is great though. Mowing through hordes of minions feels amazing. Though I'm not entirely sure on how best to deal with the more elite enemies. I often fail to realise mashing the attack button isn't working well until after being hit at least once or twice.

 

[Brian Boru]

Prevent a channel appearing in YouTube search results

Anyone know if this is possible, and how to do it? I've read thru a number of related topics without success.

Example: I don't like 'Fred's RPG' channel.
When I search in YT for 'RPG', I don't want to see his channel as a result.

 

[Zloth]

There's an option to stop YouTube from recommending a channel on the front page, but I don't think there's any way to block a channel from showing up in search results. Are there options if you search on Google using site: to limit to just YT?

 

[Brian Boru]

stop YouTube from recommending

Yeah, that's what I saw too, as well as…

block a channel from showing up in search results

…not being possible.

search on Google using site: to limit to just YT

I hadn't thought of that, worth a shot—thanks

 

[Pifanjr]

Prevent a channel appearing in YouTube search results

Anyone know if this is possible, and how to do it? I've read thru a number of related topics without success.

Example: I don't like 'Fred's RPG' channel.
When I search in YT for 'RPG', I don't want to see his channel as a result.

You could add "-Fred" as a keyword, though that obviously only works if you have a small amount of channels you want to hide. If this is something you want to do often, maybe look for a browser extension. A quick Google search turned up Channel Blocker for example.

 

[Brian Boru]

add "-Fred" as a keyword

I already do that to avoid stuff like 'streaming', 'reaction' and a few more—it generally works well.

browser extension … Channel Blocker for example

Oh now we're suckin' diesel! Yeah there are a load of spam channels which pop up all the time, so this may be ideal—just keep adding 'em to the blocked list. Tested on half a dozen just now, and so far, so good. Merci beaucoup

 

[WoodenSaucer]

My wife and I started a local game of It Takes Two the other night. She isn't into 3D games at all, but when she got the hang of the controls a little, we had fun. After trying both ways out, we found out she's a fan of Inverted Y-axis, like I am. So she does it the right way.

(Just want to make it clear, I only like it that way with a controller. I couldn't do inverted with a mouse, I don't think)

 

[Pifanjr]

I played two more games of Vermintide 2 during my break. When playing with my friends I felt I was underperforming, so it was good to see I'm not actually bad at the game when compared to other beginners, as I was the top in most statistics in both games.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Yeah yeah, next you'll be looking up the version of the Bambi movie where Bambi's mother lives.

Hey as long as you differentiate it by calling it the 'Directors Cut' or something so everyone knows its not the same film then have fun with it

I've been playing Minecraft. No jokes. Trying to get it working so that I can play with my daughter together, so I need to make her a MS account and Email adress apparently.. Also had no idea that if you want to have a two player 'Realm' that's persistent then you have to subscribe for 3.99 a month! I think thats per realm as well, not sure.

Anyway, in the meantime we played a little together single player, she mined a lot of sand so we could make sandstone. She doesnt read yet so its difficult to get her crafting anything but she loves building stuff IRL so it interests her. And what do you know, its actually a pretty fun game to just build stuff in. Who knew?

 

[Pifanjr]

I've been playing Minecraft. No jokes. Trying to get it working so that I can play with my daughter together, so I need to make her a MS account and Email adress apparently.. Also had no idea that if you want to have a two player 'Realm' that's persistent then you have to subscribe for 3.99 a month! I think thats per realm as well, not sure.

You don't have to pay the $3.99 a month if you can host your own dedicated server. And yes, the $3.99 is per realm, with each realm supporting up to three worlds, though only one at a time. Also, Realms do not offer full modding support.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

You don't have to pay the $3.99 a month if you can host your own dedicated server. And yes, the $3.99 is per realm, with each realm supporting up to three worlds, though only one at a time. Also, Realms do not offer full modding support.

Ah Ok. I have no idea about hosting a server for myself but something to look into if I get time. Lets see if the game holds her interest, but thanks.

I'd be cross playing between my PC and our Switch, is it possible to do that if you host your own server? The MS edition is combined Bedrock and Java but I believe the Switch version is Bedrock, I guess that would affect it somehow.

Did you give up on Xcom Chimera Squad? I remember I liked it when I played it.

 

[Brian Boru]

I have no idea about hosting a server for myself but something to look into if I get time

These should help:

https://www.idtech.com/blog/creating-minecraft-server

Reddit thread

https://www.wikihow.com/Host-a-Minecraft-Server

 

[Zloth]

Oh now we're suckin' diesel!

WHAT!? Have people started trying to siphon fuel already!?

 

[Pifanjr]

Ah Ok. I have no idea about hosting a server for myself but something to look into if I get time. Lets see if the game holds her interest, but thanks.

I'd be cross playing between my PC and our Switch, is it possible to do that if you host your own server? The MS edition is combined Bedrock and Java but I believe the Switch version is Bedrock, I guess that would affect it somehow.

Crossplay between PC and Switch is possible, even between Bedrock and Java, though it's easier to set up if you're both using Bedrock (which performs better anyway). However, it does seem the Switch version can be particularly tricky to get working properly with cross-play.

Did you give up on Xcom Chimera Squad? I remember I liked it when I played it.

No, but I don't really have the time to play both XCOM and Vermintide and I've been enjoying playing Vermintide with my friends. I haven't played with most of them for months, so it's been nice doing something together again. There's a decent chance they'll move onto something else soon, so I'm just enjoying the opportunity while it lasts.

 

[Sarafan]

I'm struggling with my challenge to finish once again all The Elder Scrolls games. I must say that Oblivion is quite badly designed in comparison to other installments. Maybe I made some mistakes in my character build, but I suspect that the main problem lies in the game. I decided to make an Altmer mage and I suffer from not enough mana. I bumped Intelligence to 100 and it's still not enough! The only thing that saves me are mana potions. Also the light armor is underwhelming to say the least. And I'm playing on normal difficulty level. The game has a major level scaling feature, but I feel that my character can't stand up to the things the game throws at me.

The worst part are the visits to the oblivion plane. Sometimes I have no idea where to go to close the gates. The game has objective markers, but unfortunately they're disabled in the oblivion plane. What more there are no slow falling, levitation and recall spells which doesn't help things a bit. Also in oblivion there's tons of enemies. A lot of them use magic and my Altmer is susceptible to this. Maybe I'd have a better time with warrior-type character? I don't know...

I will finish the game sooner or later, but decided to take some break from it and installed... Skyrim! What a relief! First of all I'm feeling like I came back home after many years. The game is designed a lot better. Basically every character has a chance (unless the player focuses on non-combat skills only that is). The quest markers work always and you have an additional support from a spell that shows the way to the target. These are all modern games improvements and while I did like the traditional quest target search in Morrowind, the Skyrim system is a lot better than the one implemented in Oblivion. I'm playing Skyrim with SkyUI, which is probably the best inventory mod for the game. It removes one of the biggest problems that the original game had.

There are chances that I'll finish Skyrim faster than Oblivion, but we'll see. Right know I think that Oblivion is the worst TES game out of the three newest installments.

 

[Pifanjr]

I'm struggling with my challenge to finish once again all The Elder Scrolls games. I must say that Oblivion is quite badly designed in comparison to other installments. Maybe I made some mistakes in my character build, but I suspect that the main problem lies in the game. I decided to make an Altmer mage and I suffer from not enough mana. I bumped Intelligence to 100 and it's still not enough! The only thing that saves me are mana potions. Also the light armor is underwhelming to say the least. And I'm playing on normal difficulty level. The game has a major level scaling feature, but I feel that my character can't stand up to the things the game throws at me.

The worst part are the visits to the oblivion plane. Sometimes I have no idea where to go to close the gates. The game has objective markers, but unfortunately they're disabled in the oblivion plane. What more there are no slow falling, levitation and recall spells which doesn't help things a bit. Also in oblivion there's tons of enemies. A lot of them use magic and my Altmer is susceptible to this. Maybe I'd have a better time with warrior-type character? I don't know...

I will finish the game sooner or later, but decided to take some break from it and installed... Skyrim! What a relief! First of all I'm feeling like I came back home after many years. The game is designed a lot better. Basically every character has a chance (unless the player focuses on non-combat skills only that is). The quest markers work always and you have an additional support from a spell that shows the way to the target. These are all modern games improvements and while I did like the traditional quest target search in Morrowind, the Skyrim system is a lot better than the one implemented in Oblivion. I'm playing Skyrim with SkyUI, which is probably the best inventory mod for the game. It removes one of the biggest problems that the original game had.

There are chances that I'll finish Skyrim faster than Oblivion, but we'll see. Right know I think that Oblivion is the worst TES game out of the three newest installments.

I remember my mage character in Oblivion definitely being the worst experience. On higher levels, I would just summon something and then turn myself invisible, rinse and repeat as necessary until everything was dead. It was not really a fun way to play.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I finally got my arcade machine working again yesterday. Now instead of a Raspberry Pi and RetroPie, I'm using a PC with BigBox. And it works so much better. I'm loving it. And my wife was so happy when she could play Ms Pac-man (her favorite game) on it last night.

I'm playing Skyrim with SkyUI, which is probably the best inventory mod for the game. It removes one of the biggest problems that the original game had.

I've never tried using it. What are you talking about that it removes?

 

[Sarafan]

I remember my mage character in Oblivion definitely being the worst experience. On higher levels, I would just summon something and then turn myself invisible, rinse and repeat as necessary until everything was dead. It was not really a fun way to play.

It looks like the game wasn't properly balanced for mages. I wonder if it's better with a warrior or stealthy character. Anyway, it's not the only problem with Oblivion. They tried to make diverse towns and while they vary in architecture, the differences aren't as spectacular as in Morrowind or Skyrim. You have a feeling of participating in a quite standard medieval setting. The atmosphere really can't stand up to Morrowind and Skyrim. The characters look very strange. The races don't have their characteristic appearance, they mainly differ in skin color. The UI isn't as good as I would want it to. It has a unique style, but it's the best that you can say about it. I'm not a huge fan of bright interfaces. The menu structure is over-complicated and there are too big gaps between inventory entries. Thankfully there's fast travel, but this made the developers resign from Mark and Recall spells which made things easier in previous games. Also the lack of Levitation and Feather Fall is really painful in the oblivion plane. Skyrim also doesn't have them, but the gameplay is more fluid there and I don't feel the urge to use those spells while playing the game. Also when it comes to fast travel, it was a very bad decision to give the player access to all towns without the necessity to walk there at least once. Ok, we can presume that the main character knows Cyrodiil, but it simply destroys the fun of exploring the world.

In overall I have a feeling that Oblivion may be even worse than Daggerfall Unity. It's hard to compare the games because the core of Daggerfall is outdated given its release date. It's a very different experience, but it appears that I had more fun with it.

 

[Sarafan]

I've never tried using it. What are you talking about that it removes?

Sorry, I wasn't precise enough. I meant that it solves one of the biggest issues of Skyrim - the standard UI. With SkyUI inventory management is incomparably easier and better.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Crossplay between PC and Switch is possible, even between Bedrock and Java, though it's easier to set up if you're both using Bedrock (which performs better anyway). However, it does seem the Switch version can be particularly tricky to get working properly with cross-play.



No, but I don't really have the time to play both XCOM and Vermintide and I've been enjoying playing Vermintide with my friends. I haven't played with most of them for months, so it's been nice doing something together again. There's a decent chance they'll move onto something else soon, so I'm just enjoying the opportunity while it lasts.

Fair enough I got Vermintide 2 as well because some buddies are playing it. It looks really good but I havent dipped into yet as I'm hardly ever able to get online at a good time in the evening. I heard the community isnt terrible so maybe I should just try it with randos to try it out.

 

[Pifanjr]

Fair enough I got Vermintide 2 as well because some buddies are playing it. It looks really good but I havent dipped into yet as I'm hardly ever able to get online at a good time in the evening. I heard the community isnt terrible so maybe I should just try it with randos to try it out.

I played a few games with randos and it's gone really well each time. There's plenty of new players too since it was just released for free, so it also doesn't feel like everyone is judging you for not knowing how to play. All in all I've really enjoyed the game so far.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Sorry, I wasn't precise enough. I meant that it solves one of the biggest issues of Skyrim - the standard UI. With SkyUI inventory management is incomparably easier and better.

I never had any problem with Skyrim's UI and inventory system. Maybe I'll have to try it out and see what the fuss is.