Random Game Thoughts Thread - January 22 - 28

[ZedClampet]

Still really enjoying Colony Survival. Think I'm going to make a small mod that adds a few blocks to the game.

If I ever make a game that I'm going to launch into early access, I won't permit mods until full launch. By the time these games launch, all the best mods haven't been updated in years. It's really sad. I found a bunch of great mods for Colony Survival and none of them work. I'm not going to try to update them, though. All I really want are a few new blocks.

Wasn't planning to buy WWII Rebuilder, but I happened by their Steam page and the user reviews were very good. The game is quite well done. I did manage to have to start a mission over this morning because I was driving a crane around London with an airplane attached and swinging back and forth. It seemed like a fun thing to do. Then my crane tipped over onto its side. I dismantled the airplane, which landed on top of it, and got the bulldozer and tried to lift the crane back to its feet, but the bulldozer actually doesn't interact with the crane other than to see it as an immovable object. So that was that because I still needed the crane, and I had to relaunch the mission lol. I should have learned a lesson there somewhere, but I rejected it as boring.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Been revisiting Dead Space 3 lately, at 4K equivalent DSR, which I have to say, makes it look incredible. Lately I also always pick up the Electrocution Module, available early in Chapter 9. I end up giving up the Plasma Cutter, as it can only be used with the Telemetry Spike tool (making a Rivet Gun), vs the Plasma Core, as I only carry one compact weapon, but it pays off.

The Electrocution Module makes quick work of any crawling Necros, like Creepers and Swarm, both of which are capable of quickly crawling to and reanimating any corpses. It is also great for waves of Feeders, even the darker advanced ones that are stronger. The worst place you have to fight the latter is when researching the huge dead beast from inside it's corpse. With the Electrocution Module you can just stay inside the cage you're lowered in, and keep shooting rivets at the ground just outside it's door, then apply the electrocution affect when Feeders come.

It's also pretty good for even the tougher Necros, you just need to apply it twice. It will keep any Necro that walks into it's Electrocution field stunned though. Another benefit of it is it automatically makes loot pop out after they're dead, so no constant stomping on corpses needed to extract it.

Dead Space 3 is a great but underappreciated game.

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm getting better at building. In Colony Survival I have completed what has become known as What the Hell Cathedral due to its creative stylings.

The What the Hell Cathedral also boasts the best food in town, with Sacred Chicken Meal being a colonist favorite.

For every sacred meal a colonist eats, The Holy One grants us 1 sacred point which can be redeemed for a Holy Smite during catastrophic monster invasions. The more frequent eater points we've wracked up, the more smite we get.

 

[Brian Boru]

@ZedClampet you should get a morphing avatar switching between Geralt and Colonel Sanders, until you're done with Colony Survival—wouldn't be a big change

 

[WoodenSaucer]

My wife and I have been playing It Takes Two for a while. Last night we played for a while and made it to the last segment before we had to quit. Not sure when we'll get to play again, but we'll probably beat it next time. This is a very good game to play with your spouse. Plus, my wife has become a lot better gamer since we started playing this.

 

[Pifanjr]

My wife was gone for the evening yesterday, so I planned on gaming from when our daughter was in bed to around midnight. In the end I played some Warhammer 3 with a friend from about 7:30 to 9, at which point my friend had another appointment. I didn't feel like starting another game, so I just went to bed.
I did learn why people often complain about fighting against Ghorst, as I took over the AI army against my friend playing as Ghorst twice and both times I hardly made a dent in his army, as his units regenerated about as quickly as I could do damage.

This morning I ended up starting a new campaign as Skarbrand and it's a lot more fun when you can actually fight the battles manually. Also a lot more efficient, as I only lost between 10-20 units each fight, instead of losing half of my units in autoresolve when playing in multiplayer.

 

[ZedClampet]

My wife and I have been playing It Takes Two for a while.

That's a great game. Lots of chances to hilariously troll your partner, too. Sometimes you can even troll your partner when you aren't supposed to, like when Guido was supposed to be doing something that would stop a boss, but instead was standing somewhere watching me desperately dodging an increasingly ridiculous level of boss attacks.

Also a lot more efficient, as I only lost between 10-20 units each fight, instead of losing half of my units in autoresolve when playing in multiplayer.

Is it just me or is the auto-resolve more frustrating in 3 than in 2? I seem to get a lot of bad results.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

That's a great game. Lots of chances to hilariously troll your partner, too. Sometimes you can even troll your partner when you aren't supposed to, like when Guido was supposed to be doing something that would stop a boss, but instead was standing somewhere watching me desperately dodging an increasingly ridiculous level of boss attacks.

When we started off, my wife trolled me all the time by doing that kind of stuff. The problem was that it wasn't intentional trolling; it was that she sucked bad at gaming. Haha. But she's gotten a lot better since then, to the point that she even gave me a couple of tips last time we played. Pretty cool seeing that kind of evolution. Before this, she always played 2D mobile-style games and hated anything 3D. I think this game got her to the point that I might try out some other co-op games with her. I might try out Portal 2 co-op with her. Or maybe even Sea of Thieves.

 

[Pifanjr]

Is it just me or is the auto-resolve more frustrating in 3 than in 2? I seem to get a lot of bad results.

I believe it depends on who you play as and the difficulty setting. I think they also changed it a bit in the latest patch, so it might be better than you remember, depending on when you played last. But the general consensus from other players seems to be that there's quite a lot of balancing left to do regarding autoresolve.

 

[ZedClampet]

If you play Forza Horizon and don't think you are good enough for multiplayer, you should know that in 4 out of 5 races, every driver but me slams into walls, other cars, etc. In that fifth race, there's one guy who isn't all over the place. Everyone else is your normal player, slamming into everything. It's so bad I've decided not to bother with it anymore.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I finished my playthroughs of Dead Space 3. I played the whole base campaign again on Normal instead of Impossible just to get through it quick after making a mistake that caused me to lose my New Game + save. This was merely to see if the DLC Awakened can be played with all your gear and unlocks from a NG+ base game playthrough. The reason I wanted to play Awakened on NG+, is I tried a fresh start before on Impossible, and it's REALLY hard to do it with enough health and ammo using lower firepower weapons. Awakened is far harder than the base game. It takes place back on Tau Volantis, after Isaac and Carver destroy the moon. They are at odds with how it's possible they're even alive, and you are faced with many hallucinations Isaac has, but have to spend ammo on the monsters that appear during them. There are also some tough battles where a machete wielding cultist slowly walks toward you while you're faced with waves of monsters. Fortunately I found out how to play Awakened on NG+ from a base game save, and even with fully maxed weapons, and TONS of health and ammo in the safe, I had to resupply quite often. I got through it though.

Now I'm revisiting Dead Space 2, maybe I'm doing the series backwards in anticipation of the Dead Space 1 Remake I tell myself. Still playing in 4K equivalent DSR, but I'd forgotten DS2 has Vsync locked to 30 FPS, so I'm using the Vsync in NCP. This is not just to avoid slight screen tear, but also to keep FPS from averaging around 400, which is unnecessary load and heat on the GPU. This game definitely has darker lighting in many places, and more need to be ammo conscious than in the Dead Space 3 base game. There's places where if you don't use kinesis to kill, you'll run out of ammo. There's also FAR less suit inventory space, so you have to drop items here and there, and go back to pick things up after stashing things in the safe when you can. I'm currently playing on Zealot, which is the hardest mode regarding the damage you do to enemies and the damage they do to you. The actual hardest mode is Hardcore, where the difficulty is set to Survivalist (1 below Zealot) on damage dished and taken, with item drops the same as Zealot. The main thing that makes Hardcore difficult is checkpoints are disabled, and the player is allowed only 3 saves the whole game.

I typically don't play permadeath modes, but having access to 3 saves made it compelling enough to try Hardcore, which I've beaten once before years ago.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Still playing Uncharted 4, its a meh from me. I'd rather have The Last of Us but that's the way the AMD bundle crumbled. Its fine, just feels like the gameplay hasnt advanced since the 2nd game, which was the last I played. Token puzzles, bit of stealth, usually ending in a shooting gallery and a lot of climbing. Looks pretty nice though and the stories OK for what it is.

Thought I managed to beat the Icon of Sin in Doom Eternal, turns out it has a second phase which is equally as manic as the first, so actually I didnt. Game keeps prompting me to load the checkpoint in reduced damage mode to help finish it. No way game, Im going to beat it on the second easiest difficulty straight up, like a real tough guy.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Still playing Uncharted 4, its a meh from me. I'd rather have The Last of Us but that's the way the AMD bundle crumbled. Its fine, just feels like the gameplay hasnt advanced since the 2nd game, which was the last I played. Token puzzles, bit of stealth, usually ending in a shooting gallery and a lot of climbing. Looks pretty nice though and the stories OK for what it is.

Is that Uncharted 4 from the Legacy of Thieves Collection recently ported to PC? If so, the only thing I didn't like about it was the frequent stuttering. They came out with a performance patch for it that some said didn't really fix it. Did you have any performance problems, and did you play with the latest patch?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Is that Uncharted 4 from the Legacy of Thieves Collection recently ported to PC? If so, the only thing I didn't like about it was the frequent stuttering. They came out with a performance patch for it that some said didn't really fix it. Did you have any performance problems, and did you play with the latest patch?

It is and latest patch as far as I know. Cant say Ive noticed any stuttering. AMD 5700XT all settings at max using FSR 2.0 Quality I'm getting around 80 FPS average with sharpening set to 100.

Had some weird artifacting in Libertaria, specifically in a dark underground basement area I was getting this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sbn5v8ZHSM


Which apparently also happened on the PS4 version. Other than that all's been well for me.

 

[Pifanjr]

I just send a rocket into orbit in Kerbal Space Program, took crew reports above three points on Kerbal, then discovered I wasn't able to land the rocket as I was coming in too fast. I didn't have an earlier save any more and I couldn't revert to before the launch either. Not that I really want to redo the entire launch anyway. I think I'm done with KSP for a while, there's too much time just watching a rocket fly/fall without needing any input with a chance that you discover you messed up at the very end.

 

[ZedClampet]

I don't think my daughter is too good at Rust. She was playing by herself and was in their base carrying an automatic assault rifle of some type and a naked guy broke in and killed her. I was cracking up as she was telling the story. I can't remember what weapon he had, but I think it was a nail gun? Maybe?

Guido got home and actually found the guy, and he just gave Guido back the stuff he'd taken, which makes me think I don't understand the game at all. Sister told him over Discord to kill the guy, and he said that he couldn't because he told the guy "We good."

This is actually going on as I type. Apparently, the guy led Guido to his base, and he just opened up his base to Guido and killed himself. I'm very confused lol.

OH HAHAHA. Guido is stuck in the base. The guy closed the door and killed himself, and now Guido is having to break down doors with the help of Sister on the other side. Too hilarious. Apparently breaking doors isn't as easy as you'd think.

Ah, they got it. Too bad. I was finding it humorous. Guido's now destroying the guy's bed and helping himself to everything....

This actually sounds kind of fun, but I'd be the one getting killed by nail gun guy. Otherwise, I'd play it with them.

 

[ipman]

I was trying to explain gaming to someone who thought it was just 'childish', and after completely changing her viewpoint(it's only people who haven't played who maybe think that). I then went on to say that gaming is wasted on the young.

It's just that when you are young you should be doing all the gaming stuff for real; having adventures in wild locations, snowboarding down the Alps, driving racing cars or motorbikes at high speed, become a hacker, fly a helicopter, etc.

But as you get older, for obvious reasons it's safer to do it virtually, in your mind.

Samsung released this research into older gamers. 36% of 65+ age group are gaming everyday, and many to keep in touch with their grandchildren> 85% of 65+ group gaming once a week.

A quarter say it helps keep their mind active and a fifth says it boosts their mood, while 23% say 'escapism'.

from> https://news.samsung.com/uk/new-tre...on-with-85-of-65s-gaming-at-least-once-a-week

I just remember visiting some rather depressing homes for the older generations in a job I had. Firstly you get the whiff of pee, but then all these bored people sitting in chairs vacant or watching vacuous daytime tv. But in the future with the help of their grandchildren, VR headsets and still mentally living life to the full.

I also think education at degree level is wasted on the young but that's a different story.

 

[ZedClampet]

I was trying to explain gaming to someone who thought it was just 'childish', and after completely changing her viewpoint(it's only people who haven't played who maybe think that). I then went on to say that gaming is wasted on the young.

It's just that when you are young you should be doing all the gaming stuff for real; having adventures in wild locations, snowboarding down the Alps, driving racing cars or motorbikes at high speed, become a hacker, fly a helicopter, etc.

But as you get older, for obvious reasons it's safer to do it virtually, in your mind.

Samsung released this research into older gamers. 36% of 65+ age group are gaming everyday, and many to keep in touch with their grandchildren> 85% of 65+ group gaming once a week.

A quarter say it helps keep their mind active and a fifth says it boosts their mood, while 23% say 'escapism'.

from> https://news.samsung.com/uk/new-tre...on-with-85-of-65s-gaming-at-least-once-a-week

I just remember visiting some rather depressing homes for the older generations in a job I had. Firstly you get the whiff of pee, but then all these bored people sitting in chairs vacant or watching vacuous daytime tv. But in the future with the help of their grandchildren, VR headsets and still mentally living life to the full.

I also think education at degree level is wasted on the young but that's a different story.

Not really to argue against you, but to explain my point of view:

Waiting until later to educate people would stifle innovation. Young brains are much better than older brains. Most great works are done by people in their 20's or 30's at the latest. They need to be trained in order to take advantage of that brain power. Meanwhile we'd be educating people who learn more slowly and will top out in their fields at mediocre.

Also, what are you going to do with all these lost young people who have no chance at a decent job and are just waiting around to be educated? They'll live with their parents and hang with their friends and be an enormous waste of human potential.

I see what you are saying about gaming, but youth is rarely spent in adventure and young people often get bored more easily than older folks. I suppose this is what you want young people to do instead of getting educated, to travel around doing exciting things. Most young people can't afford that and spend their time doing more mundane activities. They need a break just as much if not more than older humans.

Segregating life out into activities per age requires a good bit of idealization, and a concentration on these few ideals over the dirtier reality. Personally, I think gaming is for all ages. Everything but foolishness should be for all ages, and even some of us older folks dabble in that as well. I've given up hope of leaving foolishness behind and embrace it

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Not really to argue against you, but to explain my point of view:

Waiting until later to educate people would stifle innovation. Young brains are much better than older brains...

You're right about this, and what you said is relevant to that discussion. But I also want to throw out there that people shouldn't give up and think it's too late for success when they're older. Just think about Colonel Sanders. That guy tried a bunch of things and failed in life over and over. He didn't start franchising his restaurants and finding real success until he was around 62-65 years old. So you're right that we shouldn't waste young minds. But I hope people don't give up when they're older, too.

 

[Brian Boru]

Im going to beat it on the second easiest difficulty straight up, like a real tough guy

My hero!

Education begins after schooling finishes.

 

[Zloth]

That's not good. I get schooled all the time!

Thought I managed to beat the Icon of Sin in Doom Eternal, turns out it has a second phase which is equally as manic as the first, so actually I didnt. Game keeps prompting me to load the checkpoint in reduced damage mode to help finish it. No way game, Im going to beat it on the second easiest difficulty straight up, like a real tough guy.

I don't remember a second phase in Doom Eternal's Icon of Sin? Is that in the very same battle or is it at the end of another level?

I tried looking it up and got distracted by this video:

View: https://youtu.be/jWex9DpOSnA

People getting all the way through Doom 2 without hurting anyone themselves?? Wow.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

That's not good. I get schooled all the time!

I don't remember a second phase in Doom Eternal's Icon of Sin? Is that in the very same battle or is it at the end of another level?

I tried looking it up and got distracted by this video:

View: https://youtu.be/jWex9DpOSnA

People getting all the way through Doom 2 without hurting anyone themselves?? Wow.

First you blow off all 8 sections of its armor, then theres a portal and you have to do the same to its body. Luckily it checkpoints after you manage the first part.

I love it when people spend the time to get that good at games. If I had enough time in my days I might give it a shot sometimes. Most gameplay I watch outside of tasters or quick look types are souls challenge runs.

 

[ZedClampet]

Dear Londoners,

I have largely rebuilt your city after the war. Apologies for not fixing the plumbing, though. There was a "bad plumber" achievement, so I'm sure you understand.

 

[ipman]

Not really to argue against you, but to explain my point of view:

Waiting until later to educate people would stifle innovation. Young brains are much better than older brains. Most great works are done by people in their 20's or 30's at the latest. They need to be trained in order to take advantage of that brain power. Meanwhile we'd be educating people who learn more slowly and will top out in their fields at mediocre.

Also, what are you going to do with all these lost young people who have no chance at a decent job and are just waiting around to be educated? They'll live with their parents and hang with their friends and be an enormous waste of human potential.

I see what you are saying about gaming, but youth is rarely spent in adventure and young people often get bored more easily than older folks. I suppose this is what you want young people to do instead of getting educated, to travel around doing exciting things. Most young people can't afford that and spend their time doing more mundane activities. They need a break just as much if not more than older humans.

Segregating life out into activities per age requires a good bit of idealization, and a concentration on these few ideals over the dirtier reality. Personally, I think gaming is for all ages. Everything but foolishness should be for all ages, and even some of us older folks dabble in that as well. I've given up hope of leaving foolishness behind and embrace it

Some good points. More nuance needed on my part. It's just in this country going to Uni is seen as like a right of passage at age 18, like going to Glastonbury, etc. Mostly it's youngsters of a certain class(let's say) and can be quite exclusive if they don't have supportive parents(read loaded!) and know they will get good jobs to pay off their student loans. My son's girlfriend owed about £50,000 before she even started work.

At Uni I just saw many youngsters working long hours in bar jobs and the like to pay their rent and buy food, while also partying hard as they had just found freedom for the first time after leaving home. So they'd miss lectures in the morning and not have time to read the extensive reading lists.

So yes I agree most people's minds are more open to new ideas and ways of thinking before the age of 30, but that doesn't apply to everyone. So I suppose if young students are commited at the age of 18 then it is worthwhile and they will make a good contribution. Also another factor, it sometimes takes people a while to figure out what they really want to do, to specialise in, so more time allows for that.

I think (quickly steering this back to some gaming reference) that people can keep their minds open and flexible, learn new ideas and skills throughout their lives(like with gaming for example) if they want to. I didn't really read a book or know anything about culture until I was 28. Then read a library of classics and factual books. Had studied physics and chemistry to 2nd year degree level when young, so decided I needed a challenge(actually that was inspired by an episode of MASH, but that's a different story).

Learnt to draw, paint, sculpt. Did a degree in Conceptual art and read the Uni library at 35. I think the mind can always stay fexible and open to new ideas.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Also another factor, it sometimes takes people a while to figure out what they really want to do, to specialise in, so more time allows for that.

That's how it was for my oldest son. He graduated from high school going on 2 years ago, and he didn't go to college/university because he didn't have a passion for any type of career. He took all the honors classes and is a very sharp guy. But about halfway through high school, he got so burnt out, and also pretty bitter about the flaws he saw in the education system, that he didn't want to continue in the education system even longer. He wanted to do some kind of blue collar work and work with his hands.

Well, he lives about 2 hours away now, and he's been working a job that is decent enough for him to scrape by on his own, and he's learned a lot about how life works. Growing up, we weren't rich, but he never wanted for anything. He always wanted the experience of being poor and finding happiness in other ways. Now that he has experienced scraping by, he realizes the stress of it, and knows he needs to do something to further his career. But that's coming when he's going on 20, instead of fresh out of high school. His girlfriend that he'll end up marrying someday is in her first year toward a goal of being a doctor. So she has a lot of school ahead of her, and will probably have a lot of student loans when it's over.