Steam Next Fest February 2024

[Frindis]

Tried out Abiotic Factor with my newphews. It is a survival crafting game and has a lot of Lethal Company/Half-Life vibe to it when it comes to how the environment looks. We have no idea have long the demo is, because we ended up bunkering down in a small base we made and had our designated chef make us food. Then we all sat down around a table, said a few amens, and ate radiated food. Fun times

Save 20% on Abiotic Factor on Steam

Abiotic Factor is a survival crafting experience for 1-6 players set in the depths of an underground research facility. Caught between paranormal containment failure, a military crusade, and chaos from a dozen realms, the world’s greatest minds must survive against the universe’s biggest threats.

store.steampowered.com

 

[ZedClampet]

Save 10% on Pacific Drive on Steam

Face the supernatural dangers of the Olympic Exclusion Zone with a car as your only lifeline in this driving survival adventure! Scavenge resources, load up your trusty station wagon, and drive like hell to make it through alive.

store.steampowered.com

Very polished AA survival horror type game that is a better realization of the Roadside Picnic exclusion zone than the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games (though I have high hopes for the new one).

Driving with the keyboard couldn't be easier, if that's a concern. Found the demo extremely challenging. This game definitely wants to kill you.

 

[Brian Boru]

Millennia Civ-like.

Gave this an hour or so. The demo is an unrestricted 50 or 60 turns—I went about 20 in, did too much reading—and it is very Civ-like. Polished, runs well on my i7 + 1060 spud, wishlisted.

Some screenies to show the various controls and options:

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Civs

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo menu Main

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Custom Game

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Game

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Interface

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Controls

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Audio

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Video

 

[ZedClampet]

Gave this an hour or so. The demo is an unrestricted 50 or 60 turns—I went about 20 in, did too much reading—and it is very Civ-like. Polished, runs well on my i7 + 1060 spud, wishlisted.

Some screenies to show the various controls and options:

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Civs

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo menu Main

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Custom Game

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Game

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Interface

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Controls

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Audio

…

Spoiler: Millennia Demo Options Video

What is the primary feature(s) that separates it from Civ?

 

[Brian Boru]

What is the primary feature(s) that separates it from Civ?

I don't know, an hour is way too short to form any kind of credible overall impression of a 4X game—plus I wasn't looking out for differences

I mostly explored with eventually 4-5 units, whacked a Barb camp, met ~4 neighbors—who were very close by, claustrophobia!—settled a new town, and settled a new city.

The town thing was after accumulating some resource or other—culture or influence or pop level or sth—and was a place within existing border thing. Might've been better saved until second city founded, if that's possible.

But of course there are many 4Xs unlike Civ, which is why I don't play them—I was looking for elements which make Civ great for me, and so far, so good with Millennia.

 

[Brian Boru]

9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far

This one didn't like me taking screenies, but hey it's cute when it's shy. I like the title pun—if you don't know, they have an older game called 8-Bit Armies

"Welcome back, Commander"
Ah yes, these are a bunch of C&C golden oldies all right! And it plays like C&C, so of course wishlisted.

The main thing some won't like is that it's pixel-style graphics. I'm not mad about it—C&C Remastered and the old Generals both look better. A lot will depend on the maps—the #1 Tutorial mission I played was a bland featureless urban setup, with only one strategic element, some bridges.

Plays fine on my spud i7 + 1060, no glitches. I hope it does great for Petroglyph

 

[Brian Boru]

Global Conflagration

Another C&C-like, wishlisted. More like Generals tho, which is my fav C&C flavor.

NATO disbanded, Russia threatens an unprepared EU. Demo mission is very short, ~10 minutes, 20 if you poke around—place a few base buildings, capture a couple of income points, build some units, and hunt down remains of enemy force.

Demo has Skirmish mode which I didn't try. Air & land units, didn't see any navy. Ran fine on my i7 + 1060.

Menus are sparse, so stuck 'em all in one image:

 

[ZedClampet]

But of course there are many 4Xs unlike Civ, which is why I don't play them—I was looking for elements which make Civ great for me, and so far, so good with Millennia.

You're going to just end up playing Civ. The reason I don't look at games like this is because they are so similar there is no point to them. Plus, in all the options you showed there was no way to increase the text size.

 

[ZedClampet]

Steam News - The top demos of Steam Next Fest (so far!) - Steam News

As we head into the final days of this edition of Steam Next Fest, we're surfacing some of the most-played demos so far.

store.steampowered.com

 

[ZedClampet]

Star Trucker on Steam

Haul cargo, trade salvage and keep your space suit close as you search for fame and fortune among the stars in a game that puts an interstellar twist on the truck sim genre.

store.steampowered.com

Like the truck simulator games but in space. I couldn't figure out how to dock, but I didn't really try that hard. Don't think this is a game for me. I like the truck simulator games because it's kind of like being a tourist. Plus driving the trucks can be a bit of a challenge.

 

[Johnway]

So i have been playing summerhouse a relaxing build your own street/building. similar principles as townscaper.

SUMMERHOUSE on Steam

A tiny building game about beautiful lived-in houses. No rules or restrictions, just pure creativity.

store.steampowered.com

i couldn't unlock too much in the demo and despite having absolutely no knowledge of house construction, i did create something interesting and aesthetically pleasing. i would say that i would like to know how to push or pull objects forward so i can have more priority on bits and pieces, but its demo so there might me more to play with later.



Fruits of my labour before the game crashed:

https://imgur.com/a/vnMFHAL

View: https://imgur.com/a/vnMFHAL

 

[Brian Boru]

Hey I found an innovative game which might actually also be good—wouldn't that be something?

Moduwar

Moduwar on Steam

Moduwar is a unique take on Real-Time Strategy. Take control of a Modu - an alien creature with an ability to grow different organs, split and merge them, depending on your playstyle. Take on mysterious creatures, and explore unique strategies in both single-player and multiplayer modes.

store.steampowered.com

"a unique take on Real-Time Strategy. Take control of a Modu - an alien creature with an ability to grow different organs, split and merge them, depending on your playstyle. Take on mysterious creatures, and explore unique strategies in both single-player and multiplayer modes"

Demo downloaded, watch this space…

 

[ZedClampet]

Hey I found an innovative game which might actually also be good—wouldn't that be something?

Don't misunderstand my statements about Civ-likes. As I've stated in the past repeatedly, more of the same is good. But that's primarily if you are the original creator. For someone else riffing off your hard work, it needs to be at least somewhat different. I'm not asking for groundbreaking innovation. I'm asking for the game to be distinct enough from Civ that I won't just play Civ instead.

Take for instance Phasmophobia and Ghost Exile. Phasmophobia invented the co-op ghost hunter. Ghost Exile was the same game, but added being able to hide in closets and banishing the entities (as well as a couple more small things unique to it). It wasn't revolutionary. It was still very much just a ghost hunter, but it was different enough to make me play it instead of Phasmophobia for awhile.

I'm sure Millenia has plenty of things different from Civ. I just wanted to know what they were.

 

[Zloth]

I'm sure Millenia has plenty of things different from Civ. I just wanted to know what they were.

Me too, so I did the demo myself. There are certainly differences.

While you can plant a city anywhere, the city you plant is independent as a vassal. You'll get a little money from it, but it will be quite a while before you can control what it builds directly. I believe taking over unaligned cities results in a vassal, too.

There are lots of little, unaligned cities, too. I set the game up with just two other nations on a medium sized world (way under what is recommended) and had a bunch of them around. Barbarian camps are out there, too, and you probably don't want to just plop down near one without some military help.

Another funky thing is the domain XP. At the start of the game, you'll have government, military, and exploration XP bars. As these bars fill up, you get the ability to buy things. Getting enough government XP lets you buy a settler, for instance, while military XP lets you buy a band of warriors. As the game advances, more bars show up to advance.

Nations seem pretty similar to each other at first, and they are. As your technologies advance, though, you enter new ages and get to add new 'national spirits.' That's where you get your bonuses. That's nice as it lets you react to what's going on in the game. No more making a navy-oriented nation that finds itself with little water around to float on. On the minus side, when you don't know what's coming, it's hard to prepare.

The game seems pretty good so far. It's Paradox, so I worry about it becoming a game of a jillion DLCs, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as the base game is well done.

 

[Brian Boru]

Nice review—so that's what was going on!

Another funky thing is the domain XP

Yeah, that's the thingamajig I was trying to recall.

making a navy-oriented nation that finds itself with little water around

One of my fav customs is to get a bunch of water-focused civs on a water map—that and similar thematic groupings can be good fun.

Paradox … a jillion DLCs

They've all jumped on that now—Civ 6 was releasing DLCs after I bought it, ~6 years after release. As long as the game is decently moddable, all should be well.

 

[Brian Boru]

Nice article, got 2 downloads from it—Oddsparks and Abiotic Factor. I don't expect to like the latter, but its YT trailer rocks!

Hey @ZedClampet there's a Poker roguelike!

I played 50 Steam Next Fest demos this week, and these are my top 5

From deckbuilders to city builders, these are the demos you shouldn't miss.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Brian Boru]

Moduwar

Gave that 30 minutes, definitely interesting and attractive, wishlisted.

I didn't master the controls, and no time to mess around, but the idea is intriguing. Give it a shot if a very different RTS is your thing.

Spoiler: Main menu

…

Spoiler: Game menu

…

Spoiler: Options menu

 

[Brian Boru]

Small Kingdoms 4X-RTS hybrid with ProcGen maps.

Couldn't figure this out in a brief visit, so it goes on 'Follow'—I like the idea, and it's early days.

 

[ZedClampet]

Hey @ZedClampet there's a Poker roguelike!

Everything has to be a roguelike. I bet this is less of a roguelike (permadeath) than real poker. I bet they give you more money when you run out and let you start over. Try explaining that to a casino or your Friday night poker buddies.

I might try it out, though. Haven't really been in the mood for poker since the last time I played for money and found out I didn't have the fortitude for it anymore. Sweated more than a fat man at an outdoor buffet in August. Totally understandable since I stood to lose $20

****

Played some Summerhouse (as mentioned above).

First I tried to make my real house, and that went so well I tried to make Highclere Castle

Based on the trailer, there were a lot of things that would have been nice to have when making the castle, but either I didn't unlock them or they aren't in the demo.

It was fun but frustrating. For instance, the window over the door couldn't be centered, and better parts for the towers wouldn't go in the right place. Plus there was nothing at all to put on top of the towers, which kind of ruins the whole thing. That, and it looks like 3 total stories is as high as you can go, and if I remember right, Highclere is three stories not counting the towers. (As if those are the only problems with my picture )

But it was fun. I wishlisted it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Tried this:

Save 20% on Renaissance Kingdom Wars on Steam

The year is 1510. As wars rage across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, it is the age of gunpowder and mercenaries - that changed the course of history. You can do it as well, going from a leader of men to the ruler of an empire in this unique mix of RTS and grand strategy.

store.steampowered.com

Strategy/RTS similar to Total War but with more strategy to the map layer. I didn't have a lot of luck with it. I couldn't figure out how to harvest my chickens, and then ran out of food far from home. I didn't want to know what would happened next, so I retired

 

[Zloth]

If you're looking for more...

View: https://youtu.be/efE4mv2iT3I?si=bmZiceoXubJOv-k4

 

[ZedClampet]

Most-played demos of Steam Next Fest: February 2024 Edition

These are the 50 games with the most-played demos during the week of Steam Next Fest, by number of unique players

store.steampowered.com

 

[Frindis]

Throwing in that some of the demos you'll be able to play for longer. Soulmask for example extended the time to the 18th of February.