The Currently Playing & Random Game Thoughts Thread (19 June to 25 June)

[ZedClampet]

Been playing Forza Horizon 5, Grid Legends, Mechwarrior 5 and V Rising.

In FH5, you really just race yourself. The AI is inconsequential. If you fall behind, they let you catch up. If you get ahead, they speed up to catch you. If you modify your car with an emphasis on speed, they do the same. Modify it for handling, and they follow your lead. All that really matters is how the game perceives how you are doing based on the setup of your car. Honestly, as much as I love the game, this is kind of annoying, so I decided to play Grid Legends on Game Pass.

@Frag Maniac and I discussed Grid vs Horizon last week, but now that I've played a bit of Grid (I've only done about 5 races), I can get a better feel for the two as far as driving goes. With the starting options (I haven't changed anything yet) Grid is more arcade in its driving than Horizon. This comes with a grain of salt, though, because I haven't tried taking off any assists in Grid (I just jumped and started racing) and I haven't tried adding all the assists in Forza, but I'm uncomfortable at this point in saying that you can get to the same level of arcade driving in Forza, which is pretty important if you are using the keyboard to drive. I do know that some people use the keyboard in Forza. I just am cautious about recommending it.

But so far I'm loving Grid. Doesn't seem like tuning will be a big deal in the game, which is one of my favorite things about Forza, but the driving is certainly fun, and I've been enjoying the story campaign so far, and the AI isn't irrelevant and constantly cheating like in Forza.

In both Mechwarrior 5 and V Rising, I've found a better solution to the movement issues. In the software that came with my mouse, I can make buttons become toggle buttons, so I can lock in my direction when I want to and unlock it when I need it unlocked.

In Mech5, I'm still very early game. I did the first mission after unlocking multiplayer, and the AI pilot I'd hired completely destroyed one of my mechs, and I don't have enough money to fix the darn thing.

V Rising is probably my favorite game right now. We're still just working our way through the bosses and unlocks.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Been chipping at Hardspace Shipbreaker still, its easy to drop into as each 'shift' only lasts 15 minutes. Not sure if theres much variety to it beyond where I am and I'm cooling on it a bit. Could just be a lull and its pretty relaxing to play, so I'll keep plugging at it and see.

Also been playing Warhammer 40K Battlesector on Gamepass. Its very Warhammer 40K so if youre put off by the universe its definitely not for you. Only a few levels in on the campaign and its fun so far. Turn based, interesting units and abilities to play around with. Seems a bit bare bones though, I'd expect to have several factions with different campaigns, but the base game only includes the Blood Ravens Space Marines. It is voiced and well acted in a very 40k way, similarly to the old Dawn of War, so maybe the initial budget all got blown on the one campaign to test the waters. There's a Necron DLC already, but I'd imagine they could release a campaign like this for just about every faction, and theres a good chance I'd pay 10 or fifteen on top to play a lot of them over time. Havent dipped into skirmishes or anything else yet so cant really comment on those yet, but positive so far on what I've seen.

 

[Sarafan]

Continuing Elden Ring. I had a very hard time passing through Margit. Finally managed to beat him thanks to properly leveled character and fireball incantation. Some of the bosses in this game are really easy. It's harder to find them in open world however. I desperately needed to level up my character, so decided to check a guide to find some of them. I have a feeling that it would be very time consuming to get through every inch of this world (and finding a lot of the bosses requires such approach).

Anyway, I'm progressing forward and will probably focus on developing Faith mostly. Not always there's enough of time to cast incantations in combat and they have a limited range, but I'll try to stay faithful to the class I picked in the beginning.

Also, on a side note, there's a nice Capcom bundle available on Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/...mb_source=humble_home&hmb_medium=takeover_spn. I didn't have a single game from it, so decided grab it. To fight the boredom I made a decision to open for new game genres. Never played a lot of slashers, so Devil May Cry series should be a very interesting and relaxing experience.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Continuing Elden Ring.....

I'm 100% sure I didn't get everything but it took me around 130 hours to beat the game trying to find it all without any help.

Wish I could take it all back and start it fresh again. Enjoy!

 

[DXCHASE]

As posted on the back end of the last random thoughts thread, im currently still planning to put my new PC together today being fathers day and all. Hoping all the pieces work together and getting up and running isnt too much of a pain.

 

[mainer]

In case anyone missed this article on PCG, Beautiful Desolation is free on GOG until tomorrow morning:
Get isometric point-and-click Beautiful Desolation free for a limited time | PC Gamer

It's a post-apocalyptic game in the isometric style, and visually it reminds of the first 2 fallout games, but I don't think there's much combat involved, it seems to be more about exploration and puzzle solving. It had been on my Steam wish list for awhile, but I had some concerns if I'd really enjoy the gameplay, so I never bought it, but since it's free I'll give it shot. Even if I end up not really liking it after a few hours, I haven't lost anything (except a few hours).

I've been on this post-apocalyptic kick for the past few months having completed Elex 2 (which is a combination of post-apocalyptic ((meteor strike not nuclear)), fantasy, and alien invasion), and currently playing Wasteland 2. I often have several mood swings (for lack of a better term) throughout the year for certain game world environments, like fantasy or sci-fi. Does that happen to anyone else?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@mainer thanks for the heads up, Beautiful Desolation has been on my wish list for years at this point as well and I'd probably have missed that.

 

[Frag Maniac]

@Frag Maniac and I discussed Grid vs Horizon last week, but now that I've played a bit of Grid (I've only done about 5 races), I can get a better feel for the two as far as driving goes. With the starting options (I haven't changed anything yet) Grid is more arcade in its driving than Horizon. This comes with a grain of salt, though, because I haven't tried taking off any assists in Grid (I just jumped and started racing) and I haven't tried adding all the assists in Forza, but I'm uncomfortable at this point in saying that you can get to the same level of arcade driving in Forza, which is pretty important if you are using the keyboard to drive. I do know that some people use the keyboard in Forza. I just am cautious about recommending it.

But so far I'm loving Grid. Doesn't seem like tuning will be a big deal in the game, which is one of my favorite things about Forza, but the driving is certainly fun, and I've been enjoying the story campaign so far, and the AI isn't irrelevant and constantly cheating like in Forza.

Well, in GRID, it's more than just a matter of having assists on or off, but what level you have them set to, and I assume it's like that with Forza too. It sounds like you are saying you have it set to the default level for the difficulty mode you're playing on, but without having mentioned what difficulty mode you're on, it's impossible to tell. But yeah, you need to at least use the same difficulty mode in each game to see how they compare. Without having mentioned any of that, there's not enough info for me to go on.

As far as AI goes, since they implemented the "Nemesis" system in GRID, I was hoping the AI would drive clean as long as the player does, but that certainly isn't always the case, and I've seen people say the same in their Legends videos when describing the game's AI. Often times the AI will swerve at you even if you pass them cleanly, and it can get annoying at times. The feel of the handling can also depend a lot on what cars you're driving, what tracks you're on, whether it's day or night, and weather conditions. Okutama for instance when driven at night, can feel more slippery due to cooler track temps, and even fog. The worst problem traction wise in GRID is the Classic and Historical vehicles, which are typically invitational events. There were a few events in GRID 2019 where I had to bump assist up from level 3 out of 5 to level 4, and even a couple where I had to bump AI level from Hard down to Medium. There's a Night Endurance race at Okutama Grand Circuit where I had to bump assists up to 4 just due to being at night and driving the much slippery handling Super Tourer class. There was also a Time Attack event at Silverstone in the pouring rain at dusk in the Classic Ford GT40 that I barely got through on the default assists for Hard. There were also at least a few multi race events where I had to settle for not getting 1st place on one race to win the overall, but hey, that's what real racing is like anyway, so I don't feel so bad about that. I DID however in my attempts look at the overall standings to see if I could afford losing a race here and there in a multi race event, but a few times it was not feasible, like that 3rd race at Barcelona in the Ford GT 40. Hence the compromised settings. In GRID the AI also tend to drive the final lap faster, so there are some races where you want to have a good lead going into the final lap. It's not as egregious as so called "rubber band" or "catchup" AI, and you certainly aren't penalized like in those games for having a really large lead where the AI somehow always magically catch up, but it's something to watch out for on tight races. Sometimes you have to master blocking because of it.

This is a lot of sliding for level 4 assists on seemingly dry pavement. I can usually gap the AI a bit on the last descent and the bottom flat part of the course, but they are programmed to do the ascent so fast, they quickly catch me even when I'm going full gas and taking a smooth line.

I was fortunate my 1st lap time was good enough to win, because the 2nd and 3rd couldn't be counted due to sliding off track.

This is one of the events I had to drop AI to Med, but only in the 3rd race at Barcelona. On Hard the AI are crazy fast on that track, and there's no room for error.

Pro Trucks is another slippery handling class, here I had to settle for an 11th place start and make a very clever pass on the1st hard turn.

This is the one other race I had to set to Med AI. The AI had way more speed and traction when set to Hard.

Oval Stocks and Muscle class cars also handle slippery, with some tough events to win. You really can't judge how arcade GRID feels after only 5 events. It's always been a game that varies so much in difficulty from event to event, it can be hard to consistently win on Hard mode or higher at default settings, especially on keyboard. It's kind of disconcerting, because you can go a fair ways into the game, hoping you can claim you beat it on Hard, only to end up having to compromise settings on certain events.

 

[DXCHASE]

Well had to put my build on hold. Turns out my CPU cooler was purchased before the new intel 12th gen mobo im using. So i had to contact Noctua and they are sending me a free kit thats compatible with the motherboard/socket. Apparently this is a thing and i get it, the mobos are new, I didnt know they offered the service which makes total sense. So i also bought an extra fan so thatll be in by the time this kit comes in but at least another week or so before i can build.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Well had to put my build on hold. Turns out my CPU cooler was purchased before the new intel 12th gen mobo im using. So i had to contact Noctua and they are sending me a free kit thats compatible with the motherboard/socket. Apparently this is a thing and i get it, the mobos are new, I didnt know they offered the service which makes total sense. So i also bought an extra fan so thatll be in by the time this kit comes in but at least another week or so before i can build.

Not sure what this has to do with what game you are (or were) currently playing. Did you perhaps mean to post it in another thread? Not being rude, just trying to help if that was the case.

 

[Brian Boru]

Beautiful Desolation has been on my wish list for years at this point as well and I'd probably have missed that

You could subscribe to our free games thread, where all such goodies are revealed

The Free Time Limited Games List

I thought it would be nice to have one place to post games that are free for a limited time, regardless of the platform. Feel free to share some gems and I'll try my best to keep the thread updated whenever something new has been posted. Thank you for your contribution.

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had to put my build on hold

We need an "Awww" button

Not sure what this has to do with what game you are (or were) currently playing

No worries, he's in the right place—this is the thread where we also throw in occasional random thoughts outside of gaming, sort of the forum's social thread

 

[DXCHASE]

Not sure what this has to do with what game you are (or were) currently playing. Did you perhaps mean to post it in another thread? Not being rude, just trying to help if that was the case.

no this is the right one, random gaming thoughts def. include building pc's lol at least to me

 

[WoodenSaucer]

No worries, he's in the right place—this is the thread where we also throw in occasional random thoughts outside of gaming, sort of the forum's social thread

So it's ok to use these threads for off topic talk, instead of having to dig for the Coconut Monkey thread?

 

[Brian Boru]

ok to use these threads

Well they're Zed's threads, so see what he says. They're usually about gaming, but occasionally take a wander down a windy lane
Mods are okay with it as long as nobody's a jerk, and it doesn't wander into the usual dodgy areas like politics etc.

 

[Frindis]

Playing some more Witcher 2: Assasins of Kings. So far I arrived landed in Flotsam and have been running around greeting people. It's kind of fun, they say a lot of nasty words. Really a pigsty, which makes me wonder if how they talk will change as to what kind of town you visit.

I went to explore the wooded area west of Flotsam and had my first cave encounters with some Nekkers and Nekker warriors. Nothing my Igni could not handle and a little kiting. Speaking of kiting, I also visited a haunted hospital where I met some really nasty creatures for a low level. Kiting saved my ass against those and I got some pretty decent loot.

I also lied to a guy about the authenticity of a formula I was supposed to give him. I ended up in a hideout cave and when he checked the formula and noticed it was fake, he wanted me dead. He and his thugs were not saints either, so I killed them and took all of their loot.

Did some arm wrestling which surprisingly enough was fun even with its wonky controller. My favorite part is the knuckle fights, they're pretty smooth and I think it will be a nice way to grind some coins since you can repeat some of them.

I'm thinking of installing a mod that makes inventory weightless because I have a tendency to pick up just about anything. After just 3 hours or so of playing, my inventory has been full twice. There is one solution for me so far that works though, I can use the storage chest in an inn. It will have to do for now. I also have to give CDPR props for making it so easy to hide UI for taking screenshots. I just have to press H and then F12 for a screenshot. Amazes me that so many games don't have a shortcut for something as important as that.

From my haunted hospital visit. I don't have a silver sword so not sure what happened there. Either I lost it or you are supposed to craft one, which I did later on from a diagram I found.

 

[ZedClampet]

Well, in GRID, it's more than just a matter of having assists on or off, but what level you have them set to, and I assume it's like that with Forza too. It sounds like you are saying you have it set to the default level for the difficulty mode you're playing on, but without having mentioned what difficulty mode you're on, it's impossible to tell.

By the way, if you like Grid, I think you'll like Forza Motorsport 8 when it comes out. The Motorsport games are very much like Grid.

But Grid and Forza work a little differently. The difficulty is completely separate from the assists in Forza. You can play on the highest difficulty with full assists on. You'll never win a race, but you can do it. I'm not sure what I have the difficulty set on Grid. I picked one higher than "medium", but I don't know what it's called. It's pretty easy and I need to bump it, but I'm enjoying it being easy during the story. But what I was trying to say was that no level of assists on Forza are going to get the driving the way it is on that particular difficulty, at least on the vehicles I drove. I'm only about 5 races into the story. But I didn't expect Grid to match the feel of driving in Forza. Forza is pretty unrivaled in that respect.

I'm probably worried about the wrong thing here, anyway, as you aren't using full assists. It's just that whenever I think of using a keyboard to drive, I usually think of using a lot of assists.

So far my impression of the drivers in Grid is that they can, at times, be pretty idiotic. You can charge up on their inside as a corner approaches, and they will slam into you as you try to pass. I don't know if they are trying to block or not, but whatever it is, it doesn't work great. Forza cars rarely hit you unless they are in danger of missing a checkpoint or, sometimes, if they are swerving to miss crashed vehicles. However, some of this may be my fault. Forza tracks are more wide open, and there is more room to pass, but you have to pass as soon as you can on "Unbeatable" or you are screwed, so I may be a little too aggressive in Grid.

 

[ZedClampet]

So it's ok to use these threads for off topic talk, instead of having to dig for the Coconut Monkey thread?

It's okay with me, but I'm not a mod. This is where I've posted off topic stuff simply because the Monkey thread is a million pages long, and I'm not dealing with that.

By the way, I was out of town at that engineering contest last week and couldn't log in on my phone. There was a big ad or video or something (I never actually watched it) blocking the log in section.

 

[Frindis]

@ZedClampet I don't use the phone when logging on to the forum myself, but perhaps @Colif or @Brian Boru or any other mods for that sake know something about that?

 

[mainer]

@Frindis - I really need to give Witcher 2 another try, I loved both Witcher 1 & 3, but for some reason just couldn't get into W2 and was never able to get very far into the game. It's been quite a few years ago so I don't actually remember the reasons, so maybe now I'll see it in a new light or have a different perspective.

I also have to give CDPR props for making it so easy to hide UI for taking screenshots. I just have to press H and then F12 for a screenshot. Amazes me that so many games don't have a shortcut for something as important as that.

That's always bugged me that more games don't have a one button click to get rid of the UI, because I love taking screenshots in certain games. Both Skyrim and Fallout 4 have mods that will do that which is great, but other games don't always have mods to turn to, so it would be nice to see it natively included.

I'm thinking of installing a mod that makes inventory weightless because I have a tendency to pick up just about anything.

I feel that pain. I'm always running out of inventory space or being over-burdened, depending upon the inventory type in a game. If I see something that I can pick up, I pick it up, I can't help myself.

 

[Frag Maniac]

So it's ok to use these threads for off topic talk, instead of having to dig for the Coconut Monkey thread?

That was my thought exactly, it's what the Coconut Monkey thread is described as being for. Things can get pretty out of hand when anyone can post any topic in any thread.

 

[Ryzengang]

I've been almost exclusively playing Dragon Quest XI recently. I've been really enjoying this game, and it's definitely one of the best RPGs I've played in awhile. It is quite a mammoth, though. I'm nearly 50 hours in and it seems like a still got a ways to go. After that, next on the list is either Final Fantasy VII or Yakuza 0. I haven't really decided which I'm going to go with yet.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

That was my thought exactly, it's what the Coconut Monkey thread is described as being for. Things can get pretty out of hand when anyone can post any topic in any thread.

I don't think they want that in every thread. I can understand these weekly threads being a catch-all, though. I just didn't know it was permitted.

 

[Brian Boru]

I don't think they want that in every thread

True dat
Just Zed's weekly & Coconut.

 

[Frag Maniac]

OK, noted, now back to currently playing. I just reinstalled RE 7 and did a session on Madhouse last night, because I noticed it got 2 new SP mini campaign DLCs, Not a Hero, where you play as Chris Redfield, and End of Zoe, where you play as Joe, Zoe's uncle.

I've yet to even bother starting either DLC as I had plans to do another Madhouse run with no coins, but the evade Jack Baker tedium is setting in after getting to the main hall, so I may go ahead with it. I'm wondering if these DLCs offer any more or less challenge than the main game.

 

[Zloth]

In Mech5, I'm still very early game. I did the first mission after unlocking multiplayer, and the AI pilot I'd hired completely destroyed one of my mechs, and I don't have enough money to fix the darn thing.

The game also features some excellent auto-saving. You should be able to re-do the mission. Or go back to when you entered the system and pick a different mission.

I often have several mood swings (for lack of a better term) throughout the year for certain game world environments, like fantasy or sci-fi. Does that happen to anyone else?

Nope. I do try to switch up game play types, so I don't play similar games back to back.