The Currently Playing & Random Game Thoughts Thread (31 July to 6 August)

[Pifanjr]

I learned today that Epic now requires Fortnite accounts to verify using a credit/debit card or a valid ID (or partial SSN for the US) to comply with COPPA regulations. Apparently a lot of people are not thrilled about this.

 

[Sarafan]

I learned today that Epic now requires Fortnite accounts to verify using a credit/debit card or a valid ID (or partial SSN for the US) to comply with COPPA regulations. Apparently a lot of people are not thrilled about this.

Wow, and to think that the game has a Teen tag in the US and 12+ in Europe. Does this mean that teenagers can't play the game now?

 

[Pifanjr]

Wow, and to think that the game has a Teen tag in the US and 12+ in Europe. Does this mean that teenagers can't play the game now?

The ESRB rating is only to inform parents about the content of the media, it doesn't mean kids of under 13 won't consume it. Also, the EU equivalent of COPPA, the GDPR-K, goes up to 16 in some countries.

COPPA and GDPR-K only ban companies from gathering and storing personal data from kids without parental consent. So kids can still play as long as their parents (or any willing adult) give their consent.

Note that something as simple as a username is considered personal data.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Is Guido your son, or what?

Yep, my son.

Was that on keyboard you played it?

Well, that requires a bit of explanation. My practically new Duke controller is messed up. The left trigger and left stick (brake and steering) have I guess what they call drift, even after calibrating them in Windows and taking other measures.

So I was the only one at home yesterday, got up at 6 am and started playing Forza Horizon. The controller was worse than ever, but instead of going back to my Xbox controller, I decided to experiment with a keyboard-like configuration, and I moved the steering to the "X" and "B" buttons and the brake to "A". I still used right trigger for gas, which probably helped a bit, but I think if you put traction control on that you could get a similar result. The reason I did this is because the way I have things physically set up, there's no way I would be good enough with my left hand. I could have moved the controls to keys on the right side, but decided to give the controller buttons a try. On the one hand, all I needed was my trigger finger and thumb, which was great. On the other hand, there was a lot of jerking back and forth of my car, which I think would have been eliminated at least a little bit if I used a keyboard. I think I could rapidly hit the keys much faster with keyboard,

I actually had more fun than I thought I would progressing throughout the day, trying different tactics, etc. and when I finally got good enough to test myself on Unbeatable, I didn't have a lot of luck for awhile, but I kept getting closer. Finally I decided to start recording, and it took 3 more runs before I won. I aborted the first two runs in the first half of the first lap because I had too much trouble getting through traffic and didn't feel like I could catch up to the leader.

Strangely, I didn't notice how much I was jerking left and right until I watched the video, but I was constantly making small adjustments. It looks a bit odd, not nearly as smooth as they guy you posted above. But it worked anyway, and after thinking about it for awhile, I bet that I do the same thing with controller and just never noticed it before. Anyway, the only assist I had on was anti-lock brakes, which I've started using most of the time anyway. For one thing there was no way I could pump the brakes and steer at the same time with just my thumb, but even under the best of circumstances, without anti-lock on in Horizon, you have to get on the brake earlier and the AI will slam into the back of you.

As far as Horizon vs Motorsport, I'm going to try Motorsport today, but I expect similar results. The physics are exactly the same in both games so far as I can tell (Turn 10 claims they are not the same), but the cars in Motorsport handle better (kind of like Grid cars) because they are race cars, whereas you are generally driving street cars in Horizon. You can upgrade your cars in Horizon with race equipment, but if you fully change your car into a race car, you'll never beat the Horizon AI. They simply become too good. So what you do is only improve your tires and put the rest into your engine. The cars are like wild animals that way, and the AI, since it adopts whatever you are doing for its own cars, drives more carefully, allowing you to sometimes beat them on Unbeatable. Motorsport AI isn't worried about trying to keep things competitive, doesn't mimic your car set-up and generally just drives their cars with varying competency depending on what you have your difficulty set at. That's much less infuriating.

Anyway, I'm still trying to decide whether I want to post that video. I've watched it a bunch of times and every time I do, I notice more bad driving to the point that it's going to be a bit embarrassing to post lol

 

[Frag Maniac]

Anyway, I'm still trying to decide whether I want to post that video. I've watched it a bunch of times and every time I do, I notice more bad driving to the point that it's going to be a bit embarrassing to post lol

Well, I say better to post it than tease us endlessly with it. Just make sure you indicate in the description it's on keyboard, because the above posted started out confusing me as to which it was.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Well, I say better to post it than tease us endlessly with it. Just make sure you indicate in the description it's on keyboard, because the above posted started out confusing me as to which it was.

I've posted it in this week's thread and mentioned how I drove. I don't want to put "keyboard" in the YouTube description because it wasn't really keyboard.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I've posted it in this week's thread and mentioned how I drove. I don't want to put "keyboard" in the YouTube description because it wasn't really keyboard.

Yeah I kind of thought you meant you were holding the gamepad in one hand, with the other hand on the keyboard, but I wasn't sure. I saw the clip in the other thread and commented on it and how you can get better video quality on YouTube btw.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Yep, my son.

I really hope Guido is his real name. That's an awesome name, if so.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I really hope Guido is his real name. That's an awesome name, if so.

haha, no. Sorry,

 

[Brian Boru]

I really hope Guido is his real name. That's an awesome name

I prefer Guapo, but okay…

 

[Zed Clampet]

I prefer Guapo, but okay…

He's Italian, not Mexican.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Or even Greedo.

 

[Brian Boru]

He's Italian, not Mexican.

Guapo is Yarran 🙂

 

[Zed Clampet]

Guapo is Yarran 🙂

True, but this is really going to confuse people who happen by and have never heard of Yara. 🤣

 

[WoodenSaucer]

True, but this is really going to confuse people who happen by and have never heard of Yara. 🤣

The Norwegian chemical company?

 

[Zed Clampet]

The Norwegian chemical company?

It's a fictional island where Far Cry 6 takes place.

 

[Zloth]

Or even Greedo.

Don't do that! Geeks will freak out every time the kid wins an initiative roll and gets to shoot first!

 

[Wertlom]

It's very sad when you watch videos on Youtube with beautiful graphics and you can't afford it.