General gaming discussion

[Pepe]

Yeah, I don't know about the whole hero thing, but I haven't played one in ages and as long as it is not a Rome 2 mess, it should be alright.

Will probably wait for a sale (and lose interest before that.)

[Disco]

It has two modes, Records & Romance.

Records is a traditional historic Total War, Romance has faster combat and generals are superhero characters with powerful abilities a la the dramatised source material. And it is a stable release as the last few games have been, luckily for them as Rome 2 nearly killed the series.

[Dark Soldier]

I've bought it having never played a Total War game before. Looks intimidating.

[Shindig]

I've had Rome sitting on my shelf for well over a decade.

[phonics]

This one seems like the kind of game that I fool myself into thinking I'd like before never playing again. I was always one of those ones that auto-resolved fights which removes 90% of the game.

[Disco]

It's reviewed quite well but the battles are indeed the meat of the game, I'm not sure I would ever recommend a TW game for the strategic layer.

[Pepe]

For that, Civilization is the obvious choice.

[Disco]

Crusader Kings.

[Pepe]

Could never get past the learning curve unfortunately.

[Pepe]

Bought a used Oculus Rift to test it out. If I don't like it I will just put it back on ebay.

After a few days with it, I think I'm sold. There are some issues, especially the 'screen-door effect' which I had seen mentioned and is definitely noticeable, plus the resolution isn't that great, but the depth perception and the ability to see things at real scale is fantastic. At least for racing games, I'd say it is definitely worth it. I think I am even faster with the Oculus, I've been able to nail certain corners I always had issues with before (the left-hander after the corkscrew being the most notable one.)

[Pepe]

Just won my first race in iRacing since... first one ever probably. Much easier to hit the apex when you can actually see the camber on the road.

[Ian]

So Larian are potentially making a new Baldur's Gate.

I'm in.

[Disco]

Can they set it solely within taverns so this music can play continuously.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40WbzU8vZ70

[Pepe]

I know I am very late to this party, but Assassins Creed. :drool:

[Dark Soldier]

Fucking hell Total War is confusing as shit to a newcomer.

[Ian]

https://gamedaily.biz/article/910/casual-connect-indie-development-is-stagnant-says-braid-creator-jonathan-blow

Jonathan Blow really is just the most colossal arse.

[Shindig]

I don't know where he's getting that from.

[Ian]

Currently doing another Divinity Original Sin 2 run with a couple of my friends and it's hard to understate how much I love this game.

One of my mates is a bit prone to "Well we could save before we speak to [important story NPC]" and see what our options are" or wanting to save before a fight where there's an NPC we need to keep alive or whatever in case it goes wrong. I have to talk him round by pointing out that there's little point playing a game this flexible with it's quests and stories if you're just going to try and cheese every preferred outcome.

Non-spoilery example: We had a big fight that's really important for one of the origin story characters, and due to a decision we made after the fight but before we spoke to the relevant character said character thanks to her own scripted event and an action we took ended up immediately dying.

Spoilers for anybody who's already played it through (only Disco, perhaps?)
We got to the climactic bit of Beast's story where Justinia and her evil, God-King puppet adviser Isbeil are cracking along with their plan to unleash Deathfog in Arx. We had the chat, did the fight with Isbeil, etc. My mate told us he had some options with the deathfog machine and chose to destroy it before we'd cleared the area. So firstly cue most of our party dying but thankfully we had Fane to sort it out.

Also, however, while he was safely exploring he got to the door where Justinia was being held, which she promptly battered down..... and immediately got killed by the spreading deathfog.

So we didn't get to see out her redemption arc but she did get a somewhat poetic death.

Really looking forward to seeing what they do with Baldur's Gate.

Has anybody played the old Baldur's Gate games recently, or played them for the first time? And if so are they horrid and clunky to try and go back to?

EDIT: I suppose I specifically mean the combat more than anything and the wrinkles of whatever D&D version it was based on.

[Pepe]

I was thinking of giving that game a try, but from what you just wrote, it seems to be coop. Can it be played alone? I have no friends, and last time I tried to get something on The Third Hard I was ignored. :(

[Alex]

You could 100% play the first one on your own, so I would imagine the sequel will be the same.

[Ian]

I was thinking of giving that game a try, but from what you just wrote, it seems to be coop. Can it be played alone? I have no friends, and last time I tried to get something on The Third Hard I was ignored. :(

What, Original Sin?

Both can be done either co-op or single player and it's drop-in, drop-out as well.

Which one was it you're looking at doing?

[Pepe]

Divinity Original Sin 2. Supposed to be good, no?

[Ian]

Original Sin and Original Sin 2 are both excellent. I would recommend both if that sort of RPG is your cup of tea.

[Pepe]

I am not sure that I have ever played that sort of RPG.

Should I start with the first?

[Disco]

Despite owning at least one I've never really played either Baldurs Gate properly.

[Shindig]

It's alien to me. Hell, I didn't play a Diablo-clone until last weekend.

[phonics]

Baldurs Gate put me off the idea of RPGs. I was awful at the combat.

[Disco]

There must be hundreds of decent guides by now, I'll probably try and breeze through both for the story before 3 comes out.

[Ian]

I'll give 'em a go, if I'm struggling to remember how the fuck you game THAC0 I'll see if there are difficulty levels and just blast through for the story. Or as Disco said, just find a build online I like the look of and follow that.

[Pepe]

Spend like six hours straight last night on Frostpunk. Quality game.

[Pepe]

That was some nerve-wracking stuff. Best game I've played in a while.

[Pleb]

John Wick is in Cyberpunk.

SOLD!

[Shindig]

Best part of the conference, although that kinda shows how little they said about their new console.

[Trancemeister]

Final Fantasy 7 remake release date 3rd march 2020. Definately gonna take a week of vacation when that comes out.

[Shindig]

Oh, another thing I hated about Microsoft's conference: "We have Gears playable at the show. Here are some wrestlers about to play our newest mode." and they then go to the next thing. No gameplay.

[Pleb]

The Devolver Direct was far better than Bitchfesta's piece of shit garbage conference.

Microsoft has won E3 lads, close the thread.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Bought Slay the Spire on the Switch.

Fun game, I can see why people are raving about it.

[Pepe]

I bought it too, but don't see the hype. Decent fun though.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Anger :wub:

[Shindig]

More Death Stranding news. Kojima wanted Stefanie Jootsen (Quiet from MGSV) to play Fragile only for him to go silent and finalise casting once Lea Seydoux was lined up. He did the same shit with David Hayter over MGSV.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Thought I was going to beat Act 2 for the first time but I ran into a Giant Head :(

[phonics]

The one with the fire circles around it?

Post pics of builds or it's no fun.

Btw a tip that is useful for learning how to play against new characters. Before you take the damage that will kill you, press pause > save and quit, then go back into the game. You'll start the fight again, the same cards will draw in the same order so you can block where you might have attacked, tried a diff combo, etc.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/Giant_Head

That one.

Just too much HP and then he starts stacking damage like crazy. My build was decent but not offensive enough to take him down:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D8zG1MsUwAUDvzx.jpg:large

The snecko eye caused a lot of problems too.

[Gray Fox]

More Death Stranding news. Kojima wanted Stefanie Jootsen (Quiet from MGSV) to play Fragile only for him to go silent and finalise casting once Lea Seydoux was lined up. He did the same shit with David Hayter over MGSV.

When I first saw the latest trailer I was sure the Mama character was her. She looks very similar to say the least. He definitely seems to have developed a type.

It doesn't shock me to learn about him cutting Stefanie off though. There was an interview with the cast of the original MGS talking about how they recorded it at the time. They end up going more in depth with Hayter and he says Kojima was trying to replace him since pretty much MGS2. He had to re-audition for the role every new game.
He also learned they'd tried to find a voice match for him, but failed. But Kojima has wanted celebrities since he tried to get Kurt Russel to play Big Boss in MGS3(would have been fitting on many levels).

It's bad to see him just willing to dump people who have made it big in his games though. Hayter has said that he never knew Kojima personally, only as a business man. Considering Hayter can speak Japanese too, it says maybe Kojima never liked him. It looks more that way when you see Kojima and Reedus being all pally on Twitter.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D80S3CeUIAA-N3I.jpg:large

Celebrated so much as I thought I killed him but he then went into 'Awakened form', revived and I was fucked as I was low on HP.

Really thought I had it that time.

[phonics]

Cyberpunk is the only game to beat Avengers in terms of viewing figures. Then it's Star Wars. Then there's a huge gap.

CD Projekt Red are going to sell tens of millions of copies of that game. Imagine telling someone in 2007 that the people making The Witcher would be out performing the guys who make Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

[Mike]

Anyone tried out game pass for PC?

[phonics]

Yeah I've got it. It's broken though.

1139655856046391296

[Ian]

Anyone tried out game pass for PC?

I was gonna give it a go to try and get any urge to actuall buy an FM game out of my system but it turns out I need Windows 10, which came out just after I bought my PC and I'm not worried about upgrading to.

[Mike]

Why wouldn’t you have upgraded? It was/is free and windows 10 is top.

[Shindig]

I've had too many botched Windows installs over the years. If it ain't broke, etc.

[Baz]

Windows 10 is the GOAT though.

Also for anyone considering Gamepass you can get it majorly discounted.

GamePass ultimate includes Xbox Live Gold, GamePass and GamePass PC. It's £11 a month. You can take an existing gold sub and convert it to ultimate for the remainder of the subscription, saving approx £6a month.

Step 1: Buy upto 3 years live gold from CD Keys (https://www.cdkeys.com/xbox-live/memberships/12-month-xbox-live-gold-membership-xbox-one-360-eu-cd-key?mw_aref=rapdab).

Step 2: Go to GamePass Ultimate (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/xbox-game-pass-ultimate/cfq7ttc0khs0).

Step 3: Upgrade your sub.

You just got upto £396 worth of sub for about £110.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Windows 7 for life.

[Ian]

I just never bothered. I literally turn my PC on, do whatever gaming I'm doing and then turn it off again. I can't see that I'm losing much.

If at some point there's something on Game Pass I really want and can save money by subbing for a month then I'll do it but until then upgrading would be unnecessary faff.

[Boydy]

Finally bought that PS4 I'd been talking about. Absolutely loving Horizon: Zero Dawn so far.

[Raoul Duke]

I've decided to upgrade my HDD to a SSD on my PS4 as the titchy 500GB is driving me mental.

[Baz]

Whoever thought 500GB would be deemed titchy. :drool:

[Shindig]

I'll admit, I've only now seen the space as a problem.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://imgur.com/jj5FvDf.png

Thought I finally had it but I just had too many cards.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://imgur.com/zwK89Rm.png

This one hurts even more.

Tried a few times but the awakened one kept donning me.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/19/desparados-3-preview/

Aw yeah.

[Shindig]

I've just bought Assetto Corsa again. This time the Ultimate Edition for the PS4. Not a bad thing for £13 which is probably less than the DLC would've cost on PC. And I can actually play it without fear of my house catching fire.

[Smjffy]

I bought a mini Nes so I could play Mario. I'm swiftly finding out that I'm shit at Mario. I swear it's harder because it's on a bigger screen.

Legend of Zelda after that. Phwarr!

[Pepe]

I've just bought Assetto Corsa again. This time the Ultimate Edition for the PS4. Not a bad thing for £13 which is probably less than the DLC would've cost on PC. And I can actually play it without fear of my house catching fire.

I really like Assetto Corsa, except for the limited number of tracks. I think that there are plenty of mods out there, but I can't be arsed with those. I am definitely planning on getting Competizione, but I will wait for a sale.

Speaking of, I recently splurged on sim racing stuff:
- Sim Labs GT1 Evo Cockpit
- Fanatec CSL Elite Wheel
- Fanatec V3 pedals
- Fanatec shifter and handbrake
- Ultrawide monitor
- Oculus Rift
- New PC

Putting it on a list like that, I think that I might have overdone it a little bit.

[Yevrah]

I bought a mini Nes so I could play Mario. I'm swiftly finding out that I'm shit at Mario. I swear it's harder because it's on a bigger screen.

Legend of Zelda after that. Phwarr!

Is the controllers being a bit shit?

[Smjffy]

It isn't too bad although being wired is a bit on a pain in the ass when you're so used to wireless. I mean, let's face it. You jump and that's basically it.

[Mike]

Got a new monitor! Finally 1080p (I’m on a budget)

[Disco]

I really like Assetto Corsa, except for the limited number of tracks. I think that there are plenty of mods out there, but I can't be arsed with those. I am definitely planning on getting Competizione, but I will wait for a sale.

Speaking of, I recently splurged on sim racing stuff:
- Sim Labs GT1 Evo Cockpit
- Fanatec CSL Elite Wheel
- Fanatec V3 pedals
- Fanatec shifter and handbrake
- Ultrawide monitor
- Oculus Rift
- New PC

Putting it on a list like that, I think that I might have overdone it a little bit.

Colour me very jealous, if I ever get the space (and money) I'd love to get a proper set up going for driving and flight sims.

[Pepe]

Still waiting for the cockpit, which is supposed to arrive today. I will try to put it all together soon and report. Right now I am rocking a plastic table/chair combo I bought from Walmart and a Logitech G29. I often end up with the wheel and/or shifter coming off when things get intense, plus the pedals slide all over the place.

[Shindig]

Yeah, there was maybe two weeks in my life when I considered a wheel. You need to live like Jimmy Broadbent and confine yourself to a shed for all that gear. AC's tracklist is a little iffy, yes. I'm happy to finally have Zandvoort and Vallelunga but I wish it wasn't so euro-centric. And there's a couple of the old layouts that will be nice to go around.

That's one of the things I liked going back to old F1 games and seeing Hockenheim before the cuts, Monza's more fiddly chicanes and Spa's actual bus stop. The only thing that annoys me about going through mods is the fact that they don't have a proper seal of approval. One of the reasons I want GTR to run so badly on this PC is because Enna-Pergusa and Estoril are in it. The former's totally alien to me and my memory of the latter's probably confined to some game I had on the Amstrad. And Anderstorp. All I remember of that place is some awesome banked corners.

[Pepe]

Agreed, that's what I hate about mods. Some seem ok, others are complete shit. The majority are nowhere near the original content.

At least you can drive the Abarth in Assetto Corsa. ;)

I think that my favorite cars are the Escort and the 33 Stradale. Older touring cars are also good fun usually. Things like the F40 have me drooling all over the place until I actually try driving them, when they inevitable end up being a disappointment (shit tires being the main reason.) Modern street cars are also usually disappointing, just too heavy to be enjoyable. Maybe I'm just shit.

I still think that my favorite sim was GT Legends. I loved the variety of cars. I hope a remake appears some day.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's not coming up on my run history but I've finally done it.

1 victory after donning Donu and Deca. 24th time lucky.

[Dark Soldier]

Absolute lightning destruction

https://i.imgur.com/z0ckWLR.png

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm still seething that my only win isn't on the run history. I have a trophy for the win with Irconclad, a win is listed in the stats etc.

Necronomicon with no curse thanks to Omamori plus Mark of Pain was why I donned it.

[Dark Soldier]

Check my block in the background lol

https://i.imgur.com/il1rjOj.png

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Jesus :|

[Dark Soldier]

Barricade + 2 x Entrench is lol

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah I knew entrench was in play.

Still mental considering I think my max is about 50 or so.

[Boydy]

The dual shock controller layout is so fucking shit. I've had a pain in my left thumb up into the wrist and twinging at the shoulder all week. Back home tonight and playing the PS4 again and it's getting far worse after about half an hour and I've realised that's probably what's caused it. Stupid left analog stick in the middle of the controller.

[Shindig]

Some thoughts on Assetto Corsa, then:

- The career mode is awful. Easy time trials followed by several races in the same car against AI that .... like, is simultaneously the thickest and smartest in existence. There's no rhyme or reason to it beyond, "Hey, here's the tier where you drive an X-Bow for five events.
- It remains a great hot lap sim. My controller's vibration is knackered so I'm using visual and sound cues to figure out what the car's doing. It translates pretty well.
- The UI and menus are awful.
- The 50s era F1 cars are so, so tricky to drive. Video footage sort of does it justice with how much they love to slide and meander in a straight line.

[Yevrah]

Found this video absolutely fascinating.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMX0uQpDsYU

[Pepe]

Some thoughts on Assetto Corsa, then:

- The career mode is awful. Easy time trials followed by several races in the same car against AI that .... like, is simultaneously the thickest and smartest in existence. There's no rhyme or reason to it beyond, "Hey, here's the tier where you drive an X-Bow for five events.
- It remains a great hot lap sim. My controller's vibration is knackered so I'm using visual and sound cues to figure out what the car's doing. It translates pretty well.
- The UI and menus are awful.
- The 50s era F1 cars are so, so tricky to drive. Video footage sort of does it justice with how much they love to slide and meander in a straight line.

I never really bother with career modes, they are usually shit. Agree with the old F1s, incredibly hard to drive anywhere remotely resembling fast.

[Gray Fox]

The problem I've found with career on some racing games, notably the rebooted F1 series, is the AI. They are either hopelessly slow or faster than you can possibly go.

[Shindig]

I just use it for track time and knock the AI down, usually.

Okay, that forced drama in the career mode's going to get right on my wick. Career modes in sports games don't need this.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/26/alders-blood-is-a-dark-victorian-western-tactical-rpg/

Liking the look of this.

[SincereTheRebel]

Games done quick are currently doing skyrim

https://www.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick

[Ian]

Mutant Year Zero definitely feels like a bit of a different beast to XCOM but I'm enjoying it a lot so far.

Much more geared toward stealth, picking off stray enemies and then trying to get a really good first attack in as, certainly at the stage I'm at, your squad just aren't geared for taking on superior numbers in an all out firefight. It's simpler than XCOM but definitely not easier.

I would be interested to see what else has come from the TTG the game uses as its source material too. I mean with two anthropomorphic animal mutants as main characters you'd expect there to be more "lol I'm a duck!" banter but the two animal ones are just pissed off as to why they're aren't seeing any bodies of things like them.

[Baz]

The July PS+ (free) games were meant to be PES 2019 and Horizon Turbo Chase but now they’ve swapped PES for Detroit: Become Human and Twitter has gone from crying over them getting a free soccer game to omg I was looking forward to playing a soccer game. Can’t please anyone. :cab:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

But isn't PES free anyway? Or at least a 'LITE' version.

I've been playing it a little bit.

[Danny]

I was looking forward to downloading PES. Went ahead and downloaded LITE anyway. Closed and deleted it before the end of my first game.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah it's pretty crap.

I did a few AI games (not a bad idea really) so I could sign some dickheads and never went back.

[Baz]

Its awesome.

[Shindig]

I agree but if you've been playing FIFA for years, there's an adjustment.

[Boydy]

I loved FIFA 18 on the PC but I got 19 with the PS4 I bought and I really hate it. It feels like the computer is just cheating against me every step of the way.

Pace means nothing. I get out-muscled for everything. Passes go astray all the fucking time. And the pitch just feels really cramped and there seems to be no space whatsoever.

I just tried PES 2019 (the lite version) and it plays such a better game of football. Might grab a cheap copy of it.

[Pepe]

Playing Fifa against the AI has always been awful.

[Yevrah]

To be fair to Boydy’s point, it is particularly bad this year, for the reasons he states.

[Boydy]

Playing Fifa against the AI has always been awful.
It's pretty much the only way I ever play it. I don't like online play.

[Pepe]

Online brings its own set of issues. And by issues I mean wankers.

[Ian]

Am I right in guessing that the online community for FIFA is chock-full of toxic arseholes?

[Pepe]

What I remember is everyone playing in the same mechanics exploiting way and the constant quitting the game after going down in the score.

[Yevrah]

Am I right in guessing that the online community for FIFA is chock-full of toxic arseholes?

Yep. Picture it being about as bad as you could imagine it and then add in some more toxic.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

What I remember is everyone playing in the same mechanics exploiting way and the constant quitting the game after going down in the score.

They also delay constantly, watch replays to the max etc etc.

Also, they quit now when the game is a draw but have given away a penalty or in a penalty shooutout (this happened to me once, 25 minutes wasted) because if the game is tied then a win will not be granted.

[Ian]

What I remember is everyone playing in the same mechanics exploiting way and the constant quitting the game after going down in the score.

I loved when the team for a recent Marvel vs. Capcom or Street Fighter or something responded to this sort of loss-avoiding behaviour by putting people who repeatedly did it only in matches against each other.

[Boydy]

This is why I avoid online play. Plus, I just like the career modes. Satisfies my FM urges of buying and selling players and building up a team without having to actually try to get into FM again.

[Ian]

It sounds like FIFA is a cesspit of people just trying to avoid getting a defeat on their record even if you just mute the chat or whatever. The only stuff I play with randoms is stuff where I can mute them and it not affect the game, but I'd still rather just avoid them altogether.

Also:
https://twitter.com/SomeIndieGames/status/1148201687141756928

Lol. I saw a thread of developer types on Twitter recently saying if you're considering buying a game from G2A they'd rather you just pirate it. Still, this is an impressive level of brass neck-ery.

[Yevrah]

It’s worse than them wanting to avoid a defeat and is often “if I’m not getting that objective then neither are you”.

[Ian]

I must admit, the times in Apex Legends when some dickhead ragequits because they died when it then turns out you could have saved them just amuses me, even if it has lessened my chances of getting a result.

[Gray Fox]

FIFAs main problem here is that they've built the game now entirely based on the player, playing for rewards. If you win you get them, if you lose you get nothing. This leads to the majority using whatever the easiest/cheapest method in order to win, no matter how much it ruins or devalues the game experience.

[Danny]

Also:
https://twitter.com/SomeIndieGames/status/1148201687141756928

Lol. I saw a thread of developer types on Twitter recently saying if you're considering buying a game from G2A they'd rather you just pirate it. Still, this is an impressive level of brass neck-ery.

They have the cheek to respond and blame a “rogue employee” for sending those emails :face:

[Ian]

:lol:

What a company.

[John]

It’s worse than them wanting to avoid a defeat and is often “if I’m not getting that objective then neither are you”.

This is the worst thing about it. It might be the worst thing I've ever encountered in any game, online or otherwise. More than once I've been about to get another point towards a 'score with player from x in y wins' and had the opposition disconnect right as the ball was about to enter the goal. It's one thing for a player to give up or try to game the rules to avoid putting a defeat on their record, but that sort of thing is just malicious cuntery.

[Yevrah]

The last level (or was it the penultimate one) in Snake Rattle n Roll runs it close, but yes, it's the worst thing I've ever encountered in gaming.

[Disco]

FIFA is a game designed to rinse as much money from you as possible and then make you think you want to come back for more so it should be no surprise that the community is full of grasping petty cunts, you get the audience you deserve.

[Ian]

Yeah it does seem like it's a trading card game with an optional football mini-game these days.

[Gray Fox]

It's great as long as you don't put any money into it or let the toxicity get to you.

[phonics]

The amount of people on Xbox who don't realise their Kinect is a microphone so you can hear them tell their mates how badly they're going to beat you before the opposite happens is worth it though.

I don't find FIFA particularly toxic outside of them not sorting out the disconnect/quitting issues that have plagued the game for year but then I come from PC gaming.

My first ever game of Heroes of Newerth (a Defense of the Ancients/DOTA clone) had a Russian on my team tell me to, "Find a school shooting and die in it." (anyone that speaks English is American to Russians) which is still the most memorable one I've had. The idea of trying to find an ongoing school shooting to die in is just a funny image.

[Mazuuurk]

My girlfriend gave me a PS4 for my birthday the other week so I'm back into gaming. I've always been a PC guy but I have to admit it's quite handy being able to play with a baby in your arms.

I have downloaded Divinity Original Sin 2 which is high on the to-play list, but currently and trying to get through God of War which seems alright, it's a bit tricky controls and the camera is very weird, but I'm kind of enjoying it.


I realize PS5 is out soon so I'm insanely late to the console party here, but what the hell.

[Baz]

Get Red Dead

[Ian]

. I have downloaded Divinity Original Sin 2 which is high on the to-play list

Make sure you pick one of the six Origin characters when sorting that side of things out.

[SincereTheRebel]

Get Red Dead

I still havent played it

[7om]

Pepe, how is your sim racing setup going? I bought a wheel and am planning to build a pretty basic stand for the wheel and pedals to attach to. I saw various wheel stands on amazon and eBay but they were all insanely expensive.

[Pepe]

Pretty much complete now:

https://i.imgur.com/A7CVuwO.jpg

:cool:

What type of wheel did you get? As for cheap stands, I think that one of those GT Omega wheel stands or a Playeseat are basically the only options. The Playseat sucks a bit since the ople is between your legs though. I used a crappy desk/chair combo for years.

[Pepe]

Mine is a Simlab GT1, btw. Built like a tank, it is amazing.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Is that a gaming chair? :harold:

[Pepe]

Shits all over yours.

[Pleb]

:D

[Shindig]

All that's missing is a three-monitor setup.

[Yevrah]

Pepe. :D

[Pepe]

All that's missing is a three-monitor setup.

I would probably go BALLS DEEP, but I prefer using my Rift, so no need.

Just thinking about it, I think I put about $2.5k in the whole setup.

Worth it. :drool:

[phonics]

At this point you may as well plow another couple of grand into it and get force-feedback system for the chair and rent it out to local race teams needing Sim Practice.

[Pepe]

All that's missing is a three-monitor setup.

https://www.reddit.com/r/iRacing/comments/cdhsgm/triples_for_under_500_amazon_link/

:eyemouth:


At this point you may as well plow another couple of grand into it and get force-feedback system for the chair and rent it out to local race teams needing Sim Practice.

Local race teams :lol:

I am not sure I am sold on the whole rocking chair thing. Will have to try some day. They are crazy expensive though.

[Shindig]

I got excited for a moment ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panam_GP_Series

I don't doubt the gear is worth it, mind. Trying to make corrections on a pad don't have the right feel for me.

[Mazuuurk]

Get Red Dead

It seems quite cool, but I'm mainly interested in RPG's of different kinds. Only playing God of War right now because I got it with. It's alright, but maybe a little too Adventure-esque for my liking in general.

[Baz]

It seems quite cool, but I'm mainly interested in RPG's of different kinds. Only playing God of War right now because I got it with. It's alright, but maybe a little too Adventure-esque for my liking in general.Yeah I didn’t enjoy God Of War. Ended up selling it after 2 weeks. RDR2 is well good though, and that’s coming from someone who thought the first was boring af.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

God of War > Red Dead.

GoW really drew me in, one of the few games that I've cared about the story.

[Mazuuurk]

It's a bit better now that you're a bit more into it it actually. I just kind of wish it was a little more RPG-y and it would have had my approval.

[Spikey M]

I'm going to trade my Swich in and get a PS4 again. As good as the Switch is, there's just not enough games that appeal to me.

What's good in the PS4 universe these days? Red Dead 2 already nailed on.

[Baz]

I'm going to trade my Swich in and get a PS4 again. As good as the Switch is, there's just not enough games that appeal to me.

What's good in the PS4 universe these days? Red Dead 2 already nailed on.You mad bro? Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 came out yesterday and is Switch exclusive.

[Spikey M]

I believe I've said it before, but once more for those in the back. Superhero's are shit.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm going to trade my Swich in and get a PS4 again. As good as the Switch is, there's just not enough games that appeal to me.

What's good in the PS4 universe these days? Red Dead 2 already nailed on.

God of War.

[Raoul Duke]

Been enjoying Hitman 2 a lot recently

[Shindig]

Almost finished it. I do not care for collateral damage. And live my life by lethal throws.

[Raoul Duke]

I've been watching a bunch of this guy's (https://www.youtube.com/user/MrFreeze2244/videos) videos - lots of nice strategies

[Shindig]

Done. I left mission stories on just to prod me in a direction but I liked improvising some kills. Meanwhile, my efforts to get old games to work on this PC has led me to investigating virtual machines.

EDIT: Nope. They stopped offering D3D support for XP virtual machines. :moop:

[Baz]

I believe I've said it before, but once more for those in the back. Superhero's are shit.I couldn't agree more but the Ultimate Alliance (and, to a slightly lesser extent, X-Men Legends) games are awesome.

[Mazuuurk]

Really into God of War now. It gets better and better. I'm probably about 50% through the Main quest (I've just gotten a pair of knives with chains) have have done some of all the side-exploring you can do. But I still find the fighting a tad cumbersome control-wise. It's a little hard to aim the ranged attacks quickly, and more often than not if I'm facing tough enemies, I sort of lose track of what the fuck is going on and where everyone are.

I tried on a Valkyrie (the one in Muspelheim) and was annihilated completely though. I play on the easiest setting as well.


The only downsides I think are that some stuff gets a little repetetive. You spend a shitload of time paddling around a canoe in that massive lake, and basically spend most of the time exploring the same places (and environments) over and over. The navigation and maps aren't the best either so I keep finding myself in places I've been before without realizing.

The puzzles are also getting a tad repetetive. It's different variations of the same puzzle over and over. Same thing with some of the bosses - about half of them seem to be different versions of the same massive Ogre hurling about a big ass rock. Still, these are quite minor problems on the whole.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It took me a while to do the Valkyries, you really need a plan going in.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49084726

Grand Theft Auto V has opened an in-game casino where real money can be spent on gambling chips - but they cannot be converted back into cash.

In GTA Online, players can buy in-game "dollars" with real currency, and then convert their virtual dollars to gambling chips.

Some players reported that while they could walk around the casino area, the gambling tables were blocked in their country where gambling is illegal.

Gaming news site Kotaku speculated that chips would only be earned by playing the game - similar to the way it works in Rockstar's other recent online game, Red Dead, and in many other games. "This way, players can't spend real money or win fake money that is worth real cash in the casino," it wrote.

[Ian]

So you're.... buying a mini game?

EDIT: Oh I see. Still seems slightly shady but I don't really know why, basically ever gaming currency is the same so I think it's just the way it's framed.

[Mazuuurk]

It took me a while to do the Valkyries, you really need a plan going in.

See that's what I'm strugging with a bit. The fighting seems soo messy and quick to me that it's hard to fathom how you can approach anything methodically at all.

Keep in mind this is a person who is largely used to turn based RPG's so being 'quick' has never really been my thing (except in Starcraft 2, which Phonics can tell you more about).

[wullie]

I'm glad that the huge casino part of the map actually has some use now, but I wasn't expecting them to take six years to get there.

[Shindig]

Guys, great news. All I needed to make GTR work was a No-CD crack.

[Ian]

Mutant Year Zero is really good fun. A little anticlimactic and there are things I would change / add in a sequel but on the whole I enjoyed it.

Got the Prey Mooncrash DLC for under £3 last week so that might be next up.

Or I could go back to Bioshock and try to actually finish it.

[Raoul Duke]

Here's some guy speed running Hitman in 6:24 :|

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5txwUJOFr_0

[Mazuuurk]

It took me a while to do the Valkyries, you really need a plan going in.

I killed of two of them now, the one in Niflheim and the one in Muspelheim. Lick fuck did I have a plan though :D I button-mash like an idiot.

TBH I think most of the time Atreus deals more damage than I manage to do myself.

[Yevrah]

That GTA thing is no more morally bankrupt than the ultimate team surprise mechanics, but given it’s casino chips you’re buying it intuitively feels like it is and might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

[Mazuuurk]

I killed of two of them now, the one in Niflheim and the one in Muspelheim. Lick fuck did I have a plan though :D I button-mash like an idiot.

TBH I think most of the time Atreus deals more damage than I manage to do myself.

Done 2 or 3 more now. Might as well try to finish them all off.

[Ian]

I'd ummed and ahhed over playing Sunless Sea because, while a different sort of thing, Fallen London was a game I really wanted to like but realised that other than an interesting setting it was doing nothing for me.

I gave Cultist Simulator a bash last night as I got it free through Twitch and had exactly the same feeling without realising the developer was set up by the same guy who set up Failbetter previously.

It's a shame I don't like it but it probably means I'm safe to not worry about giving Sunless Sea a swerve.

[Ian]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/07/30/phoenix-point-has-been-delayed-again-into-december/

If it's really just to avoid crunch then fair play to them.

[phonics]

Dark Soldier

Get Griftlands, it's a slightly deeper Slay The Spire, with NPC interactions and choices, a cool world/story and it's made by Clay so it's got that awesome Invisible Inc/Mark of the Ninja artstyle. I picked it up yesterday and I've already ploughed at least 8 hours into it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfCiOYCF3Qg

[phonics]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/07/30/phoenix-point-has-been-delayed-again-into-december/

If it's really just to avoid crunch then fair play to them.

Claiming you're delaying to avoid crunch is definitely going to become the new go-to PR move. Fans of yours will accept it, those that don't will get pounced on and no-one assumes that your project is on-fire. Eventually an EA/Activision studio will try this move and ruin it for everyone and the cycle will be complete.

[Dark Soldier]

Dark Soldier

Get Griftlands, it's a slightly deeper Slay The Spire, with NPC interactions and choices, a cool world/story and it's made by Clay so it's got that awesome Invisible Inc/Mark of the Ninja artstyle. I picked it up yesterday and I've already ploughed at least 8 hours into it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfCiOYCF3Qg

Its on my list but not really playing much at the moment. Will grab it when cheap as Borderlands 3 in 5/6 weeks.

[phonics]

IIRC, it's 12.99 and will go up because it's in Early Access atm. Might be worth carting now and playing later.

I played Borderlands 2 recently due to that DLC they released for it. That game feels every day of it's 7 year age. It was like the opposite of an advertisement.

[Dark Soldier]

Borderlands 2 is mt favourite game of all time and I still play it to this day. The new one will consume my gaming time.

I'll pick Griftlands up on pay day in a week or so.

[Ian]

Claiming you're delaying to avoid crunch is definitely going to become the new go-to PR move. Fans of yours will accept it, those that don't will get pounced on and no-one assumes that your project is on-fire. Eventually an EA/Activision studio will try this move and ruin it for everyone and the cycle will be complete.

Well, unless they're actually trying to change their policy. Which they won't, but if they did it'd be a good thing.

Other than the internet angries having an anger wank because Call of Duty 97: This Time It's More Of The Same gets delayed but y'know, angries gonna angry.

[Mazuuurk]

@Mahow ok I've done all the Valkyries now except the final, Queen one, and I fucking can't do it. At best I get her to about 25% health, but thats by some last desparate rage-push. How the fuck do you kill her, did you manage? I'm not quick enough to dodge her attacks :(

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I never took her on, I stopped playing.

I think I only did about 3 or 4 Valkyries before diving deep into Nifelheim and trying to get the armour (I didn't).

Sorry.

[Mazuuurk]

Shit then you are a bigger man than me. Im not even close, yet cant stop trying :(

[Mazuuurk]

I fuckin did it :cool:

20th try maybe.

[Yevrah]

Is GTA online any good?

[Bam]

Is GTA online any good?

Yeah its great, it'll take time to build your character up so you can get the good stuff though.

Just keep a look out for the double xp and money missions and grind them the fuck out.

[Disco]

Good with a group of friends, utter poison injected into the eyeball with randoms.

[Mike]

Is GTA online any good?

Giantbomb have been doing a premium show on GTA online. It seems super buggy at times but fun.

The first episode went up for free on youtube.

https://youtu.be/0rXQx0cUDhI

[Shindig]

Downloaded GP Legends today. Jackie Stewart's the only man left alive on the grid.

[Pepe]

GP Legends was way, way ahead of its time. Speaking of, I would love it if GT Legends 2 became a thing.

[Shindig]

I just want to check out Rouen, Old Spa and Kyalami. And the old Monaco where the tunnel starts later and the chicane is murder. EDIT: This feels great and it does nothing to my CPU temps.

[phonics]

Wolfenstein: Youngblood is absolutely atrocious.

[Ian]

I could have told you that without needing to play it.

[Ian]

All this fuss over Ooblets starting as a timed Epic exclusive is fucking bizarre.
https://medium.com/@perplamps/regarding-whats-been-happening-3af0f27d863c

That said I don't really get most of the backlash against Epic exclusives anyway. My mate is very against it but has no better reason than it ever so slightly inconveniences him even though it's a good thing for somebody to challenge Valve / Steam.

[Yevrah]

As we’ve seen in other mediums over the last few years, competition when there’s a finite amount of a product is bad for the consumer.

This will go the same way if it hasn’t already.

[Ian]

Are you referring to consumers having to deal with the likes of sport spread across Sky / BT / others, Amazon and Netflix et al competing for subscriptions, etc.

This isn't that. This is just somebody who isn't Valve getting all the money. And even some of the inconvenience caused by buying from different storefronts may be negated if GOG Galaxy 2.0 comes good, or one of the competitors for GOG Galaxy that will inevitably spring up.

[Mike]

This is the same as people complaining they have to go to Morrisons rather than Tesco to get a certain food. The Sports channel thing forces you to subscribe, this doesn't. Can just nip into another shops to get something they only have their.

[Ian]

Yeah this is, at worst, a minor inconvenience.

And developers get more money of it, which is especially meaningful for the indie devs.

[Yevrah]

Providing the same games are available on more than one platform it's fine, if they're not, it isn't.

And everything is moving to a subscription model as it's easier for companies to get guaranteed income under that model.

[Disco]

Without wishing to place myself in the adenoidal video game rage camp it's not quite as cut and dried as the supermarket comparison.

Epic have started buying their way into the storefront scene, not an issue in itself and certainly nothing very new but they aren't competing by offering a comparable or better service. It has led to some pretty shady squirming from some publishers and devs, particularly where Epic exclusives have superseded existing crowdfunding schemes meaning people who have put up money in good faith won't really be getting what they paid for (and not for the normal Kickstarter reasons but because someone happened to have a bigger sack of cash). Then there's the store itself which offers very few of the perks that Steam (for example) offers to users, things like user reviews, customer support, timely refunds, matchmaking/friending systems. That's before we even get to how it's being funded (loot boxes and microtransactions, you know, all those wholesome lovely things). And more stuff that I'm probably forgetting but you get the idea, it's not a very consumer friendly place as yet.

[Ian]

Epic have been moving away from at least some of the more unpleasant aspects of lootboxes and microtransactions and the like and it's not like Valve haven't raked in their share of money from that sort of thing and by giving devs the short end of the stick. Particularly smaller devs who have to give Valve that same hefty percentage of their sales while Steam almost actively works against exposing their work because of the bullshit way its algorithms help the popular get more popular because it's their best chance of getting their game seen. And that's their choice, they don't have to but it's a bit silly to think Uncle Valve is just trying to do what's best for them.

As Steam gets more competition something will happen to alleviate the worst of it, ether it be via GOG or whatever.

I'm with you 100% on the occasions where people who've contributed to Kickstarters, etc. and then been shorted, and that's on both the devs and Epic, though it doesn't appear to have been the case with Ooblets, where some internet angries have failed to understand the difference between Patreon and Kickstarter.

[Mazuuurk]

God of War done with. Don't think I'll bother with the replay, that doesn't seem so fun.

But now I'm balls deep into Divinity Original Sin 2. It's so fucking fun, just like the first one.

Went with whoever it was advice here and chose Ifan as my main character and now rolling with The Red Prince, Fane and Lhose. Had a real hard time dropping the other two main characters, as I also wanna get Sebille in there (don't care so much for that Beast).

I've basically majorly fucked up how I distributed points on both Fane and The Red Prince due to being massively indecisive about how to build them, but it doesn't seem to matter as I'm on the easiest setting so I just seem to win every fight easily anyway, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

[Disco]

At the end of the first Act you can re-spec your party members as much as you like.

[Ian]

You made the correct choice in going for set characters. I've now done two playthroughs, the first was with my own character built from scratch, and it makes a big difference if you're a nerd who gets invested in the story of these things like me.

Also where are you? Because there are opportunities to respec for free come a certain point in Act 2. I mean, free other than having to buy new gear and skills depending on how radically you respec but if you are sensibly looting absolutely everything that isn't nailed down then you're going to have more cash than you ever need.

I do hope you have Summoning and Polymorph somewhere on your crew?

[Mazuuurk]

I'm just at the end of Act 1, I think. Just about to head off that Island.

I do not have Summoning OR Polymorph.

My squad is this:

Ifan (main char) - which I've turned into a warrior-type but with lots of necromancer skills and low constitution, the idea being that he'll replenish lots of health from massive damage output instead of being very sturdy, which is quite fun. So I've stuck Strenght, Wits and a bit of Constitution on him, and pummeling skills on Warfare and Necromancy.

The Red Prince - Him I fucked up the most I think, I started with thinking I'd make him a Warrior, as thats what he wants to be, but then I found I didn't really need 2 of them, so I've tried to remake him into some sort of fire-battlemage. The result is he's now got like 16 STR, 16 CON, 16 INT and 12 MEM or something, and mostly Pyrokinetics and warfare, and he doesn't do anything fun. It's a bit problematic with his fire skills as well as Ifan is always close to all enemies as well, and I can't spam him with fire.

Fane - I kind of fucked him up as well. At first I just let him do earth and fire magic, which made a lot of sense. But then I also have Lohse and I just felt my squad got really Mage-heavy and I didn't have a rogue, so I started putting points into Finesse instead. So now he's a decent Ranger really, but he also has a whole bunch of low-level mage skills and I don't have a good way of using him.

Lohse - just did what she was from the start, Aero & Water mage. Spamming INT on her.

So basically, I think I'll need to change The Red Prince and Fane a bit, but I don't really know to what. Maybe I'll turn The Red Prince into a dual-wielding fighter. Maybe I'll revert Fane to become a Mage again.


Really, I should have brought Sebille along, I feel like, but the other characters just appealed to me more. And none of them feel like a ranger, so I don't really wanna make them one kind of.


Got any tips for The Red Prince and Fane?

[Ian]

The run me and my friends not long completed had Red Prince as a big tanky fucker with some dips into other trees for specific skills, Ifan is a ranger / summoner build, Beast as a jack-of-all-trades mage and Fane... honestly can't remember, there were three of us and he was the 'extra' character. I think he was also a mage, possibly geared a little toward buffs and stuff.

I mean honestly as long as your squad has survivability then almost anything you fancy is viable as long as you're not trying to do everything on every character. My first run through the game was as a polymorph warrior using 2-handers.

Summoning and polymorph are both a lot of fun.

There are also loads of ideas for fun builds here: https://fextralife.com/divinity-original-sin-2-builds-eternal-warrior-death-knight-perfected/

I didn't follow any of them rigidly but it's a good way to get a feel for how combos work that you might not have thought of.

Rogue builds are my biggest oversight, in two full playthroughs I've barely touched them at all. In the unlikely event I did a third full playthrough of the game I would force myself to do it because I know they can be very powerful.

[Mazuuurk]

Yeah that death knight tbh is close to what I’m doing with Ifan. The character really doesnt feel like a ranger and I always feel like rangers are ’sidekick characters’ in games (probably Legolas fault).

I’ll probably end up tweaking Fane to be even more of a ranger with Geomancy, and since you recommend polymorph i’ll stick that on TRP and turn him into some sort of battlemage doing that.

[Ian]

I mean I think lore-wise Ifan is very much a ranger insofar as he's anything.

But I do like that when you recruit a character they go "Yeah I'm good at this............ and everything else, whevs."

[Mazuuurk]

Is he you think? I dunno yeah he seems like he's supposed to be some sort of assassin, but he's also supposed to be an "Outlaw" and a "Soldier" and both of those things just screams "Fighter, Warrior" to me. Also, he is a human muscle-package, as far as I can tell, whereas I am perennially stuck with the idea that Rangers/Rogues are nimble elves.

[Ian]

There are a couple of times when his person mission rewards are big beefy crossbows and his default class is a ranger / geomancer combo.

[hfswjyr]

Is he you think? I dunno yeah he seems like he's supposed to be some sort of assassin, but he's also supposed to be an "Outlaw" and a "Soldier" and both of those things just screams "Fighter, Warrior" to me. Also, he is a human muscle-package, as far as I can tell, whereas I am perennially stuck with the idea that Rangers/Rogues are nimble elves.

Aragorn is also referred to as "Ranger of the North". I would assume he is broadly what Ifan is based on.

[Ian]

I just went and cleared out all the shit in my Steam inventory and it looks like I might have a copy of Faster Than Light to gift if somebody wants it.

[Shindig]

Okay, working my way through Assetto Corsa's F1 cars and I really, really like the F2004. It's ridiculous how quick that thing is and it sounds so good.

[Mazuuurk]

There are a couple of times when his person mission rewards are big beefy crossbows and his default class is a ranger / geomancer combo.

Yeah I mean I know he's supposed to be a Ranger (or Wayfarer as they call his variety in DoS2). I just am not feeling that at all.



Aragorn is also referred to as "Ranger of the North". I would assume he is broadly what Ifan is based on.

Yeah I know. But strangely, since then a Ranger has never ever really been used for what Aragorn is, which in RPG tropes really is your typical Knight or Warrior or what have you (wielding a massive two-handed sword, taking on lots of enemies in the thick of battle, leading armies, etc). But the affinity for woods, nature and animals I suppose is the overlap.



Anyway, I solved my "Problem" by ditching The Red Prince in favour of Sebille at the last minute. She will work as a normal Rogue, or a Shadowblade, but not quite sure how do really get the best out of her yet, as all she really does right now is walk up behind people and backstab them. I re-respecced Fane as a Geo/Pyro mage again.

So now my team is:

Ifan - Necro-warrior
Sebille - Dual wielding rogue
Fane - Geo / Pyro mage + summoning
Lohse - Aero / Water mage + polymorph

Though I think I'll stick the Polymorphing more on Sebille in the end.

[Ian]

Totems and incarnate for Summoning are really good. And shit gets interesting once you have Summoning at 10. :nodd:

[Mazuuurk]

Is it realistic to spread the Skills over 3 skill-trees like that tho?

[Ian]

You'll get assistance from your gear as well. I think summoning is the only one where there's any specific difference at a particular threshold.

And if you're piling stuff into INT then whether or not you specifically continue to beef up a specific magic tree is less relevant so long as you put enough in to get the top-level spells.

[Mazuuurk]

It's so fucking fun that game :nodd:

[Disco]

You can just about manage three skills/classes but you will start running out of slots to use them all unless you pump Memory and get the associated perks.

[Ian]

Memory is life.

[Disco]

You'll get assistance from your gear as well. I think summoning is the only one where there's any specific difference at a particular threshold.

And if you're piling stuff into INT then whether or not you specifically continue to beef up a specific magic tree is less relevant so long as you put enough in to get the top-level spells.

This is a good rule to go by but it's worth noting that pumping skills is often better than spending points in weapon abilities etc. For example it's more beneficial to up your Warfare than it is Two-Handed as it appears later in the damage calc and therefore has a greater effect (weapon abilities are to improve crit chance etc rather than damage).

In reality though I don't think it really matters unless you're on hair-shirt difficulty or really into min/maxing your characters.

[Ian]

Oh yeah I think rangers are the only time I've worried about upping weapons too much so far.

Also, should have advised you earlier in case you don't already have it: Pet Pal is the best.

[Ian]

I just went and cleared out all the shit in my Steam inventory and it looks like I might have a copy of Faster Than Light to gift if somebody wants it.

Any takers for this? I know probably almost everybody who ever wanted it has now bought it for 30p on a Steam sale but you never know.

[Disco]

It's a great little game, I often dip back in for a run or two every now and again.

[P_3]

I'll have it if no one wants it Ian. Never played it. Let me know what you need. Thanks.

[Ian]

I'll have it if no one wants it Ian. Never played it. Let me know what you need. Thanks.

Email address. You can do it through Steam but I fucking hate the Steam username search thing.

[phonics]

PM it and format it using emailaddress AT provider DOT com otherwise the hundreds of bots scraping this website will put it in thier database

[Ian]

Even in PMs? I know I got loads of spam just putting my Steam username on here once.

[Ian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKK6pjp1j9k

Speaking of FTL, this is out today and should appeal to fans of that.

[Dark Soldier]

Just been playing Demon's Souls at 8K 60fps via emulator. Shit is legit.

http://i.grab.la/0980f-b083b88f-1014-48f8-9fcf-ff37308137a0.png

http://i.grab.la/0980f-4dde0dac-2f3a-454f-9986-64461fb41574.png

[Ian]

Ah, them loading in took me right back to the dial up days.

[Dark Soldier]

Good old direct captures :drool:

[Shindig]

I'm struggling with Splinter Cell on PCSX2 but I still should give PS3 emulation a go. I need to know.

[Disco]

Chaos Theory still works in Windows 10, perhaps one day I'll find out if they patched the bug right at the end of the last level.

[phonics]

Hyper Light Drifter, still incredible.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/270326079648956433/611668075372085289/unknown.png

[Ian]

Also free on Epic this week but I got all excited to share the Mutant Year Zero news.

This was the image I liked of the promo material:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0014/1962/products/product_HLD-gaping-maw-design_1024x1024.png?v=1427405822

[phonics]

Yeah, second run through, I'm not sure how I feel about how the story is told in this game. I would probably absolutely hate it if they told me what was going on but second time through, I'm still none the wiser.

[Dark Soldier]

Remnants from the Ashes is great, played a few hours today.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WP4ErCKR_Q

[Ian]

I'm enjoying Chuchel well enough but I couldn't honestly claim to have any ideas what's going on for half of it.

[Disco]

That goes for most of their games, I think only in Machinarium did I really get what was going on.

[Gray Fox]

If you've not had Xbox Gamepass before you can get it in Ultimate for £2 for 2 months currently.

[The Merse]

Worth it for Prey alone. It's properly re-invigorated my interest in single player gaming and saved me from another year of MMORPG Fifa stuff.

[Ian]

Prey is great. I really need to get stuck into the DLC now that I've bought it.

[Yevrah]

Worth it for Prey alone. It's properly re-invigorated my interest in single player gaming and saved me from another year of MMORPG Fifa stuff.

Are you ducking out from this one?

[Boydy]

Almost finished Horizon Zero Dawn. I think it might be my favourite game of all time.

[The Merse]

Are you ducking out from this one?

Yeh, I'd been playing with the idea all year due to the amount of energy it takes to maintain a Gold 1 standard and the issues I have with 'the meta(s)', along with being away in Japan for most of October which is a pretty key time in term of coin saving for Futmas for me most years (2 x 184 squads should be in place - time to make money and not buy anyone). A combination of giving gamepass a go and trying the F20 Beta just crystallised it for me. Not worth it. I'll miss the grindy, menu stuff, but the rage I felt playing 15 or 20 games on the Beta was enough to realise I don't need it cluttering up 20-30 hours a week all told with the app included...

Might be back on after xmas, but given I only really enjoy Fut Champs and a bit of Rivals and how far behind other prospective G1+ players I'll be, I'm not so sure I'll bother.

[thommo]

I’m going the same way and will probably give FIFA a miss this year. The last month or so away from the game has been great - no rage and stress from the ‘meta’ tactics you always face online, and a lot more time to explore other games.

In particular, me and my partner managed to get Xbox Gamepass for 20 months or so for just a quid, so I’ve been playing the shit out of Forza Horizon 4 - what a blast it is.

[Yevrah]

I'm going to give it a go on a much reduced basis (haven't quite decided how yet), but playing it for 40 hours a week + just isn't healthy.

[Gray Fox]

I’m going the same way and will probably give FIFA a miss this year. The last month or so away from the game has been great - no rage and stress from the ‘meta’ tactics you always face online, and a lot more time to explore other games.

In particular, me and my partner managed to get Xbox Gamepass for 20 months or so for just a quid, so I’ve been playing the shit out of Forza Horizon 4 - what a blast it is.

What kind of games are you looking at in the library/vault? I'm looking at it myself as I'm 99% sure I'm out on FIFA this year.

I'm also guessing the gamepass was an exploit on that offer a few months back?

[Yevrah]

There’s some good shit in there Fox. I’ll have a look when I get home and recommend a few.

Also pretty sure I’m going bi-annual on FIFA from here on in.

[Dark Soldier]

I've got it on PC and have installed:

Ori
Vampyr
Ruiner
The Messenger
Superhot
Opus Magnum
Thumper
Void Bastards
ABZU

Console has Slay the Spire which is all you'll ever need.

[thommo]

What kind of games are you looking at in the library/vault? I'm looking at it myself as I'm 99% sure I'm out on FIFA this year.

I'm also guessing the gamepass was an exploit on that offer a few months back?

There are loads of smaller indie games to try and you can find some real hidden gems, plus Slay the Spire has just become available as DS mentioned. I'm blitzing through Forza right now, but I'm most looking forward to play Gears of War 5 on release - it's immediately in the vault. You've also got MGS, Dead Rising, Borderlands (all of them), Life is Strange, etc.

Yeah there was an offer after E3 of 1 month of Game Pass for £1, but it was found that it would automatically extend to whenever your Xbox Live Gold subscription ended. So we bought a year of Gold and then paid £1 and we have Game Pass until late 2020 sometime. :D

[Yevrah]

Dead Rising, the first one at any rate, is great.

[Gray Fox]

He had me at MGS.

[The Merse]

Prey, as mentioned which is a solid 8.5/10 for me right now
Inside was superb - had been meaning to get on that as I loved Limbo
Wolfenstein 2 - the first was a solid slab of silliness that I really enjoyed so looking forward to that
Metro Exodus
Outerworlds
Ark - I hear it’s a bit shit but intriguing nonetheless
Shadow of the Tomb Raider

If you’re a bit behind on single player games like me, then you should find something, Fox.

[The Merse]

I’m going the same way and will probably give FIFA a miss this year. The last month or so away from the game has been great - no rage and stress from the ‘meta’ tactics you always face online, and a lot more time to explore other games.

In particular, me and my partner managed to get Xbox Gamepass for 20 months or so for just a quid, so I’ve been playing the shit out of Forza Horizon 4 - what a blast it is.

That’s me summed up (albeit, I won’t touch Forza). I liked being relatively good at FIFA, and the hype and buzz around it, but it sucks time and it’s so incredibly rage-prone as a result - you can’t put up with bullshit when you’re investing hours and hours into it to the detriment of any other gaming activity.

[Disco]

Forza Horizon 4 is a lot of fun, I find myself going back fairly regularly even if it's just to do a few rivals tracks (essentially time trials) or some of the weekly events.

And Ark, great with a group that wants to get into it and stick around but trash on your own.

[phonics]

I'm hype for that Need for Speed game. Looks like Underground.

[Disco]

Bannerlord beta sign up is now open, it might actually come out at this rate.

[phonics]

I ignored DS' post because I figured anything a bit Dark Souls he'd eat up but it sounds genuinely interesting. If you wanna play Dark Soldier I'm on PC.

[phonics]

I'm not saying that I'd do much better but people naming videogames need to try harder. This popped up in my Steam queue.

[Mazuuurk]

Anyone played Dragonage: Inquisition? I get that it might not be as good as DA: origins but is it still any good? If the main story is completely useless I’m not interested.

[Ian]

Not as good as Origins, obviously. I suspect you'll like it. The main gameplay loop has that sort of single-player-MMO feel that BioWare are into these days but I love building up the keep, some of the decisions stuff and being able to play as a Qunari.

However..... it occurs to me I can't remember a single squad mate.

I've now looked them up and there are some pretty decent ones so I'm not sure if the issue is that they're good but slightly unmemorable or just that my memory is balls.

[Mazuuurk]

Cheers! Yeah I wanna play Witcher 3 really, but since I suspect a lot will pale in comparison I’m trying to do other titles before. Having a decent story at the center is key for me really (even if I did thoroughly enjoy Skyrim and Fallout 3 & NV, while I thought the stories were secondary to the exploration).

[Disco]

I found it to be god-awful trash and never got out of the tutorial but ymmv of course.