What game are you wasting time on?

[NecroLord]

Continuing Temple of Elemental Evil.
The Imeryds run battle went pretty smoothly. Stinking Cloud is an incredible spell and I managed to nauseate the Sea Hag and the Giant Gar (you need the Gar's head for a quest in Nulb). Nauseated characters can take NO actions other than move actions!

Also completed the Arena of Heroes (three optional battles).
This is another example of actually good new content introduced by the Co8 mod. The last fight is against a large group of undead (including three undead wizards, beware!). Watch out, as they can cast spells like Glitterdust, Stinking Cloud (the undead wizard in blue robes always starts with this spell) and Mirror Image. The last undead wizard who appears after you kill at least one of the other two undead wizards casts Phantasmal Killer!
Fight went alright, but got a bit of a fright after the Undead Wizard in blue robes cast Stinking Cloud at my party and managed to nauseate my Rogue and Wizard for five rounds...

Oh, and there was also the Rannos/Gremag ambush at your house in Nulb. Will talk about that later, as that deserves its own post.

 

[Caim]

Finished Generals campaign, on to zero hour.
I have to say though, I don't like Generals.
I see why people like it, it does have some nice battles, but the campaign is atrociously designed and cheap and I really, really don't like how it doesn't play like a CnC game and instead like starcraft or some shit.

The pace does feel like Cnc in a way, but having to micro building and recruitment when there's all sorts of shit happening at once doesn't feel right.
It doesn't help that for some unholy reason they don't tell you the keybindings in game and there's no deploy button, which is a problem for China mission 2 in zero hour because you have to defend with nuke cannons and they can't just deploy, so for most of the mission you have to micro them so they stop being retarded. FFS, Tiberium Sun got that right with Nod Artillery, and that was three years prior. How do you fuck that up?

Also fuck the GLA. Absolute cheap bastards. Most of the campaign is fighting them and it's always an exercise in frustration between the cheats the AI get and their broken arse mechanics.

It's not as bad as Tiberium Twilight or RA3, but it still isn't great. I'm enduring the game more than enjoying it.

Yeah, the Generals campaign is kinda ass. Honestly the entirety of Generals is pretty jank, in an uncomfortable middle ground between Red Alert 2 and C&C 3. Sure I still love the game, but let's not pretend that there aren't any flaws here. The units have a lot of heart though, and they're carrying the story that falls woefully short in comparison to the cheesy B-movie vibe of C&C and the absolute memefest that is Red Alert.

After this I got peckish for some Generals, so I've installed it alongside GenLauncher to try out some Rise of the Reds. This is a hell of a lot more convenient to install than doing it manually: just install the game, download GenLauncher, pop the launcher into the correct folder, launch it, select the mods and other additions you want (you are automatically presented with what's relevant), then click to automatically install. Without it you're looking at four different installs, one of which has to be obtained through backchannels instead of ModDB, and install them in the correct order and pathing.

Rise of the Reds adds a lot to base Generals: while it does away with the various generals in the current version (which should be reintroduced coming in patch 2.0), the factions are much more extensive compared to the base game. There is a lot more stuff locked behind the various unlocks you obtain while playing, so it pays to put some thoughts into the unlocks. The two new factions are the defense-oriented Europeans and the tank-heavy Russians, and the base three got extensive overhauls. The Americans have access to a large variety of drones, the Chinese going all in on fire and nuclear weapons, and the GLA having even more tricks up its sleeve than before. No campaign, so have fun with either multiplayer or skirmishes.

 

[NecroLord]

Alright, I said I would talk about the Rannos/Gremag Nulb ambush.
Here goes:
That fight is friggin brutal. You will be ambushed by either Rannos or Gremag, depending on who you left alive when you attack them in Hommlet for being agents of the Temple of Elemental Evil, AND by hired mercenaries. Those bastards are higher level than you are, one of them wields a Heavy Flail and power attacks you (be careful, he deals really high damage), a Barbarian who wields a Spiked Chain, an Enchantress who casts "lovely" spells such as Confusion and Slow, a Temple Priest (this one isn't that tough) AND a friggin Level 10 Assassin who sneak attacks for 5d6 damage plus other applicable modifiers...
The assassin is hidden right behind your party when you enter your house in Nulb, so when combat starts, yeah, expect one of your party members to die if he/she has low HP or AC.
Fuck this fight. I recommend you avoid it entirely, just kill Rannos and Gremag in Hommlet and don't let either of them escape and trigger this ambush. Still, they have a lot of nice gear on them, so keep this in mind when you decide whether or not to fight those bastards.

Now I am getting ready to go to the Temple Of Elemental Evil, the CREAM of the game!
Lots of nasty battles, but what are heroes for, right?...

 

[Gostak]

I played a good deal more of Unexplored.

I really like the dungeon generator.
I had to switch from Desolate mode to a more normal "Challenging" run and it seems that was for the best.
Desolate was way too harsh and made unlocking archer or wizard needlessly extra hard as well.
Now with wizards I seem to be able to reach to the bottom floors with relative ease.
I even was on my way back with the amulet when the guardian unfortunately got me on the 5th floor.


I'm nearing the 50 hours mark.

 

[Ezekiel]

The last room in The Last Guardian is annoying. At least the narrator doesn't tell me the solution again. But taking another break, making the ending incremental.

I wanna buy Echochrome. Never watch the PSN sales. Never buy anything there.

 

[BruceVC]

I am about 15 hours into Far Cry 5 and its delivering on exactly what I expect from FC games

Ubisoft uses the same successful design with these types of games, you have your standard main quests but you have open world around how to complete them. Using resistance points is a genius way to give the player choice on how they want to progress

Its also a beautiful game and Im running it on Ultra graphic settings and I enjoy the various companions and there stories

Lots of activities and side quests means Im not bored yet and as usual with Ubisoft games I wont focus on the main quest until I start getting bored

Im about 40 hours into Far Cry 5 and Im not happy with how the Resistance points work. It was fine in the beginning but its now becoming laborious and repetitive

In order to complete the 3 maps you need to gain Resistance points and you need between 10k-13k for each map and you get different amounts of points for each task or quest you complete so in the beginning it was fun because you can choose what tasks you can select so its like open world

But then I completed all the main quests on map 1 which is John Seed and I had only achieved 6.5k Resistance points which means you have to now grind the activities which respawn. And this is the problem, there are only 5-6 activities like free hostages and destroy a roadblock and it gets boring very quickly doing the same activity over and over again

And the same progression is designed the same way for each map. Its getting so boring I may even quit the game but I will probably finish it through hours of grinding because I dont like quitting any game

But the Resistance points become a really bad design as you progress in the game

 

[NecroLord]

I entered the Temple of Elemental Evil but decided to go straight to the Broken Tower and the underground area of the Temple.
You will be ambushed by a Temple Lieutenant and his goons (two witches that cast Silence and a wizard which casts Fireball), pretty cool fight, I like this one. Didn't have too much trouble, though I did take some damage.
The underground area has some really cool fights - some rather tough bugbears (my Wizard debuffed them with Slow and Glitterdust), some Will'o Wisps, Ogres, a Lamia, two Leucrottas.
Remember to rescue Prince Thrommel while you are here, as later on you will receive a VERY nice reward!
My five member party is nearing level 10 and becoming strong, my Rogue8/Swashbuckler1 sneak attacks for 4d6+9 (with the Craven feat), seriously messing up enemies, while the Barbarian has Improved Trip and high Str when raging.
Still a lot of battles left, the point is to exterminate all the evil denizens of the Temple and rescue prisoners wherever they are found.

 

[OndrejSc]

 

[Raghar]

Dungeon Crawl version 4.0.0 beta 26 character file.

32 the Axe Maniac (Mountain Dwarf)
(Level 22 Fighter)

Play time: 2 days, 07:29:54 Number of turns: 123495

Experience : 22/600075
Strength 22/23 Dexterity 13 Intelligence 16
Hit Points : 203/203 (215) Magic Points : 33
AC : 30 Evasion : 16 Shield : 0
GP : 1807

You are in the Lair.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is exalted by your worship.
You are hungry.

Inventory:
Hand weapons
a - a cursed +5,+7 orcish war axe of electrocution (weapon)
d - the cursed +6,+1 hand axe "Xymuh B"
A truly terrible weapon, it drains the life of those it strikes.
It makes you much more stealthy.
It has a curse placed upon it.
l - a +0,+2 war axe of flaming
n - a +3,+2 dwarven war axe of draining
o - an uncursed runed great mace of disruption
t - a +2,+3 long sword of flaming
y - a cursed dwarven battleaxe of holy wrath
H - a +4,+4 great sword of holy wrath
Armour
c - the +2 pair of gloves of Limitation (worn)
It affects your evasion (+2).

f - a +1 shield of protection
m - a +2 chain mail of positive energy (worn)
p - a +2 pair of gloves of strength
u - a +0 pair of boots (worn)
J - the +1 cloak of the Lobster (worn)
It affects your evasion (+5).
It affects your dexterity (+4).
It greatly protects you from cold.
It protects you from poison.

S - a +1 helmet (worn)
Z - a +1 cloak of darkness
Magical devices
h - a wand of draining (6)
q - a wand of cold (14)
x - a wand of draining
A - a wand of healing
D - a wand of invisibility
F - a wand of fire (3)
I - a wand of disintegration (8)
N - a wand of teleportation (22)
Comestibles
b - 6 bread rations
r - a meat ration
C - 2 royal jellies
Scrolls
v - a scroll of blinking
w - a scroll of detect curse
z - a scroll of recharging
B - 2 scrolls of remove curse
W - 2 scrolls of identify
Y - 2 scrolls of enchant armour
Jewellery
e - a ring of life protection (right hand)
k - a cursed ring of wizardry
s - a cursed ring of protection from fire
E - the cursed ring of Fun
This blessed ring protects the life-force of its wearer from negative
energy, making them partially immune to the draining effects of undead and
necromantic magic.
It makes you more stealthy.
It has a curse placed upon it.
G - a cursed amulet of rage
K - a ring of sustenance
R - the ring of Robustness (left hand)
This ring either protects its wearer from harm or makes them more
vulnerable to injury, to a degree dependent on its power.
It affects your AC (+8).
X - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck)
Potions
O - a potion of speed
P - 2 potions of berserk rage
Q - a potion of heal wounds
T - 2 potions of healing
Books
i - a book of Divinations
j - a book of Charms
L - a book of Power
U - a book of Frost
V - a book of Wizardry
Magical staves
g - a rod of smiting
Miscellaneous
M - a stone of earth elementals


You have 1271 experience left.

Skills:
+ Level 21 Fighting
+ Level 5 Long Blades
* Level 27 Axes
- Level 1 Throwing
- Level 14 Armour
+ Level 5 Dodging
- Level 5 Shields
+ Level 1 Traps & Doors
+ Level 7 Unarmed Combat
+ Level 7 Spellcasting
- Level 10 Conjurations
- Level 3 Transmigration
+ Level 5 Divinations
+ Level 6 Fire Magic
+ Level 5 Ice Magic
+ Level 8 Earth Magic
+ Level 10 Invocations
+ Level 13 Evocations


You have 4 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

Your Spells Type Success Level
a - Freeze Ice Very Good 1
b - Blink Translocation Poor 2
c - Throw Frost Ice/Conjuration Great 2
d - Maxwell's Silver Hammer Earth/Enchantment Very Good 2
e - Sandblast Earth/Transmigration Very Good 1
f - Stoneskin Earth/Transmigration Very Good 2
g - Magic Dart Conjuration Great 1
h - Stone Arrow Earth/Conjuration Great 3
i - Confusing Touch Enchantment Fair 1
j - Detect Creatures Divination Very Good 2
k - Throw Flame Fire/Conjuration Great 2
l - Detect Items Divination Very Good 2
m - Magic Mapping Earth/Divination Good 4
u - Ice Bolt Ice/Conjuration Good 4
y - Detect Traps Divination Very Good 2

Mutations & Other Weirdness
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
You are partially covered in orange scales (AC + 1).

Kinda wonder if this character survives or not.

 

[Ivan]

Nioh 2 - excellent hack and slash game with Diablo loot and bite sized levels. a boring story can make it a slog toward the endgame

Webbed - wonderful swinging mechanics brought down by heavy physic manipulation mechanics and puzzles (may return to this one)

Dread Templar - a solid throwback FPS. feels great, sounds good, gore is good. Not great on the whole like Dusk/Turbo Overkill, but solid.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Finished Shadow of Mordor. It's kinda funny to see how the Nemesis system elevates such a simple and limited action game. My save says I completed around 90% of it which feels okay. I really don't feel like playing the DLC but I think I will, if only for completionism sake.

 

[NecroLord]

MOAR Temple of Elemental Evil.
My party is straight massacring the evil denizens of the Temple. Diplomacy is out of the question, more often than not you will be forced to fight, and can even join the Temple forces (this ends the game, by the way).
Party is almost level 11 now, which is great.

 

[3 others]

Zachtronics Solitaire Collection. These must be the gold standard of minigames in both design and presentation.

 

[panzertoter]

Battletech with Roguetech mod. 10/10, will play forever.

 

[VonMiskov]

A Short Hike and Wrath: Aeon of Ruin.

 

[sabotaj]

Red Dead Redemption 2.
I haven't opened a piece of the map yet, and I'm wanted in every opened region, and I don't have money to pay them all off. But I still want to unlock the unopened piece of the map. Stubbornness or laziness, one of it will win.

 

[Kabas]

Still playing though my Quake and Doom backlog.
Quake:
Brutalism Jam - on hold
Dwell episode 2 - in progress
Something wicked this way comes - next on my list.

Doom:
GMOTA gameplay mod with The brotherhood of ruin WAD - waiting for update.
Godless Night - Complete, it was kinda meh overall with some good parts.
Combined Arms and Combined Arms Gaiden - really interested in trying out these gameplay mods but not sure with which WAD.
Ancient Aliens with Final Doomer+ weapons mod, pistol start - currently playing

Really liking these maps so far, people didn't lie to me about how good this WAD is.
Feels like a breath of fresh air after Godless Night.

 

[jackofshadows]

Majesty. "I'm melting" What a fucking good game, I forgot even.

 

[Eirinjas]

Majesty. "I'm melting" What a fucking good game, I forgot even.

Majesty is a one-of-a-kind gem. The HD version is on sale and includes the Northern Expansion plus two additional quests.

 

[mold]

Finished Death Knights of Krynn! Much better than Champions, with more interesting encounter design and other small improvements. Very cozy game. Enjoyed it a lot.

Now playing The Dark Queen of Krynn. Not sure I like the fancy new look.

And my Underrail no trading playthrough continues. My character is fairly weak and combat takes time so it's been fun trying different things. Early game required some resource management but now it's really only repair kits and batteries I don't have enough of (so I can't use my best equipment all the time and use shield emitter only when I really need it). I'm mainly wanting to punch things but with larger groups I often use ranged weapons and hide behind corners until the enemies come close. Collar of Misery and crossbow special bolts have been useful. Late game probably isn't going to be very different from usual. I don't think I'll do the DLCs - Heavy Duty is not that interesting (and without fighting it's just free stuff and exp) and Expedition is too long. I've got 25-30 hours of the base game left and I want to move on to other games.

 

[NecroLord]

Temple of Elemental Evil.

I finally cleared out the Temple of all its evil denizens.
The battle with the High Priest Hedrack can be tough, but I prevailed. Be very careful against Hedrack, as he will eventually summon Iuz, the Demigod himself, if he is heavily injured, which may result in you and your party getting absolutely massacred. I killed him before that could happen, so try to kill him as soon as possible. Should you manage to miraculously survive for a couple of rounds, St. Cuthbert himself will come to your rescue and teleport away with Iuz, presumably duking it out with him in a mighty battle.
By the way, this is all according to the original Temple of Elemental Evil module published by the Big G himself - Gary Gygax!
It's cool that Troika tried to maintain faithfulness to the original module, though not to a hundred percent, as the game uses the 3.5 D&D edition.

Now I am preparing to go to the Nodes of Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Some very cool and also difficult fights await.
Awesome game.

 

[Kabas]

I killed this Hedrack in single full attack.
He wasn't prepared for my righteous and invisible warrior equipped with a holy axiomatic glaive+3 sneaking on him from behind.

 

[NecroLord]

I killed this Hedrack in single full attack.
He wasn't prepared for my righteous and invisible warrior equipped with a holy axiomatic glaive+3 sneaking on him from behind.

Nice!
Holy and Axiomatic both add up to 4d6 damage to Chaotic Evil enemies.
Ouch...

 

[Gandalf]

I just played my Gandalf's Encounters module for Knight of the Chalice 2 game a little:

 

[soutaiseiriron]

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

It's so fucking bad. Worst FPS I've ever finished, possibly among the worst I have ever played. Garbage scripting and level triggers, enemy placements, enemy AI that can see through foliage and pixel gaps, getting shot at render distance (or beyond!), enemies spawning way above or behind you, getting shot through walls. It just never fucking ends.

It’s basically unplayable without hardcore savescumming since there’s just so much fucking ganking and render distance fog enemies, and it’s all doubled on hard difficulty.
This one specific area is possibly the most repulsive FPS gameplay I have ever had the misfortune of playing. You're forced to run through this road where there's 3 enemies sniping you through these bushes that they can see through, and the game spawns more enemies behind you once you're midway. This guy looks to be playing on easy so their accuracy is shit and they only do 10 damage, but on hard they'll have >70% accuracy and do like 40-55 damage.

Even Call of Duty 1 with it's ridiculous AI and without having ANY healing at all on Veteran difficulty, is significantly more enjoyable and less bullshit than this was, and I played like 2/3rds of CoD1 without even noticing it had manual saves and only used checkpoints.

Honestly pathetic this came out after Halo. It looks like shit, and it plays even worse compared to it.