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What game are you wasting time on?

Zep Zepo

Titties and Beer
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Messages
5,233
I would be wasting time on AssCredOdy

But fuckin gamefly (just signed up, again), shipped Wednesday (supposedly), but here I am on Sunday with no game.

I think this bullshit late delivery is why I canceled the last time.

"We shipped it! LOL LOL!", *receive game 6 days later.*

Zep--
 

MilesBeyond

Cipher
Joined
May 15, 2015
Messages
716
Might and Magic Book One: The Inner Sanctum.

I just don't get it with NWC games. Both Might and Magic and HoMM are so much more fun than they would seem on paper. Just about everything JVC made had this mysterious X factor that made it so much more than the sum of its parts. I'm having an absolute blast with this game and I don't even know why. I'm mostly playing it on the go so I can't even make my own maps - I'm looking them up online like a scrub. But this game is just a powerful addiction that sinks its teeth into me and makes me want to just explore and zap wyverns with lightning bolts. I'm kinda looking forward to being done it, though, as I've never actually tried the second game, and from what I've heard it's one of the few oldschool RPGs that doesn't fall into the sophomore slump (Ultima 2 and Wizardry 2 are shit don't @ me)
 

No Great Name

Arcane
Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
572
Location
US
Might and Magic Book One: The Inner Sanctum.

I just don't get it with NWC games. Both Might and Magic and HoMM are so much more fun than they would seem on paper. Just about everything JVC made had this mysterious X factor that made it so much more than the sum of its parts. I'm having an absolute blast with this game and I don't even know why. I'm mostly playing it on the go so I can't even make my own maps - I'm looking them up online like a scrub. But this game is just a powerful addiction that sinks its teeth into me and makes me want to just explore and zap wyverns with lightning bolts. I'm kinda looking forward to being done it, though, as I've never actually tried the second game, and from what I've heard it's one of the few oldschool RPGs that doesn't fall into the sophomore slump (Ultima 2 and Wizardry 2 are shit don't @ me)
You are definitely missing out on a big chunk of the fun which is making your maps, but I agree when you say that the game is greater than its parts. I remember reading someone else's post on the Codex about the game a long time ago that there's just something about MM1's design that makes it feel incredibly satisfying to play whether in short bursts or in longer sittings.
 

FreshCorpse

Arbiter
Patron
Joined
Aug 23, 2016
Messages
692
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
Dishonored 2.

I just got a new GPU and thought I'd give it a try again and see if I could run it any better. Nope. Even with whatever patches since launch and now with an RX 580 it's still borderline unplayable. I seem to have a lot of input lag which makes me nausous and the game struggles to keep 60fps on low. Maybe it's my CPU (i3 4160)? But I also have sound problems - with characters speaking about 30% of lines far too quietly
 

laclongquan

Arcane
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
1,870,144
Location
Searching for my kidnapped sister
Update on JA2: now that my team is outfitted with guns that don't blow I'm seeing more and more why this game is still regarded by many as the turn-based tactics gold standard. The good guns feel really satisfying, especially when used by a skilled shooter. And being able to lure enemies into Lynx's sights in the dead of night is some of the most fun I've had in any game with turn-based combat. It's excellent. (Except for that bitch with the mortar)

The squad tactics genre doesn't get any better than this, does it?

Pretty much peaked there. The Silent Storm engine is the best, but wasn't used to its fullest so the potential was never met.

Now we get square tiles and 2ap. Tiles and 2ap. Tiles and 2ap. Tiles and 2ap as far as the eye can see. Tiles and 2ap.

That is debateable. The final battlefield (silo) of S2 is used to the fullest and it's quite prone to drive your rig to the ground. 3D tower stairways, with enemy flying around the central space, or you attacking across the map. The siege battlefield of Silent Storm Sentinels is a masterpiece of small squad against group of mechas that will kick your ass unless you are very good at tactics.

Although one very satisfying tactic is using all your PK and equip them with grenades to throw on the battlefield. It's like 6 mortars continuously blast the entire map. It's not optimal, expensive to use, and destroy most of the loots, but the booms are very, very nice.

Though I recommend UFO Aftershock. While its Realtime with Pause will make you hesitating, it's still a premium specimen of RTwP tactic. UFO Afterlight is actually better but its graphic is a bit offputting.
 

Curratum

Guest
A colleague from the office bought theHunter Call of the Wild and I got sucked back into it. Finally started playing all the DLC reserves I bought, such a great experience.
 

PulsatingBrain

Huge and Ever-Growing
Patron
Joined
Nov 5, 2014
Messages
6,165
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The Centre of the Ultraworld
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Codex+ Now Streaming! Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
None of the sequels capture the spirit of the first game, especially 2.

I agree that the first has a special atmosphere, but the other 2 are fucking great nonetheless. While not necessarily similar, I was reminded of the first game when I went to Toussaint in TW3 Blood and wine, because it also just has such a unique feel to it. I can't think of another RPG that captured the feeling of the French countryside so brilliantly
 

CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,548
Don't forget Black Sect.
Black_Sect-2.png
 

PulsatingBrain

Huge and Ever-Growing
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Codex+ Now Streaming! Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
Euro truck Simulator.

I've played quite a bit of Euro Truck Sim 2, but not the first. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that it's also set in this century though, and probably doesn't quite capture the same classic, old wine country feel that Blood and Wine does


That looks kind of cool. Might play it :salute:
 

HansDampf

Arcane
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
1,471
CrossCode. A German JRGP, written in HTML5, set in a fictional, futuristic MMORGP.
wtfamireading.png

And the future is looking grim if this is going to be the standard, because this has to be the blandest and fetchquestiest MMORPG ever. It's supposed to be some kind of funny meta commentary on the nature of real MMORPGs. But mindless fetch quests are still just mindless fetch quests. I've made the mistake and spent way too much time with grinding and side quests in the first area. How are you supposed to keep track of all these crafting/trading items? The main content looks great though, the puzzles, exploration, and especially the combat. It's like a mix of Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, and Yoshi's Island, but actually challenging and with many possibilities to specialize your character.

I'm also going through DOOM again, this time on UV, starting every level with the pistol. Should be doable. It's just that sometimes you start in a room filled with Demons, and your only source for a better weapon is a shotgun zombie in the next room.
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,091
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Based on the discussion going on in this thread I went and had a closer look at the 1984 Alien game that was released on the 8-bit computers. It's a game I've known about for years, but never got around to playing until now.

The premise is exactly as in the film: The game takes place aboard the Nostromo and stars six live crew members, one dead crew member, one pissed-off cat and one murderous Alien. The goal is to have the crew get rid of the Alien, which can be accomplished in three different ways:

1) Scuttle the Nostromo and have up to three crew members (plus cat) aboard the shuttle, while the Alien is left behind and no other surviving crew members.
2) Blow the Alien out of an airlock.
3) Beat the crap out of the Alien using the various tools and weapons aboard the Nostromo. (Yes, really.)

This is further complicated by various factors. For example one of the crew is an android who will attempt to sabotage any actions taken against the Alien. Another problem is that each of the crew are supposed to have different personality traits which should affect their actions, but besides them having a morale rating I have yet to confirm this. Throw in the 35 different rooms scattered across three decks, 40 parts of the ventilation system and the timer counting down until all the oxygen runs out, and the end result is one challenging game. What makes for an interesting addition is something I hadn't mentioned yet: Which of the Nostromo crew dies first and which of the crew is the android is randomized each game. That means one can't count on the Nostromo crew to 'stay in character' and any one of them may ruin the player's plans.

Oh, and the whole game is in real time. When giving crew members orders one has to wait a few moments for them to (try to) carry them out. That's very impressive considering it's a 35-year old game using around 50Kb of RAM (depending on which version you're playing).

This means that this is a surprisingly deep game. There's a lot to things to juggle around; micro-managing six different characters simultaneously while having to worry about the cat, the Alien, an android and the time limit quickly builds up lots of tension while playing. There's also how the game plays on the threat of the Alien's presence, rather than the Alien's presence itself. The player will hear doors opening and closing without knowing who's using them, and the Alien sometimes leaves tracks behind like open air vents. This would be an immensly enjoyable game even for today's gamers were it not for one huge problem: The UI is laughably ancient. Everything is done with lists and menus and messages crawling across the screen. Each of the 35 rooms is named in the sidebar, but not on the map itself, adding needless confusion unless a player draws up their own map (and another for the vents). Lastly the player never has an overview of where the crew are located, at best the currently selected player's location is marked on the map, and the message bar informs whether anyone else is in the same room. That means players will have to memorize and visualize themselves where all the crew members are and what they're doing.

The graphics and sound are minimal but functional, and cannot be put at fault due to the age of the game. But if anyone is willing to take on the cantankerous UI, overlook the outdated retro style and want to sink themselves into a deep and challenging game, this game may be just for you.

(Of the three versions available (C-64, Spectrum and Amstrad CPC) I recommend going with the C-64. It has more and better sounds, better graphics and runs at an acceptable pace. The Spectrum and Amstrad versions run at a higher graphical resolution but they also run too fast, making them more difficult for no reason.)
 

octavius

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
19,185
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Bjørgvin
I wish I had played Alien back in the days. I played Knigh Lore, also by Ultimate, but never got near to completing it. I did complete Fairlight, which is similar, though. But I think the Ultimate games were probably in a difficulty class of their own.
 
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octavius

Arcane
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Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
19,185
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Bjørgvin
I wish I had played Alien back in the days. I played Knigh Lore, also by Ultimate, but never got near to completing it. I did complete Fairlight, which is similar, though. But I think the Ultimate games were probably in a difficulty class of their own.

Oh wait, I seem to be confused. The game I was thinking about was Alien 8.
I can't remember the game Unkillable Cat talked about.
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
Patron
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
27,091
Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Oh wait, I seem to be confused. The game I was thinking about was Alien 8.
I can't remember the game Unkillable Cat talked about.

I did wonder briefly last night why you suddenly went on about Ultimate Play the Game!-games when the Alien game has nothing to do with them.

But to be fair there are lots of games on the Speccy that are called Alien<something>.

Fun fact: While I'm familiar with many titles released by Ultimate, I haven't played a single one of them so that I can recall. I have however played several of their titles once they migrated over to the NES and changed their name to Rare, with Snake, Rattle 'n' Roll being an early favorite of mine.
 

flyingjohn

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
2,945
Finishing ace combat 3 for to conclude the psx series,FUCK THIS GAME.
-STORY
Obnoxious,convoluted,wanna be cinematic garbage with flat boring characters with a faux philosophical bullshit about soul/ai. It is trying to be ghost in the shell,hell even one of the major characters looks like kusanagi.
The game is extremely cinematic,1/3 of your entire game will be spend watching cut scenes that appear at the begging and end of each mission.And in most of these you will mostly be listening to characters yapping on about their agenda or some very boring news clip.
The story also features branching paths,which is the only good thing about the story.

-Quality of the mission briefing screen
Flat and boring as the rest of the game. They don't even give you 3d models of enemies.

-Mission variety and gameplay
The only good thing about the game play .You get escort,flight competition,photographing,high altitude air combat,etc.Couple this with multiple branching missions,and you get a big improvement over ace combat 2.And each mission feels distinct enough also.
Graphics wise,the variety is nonexistent,you get a grassy terrain and a city and it repeats itself constantly.

This game also introduces a ranking system.And the ranking system is tied to each mission differently,wait a moment?
Yup,this means that you have to guess what gives you a A rank each time you start the mission.But what you will be doing is just opening up a FAQ to see what the requirements are.A example,you have to get a certain mount of points to get a rank,how much,well without a guide,you have to keep replaying and guessing,how fun.
Sometimes it is tied to time,sometimes it is tied to a certain objective,sometimes it tied to the amount of enemies killed,and sometimes it all of those things together.
Oh,and you only get one extra mission for getting A rank on all mission,wupidu.
This coupled with planes unlocking automatically means you don't have to play the game good whatsoever and if you do,your reward is simply not worth it.

Unfortunately the game play itself suffers as well.I will cover more in the difficulty segment.

-Planes
You no longer unlock planes by buying them.They now get automatically unlocked by just passing missions.You also can't select al your planes for each mission,most of the mission have different planes.,this is extremely disappointing. You do get a 2-3 extra planes if you pass all mission with A rank,but they are not worth it.
The planes also have categories and selection of weapons now,which is a missed opportunity.Most of the missions int he game will be tied to air combat,so multi roles are just not worth it because fighters shoot down ground targets easily.
The multiple weapons thing fells like a gimmick.Canon range is irrelevant considering gunning planes down you to be close anyway.
The different missiles are mostly just for show.Short range feels pointless,the mirv can easily miss since it requires a lot of time to actually deploy multiple rockets and it requires most of them to hit anyway to do damage.
You can get a bomb,which is not bad bad,but rockets can do the same thing easily.
I just feel that most of the innovations around planes is a big missed opportunity that later ace combat games get right.

--Difficulty
Nonexistent ,except the ending bosses.Most enemies in this game feel like lifeless dolls instead of enemy planes.The moment you get a lock on you can fire and it will hit in 9/10 cases. Some later enemies try to maneuver,but all you have to do is just stand still and turn around.
At least in the previous game the ace pilots were trying to dodge your missiles,here there are no ace pilots and no dodging..
And then there are the bosses.Ace combat bosses were always monstrous slow targets because of a simple reason,else they would be a pain int he ass.
Boss enemies easily outmaneuver you and your missiles so you have to hope your missiles actually hit them.It is just basic speed boost which you can't easily counter.
Also trying to select your enemy is a pin in the ass.The game throws a lot of aircraft t you and your radar just loves to select random further from you targets,instead of the closest one.And later some enemies get mashed up between a minimum of 10 planes,so good luck selecting the one you want.

This is the first ace combat where i don't see a purpose to actually shoot or dogfight anything except the main target considering the ranking system.And because of the ai,it just doesn't feel good to shoot other planes. Extremely disappointing.

-Unique stuff and extra content
The generic mission replay,music player are all here. Typical ace combat extras,but here the mission replay has more value considering you can replay any mission with any plane.

-Overall verdict
The game just feels very bland and boring to play.It feels like a expansion which was made by another company.Not worse then air combat 1.but certainly way below 2.
 
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