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Screenshot thread

jackofshadows

Arcane
Joined
Oct 21, 2019
Messages
5,306
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Wyatt_Derp

Arcane
Joined
May 19, 2019
Messages
3,082
Location
Okie Land
'Mr Secretary, we have reports of Yankee forces moving into western Texas.'

'We must stop them! Give General Polk Lee's entire Virginia army and send it across the country and link up with Forrest and his Pimas Indian raiders.'

History larping has its limits.

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Comte

Guest
'Mr Secretary, we have reports of Yankee forces moving into western Texas.'

'We must stop them! Give General Polk Lee's entire Virginia army and send it across the country and link up with Forrest and his Pimas Indian raiders.'

History larping has its limits.

cw-II-Texas-WTF.jpg

Is this ageod civil war 2? Does it have that nasty lag most of the games have?
 

spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,370
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I liked this one the most from the Fire Emblems I've played so far (3-5 for Snes and 6 for GBA). Much more interesting mission / map design, less bullshit than in Thracia (no shops, fatigue) + it's still quite challenging (weapon triangle is more important now).

Requirements for the best ending were maybe a little bit over the top, but whatever.

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:bro:

MVPs:

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Results:

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:obviously:

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Highly recommended.
 

DraQ

Arcane
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
32,828
Location
Chrząszczyżewoszyce, powiat Łękołody
And to think the engine is 13 years old but still looks and feel great to this day.
Particle effects in this game still impress me.
It's like this photorealism barrier thing DraQ was talking about.
The remaining (big?) step is real time raytracing, but it might turn out to not be as big in most cases because everyone has meanwhile learned to convincingly fake realistic lighting.
 

Wyatt_Derp

Arcane
Joined
May 19, 2019
Messages
3,082
Location
Okie Land
'Mr Secretary, we have reports of Yankee forces moving into western Texas.'

'We must stop them! Give General Polk Lee's entire Virginia army and send it across the country and link up with Forrest and his Pimas Indian raiders.'

History larping has its limits.

cw-II-Texas-WTF.jpg

Is this ageod civil war 2? Does it have that nasty lag most of the games have?

There's some lag with map scrolling, but once the graphics load up in cache it gets much better. Plus the fully patched up game has some memory fixes. I've got a middle of the road PC and it runs fine.
 

502

Learned
Joined
Mar 28, 2020
Messages
313
Location
Ankara
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I believe him now to be more than a man. He is... DOOM™ Eternal©: Deluxe Edition.
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And these are from Guild Wars 2. My guardian (main), warrior (co-main), necromancer (co-main), engineer, thief and ranger respectively:
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spekkio

Arcane
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
8,370
Epic tale of young transdimensional traveller Ellie and her pet alien Chomp.

Except of our heroine, who can shoot her magical bracelet and smash evil dudes with her Gucci purse...
And get new skills, like every self-respecting metroidvania heroine should:

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We also control our alien friend. Who can stay in its room (2nd scren) and recover energy / play with shit to support Ellie / increase itz stats:

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But mostly can be used as additional attacker / supporter (it can do much more than usual familiar):

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BRO has its own active and passive skills, can level up and evolve into different forms:

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So it looks like our alien shopkeeper may be right:

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And our antagonists seem truly evil:

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Kid Kings? Sounds like a bunch of bad motherfuckers...

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:yeah:

Verdict: most likely much better than new Doom...
 

Dedicated_Dark

Prophet
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
1,022
Location
Beyond the Grave
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Here's My Awesome BMW M3 the Classic.

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Turn off the garbage music, put some Synthwave and enjoy. It's easily my fav. NFS since Underground 2. To be honest my fav. NFS period, I just love the aesthetic & the driving physics. This is the closest you are ever going to get to a AAA OUTRUN game, savor it!
Also, here is a link to my Reshade if anyone cares.
 

Scarlet Lilith

Learned
Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
116
Location
❤️Hell❤️
If you play the steam version of Thief then the default key to quickload is the same one that steam uses to take a screenshot. I never changed either. What follows is the adventures of Gorret, the worst thief the world has ever seen. I might have done some pruning of closeup shots of floors and the bottoms of dark pits, but I assure you there weren't many of them.

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Having only played the original release of The Dark Project way back there are two things that stand out to me, firstly that the Gold version is pretty different to the original, and secondly that the common notion of what Thief is, basically a heist simulator, is not what the first game was. It's more like an action-adventure game with sneaking in it, featuring a couple of heists but also tomb raiding and a lot of other antics. I haven't yet finished the game, but here are some of my impressions of the levels I have played through. Do note that I played it all on expert, I don't know how much of an impact that had on my impression of the game.

A Keeper's Training
This training mission is a classic, it doesn't go overboard like some overly nursing nanny but teaches you the basics that you need to know. The perfect balance between kicking you right out of the nest and keeping the training wheels on forever. I wish all tutorials were like this, breezy, getting down the essentials and tying it into the story. Even though I already know how to play the game I still liked going through it.

Lord Bafford's Manor
This is a level I have played a bunch of times, it's memorable, has a good progression from linear to the more open style you find in the rest of the game. I think this is what many remember Thief being like, the core of the game, but it really isn't representative of the rest of the game at all, it's just one aspect of it.

Break from Cragscleft Prison
Breaking into a prison inside of a mine system, it's a cool idea, but those zombies always spooked me too hard at first and it took me several attempts to get over it. Once you have gotten used to the terribly creepy audio design then this mission is great, big and open, the cave system is labyrinthine and you can go in circles for a while until you get your grips on the place. Great level, making my way out with Basso over the shoulder after escaping the guards and going down a waterfall felt more cinematic than any cutscene could ever have.

Down in the Bonehoard
This is where the fun begins, we had two heist missions so far, one having a couple of zombies in it probably to make the shift to this mission smoother, because now we go tomb raiding. It's like Indiana Jones but way spookier. This is the kind of thing that got lost in the sequel and in later entries and that came as a bit of a surprise to me upon this replay of the game. This is also when it hit me just how big these levels are, because this is absolutely enormous and with no loading screens beside the one at the start. It's crazy.

Assassins
Yet again we switch gears, this time you stalk assassins through the city streets, which are really easy to get lost in. It ends with a smaller heist mission, which I enjoyed, but the alarm went off without me hearing it and that was kind of annoying, which meant the way back was full of guards. It's a nice detail, that you can't just get out into the street if you have triggered the alarm, but I wish it was more noticeable. Overall it's a decent mission that does a great job of keeping you on your toes.

Thieves' Guild
Huge mission, but I didn't like it very much. Too many samey sewers and you have to backtrack a lot, it doesn't offer a change of pace or something really unique, it's just the designated sewer level. This level also wasn't in the game before the Gold version, so it was the first time for me playing it. It's not terrible or anything, but it's just kind of there, it just adds length to the game, not quality.

The Sword
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This level blew my mind multiple times and it's even crazier in the Gold version than it was initially. You think you're getting into yet another heist when you have gotten tired of them already but it completely blows you away once you're inside the mansion. Easily the best level in the game. If there was a peak in the series then this mission must have been it.

The Haunted Cathedral
Second best level in the game so far. Super creepy ambience in this abandoned part of the city and the streets are full of the walking dead, spiders and other beasts. It's a crumbling and decaying place full of terrors and you have so much freedom in where to go, it's all so interconnected, yet it isn't as annoying as caverns and sewers since you have landmarks and stuff. 10/10 mission and it isn't a heist level.

The Mage Towers
This one is new to the Gold version, it was alright but I feel like how everything was divided up was kind of like filler. Four towers, four courtyards with samey content. The central building and tower were neat, but the four elemental towers were just sloppy and formulaic. I wish the mission threw you a curveball at some point.

The Lost City
I used to like this almost as much as The Haunted Cathedral, but the Gold version has ruined it by putting the lame mages from the previous mission in this one. It's so dumb, because the entire appeal here is venturing into the long lost ancient ruins where almost nobody has ever been. The original level was so eerie and haunting but now it's like the lameness of The Mage Towers has also seeped into this one.

Song of the Caverns
With this mission the Gold version is trying to redeem itself, you're thinking you're going into another ancient cavern with ruins and stuff but the game completely changes direction early on, catching you completely off-guard and throwing you an opera house heist. Top notch mission, very open, tons of hidden pathways and stuff, it's huge and the setting is great. Loved the little storylines going on in it too.

Undercover
As with many of the levels of the original game this is concerned with keeping things fresh and to that end it works. The level itself isn't great, you basically just have to go around without sneaking and bonking hammerites on the head when they are alone because there is an alarm going off when you take the elemental zeal thingy and I don't think you can turn it off. So it's like some kind of bizarre variant of your regular Thief mission where you don't have to sneak. Dishonored did this better with Lady Boyle's Last Party. But again, it's a welcome change of pace when you look at the game as a whole, something new to do.

Return to the Cathedral
This mission is way too scary initially, but when I learned you can just bonk most of the haunts with the sword to instakill them then it became bearable. Even now the game isn't content with just giving you the same old, so you're going on an adventure to help out a ghost. It's super fun and while the level is large this isn't one you get lost in, so despite going on hunts of items and stuff it never becomes frustrating or dull.

Escape!
I'm still in the middle of this one, but it's both bad and good. I like how weird it is and stuff, but I simply have come to dislike labyrinth caverns that have nothing even close to a map. The mission is also novel in that you're trying to find your way out of a place rather than into it.
 

A horse of course

Guest
Daymare: 1998 (Fitgirl edition)

Originally an RE2 fan remake that fan afoul of Capcom's legal team, Invader Studios’ debut title Daymare: 1998 proclaims itself to be paying tribute to the original Resident Evil trilogy via the 3rd-person perspective of contemporary titles. Alternating between forlorn mercenaries contracted to the nefarious Hexacore Corporation and a park ranger tortured by psychotic breaks, players risk life and limb to escape the viral apocalypse visited upon the remote settlement of Keen Sight. In their path stand the typical shambling zombies, hulking mutants, and abecedarian puzzle-solving of the PlayStation classics.

The game controls very much like a modern third-person shooter, though the sluggish movement and lack of evasive manoeuvres mean players must rely on good positioning and careful aim to headshot foes before they can get too close. Once in melee range, zombies effortlessly grab your character and vomit corrosive slime all over them until you mash the spacebar enough times, whilst more heavily mutated enemies can slap or stab at victims with their elongated limbs, so trying to line up punches and stun enemies for a good shot is not recommended unless you're extremely confident in your ability to read animation cues. Speaking of which, player animations in progress seem to cancel out input for far longer than visual feedback suggests, leading to serious frustration when switching between weapons in a pinch or unholstering them after a boss cutscene.

The weapons themselves can be counted on the fingers of one human hand - the deuteragonists have access to a pistol and shotgun with regular and armour-piercing ammo types, plus a powerful magnum that requires more careful resource conservation. A third character can also make use of a machine gun, though you'll only control them for a couple of hours at most. Like in other over-the-shoulder survival horror games, many foes will shudder and spasm and rock their heads to and fro as they approach, daring you to waste precious bullets as you lose your cool and unload a full magazine into thin air. After over ten hours of play, I still can't determine whether hit boxes are completely broken or simply utilize unforgiving per-pixel hit detection - sometimes I would line up perfect shots but whiff, other times I'd fire and seemingly miss, only for a bullet to teleport into a zombie's cranium a split-second after the sound of the gunshot. In the combat space, Daymare's twist on the formula is that bullets are not simply stored in the inventory and automatically added to the gun when the player reloads. Rather, bullets must be either manually inserted into the gun in the real-time PDA or placed into individual magazines. If the player has a spare, loaded magazine in their inventory, pressing reload will either eject the one currently in the gun (along with any remaining bullets) and drop it to the floor for later retrieval, or if the reload button is held down, limit the player's mobility as they exchange the two and place the used magazine back in their inventory. In practice, the player is unlikely to be so pressed as to leave an area entirely and sacrifice the errant ammunition, though it can certainly make you do panic reloads in the heat of urgency. Where this system injures the experience is the constant micromanagement of bullets in the inventory, especially when you also have secondary bullet types to mess about with. It also makes shotguns and the classic version of the magnum more enjoyable and convenient to use, as they simply load individual bullets one at a time. Unfortunately, there are no other means of damaging enemies aside from a few environmental hazards in later boss fights, and no special weapons to unlock after beating the campaign.

Said campaign is split into five chapters, with the first a very lengthy, thoroughly inflexible tutorial that features one or two optional rooms (closets, really) unlocked by a hacking minigame. The second, in which the other main character is introduced, starts off as more of the same. The game finally teases the classic survival horror experience it promised when, several hours into the experience, the player arrives at a large hospital. Several new mechanics are introduced, such as hidden closets, a manual save station that lets you trade items and redeem electronic dog tags for minor rewards, and the ability to choose between more than one fucking corridor at a time. Sadly, this apparent non-linearity turns out to be an illusion, as you'll find most areas are blocked off until you trigger specific conditions by following the developers' intended path. Similarly, save stations are less like mini-hubs or safe rooms, and more like refreshment stops along a highway (much like the weapons dealer from Resident Evil 4). In any case, Chapters 3 and 4, set mostly in the streets, shops and sewers of the town, again leave little room for deviation, with most backtracking mandated by scripted sequences as opposed to player agency. Chapter 5, set entirely in a secret base, follows a similar philosophy.

Something all these chapters share is a love for lengthy cutscenes that perfectly illustrate why, as a general rule, indie studios should never try to match the already low standards of "cinematic" gaming. Being Italian, Invader Studios are incapable of reading or writing with any degree of competency, let alone in a more sophisticated language like English. Voice actors are obviously reading verbatim from the script regardless of how unnatural or borderline nonsensical. Both subtitles and written materials in the environment are lousy with spelling and grammatical errors, and clearly haven't been subject to any sort of proofreading. This might be acceptable in a late-night review in the screenshot thread, but certainly not a fully-fledged steam release that I almost faced the indignity of paying for. As far as production values go, the rest of the package isn't too bad, with the Unreal Engine 4-powered visuals looking quite good in darker areas with stark contrasts of shadow and light, though visual artifacts abound, especially in screenshots where motion blur and post-processing AA can't hide it so well. Zombies and mutants look fine, but many human facial models well below par. The soundtrack is also a bit mixed, and I honestly didn't even notice it at all outside boss fights until the final area. Even at their worst, none of these elements are so bad as to sabotage the overall experience - it's the writing and cutscenes that cause the real damage. They just fall on the wrong side of "so bad it's good", without the B-movie charm of Resident Evil 1. Much of what occurs is too predictable to be engaging and too badly told for what it does have to be entertaining, probably because it relies on a somewhat telegraphed and entirely uninteresting twist in the game's epilogue.

Besides, getting that far in the first place can be quite a challenge. Invader Studios have given extremely inconsistent signals regarding the recommended difficulty - I started on "Daymare" mode as the menu claimed it was the way the game was meant to be played, with the only other option being "Beginner" (a later patch added an even easier "Story" mode), but lost my temper and quit around two hours in. Conversely, in the steam forums the developers have explicitly stated that Daymare mode is "not intended for a first playthrough" and is instead reliant on pre-existing knowledge of enemy placement, campaign progress and so on. This makes a lot more sense, as even for a first-time player I was finding Daymare mode very much doable (with some screaming) but it required a fair bit of reloading checkpoints to figure out the optimal approach. I restarted on Beginner and had a lot less trouble (aside from an endgame chase sequence that almost drove me to uninstall). Just be aware that if I'd actually bought the game, I would've refunded it at that point rather than restart.

But putting aside developer miscommunication, this problem with challenge stems from the deal-breaking fallacy at the core of Daymare's problems - that it's a tribute to classic Survival Horror. It is not. There are plenty of flaws with the game that can be attributed to reviewers looking back at PS1 horror titles through a haze of nostalgia - the awkward controls, the bad writing, the sometimes overly abstractified mechanics of certain boss fights. But, fundamentally, Daymare is simply too linear. The player is not placed in a semi-open environment and given broad direction for their exploration, but instead ferried through individual scenes as if taking part in a tour of haunted houses. Daymare is more akin to a "grounded" version of Resident Evil 4 or the Revelations spinoffs. It would be virtually impossible to feature an alternate campaign or "reshuffle" in the style of Resident Evil 1-3 because it would simply break everything – why bother to move a puzzle item from one room to another when the player cannot access more than a handful of rooms in the first place? Players don't make risk-reward calculations about health items or ammo left in previously-visited areas, as even when you have to return to a location, it's usually either too small to avoid enemies reliably, or scripted to spawn enemies that block corridors anyway. You either succeed with minimal losses, or you reload. It's certainly possible with foreknowledge - and often necessary on “Daymare” mode - to temporarily disable enemies and skip items that aren't critical to your progress, but this is a level of metagaming that was only really relevant to second or third playthroughs of classic survival horror campaigns.

There are always ardent defenders of any title that claims to champion the supposed "hardcore" or "old-school" values of gaming-gone-by, particularly in endangered genres like Survival Horror. But Daymare: 1998 is not worthy of comparisons to the Resident Evil trilogy, and not only because it lacks the polish or production values, but because it doesn't seem to realize that it's not even trying to do so. It's ironic that the game was released around the same time as the RE2 remake - that Crapcom of all people managed to make a more faithful tribute to the PS1 classics. Daymare isn't a diamond in the rough, but merely a low budget, badly made version of a PS2 action game. Skip it and don't look back.

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Wunderbar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
8,825
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Replayed Alien Isolation, both to refresh my memories and to collect remaining Nostromo logs. Now that i knew how alien AI operates, i was able to pull an ironman playthrough.

The story is an asspull, characters are bland, 80% of what you're doing in the game is "go there and pull that lever", stealth is mediocre, Sevastopol station reminds you of Metroid at first but then you realize that the game is absolutely linear, alien's AI is squandered on unmemorable map layouts, crafting and resource management don't really work because resources are distributed randomly and most of your gadgets are useless, and the game becomes a repetitive slog after culminating only halfway through (during a 10th mission where you jettison a science module).

Yet I loved the game back in 2014, and still think of it highly solely because of its outstanding presentation. I mean look at the screenshots, so much love and care were put into recreating 70s retrofuturistic scifi environments and the sound design. Those clicks of punchcard-based computers booting up, working joe's creepy voices, that beeping sound when you craft an item, Jerry Goldsmith's music. I've spent more time walking around admiring props and listening to ambience, than hiding from alien.

I believe every remotely interested codexer have already played Isolation, but in case you liked the original film and haven't played the game yet - do it now. It's probably second best video game that features Alien, and one of the best things that happened with the franchise in general. Too bad the refined sequel/successor is most likely dead, thanks to randy pitchfork (and now thanks to Gisnep too).

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