What game are you wasting time on?

[Cael]

Try Starfleet Command 3. It is buggy to the point that your ships can explode at the end of the mission without anyone shooting at it. It just self-destructs on mission over. Hilarious.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Approaching the end of my Rayman marathon, I'm now going through the last part - Rayman 3 (I started with Legends). I feel like this game is considerably worse than I remembered it. It's much more focused on combat than platforming, and the combat isn't particularly amazung. Also, the camera controls are total ass.

Just checked something out of curiosity, and it turns out Michel Ancel wasn't part of the development team (because he was working on Beyond Good and Evil at the time). Makes a lot of sense as to why it feels so different.

 

[Zibniyat]

Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II, a game from 1997, with Jedi Knight Remastered Patch/Upscaler. Purists will scoff at using texture upscaler, but after searching the Internet for the best option for myself, I came to a conclusion that if I were to play this game as hassle-free as possible I will need the "complete package" that the mentioned patch has. It even has an installer and is incredibly easy to install and configure it, all supported by to-the-point documentation. Even still, using Windows 7 64 bit, I haven't been able to play the game in full-screen, but windowed mode serves the purpose and does not detract much.

Some screenshots from the Nar Shadaa level:

Spoiler

I feel all giddy inside xD The first game I played from the Jedi Knight series was Jedi Outcast, and I loved that game and have replayed it countless times over the years. I hope I'll be able to finish this one without issues.

I just love these vast interconnected areas, there is even some non-linearity present as not all areas does the player has to find and explore in order to advance, but it is useful to do so because they have ammo, health packs, shields and other items. The graphics is just fine to me, reminds me of Jedi Outcast, so even if purists will say it looks "uglier" I am simply someone who does not have the time nor patience to set things up for "purist" playthrough.

Finished the first level, and...

Just 1 out of 6 secrets found!?

Unacceptable. Luckily I've saved the game near the end, it'll be easy to scour the whole level now that all enemies are disposed off.

 

[schru]

Purists will scoff at using texture upscaler

Yes.

It's a good game, but the first one is also very much worth playing. The combat might be simpler (although the sequel isn't particularly sophisticated in that regard either), but the level design is also quite elaborate and provides for fun exploration; the atmosphere is also pretty strong. It works just fine in DOSBox and the Sound Canvas VA is the best choice for the MIDI music, short of having the SC-55.

Dark Forces II starts a little more constrained and less impressively in a way (well, the first level is big, but a lot of it is similar-looking metal corridors), but the missions become very interesting later on.

About the ‘Remastered’ patch, I played the game on Windows 10 and I think all I needed for the hardware-accelerated mode to work in full screen was to use the dgVoodoo wrapper with the right setting. It shouldn't be much more hassle to set up, though one thing the patch might get right is the music playback, which seems particularly problematic in this game with regard to modern systems. I'm not quite sure how it was supposed to be now, but I think a different track was supposed to be played after the initial one, with some interval in between?

I suppose up-scaled textures aren't as bad as entirely different ones, but the author of the mod does note that they contain processing artefacts. That replacement model for the weapon looks hideous and I think lower-polygon models for the characters also had more charm.

 

[Morenatsu.]

About the ‘Remastered’ patch, I played the game on Windows 10 and I think all I needed for the hardware-accelerated mode to work in full screen was to use the dgVoodoo wrapper with the right setting. It shouldn't be much more hassle to set up, though one thing the patch might get right is the music playback, which seems particularly problematic in this game with regard to modern systems. I'm not quite sure how it was supposed to be now, but I think a different track was supposed to be played after the initial one, with some interval in between?

I didn't try it, but I'm going to guess the creator probably doesn't even know about the bug. I mean, have modders ever figured out anything important?

Normally, the game should start from the level's initial track and continue until the end track, where it will go to the restart point (which can be different from the initial track). This only works on XP and earlier, though. It's some kind of problem with how Windows and the game handle CD audio, so unless someone knows enough to hack the game to fix it, or to make a fully accurate CD audio wrapper, it's not going to work. The game also sometimes tries to change volume, which already didn't work even on XP. With the bug, music will stop after one track and restart the whole loop after being idle or unpausing.

Not that I think it really matters in the end, it's just the standard Star Wars film music. Still, it's broken...

 

[Jason Liang]

 

[Serious_Business]

Wasteland 3. Pure garbâge, but it's decent enough. However I can't find the desire in me to start up the game. I'm just very much that blasé, I suppose. The crpg design is fine here, but it bores me to tears. The writing and quest design are also quite fine, but whatever man. "Whatever man" indeed. I suppose the big flaw of the game, to me, is the overall unengaging battle system. It just is too easy and imprecise. Positioning is completely worthless. Too much ability and power bloat. Eh, I don't know. Maybe I can't get into this genre anymore. Does that mean that my dick will go forever for you baby. Yes it does, but don't worry, I can still beat you

 

[Mustawd]

Beat Max Payne a couple of months ago. Been messing around with Super Punch Out! on SNES. Like 1/2 of the way through.

Also playing Max Payne 2. Much nicer graphics but inferior to Pax Payne 1 so far. Waifu storyline doesn't help IMO.

 

[JDR13]

Wasteland 3. Pure garbâge, but it's decent enough.

 

[lightbane]

Playing a little of Max Payne 2 as well. It looks well enough nowadays and it can be played hassle-free, unlike say Deus Ex Invisible War.
The writing is a strong point, in the sense that it is intentionally hilarious how the contrast between Max's monologues, and what's actually going on. He only thinks in metaphors.

 

[FreshCorpse]

I have been reading a lot of ancient Greek literature (Herodotus, Aeschylus, Thucydides) and was looking for other films, maybe games, etc to help give more context.

There are a very small number of good films set in Ancient Greece. And not a lot of games. Except...Ubisoft released something called "Assassin's Creed: Odyssey" a few years back. Hmmm. Never played an "Ubisoft formula game" before. Not incredibly interested in the gameplay as I am massively over-exposed to 3rd person action stuff. But hey, the reviews are positive, "best AC game in years" whatever this is worth. And it seems that the setting is well regarded by some historians and authentic to the period. And it's on sale and for not very much.

So I give it a razz. Expectations pretty low.

Holy shit. The environment is fucking amazing. You're walking around a realistic version of ancient Greece. Towns with temples, marketplaces, farms, etc. The coverage on the world map is ENORMOUS: not just Athens/Attica, but the Peloponnese, every significant island (Samos, Naxos, Chios, Crete, etc etc). All are shrunk a lot obviously but still, it's very cool to be able to walk around in a miniaturised version of Megara. This is absolutely what that AAA budget should be used for.

Historical accuracy, at least judged with the primary sources I've read, is decent. For the most part they aren't taking the piss. Greek spears have a main spike and a small bottom spike. Spartan armour seems a bit too gold imo (it's supposed to be made of bronze...). Spartans are walking around in their armor have short hair for some reason.

Surprisingly it runs kinda well and seems to be a decent port. I have one problem only which is that a certain side mission's cave reliably crashes my GPU. Fuck knows why but suspect it's AMD's fault and not Ubisoft's. Everything else works and it performs well on my aging PC at 1440p.

The gameplay, well it's a bit better than I expected but nothing amazing. 3rd person stuff with RPG Elements (ie armor slots and character points). The dialogue and plot is ok. Like Witcher 3 but dumber and with less (no?) C&C so conversation options are just for your own edification.

Closest I can get the month-long roadtrip across Greece that I want to take but can't right now. Definitely increasingly my enjoyment of the literature. 10/10 for that reason.

 

[Caim]

I know that Ubisoft had a sightseeing mode in Assassin's Creed Origins that takes you on a tour across the major locales, did they have something similar for Odyssey?

 

[FreshCorpse]

I know that Ubisoft had a sightseeing mode in Assassin's Creed Origins that takes you on a tour across the major locales, did they have something similar for Odyssey?

Yes but I haven't had time to try it yet

 

[Gamezor]

I know that Ubisoft had a sightseeing mode in Assassin's Creed Origins that takes you on a tour across the major locales, did they have something similar for Odyssey?

Yes but I haven't had time to try it yet

Wow I need to try this. Knee deep in the greek canon and I already own the game.

 

[Fenix]

A bit of Underrail, a lot of CDDA streams, and enraging attempts to beat nightmare diff at Jupiter Hell' - they made it more difficult with last before the last update.
FFS - does English even have one world for the last before the last things?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

A bit of Underrail, a lot of CDDA streams, and enraging attempts to beat nightmare diff at Jupiter Hell' - they made it more difficult with last before the last update.
FFS - does English even have one world for the last before the last things?

Penultimate

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

For the first time ever, I got freezing deep into Cryostasis.

That one game where they went overboard with PhysX effects to the point of unplayability. It now finally runs with an uneasy 60 fps, thanks to modern hardware.

Really enjoying it. The mix of exploring, puzzling, replaying memories, failing, trying again, works wonderfully. The movement is slow, the guns are shit and the enemies a pain in the ass, but in a really visceral way. The real star in this game however is the Arctic icebreaker ship. Hardly you'll find a game where you'll feel a place as harsh and uninviting as this ship. The coldness really seeps through every nook, pipe and door. People who suffer claustrophobia or are getting nervous looking all day long at steel and ice should probably go back playing Fortnite. I suppose the developers tried to create their own version of a Bioshock ripoff there, utterly failed at it, and still managed to end up with something special.

Go play it if you need to detox your brain of open-world or battle royal cancer. Preferably with a Geforce.

This video also gives you a good idea of what's in store:

 

[Puukko]

That video got me interested in it as well. I had it lodged in my brain somewhere adjacent to Amnesia and Pathologic (cuz Russian) but had never really looked more into it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Cryostasis is bretty guud, and it's a hundred times better than Bioshock.

 

[Zibniyat]

Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II

Comparing to its sequel Jedi Outcast (JO), and especially to Jedi Academy (JA), this one has secret areas much more difficult to find, which is good, and also unlike either JO or JA finding them is important even for character progression, since finding them all on a level confer "Stars" which are used to empower Force powers. Secret areas in JO and JA were only useful for obtaining weapons, shields or other items, so it can be said that they had a downgrade regarding this aspect. This because to find secret areas one has to pay close attention to environmental cues and details; sometimes it is a difference in terrain which indicates walls that can be destroyed, sometimes it is an overpass that points to there being something nearby. And it stands to reason that such effort and time in analysing the environment should "hone" one's skills, which in this game is abstracted via "Stars". Hence why JO and JA are a downgrade here. However, some secret areas are located in pretty weird places, and the only way to access them is by jumping to them from a pretty high up, and once down there the player will find an elevator that leads to a position above from where they had jumped - meaning that the design is not... rational or coherent in such cases, unless these areas are meant to be accessed precisely by superhuman characters. This detracts somewhat from an otherwise enjoyable and interconnected design of areas of a level.

I have recently obtained a lightsaber, but currently I find it more efficient to continue playing it as a first-person shooter. This because my character is still pretty weak and unable to deflect most incoming projectiles, which coupled with having to close distance with enemies in order to slay them means losing much more of the shield and health. In JO and JA, obtaining a lightsaber conferred much better deflection and was generally a more useful weapon for most encounters, exceptions being snipers from a long distance away (like the infamous Nar Shaddaa level of JO).

 

[Strange Fellow]

I have recently obtained a lightsaber, but currently I find it more efficient to continue playing it as a first-person shooter.

This will not change, and that's a good thing, since the lightsaber combat in DF2 is crap and best ignored as much as possible.

 

[Ezekiel]

Got some more moons in Mario Odyssey. I beat it about two years ago and am still playing the same file, very sparingly since then. I'm at about 890 of 1000. I'm still impressed by how much content there is in so few worlds.

Played a little more Gravity Rush 2 just now. Mission 17 or 18. The last time I made any progress on it was in February of 2019. I started playing this save file in May 2018. So I have no idea what's going on with the story now. Can't remember anything. Part of the reason I stopped playing it is because of the tedious stealth missions. The first game was simpler and better.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Doom 64 Retribution (GZdoom)

I liked it more than original D1 and D2, this combination of music and sounds felt better.
Even though creator said that there is already OGG music inside I still had to DL it separately because default tunes were like bootleg Ultima Underworld music or something.

Have all 3 demons keys, at the max upgrade they let you shoot 3 lasers at once from Unmaker but spread is too big, so much that you need to use it in close quarters. Faster fire rate (1st key) would suffice, damage wise it's already p. OP weapon.

Found most secrect levels except Hectic, fuck that level. To reach it from 1st level is quite tricky, then you end is literal deathtrap of a level. All that to get rocket launcha faster but tbh you don't need it.

Reached 18/28 lvl, I'm getting close...

 

[JDR13]

Cryostasis is bretty guud, and it's a hundred times better than Bioshock.

You guys must be drinking some pretty sweet kool-aid. Cryostasis plays like low-budget jank at best. There was literally only 1 section that I found memorable in that game.

 

[Machocruz]

Doom 64 Retribution (GZdoom)

The best version of vanilla D64, imo. Started playing after completing Brutal 64 last year, which was awesome, maybe even the best version, but I wanted to play D64 again without so many changes to the core game, for sake of comparison. Retribution has shotgun cocking and super shotgun reload animations, which weren't in the original N64, and that's enough additions for me.