What game are you wasting time on?

[Krivol]

Funny you mention this - I am playing with a mod making 4-turns year (Ultima Ratio with add-ons, nothing fancy), so I could take my time. Truth is an enemy is using this time to rush for tech, but AI is too stupid to do anything dangerous even with tech advantage -as long as you have 10-20 shooting guys in a stack (even the cheapest peasants) you will win almost any battle, you will even see brilliant ideas like enemy rushing your army with artillery (yeah, really). Oh and reinforcements... if you face 4 enemy armies with 1, you will rout the main enemy army, then kill their additional units one by one, as they are slowly going to the battlefield one by one...

 

[Paladino]

I've just reinstalled FTL, since I was craving something simple but addictive to waste time on. It's been a while since I played it too.

 

[octavius]

I installed Unreal. It blows my mind how you fire off a 25 years old game and it has features such as actual mirror reflections and dynamic lighting, which today are forgotten and abandoned because zumg 2hard.

OTOH modern games have more important features, like ultra realistic breast (implants and all) jiggling.

 

[Average Manatee]

I installed Unreal. It blows my mind how you fire off a 25 years old game and it has features such as actual mirror reflections and dynamic lighting, which today are forgotten and abandoned because zumg 2hard.

OTOH modern games have more important features, like ultra realistic breast (implants and all) jiggling.

Jiggling breasts would be nice if there were attractive women in games to have them

 

[Krivol]

Ok, after finishing a VERY long Empire TW campaign (400 turns! Yay!) and conquering about 90% of the world with Russia (I didn't want to, those suckers kept DoW-ing me constantly, so what choice I got?) I feel so burned out with that game... IMO Shogun 2 FotR is a much better "guns and rifles" game than Empire, but the scope of ETW is much bigger, which makes this game quite enjoyable (but that AI... OMG! It's broken beyond repair...).

I tried Rome 2 a bit - finished the Prologue campaign and it didn't click - it looks and plays somehow worse than RTW. Maybe I will try it later with mods.

I decided to try out TROY with Agony mod. Will see how it goes.

 

[Axel_am]

Finishing Wrath made me realize that I might not have all the time I fancy to enjoy the CRPGs I like the way I want. Plans are to push on with another CRPG title while I'm still free. And onwards I march to play Larian's Baldur's Gate 1 Original Sin.

Been looking at this one for some time. I have some history with the title but after 30+ hours decided it wouldn't work out and just left it. I don't remember any of the writing and I don't think that will change after this playthrough. But who knows, maybe I will end up surprised. The music and art direction of OS1 is pretty sweet. Both make me feel joyful and jubilicious. Maybe that's why the writing is the way it is - the art style not letting it rest in a darker and more serious corner.

Anyway, I didn't want to play this alone so I looked high and low to find a second. Not such an easy task seeing how everybody is playing BG3 but after a whole day of sniping lobbies, discords, forums, steam groups and whatnot my efforts were rewarded. Enter Benji. The lad has 300hrs + in Original Sin on Steam alone. He doesn't care about the story, he doesn't care about the achievements all he cares about is his win-maxing builds. Or in other words - while I'm talking to the merchant he is already looting his belongings and selling them to the rival shop. Me and Benji are gonna get along just fine.

People are going to talk about this almost 10 years old game a lot more in the coming years. Normies are even calling it "sorta like the new baldurs gate". And I'm not sure how I feel about it. The Codex was right that giving Larian BG3 will disrupt the timelines. Watching how all of this unravels in the future will be entertaining and maybe painful.

 

[Erebus]

Currently replaying Shadows of Amn. I just killed Firkraag, one second after the fight had begun, by lopping off his head with the Vorpal Blade.

 

[Late Bloomer]

Been playing a variety of games, which is unusual for me as I mostly like playing just one maybe two games concurrently. Kind of waiting for AC6 and Starfield at this point.

Everquest 2 - It's my go to MMO. Been doing some HC on the progression server.
Demon Gaze Extra - I enjoy most dungeon crawlers. This one has been pretty fun so far. The grinding happened quickly which is fine by me.
Golf It - It recently released to 1.0. My friend and I really enjoy it. Great fun. Thinking of making a course.
Lunacid - Very cool Kings Field like game. Very atmospheric. I have enjoyed it quite a bit.
Graveyard Keeper - I am downloading it now. Last time I played was for like an hour a couple years back. Maybe it will be fun.

 

[Kabas]

Finally completed the first dungeon in Wizards & Warriors, aka the Crypt.
I really should have followed the advice to not overthink the party creation too much. In the end i only ended up wasting my own time before finally settling on the same party composition i wanted to go with at first.

Got my Gourk promoted to Barbarian. That Fury trait already shows it's effects. Heard that you can keep your traits and skills if you undergo a class promotion again so maybe i will turn him into a samurai later.
Still can't decide if i want my obligatory human fighter to become a paladin or samurai. He qualifies for both but i don't have enough money for promotion for now.
Wasn't lucky with my Oomphaz level-up rolls, still 6 attribute points short of qualifying for Monk promotion. And the brotherhood of promise doesn't provide it's members with the agility training. Mind leech, a spell that allows to read the mind of the NPCs, dissapoints me greatly so far.
Really glad i didn't went with my two wizards idea, guild services are already expensive as it is and the warlock promotion costs 1000 of gold. Hope i am going to encounter some spider eggs soon because i really want an access to identify. Thanks to my high int stat on my wizard and the fact that i can buy relevant skills and spells(or so it appears) at the guild makes me confident that i will have enough for Sun, Stone and the Fiend magic i am planning to specialise him in.

The dialogues with NPCs are always very informative. This fella also told me that the thief's guild is in the next town, no biggie as I am in no rush to turn my ratling into a bard yet. He will be my main moon magic caster.
Dual specialising my tigress into both swords and bows, will turn her into a ranger simply for the sake of gaining an access to some status effect removing spells in the form of vine magic. Repel and lure also sound like useful spells.

Really like the guilds or more accurately the idea behind them. Services, Shops, Quests, Skill/Attribute training and class promotions all in one convinient place.
Only thing i am meh about are the quest themselves. The very first Wizard Guild quest sent me back into the crypt because me already talking to a necromancer poopman doesn't count until i took the quest apparently.
My quests are currently leading me towards the nymph lake, into the toad village.

 

[NecroLord]

Currently replaying Shadows of Amn. I just killed Firkraag, one second after the fight had begun, by lopping off his head with the Vorpal Blade.

Isn't he supposed to be immune to Death effects? What version are you playing? I remember I also pulled that off in vanilla, but it doesn't happen with Fixpack installed.

 

[Be Kind Rewind]

Struggling to finish Serious Sam 2, it's rightfully the black sheep of the series, at least it was until Serious Sam 4 came around. It's easy to minimize the damage consoles did to shooters when they started to get popular on the format and many series switched to consoles as a primary platform, but actually playing the games developed during that period is painful. The game recently got a PC version update and since I got it during a sale with all the other titles I figured I might as well play it. There are moments where it shines and it actually feels like playing a Serious Sam game, but then there are times when you just spawn camp a few enemies in small spaces since and you never get the hordes proper, it's always more of a steady stream at most due to the hardware limitations.

The only thing keeping me going is the charming but also retarded sense of humor of the developers, the level and enemy variety and the still competent foundational core components. Scope and scale was what set it apart from games like Painkiller previously and this feels much more like playing a goofier version of Painkiller now that they are gone.

Thinking about playing Might & Magic VI after I'm done with it, I found the post-Sheltem games less compelling than the original series at the time what with the free movement and change in style and direction, but I figure they will be better than just about any recent RPG no matter how poorly or well they hold up.

 

[Erebus]

Currently replaying Shadows of Amn. I just killed Firkraag, one second after the fight had begun, by lopping off his head with the Vorpal Blade.

Isn't he supposed to be immune to Death effects? What version are you playing? I remember I also pulled that off in vanilla, but it doesn't happen with Fixpack installed.

I'm playing BG2:EE, with no mods or anything.

Back when I played the original version, I remember being able to kill Firkraag with Finger of Death (after making him more vulnerable with Lower Resistance + Greater Malison).

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Dragons are vulnerable to Blindness. It's a level 1 spell. Breach + Blindness means dragons will most likely just stand there.

 

[NecroLord]

Playing Jedi Academy.
Game is so much fun. A lot more variety in missions compared to Jedi Outcast, which was mostly Imperial bases (not that that's a bad thing, but it tends to get old). You even get to visit places like Tatooine and Hoth and there is even an entire mission which takes place on a high speed tram. More linear in terms of level design. Lightsaber combat is phenomenal, a lot more fluid and polished than in Dark Forces 2 and Jedi Outcast.
Yeah, great game.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

My quests are currently leading me towards the nymph lake, into the toad village.

Waaaay later, after you reach the third town, there is an underwater dungeon. MAKE A BACKUP SAVE BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS. There is a door that can get stuck from opening and you will not be able to finish the game.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Playing Jedi Academy.
Game is so much fun. A lot more variety in missions compared to Jedi Outcast, which was mostly Imperial bases (not that that's a bad thing, but it tends to get old). You even get to visit places like Tatooine and Hoth and there is even an entire mission which takes place on a high speed tram. More linear in terms of level design. Lightsaber combat is phenomenal, a lot more fluid and polished than in Dark Forces 2 and Jedi Outcast.
Yeah, great game.

And it has really fun multiplayer! Long gone the days that games having both good single player campaign and multiplayer mods...

 

[NecroLord]

Playing Jedi Academy.
Game is so much fun. A lot more variety in missions compared to Jedi Outcast, which was mostly Imperial bases (not that that's a bad thing, but it tends to get old). You even get to visit places like Tatooine and Hoth and there is even an entire mission which takes place on a high speed tram. More linear in terms of level design. Lightsaber combat is phenomenal, a lot more fluid and polished than in Dark Forces 2 and Jedi Outcast.
Yeah, great game.

And it has really fun multiplayer! Long gone the days that games having both good single player campaign and multiplayer mods...

Yeah.
Movie Battles Mod is just one of the many great mods for this game.
Ultimate Weapons (which I currently use) is another one.

 

[Paladino]

Playing Jedi Academy.
Game is so much fun. A lot more variety in missions compared to Jedi Outcast, which was mostly Imperial bases (not that that's a bad thing, but it tends to get old). You even get to visit places like Tatooine and Hoth and there is even an entire mission which takes place on a high speed tram. More linear in terms of level design. Lightsaber combat is phenomenal, a lot more fluid and polished than in Dark Forces 2 and Jedi Outcast.
Yeah, great game.

By far the best of the series. The level variety, gameplay improvements and the ability to customize your character far outshine any alleged drawbacks when compared to Jedi Outcast.

Although to be fair it's also the only game in the series where the improvements were comparatively minor. All the others made a big jump compared to the previous entry.

 

[NecroLord]

Playing Jedi Academy.
Game is so much fun. A lot more variety in missions compared to Jedi Outcast, which was mostly Imperial bases (not that that's a bad thing, but it tends to get old). You even get to visit places like Tatooine and Hoth and there is even an entire mission which takes place on a high speed tram. More linear in terms of level design. Lightsaber combat is phenomenal, a lot more fluid and polished than in Dark Forces 2 and Jedi Outcast.
Yeah, great game.

By far the best of the series. The level variety, gameplay improvements and the ability to customize your character far outshine any alleged drawbacks when compared to Jedi Outcast.

Although to be fair it's also the only game in the series where the improvements were comparatively minor. All the others made a big jump compared to the previous entry.

Yes, it further improved on the greatness left by Jedi Outcast.
Man, what a series. All games (including the opener shooter Dark Forces) are awesome. LucasArts was killing it back in the day. Now they are begging for viewership on their shitty Disney+ channel and have alienated their fanbase to a great extent.

 

[Caim]

What are the best Force powers in Jedi Academy? Heal is good no matter your build, Absorb is all but mandatory against the Force-heavy enemies you fight later in the game, Lightning can clear a room really quickly, Grip is useful against non-Force users but gets less useful the more Force users you fight, but it's been a while since I last played so I don't really remember what the fifth useful power was.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Grip is useful against non-Force users but gets less useful the more Force users you fight

Nonsense, Grip is the kill-all button that works against everything except jetpack/hazmat troopers. You just have to swipe the mouse over an enemy and then quickly tap F6 to grip and release, sending the poor sod into his death at MACH3. It's downright mandatory against all those late-game dark jedi that spam force IDDQD, and not only against those.

Also this thread has gone into some bizarro timeline where Jedi Academy is an improvement over Outcast because apparently it doesn't feature the terribly hp bloated goons that aren't regular stormtroopers, terribly hp bloated dark jedi with force IDDQD and terribly hp bloated jetpack troopers, and probably a whole lot other shit that I can't remember at this time. It's still a good game but at times it's just completely stupid.

 

[Eirinjas]

I've been playing the Quake II re-release. It is so good! They improved the visuals, sound, AI, multiplayer, expanded some maps and added small details, includes the pc expansions, a version of Quake II for the N64, and a brand new expansion. It is a fucking blast!

 

[goregasm]

Days Gone, Battle Brothers, Xenonaughts 2, UnderRail, Vagrus, giving Darklands a proper playthrough and some autistic modpack for Skyrim called Wildlander are what's in the rotation right now. Battle Brothers hasn't left the rotation since it launched though.

 

[NecroLord]

What are the best Force powers in Jedi Academy? Heal is good no matter your build, Absorb is all but mandatory against the Force-heavy enemies you fight later in the game, Lightning can clear a room really quickly, Grip is useful against non-Force users but gets less useful the more Force users you fight, but it's been a while since I last played so I don't really remember what the fifth useful power was.

Alright, so...
Heal is pretty much mandatory if you play on Jedi Knight or Jedi Master difficulty. You will take damage and can't always rely on finding medpacks.
Force Protect is really good, you will also want this. 75 percent damage reduction? Sign me up.
Absorb can be useful to replenish your own force meter and can protect you from enemy force powers, mostly Grip and Lightning. Take this if you want to, I rather like it, but you can survive without it.
Mind Trick is a mixed bag. You will face many enemies who are immune to it later in the game. Not really recommended.
Dark Rage is phenomenal. 90 damage reduction, you do more damage and cannot die from damage while this force power is in effect? Oh, yeah... Also pretty cool effect on your player model while it is active.
Lightning is another great force power. Will obliterate all normal enemies in your path who carry weapons. Those carrying lightsabers take reduced damage from it, but can be stunned from it. Not technically stunned, but they can't act effectively while they get zapped. Combine Lightning with Force Push (press it immediately after ending Lightning) to send them flying. I like Force Lightning a lot.
Grip is good against normal enemies, not so much against Force users. You can send them falling to their deaths, but I find it's rather cheap and doesn't always work.
Drain is only useful if you have many enemies in front of you and can be used if you are close to an enemy by holding him and draining him. You will want this if you don't plan on taking Force Heal.

Hope this helps.

 

[Paladino]

Yes, it further improved on the greatness left by Jedi Outcast.
Man, what a series. All games (including the opener shooter Dark Forces) are awesome. LucasArts was killing it back in the day. Now they are begging for viewership on their shitty Disney+ channel and have alienated their fanbase to a great extent.

Outcast and Academy were made by Raven Software, not LucasArts. But you're right, they were killing it, even during their licensing period in the early 2000s.

The first thing Disney did when they bought Lucasfilm was shut down LucasArts. The first of their on-going huge list of stupid decisions.