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I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question: Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? "No!" says the quest marker, it belongs to the impatient. "No!" says the in-game GPS, it belongs to the blind. "No!" says the witcher sense, it belongs to the stupid. I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Gothic. The Gothic Remake Shows What's Wrong With Modern Games

Celebrating my 50th birthday. 👴🏼

I have finished GreedFall: The Dying World. In general, the game has charm and I am happy with the time spent, but there are technical issues and minor bugs. In terms of combat, the tactical approach did not change much - the tank CC's, everyone else hits. The tank companion was able to restore both his armour and health, so could effectively hold the line indefinitely (or until the damage received was higher than the AP generation). The only issue was the range of the Taunt ability when there were many foes. The final boss died surprisingly quickly on the first attempt, being able to perform only a single attack each time between getting stunned. On the continent, there were much fewer giant "guardian" bosses, but the ones present were unique in combat design and appearance. When compared to GF1, where there were very few types but at least one boss per location (as everyone and their grandpa were turning into the tree zombies), the difference is noticeable. I strongly suspect that a deeper understanding of the systems would be required on the higher difficulties, as there are a lot of active and passive abilities, their synergies, and craftable consumables. I was looting a lot, but did not have the need to use resources, so I shouldn't have combed the locations - it was a significant time sink and interesting or unique items were only in chests and only in ~5-10% of them. On an amusing note, some armour descriptions were easter eggs - there was a jacket of Those Who Come After (Expedition 33), an armour of the Sands of Time (Prince of Persia), and some heavy cuirass referencing a Balor and a bridge (the Lord of the Rings, I believe). I like the equipment design quite a lot, though the colour schemes being bound to the equipment tiers was somewhat unpleasant (granted, only the tank really needed the armour). In terms of story, it was quite compelling overall. The PC is unavoidably mostly Neutral Good and can automatically do dumb ****. It is noticeable in the main quest, but there are more options in the side quests. The antagonist appeared in person fairly late, though the impact of the actions was felt throughout the game. I'd say that it is welcome, as talking BBEGs annoy me immensely. Unfortunately, the PC is also unavoidably a druid story-wise, even if they wear heavy armour and wield a rifle. As for the continuity, the quest outcomes tracked correctly (e.g. the Knight appears if survives), even if sometimes unpleasantly (I said a wrong thing to a random guy in the main quest, so he did not cooperate and died suddenly in a side quest, so I messed up a faction quest line). There are smaller inconsistencies, such as a companion firstly being told that the PC's father died, then 15 minutes later in an environmental auto-dialogue asking about what happened to the PC's father (as in whether he was alive). At some point, a companion can do an unwise action and die. I was able to ask the companion kindly not to do it, so the party member was definitely not dead. When we revisited the location where the dialogue took place, the companion's corpse was lying prominently next to the path and the very same character was standing right next to me and being quite alive. A smaller thing is that I had found a turban with a full-face mask early and wore it throughout the playthrough. Every NPC still recognised me as an islander and, in one scene, I drank a potion without removing the headgear. Several times, I got kicked out from stealth for the enemies to start a dialogue, despite them normally being unable to look down and see me crouching 2 metres away. Also, in a side quest, we found a lizard dog, a lewolan, who had been brought to the continent and quite stressed due to being a territorial animal in an unfamiliar environment. So, naturally, the party liberated the scaly doggo and stashed him in the cargohold next to the merchant. At no point there was an opportunity to release him back on the island, so he stayed there with the tail clipping through the wall behind. Overall, the side quests were satisfying and the number and variety were just right - no filler and the world did not feel empty. The companion quests provided an impressive range of activities, from the usual combat to stealth to puzzles, so I was quite happy with them. Also, somewhere from the mid-game, several capes with +2 to the talents became available, so they covered a lot of skill checks. I still needed some investment to get the Hard checks, but there were few enough of them. As for the other bugs, the game crashed a few times during cutscenes, I had only one corrupted save file and once the companions' bodies and hair failed to load, so I was talking to bald flying heads and hands. The more noticeable issues were the performance, the NPCs and textures loading late (so the props, such as brooms and sword were levitating), and the ship. When you travel between the main areas via the ship, you first get teleported to the ship, and only then to the chosen fast travel point. While the area loads (from an SSD), the game, including the sound, stutters and briefly freezes. It would have been better if the loading screen for this was just the ship sailing animation (either its concept art or something more fancy, like it moving on the world map), especially considering that the ship could be fast-travelled to at any time. One time (that I noticed), an optional merchant became unavailable (despite loudly advertising her services) and I missed a unique piece of armour. Regarding the DLC, I think it was released on 4 May, so Spiders themselves must have worked on it. From SteamDB, there have not been any file updates since. I suppose, unless the developers somehow reorganise and regain their IP, there might be no further support.

Greedfall: The Dying World The misadventures on the continent. I have discovered that there are timed quests by failing a side quest. No spoiler tags as it is fairly inconsequential. On the Olima markets, there was a noble berating her servant. The servant lost the noble's necklace. I quickly found it and tried several dialogue options to return it to the servant. The thing was that one of the companions was disapproving, so I decided to swap the party and return later. I got sidetracked and, when I finally got back, the noble and the servant were nowhere to be found and the quest promptly failed. There was nothing in the journal to indicate that it was a timed quest, however, the noble had mentioned going to a ball. So, while it is more immersive than the NPCs waiting for me for a few in-game months, the lack of clear time limits is unpleasant. The stealth system, on the other hand, is funny. There are several notable things. When you stealth-kill a hostile NPC and save/load, sometimes the remaining hostiles spawn at different positions, including the newly freed one. Another one is that you technically can approach from the front (~45 degrees) and, when you stealth-kill the opponent, they turn their back to you. And another one is that even with 1 point in the Stealth skill, the hostiles cannot notice you farther than a few metres away in the ~45-60 view cone in front of them. The companions, conveniently, are completely invisible. There are some continuity bugs, such as a quest NPC spawning after the related quest was completed or companions referring to the non-chosen options. It does not happen too often, but it is noticeable. When the quest resolutions are tracked correctly, it feels good, though. Other than that, I've spent most of the time trying to comb the areas for loot. I do not know whether I will ever need all those crafting ingredients or low level equipment, but if it is there, I must collect it (i.e. the game might be balanced in a way that considers the player looting everything in sight and if I do not, I will be at a disadvantage later). It is a fairly meditative experience. I am also certain that the playtime would have been halved (thirded?) if I did not do it. I think there are difficulty options, but I'd like to stick to the default one. On the other hand, it makes the story progress much slower than it could have been. There is also a new "feature" - you cannot take more than one companion quest simultaneously (the PC auto-refuses) and the companion remains in the active party until it is completed. I probably could just grab 3 people and do their quests in parallel, but I kind of understand the reasoning behind limiting it to 1.

Just began playing Black Geyser: Courier of Darkness. Definitely very old-school, which I like very much. Poor graphics and character models are obviously a weak point of the game, which may turn off some contemporary gamers. But for me, I can live with it in exchange for all the positives of an old-school cRPG. Just finished the tutorial first chapter and am now in the second chapter. More details to follow as I progress. Any thoughts from those of you who've already finished the game?

Subnautica 2 too. Having fun so far. As @Hurlshort mentioned, there is nothing wildly different about it. Also having fun with HoMaM Olden Era. The nostalgia is of the charts on this one and so far it's not losing steam.

You're gonna need a bigger pants.

I'm pretty sure that's a vanilla game issue. You can also keep summoned or "natural" weapons with the help of Spiritshift/Form of the Fearsome Brute, Draining Touch and Minor Blights*. So something with the implementations of "switching forms" and "switching weapons" along the way is not 100% watertight. * for example cast Minor Blights, then shift into an Ogre, then the right Ogre Fists weapon gets replaced by a minor blight - bc. they rotate elemental types and this will summon a new form of blight weapon every time, even when you are shifted and cannot cast, then when the fight ends before the Minor Blights and Fearsome Brute spell runs out you will transform back into your normal form - with an Ogre Fist in your weapon slot which you can use like any other weapon (it's auto scaling). They are actually pretty good because they always interrupt on crit. And they make a funny boink sound when striking with them. Same can be done with spiritshift weapons or the one handed Great Sword of Citzal (PL9 wizard spell). That's all without any mods.

I had to post this, cutest war cat video ever 😺

For what it's worth, Frogwares managed to get the rights to their title back from Nacon, so I hope that Spiders will recover, unlikely may it be. Eurogamer.netFrogwares now sole publisher of The Sinking City followin...Ukrainian studio Frogwares is now the sole publisher of Lovecraft-inspired detective adventure The Sinking City.

Went to see Project Hail Mary in a theater in San Fran. Then drove back. Had dinner some random diner on the way back. Quite a drive for a movie, but got me out and I feel a tad better. Hubby's currently unable/unwilling to do anything like that still (back) so I'm going to have to learn to do some activities alone. Which sucks imo. When is that surgeon going to call us.

The Outer Worlds 2 is conspicuously absent from Xbox's roadmap despite supposedly having two DLCs planned.

I really hate that babyface. Not sure exactly what it is - maybe the lips? Something about it just looks so weird to me. It's probably supposed to look cute, but it just seems creepy to me.

I think I'm in the end game of the Chaos Gate Demon Hunters. Was able to kill the first of the five bosses in one turn. Kind of rushing through the game, as in I'm not bothering with getting to upgrade everything. Maybe it's because of that, but so far I have not experienced that the lack of enemy variety is bothering me.

yesss!

Maybe combat will be less exhausting than RT is sometimes

The protagonist's expression is as stupid as the writing in Expeditions: Rome...

Well... I hope story is good cause gameplay looks very mid. That has been my main reservation with C:R since the announcement - Remedy's gameplay tends to not be their strongest suit, and third person action gameplay is very rarely done well. Add to that RPG system, and the result could be really unsatisfying, unengaging smashy thing. That boss battle looked really dull - couple smacks in the face, chase it to the other side of the room while dodging some slow projectiles, smash again, chase it again etc. Reviews will definitely dictate how much I will be paying for this one.

Stuff that caught my attention from SGF (in addition to Alien Iso2 above): Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is being developed by Platinum games. Their track record with the IP isn't great, but hopefully they will redeem themselves. I hear ninja Gaiden4 was alright My ex-Naughty Dogs. It will probably not be my thing, but I still found it quite compelling as a watch: Virtua Fighter6 finally got reveal, mostly focused on stuff previous entries didn't have - singleplayer story mode. I will be more curious what the veterans will think of gameplay once we know more of how the game plays. SF6 story mode helped me to get into SF, hopefully this will do the same for VI. Tried VI5 but to me being stuck in training mode and trying to figure things out the hard way just doesn't work. Eh, I hope it is good: SF6 roster reveal is bizzare. 3 newcomers (including story mode wet blanket of an NPC made playable character) plus Tifa. It could be very good - SF6 could use some more newcomers, but it is difficult to be hyped about characters you know nothing about. Also Allegedly no more new story content and it seems no new stages. Capcom is either brewing something big, or seeing how little they can invest in SF6 and still rake the same amount of money. And speaking of Tifa: Day one on PC this time around. Meh, I am mixed on this trilogy - the meta "uuuu we change the narrative" is very frustrating to me and it being the finale could be make or break story wise.

I remember losing weapons to form of helpless beast, maybe it's just the game rather than the mod

Maybe that's because the kitty is the guy's summoned familiar! 😸

Hold up, are you saying you didnt buy any of his NFTs?

I raised an eyebrow when I noticed Australia was part of Asia, where as New Zealand was part of Oceania. Aren't they part of the same regional football organisation (like UEFA for European countries)? Normally I would feel a bit sad, that Denmark isn't in the line up, but this time probably feeling a bit of relief. It saves people having to think about boycotting it or not

I decided to try to finish some of the almost finish games sitting on my drive. First one to go: Outer Wilds - got as far as to figuring out final solution, but with DLCs announced I stopped short of finishing the game. Time passed, bought the DLC, but didn't play it. Time to remedy it. The DLC (Echoes of the Eye) is a neat addition to the game, though I found it harder to crack then the base game. It also, however, make you think "is Outer Wilds a bad puzzle game, actually?". Something I noticed in EotE is that a lot of it is less about puzzle solving and more about wondering around, until you find pretty explicit information on what to do next. It's a bit as if game had a walkthrough in itself. I think I notices less of it the base game, as open universe feels more organic to begin with, both in terms of obstacles put in front of you, as well as how the hints are presented. EotE feels overall more contrived, so most solutions could at best be accidentally stumbled upon (hidden doors and invisible bridges, that sort of thing), and hints feel more contrived this time around. Still, some puzzles that require logical thinking are to be found, an atmosphere of Outer Wilds is special. Good game.

Yes, this I agree with you. I also don't care for DnD mechanics, for me because I find that it relies too much on random chance and does not give the player's character creation and advancement choices the centrality they deserve in how characters function. And also interestingly, my favorite DnD character has always been the dual-wielding fighter/rogue multiclass. 😀 Solasta is okay. I played and then replayed it once, and got my money's worth from it (including the expansion). But I doubt I'll want to replay it again. Hopefully, Solasta II will be significantly improved, especially in its character development and roleplaying aspects.

Oh I absolutely agree on the financial aspect, and it'll be interesting how much of the success will carry over to their future projects. I just don't find D&D, particularly in 5E guise, very compelling. This is especially true for my preferred RP class of rogue, which I now find distinctly unfun. Coincidentally I'm currently playing the final Palace of Ice expansion for Solasta. It's ...alright, though as I near the level cap the delicate balance that used to exist has finally broken. Just a standard feature of high level D&D I suppose, even with the attunement limit actually implemented.

Yeah the foundations to build upon are there, hope they do (only finished a couple contracts so far). Also made me want to replay Dishonored 2 (last time was six, seven years ago IIRC). On a slightly related note, last week also saw the release of Sir Kicksalot. Sir WHO you ask? The Adventures Of Sir Kicksalot - Trailer Puzzling how Dark Messiah's madness has never caught on. But then most devs seem again more obsessed with visual fidelity (everything must look cinema-perfect!) rather than physics and the madness that inevitably ensues. :D

Fished Act 1 of Olden Era and that seems to be all there is for EA. Maybe I'll try a scenario map while I wait for more.

Clearly you have no taste. This is IP usage is solid gold: Also all the Led Zeppelin music.

Byrne at 74 - still amazing. And ok, Colbert dancing in the outfit was cute.

I removed Greedfall 2 from my Steam wishlist after Spiders was shut down by Nacon.

Well, this is an excellent opportunity to test how long Steam can go offline. I did not expect the developers to actually mean it, but free stuff of the free-stuff-appropriate quality is welcome. I've finished the first 2 areas as of now. The game looks and runs worse than the original, has some odd QoL gaps (the over-the-shoulder camera and the interactive items highlight*), and the companion AI is not helpful, but everything else is fine (the controls are rebindable, the saving is actually good, the story and combat are there). The 30GB of the "highres" bloat can be removed only after downloading, like it was with Steelrising, but at least it is 1 file and can be binned without breaking things. It is disappointing to see what the publisher reduced the studio to. *the last time I had to continuously hold a key to move the camera was with NWN2. Regarding the highlights, it is hard to see anything without it on due to the excessive amount of visual noise and the upscaling (still present even if the Disabled option is chosen). Like, it's the basics of visual design - the player needs to see things, and they still failed it. But the volumetric fog and ray-tracing are in and the performance (on Steam Deck) is poor (<30FPS).

I really liked how turn-based mode was improved in POE1 compared to Deadfire, so I made a mod that replicates all the main changes in Deadfire. Big thanks to the devs who made the TBM patch for POE1 - I wanted to make this mod for years but couldn't have figured out how to properly do it. 🙂 Main features: Characters no longer take one turn per round, instead they take turns as often as initiative allows. Rounds are fully redesigned - 1 round is fixed interval of 6.0 initiative, all status effects adjusted to take it into account. Same balance changes that were made for POE1 (increased lethality, adjusted gun reload speed, etc) - everything is configurable and can be adjusted if you don't like it. 0 influence on RTwP mode or other mods, should be compatible with anything and easily removable in case you don't like it/have any issues. Nexus link: https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/854

Finished Mixtape. Pretty good experience. Though it's less a game and more some sort of interactive story, I guess. The visuals are very nice. They kinda copied Life is Strange but made it feel like its own thing, which is great. Makes me feel nostalgic for a time that I never even experienced. It's like those 90s inspired artworks where if you have lived through the 90s, you recognize all the details, but it just wasn't like that if you get what I mean. Anyways. pretty good. Would like to have more. Best part: No super powers. Holy ****. Is that even possible? A teenage drama game without special super human abilities? Yes, yes it is. The characters are remembering things from the past, and because of that, everything is kinda dream-like and open for interpretation. IMO it's well done. Really hope there will be some more in the future.

Yes, this all looks fundamentally correct Governments that own US bonds cant sell them until maturity but they can sell them on secondary markets which some countries have been doing which he mentions Just something interesting, governments like Japan and China only own 20% of the total $39 trillion US debt The rest of the US debt is called domestic debt and is owned by domestic holders and investors in the US. The Federal Reserve for example is the largest single debt holder of this domestic debt with $4.6 trillion Here is a good link that summarize this debt breakdown Peterson FoundationThe Federal Government Has Borrowed Trillions. Who Owns A...Most federal debt is owed to domestic holders, but foreign ownership is much higher now than it was about 50 years ago.For me its not foreign governments selling US bonds that could really crash the US economy because it wont have enough impact even if all countries did it at the same time. It would hurt the US but not crash it But if the overall US economy fails to grow and US companies are suddenly no longer profitable that will hurt the US much more because now domestic debt holders will mass sell bonds on secondary markets and because thats 80% of who owns the US debt that will have much worse economic consequence So if you see a real lack of belief and confidence because of real negative economic data that will become the real crisis But then the US survived the 2008 financial crisis despite being the creator of that global crisis so you can never predict when it comes to the future of the US economically I still think it always goes back to the fundamentals of the success of the thousands of US listed companies as the most effective way to understand investor confidence in the US and the sustainability of the US economically?

Look, bond markets explained using simple words even I can understand! @BruceVC just curious, is this how it actually works? Never mind his predictions may or may not be correct, just the mechanics of it

Finally back to Thronebreaker: Witcher Tales after two months long break from gaming. With the small exception of one short weekend adventure with Hero of the Kingdom. Still on the second map. Few of the puzzle fights have been really hard to crack. But I was having fun with gaming again. Hopefully, I will have at least hour or two more to spare this week to finish Aedir and move to another land.

more of my Clapton blues obsession Forty-Four by Howlin' Wolf [Verse 1] I wore my. 44 so long, I've made my shoulder sore I wore my. 44 so long, I done made my shoulder sore Well, I'm wonderin' everybody, where'd my baby go [Verse 2] Well, I'm so mad this mornin' I don't know where in the world to go Well, I'm so mad this mornin' I don't know where in the world to go Well, I'm lookin for me some money Pawned gun to have some gold

The internet is my library.

Just finished ASTLIBRA Revision(86h wihout DLC) and honestly, I'm loved it. Don't let the retro look fool you, this game is an absolute masterpiece. The 2D hack-and-slash combat feels incredibly fluid, the progression loop is super addictive, There's a ton of content. It was made by a solo dev over 14 years and you can literally feel the passion behind it. Seriously, if you love ARPG with plot twists and banger soundtracks, do yourself a favor and try it.

Just happened to me too in the "What are you Playing Now?" thread.

More like 400, maybe even 500 more hours, I've decided. I've reached the point where I don't always play every day, but there is always something to do, and previously "cleared" areas pop up with new stuff periodically, from MQ or other actions, as well. And I still haven't even come close to fully exploring the map or finishing all faction side quests etc. I did also make my "chapt 3 starter save." They've reached patch Version 1.07.00. Still haven't updated - sure there's a few (largely cosmetic) things I'd like but they're not important. I might be ready to try updating when they reach 1.20.00. Because they probably will in a few months. ;p And yes, still love/hate. Most of the time, I can focus on what I love. But sometimes -

The local film club selected Aftersun as its movie for the week. Do you want to know why? Because I'm the one that picked it, because it's one of my favorite movies of all time. Now you should watch it too. It's a movie that somehow encapsulates both the hazy insanity of my childhood and the darkest terrors of my adulthood, and maybe it will yours too.

Gas Station Price Sign Using Scientific Notation Coming soon to a pump near you

A couple of questions or feedback on Apotheosis that I've considered, now that I have had some time to dive deeper in this awesome application. I can't resize the list column widths. It would be very helpful as often there's a lot of x-space in the left columns that would be really beneficial to have on the "component side" on the right, especially when working with Conversations, which, by the way, is a level of refinement of a third party mod application I never ever would have expected. Also, if the column widths were adjustable, perhaps one can have the minimum x-size of the application smaller when multitasking with other windows, although this "requirement" is very seldom for me. - Its main window's space is including the drop shadow behind it. Is it possible to send the application's shadow to be handled by the OS? It would be preferrable to have it that way I think, for several reasons; one of them being able to click to select some other application's window behind Apotheosis. A very, very small nitpick, but since it's also UI-OS related I'll mention it anyway: I think the commonly seen Linux-oddity of rounded top borders but not bottom borders has sneaked its way into MS Windows. If it is a stylistic choice, I have no arguments against it. But if not, I thought I could mention it. I tried to get into Linux, a year or so ago, by installing Zorin. I tried my hardest but it was all above my software maintenance comprehension so eventually, unfortunately, I had to choose between going insane or to go back to Mac. And a final thing that crossed my mind is about the Game Data Query, which is very cool. I finally had some time to read through the instructions on how to use it correctly. Is it possible to query for component entries where for example "_ext" or "upper," et cetera, is a part somewhere in the name or reference or what one would call it? For example "_ext" would throw back results such as "district_town_exterior" or "ability_extended_time." - I was wondering, is it possible to export the entries in the query results as a list of some kind? Say the GUID's and / or the debug names. It could be very valuable if one is making a conditional script that must check against all the entries one caught through using the Query. Maybe Apotheosis could save the list of results one generated in some simple tab inside Game Data Query. Then one could reference that list in a conditional script, from ModScriptHook et cetera. And then Apotheosis just hands over to you a standard script with a ton of: IsRaining() and { IsInActiveScene(the_huge_list[0]) or IsInActiveScene(the_huge_list[1]) or IsInActiveScene(the_huge_list[2]) or IsAct... }But maybe it's very fringe stuff I'm touching here, maybe it's not worth the work needed to implement, I don't know. Anyway, again, tremendous application this! I'm making good progress with my mod right now and having fun tinkering with stuff!

Greedfall 2 has a free weekend on Steam

I'm no wizard at modding but from what I've seen that should a 100 % be possible and probably not that difficult either if you know what other spells are doing something similar and you check what makes them work. For example the Watcher's Blade has Deny the Wheel enchantment that spawns a Shadow when you kill a kith enemy with the weapon. I'd wager you can copy that enchantment's mechanism to your necromancer spells. Also, as it happens, I'm doing precisely some necromancy-inspired modding with Apotheosis right now. I'm making my own sidekick. As in: an actual sidekick - not just an exported adventurer. It has custom voice, chatter, conversation, unique subclass, item, "altered subrace," and so on. The necromancer subclass is not for any spellcaster class; it will be unique for my sidekick's, and it's tied to the character's backstory. My little project wouldn't have had a chance to begin with if it weren't for Apotheosis, among others; the tool is indispensable!

A few titles I was interested in are available on Fanatical for £2.25 - 3.00 each (I probably will repurchase them on GOG if they are good). https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-fantasy-worlds-bundle