Keyrock

Yeah, I don't put any stock whatsoever into what Derek Smart says, because that guy obviously has some kind of personal vendetta against Roberts, but it seems like Star Citizen is trying to be Everything: The Video Game, and that just seems like a fairy tale to me. More power to them if they can pull it off, though.

The way the crowdfunding was set up (and continues to be) really rubbed me the wrong way and set off warning sirens in my head, so I never wound up giving Roberts any money even though I LOVE space sims. I really hope this does eventually materialize and lives up to its potential, but yeah, this reeks of vaporware. Star Citizen may be an actual game that people can play one day, but I'll be shocked if it comes anywhere near what it has been touted to be.

Man, this game is so freakin' beautiful. You can have the highest polygon count in the world and insanely high resolution textures and near photo realistic graphics, and none of that holds a candle to a really good hand drawn aesthetic. Jotun ranks right up there with Child of Light for most beautiful game in recent memory for me. The screenshots don't even do it justice, the animations on Thora when she moves around are superb. Edit: I'll add Broken Age to that list too. As disappointing as that game was overall (particularly the second half, which was a mess), it had a really great aesthetic.

Another advantage of a spider-like design; the entire vehicle doesn't need to turn to change direction. An eight-legged (six-legged would likely work too) vehicle can strafe quite well. Really, it can move in almost any direction just as well. Make the torso roughly circular and divide it just above where the legs connect to it and make it so that it can rotate 360°, then when the spider tank needs to change direction it can just immediately start moving in that direction, just as fast as any other direction, and the torso, with the c0ckpit and whatever weapons mounted on it, rotates to face whatever direction you are now moving and that becomes the new forward. The vehicle effectively has no front, no back, no sides; front is whatever way you want it to be. Also, like with today's tanks, you can move in one direction while facing a different direction, firing at an enemy while moving laterally or away from it, or whatever angle. Edit: The downside to this design is that the area where the torso is divided in half so that it can rotate would obviously be a structural weak point. It's not perfect. Maybe some kind of stationary armored plate, like a lip, could be mounted to the lower part of the torso to overlap the division for protection.

I'm no propulsion or mechanical expert, but I still think a spider-like mech makes the most sense. It's a very stable platform, its legs are spread out far enough that it can simply step over many obstacles, it can easily lower and lift its torso, allowing for easy loading and unloading and even potentially dodging of fire, and it can remain upright and continue moving (albeit with reduced stability) even after losing a leg or two. It's obviously not the ideal solution for all situations, a wheeled or tracked vehicle may be better in certain situations, but overall a spider tank design seems to me the best compromise between stability, maneuverability, speed, and ability to overcome obstacles.

The boss battles in Jotun are really hard. The first boss was kinda hard, but not too crazy, but both the bosses I've encountered since then have whooped my ass. I haven't been able to beat either of them. I always get close to killing them, but the battle gets exponentially more difficult the closer to death they are. I need to explore some of the other levels and get stronger before trying those boss fights again.

I scooped up a Humble Bundle which netted me a couple games (Steam keys) to give away: Sir, You Are Being Hunted Planetary Annihilation (the original, not TITANS) Also, still available from before: Serious Sam 3 BFG (gift through Steam or email)As per usual, PM me if you want one of these games, first come first serve.

For the record, I did the following: And I struggled with the first two, the third decision was easy. Edit: I split up the spoilers into two, the first spoiler is stuff TrueNeutral has played through already, the second is something he likely hasn't played through yet.

This is very likely going to be Harebrained Schemes' most successful Kickstarter campaign, and rightly so, Battletech is awesome and the company has delivered every time out so far (my knowledge of Golem Arcana is only from hearsay, admittedly). I'll be surprised if this doesn't break 2.5 million.

What a brutal loss for the Yinzers.

I finished SOMA. Good game, not as scary as some of Frictional's previous work, but significantly better in terms of storytelling.

Atlas, Thunderbolt, Catapult, and Vindicator are confirmed for the game, as long as those are in, I can work with that.

They just put several classic id FPSs on GOG, including Return to Castle Wolfenstein. That game was so ****ing good.

So far I'm just in at the $25 minimum to get the game tier. I can always change my mind later and adjust (or cancel) my pledge. I'm not usually keen on physical rewards, but dat jacket tho. Still, I can't justify dropping $275 on a game, so I better just put it out of my mind. ... Dat jacket tho.

I started playing Jotun. It's billed as an action-exploration game set in Norse mythology. The game looks amazing, everything is hand drawn and the music is awesome. It's mostly exploring outside of boss fights with giants. I mean, there are enemies to fight outside of boss fights and dangers to avoid, but nothing too taxing, at least not yet. The boss fights, though, can get pretty rough.

Jotun

Dat flight jacket tho.

/throws money at computer monitor The rate at which this started, Stage 2 should get reached easily, maybe even within the first 24 hours. Stage 3 is a real possibility. Stage 4... who knows?

As with any argument between large groups, there are always going to be unstable people on both sides who take things too far, that's true of any such argument. What's more, when you get an argument like this, particularly when it has gained a measure of fame, there will always be those people that have no real attachment to either side, they're simply there to instigate, to fan the flames, because...

I'm pretty sure Meshugger was using "war" in a pretty loose and figurative way. No one here has suggested it's okay to shoot anyone, burn a person's house down, or issue death threats. We are all against real harassment here and no one wants to see anyone come to any physical harm, regardless of how much we may disagree with or dislike certain people. You might want to cut back on the sauce and dial the accusatory tone down a bit. Relax.

Wait, what? Did you forget to take your meds this morning?

I just arrived at in SOMA, I don't suppose this are might be monstro-free? Fat chance. I'm not sure how much game is left, but it feels like I'm past the halfway point, at least.