melkathi

They don't adapt. That never worked. And it never could. Adapting meant the enemies had to figure out what tech works best against the player. But with body parts taking damage and getting disabled, everything works well against the player if the AI gets to use it. So players are forced to take out enemies as soon as they see them - or at least their weapons. I see a crabman, I shoot out his arm, especially if that arm was a grenade launcher - grenade launchers don't work against me as they never get to fire. If they did fire, they could wipe my squad on turn 1. So the only thing that the AI saw that worked was increased armour. As a result, all it smart-evolved into was bullet sponges, while randomly swapping load outs in and out. Also, it made for boring fights, as the AI was "testing" the new evolutions and scrapping the old ones and would then swarm you with just one unit type. You'd attack the nest/lair it spawned from - do a dungeon map with just that unit and wipe it's spawners. Then the AI would rush you with the next evolution. With the latest update they scrapped the myth of "evolution". The Pandorans now simply have a tech tree and conduct their own research.

Let it be stated for the record that I tried to give Phoenix Point yet another chance. That I acknowledge that they removed the dumbest most brain dead terrible tutorial in gaming history and replaced it with a decent narrative tutorial that doesn't force you to make stupid moves a la XCOM to get half your squad killed. But: I got out of the tutorial missions and opened up my roster to spend skill points. Each soldier has a list of class skills and three random skills you may buy to give them a unique personality. The first soldier the game gave me, your standard assault rifle grunt got: Reckless: -accuracy + damage, Cautious: +accuracy, - damage, and weapon proficiency with assault rifles. The second soldier, again the standard grunt with assault rifle got: Extra 'nade range (nice), Extra perception, and weapon proficiency with assault rifles... My heavy got: Weapon proficiency with heavy weapons, extra melee damage, weapon proficiency with handguns and shotguns. My sniper (sniper rifles and hand guns) Guess what... Out of 5 soldiers only 1 didn't get the option to spend points to train a skill to become proficient in the weapon they are proficient in. OK, it's not that bad, those skills give a buff to those weapons, so if those stack, you may actually want them on those soldiers. Seriously though, how hard is it for devs to flag skills/traits/whatever as opposite and not give a soldier both reckless and cautious? Same with the Necromunda devs. Is it so much to ask for a modicum of competence in this industry? I don't want to change much in gaming. I just want devs and publishers to be forced to play their own games. Also, to read a dictionary. edit: P.S. /end rant

I'll never be a pro I even use soap

I just came here to post that. I knew I shouldn't have wasted time shaving...

A game the goal of which is to take screenshots? Count me in.

@Keyrock since you are our Wuxia expert, let me know what Amazing Cultivation Simulator is like once you get around to play it?

I finished 1 twice... + expansion. God what did I do with my youth 😛

I never finished sacred 2. It was huge

Haha! Made it! Past to the left of me, future to the right. Here I am, stuck in the present with an orange frog wearing a top hat.

I was trying to upload pictures before Keyrock has time to do so, but imgur is down for maintenance.

Pfft. 3 minutes. In Backer Build...4? I had a 45 minute load time.

Nah, we're good. Traded it so many times, it will be fun to watch all the debtors trying to figure out who's soul it actually is.

From all of DA2 that was what you chose? Broken record me: FO:NV Caesar as a character and every npc who tries to make the Legion out as not simply evil. But it isn't just gaming. Movies/TV/Streaming/Comics have been bombarding people with crap narrative for a long time. Why is the bad guy the bad guy and hates the good guy? Step brother neglected by their father. Why does this admiral, while otherwise an amazing person (because nobody in the military can't be anything but a hero), have such hatred for that other character? Jilted lover. In gaming it just stands out more because you have the illusion of agency that gets dispelled.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall has actually become a lot better with the latest update(s). AI is more aggressive, meaning they will actually attack when declaring war. Building a galactic empire by playing skirmish games is what I had always wanted from this game. Every new game you get a choice of randomly generated planets to expand to, with some faction side quests for extra renown. I'm on my second planet. It was in the path of the Voidbringer invasion, so we are now fighting those. Sadly one of my allies decided to side with them, which made for a strange war, as our empires had a long border due to the war with the other alliance. Guess the game had to balance it, so made the strongest AI join the opposition.

It is the first part. It picks up though farther in the story than your first encounter with the Dismal Mal, so that I guess can be confusing to players who haven't followed development. You can't not go insane. The game was written with the notion that "it's lovecraftian, if you want a sane character play something else". Schizophrenia isn't the worst that can happen. Some bad "choices" are unavoidable. But the premise is that your character has spend a year in that situation already so they are pretty desperate and will be willing to take those risks.

I am always shocked when people above a certain age haven't seen that show. It was epic. Though the Australian Netflix reimagining isn't bad either.

Because of Cyberpunk 2077?

Just realized there is a difference between this and the weird and random thread.

Found this in spam from two days ago: Dear Backer, Good news! Phoenix Point: Year One Edition is coming to Steam and other PC and Mac platforms a week earlier than planned, on December 3, 2020. Why the move? There’s no reason to be coy about it — we moved to avoid the juggernaut that is Cyberpunk 2077.

Decided to check how I am doing weight wise. Got on a scale. Was shocked I had put on so much weight. Took off my backpack. Fastest, best diet ever. All that excess weight gone in 1 second.

So they didn't add the first game's Mako resource gathering and the elevator rides to the other two games? Missed opportunity to create a truly legendary edition.

I have been eyeing Phantom Doctrine which is 80% off on steam.

I am writing an action plan on how I plan to shave within the next 2 days. Have to put business school to good use after all.

Important news: I am now in lockdown. I may be sitting all day in front of this PC. You have been warned. Beware.