What Are You Playing Now: The New Beginning Thread

[MedicineDan]

In all seriousness, apart from my lame joke, Tristan is my favorite character.  I guess I could continue the schtick and call him the best female character and Amiri my favorite male?  I don't mind the switcheroo with the stereotypes and whatnot.  It's probably a bit ham fisted, but it's cool.  ...And it's funny to see Amiri kvetch at Tristan for wearing his heart on his sleeve.  The one choice the devs did with Tristan that I disliked was that, at the end of his quest, I think the 'optimal' ending is for the PC to speak to antagonist instead of Tristan, but Tristan's plea is simply the best writing in the game. No, that's an insult.  It's great writing.  I've known people going down a dark path in real life and I can hear my own voice when Tristan exhorts the bad guy to mend his ways.  I guess I'm a wimpy heart on the sleeve kind of guy like Tristan... only not handsome and I can't cast spells.

Anyhow, I think I can finally carve out a good 2 to 3 hours to play the game today.  Still tempted to buy WL3, but I'm digging in to Pathfinder at the moment.  If I were seriously going to go for an all female party, which is to say my A-team other than side quests, it would have to be Linzi.  She's a bard, so kind of jack of all trades master of none, but spell selection and performances can either mitigate or heal a lot of damage.  I think my actual go-to party will probably be Valerie (not an ideal build, but she'll work), Amiri, Ekundayo, Ferret (a rogue I hired), Catherine (my main), and Tristan.

[uuuhhii]

20 minutes ago, MedicineDan said:

In all seriousness, apart from my lame joke, Tristan is my favorite character.  I guess I could continue the schtick and call him the best female character and Amiri my favorite male?  I don't mind the switcheroo with the stereotypes and whatnot.  It's probably a bit ham fisted, but it's cool.  ...And it's funny to see Amiri kvetch at Tristan for wearing his heart on his sleeve.  The one choice the devs did with Tristan that I disliked was that, at the end of his quest, I think the 'optimal' ending is for the PC to speak to antagonist instead of Tristan, but Tristan's plea is simply the best writing in the game. No, that's an insult.  It's great writing.  I've known people going down a dark path in real life and I can hear my own voice when Tristan exhorts the bad guy to mend his ways.  I guess I'm a wimpy heart on the sleeve kind of guy like Tristan... only not handsome and I can't cast spells.

Anyhow, I think I can finally carve out a good 2 to 3 hours to play the game today.  Still tempted to buy WL3, but I'm digging in to Pathfinder at the moment.  If I were seriously going to go for an all female party, which is to say my A-team other than side quests, it would have to be Linzi.  She's a bard, so kind of jack of all trades master of none, but spell selection and performances can either mitigate or heal a lot of damage.  I think my actual go-to party will probably be Valerie (not an ideal build, but she'll work), Amiri, Ekundayo, Ferret (a rogue I hired), Catherine (my main), and Tristan.

tristan are a deva

even though trapped inside a male human body

may or may not been human or male

Edited September 5, 2020 by uuuhhii

[MedicineDan]

After all these years, I still find it weird that my throw away posts end up like this.  ...But you're right, uuuhhii.  We can't properly nail down Tristan into a such a small space by labeling him.

[Guard Dog]

On 9/1/2020 at 6:57 PM, ShadySands said:

Trying to dive into CK3 but it's so different even just starting

In WL3 my base is getting pretty packed

  Reveal hidden contents

I finally left the Springs and went on an adventure and right out of the gate I had to choose between saving some homesteaders against Erastus Dorsey or help out a convey that was under attack. I chose to help the family and kill the Dorseys. Killed some wannabe clowns at a clown museum and then even more at the Bizarre which our good ole pal Charlie Knowes now wants my help to take over. Killed some smugglers/hum traffickers and also "saved" some psycho cannibal girl to recruit her brother as a mechanic.

No ruler designer at launch in CK3 so I'll probably set that aside since Kingmaker and WL3 are going so well for me right now.

Me too. 12 hours in, 100 years of game play. I am the most powerful king in Spain, but not the king OF Spain.... yet. This game is extremely detailed. Much more than Imperator even. Makes Stellaris look like Master of Orion

[Chilloutman]

So, am I only one who got some strange bug in CK3 where my levies just stop replenishing? I am suppose to have 7K army but my levies never get over like 3K...

[ShadySands]

No, mine did that too but I stopped playing for a little bit. Wasn't sure if it was a bug or some new mechanic I needed to read up on.

[Mamoulian War]

And I've arrived in New Game + again into Shrine of Amana... As stupid as in NG, but thankfully, I were much better prepared and brought a lot of arrows and spells to the area, and sniped most of the enemies. Still I made some stupid mistakes, and died few times with a lot of souls left behind. After a while, I've arrived at Demon of Song again. My concentration was not the best that day, so it took me good 4 tries. The last one took little bit less than 2 minutes, and looked easy After that, I just went to bed to take a nap
 

 

[majestic]

I... uncovered the darkest of conspiracies in Wasteland 3.

This game is so weird at times.

[ShadySands]

Downloaded a character creator mod for CK3 so I'm back on that. I actually grabbed several mods to play around with. Was surprised there are so many so soon.

[Orogun01]

2 hours ago, majestic said:

I... uncovered the darkest of conspiracies in Wasteland 3.

This game is so weird at times.

Does it compare to the Arcanum conspiracy?

[LadyCrimson]

Forgot I'd bought Dragon Quest Builders 2 on Steam. So I installed it and started playing through the early bits. Got to the 2nd island, started doing the (more) tutorial quests there then quit.  Thought I'd check my PS4 save to remind myself what might be coming up next and ... what do you know, I pretty much stopped in the same place on console too.  HA.

...I do like the game (especially that melee AI buddy). It's just a short attention span. Maybe this time I'll get farther.  :P  Per usual, it looks great playing on 4k - not that the graphics really require it, it's just nice on a big screen etc. I still dislike how long it takes before you feel like you have more freedom to play/be more sand-boxy. The first game was like that too, although I think it was a bit more engaging in the early maps than this sequel feels.  Wish it had a completely separate freeplay mode/map you could play at any time etc.

[majestic]

7 hours ago, Orogun01 said:

Does it compare to the Arcanum conspiracy?

Well... no. The game gives no indication as to what is happening, and it's not a quest. Just something that happens if you stumble into something that involves a tetradrachm, a defective toaster and a mysterious cave.

"You uncovered the darkest of conspiracies." is just the achievement name you unlock when you find it. Which most people probably will not because it involves keeping an AI controller wet paper towel NPC alive for a long stretch of the game (or through some serious side questing).

[StupidSeal]

Do Cards count as a game? Because I've been playing some (real-life) poker recently with friends. 

[MedicineDan]

yeah, cards count as games.  The forums count as a game.  I even created a game on the BIS forums with all sorts of goofy stuff.  Nameless moderators and other irritating personalities had cards.  <.<

So, I created a new Pathfinder game in order to import better portaits than the terrible ones in Kingmaker.  I created my character with a portrait and it worked fine.  Then I created a mercenary NPC and put in a new portrait.  Apparently, even though you can import new portraits, you can only add one custom at a time.  So I have to use the same portrait for both my mercenary and main, which is just asinine.  There also seems to be no way to change portraits midgame.  I can change the portrait to one or the other, but I can't have custom portraits for each.  Big design flaw, Owlcat!  Rat bastards!

[Mamoulian War]

After finishing the frog boss, I've finally had enough Souls to level up my faith up to 52, to be able use Soothing Sunlight Miracle and I've decided to give The Rotten another try My personal challenge to the fight was, to keep both summons alive until the end of the fight It was more challenging than I've expected, but I was able to get him down on 5th try, and with that, I've fulfilled all prerequisites for Lucatiel's Quest Took me little bit less than 3 minutes including the intro
 

 

[Hurlshort]

I am really pretty lost in X4. Like, I can go repair satellites and catch some low level criminals, but a tiny cog in a big machime in this game.

[MedicineDan]

Finally broke down and edited the save and got my portraits fixed.  Geez!  Just now getting close to 3rd level.  Cleared the fangberry cave and going to the old sycamore.

[majestic]

Found a Honey Badger in Wasteland 3.

Decided not to tame it. The game's combat is already more on the easy side and having such a vicious killer in the party would have removed the last shreds of challenge. I'm certain of it. Instead I tested my party against its mettle. Got a lucky sniper crit in so that went pretty smoothly, but damn, that thing had more hit points than the Scorpitron I came across.

edit:

Also, why is there a Scorpitron roaming the countryside close to the location of the first main quest? Do they spawn once you get to a certain level or are they just always around?

Edited September 6, 2020 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

5 hours ago, Mamoulian War said:

After finishing the frog boss, I've finally had enough Souls to level up my faith up to 52, to be able use Soothing Sunlight Miracle and I've decided to give The Rotten another try My personal challenge to the fight was, to keep both summons alive until the end of the fight It was more challenging than I've expected, but I was able to get him down on 5th try, and with that, I've fulfilled all prerequisites for Lucatiel's Quest Took me little bit less than 3 minutes including the intro
 

 

how have you not gotten bored of this mediocre game smh, move on to DS3 or DeS or something already!

[Keyrock]

2 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

I am really pretty lost in X4. Like, I can go repair satellites and catch some low level criminals, but a tiny cog in a big machime in this game.

It takes a long time to get anywhere in these games. The beginning can be a real slog. You can make a lot of money destroying Xenon invading sectors of factions you are friendly with, but you need good rep with said factions and a decent ship for which you need 20 rep and a lot of money.

How far are you in the main story? Did you rescue Boso Ta yet?

Also, here is a link to a list of abandoned ships you can claim. Some are in rather dangerous areas, so save your game before attempting to claim them. The Osprey Vanguard is in a sector often invaded by Xenon, so you need to be careful and potentially take a roundabout route to get to it and/or gtfo, but it's a big ship that you can fight or trade with. Slow as ****, but well armored and with generous cargo space (that's Teladi for you). The Odysseus Vanguard is VERY hard to get as it's in a sector absolutely littered with mines, so maybe hold off on that one for now, but go for it eventually as it's a freakin' destroyer, and once you have a destroyer it's on like neckbone.

Edited September 6, 2020 by Keyrock

[Lexx]

This is exactly my problem with the X games. The beginning takes just too long.

[Mamoulian War]

6 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

how have you not gotten bored of this mediocre game smh, move on to DS3 or DeS or something already!

I am still missing two trophies, and for that, I need to get to NG++ Chancellor Wellager  And to be honest, now, that I better understand the game and have better build, I am enjoying the game much more, than the NG

[Mamoulian War]

The last one from the Great Souls owners was The Lost Sinner. I was expecting much more resistance, because I knew, there were two more Pyromancer Black Phantoms added to the fight mid-fight, but Lucatiel did very good job of tanking. All in all it took me just one try to defeat her. In less than 2 minutes. After that, Lucatiels quest was at the successful end, and I could finally go and pick up her reward, her armour set and weapon

 

[BruceVC]

I realize there arent many Bioware fans on this forum but I have good news around there gaming future and how to really enjoy there games if current design is not to your liking 

After becoming aware that Bioware is still going and there will be another DA I bought Mass Effect Andromeda ( MEA )Deluxe  on Steam, on a huge discount,   in celebration and financial support for Bioware as I never played the game and read very bad reviews which put me off buying it  at the time of  its release 

I am a huge user and supporter of  the Nexus Vortex Mod Manager and I Mod every game I can where reasonable, for example I never used Mods on RDR2. But the good news about Nexus is that there are many Mods designed for MEA to make the game better and address valid issues raised on its release. You have to use the Frosty Mod Manager, not Vortex, but its really simple to use. I am busy with it now 

So in summary, dont give up on any Bioware yet. Wait about 4-6 months after release of any game and then you will be able to install many Mods to address certain  game design issues you may have. Of course you may not feel the need to Mod any particular game but obviously this post applies to those who sometimes want to change there gaming experience 

 

 

[melkathi]

Devs Are Idiots or at Least Have Never Even Been in the Same Room as a Video Game

a first impression post about Necromunda

 

Now, nobody denies that Mordheim had a less than stellar launch. Only 4 warbands to choose from, with one of them being 3 of the tabletop ones combined into 1 (which made sense). It had problems and some would never be fixed (Big guy AI, I am looking at you (or AI in general)). Mordheim kept a loyal playerbase by doing something right: offering a sandbox campaign in which players could grow their warbands and get attached to them over hundreds of hours. Many avoided the story missions with huge maps and endless reinforcements, as those could at best simply take up hours of running back and forth, at worst ruin a warband (the Aluress mission being extremely good at doing that, with daemonettes respawning every turn right next to the player). Once experienced, players would know to be prepared for those missions though and see them as just an hours long tedium.

Let's hold onto these points:

Mordheim Good: Personal, customizable warband players get attached to in Sandbox

Mordheim Bad: Confusing,  big maps in Story Missions, endless reinforcements in Story Missions, and fixed later on: too few warbands at launch, unable to choose deployment of fighters during missions at launch

 

With Necromunda the dev team wanted to avoid previous mistakes. They were more experienced and had seen how players reacted to things in Mordheim. They weren't going to do Early Access again to avoid the early reviews about an unfinished product.

In theory they could have learned from mistakes made by others, such as Shadowrun Returns and the fundamental changes during development (they changed game engine or what?), but that would mean caring about what happens in the industry one works in. During the first friends and family and very few randoms Alpha, the devs found out: their gameplay was pants. Simultaneous real time first person running around until an opponent enter LOS when the game would freeze to turn based. Every gamer could have told them that was a bad idea - I picture Unreal Tournament (I date myself, I know) and when that dude with the sniper rifle hiding in that sweet spot sees me, instead of me finding out because I die, I find out because the game freezes and enters turn based mode. So they scrapped that and had to go full turn based. Yay. A shame about all the time and resources wasted.

So the game launches. It doesn't launch with 4 gangs, the devs having learned from Mordheim that 4 is not a good number - 4 warbands had been a major point of unhappy gamers. Instead they launch with 3 gangs. 3 != 4 so it is a good number.

As players had been unhappy with the story missions in Mordheim, the approach to narration changes in Necromunda as well: a Story Campaign separate from the Sandbox game.

The story campaign is 15 missions (apparently) with set gangs played in order. As it isn't in the Sandbox environment there is no gang management - no returning to base, the Avenger, Chimera Squad Warehouse or other names the in-between missions management screens get given. In this the devs may have managed a first: a tactics game with a campaign lacking even rudimentary management. During story missions the set fighters with set equipment are pre-deployed. Before these fighters activate, players have no ability to properly check their equipment. Also, some missions of course have endless reinforcements - not really a biggy so far: in the missions I encountered with those, I ran for the exit before the first reinforcement fighter even had a chance to activate.

The story campaign is meant to act as a long tutorial, but by cutting out the management level of the game and just giving players some fighters to activate with little information, it actually confuses more than it explains.

Naturally, many players decided to skip the campaign and go for the sandbox they bought the game for. Especially if they hadn't planned to play Escher (the first 5 missions of the story). Mordheim had quite a nice variety of customization options and Necromunda promised to have even more. The advanced colour palette options are great and allow you to easily work out a unified colour scheme for the whole gang. Then comes the rude awakening: customization options are locked. As it isn't EA or Paradox, not behind a paywall. Finish the Story Campaign to unlock Hair Customization.

...

...

Yeah, read title of this post.

 

Nice graphics, nice atmosphere, possibly a good game if you wade through enough dev stupidity.

It isn't nice to talk bad about devs. The internet is full of haters and trolls. But sometimes devs really just are idiots.