What are you Playing Now? Games = Life

[melkathi]

And you guys didn't see the AI before it got improved...

[Lexx]

I still remember how hype everyone was when that first MW5 trailer dropped. Everything looked so cool and fancy. Then MWO happened and everyone got seriously bummed out ... Kinda feels like they wanted to do more with the game, but simply couldn't (lack of tech or skills or both?). And now we kinda have this abomination of the old MW5 idea and the later MWO.

They really should have invested more time in better ai handling, imo. Make enemy mechs search for cover, go into real defense positions, etc. etc. I know that "good" ai is very hard to do and lots of people fail with it, but man... here it feels like they didn't even try.

At least MW5 isn't the only one with that problem... I mean, let's be real here, Battletech ai isn't that much better either, and the game knows it ... the game knows it and tries to distract you with throwing hordes of enemies at you.

 

/Edit: What absolutely gets me every time is how well the games (both MW5 and Battletech) showcase that lots of tiny tanks are actually better than fielding huge mechs. Less crew, less maintenance, less material, easier to produce in big numbers .... and with a big enough force, a viable defense against any mech, no matter the size.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Lexx

[Amentep]

I have to say I really haven't found the level in SMTV with Surt to be all that fun.  I've never been a fan of level design that curves back on itself because it seems designers can't help but put in 'gotcha' moments, where first time through you'll fall off something and have to backtrack around repeatedly.  I've got to the end boss, I think and

never has a film with Warren Beaty and Dustin Hoffman been so deadly!

but getting there felt like a real slog.

[ShadySands]

1 hour ago, melkathi said:

And you guys didn't see the AI before it got improved...

I pre-ordered and played at launch

[Oner]

Sounds like I won't buy MW5 ever, thanks folks. 

[Keyrock]

1 hour ago, Amentep said:

I have to say I really haven't found the level in SMTV with Surt to be all that fun.  I've never been a fan of level design that curves back on itself because it seems designers can't help but put in 'gotcha' moments, where first time through you'll fall off something and have to backtrack around repeatedly.  I've got to the end boss, I think and

 

  Reveal hidden contents

never has a film with Warren Beaty and Dustin Hoffman been so deadly!

 

but getting there felt like a real slog.

The labyrinthine design of the area didn't bother me that much because it's easy enough to teleport back to a Layline Fount on the rooftops. Without the Return Pillar it would have been frustrating for sure. I really like the sound design of Chiyoda where the track playing at ground level is essentially a muted and ambient version of the track that plays on the rooftops and the transition is seamless.

[Lexx]

28 minutes ago, Oner said:

Sounds like I won't buy MW5 ever, thanks folks. 

The problem is that it's kinda fun and addictive, but these few issues™ are what quickly ruin the fun.

[Amentep]

31 minutes ago, Keyrock said:

The labyrinthine design of the area didn't bother me that much because it's easy enough to teleport back to a Layline Fount on the rooftops. Without the Return Pillar it would have been frustrating for sure. I really like the sound design of Chiyoda where the track playing at ground level is essentially a muted and ambient version of the track that plays on the rooftops and the transition is seamless.

Yeah, I keep forgetting I have the Return Pillar.  Might have been easier for me had I recalled that. Lol.

[Keyrock]

16 minutes ago, Amentep said:

Yeah, I keep forgetting I have the Return Pillar.  Might have been easier for me had I recalled that. Lol.

At first I didn't use the Return Pillar because I didn't know if it was consumable. Later I figured out that it has unlimited charges and I've been using it constantly since. Between that, leyline crossings, and the ridiculous looking Naruto run, getting around in SMT V is a fairly rapid affair.

[Malcador]

Did the first challenge tomb in SoTR, was pretty fun.  Maybe will turn off the hints, Lara's suggestions get repetitive, hah. 

[Chilloutman]

3 hours ago, Lexx said:

The hardpoints are lore-based. If you want 100% customizable mechs, you have to move into the future with the clans, where omni-mechs became a thing.

Personally I think the clan stuff is just super boring, though. Can't stand it anymore.

 

Played some more now. I really want to like the game, but it just has such .. ugh .. questionable game design. Also the steam workshop is pretty funny. There's like 5 mods or something. Why even add workshop support if modding is barely possible.

 

I'm kinda thinking of ripping the MW5 avatar images out of the game and using them in Battletech. Feels like that would give me more joy (because the avatars in MW5 are much better looking, imo).

are they? I know hard-points are lore-based, but I don't remember any game I played where they would be size restricted

[Amentep]

1 hour ago, Keyrock said:

At first I didn't use the Return Pillar because I didn't know if it was consumable. Later I figured out that it has unlimited charges and I've been using it constantly since. Between that, leyline crossings, and the ridiculous looking Naruto run, getting around in SMT V is a fairly rapid affair.

Ah, I hadn't used it because I thought it was consumable and I never saw another for sale.  That either wasn't explained well or I misunderstood it.

[Keyrock]

1 hour ago, Amentep said:

Ah, I hadn't used it because I thought it was consumable and I never saw another for sale.  That either wasn't explained well or I misunderstood it.

It was not explained well but rest assured that you can use the Return Pillar as much as you want, it's insanely useful. You don't even need to go into inventory to use it, it's bound to left bumper by default.

[Oner]

3 hours ago, Lexx said:

The problem is that it's kinda fun and addictive, but these few issues™ are what quickly ruin the fun.

Sounds like Battletech but with a worse story.

[LadyCrimson]

7 Days to Die's alpha20 is out in "experimental" release. So I've been mucking about with that a little bit.

The new map generator is much faster and they changed the way the maps are formed - plus you have more options when creating - but generating one sucks of system RAM like no tomorrow. The 10k sized map (9-10 min. to generate) ends up crashing the game half the time for me. 6k and 8k work fine but I have to exit the game after its made and restart to load/play it or it'll crash because the 20gb+ ram isn't initially released and trying to load the game on top. I'll stick to 6k maps (3.5 minutes to generate). I feel bad for anyone with less than 32ram, although maybe they'll improve that aspect later.

Anyway, the new buildings are awesome, the way they do roads is much better/improved and a lot of textures have improved. So graphically it's a bit nicer looking, performance has increased a fair bit despite that. That all said ... despite numerous gameplay changes, it's still the same basic game and I still play it the same basic way. It's just...prettier.    Although, at least they made food very slightly harder to keep up in the first early days of a save because they changed farming a lot.

Edited December 8, 2021 by LadyCrimson

[ShadySands]

17 hours ago, Lexx said:

Played some more now. I really want to like the game, but it just has such .. ugh .. questionable game design. Also the steam workshop is pretty funny. There's like 5 mods or something. Why even add workshop support if modding is barely possible.

I think most of the mods are on the Nexus.

[BruceVC]

Im 10 hours into Bioshock Infinite and its thoroughly entertaining, its the first Bioshock game I have ever played 

I like the overall combat mechanics and spawning  element when you die. I also like the combat strategies and different weapons you can use 

And finally I love the lore and narrative, its nice seeing an interesting  game world based on the positive aspects of Colonialism....we only hear negative things 

[Wormerine]

6 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Im 10 hours into Bioshock Infinite and its thoroughly entertaining, its the first Bioshock game I have ever played 

Oh no! 

I am dying to know what you will think of the finale, without context of Bioshock1. You should play Bioshock1 BTW. Definitely play Bioshock1 before Infinite's DLCs. 

[BruceVC]

13 minutes ago, Wormerine said:

Oh no! 

I am dying to know what you will think of the finale, without context of Bioshock1. You should play Bioshock1 BTW. Definitely play Bioshock1 before Infinite's DLCs. 

I didnt realize the games were connected, I have been reading all the lore in the game  I can find so I am familiar with the history  in Infinite so far  but certain things I am learning as the game progresses but yes I realize now playing  the earlier games would have been beneficial to understand the game world

And thanks for the advice because I may just do that if I play the DLC but we have some excellent new games coming next year like Elden Ring and Dying Light 2 and of course my most anticipated game once fully released BG 3 

[Malcador]

Did some of the crypts in SoTR, almost got stuck in one as I wasn't sure that ledge was a ledge I could grab on to.  Nice to see they left situations where Lara can die horribly   But puzzles were enjoyable enough so far

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Disco Elysium. I ran across a guy obsessed with his head shape, a cool guy telling scabs to **** off, and a scab who was obviously a plant. Then I pawned some wheels, got some ammonia, and talked to a corpse.

While I'm not finished with it yet, it feels like Planescape Torment done right. No horrible combat that gets in the way of actually playing the game and a deep integration the actual gameplay into the dialogue is *chef's kiss*.

[kanisatha]

Disco Elysium is 50% off on Steam this week (as is CP2077).

[Lexx]

Oh cool, I was about to buy Cyberpunk, but the 60 bucks price made me say nay. Though I'd rather buy it on GOG, I think.

/Edit: It's 50% off on GOG as well.

Should I buy now or rather wait for christmas... I'm sure there will be another sale.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Lexx

[BruceVC]

16 minutes ago, Lexx said:

Oh cool, I was about to buy Cyberpunk, but the 60 bucks price made me say nay. Though I'd rather buy it on GOG, I think.

/Edit: It's 50% off on GOG as well.

Should I buy now or rather wait for christmas... I'm sure there will be another sale.

Buy it now, in life you must " strike while the iron is hot " 

50 % is a good discount and buy it on GOG because its good to support GOG as well because Steam is so large and competition is a good thing 

[Hurlshort]

In Disco Elysium, I blew my head off as a negotiation tactic. To be fair, it was also my bedtime, but I did enjoy that it was an option.

I also did some actual decent police work and was very impressed at myself for pulling it together for a few moments. Good job **** Mullen!