What are you Playing Now? - Games don't make you violent, lag does

[LadyCrimson]

10 hours ago, Lexx said:

Realistically, at this point, my steam wishlist is pretty much just a collection of games that I will never buy.

Often the list is simply a finger-string reminder for anything I was even slightly intrigued by, during 3am browsing sessions. Every 3-6 months I relook and then delete most of those.

6 hours ago, kanisatha said:

Would you mind listing the city-builder games on your wishlist?

I haven't researched all of them re: how "pure" sandbox-y they can potentially be (sandbox-y ala Banished, if you want zero combat aspects etc)

Ostriv (gridless)
Land of the Vikings (gridless, combat seems to be off-screen raiding, optional I think, not sure)
Timberborn
Foundation
Kingdoms Reborn (some kind of card system for some advancement?, off screen raid, no active combat)

(more city builder+RTS style)
Going Medieval (Standard, Peaceful, Survival modes)
Manor Lords (more conquering focus but has a no/low combat Prosperity mode)

[Keyrock]

The one and only city builder on my wishlist is Farthest Frontier, on account of the fact that it's being developed by the fine folks at Crate Entertainment, makers of the most excellent Grim Dawn. It's in early access right now. Going by Steam reviews it seems to be Banished-esque. I'll probably get it once it fully releases.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Keyrock

[Gorth]

I completely forgot the legendary editions now have built in "photo mode" features. Just a test pic, I obviously need to manually use the hide ui key before hitting the the take a picture buttom. Very classy Miranda, following me into the boys room (I hope those Turian guys aren't shy)...

 

 

[kanisatha]

16 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Often the list is simply a finger-string reminder for anything I was even slightly intrigued by, during 3am browsing sessions. Every 3-6 months I relook and then delete most of those.

I haven't researched all of them re: how "pure" sandbox-y they can potentially be (sandbox-y ala Banished, if you want zero combat aspects etc)

Ostriv (gridless)
Land of the Vikings (gridless, combat seems to be off-screen raiding, optional I think, not sure)
Timberborn
Foundation
Kingdoms Reborn (some kind of card system for some advancement?, off screen raid, no active combat)

(more city builder+RTS style)
Going Medieval (Standard, Peaceful, Survival modes)
Manor Lords (more conquering focus but has a no/low combat Prosperity mode)

Thanks!

I also have Kingdoms Reborn in my wishlist, and had Ostriv for a long while before dropping it because I got tired of waiting for it to leave EA. Now off to investigate those other titles.

[Malcador]

Finished the DLC with the weirdo rapist cultists, sort of anti climactic to kill the psycho woman with a knife - was expecting to kill her via lightning.  Fun missions, but now back to tedious The Division-esque grinding through the zones.  Tempted to give everything to Vito, but maybe will try to avoid having to kill the lieutenants.

 

[LadyCrimson]

9 hours ago, kanisatha said:

had Ostriv for a long while before dropping it because I got tired of waiting for it to leave EA

I've pretty much decided if it's Early Access (starting in an early Alpha phase), 4-5 years might be average. Assuming it doesn't end up in perpetual E-A for a decadeplus etc (stares at 7 Days). Sure, some finish in 3 years or less, but...

If any of those city builder games end up released on GoG, I'll actually purchase them from there, since 1: I don't expect to use a controller and 2: at least I'd have a copy of the original version I might end up liking best, on disk.  >.> I still feel that way about Banished. I liked one of the earlier initial releases better than the later patches and install that one.

Edit: looks like at least some of them are E-A over on GoG, so I'd assume would also release there.

Edited May 9, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[kanisatha]

14 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

I've pretty much decided if it's Early Access (starting in an early Alpha phase), 4-5 years might be average. Assuming it doesn't end up in perpetual E-A for a decadeplus etc (stares at 7 Days). Sure, some finish in 3 years or less, but...

If any of those city builder games end up released on GoG, I'll actually purchase them from there, since 1: I don't expect to use a controller and 2: at least I'd have a copy of the original version I might end up liking best, on disk.  >.> I still feel that way about Banished. I liked one of the earlier initial releases better than the later patches and install that one.

Edit: looks like at least some of them are E-A over on GoG, so I'd assume would also release there.

Foundation was the only one I ended up adding to my wishlist. I don't like builders with a lot of combat and invasions and the like. I just want to be left alone to build my city/empire. And, I also don't like the games that track each settler/citizen individually as a person, with stats and such, because then I will end up very attached to my people and be super-depressed when they die on me.

[melkathi]

Timberborn is on my wishlist as well, though I still have more to do in Against the Storm.

[LadyCrimson]

43 minutes ago, melkathi said:

Timberborn is on my wishlist as well, though I still have more to do in Against the Storm.

I looked at Against the Storm. I was a little interested until one user review mentioned the mission structure vs. more open city build map scenarios with a time type of pressure (a "Queen" gets mad/you lose, or something). I don't mind a progressive, escalating map goal difficulty campaign ala Caesar 3/Pharaoh that lets you take all the time you want and the only reason you might "lose" is because your city design wasn't well thought out enough (learning curve). but I don't want Age of Empires beat constant waves with peasants and hoes until you can research/insta create army units, either. Which would Against the Storm more resemble?

Edited May 10, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[LadyCrimson]

3 hours ago, kanisatha said:

I also don't like the games that track each settler/citizen individually as a person, with stats and such,

I don't mind if they have random stats that people can stare at, or maybe decides what AI jobs their random constantly born kids end up doing, but I don't want to take care of or command individuals in any fashion. If I wanted that I'd play The Sims.

What I did miss with Banished was no map goals (Prosperity, Culture etc) to give you something to shoot for per map besides mega population numbers. Especially when almost all of these games end up with performance issues once you reach 500-2000 or whatever population sizes so you get blocked in that sense anyway, often long before a map is completely "filled". I think one of those games on my wishlist actually (currently) has a 2000 hard cap. I should just play Caesar3 or 4 again I suppose.

Edited May 10, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[melkathi]

Against the Storm basically has a timer. There is a bar at the bottom which very slowly fills up - the Queen's Impatience. If people die or leave, it also fills up.

On harder difficulties I have lost two runs out of  a hundred?

On easier difficulties I forget it exists and just have fun.

I am currently not playing on harder difficulties, as I don't feel like having to worry about a couple of mechanics that only appear then (the infestation on your buildings you have to burn off).

 

I like that you can play "casual". You still have to worry about keeping people alive and meeting their needs, but you don't get overwhelmed.

[LadyCrimson]

9 minutes ago, melkathi said:

On harder difficulties I have lost two runs out of  a hundred?

You play the same map 100 times? Or is that full campaign so lost on 2 maps out of 100?

I played Caesar 3's full campaigns (Peace and War) maybe 5-7 times but after that I would find myself repeating strategies too often.  I did C4's campaign only 1.5 times, the klunky 3d graphics annoyed me a bit. Never finished Pharaoh campaign because the monument building took way too freaking long and wasn't my interest.

Edited May 10, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[melkathi]

1 hour ago, LadyCrimson said:

You play the same map 100 times? Or is that full campaign so lost on 2 maps out of 100?

I played Caesar 3's full campaigns (Peace and War) maybe 5-7 times but after that I would find myself repeating strategies too often.  I did C4's campaign only 1.5 times, the klunky 3d graphics annoyed me a bit. Never finished Pharaoh campaign because the monument building took way too freaking long and wasn't my interest.

Ok, I did a quick run to grab screenshots

On the world map you choose where to build your settlement. As you progress you can go farther and farther from the Smoldering City in the centre.

At the bottom you will see a bar, which is the time until the next big storm. The storms reset the world map - only the Smoldering City survives. As you can see, here I am about halfway through the storm cycle and have founded three settlement.

The Smoldering City is the game's hub and is where you get your lasting upgrades. You spend your resources there and all the upgrades are permanent.

 

When you select a spot on the world map, you can see what options you have for your caravan, what roughly awaits you. Basically it creates a random map with those parameters.

 

So in this game, this is a few minutes in, as I am busy constructing my starting settlement.

On the right is the impatience (if it fills up, I lose) :

On the left the reputation (I fill this up to win) :

During the game you also complete orders for the Queen. These give you one point of reputation each and at the same time reduce impatience.

In this game, as I got easy orders (or am awesome enough to know what to expect and what orders to pick ) the impatience you see in that last screenshot is as high as it got.

 

Mind you, that run was on Pioneer, the second easiest out of 5 difficulties.

[LadyCrimson]

Ah, ok, I think I mostly understand. The orders sound a little bit like the Caesar's orders in that series, kinda. Simple enough.
Hm. In theory I might like it...would then just depend on whether I like the city building mechanics/designing and concepts etc.

[Bokishi]

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is taking all my time

[Wormerine]

1 hour ago, Bokishi said:

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is taking all my time

Send me you Switch, and you will have your time back.

[Humanoid]

My one memory of Breath of the Wild is playing for 15 minutes, accidentally hitting the button that throws away your weapon, and not being able to figure out how to fix that. Figured I'd start a new game instead the next time I launched it. Six years later and that hasn't happened yet...

[uuuhhii]

how difficult are darkest dungeon 2

really doesn't want get stuck on difficult boss

[Humanoid]

47 minutes ago, uuuhhii said:

how difficult are darkest dungeon 2

really doesn't want get stuck on difficult boss

Depends how much of a purist you are in terms of looking up external resources. It may be annoyingly difficult if you try to learn everything organically through experience because for stuff like bosses, you can't just practice them over and over: it will be a few hours between attempts because getting to the boss is not trivial. However if you're willing and able do your homework and look up the fight beforehand, on the wiki or YouTube or whatever, then you have a massive leg up and could probably go in with better-than-even odds.

[Hawke64]

Started New Game+ in The Tarnishing of Juxtia. While the experience points (specks) gained were appropriate for NG+, for some reason, the only foes that had their damage increased were the tutorial undead which occasionally appeared throughout the game. Thus, I was able to get to the early-game boss, losing to whom did not return to the checkpoint but progressed the story, and discover what would happen if I won.

Spoiler

Nothing good. The boss' wyvern landed on me during cut-scene (when I could not move) and sent me to the last checkpoint, so the only way forward was through being defeated. Somehow disappointing.

Replayed The Count Lucanor. The adventure game is still quite enjoyable.

Started Hob. It looks like a Metroidvania with simple combat and platforming. The lack of rebindable controls is most unpleasant, the graphics and story seem nice.

[majestic]

D4 "Server Slam" (so, public stress test). I might have to apologize to Blizzard, because this has been almost completely stable, the performance is good and outside of two or three rubber banding issues, the lag was fine. If the game launches like this, that'll be impressive.

Well, or else no one is playing the stress test, but that seems unlikely.

[Chilloutman]

i got quite a lot of rubber banding yesterday

[majestic]

Just tried the first world boss event that spawned in Yurop. Leave it to Blizz to not re-tune Ashava while knocking 5 levels off the players. Barely takes any damage, we got it to ~55% before it despawned.

Well, perhaps later tonight there'll be more people online and ready to join. Like, way more. Yikes.

Edit: This just in: perhaps I'll just drop the world tier back to normal, that should help, yes? silly majestic

Edited May 13, 2023 by majestic

[marelooke]

On 5/10/2023 at 6:20 PM, melkathi said:

Timberborn is on my wishlist as well, though I still have more to do in Against the Storm.

Been a while since I played it, but it was really fun then, at least. Rather relaxing game.

[Keyrock]

After a couple years away from Conan Exiles I scooped up Isle of Siptah during the 5th Anniversary sale and jumped back in. I'm rather enjoying the Isle of Siptah map, it may just be that it's all new to me so I get the joys of exploration and discovery again, whereas I knew the entirety of the Exiled Lands like the back of my hand when I stopped playing a couple of years ago. It seems like they added some new lighting effects to the game in the years I've been away, maybe it's just my imagination. I did a custom game setup and doubled the length of all parts of the day night cycle. The game feels better to me with the days progressing more slowly. One of the nice things about Conan Exiles is that the game is EXTREMELY configurable and, so long as I'm playing in single player (which I am) or hosting, I can change options and parameters on the fly.