What are you Playing Now? - Right Now at the moment edition

[Sven_]

Sorry, double-post (kinda.)

Still yesterday there was a SKALD AMA on Reddit with a few decent info.

- Launch successful accross every metric 
- Postlaunch support will bring a new bard class and improvements
- SKALD 2 a developer wish
- The engine already supports deeper systemic interactions for more emergent gameplay (as can be seen already in the light sources you can manipulate, e.g. for stealth purpose)



ALSO: Love. Love never changes. 

Edited June 6 by Sven_

[Hurlshort]

Starfield - There are some quality of life fixes from when I played at release, and I set it so that I can carry everything. It is going well and I'm enjoying exploring the universe. I am still figuring out how to make a decent settlement, but I am better at ship design now.

[Malcador]

Finished Wing Commander 3. Only cheesed a couple missions on Rookie as I am too old. Also my wingmen kept getting wasted attacking a cruiser like morons.

Excalibur is a hilarious ship, auto aim, woo.  The ground missions really can go to hell though, frustrating and hideous.

 

[LadyCrimson]

I'm getting a little tired of Steam's client updates, lately, often reverting my Cloud setting back to On vs. Off.

In terms of actual games ... nothing new, still mostly fart around with Manor Lords/sandboxing for a few hours here and there, when I want to escape the heat of outside. Per usual I keep looking for a new simplish/chill game but never find much.

[MrBrown]

Been playing the new season of Diablo 4.

They revamped a lot of the itemization and other stuff, and... well, it's a bit better now, you don't have to spend hours comparing items, and late-game isn't as much of slow drudge as it was before. But it's still fundamentally the same game.

If you were turned off by the slow late game, then you might enjoy the changes. But people who stopped playing for other reasons probably still won't find any reason to come back.

[Hawke64]

Dread Delusion. Got a house, reached the second main area. Some bugs have started to show up (e.g. an NPC referring to a quest I have not started), but good otherwise.

Flynn: Son of Crimson. A platformer. I am not exactly good at platformers, but it is fine. Nothing particularly bad I can point out.

[Wormerine]

After sitting on my wishlist for ages, I finally picked up and gave a short go to Gloomwood. And intriguing very indy stealth immersive sim, seemingly smashing Thief with Survival horror.

Not very deep into it, so very first impressions, but so far it seems excellent.

 

Edited June 8 by Wormerine

[Sven_]

On 6/9/2024 at 1:32 AM, Wormerine said:

After sitting on my wishlist for ages, I finally picked up and gave a short go to Gloomwood. And intriguing very indy stealth immersive sim, seemingly smashing Thief with Survival horror.

Not very deep into it, so very first impressions, but so far it seems excellent.

 

Waiting until the finished product with that one.


Fallen Aces Full Episode 1 is out on Friday already, though! This may be generally filed under "Boomer Shooter" some. But there was more going on in the fun demo already, and the dev has confirmed the influences anyway...

- Fairly open level design, including optionally stealthily routes
- Optional stealth that works fairly decent
- Quite interactive environments and everything not bolted down being usable as a tool/weapon
- In-universe maps, Thief-style, BABY!



Whatever the price, this is an offer I'm not going to refuse. Indie gaming is where the new triple-A fun is to be had.
 

 

Edited June 11 by Sven_

[melkathi]

I am quite far along in Capes.

 

Overall a very enjoyable turn based tactics game. It gets some flack for having specific characters, similar to Mutant Year Zero, Chimera Squad.

There are no random missions.

You can replay any mission at any time with a different configuration.

 

The story is pretty dark. Years ago a group of villains killed the superheroes of the city and took over. Now the survivor sets op a team of young heroes to take revenge.

It is interesting, because unlike many superhero games, there is no attempt to obfuscate the fact your team kills people.

 

They pulled off the powers quite well. The team ups let characters enhance one of their powers with help of a nearby character. The speedster sets fire to where she runs with the help of the fire hero for example.

 

The missions can be tough, but I enjoy figuring out how to best utilise every character to solve the problem at hand.

 

There are people who complain the game is too puzzly. I feel there are a group of gamers strangely entitled. They believe that in a strategy game their strategy should win. In a tactics game their tactics should win. They don't want to work out a winning strategy, just to pretend they are good strategists. History is full of generals that lost battles. They had their strategies, just not winning ones. If they had access to steam forums, they'd have spammed that "Nerf the Roman legion. Slings are underpowered. These Devs know nothing of making a fun war. Why did my cavalry die charging fortified gun emplacements? This war sux"

[BruceVC]

I just finished Ravenloft Strahds Possession after 45 hours, it was fun and I love the whole Ravenloft setting. The last 5 games I have played are all Gold Box games that include EOB1-3, Dungeon Hack and Ravenloft so Im going to have a break from these types of games now

I preferred the EOB games to Ravenloft or rather EOB 1 is still my favourite game of the 5 I have played. But Ravenloft had a better narrative and a good " open world design" around navigating maps , I did find it had some frustrating design mechanics like no way to restore level draining and then Treants that spawn in one map so you end up using lots of save scumming

But its still worth playing, 58/100 on the " BruceVC game  rating system" 

I have now decided Im going to play Fallout 3 again but this time Im going to use mods and I have installed numerous performance fixes, gameplay and graphic mods. But Im using Vortex as my mod manager but I also have Mod Organizer 2, I just have never used MO2 before

So if FO3 starts to crash or is unreasonably unstable then Im going to switch to MO2. I will have to reinstall all my mods again but thats fine because at least I will learn how MO2 works

[MrBrown]

18 hours into Skald. It's pretty good.

The mechanics are clearly D&D inspired, but different enough to be interesting, and not complex enough to weigh down too much. The game has stuff like eating, resting and crafting, but does all these more fluidly than games like the new Pathfinder RPGs, so they don't feel tiring. There's some rough edges to the mechanics, but overall it's decent.

Somehow, the creator also managed to mesh the writing really well with the retro look. The game has a clear atmosphere to it and doesn't feel too generic or too weird to comprehend.

It won't be the best RPG I ever played, but I found it to be worth the price.

[Mamoulian War]

57 minutes ago, MrBrown said:

18 hours into Skald. It's pretty good.

The mechanics are clearly D&D inspired, but different enough to be interesting, and not complex enough to weigh down too much. The game has stuff like eating, resting and crafting, but does all these more fluidly than games like the new Pathfinder RPGs, so they don't feel tiring. There's some rough edges to the mechanics, but overall it's decent.

Somehow, the creator also managed to mesh the writing really well with the retro look. The game has a clear atmosphere to it and doesn't feel too generic or too weird to comprehend.

It won't be the best RPG I ever played, but I found it to be worth the price.

Are there any settings directly in the game or maybe external mods, which will change the graphics into less C64 style and more into 286/386/Amiga style? The setting really is interesting to me, but I am somehow not very fond of the pixel art style of this game  

[BruceVC]

I am about to start playing Fallout 3 again and I modded it using Vortex , I have never used Mod Organizer 2 ( MO2 )as my main mod manager but last night I decided to start using MO2 so I configured MO2 and started reinstalling all my mods using MO2

And...its amazing. Its definitely the best mod manager I have ever used. I like how it uses a virtual file system and doesnt change the default files but the way it handles conflicts and allows you to troubleshoot is indisputably superior to any other mod manager

You can easily see and fix any conflicts and you can even hide specific meshes and files. Its makes the analysis of troubleshooting much more logical

Vortex works but the troubleshooting is not as easy to understand or change when things go wrong

I watched some good MO2 troubleshooting videos and I will continue to research how to do advanced things like using xEdit and the most effective way to clean mod files

But I will only do this if its necessary but I have now become an instant fan for life of MO2, Im just disappointed it took me so long to use it 

[melkathi]

I used MO back then, and it was strange changing to Vortex for Skyrim.

[MrBrown]

On 6/12/2024 at 8:10 PM, Mamoulian War said:

Are there any settings directly in the game or maybe external mods, which will change the graphics into less C64 style and more into 286/386/Amiga style? The setting really is interesting to me, but I am somehow not very fond of the pixel art style of this game  

Not in the game itself, I don't think.

[Gorth]

10 hours ago, BruceVC said:

I am about to start playing Fallout 3 again and I modded it using Vortex , I have never used Mod Organizer 2 ( MO2 )as my main mod manager but last night I decided to start using MO2 so I configured MO2 and started reinstalling all my mods using MO2

And...its amazing. Its definitely the best mod manager I have ever used. I like how it uses a virtual file system and doesnt change the default files but the way it handles conflicts and allows you to troubleshoot is indisputably superior to any other mod manager

You can easily see and fix any conflicts and you can even hide specific meshes and files. Its makes the analysis of troubleshooting much more logical

Vortex works but the troubleshooting is not as easy to understand or change when things go wrong

I watched some good MO2 troubleshooting videos and I will continue to research how to do advanced things like using xEdit and the most effective way to clean mod files

But I will only do this if its necessary but I have now become an instant fan for life of MO2, Im just disappointed it took me so long to use it 

The day someone releases a mod, that allows you to nuke the brats at Little Lamplight (was that the name?) I might give Fo3 a second try

[BruceVC]

1 hour ago, Gorth said:

The day someone releases a mod, that allows you to nuke the brats at Little Lamplight (was that the name?) I might give Fo3 a second try

Wouldnt killable children mod  give you similar satisfaction 

" This mod enables you to kill any or all of the children in Fallout 3. Along with adding consequences for such actions. Please see full description inside for full details " 

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/376

 

 

[Gorth]

2 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Wouldnt killable children mod  give you similar satisfaction 

" This mod enables you to kill any or all of the children in Fallout 3. Along with adding consequences for such actions. Please see full description inside for full details " 

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/376

 

 

I might just reinstall FO3 again... if nothing else, to try out the "Fat Man" in that cave

Thanks for the heads up

[MrBrown]

Finished Skald. Not sure I liked the ending, but, oh well, it wasn't bad enough to make me dislike the game.

[Sven_]

Oh ****, Fallen Aces is like real good. I think they're kinda "underselling" it with their "FPS Noir" tagline. Everybody thinks "Boomer Shooter", this being published by New Blood Interactive too (of DUSK fame).

But in fact, it's oft kinda like Goodfellas Shock. Or Dishonored: The Knife Of Mob City. 

Sure, you can play it pretty straight forward and just beat the crap out of everyone. But man, these levels. Love them! There's a lot more going on than there ever was in Bioshock. But then, that game didn't even have the most basic of stealth... plus very linear corridor kind of levels... and AI that outside of scripted sequences went AGGRO the moment it sniffed you near. Fallen Aces has you even pickpocketing NPCs/goons. Doors can be locked. Alternatives routes taken. Fingers sticked in the wall socket for a little extra Bzzz (BECUZ WHY NOT). Rats picked up and thrown outta the window. This game is a bloody steal at that price point. Are these dudes communists or what?!

I'm already in love with New Blood's latest, the pulp noir immersive sim Fallen Aces, and you can get it for just $10 | PC Gamer
 

Quote

The levels, for a start, are fantastic, really nailing that Thief or Dishonored sense of "This is a real place, and it also just keeps going and going." The first mission features a multi-level apartment building and the surrounding few city blocks for you to explore, including a comic book store with a secret and a donut shop showdown. The second, meanwhile, feels like an homage to Thief 2's Shipping and Receiving, with an open-ended dockyard split in two sections by a raised drawbridge.

 

If this is the future for this type o' game, I wouldn't complain at all. Also, best voice-acting performance of all time.

Edited June 15 by Sven_

[CopingMarlinsFan]

OOTP Baseball 25, man I hate being a Marlins fan at times... it's too realistic with that team. Also RWBY Arrowfell I kinda want to get back into playing.

[Bartimaeus]

I have been playing a singleplayer poker game called Balatro recently. This short trailer more or less gives you the idea:

As you win rounds, you earn money which can be used at the shop which you visit in between each round to try to modify your build (modify, add, or remove cards from your deck, add jokers that give various kinds of bonuses or change how your build functions)...but the more you win, the more points you'll need to win the next round. Anyways, I only mention all of this because after having played the game for like 20-30 hours over the last month or so, I was finally able to construct more or less the exact deck and winning hand, a High Card build (i.e. a single card and normally the absolute worst hand type that you can play), that I've previously tried to create a few dozen times but failed to, which I took a video of here:

I only needed about 86,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (i.e. 8.6*10^43) points to win the hand, but I scored 4,283,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (i.e. 4.283*10^90) points, so I guess I got a little carried away there. Anyways, don't play Balatro, it's a pretty good but pointless poker game and you'll start go crazy from the possibilities that you can see but can't quite ever put together. I was finally able to build the exact build I had thought of like 5 hours into the game but couldn't ever quite get all the parts lined up for, and now I finally have no reason to continue playing it: though the game officially has no end as the required winning amount of points just continue to scale up exponentially (a build "wins" the game after defeating Ante 8, for reference - as you can see in the bottom left, I am actually at Ante 20/8 instead, and Ante 8 usually only requires around a score of just 100,000 to win), I think I can consider it "beat".

Edited June 16 by Bartimaeus

[Hawke64]

Finished Dread Delusion. Loved the game, though there are issues. Highlighting 2 of them, because they bothered me quite a lot. Also the saving system is critically unsuitable for the game and the bugs.

• Closer to the late-game, I noticed that a bug that had occurred several hours ago and wiped most of my in-progress quests also affected a completed main quest. So I tried to re-start it. The thing was that in order to progress it past a certain point, I needed to activate a McGuffin (a sci-fantasy seal on a door), which was a single-use interaction and I had already used it. I spent the next 2 days trying to troubleshoot and resolve it, but I have gained more experience with hex editors.
• The NPC you collect along the way, while great, do not feel like your companions. They are someone else's and just quest-givers for you. Also there was a thing - during the recruitment you had to say what you were going to do with the antagonist (join, kill, arrest, etc.) and at the beginning, it was hard to gauge what the antagonist was trying to do and what you wanted to do about it. The issue being is that these NPC remembered what I said 20+ hours ago. So, it was rather awkward when I told two of them that I was going to arrest the BBEG and two others that I was going to join the BBEG. I also resolved the quest of the additional someone else's companion in a rather unfavourable manner and there were no options to make it better for the said NPC at the end of the quest.
  Spoiler

  It did get better at the end due to the last ending choice. I would have preferred starting killing the Union soldiers at the end of the quest, though.

My review:

Spoiler

Dread Delusion is an action-RPG with strong exploration and excellent writing, although the character development system is minimalistic and there is no visual customisation, there are still several options for the avatar's background, which affect the stats. The setting is distinct and consistent - an archipelago of floating islands under the light of a neural star, shortly after the local deities were slain by the newly-formed human alliance, the Apostatic Union.

The world is consistent and self-contained (i.e. no out-of-game information is required to make sense of it), while different islands and peoples are very distinct from each other, with the quest lines affecting them. Both the background lore and the actual plot are clear and well-developed. The topics discussed vary from practical to philosophical. Additionally, the story and the setting are very LGBTQ-friendly.

The exploration is rewarding and the few new equipment pieces are enjoyable and welcome to find. So are the NPCs and quests.

In particular, the equipment is rare (possibly, too rare) and unique enough to be meaningful. The bonuses vary from quantitative (e.g. +20 to Stamina) to qualitative (e.g. no fall damage). The loot is distributed well, even if a lot of it is gameplay logic, such as potions and coins lying on the ground, the locations of clothing, spells, minerals, and plants make sense in a more general way. Additionally, the crafting materials can be spent actively during the game on house upgrades (there are several houses for purchase), which allows them to remain desirable throughout the playthrough. Regarding crafting, though crafting or consuming potions rarely was necessary, the armour upgrades can make a significant difference in one’s playthrough, while the collected ammunition allowed to defeat the one mandatory boss.

The combat in general is very optional and rather basic, with a strong focus on positioning, though making melee encounters engaging with the first-person view is always incredibly challenging.

The controls are rebindable, 5-button mice are supported. There are also several options for the visual effects.

There are also several negative aspects and I doubt that all of them will be addressed. The saving system is rather poor - there are 3 save slots, one per playthrough, with automatic saving at certain events and upon interacting with the checkpoints. Windows Explorer still allows better save management and it is strongly recommended to make a hard save every 30 minutes due to the bugs.

The bugs vary from clipping through some objects to NPCs incorrectly recognising quest outcomes and actions to getting softlocked because a main quest was reset. The latter I resolved by modifying the save file via a hex editor and it was not exactly a user-friendly thing to do.

The last issue is that very few quests are connected to each other or have complex non-linear structure, while the NPCs are impossible to kill at will, so the thread of the prophecy will not be severed.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and I highly recommend the game.

 

Edited June 16 by Hawke64

[Humanoid]

Playing Stardew Valley for the first time in several years due to the massive 1.6 update. I know the last time I played, multiplayer was not even officially supported and required a user mod to play. Looking that up, it was mid-2018, so it's been at least six years.

Funny thing is that the major content patch was probably mostly in the 1.5 update, which was effectively a free expansion with a brand new major zone, but that passed me by for whatever reason. Realistically the new zone only becomes accessible in the second in-game year, so there's a bit of an issue where by the time it was unlocked, I felt like I'd almost had enough of the game already. Regardless though, I pressed on so I could at least see some of it.

I'd never really bought into the idea of the game as a whole being an exemplar of the "cozy game" genre. There's far too much pressure in terms of both time and inventory management for that. But I could see where the argument comes from, and for most of the game's existence the argument has been fairly reasonable. That ceases to be the case with each piece of new content that's added though, mainly in the sense that it rapidly becomes overwhelming if you're the type to stick with the game's central theme of being a farmer. Instead you're very much incentivised to completely abandon most of the base game mechanics in order to even have time to engage with the new content.

An element of this was already hinted at in the base game with the somewhat-optional Skull Cavern, the endgame dungeon that required you to heavily optimise an entire day's play to it in a pretty literal sense. To give a bit of context, the intended approach for it pretty much involved kitting yourself out the night before, praying the game's RNG generated a good luck day in the morning, then using a teleport at 6am and start mining with explosives until 2am, when you passed out from fatigue (which is optimal play, the 1000g penalty for not going returning home manually is trivial). But to be fair, this is something you only had to pull off a couple of times in an average playthrough before being set for resources.

The new zone takes this approach and dials it to eleven. Every single day your new goal becomes to get yourself to the new zone as soon as possible at the sacrifice of everything else, and engage in the new major grind there. I admit that after a few days of this, I gave up and installed a cheat mod that allowed me to freeze time, turning the game into a more traditional RPG in which I could explore the content at my leisure. I thus wave farewell and good riddance to the game's central time management conceit, but it nonetheless feels bizarre that the intended approach seems to be to stop farming altogether, sell all your animals, ignore all your friends and their quests, etc.

Now in mitigation

normalcy is somewhat restored later on with late-lategame content gold sinks, which allow you to set up permanent portals to just about anywhere. But that creates a somewhat degenerate case where you either access the content at the point of the game it was designed for and suffer through the inconvenience, or just grind the original content for much, much longer in order to mostly trivialise everything.

[Wormerine]

On 4/29/2024 at 10:34 AM, BruceVC said:

Just please  dont tell me you playing vanilla FO3?

I think we already talked about it, but when I play the game for the first time, I always play vanilla - maybe outside unofficial patches if the game benefits of it. To me devs have same authorship over their work, as writers or film makers, so in general I am not interested in mods, and prefer to consume media “as it was intended”. 
Not that you are wrong. I do think Bethesda games are more of a platform than a game, and therefore I have no interest in what they sell.