Random video game news... Bring me a bucket, and I'll show you a bucket!

[Bokishi]

$20 a month for gamepass, next $30 and then $50, stop the price hikes or I'm out (I should already be out actually)

[Humanoid]

I'm paid up for the next couple years or so having loaded up on a bunch of cheap South American 3-monthly Xbox Live Gold cards. I think it worked out to around $7AUD a month for Ultimate once all's said and done.

If I ever had to pay full local price for it, it'd simply be a case of only paying for single months now and then whenever there's a few games I want to try out.

[Zoraptor]

I've only used gamepass with free months, and for that it was great value.

We got a cool 32% increase to monthly cost to nearly 30 bucks. Wouldn't effect me much anyway since I only ever sub to services for a month at a time but it will be interesting to see at what point the ubiquitous subscriber network price hikes become unsustainable.

Edited July 12 by Zoraptor

[Hawke64]

16 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

"Owning" a game may be ever more of a precarious illusion in these days of non-physical media, but I still like what illusion there is left.

You still can download the installers/archives from GOG and Itch.io, despite them being non-physical only (that is, you are the one copying the files on the external drives/cloud). It does not work for many larger publishers, but since I am not interested in most of them (EA and MS/Obsidian+inXile being the exceptions), it bothers me less (the general idea of the preservation of our culture aside). Funnily enough, the latest Larian's game is DRM-free on Steam, so having the older versions is possible as long as you have the space to back it up (~130GB total, ~90GB of textures; the bloat and the inability to remove it, while keeping the game-critical parts, annoy me greatly) and it also prevents the forced updates on Steam (granted, that's Steam's issue, not Larian's fault for releasing an unfinished game, while removing the Early Access tag).

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On a related note, I've got a GamePass key and would be happy to give it to someone who uses it.

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https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/if-you-want-to-play-that-whopping-fallout-london-mod-youll-need-to-downgrade-fallout-4s-next-gen-version

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Anyway, Fallout London is a huge effort from modders Team Folon that was recently sabotaged when Bethesda treated Fallout 4 to a next gen update to capitalise on the Amazon TV show's popularity, rendering several mods incompatible and breaking a lot of stuff. Team Folon have now fiddled with the workings and sent a Fallout London build to GOG for QA testing, which suggests that release is imminent. The catch, however, is that you will need to downgrade your copy of Fallout 4 to play the mod, because even with Team Folon's last-minute adjustments, Fallout 4 next gen and Fallout London simply don't get on.

Not sure if I am going to play Fallout: London, but I do have the pre-next-gen version of Fallout 4, so I can. Though, the downgrader will be included with the mod, so even the less fortunate Steam players can do so with little friction.

Also, this makes me quite happy that Obsidian very reasonably and player-friendly made the More Space-Consuming edition of The Outer Worlds optional and safely separated from the original game as a different product.

[Lexx]

13 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

Fallout London is a huge effort from modders Team Folon that was recently sabotaged when Bethesda treated Fallout 4 to a next gen update to capitalise on the Amazon TV show's popularity, rendering several mods incompatible and breaking a lot of stuff.

"Sabotaged" sounds very preposterous to me. Bethsoft releasing some update for the TV show is not a huge surprise, and mods breaking on game updates is also often expected. The reason why the fallout (heh) of that is so big is because of all those script extender hacks that stop working once the exe file changes a lot. That's not something I'd blame Bethsoft for. It's basically s- happens.

[LadyCrimson]

19 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

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https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/if-you-want-to-play-that-whopping-fallout-london-mod-youll-need-to-downgrade-fallout-4s-next-gen-version

I am slow brained  - if I bought the release version of FO4 and that's it, but I'd have to reinstall the game because I already uninstalled it ages ago, what version of FO4 would I be playing? Is it like Death Stranding where there's a "new" version of the game and the original release store page is delisted, but if you bought that older version, it's still there/that's what you'd download, if you didn't pay/opt in for the update/new version?

Edit: not that I'm sure I'm interested in this London mod either, but knowing my options are nice.

Edited July 14 by LadyCrimson

[Zoraptor]

The next gen version of FO4 was a free update, and has replaced the old version everywhere (except GOG, and maybe roll back option on Steam?).

Many people felt ripped off at 0$, if they'd tried charging for it the reaction would have been... grim.

 

Edited July 14 by Zoraptor

[LadyCrimson]

^ ok, thanks, sounds like it would update me to next-gen automatically then. What made people feel ripped off tho? Quick search makes it sound mostly like a graphical/performance/bug fixes (the latter being always in question re: Bethsoft) update with some added quests/outfits.

[Zoraptor]

I'd stress I haven't played post update but supposedly they didn't fix many bugs, broke mods that did fix those bugs, introduced new bugs and those bugs it did fix were too often a bit half arsed eg stretching the UI to 'fix' ultrawide.

[Hawke64]

9 hours ago, Lexx said:

"Sabotaged" sounds very preposterous to me. Bethsoft releasing some update for the TV show is not a huge surprise, and mods breaking on game updates is also often expected. The reason why the fallout (heh) of that is so big is because of all those script extender hacks that stop working once the exe file changes a lot. That's not something I'd blame Bethsoft for. It's basically s- happens.

"Sabotaged" might be a bit too strong. Greed and negligence are more fitting. Bethesda games notoriously encourage modding, while the update did not bring anything positive (the "next-gen" ultrawide monitor support was broken along with the mods that could provide it, the new quests were starting too early and destroying whatever balance was in the game, the new bugs were introduced as usual), it just broke the mods that were making the game more/anyhow enjoyable for the players. Fallout 4 was released 10 years ago, with a lot modders moving on to new projects and not fixing what Bethesda destroyed. Bethesda's actions made the game worse when they could have just done nothing and still get the increase in sales from the TV show.

3 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

^ ok, thanks, sounds like it would update me to next-gen automatically then. What made people feel ripped off tho? Quick search makes it sound mostly like a graphical/performance/bug fixes (the latter being always in question re: Bethsoft) update with some added quests/outfits.

Broken mods, the new features not working (the ultrawide UI) or making the game worse (the quests and the bugs)

1 hour ago, Zoraptor said:

I'd stress I haven't played post update but supposedly they didn't fix many bugs, broke mods that did fix those bugs, introduced new bugs and those bugs it did fix were too often a bit half arsed eg stretching the UI to 'fix' ultrawide.

I've got the same impression from the Steam forums.

4 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

I am slow brained  - if I bought the release version of FO4 and that's it, but I'd have to reinstall the game because I already uninstalled it ages ago, what version of FO4 would I be playing? Is it like Death Stranding where there's a "new" version of the game and the original release store page is delisted, but if you bought that older version, it's still there/that's what you'd download, if you didn't pay/opt in for the update/new version?

Edit: not that I'm sure I'm interested in this London mod either, but knowing my options are nice.

If you are installing from Steam or GOG directly, it will be the latest (next-gen) version. The mod, when released, should include the downgrader, which will download the compatible (pre-next-gen) version. There are some guides and mods on Steam and Nexus, but for Steam it requires using the console with the game's and resources' IDs, instead of "sudo apt-get install [package name]". So, it should be fine and accessible either way.

To finish on something positive, I appreciate that Obsidian kept the original TOW separate from the newer version.

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https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/a-big-steam-sale-of-igf-award-winners-and-finalists-is-now-underway

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IGF awards are decided by, first, a large pool of journalists and developers who sort through a pile of hundreds of submitted games to advocate for a handful, and second, by a smaller group of hand-selected judges, also mostly game developers, who select the shortlist of nominees and ultimately the winners. That's a decent system which has frequently succeeded in elevating unknown games, such Outer Wilds, which won the Grand Prize in 2015 with an alpha build created by a team of students several years before its full commercial release. More generally the IGF have succeeded, through the award categories and the judges' discussions, in creating a culture that favours design and innovation over popularity.

And so my wishlist has lengthened.

[Hawke64]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/new-fantasy-colonial-rpg-greedfall-2-the-dying-world-gets-september-release-date

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Spiders and Nacon's new fantasy RPG Greedfall 2: The Dying World will launch into early access for PC via Steam on 24th September.

In a flagrant travestying of the whole sequel concept, Greedfall 2 actually begins three years before the first game's events, and casts you as a grizzled native of the island of Teer Fradee, who has been uprooted and taken to the continent of Gacane. In this rotten imperial heartland ravaged by plague, war and factional disputes, you'll fight, talk and scheme your way to freedom while trying to head off some arsehole who wants to conquer the universe.

I'd like to note that The Technomancer, another Spiders' game, starts before its predecessor, Mars: War Logs, and ends shortly after. Considering the lack of any save state transfer, it, unfortunately, makes sense.

Overall, I found Greedfall to be quite enjoyable (replayed several times; the guns are OP), despite the typical for Spiders drama for the drama's sake ending choice.

Spoiler

The choice between setting a very annoying tree on fire or stabbing the only NPC who cares about you no matter what was rather straightforward. Well, the companions disapproved, though.

 

[melkathi]

I need to finish Mars War Logs so I can play Technomancer.

[Hawke64]

6 minutes ago, melkathi said:

I need to finish Mars War Logs so I can play Technomancer.

Not counting the setting, there is 1 character (whom I remember) appearing in both games and The Technomancer sort of works with any ending for Mars: War Logs. The level design is labyrinthine and the backtracking is plentiful in both. So, you could start with the sequel.

[uuuhhii]

prologue was the best part of greedfall

pretty sure mainland will have supernatural enemy

hope there are more than 3 type of boss

[Mamoulian War]

Japanese lawmaker is considering to start an investigation against Ubisoft, due to the cultural appropriation and other cultural inaccuracies present in their latest checkbox simulator.

https://nichegamer.com/japanese-politician-investigation-assassins-creed-shadows-inaccuracies/

[Lexx]

If you got nothing else to waste your time on.

[Wormerine]

21 hours ago, Mamoulian War said:

Japanese lawmaker is considering to start an investigation against Ubisoft, due to the cultural appropriation and other cultural inaccuracies present in their latest checkbox simulator.

https://nichegamer.com/japanese-politician-investigation-assassins-creed-shadows-inaccuracies/

Investigation into what? Does Japan have a law against historical inaccuracies and loose adaptations? Shake in fear, Hollywood.

Edited July 17 by Wormerine

[HoonDing]

Good thing their girl cartoon games apropos of nothing.

[uuuhhii]

appropriation like fate

there was some weirdness when it come to historical content in video game

like how honganji didn't show up in most sengoku muso due to some complaint

but are still in almost every nobunaga no yabo

Edited July 16 by uuuhhii

[MrBrown]

MS knows Trump is new god-emperor, can't even hire other than white men from now on.

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-dei-lead-blasts-company-in-internal-email-after-team-is-reportedly-laid-off

[HoonDing]

DEI is the new buzzword today eh

Been seeing that all over Steam forums, time to update my autoblock filter

[melkathi]

Well, the antivaxxer YouTube channel YouTube keeps suggesting I watch, has a video explaining the Secret Service failed to protect Trump because they were DEI hires. So why should Steam forums be any better.

[Lexx]

Trump only hires the best people.

[BruceVC]

15 hours ago, MrBrown said:

MS knows Trump is new god-emperor, can't even hire other than white men from now on.

 

I dont think thats the main criticism towards DEI and similar programs, the main criticism is why cant hiring be done on merit? All companies should have policies that ensure a healthy work environment based on codes of conduct like where people arent discriminated against so you dont need DEI for that 

Any private sector company should be able to hire who they want based on the most qualified or suitable candidate, public sector companies can be different but qualification and experience still should be the most important factor 

DEI is also criticized because its seen as discriminating against white men who typically wont fit the DEI criteria as opposed to everyone else 

 

[melkathi]

I think people want to pretend the criticism is one based on merit. And there are people who honestly do see it that way. At the same time, I see a lot of people who shout about DEI not having an issue with nepotism or other problematic hiring practices.