What are you playing now?

[Morgoth]

Playing FEAR 2.

 

I can't believe I forked out 30

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I'm a console-only player and even I have to agree that FEAR 2 was much too "consolified". I actually liked the first because it was this weird beast from the strange and bloom-less world of PC shooters, this one is just boring.

[Tigranes]

Playing Oblivion again. I could never go back to it, but with all the mods now that it's 'matured' it's actually quite fresh. The game is actually hard. Everyone knows the ruins you see right in front of you when you exit the sewers, right? 2 bandits outside? I sneak attacked with a bow, but with such a low marksman skill I only did 2x sneak damage, and didn't take a lot off. Arrows are harder to dodge with the mods so I was dodging, but then the guy with the hammer came at me and with the weapon & strength really knocks me back, so that I can't really get a good rhythm going. Then when I'm down he kicks me (mod). Backward running speeds are slower now so I can't even run back while firing arrows. I used all the potions I found in the sewers then used the Imperial power to drain the fatigue so I could knock HIM down.

 

Then I got inside the ruins, but that bandit ringleader is too strong so I'm having to sneak around everywhere *actually afraid* (because they can kill me so bad). And I'm still Level 1, with the level adjustment mods.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

That just sounds like an awesome game. Is there a mod to make the animations not craptacular?

[Enoch]

I finished my game of Torment. I'm not usually much of a 'replayer,' but it had been probably 8 years since I played it, so I had forgotten enough of the little details to make it interesting again.

 

So I want something new to play next. I'm thinking of picking up one of the many well-regarded older titles that I missed/skipped. I'm lazy, so I'm limiting myself to what's available on Steam. Hitman: Blood Money? Bloodlines? (I know this one has some fanboys around here-- I was never into the whole vampirey thing, and was very underwhelmed with everything else Troika did, so I gave it a pass. Is it worth my time and my $20? Does the Steam version work with vista?) The Witcher? (Opinions seem pretty polarized on this one.) I'm not much for actiony gameplay, but I'll suffer through some if the other elements of the game are compelling enough (e.g., I played half of Deus Ex once).

[Theseus]

Blood lines and Blood money are both excellent games. I liked both so much i cant choose. As for the witcher i couldnt get into it. I have the steam EE version too. Ill give it another try another day just like i did with STALKER and maybe Ill enjoy it next time around

[Tigranes]

That just sounds like an awesome game. Is there a mod to make the animations not craptacular?

 

I avoided most graphical upgrades or mods that added new content, for two reasons; firstly, my internet is very slow right now; secondly, i distrust most *new* mod content like new monsters or locales, as they are usually very poor quality and don't fit well. I am not sure if there are mods to improve animations *in general*, but this combat mod I am using, I think, has added new animations for dodging and shield bashing that are very good.

 

Im using:

-> Official Patch

-> Unofficial Patch

-> Fransesco's Levelling Mod (which also fixes levelled quests/quest rewards, etc)

-> S.P.A.M. (fixes the levelling system so its no longer uber or broken; i.e. no more putting your favourite skills in 'minor' or becoming a God superfast)

-> L.A.M.E. (some sort of magic system upgrade, not quite sure what it does yet)

-> Deadly Reflexes or something like that; this is the combat mod that adds the bash, kick, coup de grace, dodge and so forth. I haven't worked out everything it's added (apparently it has a jumping sneak melee attack), but it's made the combat a *lot* more challenging, dynamic, varied and hectic. it's hard and it's awesome.

-> Some Guard mod that makes guards less psychic, so you can actually thief things properly. That should get fun soon.

-> BTMod, Color Map, Quests Popup Remover, Landscape LOD fix, Keychain, Extended Hotkeys, some mod that makes alchemy ingredients lighter, and I think a couple of others.

 

The important thing I think is that levelling mods like OOO and Fransesco have really matured now, so you are getting proper consistent fixes of some of the most horrendous game-ruining flaws of the vanilla game (badly level scaled monsters, level scaling quests/quest loot, broken player progression system), and adds some nice things.

 

I'll let you guys know how it is after another session, probably tonight or tomorrow.

 

Hitman: Blood Money? Bloodlines?

 

Blood Money is entertaining, though other titles in that series are more atmospheric. It has a great level later on where its some sort of festival and you have to dodge literally hundreds of people.

 

Bloodlines has very actiony combat. I own it, but I could never get past its chuggy gameplay on my old PC, its bugs and its boring combat. I need to try it again though.

 

The Witcher is a solid RPG and not *that* actiony.

[Bokishi]

Back to Call of Duty 4

[Dark_Raven]

Back to Call of Duty 4

A decent game for an FPS.

 

Playing Bloodlines, Fallout 3 and Super Mario on the old Nintendo.

[Tigranes]

Following up on that Oblivion: so I was having trouble with those bandits even after getting up to level 2, then remembered a trip wire that I jumped over. Got a bandit to chase me, tripped the wire coming backwards on to it, turned and watched as a big spikey block swung down and killed him outright (Deadlier Traps mod).

 

Only the bandit ringleader remained, but there weren't any traps nearby. I decided to shadow him, track his movements, cast the 60 second invisibility power from the birth sign, sneak behind him, then try the jumping backstab Deadly Reflexes mod had added. Well, the first time, probably because my strength and agility are pretty low at the moment, the ringleader countered with a kick, so I fell down, then he coup de grace'd me. Second try...

 

 

Yep, beheading. I guess they looked at Fallout 3. You can set the % for this though, and I set it to the lowest (10 or 15), so it won't be silly like in FO3 hopefully.

 

So as dungeoneering goes that was pretty good. Walked over to that snow town, now I'll see how the thieving's changed and how the modified Persuasion works, etc.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Back to Call of Duty 4

A decent game for an FPS.

 

Its much more than decent, its more or less everything an FPS should be. We played it last night over LAN and even though we were just 3 people, it was awesome

 

 

 

 

A tricked-out M60 with stopping power+deep impact is the shiznitz. Well, if you aim as badly as I do, that is.

[Dark_Raven]

That it is.

[Wrath of Dagon]

Got Braid on sale for $10 from Xbox Live.

[Hurlshort]

Got Out of the Park Baseball off of Steam, since I was jonesin' for a good baseball game. It was a bit confusing (why can't they make a sport sim game that has information pop ups?) but I managed to get my lineup set and play a preseason game. I was down a run, but a 9th inning rally helped me win.

[Rosbjerg]

Its much more than decent, its more or less everything an FPS should be. We played it last night over LAN and even though we were just 3 people, it was awesome

 

A tricked-out M60 with stopping power+deep impact is the shiznitz. Well, if you aim as badly as I do, that is.

 

All I need is my Dragunov and my knife ..

 

Backup is a silenced gun or, if it's a small map, a M4A1 Carbine.

 

Man I love sniping in CoD4..

[CoM_Solaufein]

Found the alien space craft in Fallout 3 finally. It was close to where I've passed it numerous times.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Bought Fallout 3. Got out into the wasteland, hoping to succeed as a greedy pickpocketing switchblade maniac.

 

The only question is: What the hell do I do know?

[Dark_Raven]

Explore, talk to people if you need to get leads on your dad, especially the fellow who owns the bar in Megaton.

[Maria Caliban]

Explore, talk to people if you need to get leads on your dad, especially the fellow who owns the bar in Megaton.

 

Or kill that guy and get the information some other way. The sky's the limit!

[Deraldin]

I'm about half way through Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon right now. Haven't gotten any of the bonus missions, cause I'm awesome and don't lose anyone. Well, that's not entirely true. I did lose one character, but I didn't have the right guy to recruit him and I really didn't want to restart that level so I killed him and went about my business. Current most badass character goes to Draug, my level 1 general with the following stats:

 

HP 45 / Str 14 / Mag 1 / Skill 12 / Spd 16 / Lck 7 / Def 22 / Res 3

Weapon ranks: Lance A, Bow E

 

I almost gave him the boots that increase movement by 2, but that would have made him obscenely strong. I send him out during missions without any weapons just to use him as a big huge freakin' decoy. The only things that can hurt him are magic users and the occasional boss character, but even those bosses only do 2-3 damage per hit with silver weapons. I use him to block single width hallways or doorways while Merric stands behind him and blasts anyone that dares come close with his magic.

 

Cain, Abel, Merric, Lena and Caeda are all level 15 or higher (Lena is 17) and are closing in on promotion level. I've got two master seals waiting at the moment. Ogma (Mercenary) and Gordin (Archer) are level 11 and 10 respectively. The rest of my usual squad is rounded out by Beck (Ballistician , Barst (Fighter 6), Darros (Pirate 4), Julian (Thief 6) and Navarre (Myrmidon 6). Any remaining spots are either ignored or swapped in for Minerva (Dracoknight 2) if I need the second flier.

 

I just found the silver card two levels ago and used it for the first time. Bought 20k worth of steel and silver weapons to outfit my characters with and I still have around 55k left not counting all the crappy iron weapons I could sell.

 

On a side note, what is up with all the people with blue hair? Blue hair seems to out number any other colour.

[Monte Carlo]

Have work commitments until next week, then have free time to play Storm of Zehir. Still agonizing over a good party, too much choice.

 

In the meantime, a turn or two of MTW2: GC mod every now and then (England, turn 112).

 

Cheers

MC

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I swear I'm playing Fallout 3 wrong.

 

 

I got about two sidequests, one which I don't know how to finish (where the **** is Ian West?) and the other is bugged because Roy Philips is already dead. So I got real bored running around in the wasteland, which is a lot emptier than you think, and blew up Megaton.

 

This is boring.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Got it on the PC? If so, mod it.

[Monte Carlo]

I like FO3 a lot, but kind of gave up on it because of (a) lack of stability and (b) repetitive combat. I also don't like the scrounging / scavenging - it just gets a bit stale for me, as do weapons breaking all the time. Seriously, you can bury an AK in gravel and sewage for years, slap a magazine in, ready it, pull the trigger and it'll likely go 'bang.' So why does my FO:3 AK degrade after I fire a couple of hundred rounds through it? That's not immersion - it's a pain in the arse. I can understand it with energy weapons, because they don't actually exist...

 

Having said that, I love the sandbox aspect and the art direction: I'll defiintely be coming back to it when it's patched and I've figured out which mods to use (hint - more durable weapons, please).

 

Cheers

MC

[mkreku]

Yeah, I understand that it's a gameplay function (weapon degradation) but real life weapons can fire thousands of rounds of ammunition before being affected by wear and tear.. It's a bit annoying that weapons are so often being portrayed in games as fragile and undependable. They're not.