What are you playing now?

[HoonDing]

can you imagine the outrage of people paying full price for a movie ticket to see say, The Avengers 2 and the movie only being 16 minutes long?  people would riot.  it's an extreme example, but it merely is to demonstrate the point that length of entertainment is not a trivial attribute

16 minutes of Black Widow T&A would be worth full price.

[Hurlshort]

 

As my gaming time diminishes, I find hours of play becomes a less important metric.

 

15 hours of all awesome is better than 30 hours that is 15 hours of awesome and 15 hours of okay, IMO.

 

Oblivion helped teach me this (which was 0 hours of awesome and like 30 hours of "Meh what am I doing I am wasting my time...")

 

And I always prefer to spend 30 hours of awesome than spending 15 hours of awesome

 

I consider myself lucky if I get one game with that much awesome every few years.  Fallout:NV was probably the only recent game that really amazed me at the hours it kept my rabid attention.

 

That being said, my time is valuable and much like movies, a shorter game that plays great all the way through and feels completed within a decent time frame is really what I'm looking for most of the time.

[LadyCrimson]

I'm usually more concerned with replayability than pure campaign length. Even with action games. If a FPS/action is short but gives me reason to replay it a few times, it's ok that it's short. If it's a game that's more of a one-off (great experience but no desire to replay because it's all or largely the same each playthru) I won't want to spend a ton of cash on it.

 

So...does this Bioshock game feel replayable?

[Bokishi]

It has a 1999 mode at the end that makes it tough like an old school fps. There are various trinkets and locations to find that you'll miss the first time. Really though this game is quite a production. The story alone just pulls you in and tugs at you. My favorite 2013 game so far, and I'm not even finished yet lol

Edited March 27, 2013 by Bokishi

[Hurlshort]

can you imagine the outrage of people paying full price for a movie ticket to see say, The Avengers 2 and the movie only being 16 minutes long?  people would riot.  it's an extreme example, but it merely is to demonstrate the point that length of entertainment is not a trivial attribute

 

We aren't talking about games that are an hour or two long, which would be equivalent to your 16 minute movie.  With movies, you pay like $10 and you get about 2 hours of entertainment.  At that ratio a game only needs to be 12 hours long.  Most games meet that pretty easily.  I would avoid this Bioshock game based on length if it was well under that, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

So I'll just avoid it because it is a FPS game

[AwesomeOcelot]

I'm usually more concerned with replayability than pure campaign length. Even with action games. If a FPS/action is short but gives me reason to replay it a few times, it's ok that it's short. If it's a game that's more of a one-off (great experience but no desire to replay because it's all or largely the same each playthru) I won't want to spend a ton of cash on it.

 

So...does this Bioshock game feel replayable?

The FPS gameplay is varied enough to play the game through multiple times.

[LadyCrimson]

It has a 1999 mode at the end that makes it tough like an old school fps. There are various trinkets and locations to find that you'll miss the first time. Really though this game is quite a production. The story alone just pulls you in and tugs at you. My favorite 2013 game so far, and I'm not even finished yet lol

It's pretty rare stories in games pull me in at all, especially emotionally. Something about the ent. format keeps games more at a distant task-oriented mentality than ever an emotional one. But occasionally they do (which is why I love Obsidian...). But if the graphics are wowzer enough, sometimes they sweep me away just from the environment immersion aspect. Anyway...sounds like it does have at least some reason to replay it, if one likes the gameplay enough. Good to know.

[Humanoid]

More XCOM goodness. I, and some corporal, learned an important lesson last night. That being, do not continue to use a burning vehicle as cover! *BOOM* Im really loving the layers this game presents and the decisions that you have to make. I understand its probably an illusion and that by end game Ill have everything but currently I like having to choose what to prioritize in research and what I should build first wrt my resources.

 

Just to make sure Im not doing it wrong, what do you do between missions? For example, I get back from a mission and promote everyone and check the progress of various projects but is the only way to advance the game to go to that room that shows the Earth and continuously hit "scan for activity" until something happens? Also, Japan, Australia and India are about to crap themselves with panic, is there some way I can directly go to those areas and complete missions or do I just have to wait until the "scan for activity" gives me a mission there?

As long as they're not 5/5 panicked, it's a stable situation: panic will not go up until you either, a) ignore an abduction occuring on the same continent, or b) fail a terror mission. Remember also that a country at 5/5 does not actually leave until the end of the calendar month, except if a terror failure occurs to take them to 5/5 (in which case they leave immediately), so it's still a recoverable position. Aside, refusing council missions is actually not all that bad - often the first month's council mission is skipped if it's a bomb disposal one.

 

Actually lowering panic is done via launching a satellite, successfully completing an abduction mission in that country only, succeeding at a terror mission on the same continent (actual reduction depends on number of civilians saved), or successfully assaulting the alien base (worldwide reduction), which I guess you could say ends act 1 of the game.

[LadyCrimson]

I wanted to try out the current public alpha of the Planet Explorer's Kickstarter, but apparently it's a pretty large file (1.5GB) and the download server is really slow, so at the moment I'm sitting here impatiently watching a progress bar.

Their funding goal is modest and the game looks like it might be interesting, combining RPG with sandboxy play + a build mode, but since they're offering the option, I want to take a peek at it before donating even 20 bucks.

[Rosbjerg]

so at the moment I'm sitting here impatiently watching a progress bar.

 

 

Started a round of X-Com because people started talking about it.. and downloaded some mod that upped the difficulty.. Now I'm getting my butt kicked, but I like it

[AGX-17]

 

 

It has a 1999 mode at the end that makes it tough like an old school fps. There are various trinkets and locations to find that you'll miss the first time. Really though this game is quite a production. The story alone just pulls you in and tugs at you. My favorite 2013 game so far, and I'm not even finished yet lol

It's pretty rare stories in games pull me in at all, especially emotionally. Something about the ent. format keeps games more at a distant task-oriented mentality than ever an emotional one. But occasionally they do (which is why I love Obsidian...). But if the graphics are wowzer enough, sometimes they sweep me away just from the environment immersion aspect. Anyway...sounds like it does have at least some reason to replay it, if one likes the gameplay enough. Good to know.

 

 

The gameplay in B:I isn't really anything special (lots of bullet-sponge enemies, you'll find yourself running out of ammo and "salts" a bit too frequently, the fact that most of your "Vigors," the BI equivalent of Plasmids from Bioshock, don't work on boss-class enemies is especially irritating,) the story and relationship between Booker and Elizabeth are really the focus. And possibly the problem, once you've finished the game. It's one of those things that leaves more questions than answers, and the big ones feel more like plot holes than questions, for the most part. Edited March 27, 2013 by AGX-17

[WDeranged]

 

 

 

 

I've been careful to avoid spoilers but I didn't expect to be searching for technical fixes on a forum where some malicious little bugger put the main plot twist in the title of his post (all caps), I can't help but feel rather bummed out over this game now

They always do that for every big game and I hate it as well

 

 

Should be a bannable offence *grumble grumble*

 

That said, this post is titled: "LEIA IS CHEWBACCA'S FATHER!!!"

 

I could have reached through the monitor and punched the guy but ah well, my technical problems and the lack of proper save slots means I've played through the city intro at least six times now, the magic is utterly gone so I'll put the game away for a good while, maybe see if the free copy of X-Com can make up for the disappointment

[Tigranes]

I never really tried Bioshock 1 & 2 either, but yes, after walking through this complete non-gamer through it, I'll see whether I want to try this one at bargain-bin prices. I assume there's some way to play from the start with 1999 mode? 

 

Just wary of all these games these days which look cool and have cool things, but in the end you're just thoughtlessly massacring things with your overpowered gimmicks on dumb-as-stones AI (e.g. Dishonoured).

[LadyCrimson]

@Rosbjerg -- hahaha, that's exactly it!

 

Finally done! Let's see if it'll install now...

[LadyCrimson]

Oh, I think I like this PlanetExplorers game. Definitely will back it.

 

At first I tried the just-build mode, but had no clue what to do. Just dug holes in the dirt. Then I tried Story mode, which had me next to a crashed plane with some lady to talk to/get easy starter missions from. Wandered around, collected resources, made some starter gear. All nice stuff. Then it got dark. Really dark. And I was still running around (not too far from the ship tho) on the beach nearby. Giant crabs or something just appeared out of nowhere with the dark. A whole bunch. Kill them? No wai. Chased me everywhere until dawn. 

 

Put a few pictures in the screenshot thread here.

 

Definitely feels Minecraft-y I suppose, only with better graphics and more to do, perhaps. I wish you could rotate your view using the mouse-at-edge-of-screen method, since using the Q and E keys feels awkward when using WASD to also move, but you get used to it.

[Bokishi]

 

 

It has a 1999 mode at the end that makes it tough like an old school fps. There are various trinkets and locations to find that you'll miss the first time. Really though this game is quite a production. The story alone just pulls you in and tugs at you. My favorite 2013 game so far, and I'm not even finished yet lol

It's pretty rare stories in games pull me in at all, especially emotionally. Something about the ent. format keeps games more at a distant task-oriented mentality than ever an emotional one. But occasionally they do (which is why I love Obsidian...). But if the graphics are wowzer enough, sometimes they sweep me away just from the environment immersion aspect. Anyway...sounds like it does have at least some reason to replay it, if one likes the gameplay enough. Good to know.

The gameplay in B:I isn't really anything special (lots of bullet-sponge enemies, you'll find yourself running out of ammo and "salts" a bit too frequently, the fact that most of your "Vigors," the BI equivalent of Plasmids from Bioshock, don't work on boss-class enemies is especially irritating,) the story and relationship between Booker and Elizabeth are really the focus. And possibly the problem, once you've finished the game. It's one of those things that leaves more questions than answers, and the big ones feel more like plot holes than questions, for the most part.

Yeah the ending hurt my brain, but most of it made sense, but not all of it

[Blodhemn]

I like the Bioshock games for the setting, music and voice acting. So many games suck in that department, even atleast half of Obsidian's games, so that's pretty much all I play the Bioshocks for. The voice acting alone gives the game more character than the stilted sims which I'm pretty much tired of playing. I wouldn't even play Fallout New Vegas if I didn't rotate the music as there's virtually no character to the game save for old music.

[Bokishi]

After watching the Bioshock ending again, I think the whole thing makes sense now. It's mindblowing epic btw

[Gorgon]

I've played 30 mins and I don't like it. Can't believe I called in sick for this.  . Mediocre shooter with magic and such, and a story I don't care about so far.  It's pretty though, but that ain't enough. I dislike the way you have to hoard mana to cast spells, stopping to loot every trashcan. Find some other way to balance it.

 

Not familiar with the Bioshock universe so I don't really care how well it ties the rest of the games together. Still, it will probably get better. There must be something to all this enthusiasm.

 

 

PS: Is there a way I can get Iron sights to be the usual configuration for shooters (hold right mouse to aim) instead of being a toggle ?

[BruceVC]

 

I'v. Can't believe I called in sick for this.  .

 

 " called in sick for this"

 

I am not sure if I should admire or admonish you

 

But I will say taking a sick day off to play a game shows commitment to the principle of gaming, and I can respect peoples commitments

[LadyCrimson]

Apparently those night crabs in Planet Explorers are afraid of light. So I put on a headlamp ... we shall see if that helps. Otherwise I'll pretty much have to sleep through the darkness, until I have better weapons anyway. I can't wait to make some swords and guns (some animals run away so gonna need ranged to hunt them), but I don't think I have the materials yet. The crafting screen seems like one of those easy to use, long time to master sort of things.

 

Alpha .53 has it so one can't really dig straight/even floored tunnels/lines easily, which is frustrating if you're trying to level ground. ... I think they're planning on implementing such as a feature eventually tho. Yup, like this game. At least if it doesn't get funded, I'll still have this partial alpha to mess with. Pretty awesome for a KS creator to have such a playable version for DL like that.

[Blodhemn]

I've played 30 mins and I don't like it. Can't believe I called in sick for this.  . Mediocre shooter with magic and such, and a story I don't care about so far.  It's pretty though, but that ain't enough. I dislike the way you have to hoard mana to cast spells, stopping to loot every trashcan. Find some other way to balance it.

 

Not familiar with the Bioshock universe so I don't really care how well it ties the rest of the games together. Still, it will probably get better. There must be something to all this enthusiasm.

 

 

PS: Is there a way I can get Iron sights to be the usual configuration for shooters (hold right mouse to aim) instead of being a toggle ?

Yeah, that's pretty much Bioshock - I doubt it gets better for you though to be fair, pretty much every game has some sort of balance problem. I'm not a huge fan of the combat, though it's better than most games, it's just repetitive. Basically, Bioshock does atmosphere better than most so that's what you're playing for.

[AwesomeOcelot]

I stick by my opinion of Bioshock Infinite's Elizabeth, from start to end I barely had any relationship with her, the list of things I know about her and her personality is a very small list. My interactions with her were minimal, way more minimal than Alyx Vance, which I spent much less time with. I don't understand how the reviewers can say the things they are about that character.

It's a huge problem I have with the game, there's barely any interaction with any character, even the one that's right next to you for the majority. The original Bioshock had way more audio logs and they were way better, the environments told stories, there were "genetic memory" ghosts telling stories, the enemies told stories. You had one of three characters talking to you throughout the game.

The ending wasn't that confusing, it's been done before many times. It's a shame that apart from a brief period involving the gunsmith it wasn't explored more throughout the game.

It's been pretty popular in sci-fi movies and TV to have string theory, quantum mechanics, and time travel.

There's a massive plot hole I thought, unless I missed something.

Facial recognition, apparently no one has it, especially DeWitt.

The mechanic that gives you supplies and cover, I thought was pretty pointless, I wouldn't have cared if it was completely dropped. It could have been so much better than "press here" to turn something on, it could have been making decisions, changing the environment in more meaningful ways.

I liked DeWitt as a protagonist and character, with player characters you can afford to be minimal on the details. Rosalind Lutece, Robert Lutece, and Slate were interesting for the brief time I had with them. Songbird was a cool and interesting creature, although the gameplay mechanic was annoying. The movement mechanic was fun and allowed for some creativity.

[Keyrock]

While I'm still playing Saints Row the Third and Crusader Kings 2 on and off, I scooped up Mount & Blade: Warband yesterday on an el cheapo Steam Sale.  I'll play it vanilla for a while before jumping into mods, just so I can fully appreciate the difference.  The randomness of the game is both a blessing and a curse.  It's infuriating when you're lugging around 8 or 9 prisoners and you can't find a ransom broker anywhere.  Still, I rather like the game.  Nothing quite like the satisfaction of galloping at full speed and running two poor saps through with an awl pike in a single run.

[Bokishi]

 

 

I've played 30 mins and I don't like it. Can't believe I called in sick for this. . Mediocre shooter with magic and such, and a story I don't care about so far. It's pretty though, but that ain't enough. I dislike the way you have to hoard mana to cast spells, stopping to loot every trashcan. Find some other way to balance it.

 

Not familiar with the Bioshock universe so I don't really care how well it ties the rest of the games together. Still, it will probably get better. There must be something to all this enthusiasm.

 

 

PS: Is there a way I can get Iron sights to be the usual configuration for shooters (hold right mouse to aim) instead of being a toggle ?

Yeah, that's pretty much Bioshock - I doubt it gets better for you though to be fair, pretty much every game has some sort of balance problem. I'm not a huge fan of the combat, though it's better than most games, it's just repetitive. Basically, Bioshock does atmosphere better than most so that's what you're playing for.

While it may not be for everyone, I'm pretty sure the game tends to grow on most people within a few hours, and you won't have to be hoarding mana salts for long Edited March 28, 2013 by Bokishi