What are you playing now?

[Keyrock]

Finally got around to playing Of Orcs and Men, I gotta say that I seriously underestimated this game. What I thought was going to be a straightforward, clunky RPG riddled with stereotypes that pass for a story has completely defied my expectations.

The combat system is the high point of this game (its as if what they were trying to do with DA2 was done right) it manages a balance between strategy, action, and build all in a rather simple manner whose depth is found in proper usage.  

Agreed, I quite enjoyed the game.  I wish it wasn't so incredibly linear, but the combat system was really good and the story surprisingly decent.  Also, the voice acting on Styx was excellent.  I hope they do a sequel some day.  There is a lot of potential there.

[HoonDing]

Game of Thrones is the better game overall, but combat in Tropes vs Orks works better. Excellent synergy between the two main characters.

[JFSOCC]

I got someone else to play X-com?

Finally finished classic campaign.

Here's the stat page: http://imgur.com/a/SF7TC

[Hurlshort]

 

I got someone else to play X-com?

Finally finished classic campaign.

Here's the stat page: http://imgur.com/a/SF7TC

 

 

Wow, you got a lot of satellites up, that takes some patience!

[Orogun01]

 

Finally got around to playing Of Orcs and Men, I gotta say that I seriously underestimated this game. What I thought was going to be a straightforward, clunky RPG riddled with stereotypes that pass for a story has completely defied my expectations.

The combat system is the high point of this game (its as if what they were trying to do with DA2 was done right) it manages a balance between strategy, action, and build all in a rather simple manner whose depth is found in proper usage.  

 

And the fact that the maps are one dimensional and there is very little exploring or decent side quests doesn't bother you?

 

Not really since I expected the game to linear, but so far I haven't had a shortage of sidequests. I think I can forgive the maps being linear because it aids the combat by controlling the positioning of enemies. 

[JFSOCC]

satellites are essential. You rush them early and you can't really go without them.

[Hassat Hunter]

Heh, got all but one sattelite too (India bailed out). Moved from "all my troops are dying" to 'let's dump the heavy (okay, got killed first mission after turning colonel)', 'my colonel snipers are seriously overpowered', "I can take 3 cryssalids, 2 muton elites, 2 thin man, 3 mutons, a sephopod (sp?) and 2 repair bots at the same time, from all 4 directions"...

So yeah, easy actually got easy, but it was a long bloody way to get there, and not done yet.

 

But really, colonel snipers are OP. And heavy... kinda REALLY suck. Assault troopers are still king though.

[JFSOCC]

Heavies are great once you get the blaster launcher, but you get that really really late in the game. Always hitting, heavy damage, large explosive radius. I agree that Snipers are OP at higher levels, but man does it feel rewarding for getting them there.

 

And yeah, easy is too easy. I've warned you! next up, a normal playthrough for you.

 

And I'll do either an ironman classic, or a normal impossible playthrough.

[Humanoid]

Heavies are better the higher the difficulty setting. Would go so far as to say they're the most important early-game class. When I played normal I thought they were a liability too, because you're thinking in that RPG-hoarding mode of "oh I could use the heavy, but then I can use anyone else and keep the weapon fragment drops." But in classic and impossible, the equation is changed, it's about nailing that alien, in *this* turn, at all costs. And so your options are a ~25% shot over high cover to take away half that Thinman's health, or a 90% chance rocket hit to kill it outright. There are more aliens per level in higher levels, so it more than compensates for the loss in weapon fragments.

 

I'd advise against going normal mode after doing easy. They're so similar it's no real gain (your monthly income is reduced, a couple more aliens to kill per mission, and I think the hidden dodge buff your guys get when their colleagues die in a mission is gone) and you'll just get bored. Try non-Ironman classic mode and see how you go. You may well die a few times over in the very first mission, but the goal here is to change how you think the situation through tactically. Hint: grenade everything you can't flank, treat low cover as desperation, and start using hunker down.

[Humanoid]

For reference, the stated differences in difficulty are listed here. But that's not the full story. For a while there's been no good comprehensive listing on the hidden mechanics in your favour in easy/normal, but there is now.

 

 

Copied for convenience:

---

All of the below only apply if you have four soldiers or less in play:

 

Easy & Normal modes

Chance to hit is 120% of the displayed value. Hence if you see 84% or above, the shot should always hit.
Alien aim get a cumulative -10% for every consecutive hit on your units, resetting when they miss.

Easy mode only

Missing a shot which had at least a 50% chance to connect adds +15% to the next such shot you make, cumulative. The counter resets when a shot hits, and is capped at 30%.
Your aim is increased by four minus the amount of soldiers you have, times 15%. Hence having one soldier in play grants him a +45% aim bonus.
Alien aim is reduced by four minus the amount of soldiers you have, times 25%. Hence having one soldier in play grants him a +75% defence.

Normal mode only

Missing a shot which had at least a 50% chance to connect adds +15% to the next such shot you make, cumulative. The counter resets when a shot hits, but otherwise has no cap.

If on easy with exactly four soldiers active, or normal with four or less, shots with a stated accuracy higher then 95% are capped down to 95% - unless they would reach 100% or more, in which case they are unaffected and should always hit.

Adjustments are made on a side-wide basis - for example, if a given soldier misses, he's not the only one who could benefit from the resulting bonus for your team's next shot.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Humanoid

[Tale]

A few things to go over here.

1) Just played Stanley Parable. Kept finding new stuff, even though sometimes it was minor. There's one sequence I saw in a screenshot that I really have no idea how to get to still. Hopefully I'll find it out.

 

2) Goodbye Deponia should be next up. I couldn't wait for gog, might as well get Steam cards and shoot for a profile background.

 

3) One of the things I did last night is try to work out my archetypes for my Shadowrun Returns campaign. Let me know what you think.

Runner: Runs for excitement and challenge. Barely even acknowledges that anything is going on unless someone sells him on the intrigue.

Merc: Runs for money. Has a particularly large opinion of himself and a low opinion of others.

Jaded Hero: Runs because someone has to. Hates the injustice around him, but hardly feels capable of doing anything about it. Still, he's willing to try.

 

I'm liking these three because they all have a particularly big evolution that plays into my epilogue->act 1 transition. They all start at the top of their game in the epilogue, but have essentially washed up by act 1's start. Which gives them an arc to continue. The Runner is trying to get back in the game, the Merc is blaming society for his fall but trying to make it big again, the Jaded Hero is looking for hope, but hesitant to expect it.

 

I'm thinking about using a fourth, or swapping the fourth out when one of the other three doesn't seem appropriate. The Retiree. A guy who, like the Merc, is working for pay, but he's working for pay because he needs it. He doesn't want the adventure, he just wants to be hit it big againso that he can be left alone. So sometimes he'll focus on the pay, sometimes he'll focus on the danger, sometimes he'll just grumble that he's too old for this crap.

 

I'll have to try sketching some dialogues out and see how it works.

[Gorth]

Not yet, but I know what I'm going to be playing pretty soon (as in, when I get home from work today)...

 

Carmageddon 2 Carpocalypse Now

 

"The world's first high-speed internal organ liberation simulator is back in full 3D! The slaughter is bloodier, the body parts fly further, and the destruction is heavier. Crash and burn through the 3D rendered crowds with the pedal to the metal. Destroy your opponents every which way possible, the more creative the destruction, the better the rewards. No rules, no compromise, NO MERCY!"

[Keyrock]

I haven't had a lot of time to play games this week.  Luckily, since Resident Evil Revelations was originally a handheld title, it was broken up into bite sized chunks by design, which has worked well for my limited playing time.

[Hurlshort]

My 6-year old daughter is totally into Lord of the Rings Online.  It started with her just playing my character and running around the rather peaceful towns, but now she has created her own hunter and is fighting off bears.  It's awesome to watch.  She can't read most of the stuff, but she picks up the buttons quickly enough.

[BruceVC]

My 6-year old daughter is totally into Lord of the Rings Online.  It started with her just playing my character and running around the rather peaceful towns, but now she has created her own hunter and is fighting off bears.  It's awesome to watch.  She can't read most of the stuff, but she picks up the buttons quickly enough.

 

"fighting off bears" that's  cute

Edited October 18, 2013 by BruceVC

[Oner]

Heavies are better the higher the difficulty setting. Would go so far as to say they're the most important early-game class. When I played normal I thought they were a liability too, because you're thinking in that RPG-hoarding mode of "oh I could use the heavy, but then I can use anyone else and keep the weapon fragment drops." But in classic and impossible, the equation is changed, it's about nailing that alien, in *this* turn, at all costs. And so your options are a ~25% shot over high cover to take away half that Thinman's health, or a 90% chance rocket hit to kill it outright. There are more aliens per level in higher levels, so it more than compensates for the loss in weapon fragments.

 

I'd advise against going normal mode after doing easy. They're so similar it's no real gain (your monthly income is reduced, a couple more aliens to kill per mission, and I think the hidden dodge buff your guys get when their colleagues die in a mission is gone) and you'll just get bored. Try non-Ironman classic mode and see how you go. You may well die a few times over in the very first mission, but the goal here is to change how you think the situation through tactically. Hint: grenade everything you can't flank, treat low cover as desperation, and start using hunker down.

Yeah, I'm playing on Classic and I resorted to blowing up groups of Thin Men more than once. They're the bane of my soldiers.

[Humanoid]

Their 100% chance to hit AoE poison spit is the biggest offender, feels like almost guaranteed panic at the level some of your squad will inevitably be when first encountering them (which will probably be your first council mission). They also wield light plasma rifles (even though the character model uses a pistol), which means they get an extra 10% chance to hit *on top* of the 10% higher chances to hit all aliens get all round compared to easy/normal. That extra 20% is why they tend to get singled out by people complaining about sniping thinmen one-shotting their squad over high cover at long range.

 

I've seen solid advice that if your first council mission is bomb disposal on higher difficulties, it may be better to skip it. There's little penalty for skipping council missions, unlike most anything else, and the scripted Thinman ambush once you disarm the bomb has a very high chance of overwhelming your tired squad.

[alanschu]

The Stanley Parable.  And it is amazing.

 

Reminded me a lot of Save the Date and felt it was an interesting examination of games as a medium and some of the challenges and perspectives that come with it.

[BruceVC]

The Stanley Parable.  And it is amazing.

 

Reminded me a lot of Save the Date and felt it was an interesting examination of games as a medium and some of the challenges and perspectives that come with it.

 

I didn't know anything about this game so I just checked up on it on Gamespot, looks fascinating

Edited October 18, 2013 by BruceVC

[Fighter]

I suggest you try the demo, even if you have the game. It's a separate experience in itself.

[Hassat Hunter]

Maybe later on if I ever get the x-pack. Enough other games for now (including my new Dragon Commander). First the final mission though, but not today.

Easy was hard enough for me, until I got super-armor and plasma weapons. Then everything died quickly, and it became a lot easier to counter being hit with a health pack instead of death. I think classic would do me in for sure.

 

Not quite sure if the stats posted are right, pretty sure I missed some 90% shots, but maybe since more than 4-man.

And still would question the heavies, since it's just ONE rocket. And their main weapon is the worst of all. It's just so damn inaccurate, and the damage feels the same as the much more accuracte rifle. And it eats ammo. So even firing twice seems less efficient than firing once with other weapons.

[Humanoid]

Technically you can get up to three rockets - shredder rocket adds one (albeit with different properties), and another normal one with Rocketeer. The double grenade one isn't taken so much either, but is also a viable choice. Regardless though, one rocket makes a huge difference, and there typically are only 6-8 aliens (typically in three packs) in early missions anyway. That one rocket is therefore potentially up to 1/3rd of the mission objective completed in one shot.

 

The poor aim part is true, but is more than compensated for by the Bullet Swarm ability which can be taken very early. I mean Assaults get two shots a turn too, but it requires a higher level, is restricted to one target, and gives an aim penalty to each shot (which probably takes each shot to under the hit chance of each of the heavy's). And while less ammo is annoying, Bullet Swarm also means you get more opportunities to reload - i.e. no one else can fire then reload in the same turn.

 

Aside, it's common practice to take the heavy's actions last in each turn. Arguably their greatest asset is insurance - let the rest of your squad try to kill all the aliens earlier in the turn (keeping resource waste to a minimum), and if that fails, either finish them with your rocket or suppress them (and you can shoot then suppress in the one turn, bonus).

 

 

 

More of a fun fact than a tip, but rockets and suppression count for the purpose of Holo-targetting. While skipping Bullet Swarm for Holo-targetting makes for an extremely speclaiised heavy, it can be oodles of fun. Fire a rocket (danger zone!) to take our a bunch of cover, then have an In The Zone sniper take *all* of the aliens out without spending a single action.

[melkathi]

 (including my new Dragon Commander)

 

Dragon Commander starts very easy (once you get used to the controls in the rts battles). Act 3 then has a drastic increase in difficulty. It doesn't mean that it is unbeatably hard, just that while Act 1 was a tutorial and Act 2 a stroll, Act 3 isn't anymore (at least on normal difficulty).

[JFSOCC]

Their 100% chance to hit AoE poison spit is the biggest offender, feels like almost guaranteed panic at the level some of your squad will inevitably be when first encountering them (which will probably be your first council mission). They also wield light plasma rifles (even though the character model uses a pistol), which means they get an extra 10% chance to hit *on top* of the 10% higher chances to hit all aliens get all round compared to easy/normal. That extra 20% is why they tend to get singled out by people complaining about sniping thinmen one-shotting their squad over high cover at long range.

 

I've seen solid advice that if your first council mission is bomb disposal on higher difficulties, it may be better to skip it. There's little penalty for skipping council missions, unlike most anything else, and the scripted Thinman ambush once you disarm the bomb has a very high chance of overwhelming your tired squad.

I have never been that afraid of thin men, they're annoying, but they drop quickly. If you do fear them, get some snipers, some support. Or just give all your soldiers medikits if you're really worried. poison lasts three turns and wears off, meaning decent armour makes it really ineffective.

 

It's just so damn inaccurate, and the damage feels the same as the much more accurate rifle. And it eats ammo. So even firing twice seems less efficient than firing once with other weapons.

give them a scope for +10 aim. aim counts, I've got a 90 aim heavy and she rarely misses.

Heavies are great for suppressing fire. later on you get a skill that does bonus damage on suppressing fire, take it. Suppresing fire always "hits" so it's a great way to have sure damage on targets, great for eliminating damaged units.

combine that with holo-targeting and all your other units gain +aim bonus. Heavies are certainly not useless.

Edited October 18, 2013 by JFSOCC

[Humanoid]

The threat of Thinmen subsides is reasonable time, yeah. But early on, with only conventional weapons and grenades, they present a new challenge. Rockets aside, nothing in your arsenal is capable of reliably taking them out in one hit due to the extra HP they have (4hp in classic and 6hp in impossible). Arguably the +1 they get for classic probably means more as it means doubling the firepower required to kill them: whether 4 or 6 hp, it's two grenade or on average two shots with ballistic weapons. And as per any difficulty, it's harder to flank them and easier for them to flank you due to their extra mobility. The risk of a panic chain is also much larger and is arguably the bigger threat from the poison, as opposed to the actual damage.

 

Unfortunately it also means they promote somewhat boring play early on: the scripted ones in council missions in particular are best dealt with by mass overwatch fire the moment they spawn, so it enforces the strict conga-line strategy even moreso than usual.