What I've mostly been playing this month is "drag way-to-big TV into
house, buy new furniture and re-arrange everything so TV fits into
house, then drag TV back out when it breaks" but I've already detailed
that particular adventure in earlier posts. But I found a few moments
to get in some video-gameplay too; not very much, but at least I got
some time in front of the computer.

The "It's Just a List" Part
------------------------------
* Witcher 3 (replay)
* American Truck Simulator (replay)
* Control (replay from March 2021)

The "Way More Detail Than You Want" Part
---------------------------------------

* Witcher 3 (replay, in progress)
Six years old and "Witcher 3" remains one of the most beautiful games
on the market. Other games may surpass it in visual fidelity and
specific detail, but there's an artistry to "Witcher 3's" graphics
that make it stand out amongst its peers. Whether it is the lush
countryside or the highly-detailed cityscapes, I'd be hard-pressed to
find a scene in the game that isn't a delight to look at. It helps
that everything is constantly in motion; the world is never still.
Trees and grass bend to the wind, flocks of bird erupt out of the
bushes, pennants snap, children dart in the hedgerows. It gives the
game a lifelike verisimilitude that many other games lack and more
than makes up for any deficiencies it might have in texture detail or
lower polygon counts.

If I have to fault the game with anything, it's how huge and dense it
is. An hour into the game and I've already accumulated dozens of
quests, and I know that number won't go down throughout the game's
length; as soon as I finish one mission, another will pop up to takes
its place. The quests are all fairly well done too, most with their
own twist that makes them more than the usual "kill monster X" or
"collect item Y" found in so many other games (even if that's what
they ultimately boil down to). But it can be overwhelming and the
knowledge that I still have a hundred hours or more before I get to
the game's end actually discourages me from playing the game at times.

That, and simple jealousy. As a tabletop gamer, I like to believe that
I can present a more detailed, cohesive and realistic fantasy world
than anything on a computer screen, but it's hard for me to maintain
this belief while wandering the world of the "Witcher 3". The world is
so well thought out and so delightfully reactive that it makes me look
at some of my own campaigns and wish they were anywhere nearly as
mature and detailed. I have to remind myself that "Witcher 3" was
developed by a whole team whereas my adventures are created by only
little ol' me, but it's disheartening sometimes and I actually find
myself hating the game because of this.

For all that I love its world-building, the gameplay in "Witcher 3" is
- while solid - not altogether exciting. I find the combat more
dependent on perfectly timing mouse-clicks than I'd like in a CRPG,
where it should be the character's abilities and not my own that
determine his success. Even the addition of the Witcher's renowned
tracking skills is - stripped of all its fiction - in the end little
more than a trail of breadcrumbs leading you directly from one clue to
the next, requiring no actual deductive powers on my part to solve the
mystery. It's none of it bad, but it lacks the innovative feel of the
rest of the game.

I'm only a third of the way through the game, and as much as I am
enjoying it, I do wonder if I'll keep at it to the end. It's just so
long and there's so much, and already a part of me is wondering 'What
else could I play' rather than keeping at it to the end.

* American Truck Simulator (replay)
I've run out of things to say about this game that I haven't said
before. It's got a nice big world, the driving is relaxing and even if
its visuals aren't top-of-the-line, it still looks pretty nice. Having
explored almost all of the map already (barring a few alleys and
off-ramps) I am eagerly awaiting the next DLC so I can visit some new
locals, but even without that I still get a thrill cresting a hill on
an early morning drive and seeing the sun rise on the deserts of the
American Southwest. "American Truck Simulator" remains a niche game
that will only appeal to a few, but - seeing as I'm one of those few -
I've got no complaints. I've been playing it for years and I expect I
will continue to come back to it again and again for years to come.

* Control
(originally played March 2021 but added here just to bulk out the
list)

Here's another game I wish I enjoyed more.

This time, though, the fault isn't so much with the game as it is with
me. While "Control" isn't flawless, it is a well-made game and I
understand why it garnered so much praise on its release. I just don't
care too much for the particular genre (think "X-Files") it uses. I
don't hate stories that use the setting, but they've never engaged me,
and "Control" fails in this regard too.

Still, I can admire the game from afar, even if I found it a bit of a
slog to work through. There's some impressive design in this game,
even if most of it feels more evolutionary than revolutionary. Remedy
Entertainment - the developers - have an obvious love-affair with
their physics engine (something apparent as far back as Alan Wake,
whose massive tornadoes of whirling debris were the highlight of the
game), and they leverage those physics again in this game. Practically
every prop in the game - every desk, every chair, every light - can be
moved, and this volatility makes for some very wild - and messy -
battles as gunfire, explosions and telekinetic powers scatter debris
everywhere. Even the floor and walls aren't safe, since you can rip
chunks of stone out of the level geometry to hurl at foes; while it is
more a cosmetic effect than true deformable geometry - you can't
bypass pesky locked doors using this tactic - it still looks very
neat.

Actually, there's a very impressive amount of destructibility built
into most things; things don't just break, they splinter and fall
apart into increasingly smaller pieces as you continue to blast at
them. The levels themselves are very fluid, with shifting walls and
floors; the "Ashtray Maze" level is a particular high-point, but there
are numerous examples that are almost as good to be found throughout
the game.

The remainder of the game is less thrilling, although still fairly
confident. The weakest part, in my opinion, is the gun-play. While the
weapon effects are glorious, they are opposed by some very spongey
enemies. Battles frequently overstay their welcome, especially since
the game over-uses the respawning enemy trick to build enemy numbers
back up as you thin them out. The AI is underwhelming, and more than
once some enemies have gotten stuck behind some obstacle (apparently
an issue known to the developers, since the game teleports them closer
to you if they haven't engaged you in combat after a set period).
There is an interesting variety of enemy-types - heavy gunners,
snipers, shielded units, flying units, kamikazes, and more - but most
of them look so similar it's hard to tell them apart, and the lack of
visual differentiation makes them all feel the same.

This lack of variety applies to the levels too. The whole game is set
in the eerie "Oldest House", a supernatural office building, and the
developers do a great job of creating mood and atmosphere, but
visually there's only so far you can go with office furniture and
concrete walls. It would have been nice if the different floors of the
building were more visually distinct.

I was underwhelmed by the story too. It was torturously slow, none of
the characters were very interesting, and the various twists were
fairly humdrum. By the nature of the genre, it had lacked the
satisfying conclusion I prefer too (which is one of the reasons this
sort of paranormal-fiction doesn't resonate with me).

Still, I admire the effort that went into the game. The technology is
impressive, as is the world-building, and there is some excellent
environmental storytelling. The gameplay is at least competent, if not
enthralling, and any dissatisfaction with the narrative itself is more
an issue of personal taste than a complaint about the story itself.
It's not a great game, but it is good one, and fans of "Alan Wake" or
shows like "Twin Peaks" will probably have a blast.

------------------------------

And that's what I did for my summer vaca^h^h^h^h^ the past month. And
you?

What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2022?

On Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 1:01:23 PM UTC-8, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2022?

*** Dark Souls 3 - Cinders Mod / private server
*** Kingdom Come: Deliverance
*** Journey to the Savage Planet
** Press any Button

*** Dark Souls 3 - Cinders Mod (conversion)
My first ever full conversion mod of any game. I enjoyed and finished it - as a
pyromancer again. They added a lot of cool stuff, like summoning monsters
to help you, new spells and weapons. They moved stuff around the levels too,
added new bosses, and new mobs. Bosses are harder, but new ways of dealing
with them balance that back. Biggest issue is I still didn't find it quite so
engaging without other people to play with. There were a lot of changes I didn't
care for too.

I also tried the private server, but there's just not enough people there. If you
were to use it with Cinders you'd have to use it only with people playing Cinders
and I didn't even see any servers besides the main one with more than 10 people.
(the main one had 150) I only got invaded after hours there by the same person
over and over, which was the opposite of fun (the real servers had code that
would prevent this when they were up) and didn't find anyone to summon. So
not a good solution.

I thought about trying the other big full conversion mod, but I doubt it would
be any more engaging, just different again, which I don't have any more interest
in.

*** Kingdom Come: Deliverance
I didn't give this one a fair shake last time, so thought I'd give it a try after stumbling
on raves here and there. I appreciate the change to a non-fantasy more historical
setting than my usual (odd as I've never really cared for that before.) The story is
really good so far and actually gave me the feels, something I don't remember
happening in any other game I've played. But that's where it ends. The combat
feels atrocious and the controls backwards. It seems you're supposed to loose
(almost) all the combats in the tutorial/beginning of the game. I don't seem to
have enough money to do anything and I broke down and looked up help for
combat and money and both aren't at all appealing.

Apparently you need to get about 10 levels before you have much of a chance in
combat, which seems to be about halfway through the game. And money seems
to be best to do repetitive tasks such as gathering a ton of herbs. Neither of those
have any appeal to me. If there were something I could fight and have a chance of
winning against, I might do it, but even the lowliest of bandits are far too much of
a match for me. So given up again for now. I really wanted to get further as the
story was so good.

*** Journey to the Savage Planet
I 'reviewed' in my short mention in the thread where it was announced the giveaway
It's a good and funny game of it's type, I'm just not that into whatever you call this.
FP 3d puzzle platformer? If you have even an inkling that you like this sort of game
I'd strongly suggest it.

** Push any button
An interesting idea of an evolving game, I just found where I got stuck too frustrating
I got quickly tired of banging my head against a simple old and not that fun video
game

- Justisaur

>What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2022?

I actually managed to finish two games, wow! One PC & one console:

Disco Elysium
I've read a piece on the David Lynch film Lost Highway, talking about
characters that are actually mental projections representing parts -- Ego,
Id, and Super-ego -- of the psyche of the protagonist. Something like this
is going on in Disco Elysium, where you have many aspects of your
personality that talk to you while playing, commenting on dialogues with
NPCs, or what is happening in the environment around you, for example.
Initially I found these disconcerting, distracting me from the serious biz I
was supposed to be engaged in, and really had no idea what to make of them.

But slowly, and this took many hours of gameplay for me, I gradually
became accustomed to the different perspectives on a situation these voices
provided, and began truly exploring the skill tree menu for them -- 20+ of
them split into 4 or 5 (I'm already forgetting) categories, and molding my
character to how I wanted to approach problem solving in this murder
investigation (along with various sidequests). As in a traditional
adventure game, you do search for clues, pick up objects, interrogate
witnesses; but these personality skills will affect how you interact with
people, whether they'll cooperate or offer information, suggest dialogue
lines to take, notice or not notice hidden details in the scene, etc.

There is a *lot* of dialogue and text, and I'll flatly state that accepting
and embracing this aspect of DE is important to appreciation and enjoyment
of this game. I played the full voice-over version, and these voice actors
and the text they speak are the best I've ever encountered. There are no
throwaway lines; each one is carefully crafted and written so as to fully
flesh out the world you move through, and it is worth listening to
everything. Learning the history of this gameplay world is worth the
effort. I especially found the ending coda incredibly satisfying: Various
RPGs will provide a summation of sorts of what your character accomplished
in a game, and what happened with important NPCs you met along the way
(e.g., Fallout New Vegas, Terminator Resistance), but Disco Elysium's is by
far the best integrated and fulfilling one I've seen. My character was a
bumbling but very persistent middle-of-the-road cop, as I had no plan going
in and explored everything in my 50 hours with the game, but your character
could be a Fascist Supercop, or Sherlock Holmes, or a drunken addict, or a
gay drama queen, or a hyper-aware spiritualist: Your choice.

The Order: 1886
This is a console 3rd-person cover shooter, set in a Victorian England
steampunk alternate world. Your character is part of an elite squad, akin
to a modern Knights of the Round Table, hunting down werewolf-like monsters,
who gradually uncovers a terrible conspiracy. It's a decent game, but not a
great one: Cutscenes are a large component of the game, and QTEs are
distressingly frequent. The highly linear shooting and combat are
acceptable but not inspired. I'll say that I enjoyed my time with The
Order, and it never overextended its plot with padded levels; but it
excelled at nothing, and will not make any top 10 list: A solid B-game.

Elite Dangerous, Deep Rock Galactic (free weekend), and D&DO.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

> What I've mostly been playing this month is "drag way-to-big TV into
> house, buy new furniture and re-arrange everything so TV fits into
> house, then drag TV back out when it breaks" but I've already detailed
> that particular adventure in earlier posts. But I found a few moments
> to get in some video-gameplay too; not very much, but at least I got
> some time in front of the computer.

> The "It's Just a List" Part
> ------------------------------
> * Witcher 3 (replay)
> * American Truck Simulator (replay)
> * Control (replay from March 2021)

> The "Way More Detail Than You Want" Part
> ---------------------------------------

> * Witcher 3 (replay, in progress)
> Six years old and "Witcher 3" remains one of the most beautiful games
> on the market. Other games may surpass it in visual fidelity and
> specific detail, but there's an artistry to "Witcher 3's" graphics
> that make it stand out amongst its peers. Whether it is the lush
> countryside or the highly-detailed cityscapes, I'd be hard-pressed to
> find a scene in the game that isn't a delight to look at. It helps
> that everything is constantly in motion; the world is never still.
> Trees and grass bend to the wind, flocks of bird erupt out of the
> bushes, pennants snap, children dart in the hedgerows. It gives the
> game a lifelike verisimilitude that many other games lack and more
> than makes up for any deficiencies it might have in texture detail or
> lower polygon counts.

> If I have to fault the game with anything, it's how huge and dense it
> is. An hour into the game and I've already accumulated dozens of
> quests, and I know that number won't go down throughout the game's
> length; as soon as I finish one mission, another will pop up to takes
> its place. The quests are all fairly well done too, most with their
> own twist that makes them more than the usual "kill monster X" or
> "collect item Y" found in so many other games (even if that's what
> they ultimately boil down to). But it can be overwhelming and the
> knowledge that I still have a hundred hours or more before I get to
> the game's end actually discourages me from playing the game at times.

> That, and simple jealousy. As a tabletop gamer, I like to believe that
> I can present a more detailed, cohesive and realistic fantasy world
> than anything on a computer screen, but it's hard for me to maintain
> this belief while wandering the world of the "Witcher 3". The world is
> so well thought out and so delightfully reactive that it makes me look
> at some of my own campaigns and wish they were anywhere nearly as
> mature and detailed. I have to remind myself that "Witcher 3" was
> developed by a whole team whereas my adventures are created by only
> little ol' me, but it's disheartening sometimes and I actually find
> myself hating the game because of this.

> For all that I love its world-building, the gameplay in "Witcher 3" is
> - while solid - not altogether exciting. I find the combat more
> dependent on perfectly timing mouse-clicks than I'd like in a CRPG,
> where it should be the character's abilities and not my own that
> determine his success. Even the addition of the Witcher's renowned
> tracking skills is - stripped of all its fiction - in the end little
> more than a trail of breadcrumbs leading you directly from one clue to
> the next, requiring no actual deductive powers on my part to solve the
> mystery. It's none of it bad, but it lacks the innovative feel of the
> rest of the game.

> I'm only a third of the way through the game, and as much as I am
> enjoying it, I do wonder if I'll keep at it to the end. It's just so
> long and there's so much, and already a part of me is wondering 'What
> else could I play' rather than keeping at it to the end.

> * American Truck Simulator (replay)
> I've run out of things to say about this game that I haven't said
> before. It's got a nice big world, the driving is relaxing and even if
> its visuals aren't top-of-the-line, it still looks pretty nice. Having
> explored almost all of the map already (barring a few alleys and
> off-ramps) I am eagerly awaiting the next DLC so I can visit some new
> locals, but even without that I still get a thrill cresting a hill on
> an early morning drive and seeing the sun rise on the deserts of the
> American Southwest. "American Truck Simulator" remains a niche game
> that will only appeal to a few, but - seeing as I'm one of those few -
> I've got no complaints. I've been playing it for years and I expect I
> will continue to come back to it again and again for years to come.

> * Control
> (originally played March 2021 but added here just to bulk out the
> list)

> Here's another game I wish I enjoyed more.

> This time, though, the fault isn't so much with the game as it is with
> me. While "Control" isn't flawless, it is a well-made game and I
> understand why it garnered so much praise on its release. I just don't
> care too much for the particular genre (think "X-Files") it uses. I
> don't hate stories that use the setting, but they've never engaged me,
> and "Control" fails in this regard too.

> Still, I can admire the game from afar, even if I found it a bit of a
> slog to work through. There's some impressive design in this game,
> even if most of it feels more evolutionary than revolutionary. Remedy
> Entertainment - the developers - have an obvious love-affair with
> their physics engine (something apparent as far back as Alan Wake,
> whose massive tornadoes of whirling debris were the highlight of the
> game), and they leverage those physics again in this game. Practically
> every prop in the game - every desk, every chair, every light - can be
> moved, and this volatility makes for some very wild - and messy -
> battles as gunfire, explosions and telekinetic powers scatter debris
> everywhere. Even the floor and walls aren't safe, since you can rip
> chunks of stone out of the level geometry to hurl at foes; while it is
> more a cosmetic effect than true deformable geometry - you can't
> bypass pesky locked doors using this tactic - it still looks very
> neat.

> Actually, there's a very impressive amount of destructibility built
> into most things; things don't just break, they splinter and fall
> apart into increasingly smaller pieces as you continue to blast at
> them. The levels themselves are very fluid, with shifting walls and
> floors; the "Ashtray Maze" level is a particular high-point, but there
> are numerous examples that are almost as good to be found throughout
> the game.

> The remainder of the game is less thrilling, although still fairly
> confident. The weakest part, in my opinion, is the gun-play. While the
> weapon effects are glorious, they are opposed by some very spongey
> enemies. Battles frequently overstay their welcome, especially since
> the game over-uses the respawning enemy trick to build enemy numbers
> back up as you thin them out. The AI is underwhelming, and more than
> once some enemies have gotten stuck behind some obstacle (apparently
> an issue known to the developers, since the game teleports them closer
> to you if they haven't engaged you in combat after a set period).
> There is an interesting variety of enemy-types - heavy gunners,
> snipers, shielded units, flying units, kamikazes, and more - but most
> of them look so similar it's hard to tell them apart, and the lack of
> visual differentiation makes them all feel the same.

> This lack of variety applies to the levels too. The whole game is set
> in the eerie "Oldest House", a supernatural office building, and the
> developers do a great job of creating mood and atmosphere, but
> visually there's only so far you can go with office furniture and
> concrete walls. It would have been nice if the different floors of the
> building were more visually distinct.

> I was underwhelmed by the story too. It was torturously slow, none of
> the characters were very interesting, and the various twists were
> fairly humdrum. By the nature of the genre, it had lacked the
> satisfying conclusion I prefer too (which is one of the reasons this
> sort of paranormal-fiction doesn't resonate with me).

> Still, I admire the effort that went into the game. The technology is
> impressive, as is the world-building, and there is some excellent
> environmental storytelling. The gameplay is at least competent, if not
> enthralling, and any dissatisfaction with the narrative itself is more
> an issue of personal taste than a complaint about the story itself.
> It's not a great game, but it is good one, and fans of "Alan Wake" or
> shows like "Twin Peaks" will probably have a blast.

On Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 3:22:02 PM UTC-8, Ant wrote:
> Elite Dangerous, Deep Rock Galactic (free weekend), and D&DO.

Dang, I forgot Deep Rock Galactic. I tried it too. I did the tutorial, then
tried to start a mission with people, but it wasn't clear where I was
supposed to go to start it, so they left. I must've spent an hour looking
all over the base. I tried joining one instead, and those guys led me to the
drop pod, which I somehow missed. The one mission gave me enough
of a feel for the game I could tell it was going to be pretty annoying. Had
a first person platforming feel, only you need to use platforms or ziplines
to get around a confusing low textured cave system. Fighting off
the monsters didn't feel particularly interesting either, they just seemed
to have zerg ai. (i.e. rush the player, that's it.)

Not to mention dwarves that start off with no beard?!?! You have to level
up to buy one!

> Dang tech issues again like the 12 yrs. old PC losing its 115 SSD SSD,

Ugh, that's the one thing I hate on the SSDs, when they go they go all the way
with no warning. I've taken to at least backing up to 'the cloud' the important
stuff.

> iPhone, emails, changes, etc. BUSY & warmer weather again for the new week and
> before the short month ended! Incoming cold rain and slammy hump day again soon!

I've been trying to move for like 8 months now, it's just dragging on forever and
hiring help at a reasonable rate (even not reasonable) is impossible, I'm in no
shape at this age to do it, and I'm moving to a smaller space and having trouble
where to even put stuff.

Went to Disneyland with the wife and kids for 3 days. That was grueling, but fun.
The new Rise of the Resistance 'ride' was crazy, it was like being in a SW movie.
Still recovering from that trip too.

And still chugging along with my gtx 950 which isn't up to most of the newer games.

- Justisaur

On 01/03/2022 22:28, rms wrote:
>> What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2022?
>
>   I actually managed to finish two games, wow!  One PC & one console:
>
> Disco Elysium

[snip]

That's one that's made it onto my all time list of great PC games. The
main reason for that is it gets closer to what I want out of a tabletop
RPG than a more traditional CRPG in that it gives you far more scope to
act out a role instead of a set of stats. The whole how your personality
effects with the story arc goes towards the flexibility that you get
with human GM. Obviously there's a limit to that and the main story arc
is basically fixed.

Another selling point for me is that failure is an option that can lead
to interesting situations instead of acting like a roadblock. I even
managed to play it without using the save feature, well except on exit,
which I found enhances the gameplay.

It's certainly not going to appeal to everyone because, as you say,
there's a lot of text to read and there is no combat so if what you want
is a Baldur's Gate style game then this isn't it.

On 02/03/2022 05:04, PW wrote:
> On Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:01:12 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
> <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> What I've mostly been playing this month is "drag way-to-big TV into
>> house, buy new furniture and re-arrange everything so TV fits into
>> house, then drag TV back out when it breaks" but I've already detailed
>> that particular adventure in earlier posts. But I found a few moments
>> to get in some video-gameplay too; not very much, but at least I got
>> some time in front of the computer.
>
>
> *--
>
> Isn't there a game for that on Steam? I am not kidding. Can't
> remember the name now.
>

I presume you thinking of Unpacking.

On 01/03/2022 21:01, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> That, and simple jealousy. As a tabletop gamer, I like to believe that
> I can present a more detailed, cohesive and realistic fantasy world
> than anything on a computer screen, but it's hard for me to maintain
> this belief while wandering the world of the "Witcher 3". The world is
> so well thought out and so delightfully reactive that it makes me look
> at some of my own campaigns and wish they were anywhere nearly as
> mature and detailed. I have to remind myself that "Witcher 3" was
> developed by a whole team whereas my adventures are created by only
> little ol' me, but it's disheartening sometimes and I actually find
> myself hating the game because of this.
>

I've mainly played the Witcher 1 and a bit of Witcher 2 but one of the
things I did like was that things like villages seemed to be more
coherent that a lot of CRPG's. Firstly the actually seem populated and
secondly they are represented as a size that you think can support the
buildings it contains. I've kinda got used to the idea that, in general,
it doesn't matter how small a village is not only will it contain a
tavern that tavern will contain more people than actually live in the
village. I also remember a video someone made about Skyrim pointing out
why is gold so 'expensive' considering how easy it is to create.

As for the tabletop part, as you say even if you have the talent, not
something I feel I have, you still need the time. I'd also say that I
having my own highly detailed world might lead to me get disappointed
when the players just aren't interested in visiting a location/story
that I'd spent many hours creating.

Of course one of the advantages of Call of Cthulhu is that you've
already got most of the world created for you so it's just a case of
layering in another element. Saying that is can come to bite the GM in
the bum when a player knows more about certain details of their world
than they do.

On 01/03/2022 22:17, Justisaur wrote:
> *** Kingdom Come: Deliverance
> I didn't give this one a fair shake last time, so thought I'd give it a try after stumbling
> on raves here and there. I appreciate the change to a non-fantasy more historical
> setting than my usual (odd as I've never really cared for that before.) The story is
> really good so far and actually gave me the feels, something I don't remember
> happening in any other game I've played. But that's where it ends. The combat
> feels atrocious and the controls backwards. It seems you're supposed to loose
> (almost) all the combats in the tutorial/beginning of the game. I don't seem to
> have enough money to do anything and I broke down and looked up help for
> combat and money and both aren't at all appealing.
>
> Apparently you need to get about 10 levels before you have much of a chance in
> combat, which seems to be about halfway through the game. And money seems
> to be best to do repetitive tasks such as gathering a ton of herbs. Neither of those
> have any appeal to me. If there were something I could fight and have a chance of
> winning against, I might do it, but even the lowliest of bandits are far too much of
> a match for me. So given up again for now. I really wanted to get further as the
> story was so good.
>

The combat I also found problematic because, as you say, a lot of what
you meet is more than capable of beating you. I understand that part of
the idea of the game is to be more realistic but it does seem to take it
too far.

A relatively quite month for me but some games I haven't mentioned, well
sorta.

Stirring Abyss
--------------

I've started playing this again to keep to my resolution of not buying a
new game until I've played about ten hours of one I already have. I
won't go into too many details. Basically think of what you would get if
you created a version of XCom set underwater with a lot of weird
elements but only had a fraction of the budget. I do like it but find it
hard to recommend unless it's on sale due to how often XCOM 1 and 2 are
offered with a deep discount. Of course if you already have XCom 1 & 2
then it's probably worth a look, there's even a demo.

Pavlov's House
--------------

I've only just started playing this but my first impressions are good.
So what is it, well it's another adaption of a boardgame (solo in this
case) and it's even one I've considered buying a physical copy of before
so I'm not quite sure how I missed the release of the digital version.

The basic premise is as you might have guessed, recreating the Battle
for Pavlov's House from WWII but only as the Russians. So what you have
is a map, of sorts, with three playing areas - inside the house, outside
the house and the river. The game follows the pattern of drawing cards
to determine what actions you can take and what action the Germans take
followed by fixed actions that you can take.

I can see myself getting into this but as with quite a few faithful
boardgame ports you need to at least read the manual (luckily it's only
thirty pages long) but preferably look at some strategy guides to see
how the mechanics fit together. If I really like it I'll probably buy
the iPad version as it's one of those games that I feel is well suited
to that platform.

A real positive though, it's only £6.19 which is a bit of a bargain even
if I'm not quite sure why it's a rather strange figure - where did the
19p come from?

I have started with Ghost of Thushima. While I applaud the game for its
visuals, it is mostly generic openworld stuff, which I have seen with
assassins creed and other games way too often.
It does not break any new ground!

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

> And that's what I did for my summer vaca^h^h^h^h^ the past month. And
> you?
>
> What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2022?

* Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Well, it's a Star Wars game which is a plus but... Jumping puzzles and
spanking and I like neither. Weak writing. Never seen before
aliens. Weird starship design.

I got on for a while but now I'm stuck in a cave somewhere and don't
know how to get out of there. The 3D map provided by my little droid
buddy is really nice but it doesn't show a way out either. There's a
puzzle that maybe opens the way but I'm stuck with that too. Which is a
little embarassing and annoying since the puzzles so far haven't exactly
been taxing.

Of course there's a strong robot enemy too who respawns every time I
start the game.

The story isn't much either. It feels our hero Cal Whatsisname could
just as well concentrate on some Jedi navel gazing in one of these
useless caves.

* Sky Force Reloaded (Android)

Well, I found out R means reloaded. Also it's been a fun diversion,
despite my earlier misgivings. It's not *that* grindy, I made it to the
end boss on level 13 and beat it. Which just unlocked Nightmare
difficulty which means basically more grinding for upgrades and eventual
access to three extra levels. Which I'll probably never see since I'm
not that much into the game.

Only problem I've had is the usual when a game like this (vertically
scrolling shmup that is) is converted to the touch screen: my hand
obscures part of the screen and sometimes something vital is not seen
until it's too late. Usually an enemy wave coming from behind.

I have half a mind to grab this for the PC. It's even on sale for a
fiver on Steam.

One upside is the tracker-like sound track. Reminds me of 80s and 90s
Amiga music.

* Others

I played a little of Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. The latter had a big
upgrade last month which by some accounts has some nice improvements so
I'm thinking of trying to finish it finally.

On Wed, 2 Mar 2022 09:40:25 +0000, JAB <noway@co.uk> wrote:
>On 01/03/2022 22:17, Justisaur wrote:

>> *** Kingdom Come: Deliverance
>> I didn't give this one a fair shake last time, so thought I'd give it a try after stumbling
>> on raves here and there. I appreciate the change to a non-fantasy more historical
>> setting than my usual (odd as I've never really cared for that before.) The story is
>> really good so far and actually gave me the feels, something I don't remember
>> happening in any other game I've played. But that's where it ends. The combat
>> feels atrocious and the controls backwards. It seems you're supposed to loose
>> (almost) all the combats in the tutorial/beginning of the game. I don't seem to
>> have enough money to do anything and I broke down and looked up help for
>> combat and money and both aren't at all appealing.

>> Apparently you need to get about 10 levels before you have much of a chance in
>> combat, which seems to be about halfway through the game. And money seems
>> to be best to do repetitive tasks such as gathering a ton of herbs. Neither of those
>> have any appeal to me. If there were something I could fight and have a chance of
>> winning against, I might do it, but even the lowliest of bandits are far too much of
>> a match for me. So given up again for now. I really wanted to get further as the
>> story was so good.

>The combat I also found problematic because, as you say, a lot of what
>you meet is more than capable of beating you. I understand that part of
>the idea of the game is to be more realistic but it does seem to take it
>too far.

KC:D has a beautiful gameworld and I love its attention to detail, but
as a game I can't but agree: it largely fails. Its combat isn't fun,
and neither is much of the rest of the game. Its quests are unexciting
and mechanical, its characters are robotic and its narrative never
draws you in. It is a game I really want to love - I wanted it to be
my next Skyrim - but at best could only appreciate at a technical
level.

One of the more disappointing things for me was its lopsided scale,
which is a perfect exemplar of the game's uncertain footing. On the
one hand, the game wants to be an extremely realistic take on 14th
century Bohemia; on the other, it squeezes the entire kingdom into a
5x5 mile square - only a few hundred people and a handful of villages
- all squeezed together into a tiny valley. It's one of those things
we overlook in most video games because we accept there's technical
and artistic limitations that force this smallness into the game's
design. But this artificiality of scale works against any hopes of
creating a 'realistic' world, which only contrasts poorly the other
'realistic' efforts, such as the abysmal combat model.

Oh well, it could have been worse. They could have gone all
'Robinson's Requiem' with injuries, for instance. ;-)

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 9:08:51 AM UTC-8, Anssi Saari wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > And that's what I did for my summer vaca^h^h^h^h^ the past month. And
> > you?
> >
> > What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2022?
> * Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
>
> Well, it's a Star Wars game which is a plus but... Jumping puzzles and
> spanking and I like neither. Weak writing. Never seen before
> aliens. Weird starship design.
>

I forgot to mention this one too except briefly. I gave it a quick try, but
my VC just wasn't up to it, constant lagging making it unplayable. I *may*
have been able to adjust settings to play it, but I wasn't in the mood.
I did see just a tad of the jumping puzzles, which I too hate, and the combat
seemed extremely boring what little of it I did.

I am a Star Wars fan, but I've been mostly luke warm (pun wasn't intended)
at best to the newer stuff. I really like the D+ Mandalorian show, but that's
about it, the rest of the shows/films have been the level of a mildly
entertaining time waster I've no interest in ever seeing again. The newest
SW game I really liked was KOTOR (not II.) Also I mentioned the
new SW ride at Disneyland was really impressive.

- Justisaur

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 9:35:24 AM UTC-8, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Wed, 2 Mar 2022 09:40:25 +0000, JAB <no...@co.uk> wrote:
> >On 01/03/2022 22:17, Justisaur wrote:
>
> >> *** Kingdom Come: Deliverance
>

< Its quests are unexciting
> and mechanical, its characters are robotic and its narrative never
> draws you in.

That I'd disagree with at least as far as I got, most of the characters
I really liked (or hated) they seemed quite a bit more realistic than most
games. I also love the narrative and it really got me. It could be I just
didn't get far enough to encounter the bland. I keep toying with
the idea to go back and hunker down for the grind, but the vacation
got me off of games for the moment, and I'm somewhat enjoying
my ability to focus on other things.

> One of the more disappointing things for me was its lopsided scale,
> which is a perfect exemplar of the game's uncertain footing. On the
> one hand, the game wants to be an extremely realistic take on 14th
> century Bohemia; on the other, it squeezes the entire kingdom into a
> 5x5 mile square - only a few hundred people and a handful of villages
> - all squeezed together into a tiny valley. It's one of those things
> we overlook in most video games because we accept there's technical
> and artistic limitations that force this smallness into the game's
> design. But this artificiality of scale works against any hopes of
> creating a 'realistic' world, which only contrasts poorly the other
> 'realistic' efforts, such as the abysmal combat model.

Well realistically that would just make for hours of travel between places
which I hate. I loved the old overland travel system of FO1 & 2 best
where you traveled between places on a map and there were possible
random and scripted encounters best. That still let you feel like
you were traveling a long ways as the clock quickly moved forward,
without having to actually travel the distances.

The alternatives are filling the game with a bunch of procedural blandness
that goes on and on (which I believe I remember some games getting
heavily criticized on) or filling it giant load of mostly garbage fetch, collect,
kill quests, and fast travel points that have to be unlocked first which is what
I felt like Dragon Age: Inquisition did.

As to melee, having a tiny bit of experience with various weapons I don't
think I'd call it the least bit realistic. I was unfortunately probably the worst
archer in my class two times running, and I could still hit at least the bale
most of the time at 30 yards, the hand shaking is so bad in the game with
a bow, I'm lucky to hit the practice bale at what looks half that range about
1/10th the time. Also shouldn't be breaking all the arrows all the time at
practice.

The melee is just a total wtf - though that's probably more up to how they have
you control when and how you're swinging, and the total unresponsiveness
with no feedback of why you aren't attacking when you press the button, unless
out of stamina which at least that you can see.

It does somewhat remind me of Die by the Sword, which had horrendous
controls, but somehow I came to love. Die by the Sword had you fighting
stuff right off the bat that was winnable at least.

> Oh well, it could have been worse. They could have gone all
> 'Robinson's Requiem' with injuries, for instance. ;-)

Not familiar with that one, but sounds like I'm glad I'm not.

- Justisaur

On 08/03/2022 23:56, PW wrote:
[snip]

> I didn't buy a game for my birthday like I usually do after reading
> what JABs new strategy about not buying a new game after playing one
> he has for a certain amount of time. Makes sense! Especially when
> the only new game I was interested in was Elden Ring but after
> struggling with Dark Souls III I decided to pass.
>
> I bought some cheap Steam and GOG games that got good reviews.
>

Well my strategy is still paying off and I'm hoping that not only will
it mean I spend less on games, never to really play them, but also (and
more importantly) I will actual enjoy the games I do play more instead
of enjoying a game and then getting distracted by something else.

> Oh and Panzer Corps 2 and Tiny Combat Arena that I am looking forward
> to playing because I am a former PC flight sim nut.
>

I have toyed with buying Panzer Corps 2 but ultimately decided against
it as I have Panzer Corps and although I thought it was ok it didn't
really grab me. Also I have Battle Academy which has a similar feel even
though it's more of a skirmish style game.

On Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 1:46:27 AM UTC-8, JAB wrote:
> On 08/03/2022 23:56, PW wrote:
> [snip]
> > I didn't buy a game for my birthday like I usually do after reading
> > what JABs new strategy about not buying a new game after playing one
> > he has for a certain amount of time. Makes sense! Especially when
> > the only new game I was interested in was Elden Ring but after
> > struggling with Dark Souls III I decided to pass.
> >
> > I bought some cheap Steam and GOG games that got good reviews.
> >
> Well my strategy is still paying off and I'm hoping that not only will
> it mean I spend less on games, never to really play them, but also (and
> more importantly) I will actual enjoy the games I do play more instead
> of enjoying a game and then getting distracted by something else.
> > Oh and Panzer Corps 2 and Tiny Combat Arena that I am looking forward
> > to playing because I am a former PC flight sim nut.
> >
> I have toyed with buying Panzer Corps 2 but ultimately decided against
> it as I have Panzer Corps and although I thought it was ok it didn't
> really grab me. Also I have Battle Academy which has a similar feel even
> though it's more of a skirmish style game.

Do you count games you got for free? Epic givaways etc.? I pick those
up, but I'm really only interested in a few, and I can usually tell in
way less than 10 hours if I'm going to like those when I try them.

- Justisaur

On 09/03/2022 16:53, Justisaur wrote:

>> I have toyed with buying Panzer Corps 2 but ultimately decided against
>> it as I have Panzer Corps and although I thought it was ok it didn't
>> really grab me. Also I have Battle Academy which has a similar feel even
>> though it's more of a skirmish style game.
>
> Do you count games you got for free? Epic givaways etc.? I pick those
> up, but I'm really only interested in a few, and I can usually tell in
> way less than 10 hours if I'm going to like those when I try them.
>

Freebies (in my case Amazon) I'm going to treat a little differently. So
the idea is they count towards the already owned pile but only if I give
them a try and think that's the type of game I would have been happy to
spend money on.

On 09/03/2022 20:16, PW wrote:
>
> I bought BA since I saw you were playing it. I thought I saw some DLC
> for it but I guess I was seeing things.
>
> Haven't played it much yet. I see BA2: Eastern Front is $40 with
> very positive reviews but I like the new JAB plan :-)

BA is good and there's I think five DLC's for it. Covering some of the
usual suspects, although strangely enough the eastern front isn't one of
them, but it does have both Blitzkrieg France and Operation Sealion
which is nice to see.

BA:2, I gave it a miss as although I think I'd enjoy it I'm not sure it
adds enough to BA to justify the price. I'd also say that unlike BA the
devs seemed to have given up on it very quickly as there's only one DLC
for it. If you know anything about Slitherine, and there normal DLC
policy for games like this, then it suggests that BA:2 wasn't a great
success so they decided to focus their efforts elsewhere.

So at the current price I'd find it hard to recommend BA:2 especially as
BA seems to be on sale quite often. As you already own BA, I find it
even harder to recommend unless you really enjoy the eastern front setting.

On Tue, 08 Mar 2022 16:56:37 -0700, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Still hooked on playing Unreal Tournament 2004 on-line with my
>brother. It amazes me how many servers and how many new to me maps
>there are. Not many humans playing though but it is fun with bots and
>my brother.

I used to adore the Unreal Tournament series; it was one of those
go-to games that had a permanent place on my hard-drive that I would
play whenever I couldn't decide how else to spend my time. My
enjoyment of the games - and the genre as a whole - started to
diminish once voice-chat started becoming the norm though. These days
I only install the games once every four years; I name the bots after
the US presidential candidates and let them fight it out for a few
rounds. There has so far been a 75% correlation between the winner of
these bouts and the winner of the election ;-)

On Thu, 10 Mar 2022 09:40:15 +0000, JAB <noway@co.uk> wrote:

>On 09/03/2022 20:16, PW wrote:
>>
>> I bought BA since I saw you were playing it. I thought I saw some DLC
>> for it but I guess I was seeing things.
>>
>> Haven't played it much yet. I see BA2: Eastern Front is $40 with
>> very positive reviews but I like the new JAB plan :-)
>
>BA is good and there's I think five DLC's for it. Covering some of the
>usual suspects, although strangely enough the eastern front isn't one of
>them, but it does have both Blitzkrieg France and Operation Sealion
>which is nice to see.
>
>BA:2, I gave it a miss as although I think I'd enjoy it I'm not sure it
>adds enough to BA to justify the price. I'd also say that unlike BA the
>devs seemed to have given up on it very quickly as there's only one DLC
>for it. If you know anything about Slitherine, and there normal DLC
>policy for games like this, then it suggests that BA:2 wasn't a great
>success so they decided to focus their efforts elsewhere.
>
>So at the current price I'd find it hard to recommend BA:2 especially as
>BA seems to be on sale quite often. As you already own BA, I find it
>even harder to recommend unless you really enjoy the eastern front setting.

*--

Thanks!

On Thu, 10 Mar 2022 14:10:49 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Tue, 08 Mar 2022 16:56:37 -0700, PW
><iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>Still hooked on playing Unreal Tournament 2004 on-line with my
>>brother. It amazes me how many servers and how many new to me maps
>>there are. Not many humans playing though but it is fun with bots and
>>my brother.
>
>I used to adore the Unreal Tournament series; it was one of those
>go-to games that had a permanent place on my hard-drive that I would
>play whenever I couldn't decide how else to spend my time. My
>enjoyment of the games - and the genre as a whole - started to
>diminish once voice-chat started becoming the norm though. These days
>I only install the games once every four years; I name the bots after
>the US presidential candidates and let them fight it out for a few
>rounds. There has so far been a 75% correlation between the winner of
>these bouts and the winner of the election ;-)
>
>

*--

hehe!
>

I am going to rest GoW for a while or maybe quit it.

Got too tough. Stuck at The Giants Chisel Magni and Modi battle.

Just watched a video. It's going to take a long time to beat it.

Back to something else!

-pw

PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 01 Mar 2022 17:21:55 -0600, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

> >Elite Dangerous, Deep Rock Galactic (free weekend), and D&DO.
> >

> *--

> What do you think of Deep Rock Galactic Ant? How far into the game did
> you get?

I liked it. I played its training, failed my first solo mission, and then played with strangers online.

> I have it, bought it a little while ago and haven't played it much.
> Just tried to play it single-player. I thought it might be fun
> on-line once I learned my way around but stopped playing it.

It's easier to play with others than solo.
--
Losing a hour soon for this coming Sunday and weekend again. Please keep it at daylight saving forever. :( Is it safe to hang out with people yet?
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 13/03/2022 06:24, Ant wrote:
> PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, 01 Mar 2022 17:21:55 -0600, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>
>>> Elite Dangerous, Deep Rock Galactic (free weekend), and D&DO.
>>>
>
>> *--
>
>> What do you think of Deep Rock Galactic Ant? How far into the game did
>> you get?
>
> I liked it. I played its training, failed my first solo mission, and then played with strangers online.
>
>
>> I have it, bought it a little while ago and haven't played it much.
>> Just tried to play it single-player. I thought it might be fun
>> on-line once I learned my way around but stopped playing it.
>
> It's easier to play with others than solo.

I have seen it but it came across as a game that although it can be
played solo it's really a game designed to be played in a co-op mode.

My gaming habits really don't fit into that very well. Even in WoT I
enjoyed the few games I played in a platoon (you can create small teams
within the larger team) but I always felt that I was in some way letting
my platoon mates down as I tend yo want to play a few battles and then
do something else. Shame really.