Video Games

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:33 am

Very. Especially if you fuck it up, you gotta go back to start. No saving until you clear the tutorial. Also no saving while your committing a crime (mostly trespassing) so no "get halfway through large complex and save just in case"

Iduno · Post by **Iduno** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:23 pm

Whipstitch wrote:The satellite reign tutorial seems pretty shite.

It doesn't really set you up for the rest of the game, because it only focuses on basic stuff (hacking tutorial? fuck you, you need a power for that), but I don't remember it being difficult to follow. I've played 3 or 4 game tutorials where you're told to [jargon] the [jargon] with no explanation and managed to lose the tutorial, or get to state where you can't continue if you couldn't mind-read the developers.

Maybe I didn't fail at Satellite Reign because the controls are right-click move, left click do a thing, and control and alt affect those clicks? Something like that. One or two more controls would possibly have been a problem, but 4 buttons is easy enough for me.

I also don't think you need to pay for information, if you're willing to explore to find it. It's always "the guard at the gate accepts bribes" or "use the zipline over there." Those both exist whether or not you pay for the game to tell you about them. That might depend on your team's ability to puzzle-solve or your willingness to do trial-and-error until you figure out the solution.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 5:34 pm

I reached a complete freeze point in the tutorial where I was told beacons help me buy things, and to buy things, but it turns out you don't buy things by clicking on the beacon, sending your men to the beacon, or literally anything else, and in fact, you do it by clicking the menu that lets you save the game that is a super fucking tiny 1/1000th of the screen gear in the upper right hand corner.

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 5:49 pm

The Beacons help in the sense you have to be loitering around them to buy things. But yeah the menu system is a bit unwieldy. Cloning gets rather fuckey. Especially when you're trying to comparison shop.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:57 pm

Iduno wrote:I don't remember it being difficult to follow.

My problem wasn't that it was very hard to follow, it's that it does a pretty bad job of providing a safe harbor to experiment in--it didn't exactly inspire confidence when clicking on a beacon caused one of my agents to cheerfully clip his way through a dumpster and become trapped, for example. The nicest thing I can say about the irritating lack of save functionality is that it at least caused me to sit there long enough to discover that your agents can usually phase back through after sufficient running in place.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:31 am

How's the new Mechwarrior looking? By the Shadowrun Returns folks, which I enjoyed

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:27 am

It's not even remotely close to being out yet O.o

Or are you thinking about the BATTLETECH Turnbased Game?

THAT is coming out tomorrow . .

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:54 am

Yeah the battletech turn based game

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:56 am

Iduno wrote:
Whipstitch wrote:The satellite reign tutorial seems pretty shite.
It doesn't really set you up for the rest of the game, because it only focuses on basic stuff (hacking tutorial? fuck you, you need a power for that), but I don't remember it being difficult to follow. I've played 3 or 4 game tutorials where you're told to [jargon] the [jargon] with no explanation and managed to lose the tutorial, or get to state where you can't continue if you couldn't mind-read the developers.

Maybe I didn't fail at Satellite Reign because the controls are right-click move, left click do a thing, and control and alt affect those clicks? Something like that. One or two more controls would possibly have been a problem, but 4 buttons is easy enough for me.

I also don't think you need to pay for information, if you're willing to explore to find it. It's always "the guard at the gate accepts bribes" or "use the zipline over there." Those both exist whether or not you pay for the game to tell you about them. That might depend on your team's ability to puzzle-solve or your willingness to do trial-and-error until you figure out the solution.

Paying sometimes gets you "If you do this thing for this guy he'll give you the door code (unlocks the door) or if you get your X agent into this facility they'll do the thing and get you either extra loot or a scientist that if you escort them out you get a scientist or even more loot."

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 8:04 am

OgreBattle wrote:Yeah the battletech turn based game

It looks . . halfway decent.
I still do not like their deviations from the CBT Rules, but otherwise it looks ok.
Sadly, no steam workshop support, even though they claimed high modability support . .
So hopes are half and half that the community will fix issues and make more maps and get the unseen mech models into the game that they can't do officialy because Harmony Gold is a bunch of inbred patent trolls . .

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:34 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAH6LBzbpJo
Say about stellaris what you will, but these trailers are just so fucking good . .

Also, new Cities Skylines expansion is announced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1My4hXYVXR4
Parklife

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:02 pm

Aaand . .
The Battletech Game is a buggy piece of shit . .
FUCKING HELL! -.-

Iduno · Post by **Iduno** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:34 pm

Eh, sounds like first-day server issues. Looks pretty good, and everything seems to be working now.

I don't remember. Did they implement TACs (through-armor criticals)? Because if they didn't, and they started me with a 2x AC/2 mech...

The real complaint I have is that they spent $3 on microphones for the voice actors, then put them in a different room than the microphones. At least for your teacher.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Apr 25, 2018 6:01 am

No, it literally crashes on me.
And it does not properly support 21:0 displays either.
It is literally unplayable, because it changes resolutions on me and thus cuts off huge parts of the UI i need to actually proceed . .
In the MechBay for example i can not see the leg slots and the fucking button to confirm changes made to a mech! -.-

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:14 am

Guess I'll wait a bit before playing it.

Is it friendly for users to mod in their own designs? Like Macross destroids and stuff that make up the unseen, or doing something silly like turning it into a battleship girls game

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:36 am

If you do not use more than one display or a 21:9 display, you may be fine actually . . For me, it is literally unplayable, because the resolution changes around on me and big and important parts of the UI are outside the limits of my display(s).

Sadly, no Steam Workshop-Support, but of course, that does not deter the Grognard Battletech Community for long:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BattleTechMods ... hamer_mod/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BattleTechMods ... _variants/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BattleTechMods ... h=f390ea85

https://www.reddit.com/r/BattleTechMods ... manaxeman/

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 1:09 am

Loot boxes illegal in Belgium!

Count Arioch the 28th · Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:45 am

I tend to not play a lot of recent games, but what exactly is a loot box?

Pariah Dog · Post by **Pariah Dog** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:38 am

Not Belgian, but FUCKING GOOD. Though probably just means the publishers will not do business with them being such a tiny country.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:I tend to not play a lot of recent games, but what exactly is a loot box?

Basically a box of random items (sometimes purely cosmetic like Overwatch sometimes things that have actual mechanical benefits in game) that you can buy for real money. You can also sometimes grind them out slowly (Example Overwatch gives you a loot box every time you "Level up" aka play enough to fill the little bar that makes your .Epeen little number next to your profile bigger.) Other games like Team Fortress 2 (not sure about CS:GO I don't play it) hand out boxes like candy but you have to buy a "Key" with real money to open it to get your random prize.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:49 am

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:I tend to not play a lot of recent games, but what exactly is a loot box?

As it always is with vidya and derogatory terms, definitions are all over the place and the widest is "things we don't like". But the actual thing that was banned is buying random items with real money:

[url=https://www.koengeens.be/news/2018/04/25/loot-boxen-in-drie-videogames-in-strijd-met-kansspelwetgeving wrote:googletranslated Dutch press release[/url]]At the request of Minister of Justice Koen Geens, the Gaming Commission conducted a thorough investigation into 'loot boxes' in video games. Players can buy a 'loot box' against payment - which can give them an advantage in the game - without knowing their content in advance.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:13 am

Loot boxes is an evolution of micro transactions. See if you charge people 2 bucks for the hat they want, then you get 2 bucks, they get the hat, and then they don't need another hat until you invent a cooler looking hat.

Inventing cooler looking hats takes a lot of work.

So instead, you charge them 50 cents for the a random roll from a selection of hats, and then you give them the same hat 3 times, and a bunch of hats they don't want, and then eventually when they finally get the hat they wanted, they spent 8 bucks, and also you triggered their dopamine with your box opening animation 16 times, so they have even more good memories, and in all that extra time, you might even have developed a new cool looking hat.

Basically, just another way to take more money from people while providing them with less stuff.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:38 am

And because it is random and payd for with real money, not just belgium have declared this practice illegal.

maglag · Post by **maglag** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:43 am

Kishima stepping down as president of Nintendo.

He initially had said he would only remain at the post for some time until a proper new president could be found, but considering how successful he was, everybody was expecting him to remain in place longer.

Gotta respect somebody who'll stick to his word and step down after he thinks he's done all he can and it's time for some fresh blood to step in the leadership position.

His replacement will be Shuntaro Furukawa who used to work on marketing. Considering how the Switch actually had pretty good marketing, that sounds like a good choice.

Iduno · Post by **Iduno** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:18 pm

OgreBattle wrote:Guess I'll wait a bit before playing it.

Is it friendly for users to mod in their own designs? Like Macross destroids and stuff that make up the unseen, or doing something silly like turning it into a battleship girls game

I know people were able to mod in new units, change damage, change heat, whatever. I'm not sure how much they can do with art assets, but if someone knows how to do skinning, it should be do-able.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 2:02 am

Stahlseele wrote:No, it literally crashes on me.

That sucks but I can believe it given how the game doesn't exactly come across as super well-optimized.

I'm sorta mixed on the game's plot/lore details; a lot of the "main quest" feels pretty perfunctory and implausible at times but you can say that about most games and Battletech is an old enough setting that I still find it kinda satisfying to be flying about in House Marik space even if that doesn't really mean anything from a practical perspective. The game's too easy in single player but overall I'm enjoying myself in the sense that there's a steady drip of salvage and loot to be had and it beats the hell out of cookie clicker.

Oh, also, we've got dipshits brigading eachother left 'n' right because we're dealing with a flawed game, strict moderating teams, a gender neutral pronoun option and some people have deemed that the blondest hair option is insufficiently blond. 2018 sucks and I hate everyone.