Video Games

[Koumei]

So, for those who backed it on Kickstarter, Monster Prom has had its Beta release and is awesome. So far the main problem seems to be "Online multiplayer doesn't work and we know this so we haven't activated it until we get that figured out", which has zero effect on me.

It's a great game. That said I need to find out exactly how certain "skill checks" are resolved - you get two options to a given problem, and then you try to work out which stat applies to each option and you pick the higher one. Except I don't know if it is:
A) Both options have a target number. It's possible both your stats are high enough so either one can succeed, or that neither is high enough and both fail.
B) As above, but with a random factor as well.
C) You have to pick the one that corresponds to the bigger stat. Even if they are both very high or very low, picking the bigger one succeeds and picking the lower one fails.

Also need to work out exactly what influences whether you get accepted by the person you like - whether it's only based on affection points, or whether your stats come into play, or if you need to have triggered certain scenes or such. Mostly I want to get with Vera the medusa and find out if she has pubic snakes. (The game won't actually cover that, it's in the PG-13 to M-15 area. But the character would find out surely.)

Anyway, it's a fun game, and the idea of a dating sim that can be played up to 4 player competetively is amazing. When it gets its proper release, you should all get it.

[maglag]

Any catgirls in that game?

[Koumei]

Not playable and not one of the standard dating options, but there is a purple-skinned catgirl who sells you stuff. It's possible that there are secret/unlockable scenes with her or even an ending where you ask her out. I don't know. There's a lot I don't know about this.

Player characters are a Frankenstein's Monster (who at least appears female, though I cannot speak for any individual part), a girl with fiery hair, a green-skinned zombie guy, and a boy? made of shadows but also with little shadow buddies it appears.

The standard characters to try to date are a female poltergeist, a medusa, a male werewolf, a male demon (red skin, horns, fire obsession variety), a merfolk princess, and a male vampire.

There are also a few side-characters: the annoying interdimensional prince, the tiger-headed sports coach, three witches, the monster slayer...

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Does anyone hang themselves? Because I had a bad experience with the last dating sim I tried...

[Koumei]

Ah, I heard of that one. No, I've played through a few times and have yet to find any suicide. It's meant to be a light-hearted (and somewhat self-aware) game rather than whatever all these fucking meta-games and "fuck you everything goes weird" and genre subversions are.

[Whipstitch]

Does anyone hang themselves? Because I had a bad experience with the last dating sim I tried...

That sounds awful enough that I wish to know more. I'm not against dating sims or visual novels in principle but I've never had a good experience without pigeons being prominently involved. I used to like anime and manga when I was younger but now I feel like there's a bunch stock character types that I wouldn't mind seeing (in)humanely euthanized.

[angelfromanotherpin]

That sounds awful enough that I wish to know more.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about Doki Doki Literature Club, which presents as a bog-standard insipid dating-sim visual novel thing, but is actually a deconstruction of such, in horror genre to boot. I thought it was fairly interesting. Zero Punctuation did a review of it.

[maglag]

So anybody heard of project phoenix? A not-X-COM game by one of the original authors from X-COM. Main highlights:
-A post-apocalyptic setting where instead of aliens with high tech and spaceships, you have an alien mutating virus that corrupted most of the Earth and humanity a la Fallout.
-In combat you can target specific body parts to cripple your enemies (arms to disarm them, legs to slow them down, etc) a la Fallout.
-Most of what's left of humanity has taken shelter in vaults havens, which have become mostly isolated and each run their own faction (the player themselves starts in control of a cell of Project Phoenix that was supposed to be part of a global organization but there is no reply from the other cells at game start), they may both ask your help to fight either the mutants or even other human factions, or you can just murderhobo them to directly loot their sweet tech a la Fallout.

Wait a minute, did they just made a crossover between Fallout and X-COM? Because that may turn out pretty awesome if they play their cards right.

They're also promising the mutant hivemind will adapt their hordes depending on how well the human players fight them, like if a specific enemy proves particularly effective against the player, the AI will throw more of them in the near future.

Not playable and not one of the standard dating options, but there is a purple-skinned catgirl who sells you stuff. It's possible that there are secret/unlockable scenes with her or even an ending where you ask her out. I don't know. There's a lot I don't know about this.

Player characters are a Frankenstein's Monster (who at least appears female, though I cannot speak for any individual part), a girl with fiery hair, a green-skinned zombie guy, and a boy? made of shadows but also with little shadow buddies it appears.

The standard characters to try to date are a female poltergeist, a medusa, a male werewolf, a male demon (red skin, horns, fire obsession variety), a merfolk princess, and a male vampire.

There are also a few side-characters: the annoying interdimensional prince, the tiger-headed sports coach, three witches, the monster slayer...

Thanks! Fish royalty is fine too.

[Stahlseele]

@maglag
So, is the game set completely on a world style map ala fallout or is it like x-com where you are only in your base and get transported to your next quest/mission and then only move around there untill it is finished and then get whisked away to home again?

[maglag]

@maglag
So, is the game set completely on a world style map ala fallout or is it like x-com where you are only in your base and get transported to your next quest/mission and then only move around there untill it is finished and then get whisked away to home again?

There's a geoscape and seems like some kind of flying transport for ferrying your troops around to the quests/missions. There is also mentioned an exploration element like "we detected radio singnals from here but it's not clear what it is, go investigate", although I couldn't find how you get said investigation done.

Also mutant titans that can be spotted slowly moving accross the map and may be intercepted and taken down by specialized troops before they reach a vault haven and start wrecking it.

[Stahlseele]

hmm, sounds interesting

[maglag]

Also seems like not everybody who is mutated by the alien virus ends like murder machines for the horde and actually manage to retain their own mind. How to deal with such individuals seems to be the main difference between the three main human factions spoilered so far. So we have the puritan rednecks that shoot mutants on sight and only accept white pure humans in their ranks, then the apocalypse cult preaching that only those who embrace and master the mutations may be saved, and finally the dirty hippie communists which accept mutants and humans living side by side.

[Blicero]

I recently found a mod for Dark Souls (1) called Prepare to Die Again (https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls/mods/1372/).

It takes the base game and remixes enemy placements, item locations, and bonfire locations. Some bosses have been given minions as well.

I would definitely recommend this mod. I found that the remixes give just enough uncertainty that you can't just rush through on autopilot. And not knowing where items are reduces the impulse the minmax builds.

[Koumei]

Okay, you CAN date the catgirl. It's a secret ending, and there is a guide for how to do so - you will probably need the guide. Just note that where it explains "Raise X stat for step Y", that probably isn't necessary if it's like all the other challenges in the game, you just need to choose the right option that matches your higher stat.

People have already mapped out the "What stats you get from what answers" on the Pop Quiz at the start, and are working on what choices match what stats in gameplay. It's a slow process.

[Stahlseele]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Battletechgame ... h=18884913

Annoyed I missed the AMA but looks like you guys covered a lot of the important questions. Here's a summary of the exciting stuff that's coming.

•Game has been a big success. This means they are meeting soon for a 'roadmap' meeting to plan future content.

•New content will take the form of DLC and FreeLC.

•New content will include things like different encounter types (think battle, capture base, escort etc), some of these will be designed to increase the use of light and medium mechs late-game.

•Other additions may include 'broader systemic gameplay, recurring enemies with grudges, contracts that aren't what they seem, and "unexpected events" in battles'

•Looking to add to the post-game. Possibly harder missions, a map 'Domination' mode, enemy mechs with modded weapons and custom loadouts.

•A Long War-esque (an X-com mod) options menu to change variables in the game (i,e ironman mode) to control difficulty is being considered. Other variables mentioned include 'CT destruction permanently destroys a mech, you need 5 pieces of salvage to reconstruct a mech, rather than 3, parts that get blown off a mech may lose slots or max armor capacity, etc.'

•More random ship events which make use of mechwarrior tags, more Argo content and other additions to out-of-combat gameplay to come.

•Technical performance issues are the top of their list of priorities and being worked on right now. FPS increase, ultrawidescreen compatibility issues etc. Press release coming soon.

•They are working on cleaning up speed of animations and general dead time to speed up the game.

•Linux support coming within a few months

•Reinforcements appearing at the start of missions confirmed not a bug, but it's unexpected due to poor communication. Likely changes to the difficulty rating of missions though to make them more accurate.

•Weapons are being rebalanced. In particular lostech weapons will get a boost.

•Lostech weapons will be made available outside of the story campaign.

•Urbanmechs are being made more common

•Juggernaut skill (guts tree) is being looked at/redesigned

•New mechs, including possible clan DLC may be coming but he is under NDA. 'We have plans' is all he could say. If there is a clan DLC the Stone Rhino will be included. Most of the new content needs to be discussed first at the roadmap meeting.

•Ability to sort mechs in the mechbay is being considered

•No Land Air Mechs coming

•High/low spirits bug- they are looking for the cause so they can fix it.

•AOE weapons may or may not come. Friendly fire unlikely to be implemented as it wasn't fun in testing.

•No plans to have players control more than one lance at a time. Additional lances may have 'off screen' effects.

•There will be no friction with the modding community- they are free to do what they want. No plans for official modding support but individual engineers may be approached for help.

•Paradox are in charge of localizing the game in other languages

•Developer team of about 35 people spread across a few rooms. Only one animator (great job Hollie!)

well well well well well . . .

[Whipstitch]

DLC? From Paradox?

wonka.gif

[Stahlseele]

Well, if they make it a CLAN DLC, then people will buy it.
And because it is quite literally decades after the base game timeline, they will need to make it a full campaign as well.

Furthermore, mech packs are a surefire way to sell DLC to BT players!
If they can stomp harmony gold good and proper, they could even make a 20$ DLC with the unseen. Or several 10 to 15$ DLCs with unseen mechs.

Another would be an actual expansion with combined arms being made available to the player.

Or just more campaigns. The Ronin Wars for example.

The Battletech Universe has so much to offer!

[Whipstitch]

Last I heard they are forever committed to 4 mechs, 1 Lance, final destination. Like, to the point that it's kinda weird.

[Stahlseele]

THAT i can actually understand.

Let me ask you a question:
Have you ever played MegaMek?

[Whipstitch]

A little. Big reason I brought up up the lance size bit is that insisting on small forces runs a bit counter to having combined arms as anything but opposition or a fancy graphic effect for special abilities rather than individual units. After all, the whole point of vehicles is that they're cheap and numerous relative to mechs.

[Stahlseele]

It would simply make the game take way too long.
Because no, you can't move outside of turn based, no, not even when not in combat. And no, you can not move all units at once either.
And then there are the mouthing off phases after the animation phases.

And yes, vehicles/mechs is highly unbalanced.
For the price of one heavy mech, you could have, depending on the machine in question, up to a lance of Shrek PPC Carriers.
That is 12 PPCs firing with no heat problems.
Already there are problems with the two standard missle boats in Battletech.
The LRM-Carrier (3xLRM20) and the SRM-Carrier (10xSRM6)
Each of these can and will oneshot most any mech. If not because of sheer damage potential, then because of pilot damage and knock down.
LRM-Carriers are actually a really mean thing, because indirect fire works so very well in the game . .
They can literally sit outside spotting/sensor-Range behind a mountain on the other side of the map and as soon as you step forward you will get hundreds of LRMs raining down on your machines per round.

This seems to be happening fairly often according to complaints on reddit.

SRM-Carriers are only SLIGHTLY less problematic, as those have to actually get into LOS and pretty short reach. But if one of those unloads, anything but the most lucky Assault-Mech will probably just keel over with a high chance of not getting back up again.

And then there is the behemoth Assault Tank. 2xAC20. That WILL oneshot anything it hits in many cases.

[Korwin]

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.

It would run on my Notebook, but it overheats it pretty fast.
Not able to get over the tutorial... Allready set all Settings to the lowest possible...

[DSMatticus]

Overheating pro tip: without frame caps, lowering settings does not decrease load, it only increases frames. The game will still use 100% of your GPU (or CPU). Vsync is the easiest way to frame cap a game, but vsync also tends to cause more input lag than a straight frame cap so I hate it.

[Iduno]

In HBS Battletech, mothballing a mech strips all of the equipment and weapons. Is there a button in the mechlab to put stuff back where they found it, or set it to a particular variant? Guessing which weapons go where isn't that tough (there is usually one spot each weapon type can fit in), but fuck if I know how many jump jets and heat sinks and whatever goes into the thing.

Also, still working with the Blackjack, Vindicator, Shadowhawk, and upgraded the spider to a Panther (180 ton drop weight, which shows as 2 whatever symbols). Last 1-skull mission had a Blackjack, Shadowhawk, Panther, Hunchback, a Jenner, a Spider, and 2-3 Locusts. I think they were down the Locusts and most of a Panther when my Panther dropped, then my Blackjack started loosing sides, and....reload.

Did they give an ETA on the update?

edit: reloaded mission was much easier. Still 1 lost mech and pilot, but it was a light mech and my least-skilled pilot. The mission payout was nearly 150k, so that'll pay for the repairs on my other mechs, I guess.

[Koumei]

A bit more info on stuff people have figured out together through trial and error on Monster Prom - including "how to fuck the cat" for maglag:

Note: apparently the cat is basically a Khajit. I can't really say because I don't play Elder Scrolls* and a google search sounds like way too much effort (also she's very purple-haired which I don't recall being in Elder Scrolls from vague memories, I thought they had normal cat hair).

A lot of the special endings, including the cat, require you to first get a normal good ending with each of the standard characters. Now, given you can do local multiplayer and play as all four players yourself, that means you could knock that requirement out in two runs. You'll know that certain things are unlocked because after the credits when it returns to the main menu it actually says so. To know the shopkeeper is available it will say "The shop has subtley changed" or something to that effect.

Getting the regular good endings fast:

The pop quiz at the start gives two questions to raise some stats, and the third one starts you off with an affection+ for one character. HOWEVER! If you're playing a Short game, this apparently locks you in so your options are that character, a special ending, or get fucked. In a long game if your answer gives you Polly you can still aim for Miranda or Damien, you just have a head start with Polly. In a short game, that's that, you need to try to bang Polly.

Not including Special/Secret Endings, if you're just trying to ask someone out, then you need a certain total for all your stats combined (including Money, not including made-up joke stats they reference here and there like Righteousness or Karma). The total is 43+ for a Short Multi Player game, 50+ for a Short Single Player game, 52+ for a Long Multi Player game, and 72+ for a Long Single Player game. In other words, it's not enough to just go to places and get +2 stat each phase, you also need to succeed at some number of interactions or talk to Minor NPCs at lunch.

Lunch: you can visit the shop, or visit a table with a pair of main NPCs where you basically make a choice that isn't stat-dependent and it raises affection with one or the other, or you visit a table with a minor NPC and you can boost one of your stats a fair amount.

You also need "some amount of affection" with them, and it varies based on long/short game, single/multi player, and who they are. (Damien: SMP 6+ LMP 8+ SSP 8+ LSP 16+; Liam: 5/7/7/14; Miranda: 7/9/9/18; Polly: 8/11/10/20; Scott: 8/10/10/20; Vera: 9/13/12/24)

Each Main Love Interest also has their own specific requirements, except Scott - he's a good dog, so you just need to be nice to him and get affection. And also meet the basic minimum total above.

(The numbers are for Short Multi Player / Long Multi Player / Short Single Player / Long Single Player)

Damien needs Boldness 10+/14+/12+/17+ and Fun 5+/7+/7+/10+
Liam needs Smarts 9+/13+/12+/16+ and Creative 9+/13+/12+/16+
Miranda needs Charm 7+/10+/9+/13+ and Money 7+/10+/9+/13+
Polly needs Boldness 6+/7+/7+/10+ and Fun 8+/12+/10+/15+
Vera needs Smarts 8+/12+/10+/15+ and Charm 6+/9+/9+/11+ AND Money 6+/8+/8/10+

Yes Vera is sort of hard mode but she's top-tier waifu.

It seems like another requirement is to have one character in one run visit the shopkeeper several times in a row without buying anything. But I'm not sure. Once it IS unlocked, the way you actually activate it in game is by visiting her three times in a row without buying anything. After that, you're set on her path (note: you also can't visit the shop any more in this run, it's closed because now she's a real character with her own life). Assuming you do the right things on the following three interactions (the right thing being based on your stats as normal), you then choose "No-one!" as your date for going to the prom, and you take her with you. You're welcome.

*The last I remember of it is before they re-re-re-re-released it, when my dad was still alive. He played it and people kept saying "You have the hands of a healer!" which was interesting, given said hands were covered in armoured gauntlets and holding a big sword.