Gaming thoughts, bite-size chewables - new orange flavor!

Has anyone else started playing the System Shock remake? I started it yesterday, maybe 30 minutes into it. It seems fun so far. I am a little surprised that it's not running in Nightdive's Kex engine, but Unreal 4. I've got everything set to high, with DLSS on balanced and haven't had any stuttering yet.

I can't comment on how faithful, or different, this is to the original. I was busy with other things when the original came out.
I played the last backer beta (Medical should be basically complete at the point they released that) and it was pretty solid. I'm not a fan of the changes to the wire puzzles as they are much more difficult to figure out the way to solve them as the original but they're at least a new approach to that kind of puzzle.

As for Unreal: it was originally going to be Unity because while they aimed to have it be stylized like the original, they were always intending on it being more visually complex than the original. The Enhanced Edition of SS is in the Kex engine because that's aiming to retain as much of the original presentation as possible.
 

whoisit

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I played the last backer beta (Medical should be basically complete at the point they released that) and it was pretty solid. I'm not a fan of the changes to the wire puzzles as they are much more difficult to figure out the way to solve them as the original but they're at least a new approach to that kind of puzzle.

As for Unreal: it was originally going to be Unity because while they aimed to have it be stylized like the original, they were always intending on it being more visually complex than the original. The Enhanced Edition of SS is in the Kex engine because that's aiming to retain as much of the original presentation as possible.
The full game was released yesterday. It was on my radar, but the release almost snuck by me.
 
The full game was released yesterday. It was on my radar, but the release almost snuck by me.
Yeah, I've got it installed but am working on Chained Echoes on the Xbox. I put that aside for Firmament (two long-running Kickstarter game projects, backed well before the pandemic and both releasing about two weeks apart :eek: ) because I figured it would be a game I'd be able to bounce around between. Ended up playing that all the way through (though it was only about 5.5 hours). I know SS won't be as easily bounced between so I'll be waiting until I'm done with CE first.
 

Papageno

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I'm not a fan of the changes to the wire puzzles as they are much more difficult to figure out

I played some of the recent demo and somehow managed to solve the one puzzle by accident -- had gotten stumped then I just started flipping switches at random and suddenly "voilà,, she is solved" and the panel closed (which is annoying because it would have been nice to see what the solution that I just wasn't seeing was).

I never played the game way back when because I was a Mac user/gamer when it came out. By the time System Shock 2 came out I had "gone over to the Dark Side" and had a Windows 98SE machine with a P2 400 and a Voodoo 3 3000, so I was living large. :cool:

I'll probably pick it up on the first substantial sale.
 

cogwheel

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Denuvo also ends up being both the first and the final boss.

I've been playing Planet of Lana, because it's on Game Pass, and so far my thoughts are in line with what I played of the demo. Nice art (if a bit lazy in one place - foliage being sprites animated with a simple deformation), sufficiently breezy puzzles, and the cute cat-hamster animal companion really is the best part. I actually feel a tiny twinge of anxiety if I leave Mui too far behind, and that's testament to the game giving him/her/it enough character. Thoughtful touches, like Lana whispering to Mui in the company of enemies, are a good sign of care and attention being dolloped onto the right places.

Lana feels a bit weighty to control, though; it almost feels like she's a female analogue of the prince from Prince of Persia (1989) at times, though without the rotoscoping, of course. Takes a bit of getting used to, and makes some platforming a bit fiddly, but nothing I can't live with so far.

Oh, and if you crouch and Mui's next to you, you can press a button to pet him. Instantly rockets the game to Best of 2023 territory simply by virtue of that interaction, if you ask me.
Game Pass as well, and I've finished it. It's pretty short (as puzzle platformers should be) at 4-5 hours. There are a couple puzzles that have tight-ish timing, but overall it's a pleasant experience.

It reminds me quite a bit of Inside, though less dark both in palette and tone.

Oh, it does have a couple QTE segments late in the game, though there is a setting to turn them off.
 
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Yeah, I’m in the Chicago area so wouldn’t take too long to drive there. My main excuse for not going is I generally don’t watch runners outside of GDQs so I’m not up on a lot of the community. Also I didn’t want to be the oldest guy there. But the guy running right now is in his mid to late 30s (I’m guessing based on his username) and I’m in my early 40s, so I’m probably safe on that.

For Twitch VODs you can check this link out.
And the VOD’s have started to hit YouTube on GDQ’s page. Excellent!
 

Mister E. Meat

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And the VOD’s have started to hit YouTube on GDQ’s page. Excellent!
I had it on in the background for much of the day Monday and Tuesday. The SOTN randomizer was really interesting and the Ratatouille run was really funny. I also enjoyed the Bastion run that they did as part 1 of it was training someone who never ran the game to do the any% run, part 2 was having him do his own run and then part 3 was a race between the trainer and another Bastion runner. It looks like none of those runs are up yet on the YT page but keep an eye out for them.

I also watched a run of Cross Code which was pretty entertaining but really all it did was convince me that I should finally install and play it. The Hi-Fi Rush run also gave me a "I need to buy this game" but I'm kind of pants at rhythm games so I'm not sure if I'd actually enjoy it. The music and art direction is incredible though.

Edit: also the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 1/2 runs were also great runs, with the runner and couch really explaining what was going on in the runs.
 
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krimhorn

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The Hi-Fi Rush run also gave me a "I need to buy this game" but I'm kind of pants at rhythm games so I'm not sure if I'd actually enjoy it. The music and art direction is incredible though.
IMO, it's less about being good at rhythm games so much as being S-Rank capable at DMC or Bayonetta type games. If you just muddle through them then Hi-Fi Rush will be about the same but if you're capable of 1-chaining levels in those games regularly then doing the same in HFR will be trivial. I found it to be mostly repetitive and bland.
 

Diabolical

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I also watched a run of Cross Code which was pretty entertaining but really all it did was convince me that I should finally install and play it.
DO IIIIIIT! Such a good game.
--
I'm making my way through some other content at the moment, but I should be done with that by the end of the week. Then I'll be diving into the VOD's. I may even get some popcorn.
---
I started Tears of The Kingdom.
I really like Tears of the Kingdom.
I'm not playing Tears of the Kingdom.
Or pretty much anything over the past 4-6 days or so because all of my spare time has been put into writing. It happened again tonight. Had an hour and a half of spare time before I needed to get ready for work. I thought, "Self, let's play Zelda tonight." Good Idea! I'll just make this cup of coffee...
And instead of going over to my Switch, I'm going to sit at the table and write for an hour and 20 minutes instead while listening to music.

Same story the night before.

I'll get to it, and I really want to play more of it! But my pens and paper are calling to me...

edit: And this is why I take notes. So if I take a week or two break, I can very quickly refresh myself and not feel absolutely lost!
 

CuriouslySane

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Has anyone else started playing the System Shock remake? I started it yesterday, maybe 30 minutes into it. It seems fun so far. I am a little surprised that it's not running in Nightdive's Kex engine, but Unreal 4. I've got everything set to high, with DLSS on balanced and haven't had any stuttering yet.

I can't comment on how faithful, or different, this is to the original. I was busy with other things when the original came out.
Started it yesterday. I'm not past anything that wasn't in the demo, but it looks and feels great. I only played a little of the original years ago, so I'm looking forward to some old school sneaky space horror.
 

thrillgore

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I finished Death Stranding this week and I have some closing thoughts:
  • I liked it a lot, it tugged at my heart a few times
  • The gameplay felt more rewarding as I got the Cyberpunk and Half Life goodies
  • I ate shit at least 12 times playing it
  • I wish Hideo would just stop with the exposition jesus christ my head that was like three hours of ending
 
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NamelessMonster

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The thing that bugged me the most about Death Stranding was the repetitiveness of the exposition and tutorializing. Other than that, it really brought all the vibes for me, and I was really investing being the best UPS man I could be. Also, I went on a road building spree, gathering resources to build the entire network.

Not really sure it needed a sequel. Here's hoping it's interesting at least.
 
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Chigurh

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I finished Death Stranding this week and I have some closing thoughts:
  • I liked it a lot, it tugged at my heart a few times
  • The gameplay felt more rewarding as I got the Cyberpunk and Half Life goodies
  • I ate shit at least 12 times playing it
  • I wish Hideo would just stop with the exposition jesus christ my head that was like three hours of ending
I'm about 10 hours into my first play through. If you can go back in time and share information before you started, what would you say?
 

Dan Homerick

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I'm about 10 hours into my first play through. If you can go back in time and share information before you started, what would you say?
The early game introduces some techniques but doesn't push you to use them. Once you're feeling comfortable, play around with some of them anyways. Do some of the weapons drills in the private chambers (e.g. using the strand), and try things like skateboarding around on the floating carrier once you get it.

Also, sometimes running away is the best course of action.
 
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thrillgore

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I'm about 10 hours into my first play through. If you can go back in time and share information before you started, what would you say?
I'm not going to spoil anything so here's some general gameplay hints
  • If you can focus on anything in the Central Region, focus on building the roads. It will turn your 10 minute hikes into 3 minute commutes with no hazards. Unlock the settlements before you build any roads in that area, it will halve the material cost.
  • The in-game map is not very good at topology. Make a route if you must but use signs on the routes to determine if you need ladders to help with mobility
  • Carry extra boots. Omnireflector boots are better than L2 Bridges Boots, L3 Bridges boots are better than them, and Chiral boots are the best you can find.
  • Until you have the means of negating them without grenades or guns (way late in the game), don't fuck around in BT zones. If you get stuck, get out of the tar, (if you dropped cargo) use a hema grenade to clear it out, get it, and get the hell out
  • You can recover energy drink by standing in a body of water or being in timefall (this takes far longer)
  • Don't use lethal weapons except when the game makes it obvious. If you kill someone like a MULE, you'll haveta dispose of the body (or else). Non-lethal and BT weapons should be your only concern. Don't kill people. You're a good person and you deserve love.
  • I ran into a common crash trying to deliver to the Time Farmer on PC, so watch out
  • Get the Half Life and Cyberpunk content, it will make a lot of stuff easier including avoiding MULE encounters. Look for Lambda and V emails as you go through the game.
  • Once you hit the Pacific Coast it's pretty much the point of no return, keep that in mind...
  • ...because after that I spent some 3 hours on ending stuff, so I guess pack a lunch
  • Every 25-30 or so Porter Rankings you'll get an additional 15 kg or more on your carry capacity, which won't matter (you'll have other means to augment it) by that point but every little bit helps
  • When you get them, keep four blood bags equipped at all times
  • Be a good Porter DoorDash driver and use signs to note other hazards as you find them in the game world
Have fun.

I unlocked the bike, and I think that'll be my main mode of transportation for the foreseeable future. Is this sustainable for the rest of the game?
Surprisingly, yes. The bike has better mobility on rough terrain than the truck. If you ever find three trucks stuck in a river near the Elder somewhere, that's me btw. Carry a PCC for generator if you're going on long routes, or use the roads if you've built them.
 
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Nekojin

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I'm about 10 hours into my first play through. If you can go back in time and share information before you started, what would you say?
Don't be afraid to abandon vehicles if you run out of gas.

1.) There will always be more to use, and
2.) If you really, REALLY liked that particular vehicle, it will recharge fuel slowly (unless it's in water or timefall), and after a few minutes, you'll be able to drive it for a short distance again. Give it a half-hour, and you might be able to drive it back to a storage or charging point.
Q.) The MULES/Terrorists usually have a truck that you can hijack. It's terrible compared to other trucks (slower, lower cargo weight cap, and unrepairable), but it's handy in a pinch, and it's available much sooner than other vehicles.
 
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Hans Ollo

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SGDQ 2023 ended with around $2.2 million raised for Doctors Without Borders. I stayed up until 3 AM and might have been able to stay up until the ending around 6:30 AM, but decided I’d rather sleep in bed than toss and turn on the couch if I ended up falling asleep there.

Lots of good runs and of course a great charity, but I do wish they’d tighten up the schedule some. If they want to run it until the sun comes up on Sunday that’s great but let me know ahead of time so I can plan my sleep schedule for it. I think it ended up around 4-5 hours behind the original schedule, which is rough.
 
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I kinda hesitate to point this out, but Steam let me know there is not one, but two Nazi-themed furry games it can offer me. Like, What the fuck kind of overlap is that?

Ok, Nazis, I get. They're a popular antagonist, and sometimes game makers make them playable. Furries, sure. Aside from the more traditional cartoon animal games that have been around forever, modern furries have enough cash to splash on buying games.

But Nazi furries? where the fuck is that commonality? :confused:

Oh, and to make matters worse, I had to do some digging after this unfortunate discovery and found out there's a game called Sex with Hitler, and it's exactly what it sounds like. I know better than to dig around search engines, but I do it anyway...
 
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Hans Ollo

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I kinda hesitate to point this out, but Steam let me know there is not one, but two Nazi-themed furry games it can offer me. Like, What the fuck kind of overlap is that?

Ok, Nazis, I get. They're a popular antagonist, and sometimes game makers make them playable. Furries, sure. Aside from the more traditional cartoon animal games that have been around forever, modern furries have enough cash to splash on buying games.

But Nazi furries? where the fuck is that commonality? :confused:

Oh, and to make matters worse, I had to do some digging after this unfortunate discovery and found out there's a game called Sex with Hitler, and it's exactly what it sounds like. I know better than to dig around search engines, but I do it anyway...
I suspect there may be some overlap in the Venn diagrams on that. Not saying all furries are Nazis, but sometimes people who are not socially accepted also tend towards other things that are not socially accepted.

Also could have been created as a joke?
 
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I suspect there may be some overlap in the Venn diagrams on that. Not saying all furries are Nazis, but sometimes people who are not socially accepted also tend towards other things that are not socially accepted.

Also could have been created as a joke?
It's a weird overlap for me, because I'm familiar enough with furry history to know it basically evolved as an offshoot of gay culture in the 20th Century (speaking of not socially accepted), and generally plays fast and loose with sexual norms. So I might see how Nazi/Furry could be a kink thing, it also seems weird to go that direction, considering the outcasts the culture originally evolved from.
 
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Hans Ollo

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It's a weird overlap for me, because I'm familiar enough with furry history to know it basically evolved as an offshoot of gay culture in the 20th Century (speaking of not socially accepted), and generally plays fast and loose with sexual norms. So I might see how Nazi/Furry could be a kink thing, it also seems weird to go that direction, considering the outcasts the culture originally evolved from.
Your reasoning sounds better than mine. I’m not super familiar with furry culture so I’m probably wrong.

Apologies if I offended anyone.
 

Sulphur

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Oh, and to make matters worse, I had to do some digging after this unfortunate discovery and found out there's a game called Sex with Hitler, and it's exactly what it sounds like. I know better than to dig around search engines, but I do it anyway...
There is also Sex with Stalin, because you can't just leave it at Hitler. Both seem to be vying for 'absurd ahistorical parody romp' territory, so I wouldn't take them as serious kink material, except if your kink is also being turned on by the ridiculous.

As for nazi furries, I suppose you're always going to have a minority set of people in any population that intersect with anomalous interests. A cursory google turns up this Slate article that suggests one reason being they're indoctrinated at early ages because of the outcast factor, which sort of makes sense.
 

swiftdraw

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It's a weird overlap for me, because I'm familiar enough with furry history to know it basically evolved as an offshoot of gay culture in the 20th Century (speaking of not socially accepted), and generally plays fast and loose with sexual norms. So I might see how Nazi/Furry could be a kink thing, it also seems weird to go that direction, considering the outcasts the culture originally evolved from.
Fuck this is going to be awkward to talk about.

First! While some of the fursuiters and conventions can trace their lineage back to gay and similarly ostracized groups, many of the early artist of the ‘70’s-‘90’s blame Disney! In particular Robin Hood and to a lesser extent the Jungle Book. But that is just the US and some other parts of the west! Asian and East Europe came about to this in very different ways. Listen, the Soviets liked their fox ladies, ok? And Japan and China have… Interesting… Folklore. Anyway, the Nazi’s.

When I was on 4chan a lot in the early 00’s and into the 10’s, this came up semi-frequently. So their seemed to be three and a half flavors of dipshits who did this:
1) The shock jock/troll, may or may not be a Nazi, and most likely the folks behind the game in question.

2) The Shou Tucker’s who combined their fetishes. Usually the ostracized folks who found some awkward acceptance within the furry community and were groomed by the missionary’s from the Sturmfront (who were not uncommon around those parts and XFire.) Though some just like being under a black leather boot. Listen, it’s an odd group.

3) The really fucked in the head group who liked physical manifestations of attributes popular culture puts on certain animal. They tended to be the loudest of this group and 90% were represented by a wolf, Doberman or German Shepherd.

.5: The Enablers. The artist who draw/animate/create the shit from all of the previous 3 because it’s well known furry artist get paid a FUCKTON of money. Seriously, a artist sold a $5000 Your Character Here in the 2010’s and I think that has since been surpassed. The more willing you are to debase yourself, the easier the money comes. There are several comics about this and the pursuit of the all-mighty dollar that I will not link here, because that way lies damnation. Anyhow, surprisingly usually not Nazi’s, but there has been some very notable exceptions.

All in all, they were a real easy group to generally hate on and flame for one reason or another back on /b and /ic. I have chilled out on going after the fandom as a whole, and have actually come to like some of the artists quite a lot, but they’re still are really an odd group and the more extreme ends I have zero tolerance for (do not ask for detail.)
 

Ecmaster76

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The artist who draw/animate/create the shit from all of the previous 3 because it’s well known furry artist get paid a FUCKTON of money. Seriously, a artist sold a $5000 Your Character Here in the 2010’s and I think that has since been surpassed
I'm pretty sure the VG Cats guy went down that road. I haven't had the courage to check his site for quite a few years now
 
It's always fun to replay through skyrim as you always find things you missed before. Like joining a forskaen revolution that proceeded to kill every single guard in Marketh. Alos pretty much the whole Thieves guild storyline, Never played a lying theivng bandit who robs everyone blind

It's also interesting that you are taunted differently depending on what race you play. I'm a kajit and people attacking me keep making cat comments. The one pschyopath said something along the lines of "I killed my housecat, so i will have no trouble killing you!".

Also, for some reason, every single town people keep commenting on how sickly I look. I have yet to figure out why they constantly say this.
 
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thrillgore

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Started the System Shock remake yesterday. It's good but despite Nightdive's changes it still has this clunky lack-of-objectives that makes it hard to navigate around the levels. Also, they changed the Resurrection to where if you activate any, you'll resurrect at your last one with no cap on resurrections. In the original, if you died on a level before activating, its game over. This has led to noticeably sloppy gameplay on my part, similar to Bioshock.

Overall its good, but Arkane's Prey is better in every conceivable way, and should be the lodestar for all imsims.

Also the zero-g mutants looking like COVID spores feels cathartic after the last two years. I need to vent my frustrations...
 
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D

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I'm pretty sure the VG Cats guy went down that road. I haven't had the courage to check his site for quite a few years now
Just in case you are curious, the short of it is he ran into financial and relationship troubles, and resorted to drawing porn to make ends meet. Except, he wasn't good at it and it was clear it wasn't his jam. He eventually melted down, and deleted himself off of the internet, and tried to delete himself from the world. My understanding is nobody has heard from him in a long time, and some suspect he is no longer with us.
 

Ecmaster76

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Just in case you are curious, the short of it is he ran into financial and relationship troubles, and resorted to drawing porn to make ends meet. Except, he wasn't good at it and it was clear it wasn't his jam. He eventually melted down, and deleted himself off of the internet, and tried to delete himself from the world. My understanding is nobody has heard from him in a long time, and some suspect he is no longer with us.
Oof, thats depressing
 
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Artichoke Sap

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Picked up Valkyria Chronicles 4 on sale, which really should have been called Valkyria Chronicles 2, and what is VK2 and VK3 been called something else (VK Gaiden, whatever).

All the tactical watercolor goodness is back, and I love that, but wow, is there some middle-school-worthy drama and shenanigans. Weak "character-establishing" juvenile cursing, unintentional up-skirt (the characters, not the player), intentional ass-grabs, and childhood romance frosty reunions.

Gameplay is essentially identical, though the new Grenadiers with mortars are fantastic. The character potentials are a bit disappointing, in as much there's nothing as good as "VEG-TA-BLES!"
 
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I downloaded a random game off of Game Pass that I thought would be safe to play around the young child. It's called Homestead Arcana, and I assumed it was going to be a Stardew Valley-like game with magic instead of corporations. So far, I'm technically right, but that really doesn't encompass it at all.

It's a post-apocalyptic magical gardening game set in Little Rock Arkansas. I did not expect the beginning, nor the ending of that phrase when I started. I've only barely scratched the surface, but at least it does seem like a game I can play around the kiddo.