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

[Frosty Grin]

Griffehpoo[/url]":3an88eme]The crown turd of the show is parasailing, which is just awful and feels like it was put in because they had four buttons on the D-pad and were desperately searching for a fourth winter sport to stick on it.

Initially I felt this way too, but then I changed my mind. The main reason it's there is that it's the only way to go upwards. It's very liberating in free roam. And the events can get pretty fun too, once you get the hang of it.

 

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Origin has gifting and wishlists now. Curiously, you can't gift preorders. You also can't gift games to people from other countries. Also, the 10% Origin Access discount applies to gifts.

 

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Mister E. Meat[/url]":k98wgso6]Anyone else having problems connecting with Uplay?

Yes, I can't connect right now.

 

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Wow, after the new update No Man's Sky is bouncing back. It's on the top seller list, and user reviews are no longer "overwhelmingly negative". They're "mostly negative" now.

 

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Dang, here comes the time of year where one sale is slowly morphing into another. Steam game award two-day sale now - and some discounts are new, compared to the Autumn sale. 33% off on Dishonored 2 - and the game came out three weeks ago. Do they want us to stop buying games at launch?

 

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Titanfall 2 free multiplayer trial is available on Origin. It's beautiful, polished and optimized. But quite similar to the first game, and I realized I don't want to play something like that right now.

LordDaMan[/url]":1jnvaeuf]Just don't like chroma-key, as it makes everything look like a bad 3d picture without glasses

You can turn it off in the settings.

 

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The worst part is that updates are automatic and/or mandatory. I really appreciate Origin having the option not to update the client and the games and play offline.

 

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I'd say Prince of Persia had gameplay that was closer to the mainstream. So it was more plausible that Ubisoft thought they could make it more appealing by changing mostly the tone of the game. I'm glad they did - Warrior Within is one of my all-time favorites. On the other hand, BG&E is inherently more unusual, so it's unclear how you could make it more appealing without destroying what made it special.

 

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Resident Evil 7 demo is now available on Steam. It features multiple endings, good-looking visuals and surprisingly great performance. Give it a try.

 

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On one hand, the first hour of The Witcher 2 is pretty bad, compared to the rest of the game. On the other hand, a couple of days ago I went back to the fork in Act 1, trying to finally replay the other arc - and the gameplay itself just wasn't captivating, especially by modern standards. So I uninstalled it - it just wasn't holding up, and I have unplayed games on the backlog. On the other hand, when I go back to Dragon Age: Origins or even Crysis, I want to keep playing.

 

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krimhorn[/url]":2v0ietbd]On to the troubling stuff:

I'd say it's merely realistic.

Spoiler

Sexual attractiveness is part of natural selection, so the universe really hates ugliness and conspires to destroy it. And other people prefer beautiful people too even outside of the sexual context.

What kind of lesson is that for the kids? Well, not everything in life is for the kids. Plus, if even the beautiful people on Earth are actually ugly, the game actually diminishes their beauty. In other words, even if you're ugly, it's no big deal, considering the big picture.

 

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Mortus[/url]":2orc24wi]My 970 crapped out on me last night. Promptly ordered a 1060. Not a big upgrade, but desperate times...

Out of warranty?

 

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suprmonky73[/url]":cz0csb6m]I really enjoyed what Firewatch had to offer. Should I skip Gone Home then?

No, they're quite different visually and thematically, and Gone Home is rather short. Plus it's rather subjective - I wouldn't say that Firewatch is better.

 

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Steam now has a built-in option to move the game's install folder. Another addition is Xbox 360/XInput remapping support.

 

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Buuuuut......when it runs at 120FPS (and I can't figure out any way to framerate lock it on AMD) it's literally twice as fast as it should be and nigh unplayable. Gotta turn my desktop refresh down to 60Hz in order to play it. :/

AMD's frame limiter, FRTC, works on games that run with Vsync off (because normally you'd want the game to match the Vsync rate). The best third-party frame limiter is Riva Tuner that comes with MSI Afterburner.

 

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Actually, benchmarks show that the RX480 is significantly faster in DX12 than the GTX 980 in DX:MD, including 1440p. So it could be something like MSAA, which is extremely demanding in this game. Or just not enough VRAM, if it's a 4GB card.

 

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Found single player list and looking for recommendations.

Ha. Quite of a few of these games meant to be released in 2016 are still to be released in 2017. :bigdumbgrin:

Out of the games on the list, I'd take a look at Quantum Break (if you're into something relatively short and cinematic) and Dark Souls III (if you have a ton of time and patience). Also take a look at The Witness (if you'd like to venture into a puzzle/exploration game).

 

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Nope. I am still using the GTX 970. But with the new core components, the 970 is running quieter.

I think because the 970 was previously running on a AMD Phenom II 965, 7 1/2 year old components, that the 970 was doing all the heavy lifting playing newer games. Which caused it to run hot, so the fan was running loud. New core components and now the 970 doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting itself and its running cooler.

That's not how it works. The CPU and graphics card do different things, so they can't help each other. A slow CPU can actually make the card downclock and run cooler because the CPU gives the card less work to do. So if it's actually the 970 that was running loud (and not the CPU cooler or case fan, for example), it's probably because the processor had inadequate cooling and was heating up the card.

Tried The Witness and... felt like ping-pong ball bouncing for the rest of the weekend between computer, fridge and bathroom. Didn’t sleep, didn’t eat and didn’t drink any water. I think I forgot to do few chores. Need to buy something for the wife. Sitting here waiting for both aspirin and coffee to kick in. Don’t know how I’m gonna work. :/

I'm sorry.

 

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Wanted to play a racing game, downloaded the Forza Horizon 3 demo - and, while it's a well-optimized 30fps game, it's not a well-optimized 60fps game. Couldn't reach steady 60 fps even at 720p and the lowest settings. It's a common complaint about this game, and I just didn't want to race at 30 fps. Hopefully, Dirt 4 is going to turn out fine.

 

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I've been itching some racing game too (I think the last one I played was Motoracer - 3dfx Voodoo era) and was eyeballing Forza. What do you have under the hood and why 30fps isn't enough - I found that some single player games are fine at sub 60 fps though input latency in racing could be the problem?

i5-4690K, 16GB RAM, R9 380 4GB, SSD. Not the fastest hardware, yet it was enough for 60 fps at 1080p in Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, on maxed out settings even. But Motorsport 6 was designed for 60 fps on consoles. And Forza Horizon 3 is designed for 30 fps, and even on PC it has rather weird bottlenecks that even immensely powerful hardware is struggling to power through: What does it take to run Forza Horizon 3 at 1080p60? As I said, even lowering the resolution doesn't really help, so it might be more about RAM and VRAM bandwidth. Apparently, if you have an 8-thread processor, a top-of-the-line card and a FreeSync/G-Sync monitor, you can play at near-60 fps.

Now, do you need 60fps? I guess it's subjective, but racing games definitely need it the most because of fast motion. Your entire screen can change in less than a second, so when you have only 30 frames to cover it, it can look like a slideshow. On the other hand, FH 3 has the best 30 fps implementation, with frame pacing and automatic image quality adjustments, so that it looks rather fluid and you rarely dip below 30. Many people might be OK with this, so you can give it a try. This is what demos are for.

 

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My eyes have been noticeably going bad for the last 18 months. Finally did something about it.

We are gamers. We like to play games in the dark. But that's not good on our eyes. I got a small lamp and put it behind my monitors. 450 lumen LED bulb, equivalent to an old 40watt. The wall is matte off white. The bulb has a nice soft yellow. The lamp lights up the wall with nice indirect lighting. The room now has a source of light that isn't overpowering.

Another thing you can do is lower the monitor's color temperature. Some monitors call it low blue light mode. It brings the monitor closer to warm white lighting.

 

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Finished The Witness. What a ride! But how come there are only 2 achievements - it looks like people on the youtube get trophy for every laser?

People on Youtube must be playing it on the PS4. Apparently trophies are more of a requirement on the PS4.

 

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It's not just Valve. AMD and Nvidia have their own 3D audio APIs made with VR in mind. AMD's is open source. But at this point it's still unclear when and if VR is going to get mainstream. And if it ends up being a flash in the pan, so might the positional audio.

 

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Dim lighting isn't the problem, the contrast is - you just need to lower the display brightness accordingly, and it should be possible on most modern displays.

 

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Hooking my 710 up to Win10 was frustrating, until I found the recommendation to manually select the xBox 360 controller driver for it. That took seconds to install and it's worked flawlessly since.

Same for me. It really shouldn't take hours.

 

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Steep is going to have a free weekend in 10 hours, preload is already available on Uplay.

 

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One of the most amazing things ever: Boardsleigh in Steep - snowboarding at the remains of a bobsleigh track. It's just one track in the whole game, but it's so unusual and amazing. And when you're looking at a completed run, it may be hard to tell just how difficult it can be and how long it can take to beat it. It's almost Meat Circus. :bigdumbgrin:

The game itself is pretty great too. They tightened the controls since the beta, added new mountains - Alaska - and, amazingly enough, it's not a copy-and-paste job. There are pretty amazing new locations. I'd say Steep is one of the best exploration games.

Another thing I really like is temporal AA - they decoupled it from smoothing, so the result is very sharp, performance is better than no AA, but it looks almost as good as 2x MSAA, so you can max things out and still have 60 fps. If you like things smoother, you can add FXAA on top of that. More games should have this.

 

[Frosty Grin]

Heh... Still haven't beaten that level. Which is weird, because not being able to beat a level usually drives me to continue trying until I get it.

It's probably because you're indifferent to the suffering of bunnies.

Speaking of which, there are bunnies in Steep. Or, more precisely, Rabbids. Huge and made of snow on one of the tracks in a remote corner of the map. So random...

 

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Pathologic: The Marble Nest free demo is now available to everyone.

 

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Dark Train has a demo now, so if you're into point-and-click puzzle adventures like Machinarium, give it a try.

 

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If you're not following Mass Effect Andromeda, people are having a big laugh at the animations. My face is tired from all the laughing.

 

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I'm trying to feel smug about waiting for reviews & not pre-ordering, but mostly I just feel sad that the only unreleased game I'm looking forward to in 2017 got handed off to Bioware's B-team.

You shouldn't feel smug about doing what's normal. Especially when there's Origin Access - so you can see for yourself and still "preorder".

On the other hand, B-teams can turn out to be good and A-teams can get bad.

 

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Tried the Pathologic demo - and it's pretty impressive. Sure, performance is unoptimized, and there is no controller support, but it's still very playable and very captivating. I liked the sense of otherness that still comprised a coherent world. Reminded me of Half-Life 2 a little. The first run took me about 90 minutes - and it wasn't successful, so I can play it some more. This isn't a typical demo, more like a self-contained prologue.

I think the main problem with Pathologic is not with Pathologic. It's with other survival games - there are so many now that the "feed the hunger bar" mechanic became a cliche. So far I don't really see how Pathologic improves it. It's mostly just rummaging through cabinets + a little inventory Tetris. Well, there is one improvement - you don't need to open every single drawer individually - you press and hold the button, they open and you can move the contents into your inventory.

 

[Frosty Grin]

I gave the Pathologic demo another go and got to the proper ending. It's really not about the survival mechanics. It's the story, message and atmosphere that shine. If they can build a big game out of it, it should be great. Definitely give the demo a try.

 

[Frosty Grin]

My only real concern at the moment is how well/poorly it will run on my machine with it's aging 8GB GTX880M graphics... Anyone have any insights?

You can pay EA $5 and play the Origin Access trial. If you decide to buy the game, you get a discount (on Origin). If not, you can play something else for a month.

Assuming your card is equivalent to an R7 370 (it is in Mirror's Edge Catalyst based on the same engine), you can expect 26 fps on Ultra settings (based on GameGPU benchmark), which should translate to steady 30 fps on medium/high settings (1080p).

Edit: BTW, reviews are up, and they're not complimentary (e.g. "probably BioWare's worst RPG yet"). Proper discussion belongs in the game's thread, so it's just a warning.

 

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The creators of Ether One announced a new game - The Occupation. The interesting aspect is that the events happen in real time.

 

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Who's idea of a good time is doing the same shitty mindless puzzle over and over and over and over and over and over and over and fucking over again? Holy shit, this game is way to elaborate for it to just be stupid puzzle after stupid puzzle isn't it?

Yes and no. Yes, it's more than a meaningless collection of puzzles. Yes, the puzzles will get rather different and ingenious, with you having to figure out the rules. But no, if you hate the basic puzzles, you won't like the game any better. Because, indeed, there are many - very many - puzzles in The Witness. Eventually you'll get to the spot where there are entire walkways literally made of puzzles!

If you don't like it, that's what refunds are for.

I need a game that's a bit less grindy and a bit more visceral than Elite: Dangerous while I wait for 2.3. Maybe I should try Dark Souls on my new rig?

Dark Souls games are still rather grindy, no?

 

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So I get stuck at one area and encounter another area and set of puzzles but have no idea where the tutorial puzzle is for the new concepts so I just feel completely stuck.

The map has marks for this.

 

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There's a map in the game????!!

It's not detailed, but it's there, at the stations where you can call the boat.

I wasn't even paying attention to the map, because early on the available area isn't huge, so you can just go explore when you see puzzles you can't solve.

 

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I was playing the demo for this upcoming game: The Land of Pain. It has pretty impressive-looking forests for a small project, thanks to CryEngine and unusual vegetation. Got me thinking though: I probably spent more time in video game forests than in real ones. And it's kinda sad, I guess?