What are you playing?

GasBandit

Staff member
*updates Empyrion Server*

"Empyrion Admin Helper now requires .Net 4.8. Would you like to install it?"

Fiiiiine.

*chug chug chug*

"Installation complete. You must reboot to finish installation."



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I haven't rebooted this server in TWO AND A HALF YEARS.

A lot of times this "you must now restart for this to work" is an empty statement, you can just say "later" and it still works. But not this time.

Reboot the server? Uuuuughhh I hate the world.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Aaand sure enough. After the reboot, my minecraft server is refusing to start. I haven't played on it in 2 years, but it's still irritating. Mostly because fixing it will probably require uninstalling and reinstalling the JDK, which means another reboot.

Probably not going to play Minecraft anymore anyway. Been getting e-mails about how "it's time" to migrate my Mojang account to a microsoft account and no computer I own will ever TOUCH a microsoft account.
 
Every time there's a new update for Vampire Survivor I go through the exact same process.

Step 1: Aww fuck, do I really want to play this anymore?

Step 2 (1 hour to 2 days later): I'll do one round, see if the new stuff is worth while.

Step 3 (3 hours later): WHY IS THERE NOTHING LEFT TO UNLOCK BLAAAARGHHGHGHGHGHGHGHGLLLGLGGH.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

This had much better plot and characters than I was expecting, klunkier combat, and more Zelda. Somehow I'd missed hearing about how the level design is very much like Skyward Sword mixed with Metroid Prime. I'd heard it called Star Wars Dark Souls so often I thought it took level design from that, too. Really it only takes the resting at save points refills healing and respawns enemies thing from Souls.

Merrin deserves to at least show up in a Disney+ Star Wars series, and I would absolutely watch if she and Cal got their own show.

Spoilers for Obi Wan Kenobi and Fallen Order:
There's speculation that the Path that Obi Wan and Leia are using to try to get away from the Empire was started by Cal Kestis of Fallen Order, and I would watch the fuck out of 'Path of the Jedi', a show about Cal, BD-1, Merrin, Greez and Cere building a resistance network.

Fallen Order really knows how to make a big setpiece event. I can easily think of a half-dozen giant moments. Some of them I kinda expected to have at some point in the game, others that caught me off guard, but the game manages to feel very big at times, in a good way.

The finale, especially.
Holy shit, Darth Vader as an unstoppable horror monster really works. Running from him as the floor underneath your feet is ripped away and twisted, thinking you're safe when you get to the elevator with a huge span of empty space between you and where you left him, the camera pans down to the controls as you try to get the turbolift moving, then pans back up and VADER. No hope of winning, just trying to run faster than the towering robotic horror.

The flaws are kinda minor. Some of the areas were big in a bad way, and overstayed their welcome. Too many of the enemies were spiders (although that did contribute to the Zelda vibes). The combat never really clicked with me, and felt kinda awkward. Maybe it was the framerates on my CPU-bound system that caused me janky parries, or maybe I just never shook the Arkham/Mordor style combat I kept wanting it to be.
 
I finally finished Hitman 3. Took me a while because I would max out every level's mastery level before moving on to the next one.

I like it, though I think I might consider Hitman 2 better overall. Hitman 3 brought some interesting gameplay innovations, such as the camera, unlockable shortcuts, certain levels having certain "quirks", etc. The levels were also visually wonderful, with Chongqing's cyberpunk aesthetic being my favorite. And the story was certainly interesting enough. However, Hitman 2's levels felt more fun to play in, and there were more of them. Hitman 3 has 6 levels, and the last level was a bit too linear and not really worthy of being the final level of the trilogy.

All in all, I would recommend this trilogy to anyone who likes stealth games, and I look forward to endlessly replaying them again and again.
 
Decided to try playing through - or at least trying - games that I've had installed for ages. I have many installed that I haven't even touched. Either I bought them on sale, got them in a bundle, or got it in a trade installed them, and then never touched them. Soooo...

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

A short, relatively easy quirky indie game. I wouldn't call it a "great" game, but it's fine. I got 100% achievements and it's probably one I'll never look back on. Don't regret playing it, but it has zero replay value.

Iron Brigade

A lesser known Double Fine game and it's...meh? It's definitely dated. It's presented straighter than I would expect from a Double Fine game and just comes across as a generic sci-fi war thing. Kind of a tower defense game but I lost interest in this quick.

Night Trap

Or maybe 20 minutes of it. I never played it before and was always morbidly curious about it for how infamously bad it was. What I wasn't expecting is having to use all my time watching the tiny screens for the invading monsters, using the horribly timed trap system, and pretty much missing any of the actual story among the characters. I was ready for a super low budget effects and bad acting, but I wasn't expecting to be missing the story entirely because I have to keep laser focused on the monsters.

Not to mention just getting the game running was clunky, where it makes you choose between mouse or controller before anything else...and then you can't switch after making said choice. And the controls can't seem to decide which one you want to use half the time, with the prompts showing as one or the other.

Bad game, bad port, and just a bad experience.
 
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So after having a great time in the Hitman trilogy, I decided I wanted more stealth gaming, so I started playing Dishonored 2, which I got in a recent sale. So far I've reached the third level as Corvo, and it's fun. It feels a lot like the first game except bigger and better.

Also I didn't know how much I relied on Agent 47's ability to see through walls until I couldn't do it any more.
 
I just did it and played through Xenoblade Chronicles 2. After 122 hours, 9 minutes and 10 seconds I finally saw the end credits and I'm glad I kept playing. It's a great rpg with some flaws but I don't think I can recommend it to everyone.
 
So after having a great time in the Hitman trilogy, I decided I wanted more stealth gaming, so I started playing Dishonored 2, which I got in a recent sale. So far I've reached the third level as Corvo, and it's fun. It feels a lot like the first game except bigger and better.

Also I didn't know how much I relied on Agent 47's ability to see through walls until I couldn't do it any more.
Loved the first Dishonored, started 2 and never finished, I should restart it, I love that world, it's just that it's so... bleak.

But yeah, that "see through walls" power is always the first thing I go for in every one of those games I've played (Dishonored, the modern Deus Ex, Alpha Protocol, the new Tomb Raiders...). It's information, and information wins fights.
 
Finished up Persona 5 (not Royal, I'll get that on PC when it's out eventually) on my PS4. Another delightful game in a delightful series, created by someone kinda fucking horrible. Glad Atlus got a clue and shoved him to other projects.

@chris Katsura Hashino, one of the directors and producers of Persona, has some pretty fucking bigoted LGBTQA views.
 
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Oh. My. God. This is just endless nostalgic delight. I have to thank @Cheesy1 for buying a copy for me. We also played a few missions together (before I started getting tired and had to get ready for bed).

It's fun solo, but it's BARRELS of fun multiplayer.
To anyone that wants to try this game, it's also on microsoft gamepass
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Aaaand I've fallen back into Rimworld. I tried doing a cannibal psychopath playthrough, but like all my other times I tried... it didn't stick and I built a regular colony again. Probably the Zombieland mod makes it too difficult to farm raids for meat.
 
Jumped back into Diablo 3 again. Has it been nerfed significantly over time? I'm hitting GR82 with not a lot of difficulty on my DH whereas I could barely get over 50 in the past. Gear seems to drop like manna from heaven too.
 
The new mechanism to get high level gems for augmenting has also made it much easier to get silly high dps.

I agree that so much more heat seems to be dropping. I played this season and last after a super long break and have no idea how many legendary items I have had to trash as I have nowhere for them.
 
Neon White

HELLO new obsession, a good mix of speed-running shooter puzzle levels and BONE crunchingly hard bonus levels.

Seriously, level of difficulty: Yellow, Red, Violet. Neon Violet's levels will make you hate spikes MORE than in Super Mario.
 
With the steam sale going on, I thought this would be a great time to finally try Subnautica, but do it in VR, because I want a reason to use my Quest 2 again. I'm still not sure if this type of game is my style (It's currently installing), but you guys have praised it so highly, I thought I'd try.
 
With the steam sale going on, I thought this would be a great time to finally try Subnautica, but do it in VR, because I want a reason to use my Quest 2 again. I'm still not sure if this type of game is my style (It's currently installing), but you guys have praised it so highly, I thought I'd try.
It's very immersive, though technically unpolished. You will likely encounter quite a bit of lag and pop-in, as well as glitches and crashes. Fortunately I consider the game good enough to put up with these technical issues.

More to the point, though, Subnautica has been reputed to be even less optimized on VR.
 
It's very immersive, though technically unpolished. You will likely encounter quite a bit of lag and pop-in, as well as glitches and crashes. Fortunately I consider the game good enough to put up with these technical issues.

More to the point, though, Subnautica has been reputed to be even less optimized on VR.
Yes I saw that. I grabbed the VR enhancement mod off of nexus mods to help the issue.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Yes I saw that. I grabbed the VR enhancement mod off of nexus mods to help the issue.
I also found that subnautica was much more VR-enjoyable using a thumbstick controller. I don't know if the VR Enhancement mod makes it support the Touch Controllers (because subnautica doesn't by default), but if not, the controller's a much nicer solution than having to be stuck to a mouse and keyboard you can't see.
 
I also found that subnautica was much more VR-enjoyable using a thumbstick controller. I don't know if the VR Enhancement mod makes it support the Touch Controllers (because subnautica doesn't by default), but if not, the controller's a much nicer solution than having to be stuck to a mouse and keyboard you can't see.
Yeah I'm already seeing some of the bugs though. I grabbed my PS5 controller to play, then found out the Y-axis is disabled in VR mode so I have to crane my next to even aim the fire extinguisher. No matter though! There's a mod for Y-axis unlock! Success! But now my right tumbstick X-axis is locked and I can't turn around. FFS.

EDIT: Thats because somehow my horizontal sensitivity was also changed to 0. At any rate, hope I dont get too nauseous.
 
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GasBandit

Staff member
Yeah I'm already seeing some of the bugs though. I grabbed my PS5 controller to play, then found out the Y-axis is disabled in VR mode so I have to crane my next to even aim the fire extinguisher. No matter though! There's a mod for Y-axis unlock! Success! But now my right tumbstick X-axis is locked and I can't turn around. FFS.

EDIT: Thats because somehow my horizontal sensitivity was also changed to 0. At any rate, hope I dont get too nauseous.
I found it helps to NEVER sidestep or rise/sink. Only move forward/back with the movement stick. If you want to go up, look up. If you want to go down, look down. If you want to move to the side, turn and move forward, then turn back.
 
With the steam sale going on, I thought this would be a great time to finally try Subnautica, but do it in VR, because I want a reason to use my Quest 2 again. I'm still not sure if this type of game is my style (It's currently installing), but you guys have praised it so highly, I thought I'd try.
Subnautica is an amazing game that I cannot play because my fear of the ocean makes it too spoopy
 
I only felt a hint of nausea after an hour of playing, but ever so slight at that. I think the fact that I'm swimming underwater and my brain sort of expects wacky orientations helps a lot. I put the game filter into filmic so night looks even more like night and I'm having a blast so far.
 
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge

I just did a major arcade faux pas while playing with @Cheesy1: even though I had WAY more health than him, I took the only pizza/health on the screen. He lost a life as a result.

Back in the old arcade days, that would've earned me a swift elbow from another player.

Would that have been an overreaction in an 80s arcade? Maybe, maybe not. But when you're down to your last quarter from your allowance and another greedy player causes you to lose a life? You better believe there's retribution for that.
 
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge

I just did a major arcade faux pas while playing with @Cheesy1: even though I had WAY more health than him, I took the only pizza/health on the screen. He lost a life as a result.

Back in the old arcade days, that would've earned me a swift elbow from another player.

Would that have been an overreaction in an 80s arcade? Maybe, maybe not. But when you're down to your last quarter from your allowance and another greedy player causes you to lose a life? You better believe there's retribution for that.
The stolen pizza is the greatest sin in that game.
 
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge

I just did a major arcade faux pas while playing with @Cheesy1: even though I had WAY more health than him, I took the only pizza/health on the screen. He lost a life as a result.

Back in the old arcade days, that would've earned me a swift elbow from another player.

Would that have been an overreaction in an 80s arcade? Maybe, maybe not. But when you're down to your last quarter from your allowance and another greedy player causes you to lose a life? You better believe there's retribution for that.
Your only recourse now is to buy him an actual pizza.
 
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