Ever tried reloading an old save on a game you haven't played in ages...and are completely lost?
I'm experiencing that right now with Red Dead Redemption 2. Think I'll have to start from scratch. Which sucks because I was about 50% completed. I'd made it to Chapter 4, where you hit your first city. But I've forgotten everything. The controls, my progress, what everything does, the story, everything.
I'm experiencing that right now with Red Dead Redemption 2. Think I'll have to start from scratch. Which sucks because I was about 50% completed. I'd made it to Chapter 4, where you hit your first city. But I've forgotten everything. The controls, my progress, what everything does, the story, everything.
Every time I go back to Red Dead this happens, and it sucks cause the first bit is a slog.
GasBandit
Staff member
Every time I go back to Skyrim. Every. Time.
figmentPez
Staff member
And it's worse with games that have an unusual control scheme, or complex mechanics. Going back to an old FPS game is one thing, but going back to something like Guacamelee, when you've forgotten all the tutorials and combo moves, is something else. Even something like Torchlight 2, where I know all the basics, if I've forgotten how my specific build plays best, it's a fumbling nightmare until I remember.
figmentPez
Staff member
I've started playing Control because it's one of the "free" games with Prime for Amazon Luna this month. I'm highly skeptical about streaming game services, especially the bad directions they could take the industry, but I am curious about their current state, and since I already have Control through Prime Gaming giving away a GOG copy a while back, this seems like the perfect opportunity to compare a game that is taxing on my old system, to the cloud version, which can enable more graphical bells and whistles, but is limited by streaming latency and compression.
I'm also curious about how well Luna works with Steam Input, since everyone knows I love my Steam Controller. (Control is not ideal in that aspect, since it does not play nice with mixed mouse and gamepad inputs. It has a minor freakout if mouse movement happens at the same time as any controller inputs, so I'm using a full mouse & keyboard layout.)
If anyone is interested in hearing about Luna, or has specific questions, I'll go into detail after I've spent some time with the game, but if no one cares I don't know if I'll say a lot.
I'm also curious about how well Luna works with Steam Input, since everyone knows I love my Steam Controller. (Control is not ideal in that aspect, since it does not play nice with mixed mouse and gamepad inputs. It has a minor freakout if mouse movement happens at the same time as any controller inputs, so I'm using a full mouse & keyboard layout.)
If anyone is interested in hearing about Luna, or has specific questions, I'll go into detail after I've spent some time with the game, but if no one cares I don't know if I'll say a lot.
The last time this happened to me was in Divinity: Original Sin 2. I wasn't lost in terms of the story, I could easily recognize where I was in the story because it was a very distinctive location. Instead, I'd completely forgotten what my characters' build strategies were. DOS2 allows players to come up with some really creative and esoteric builds and strategies, but the downside of using these weird builds is that if you don't remember what your approach was, it'll just look like a random mishmash of powers and spells. "Why the hell does this guy have a bunch of necromancer powers coupled with fire magic? What's with the dwarf using nothing but grenades? Why does my main spellcaster have no offensive spells memorized? And which among my party is meant to be the tank?"
figmentPez
Staff member
Unlocked the "gravity gun" and made it a bit past the first boss. What I've learned:
- There was noticeable lag. Not horrendous, but my controls felt floaty. I could finish the game on this, if it were the only issue.
- The video was not 1080p, probably sub 720p. When I'd previously played on Luna, some Hot Wheels themed racer, the video was really crisp. This absolutely did not look that good. Even worse is that Control has a lot of rooms with low light, or red lighting, and I hope we all know that video compression is especially unkind to red.
- Luna doesn't support downloading/transferring saved games for Control. While it does apparently for some games, I can't figure out how to tell which games do.
- The game crashed twice.
This is probably the end of my experimenting with playing Control via Luna.
I own it but haven't touched it in years. I was waiting for it to be out of Early Access. Which it us now, obviously. If you want someone to play it with sometime, lemme know. I have a very vague idea of how it works.
GasBandit
Staff member
Heh, it is still buggy, though. When I join someone else's game the very first thing I have to do is take my hook off my hotbar and put it in my inventory, then close my inventory, and open it again and put my hook back on my bar. If I don't do that though it won't work ever.
I got gifted Elden Ring by a friend who wanted to play it with me. Then the night we planned to play with that seamless multiplayer mod installed, his gaming laptop crapped out. So now he's waiting for a replacement and I'm playing the shit out of Elden Ring ferreals now.
Hey y'all. Might be good.
Hey y'all. Might be good.
figmentPez
Staff member
You know how it works, but do you know how it breaks?
Beware of spoilers, and hilarity:
My kids ask me every week if a new Let's Game it Out is on YouTube. Kids, he publishes one a month, typically. Cool your jets! This one on Raft that he published today is not his funniest but it's still fun to watch him utterly break a game like this.
Two Crucible Knights? Are you fucking kidding me. You make me run through that nightmare gauntlet of barely avoidable chariot garbage and now, directly after that I have to fight two fucking Crucible Knights? One Crucible Knight is like a 9/10 difficult by the Dark Souls 1 scale. Two is a nightmare.
WELP, after 45 minutes of smashing my face against this unbreakable wall, I go to look at a guide and it's a fucking raid boss guide.
eip.gg
So edit like 5 minutes later. I say fuck reading this to the guide, go try again and push their teeth in like it was effortless and I think I need to vent my frustrations about bosses earlier since I seem to obliterate them after I do.
WELP, after 45 minutes of smashing my face against this unbreakable wall, I go to look at a guide and it's a fucking raid boss guide.
How to Beat the Crucible Knight Duo (Crucible Knight Ordovis & Crucible Knight) - Elden Ring Boss Guide - EIP Gaming
Walkthrough Menu Navigation Rewards:28,000Ordovis's GreatswordCrucible Axe HelmCrucible Axe ArmorCrucible GauntletsCrucible GreavesSummons Available: Yes This duo boss is found at the end of the Auriza Hero's Grave on the Altus Plateau. It can be tough to find windows to attack vs these guys...
eip.gg
So edit like 5 minutes later. I say fuck reading this to the guide, go try again and push their teeth in like it was effortless and I think I need to vent my frustrations about bosses earlier since I seem to obliterate them after I do.
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So since getting a PS5, I've had the chance to play a couple of games through PS Plus Extra. Which offers a surprisingly large amount of games that you can play as long as you're subscribed.
Stray
I wanted this badly and tried begging to trade keys for it. So I was pleasantly surprised it was offered through PS Plus.
And...it's okay. Once the novelty of being a cat wears off, it's kind of a shallow, linear adventure game. The "action" bits are more frustrating than entertaining, since you're running from hordes of niggling little things.
There's also several missed opportunities for more cat stuff. The scratching mechanic does nothing but add flavor. And there doesn't seem to be an achievement for knocking as many items possible off things. Also, I've encountered several cardboard boxes and there's no interaction option with them. The problem with the novelty wearing out is once you get into the meat of the story, it kind of forgsts its biggest selling point: being a cat.
Still, the post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk style world and story is engaging enough that I want to see it through to the end.
Now, keep in mind the other two I've only played briefly to try them. I'll likely have more thoughts as I play them.
Ghost of Tsushima
LOVE the premise and aesthetics for this one. And I kinda dig the simple revenge story so far. They clearly took inspiration from Akira Kurosawa. Blatantly so, since there's a Kurosawa Mode where everything is black and white. I probably won't use that feature, but it's a neat idea in theory.
Bugsnax
This is weird as fuck, but I'm digging it. It's like Pokemon Snap, if Pokemon Snap was coked out of it's mind. It's by the same team behind Octodad, so I expect it'll only get weirder from here.
Stray
I wanted this badly and tried begging to trade keys for it. So I was pleasantly surprised it was offered through PS Plus.
And...it's okay. Once the novelty of being a cat wears off, it's kind of a shallow, linear adventure game. The "action" bits are more frustrating than entertaining, since you're running from hordes of niggling little things.
There's also several missed opportunities for more cat stuff. The scratching mechanic does nothing but add flavor. And there doesn't seem to be an achievement for knocking as many items possible off things. Also, I've encountered several cardboard boxes and there's no interaction option with them. The problem with the novelty wearing out is once you get into the meat of the story, it kind of forgsts its biggest selling point: being a cat.
Still, the post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk style world and story is engaging enough that I want to see it through to the end.
Now, keep in mind the other two I've only played briefly to try them. I'll likely have more thoughts as I play them.
Ghost of Tsushima
LOVE the premise and aesthetics for this one. And I kinda dig the simple revenge story so far. They clearly took inspiration from Akira Kurosawa. Blatantly so, since there's a Kurosawa Mode where everything is black and white. I probably won't use that feature, but it's a neat idea in theory.
Bugsnax
This is weird as fuck, but I'm digging it. It's like Pokemon Snap, if Pokemon Snap was coked out of it's mind. It's by the same team behind Octodad, so I expect it'll only get weirder from here.
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I had to buy Stray. Maybe I wasn’t patient enough. May I ask what level of the PS membership you have?
PS Plus Extra, the second level. The first level seems to be what the original Plus did. Premium, the top level, includes the old PS Now content.
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I grabbed Catizens on Steam. A cat based rimworld/farming sim game?
How could I say no?
How could I say no?
I was playing WoW again, but got a 10 day ban for "abusive chat". Apparently you can't say "fuck" anymore in BGs raid chat. Yes, this is what I was reported for. "Fuck, they're hitting mid again" - among other things of similar nature, not directed at anyone (although I did have a guy call me trash, and I sarcastically mimicked his words right back at him, calling him tRaSh - this was also included in the ban report).
I feel like Blizzard is just now taking out their bullshit cube-crawl offense on the player-base now instead of addressing their own company culture failings with these bullshit player reporting systems. I understand bans for slurs, but aren't there in-game filters for naughty, boo-boo words if you don't want to see them?
I feel like Blizzard is just now taking out their bullshit cube-crawl offense on the player-base now instead of addressing their own company culture failings with these bullshit player reporting systems. I understand bans for slurs, but aren't there in-game filters for naughty, boo-boo words if you don't want to see them?
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I just got an email that my steam deck is available if I still want it.
Dies anyone have one? Are they awesome or silly?
Dies anyone have one? Are they awesome or silly?
GasBandit
Staff member
My 25 year old cousin absolutely loves his. It's become his primary gaming platform.
MINES ON THE WAY!!!
figmentPez
Staff member
I have been following /r/SteamDeck very closely, since I wish I had the money to spend on a Deck. The general consensus seems to be that it's amazing, if it runs the games you want to play, and it runs a lot of games pretty well. You can see what games from your library are "Deck Verified" here. Bear in mind that some users have reported issues with Verified games, but on the flip side there are many Unsupported and untested games that actually work fine, or can be made to work with little effort. (And that's not even getting into using the Deck for emulation. The Deck can run some Switch games better than the Switch does, among many other systems.)
One of the major reasons for games to be Unsupported is having cut scenes or other pre-rendered video that is encoded in formats Valve doesn't have the rights to to distribute software for in all countries, so they can't pack in those decoders with Proton. However, there is Proton GloriousEggroll (named after the coder who maintains it) that includes expanded codec support, among other tweaks. Installing Proton GE isn't hard, and helps make a lot of games, like the Batman Arkham series, run on Deck.
People who like it:
- Value the portability, or being able to play on the couch when the TV is in use. I've seen a number of posts from parents who say things like "I never get a chance to game on my PC, but this lets me sneak in game time while still being a parent."
- Have the Steam Deck as their first gaming PC, or as a return to PC gaming. There is nothing else on the market that performs as well as the Steam Deck at it's price point. You'd either have to buy used, or spend well more than $400 to get a desktop PC with more performance than a Steam Deck, and that's not figuring in the cost of monitor, keyboard, speakers, etc. Valve must be selling Decks at cost, or somewhere close to that.
- Are happy with 720p, medium graphics, 40 - 60fps
- Like the many and varied input options the Steam Deck provides. The Deck is unmatched in it's collection of buttons, touchpads, gyro and the configuration software to use it all.
People who are disappointed in it generally:
- Want competitive online multi-player. SteamOS / Linux has some compatibility issues with anti-cheat software. (Are we anti-cheat yet?)
- Already have high end PCs, and only want to play in high resolution, ultra graphics, 60+fps, etc.
- Expect everything to just work, and that's not always the case with the Steam Deck (though only a little more so than PC gaming in general).
- Expected the docked experience to be as seamless as docking the Switch. Right now there are a few issues with using an external monitor on the Steam Deck.*
* There are a few main issues with docking the Steam Deck. Most notably the "Game Mode" doesn't let you choose an output resolution, causing it to auto-select 4k30 when using a dock that doesn't support 4k60 output. This limits the system to 30fps. Games can still be run at any resolution, but they get upscaled to the interface's resolution, and even when connected to a dock/TV combo that works at 60Hz+, there can be performance issues when scaling games to 4k. This can be solved by using Desktop Mode, but that means giving up system-wide FSR and some of Game Mode's other benefits.
The other issue with docked play is that Game Mode has a bug with mouse support. Trying to play FPS games with mouse & keyboard results in borked mouse input. Again, this can be solved by using Desktop Mode. Docked useage seems to be an afterthought by Valve, and they're still doing a lot of work on SteamOS to get everything working.
For instance, since the Steam Deck launched, Valve has added a user defined refresh rate mode that allows the deck to run the screen at a lower Hz. So you can run at 40hz and 40fps without the frame pacing issues of running 60Hz/40fps (40 fps is halfway between 30 and 60 in terms of frame timing. 33.3ms / 25ms / 16.6ms per frame respectively.) So games that can't run at a constant 60fps on the Deck don't have to fall all the way down to 30fps.
Got the demo for that Highlands Rimworld clone: Clanfolk.
Thought "I've got 90 minutes to kill..I'll check it out."
It's so very much rimworld like. But it's got a tech tree that's nice. It's built on discovery: gather enough wood, and you start learning wood-related technologies. No putting a pawn in a chair and having him sit forever to churn out research.
Spent time getting my clanfolk some basic needs: Food, shelter, etc. Glanced at my phone. I was 10 minutes late to the thing I was killing time for. Definitely sucked me in, and I'm likely going to be buying it here in the next couple days.
Thought "I've got 90 minutes to kill..I'll check it out."
It's so very much rimworld like. But it's got a tech tree that's nice. It's built on discovery: gather enough wood, and you start learning wood-related technologies. No putting a pawn in a chair and having him sit forever to churn out research.
Spent time getting my clanfolk some basic needs: Food, shelter, etc. Glanced at my phone. I was 10 minutes late to the thing I was killing time for. Definitely sucked me in, and I'm likely going to be buying it here in the next couple days.
I am stressed out right now re: work and I was considering that or the cat one. Maybe I need both!
Well, Clansfolk has a demo and tutorial. You could play for free and see if it floats your boat.
I think I'm the only one here that physically has one at the moment and this is the most comprehensive and accurate breakdown though I will add battery life is kinda bunk depending on what you're playing. Though that can be lengthened by dropping settings down and mitigated by a power bank, and it's no worse than you'd expect out of a gaming laptop anyway.
Otherwise it's a really slick machine.
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