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

Jump to latest Follow Reply
S

swiftdraw

Ars Praefectus
4,661
Subscriptor
  • #27,161
    I am kind of annoyed with Arms Trade Tycoon: Tanks right now. In order to progress technology tiers, you have to accomplish a list of achievements tied to profitability (fine), specific administrative hires (why? the logi guy sucks), and being friends with certain countries. So if you don’t play optimally, you’re probably going to be stuck in Tier 1 longer than your AI competitors. If you’re stuck there long enough, you’ll find you won’t be able to compete for contracts as you cannot fulfill the requirements.

    What has me really irked is the “optimal” part. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like:
    IMG_1279.jpeg
    Just the weight distribution alone is… ugh. But, each component has an attached value and crew requirement. As long as the numbers are green, you’re golden. No other consideration is given to things like firing arcs or weight distribution. Number must go up! No matter what! So what I lose in firepower, I gain in savings and bonuses to crew and vehicle performance, as well as cost to construct. And I absolutely hate it. The asymmetry! It burns!
     
    • Haha
    Reactions: Klockwerk, Artichoke Sap and Demento
    S

    swiftdraw

    Ars Praefectus
    4,661
    Subscriptor
  • #27,163
    technophile said:
    I mean, assuming that side cannon can actually aim (mostly) forward the firing arc isn't necessarily a ton worse than the M3 Lee or some of the early SPGs/tank destroyers... 🤣
    Click to expand...
    Not really. It can’t aim past the tracks in the test drive and really doesn’t like going parallel with the hull. It usually is pointed out 5ish degrees. So yeah, it is worse than the M3 Lee.
     
    cogwheel

    cogwheel

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    6,864
    Subscriptor
  • #27,167
    Diabolical said:
    Free-loadable content?

    Nope. Not even once.
    Click to expand...
    Maybe Creative Assembly is trying to say you're only allowed to play it if you camp out on their couch?

    swiftdraw said:
    View attachment 89154
    Click to expand...
    Every time I look at this image, I see a partially built kitbashed tank model, probably around 1:12 scale, sitting on an old carpet runner. Is that the look the dev was going for?

    whoisit said:
    Maybe it's a reference to the Kaiser's pegging helmet?

    View attachment 89184
    Click to expand...
    TIL that there was such thing as a Pickelhaube condom:
    Pickelhaube_mit_%C3%9Cberzug.jpg
     
    S

    swiftdraw

    Ars Praefectus
    4,661
    Subscriptor
  • #27,168
    cogwheel said:
    Every time I look at this image, I see a partially built kitbashed tank model, probably around 1:12 scale, sitting on an old carpet runner. Is that the look the dev was going for?
    Click to expand...
    The objective of the game is developing tanks to sell on the international markets. The problem for me is, everything goes off of stats and not physical simulation. So optimal builds look like that.
     
    Thorvard

    Thorvard

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    22,873
    Moderator
  • #27,170
    Finally got around to playing Darkest Dungeon 2(the original was probably one of my most played games on the Deck) and...I actually think I like it more than the 1st one. I know the 2nd got a lot of bad reviews for the different style of game play and being an Epic exclusive in the beginning.

    But I kinda prefer this to the OG. Both are great, but different enough that I don't mind bouncing between the 2.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Diabolical and Nekojin
    Backstop

    Backstop

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    32,853
    Subscriptor
  • #27,172
    Oh hey after you get pretty far into Tunic it turns out there have been secrets and puzzles like every ten feet the whole time. Some of them seem to have no useful reward, like coins or items, and I'm guessing that those will affect the ending, not sure.

    What a fascinating little jewel box.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Rimworld Dwarf and MiguelMC
    technophile

    technophile

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    23,500
  • #27,173
    Backstop said:
    Oh hey after you get pretty far into Tunic it turns out there have been secrets and puzzles like every ten feet the whole time. Some of them seem to have no useful reward, like coins or items, and I'm guessing that those will affect the ending, not sure.

    What a fascinating little jewel box.
    Click to expand...
    If you have a Netflix account, their previous game (Death's Door) is available free on mobile through the Netflix app. I've been playing it, it's a fun diversion. There definitely are areas and secrets you won't be able to get the first time you encounter them, you'll have to come back with additional skills/tools/knowledge AFAICT (I'm not too far in yet).

    They have several other games for free as well - TMNT Shredder's Revenge, Hades, and Kentucky Route Zero among others. I think the lineup updates periodically.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Backstop
    Ryan B.

    Ryan B.

    Ars Praefectus
    3,604
    Subscriptor++
  • #27,179
    Backstop said:
    Oh hey after you get pretty far into Tunic it turns out there have been secrets and puzzles like every ten feet the whole time. Some of them seem to have no useful reward, like coins or items, and I'm guessing that those will affect the ending, not sure.

    What a fascinating little jewel box.
    Click to expand...

    Coins are most definitely NOT useless.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Rimworld Dwarf
    Diabolical

    Diabolical

    Senator
    24,799
    Subscriptor++
  • #27,182
    GMBigKev said:
    So I know our Resident Demo player played the game and they couldn't get through the rhythm parts of it but has anyone here played Dustborn? I'm seeing nothing but scathing anger towards it and very few actually objective responses about it.
    Click to expand...
    The Vidjagame Apocalypse folks were mixed. The story telling? Good, very ’Don’t Nod’. The actual gameplay mechanics? Take forever to get introduced. Like you are still running into basic tutorials for stuff multiple hours into the game.

    They talk about if for a bit in last week’s episode. It’s a couple of minutes starting at 1:16:50.


    View: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vidjagame-apocalypse/id600353928?i=1000666348866
     
    • Like
    Reactions: GMBigKev
    GMBigKev

    GMBigKev

    Ars Praefectus
    4,805
    Subscriptor
  • #27,187
    Diabolical said:
    The Vidjagame Apocalypse folks were mixed. The story telling? Good, very ’Don’t Nod’. The actual gameplay mechanics? Take forever to get introduced. Like you are still running into basic tutorials for stuff multiple hours into the game.

    They talk about if for a bit in last week’s episode. It’s a couple of minutes starting at 1:16:50.


    View: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vidjagame-apocalypse/id600353928?i=1000666348866
    Click to expand...


    Thanks. That's kind of what I've heard about it elsewhere. It's just really hard to push through the dregs of mankind whining about DEI and wokism and such when it comes to it.

    Kinda boring - good enough reason to avoid. Shame. It looked cool.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Diabolical
    S

    surfer6

    Ars Scholae Palatinae
    1,086
  • #27,188
    Diabolical said:
    I liked what I read. Then I watched the gameplay overview video. And the aesthetic and idea seems cool as hell. And the mechanics highlighted (in regards to weapon load outs and scavenge mechanics/planning and such) made me nope right back out again.

    Ah well. Looks cool though.
    Click to expand...
    @Happysin New video dropped on Forever Winter...saw it on my YT feed. Dev seems to have some good ideas, we'll see if EA let's them do it their way...


    View: https://youtu.be/Z2izSjSXoq8?si=CqyYLfWbMDvvp43-
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Artichoke Sap and Happysin
    Happysin

    Happysin

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    100,826
    Subscriptor++
  • #27,189
    surfer6 said:
    @Happysin New video dropped on Forever Winter...saw it on my YT feed. Dev seems to have some good ideas, we'll see if EA let's them do it their way...


    View: https://youtu.be/Z2izSjSXoq8?si=CqyYLfWbMDvvp43-
    Click to expand...

    Man, that's bad-ass. I still don't play this style of game much, but I'm very seriously considering dropping my early access ban on game purchases just to show them some love for taking the risk.

    Who knows, maybe I don't play it much these days is because there hasn't really been on like Forever Winter in a while.
     
    G

    GloatingSwine

    Ars Praefectus
    3,636
  • #27,194
    Happysin said:
    Saw this over in Programmer Humor, and thought about how legitimately interesting to use meta mechanics like this to combat player toxicity in online competitive games. The more toxic you are to a community, the easier you are to kill.
    Click to expand...

    I think one of my favourites was in World of Warships. If you did what the game thought was intentional damage to your own team your friendly fire damage got turned off and you got marked as a free target for everyone else's friendly fire damage (as in there would be no penalty for executing you).
     
    Chris FOM

    Chris FOM

    Senator
    10,396
    Subscriptor
  • #27,195
    Ugh, decided to try to dedicate the time to tackle the final boss of FF VII Rebirth. It’s as bad as its reputation. Two or three (depending on how you count) bosses broken over 11 or 12 (not hyperbole) phases, checkpoints between each phase but not a single save point (you can retry from death but if you quit you’re starting the whole thing over), only two chances to reset equipment, and more. I took two hours last night and got to the final final phase, but couldn’t beat him so I slept the PS5. Tried again today and even rested I’ve yet to get him below ~40% or so of his health, and he hasn’t even broken out his ultimate attacks yet. My loadout isn’t great, but changing it requires going back four or five phases. I’m gonna give it one more real attempt before probably just starting the whole thing so I can drop the difficulty to easy and be done with it.

    It’s a real shame because up until now I’ve absolutely loved the game. One of my favorites in years. But between the general overstaying its welcome and now an absurd final gauntlet it’s ending on a bit of a sour note. Doesn’t change my feelings overall but not how you want something this good to finish.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: MrLiNcH
    Chris FOM

    Chris FOM

    Senator
    10,396
    Subscriptor
  • #27,197
    Instead of another try I just said screw it, restarted everything from the beginning, and dropped the difficulty. Didn’t feel like bashing my head against it any longer on a game I was ready to be finished with. Even on easy, clearing every phase on the first try (except the final phase which took two attempts when the boss used a near party wipe move at a particularly bad time), it still took about 75 mins. And that’s not counting the ending cutscenes. I’ll write more on this one later but despite a weak ending it still stands as a brilliant game.
     
    G

    GloatingSwine

    Ars Praefectus
    3,636
  • #27,199
    CommanderJameson said:
    Isn’t there a FF final boss who takes something like 30 hours to beat?

    "Ain’t nobody got time for that" lady has entered the chat
    Click to expand...

    That was a boss in FFXI the first MMO one. Absolute Virtue. So that wasn't just 30 hours, that was 30 hours for IIRC 64 players.

    And it didn't take 30 hours to beat in its original state. The longest try to beat it legit was 30 hours, nobody ever beat it without some kind of exploit in that original state, it wasn't until the level cap was raised and players got a lot more powerful abilities. (It was occasionally beaten by glitches that got patched out as soon as anyone did it).
     
    KT421

    KT421

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    6,998
    Subscriptor
  • #27,200
    Shanrak said:
    Been thoroughly enjoying Tactical Breach Wizards, the combat is so fluid and satisfying but yet still has a tactical sort of feel that scratches my XCOM itch. Also, great story writing and dialog so far (Currently in act 3 of 4).
    Click to expand...
    I have heard the same from several people so far. I do not have any time for gaming right now but when things settle down in a few weeks it's at the top of the list.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Jump to latest Follow Reply
    Jump to latest Follow Reply