NuXCOM_90Percent
@NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
- Comment on Marathon is delayed 10 hours ago:
I think the Mac thing was the biggest advantage. It meant that it was forbidden fruit that the vast majority of us could never play but MAYBE saw the box at a Circuit City. And then, fast forward a decade or so, and Halo comes out and suddenly EVERYONE is curious about the games that Bungie are totally referencing to a meaningful degree… and nobody played them or they MAYBE booted up Aleph One once and were scared off.
And I already ranted about how “FPS with story” is not some miraculous thing that didn’t exist… That is one of those things that really bother me because so many people just assume there was nothing but iD until Half-Life (or even Call of Duty).
But yeah. Mandalore Gaming did a few videos on Pathways->Marathon Trilogy that are REALLY good and convey the useful bits. And the reality is… they were good for their time but they weren’t mind blowing. And the narrative, while fun to read lore on, is also the kind of thing that you can completely ignore… and probably won’t even understand unless you find the hidden terminals and cross reference them with EVERYTHING else.
Which… kind of reminds me of Dark Souls come to think of it.
- Comment on Marathon is delayed 10 hours ago:
The fact that there was any form of plot at all was unique in the action and shooter genres.
No. It wasn’t.
There is this mindset that all that existed was DOOM (which actually did some interesting things narratively).
Marathon 1 came out in 1994 and built on Pathways into Darkness (1993). It came out the same year as System Shock and the year after CyClones (woefully underrated). Both of which also heavily relied on text bits but also, in my opinion, did a much better job of tying that narrative into the level/encounter design itself. Something Marathon… kind of wouldn’t really do until Infinity in 1996 where there is even more competition.
It was the first major release with free look and being able to aim up and down at all.
Again, CyClones and System Shock
Plus reloading weapons, dual wielding weapons, weapon models visible on the player in multiplayer,
“Tactical” shooters had already existed and I want to say there were a few DOOM Engine games that had reloading by this point?
Weapon models? I doubt it, but sure. Voice chat? Sure? That sounds real fun over sub 56k internet.
None of which changes Marathon classic mostly just being a “generic” FPS with a wall of crazy lore bible used to make the log entries.
To be clear: I LOVE the Marathon Trilogy. But if you actually look at what the games were, rather than what we wanted them to be… they were great writing, awkward level design, and decent shooting.
- Comment on Marathon is delayed 11 hours ago:
I am not optimistic in the slightest.
But the Marathon trilogy was really a bog standard FPS of the era that was mostly tied together with a completely out there story that was told almost exclusively via text logs.
So, a bog standard whatever buzz word genre it is at this point tied together with blog posts and youtube videos would actually be keeping with tradition.
- Comment on Top D&D designers join Critical Role after quitting Wizards of the Coast 1 day ago:
From my understanding, they used to basically be the same as Games Workshop is today: If you talk to people who work there “off the record” (or they are pushing the equivalent of a youtube channel… shout out to Rogue Hobbies) you’ll either get outright condemnation or LOTS of vague posting of a culture of theft and abuse.
But recent years have seen people get annoyed enough at the products that they now care about labor and we start to see a LOT more complaints.
- Comment on Nexus Mods Sale Sparks Concern in Modding Community 1 day ago:
The constant pushes for their premium model, while understandable, sucked as a user. Same with the increasing push to do EVERYTHING through their mod managers which actually had a tendency to conflict with the community made installers for a lot of older games.
They also had weird stances as to what triggered a mod as NSFW. Nobody (sane) would complain about the straight up sex mods but it had the same youtube problem where mature/“mature” content would get age gated. Same with their very hit or miss rules on “politics”. The reality being that it was just a way to blanket ban content for the mods but it led to hilarity when Skyrim (the game that site basically was built on) has white supremacists in-game but you can’t even acknowledge that because it would make the chuds angry out of game.
For what it was? I liked it. But it has been on the decline for… probably about half the time it has existed.
- Comment on Nexus Mods Sale Sparks Concern in Modding Community 1 day ago:
This is shit but… if people weren’t already concerned over the massive monopoly that Nexus had then they weren’t paying attention.
- Comment on Switch 2 Teardown: Still Glued, Still Soldered, Still Drifting 1 day ago:
Eh, those rails were a huge issue over time for people who primarily used their switches in handheld but did swap/remove joycons semi-regularly. My launch model (that I ended up giving to a friend’s kid when I got my Steam Deck) would often need me to attach and detach the right joycon a few times to make it fully register that it was connected.
But yeah. Tinfoil hat and all but a LOT of speculation is that the magnetic based connection is to prevent hall effect aftermarket sticks from working since those are also magnetic. TMR isn’t impacted by that but the vast majority of folk would have never considered TMR for a gamepad until the past year or two.
- Comment on Switch 2 Teardown: Still Glued, Still Soldered, Still Drifting 1 day ago:
I like that ifixit are specifically explaining the fundamental problem with pot based analog sticks because this IS an issue with every (pot based) controller.
That said: I still firmly believe the reason joycons last like a month and my XBONE controller is still going is because of the flap.
For the “real” console sticks? The analog stick is a big plastic dome and you have to disassemble the entire gamepad to clean it out. For the joycons (not sure on pro controller)? It is a rubber flap that you lift up with a pair of tweezers… or just shove the nozzle of the electronic contact cleaner spray can through to clean. The former keeps both you and dirt out while the latter lets everything in and gets those specs trapped between the contacts a lot faster.
Don’t get me wrong. If I am buying a third party controller (the gamesirs look shockingly good these days…) it better have hall effect or the other one. But potentiometers are fine IF you protect them. Like, the vast majority of knobs and the like are pots and people STILL use stereos and the like from the 80s with no issues.
- Comment on Xbox Game Pass might be getting a price hike 3 days ago:
Probably
But right now it is 20 bucks a month. Even at 30, that is “worth it” if you play two or three newly released games a year and random library games beyond that.
The issue is if people have multiple consoles or are in the PC space and also have access to steam sales and bundles and the like.
- Comment on Away Team (Oxygen Not Included Spinoff) Announcement Trailer 4 days ago:
So… you want everything?
Yes. Microtransactions feel bad. But if they are purely cosmetic? That genuinely hurts nobody. And it actively helps the development team since it means that the art team can keep working even if there isn’t a big DLC being planned.
This came up endlessly back in the early days of DLC. There is DEFINITELY an argument as to when a DLC is finalized and whether it is “cut content” or not (but that kind of goes out the window for a game that is 6 years old). But people didn’t realize that the old business model was:
- Hire a bunch of devs
- Fire all the concept art people once you have enough
- Fire all the modelers once you are ready to go into bug testing
- Fire all the QA once you are done bug testing
- Fire all the coders once you release
- Hire back the concept art people when you want to start planning an expansion
- Hire back the modelers and coders when you have to make said expansion
- Lather, rinse, repeat
What DLC did was it kept that cycle going near constantly. Like, fuck horse armor. But the Bethesda devs could start ramping up for Operation Anchorage while Fallout 3 was getting its final passes and so forth.
And microtransactions are a continuation of that. Like, Noclip have done some great documentaries/interviews with live game studios on exactly that topic and how it turns things into a giant production line (for better or for worse) rather than the constant ramp up/down model.
I’m not going to say ONI did it right… mostly because I have never felt a reason to engage with that screen and can’t be certain if it also includes alternate recipes or JUST cosmetics. But if it is JUST cosmetics? Then yeah, they are doing it right. They release a generally fun DLC with new biomes and mechanics once-ish a year and have a constant stream of cosmetics to keep the lights on while they patch it in between.
Because the alternative is an endless stream of DLC (so that people won’t call them microtransactions…) and we can see how people like Paradox games. Or it is a new game every single year CoD style. The studios that can release a game and just live off the tail indefinitely are few and far between.
FOMO mechanics
Honestly? While that is a predatory marketing model that is heavily used it is also very much a “you problem” in terms of needing to train yourself to not be as impacted by it. The jury is out on whether it is preying on addiction (I think signs point to no?) but… people STILL have no problems with god damned skinner boxes being foundational to so many games. But tell them they might not get Officer D.Va and suddenly it is the end of the world.
And even there? I still don’t know if I like it or not, but Dave the Diver and Vampire Survivors are both games built around DLC they know they won’t be able to sell forever. DtD is closer to a year and VS is more “We know we’ll probably have to pull the amongus and konami stuff eventually so we won’t make achievements for it”. And… it definitely feels bad and I bought Godzilla DLC because I might not be able to get it later. But also? The Contra and Castlevania DLC for VS are straight up revelatory and amazing. And I would rather that exists for a few years than never exist at all.
- Comment on Away Team (Oxygen Not Included Spinoff) Announcement Trailer 5 days ago:
Eh, it really isn’t that bad.
It is basically just cosmetics and skins. There MIGHT be some alternate recipes (since those use the same “system” in game) but Klei is really good about balancing each biome anyway.
It isn’t the greatest sign for the game but it also mostly just highlights the Gamer stereotype of wanting EVERYTHING because they paid 10 bucks for a humble bundle with this and twelve other games.
- Comment on Away Team (Oxygen Not Included Spinoff) Announcement Trailer 5 days ago:
GOD FUCKING YES!!!
I love ONI and the base building but I sometimes definitely get annoyed when, through no fault of my own, a dupe gets confused and pisses in the water supply.
So making it a Terraria-like and holy shit I am gonna log another hundred plus hours.
- Comment on Neverwinter Nights 2 Gets Enhanced Edition, Due July 15th | RPGFan 6 days ago:
Wrath is better in basically every possible way.
Some of that has to do with being incredibly open from the first 30 seconds that the main enemies are demons/devils (rather than teasing out it is the fae) and that demons/devils are much more straightforward enemies.
Part of it is also that you get a… kind of really unfair power boost early on. Mythic Levels are not Epic Levels from 3e and you actually get them really early on (your first around character level 5 or 6) and they are kind of ridiculous. Stuff like getting a ridiculous number of extra spells per day, having all killing blows and crits with ranged weapons do AOE damage, doing AOE damage on the first melee miss of any round, etc. It gets REAL stupid and that is even before you start getting the really fun stuff like turning into a Lich or Dragon. Which helps a lot since a LOT of encounters are the “you do one of these per tabletop session” kind. And your entire party get the “only kind of ridonkulous” version, not just the PC.
And the encounter design in general is a lot better. I find that enemies care a lot less about AOOs and will just sprint past your frontline to beat on your archers. But there are also far fewer “Cool. You need to push through twenty endless respawning midboss enemies to get the summoner” fights. I totally don’t fucking hate that house at the end of time at all.
It is also worth remembering that Kingmaker is in rights hell and Owlcat and that publisher are not on good terms in the slightest. So they couldn’t even really go back and patch Kingmaker (whereas they did a LOT to improve Wrath post release). Which kind of shows with some of the Wrath tooltips bordering on apologizing for Kingmaker (stuff like getting rid of supplies for resting).
Kingmaker is one of those games that are “if you ever think you MIGHT play it, just play it first… but turn off fail states for kingdom management and read a guide”. Whereas Wrath is a genuinely amazing CRPG and has an argument for being the all time best.
- Comment on Neverwinter Nights 2 Gets Enhanced Edition, Due July 15th | RPGFan 6 days ago:
If you were to ask me… sweet Eothas, 15 years ago? Yes
Now? … Probably not? We had a solid decade or so of a CRPG resurgence and now have studios like Owlcat that just hit it out of the park near constantly. Like… for as half baked as Kingmaker was… eating around the raw spots is some damned good food and the penultimate dungeon (and then the endgame if you don’t dialogue out) is the violent illness that follows eating the “cooked bits” around raw food. And Wrath and Rogue Trader are “no notes” games as far as I am concerned. And Obsidian’s Pillars 1 and 2 touch on many of the same concepts as Mask but are both very solid games all the way through. Same with Larian for DOS2 (less so 1) and BG3.
But if you’ve played through most of those? Core is apparently 60 hours (I don’t believe that but this was also 20-ish years ago). And the good moments are really good. They are just surrounded by endless monotony, mediocre encounter design, and broken mechnaics because… Obsidian. Whereas Mask is a REALLY solid 15 hour experience that is only kinda broken.
Storm… I wouldn’t bother. Even if you asked me when it was new. And I actually love Ossian (mostly because they collaborate with Luke Scull who is a deeply underrated author and whose AL series of modules were awesome) but all I remember is that Westgate was weaker than Daggerford.
PSA: If you play ANY of the Pathfinder CRPGs? Get blind fight ASAP. And make sure every arcane caster has a few charges of Glitterdust at any moment.
- Comment on Neverwinter Nights 2 Gets Enhanced Edition, Due July 15th | RPGFan 6 days ago:
MOTB directly follows the ending of Core… to the point it actually made things awkward for Obsidian because of how they frantically ended Core. Same player character
(Matt Rorie’s) Storm of Zehir is a standalone game set some time after Core/Mask and includes some of the same characters.
Mysteries of Westgate is a standalone from Ossian but, people say you are much better off starting off with a stronger character. My memory is crap so I’ll assume that is true.
- Comment on Neverwinter Nights 2 Gets Enhanced Edition, Due July 15th | RPGFan 6 days ago:
The base campaign… it is better than NWN’s base campaign but not by much. And it is peak Obsidian “We ran out of money about 70% in”.
But yeah. Mask of the Betrayer is legitimately amazing. It isn’t Planescape level (no matter what people claimed) but it is easily on par with BG2 and you can see a LOT of Pillars DNA in there.
- Comment on Switch 2 Breaks Records By Selling Over 3.5 Million Units In Four Days 6 days ago:
We get stories like this all the time.
Was the switch 2 a successful launch from a monetary perspective: Hopefully
But people also have to understand. Gaming gets more and more mainstream every year AND population increases every year. Of course units sold are going to increase. The last time we had a console launch was 2020-ish. It has been five years of new people getting into video games and so forth.
Its similar logic to any time we see “Call of Auto 789151 is the fastest selling Call of Auto ever!”… Of course it is. If it wasn’t then that would be a huge red flag for the franchise.
- Comment on Xbox and Asus introduce the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds 1 week ago:
I just think they are already too late to enter the market and be a big success.
The handheld form factor laptop gaming market is still in its (perpetual) infancy.
We just saw the numbers that Linux is killing it in almost all categories on the Legion compared to a windows OS,
Yeah…
windowsforum.com/…/lenovo-legion-go-s-how-steamos… (apologies for blatant chatgpt bullshit but I needed data)
Battery life probably actually doesn’t matter for the vast majority of users who would only be playing for an hour or two at a time, at most, between charges. And MS have acknowledged that with the focus on basically the same thing Valve sort of kind of does which is to have a gaming specific mode for the OS that disables a lot of background processes.
At which point we get to framerate and multiplayer gaming. The former basically being noise between the platforms and the latter still pretty much Windows only for Reasons.
It’s not like the Xbox brand is doing that wonderful these days, either.
I mean… this seems to be related to that. MS have already heavily hinted (outright said?) that the next XBOX is literally going to run (likely this version of) Windows and Gamepass and porting Halo to everything is already a sign. Like, think of this less as an “XBOX Handheld” and more as a “Windows gaming handheld”… which sounds worse to me but…
If I had to pick any 1 device that’s either out now or soon to be out, I am definitely not picking this one.
I mean… for the average user who does not have a visceral disdain for Windows at this point… why wouldn’t you? This does gamepass AND Steam AND Fortnite. And most people don’t realize that asus armory crate or whatever the fuck is worse than cancer.
Because ASUS was going to release this no matter what. The difference is they added another button (in a horrible location apparently) and let MS give them money to brand it as an XBOX. But the goal, at least from MS, is not to necessarily outsell and dominate the market. It is to make people think Windows is also for gaming (which it still very much is) and to further dilute the XBOX brand for whatever the hell is gonna happen in 2-4 years when the next console gen hits.
- Comment on Xbox and Asus introduce the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds 1 week ago:
I think MS took the right path here by just partnering with ASUS (okay… ASUS sucks but…). ASUS is already making a handheld every year and they are very well received (until anyone needs to RMA something). But ASUS also has their entire laptop and monitor and component divisions.
My worry is more the GPD and Aya Neos of the world. They kind of dragged handheld form factor laptops kicking and screaming… and then Valve ate their lunch. Rightfully so because the GPDs and Ayas were always horrible to use and full of bloat (and maybe spyware) but it still sucks.
But this specifically? MS are doing the same thing Valve are. The idea will be that you buy a handheld and then install the OS/ecosystem you want on there. Valve want SteamOS (or just not Microsoft) on everything. MS wants Windows+Game Mode on everything. And, because this is post 2010s MS, Valve wins either way because Steam also runs on Windows whereas gamepass is locked to only Windows.
I DO think the implication of needing an xbox button (which can also be the steam button) and adaptive triggers to get “xbox certified” is gonna suck and be a way to deprecate older devices. But I doubt those will be hard requirements for a few years.
Because… we are due for the next console generation in 2-3 years, right? We just got the refresh SKU for PS5 and that will line up for the usual 6-8 year cycle. And this positions MS to push their requirements controller wise.
- Comment on Xbox and Asus introduce the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds 1 week ago:
Ehhhh?
MS have generally gotten increasingly good at making sure all of their games have a PC (is it still UWP or whatever?) “version” and most of the major third party studios do the same. It gets really annoying with corner cases (was it Total Warhammer 3 that was straight up broken?) but you are really buying into game pass at that point.
And I have no idea what your last paragraph is (outside of weird Sony fanboyism?). But you can still play all the Sony/Steam games (and the Steam/Steam games).
I dunno. If I hadn’t have said “fuck windows” (years ago at this point) this would be a no brainer. But I am all for competition and this is a good indicator of what the neXtBOX will be since MS have already hinted at (outright said?) that the next XBOX will just run windows.
- Comment on Resident Evil Requiem - Reveal Trailer 1 week ago:
Conceptually it could be fun. Although I feel the (ridiculously expensive) fakeout all night meant we all thought this was Parasite Eve and RE9 is just a letdown after that.
Hopefully she becomes a MC real fast because I apparently have visceral reactions to the trope of “barely functional analyst girl”. At best it is annoying. More commonly it is thinly veiled misogyny and fetish bullshit.
- Comment on Yakuza studio's historical action brawler is revealed as Stranger Than Heaven 1 week ago:
REALLY excited since it looks like it will be continuing the “detective” aspects of Judgment.
Also REALLY REALLY concerned because, as expected, this is going to be Taichi Century across different decades in Japan… and they aren’t skipping the 1940s. INCREDIBLY good potential for the kind of social commentary RGG is amazing at but also… INCREDIBLY bad potential for the really fucked up propaganda that Ishin reminded us all of.
- Comment on Is there a point in the Dark Souls games where you're too high level to be expected to be summoned by anyone? 1 week ago:
Different games have different rules for how summoning works. If memory serves, Dark 2 was the “worst” because it was fully based on soul memory and you may have even incremented that by wiping without spending? Whereas I think Dark 3 was a mix of highest upgrade level for gear on you combined with Soul Level?
In general? When the game is new or having a community wide resurgence, no. There will always be someone who is SL200 in newbie village. When the game is older and not played regularly, yes. There are various sites (never trust fandom or fextralife) that list recommended level ranges but as long as you aren’t actively grinding more than a level or two extra per region, you are fine.
All that said? Be VERY careful about playing any of the PC Dark Souls games online because they are mostly abandoned by From. I believe the outright RCE was fixed but you can still have your game ruined. www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-XFIfmJ2T8 is a great video on the topic.
- Comment on DELTARUNE chapters 3-4 are out now! 1 week ago:
Ha ha. Was just thinking I would use this thread to ask if the Steam Release actually contained 3+4 or that was still coming Soon™. That answers that.
And Deltarune is still planned to be like 8 chapters long, right?
- Comment on Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, squad tactics heist RPG, is now fully launched on Steam! 1 week ago:
I just want to say that you folk are exactly what I love about indie games. Games with a really cool premise/concept that combine probably overly complicated systems in ways that range from kinda janky to ridiculously janky but lead to genuinely amazing and unique experiences.
And while that might sound like it wasn’t a compliment: Give me something held together with shoestring but interesting over something polished and boring any day of the week.
I still need to set aside some time to learn CK but I am genuinely kind of concerned by how many hours I have put into Star Traders over the years.
- Comment on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Now Promotes Microtransactions When You Swap Weapons 2 weeks ago:
It has nothing to do with reddit and has been going on since the days of frigging usenet.
When someone likes something, they find ways to make an exception. The biggest example being The DRM Wars where EVERYONE was suddenly an active duty military person stationed in an airgap in The Middle East and could not connect to any server to authenticate their game (but had no problem spending hours arguing on message boards). Then Valve say you need to use something called “Steam” to play Half-Life 2 and suddenly everyone is ready to say that Steam is different and not actually DRM even though the model wasn’t that different than how Stardock or even frigging Gamespy were doing stuff.
Everyone hated microtransactions and that is TOTALLY the only reason people were angry at the Star Wars game that came out within a month or two of TLJ. Then Genshin Impact came out and suddenly everyone wanted to make it abundantly clear that that was okay because, yes, it is a gacha game but it is totally a fair one where you can do everything without ever spending any money if you just grind endlessly and use multiple accounts to hoard day limited currencies.
But also? People hated DLC way back when it was something you downloaded from a BBS after mailing the developers a physical check. But when it was a game people liked (Star Crusader with mutha fugging Roman Alexander!!!), it was suddenly okay.
Which is to say: Things have been real shit for coming on 40 years of gaming. And yet, by and large, video games keep getting better (not so much the games industry for the people who make games).
- Comment on Had a take about Supergiant Games that recieved a lot of pushback fromy teo longest eunning best friends. 2 weeks ago:
Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre 100% do not need a sequel. They are stories about the end of the world and are beautiful in how self contained they are.
I am not the biggest on the rougelike mechanics but… I would be lying if I said that Hades didn’t repeatedly break me with the way it was used to convey Zagreus’s relationship with the other characters.
spoiler
Hades just putting down his weapon and letting you pass is easily one of my top ten of all time gaming moments.
I am a bit skeptical on Hades 2. Then I remembered I was skeptical on Hades 1. As far as I am concerned, Supergiant (and Greg Kasavin) can do no wrong.
- Comment on Two former Polygon writers are starting a new site 2 weeks ago:
Not even just AI. Fandom’s entire wiki empire is largely built around manually stealing the work of guides writers and reproducing it verbatim. It is why you’ll find so many fake roads and the like.
I am incredibly skeptical of this being viable monetarily. But the idea of people actively choosing to support a site that has known good guides and emphasizing the “tip jar” mindset? I have seen worse business models. And if they really focus on what the community/they want to make guides for rather than just chasing the latest big releases, that actually reduces the odds of other companies scraping them.
For example, the right crowd would straight up kill for a breakdown of what is actually needed to unlock whatever in Kynseed in the post release version (rather than EA). Fandom actually have a kynseed wiki but it is abandoned and the other guide sites don’t give a shit about a moderately successful Stardew that “came out” in early 2024 (?). So even though stealing that would be trivial… odds are nobody would care enough to do so.
- Comment on Two former Polygon writers are starting a new site 2 weeks ago:
I kind of hate that website layout with a passion but cool. And already gave them a higher priority in my kagi results.
I always preferred Polygon more for their editorial content and thought pieces but I do recall the guides generally being pretty good when I looked at one.
- Comment on "Official" Russian Military game depicting invasion of Ukraine released on Steam as Yunarmy propaganda 2 weeks ago:
Rami Ismail is Dutch but obviously cares about this topic. And when he seems to feel a particularly high level of self loathing, he talks about it online
kotaku.com/war-games-muslim-arab-call-of-duty-pal… is a great article that includes quotes from him and discusses the topic at large.