Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Max Peck
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Max Peck »

I don't have strong feelings about Nightdive, but it feels sad somehow for a studio to be devoured by the shambling animatronic corpse of Atari.

Atari is buying System Shock remake studio Nightdive for $10M
Atari, the stumbling veteran gaming company, is buying Nightdive Studios, the company responsible for the forthcoming System Shock remake, as well as a raft of other retro renovations including Turok, Shadow Man and PowerSlave. The deal is worth $10 million (half payable in Atari shares), and the acquisition is expected to complete by the end of April.

It's not surprising that Nightdive would want to sell to a larger and more wealthy business. What's surprising is that they've not sold to, say, Embracer Group, whose efforts to purchase every double A studio in the world are ongoing. After all, Atari's recent business ventures haven't driven a great deal of consumer enthusiasm: its Atari VCS console was dismal, its NFT side project depressing, and while its flagship hotel admittedly looks cool, it is very much not a videogame. Credit where it's due, though: Llamasoft's recent Atari-published game looks great.

Still, dearth of goodwill notwithstanding, welcoming Nightdive to its roster makes sense for Atari at least, which is very much focused on retro-oriented titles. Atari CEO Wade Rosen says as much in his statement: "Night Dive’s proven expertise and successful track record in commercializing retro IP is well-aligned with Atari’s strategy and I am confident that their combined talent, technology and IP portfolio will contribute to Atari’s future success."

Nightdive heads Stephen Kick and Larry Kuperman echoed the enthusiasm in their own prepared statement, of course, but when the official Nightdive Twitter account tweeted the news, responses wavered between condemnation and grief. Still, maybe now they'll have the money to patch Blood. "I sold Nightdive just so we could patch Blood," Stephen Kick tweeted.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Blackhawk »

Max Peck wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:10 am
Blackhawk wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:58 pm I know there isn't any connection (I know the tabletop game and the world of Golarion fairly well, enough to be able to point to where both take place on the map.)

What I meant was that I don't remember what happened with Kingmaker that led to me quitting, so I don't know if I quit playing "with prejudice", or just got busy. If the latter, I'd like to go back and finish it. If the prior, I'd leave it alone.
Previously, on Blackhawk Plays Kingmaker...
Blackhawk wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:40 am I restarted Pathfinder Kingmaker a few months ago. I've been having a lot of fun with it, but things got busy with Michelle and her new job, and I got distracted for a month or so. Now I'm finally getting back to it and... I'm hitting a wall. It's a really, really good game, but I just can't bring myself to talk to 30 NPCs and catch up on things with all of my companions and deal with all of the inventory. You know, RPG busy-work that you get comfortable with when you're playing, but serves as a barrier to getting back into it. I know the mood will strike me again, but I also know that if I put it back until then It'll be months and I won't be able to return to my in-progress game due to losing track of even more of what's going on. I'm more than halfway through the campaign, with all of the side content, companion quests, and kingdom building available so far done. I don't want to abandon all of that, but I don't really want to keep playing, either.

it's a problem I have frequently with long RPGs. If I step away, I can't get back in.
Blackhawk wrote: Wed Sep 02, 2020 2:51 pm I decided that it's time to jump back into Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I started it last year, but quit when I started running the Pathfinder 2 tabletop game, and I didn't want the PF1 rules hanging out in my head while I was trying to learn PF2. Since my group imploded, and since the bad taste that left has faded, I'm ready to jump back in. With all the new patches and new features I decided to start over from scratch.
And that, kids, is why you should always use titled game threads instead of dumping every comment into a mega-thread.

Thanks.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Well Steam is dead today. Been dead a while.

EDIT: Steam is now back up. Was a long dead outage for no mention of it from them. Typical. Could all end that way one day.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Kasey Chang »

Max Peck wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:20 am I don't have strong feelings about Nightdive, but it feels sad somehow for a studio to be devoured by the shambling animatronic corpse of Atari.
Yeah, that was a mess when MicroProse was previously owned by Hasbro, and Hasbro got bought by Infogrames, then part of Infogrames split off and renamed itself Atari. They couldn't do anything with the MicroProse stuff after they closed the Hunt Valley MD studio, as most of the folks left with Sid Meier to form Firaxis anyway. And Take Two soon with Firaxis bought back most of the Sid Meier games. The rest of MPS games got sold to Tommo who published them under the Retro-ism label. Sometime after that the name MicroProse was also sold so it's now back. But Atari got bought (back?) by Infogrames, and renamed itself Atari (again?)

Personally, I would have prefer Tommo to buy Nightdive, but I don't think Tommo actually want to own a game dev studio. It's happy to sit on its catalog of old games. And they haven't updated their website since 2019.

I honestly have no idea what'll happen to NightDive, but I guess the owners are happy that someone would pay millions for something they started.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Blackhawk »

The thing with Nightdive (much like Beamdog) is that they're best known for taking existing, older IPs and updating them, and mostly catering to a niche in the process. A small developer buying obscure rights for a remaster is one thing. A large(ish) publisher like Atari doing it is a different matter. Nightdive may remain, but their business model may not survive.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Rumpy »

They're kind of like Telltale in that sense, which IMHO has always felt like it wasn't a sustainable business model, seeing as they relied on existing IPs and hardly had any originals of their own. The overhead must have been astronomical.

As for Nightdive, it is strange to see them get acquired by Atari, and I agree, their business model may not survive. On the other hand, Atari might say, "We have a deep dive of IPs that we'd like you to reboot."
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Daehawk »

Still not impressed with that upper lip. The truck and the game stuff is cool. And the lighting.

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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Max Peck »

jztemple2 wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:49 pm Demo has been extended to October 23rd. I now have the game wishlisted :D
Plasma is now out in Early Access. I'm tempted, but also don't anticipate that I'd spend much time with it before getting back to my extensive backlog. :think:

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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Daehawk wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:11 pm Still not impressed with that upper lip. The truck and the game stuff is cool. And the lighting.

I notice they studiously avoid showing any elbows.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by jztemple2 »

Max Peck wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 1:52 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:49 pm Demo has been extended to October 23rd. I now have the game wishlisted :D
Plasma is now out in Early Access. I'm tempted, but also don't anticipate that I'd spend much time with it before getting back to my extensive backlog. :think:

Hmm, I just got an email saying it was released into Early Access.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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jztemple2 wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 3:23 pm
Max Peck wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 1:52 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:49 pm Demo has been extended to October 23rd. I now have the game wishlisted :D
Plasma is now out in Early Access. I'm tempted, but also don't anticipate that I'd spend much time with it before getting back to my extensive backlog. :think:

Hmm, I just got an email saying it was released into Early Access.
That's what he said. "Out in", not "out of."
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by jztemple2 »

coopasonic wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 4:37 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 3:23 pm
Max Peck wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 1:52 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:49 pm Demo has been extended to October 23rd. I now have the game wishlisted :D
Plasma is now out in Early Access. I'm tempted, but also don't anticipate that I'd spend much time with it before getting back to my extensive backlog. :think:

Hmm, I just got an email saying it was released into Early Access.
That's what he said. "Out in", not "out of."
Reminder, must get better computer glasses :roll:
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Max Peck »

It is out of expired demo status, into early access and one to two years away from full release at full price. Which is how I convince myself that buying a toy now, at the lower price, is more fiscally responsible than waiting to buy it later, at full price, when they complete it, in spite of the fact that I almost certainly will not play with it anytime soon.

That was the plan, anyway. The Steam purchase timed out, and now I can't resubmit it because there is a "pending purchase" on my account. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how long that lasts.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Max Peck »

E3 is dead! Long live... Summer Game Fest?
Almost a year after announcing its return, the Entertainment Software Association announced today to its members that this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), has been canceled, IGN can confirm.

Two sources have confirmed to IGN that the organization announced the cancellation via an email sent out to its members today. The email said that while E3 "remains a beloved event and brand" that the 2023 version "simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry."

The ESA concludes the email by reiterating its commitment to advocacy work. It does not mention undertaking the show again in future years.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Daehawk »

Well thats silly. They should put it on small or not. Build it back up by starting small. I mean thats how all the shows got started originally. The mindset of the industry today seems to be if it doesn't get huge crowds and huge money its just not worth their time. Bullshit.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by jztemple2 »

Max Peck wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 1:52 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:49 pm Demo has been extended to October 23rd. I now have the game wishlisted :D
Plasma is now out in Early Access. I'm tempted, but also don't anticipate that I'd spend much time with it before getting back to my extensive backlog. :think:

I had to go back and take a good look at the store page and now I remember that demo. And I'm vaguely tempted to pick this up even if it is in early access. Anyone else playing it?
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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It's taken this many years, but I made my first attempt at getting support via Steam yesterday.

For some reason, every game I have installed suddenly lost its icon. Every icon I have is just a white square. New shortcut? White square. Verify? White square. I did my due research, found all of the community recommendations to the other people it has happened to over the years, and tried them all. Then I contacted Steam support.

I told them the problem, told them I tried A, B, and C.

They responded by saying, "Do A and B."

Me: Yeah, already did that.

They responded by saying, "Do C."

Me: Yeah, as I stated originally, I did A, B, and C before I contacted you.

They responded: Oh. Nothing we can do, then. Maybe there will be an update. (I have seen reports of this issue going back years.) Oh, and since we can't fix it, we're closing your ticket so that you can't reply. Have fun!

They didn't escalate, they didn't gather data (just a screenshot of some white icons), they didn't ask questions. They just gave me the FAQ-level response and then told me to go away.

What the fuck, Steam?

Does anybody in any business with more than five employees have support that doesn't throw the customer under the bus anymore?
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Did you uninstall and reinstall Steam?
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While digging into Steam support info, I just found that Steam has one really great policy. If someone writes a review, posts a screenshot, or posts a video, and something about any of it violates a Steam policy, then not only is the account that did it punished, but so is every single account that clicked 'Like' on it, receiving a one-month community ban. If someone posts a review, people 'Like' it, and then someone edits that review and adds something that Steam finds objectionable, once again, every single person who upvoted that content receives a ban, even if they voted on the content before the edit.

Good job of guaranteeing that I will never engage with any community on Steam. It's not worth the risk.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Jaymann wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:13 pm Did you uninstall and reinstall Steam?
Parts of it, yes, to repair an issue. And yeah, that's when it started.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Does anybody in any business with more than five employees have support that doesn't throw the customer under the bus anymore?
I dont think Steam even has 5 full employees.

Could be Windows doing it for some reason. Have you tried opening a run box and typing %localappdata% then deleting the file IconCache.DB ? Thats one of the listed fixes online. Be warned I dont know what else this may do.

Other fixes include game by game..ugh.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Daehawk wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:22 pm
Does anybody in any business with more than five employees have support that doesn't throw the customer under the bus anymore?
I dont think Steam even has 5 full employees.

Could be Windows doing it for some reason. Have you tried opening a run box and typing %localappdata% then deleting the file IconCache.DB ? Thats one of the listed fixes online. Be warned I dont know what else this may do.

Other fixes include game by game..ugh.
That was D, and it isn't a Windows issues - it is Steam and only Steam.

And the only practical solution would be to completely uninstall and reinstall every Steam game and utility I have installed (50+), and some of them which are modded would be broken in the process. I have to live with white shortcuts, or I have to manually set the icon for every single one of them.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Blackhawk wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:43 pm
Daehawk wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:22 pm
Does anybody in any business with more than five employees have support that doesn't throw the customer under the bus anymore?
I dont think Steam even has 5 full employees.

Could be Windows doing it for some reason. Have you tried opening a run box and typing %localappdata% then deleting the file IconCache.DB ? Thats one of the listed fixes online. Be warned I dont know what else this may do.

Other fixes include game by game..ugh.

...or I have to manually set the icon for every single one of them.
That's probably what I would do, with some mockery.
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Blackhawk wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:43 pm
Daehawk wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 6:22 pm
Does anybody in any business with more than five employees have support that doesn't throw the customer under the bus anymore?
I dont think Steam even has 5 full employees.

Could be Windows doing it for some reason. Have you tried opening a run box and typing %localappdata% then deleting the file IconCache.DB ? Thats one of the listed fixes online. Be warned I dont know what else this may do.

Other fixes include game by game..ugh.
That was D, and it isn't a Windows issues - it is Steam and only Steam.

And the only practical solution would be to completely uninstall and reinstall every Steam game and utility I have installed (50+), and some of them which are modded would be broken in the process. I have to live with white shortcuts, or I have to manually set the icon for every single one of them.
Have you tried repairing your Steam Libraries folder(s) from within the Steam client?

If not, try this in the Steam client:

Go to View >> Settings >> Downloads >> click 'Steam Library Folders'

That will open the Storage Manager window. Next, click on the … or gear icon >> Repair folder

Failing that, I'd suggest repairing your Steam client by running the following command from an elevated command prompt (Windows + R, type cmd in Run box, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter):

Code: Select all

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\bin\SteamService.exe" /repair
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Blackhawk »

Anonymous Bosch wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:43 pm
Have you tried repairing your Steam Libraries folder(s) from within the Steam client?
All six of them before contacting support.
Anonymous Bosch wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:43 pm
Failing that, I'd suggest repairing your Steam client by running the following command from an elevated command prompt (Windows + R, type cmd in Run box, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter):

Code: Select all

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\bin\SteamService.exe" /repair
Also tried that before contacting support.

I'm usually pretty good at digging up solutions to problems, so by the time I contact someone for help on something, I've probably tried all of the reasonable solutions to be found in the wild. Which, of course, usually breaks support since all they (from almost any large company) know how to do is read from the playbook.

The only difference here is that if the playbook fails in most place, they either investigate or escalate until the problem is resolved or confirmed to not be an issue with their product. I don't think I've ever had a company try the first page of the playbook and then tell me I'm on my own and cut off communication.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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Unless you are in a horror movie.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Rumpy »

Ugh, that's pretty poor. But it sounds pretty much par for the course with tech support overall anywhere these days. It's like there's decidedly a disinterest in actually solving issues that go beyond the script. It's one reason why I still haven't solved a particular issue with our cable service even after several years of having the issue.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Daehawk »

Seems games are full of cheaters this week. Already deleted Fortnite and just now deleted Halo Infinite . Kept dying to grenades...bouncing off 2 and 3 walls to land right at my feet and the guy that threw it is still coming around a corner . F that and them. Hope their pcs electrocute them half to death one and all.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Daehawk »

This Heroic app is miles better at being the Epic Games Launcher than the Epic Games Launcher

Not tried it but sounds interesting. Epic is slow.
The Epic Games Launcher isn't great at dealing with large game libraries. Images take a while to pop in, the library only loads when you scroll past a certain point, and it's difficult to spot which games are already installed and ready to play. It's even sluggish to respond to mouse movements sometimes. But it doesn't have to be this way, as the Heroic Games Launcher proves.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Max Peck »

Daehawk wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 3:01 pm
it's difficult to spot which games are already installed and ready to play.
I don't know about the rest of it, but that seems to have been written by someone who couldn't figure out how to click on the "Installed" filter. :coffee:
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

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After the D&D movie on Friday, I was in the mood for a D&D game. I find it really hard to go back to the Infinity Engine games, so I decided to give Neverwinter Nights 2 another look. It's one I've started multiple times, but never got very far into. I found myself with a ton of free time this weekend, and ended up getting about 15 hours into it. I realized three things:

1. In the four (five?) previous times I've tried this game, I never even got past the intro. I gave up for one reason or another (technical issues, got distracted, etc) before I even reached Neverwinter. The game takes off significantly if you can stick with it through the absolutely dreadful first few hours.

2. The NWW series brings back ALL the nostalgia. The music, the sound effects, the boxy levels...it all triggers a ton of nostalgia from my early PC gaming days. Even though NWN2 isn't a great game, that definitely keeps me interested.

3. This game might have the worst AI and pathfinding I've ever seen in a game. Even with fan patches, it's still an absolute mess. The AI will sometimes simply turn off right in the middle of combat and your companions will simply stand there doing nothing. Spellcaster AI set to "conservative" will sometimes not launch a single spell while at other times will rain absolute scorching hellfire down on a single goblin or orc. Companions will get caught on the very slightest terrain or just simply decide they don't feel like joining you in combat and stay rooted in place. Setting the AI to "attack near" sometimes means "attack the closest enemy" and other times means "ignore the enemy standing next to you and run halfway across the map (drawing aggro from everything in your path) to engage an enemy that is 7 rooms away". I just dial down the difficulty because it's almost comical to see what happens in combat at any given moment.

I'm sure it's mostly just the mood I'm in this weekend and I won't actually finish it, but I have to admit it's been pretty fun to step back into those old and well-worn gaming shoes.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Blackhawk »

I have also made multiple attempts. One time, and one time only, I got as far as getting off the boat in Neverwinter (I think I arrived by boat...)

I've never been past that.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Daehawk »

Finished NWN 1 & 2..didn't really like either that much.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Blackhawk »

NWN 1's campaign was awful, but the expansion packs (remember that term?) were pretty good.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Daehawk »

Blackhawk wrote: Mon Apr 03, 2023 12:33 pm NWN 1's campaign was awful, but the expansion packs (remember that term?) were pretty good.
I never played them..I dont think anyways. I remember about nothing about the games as I didn;t like them a lot. I wanted the Diamond edition for years but gave up getting it. Think I have it now or Platinum or some such.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by jztemple2 »

Anyone playing Big Ambitions (Steam link)?

Blurb:
Big Ambitions is a revolutionary role-playing business sim. Go from nothing to the biggest entrepreneur in New York by opening small businesses or slowly building huge corporations any way you like.
I looked up the game after I came across this article on PC Gamer, I'm completely hooked on this open world business sandbox sim, and I'm not alone
I'm a successful businessman in the financial capital of the world, New York City. You can tell just by looking at me, because I'm wearing a suit and a tie. Also, I'm running down the middle of the street pushing a hand cart stacked with 300 frozen hamburgers the day after I spent 48 hours sleeping on a park bench. That's what successful businessmen like Mark Cuban do, right?

Which is to say my entrance to the Manhattan retail management scene has been a bit of a scramble. In business sandbox sim Big Ambitions, you arrive in New York City with little but the clothes on your back and a simple dream: to have a successful uncle give you an apartment, a used car, and a $15,000 loan to start a business empire. But even with my uncle's help, there's a lot to do in Big Ambitions. A helluva lot.

This is an extremely hands-on sim, by which I mean to make anything happen you really have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. After renting my first retail space, a gift shop I name ChrisCo Gifts, I have to go out and buy things to fill it with.
The Steam reviews rate it as Overwhelmingly Positive and while I always take those with a big grain of salt, there have been over 3,600 reviews so that sounds legit. I'd buy it and give it a two hours try but I've refunded a few games lately and I don't want to push my luck :roll:
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by hitbyambulance »

found a copy of Chessmaster 9000 in a Little Free Library tonight. two CD-ROMs without the jewel case, but with the manual?? i would be playing it now if i didn't get Chess Ultra as a freebie from Epic last week.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Daehawk »

Reinstalled Star Trek Legacy. Stil la pretty game. I never finished it originally. All I recall was hating the enemy in it..got sick of them. But now its the controls that are putting me off. Awful kb controls.
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Kasey Chang »

Daehawk wrote: Wed Apr 05, 2023 10:56 pm Reinstalled Star Trek Legacy. Stil la pretty game. I never finished it originally. All I recall was hating the enemy in it..got sick of them. But now its the controls that are putting me off. Awful kb controls.
I know I bought this game, but as my computer wasn't good enough I filed it away and now I have some problems finding it (it's on physical media, LOL, now I need to find my DVD drive!)
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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Post by Kasey Chang »

An interesting developement in the sim space... "Helicopter Gunship DEX" in Early Access for under $20, looks to be a sweet game if the dev delivers on all the aircraft he's promising (both past and future!)

Also, seems some classic companies are still around. Digital Theory, who made a couple games for MicroProse (or got the property after MPS split) is STILL releasing updates for Win10 and Win11?!?!? For M1 Tank Platoon 2. That game came out in... 1998!
My game FAQs | Playing: She Will Punish Them, Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, The Outer Worlds
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