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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 1:53 pm
by Rumpy
Yeah, that'd definitely be beneficial for a game like that. I'm still glad I bought it though, if nothing else to support the developer, but it's kind of a situation where the price difference puts it in the realm of being steep for a gameplay/price ratio. I'd never have jumped on it if not weren't for the fact that all my friends that I usually play with were talking about it for months on end and looking forward to its release. The $30 CND + Tax I paid for it which came out to around a total of $33 was with my PS+ discount. $25 is much more palatable, but sadly that's not what it was priced at here.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:49 am
by Pyperkub
Finally got to around where the second Xbox Buffy game takes place (we're re-watching Buffy/Angel) so I fired it up over the weekend. It's an original Xbox game backwards compatible on the 360. I couldn't understand why I was having so many issues with the camera - not being able to rotate it or see what was around me. I Googled and couldn't find anything about camera issues. In the options I saw I could invert the camera controls (usual twin stick controls, left for movement, right for camera) so I tried that bit still had significant cameras issues.

I finally realized the camera was getting stuck on the geometry.

Man, I don't miss those days at all!

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 3:44 pm
by hitbyambulance
jztemple2 wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 4:04 pm This made me smile :D

From PC Gamer, Finally, someone turned 'inventory tetris' into an entire videogame
You're low on ammo. Wounded. Desperate. But you made it through the level and now you can take a deep sigh of relief and prepare for the next one. Time to heal, reload your weapons, and organize your backpack so you can fit all your gear neatly inside it.

That last bit is what you do in Save Room - Organization Puzzle. That's all you do, in fact. This inventory management puzzle game strips out the shooting and monsters and danger and literally everything else but the very act of healing, reloading weapons, and making all your guns, grenades, and gear fit neatly into your grid-based backpack.

And it's… pretty great?


Now available on Steam... Save Room - Organization Puzzle. On sale for 20% off ($1.59 USD) for the next couple of days.
Features
• Use your organizing skills to make all your items fit.
• Use your logical thinking to use the items in the right order to free some spaces.
• Understand the format of several items to find the best fitting.
• 40 unique handmade levels.
• Relaxing music and sound effects made for the game!


currently in the new Fanatical bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/ful ... d-6-bundle

got it as it also had a few other promising titles included

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 2:17 am
by hitbyambulance
disguise options got a little out of (shadow)hand

Image

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:10 am
by Blackhawk
Ya know how Ubi and EA like to shut off multiplayer access to older games from time to time? Well, Ubi found a way to be even shittier than they already are. The next set of games they're shutting down will also lose access to all DLC, including single-player, and including any that you've already purchased, and even already installed DLC will stop functioning. They are already one of my least-favorite gaming companies, and they've managed to guarantee that I'll either buy their product elsewhere, or won't buy them.

Anno 2070.
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed 3 (2012 Release)
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
Driver San Francisco
Far Cry 3 (2012 Release)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Silent Hunter 5
Space Junkies (HTC VIVE, Oculus)
Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 12:09 pm
by jztemple2
Blackhawk wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:10 am Ya know how Ubi and EA like to shut off multiplayer access to older games from time to time? Well, Ubi found a way to be even shittier than they already are. The next set of games they're shutting down will also lose access to all DLC, including single-player, and including any that you've already purchased, and even already installed DLC will stop functioning. They are already one of my least-favorite gaming companies, and they've managed to guarantee that I'll either buy their product elsewhere, or won't buy them.

Anno 2070.
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed 3 (2012 Release)
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
Driver San Francisco
Far Cry 3 (2012 Release)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Silent Hunter 5
Space Junkies (HTC VIVE, Oculus)
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
I do note that not all games lose access to DLC, Anno 2070 for instance. It does make me wonder about the legality of no longer allowing access to DLC someone paid for. Probably somewhere in the fine print.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:26 pm
by Blackhawk
jztemple2 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 12:09 pm

I do note that not all games lose access to DLC, Anno 2070 for instance. It does make me wonder about the legality of no longer allowing access to DLC someone paid for. Probably somewhere in the fine print.
Since the beginning. Remember, you don't buy a game, you buy permission to play the game.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:38 pm
by Smoove_B
Wow. Hadn't seen that. I'm not happy about it on principle; there's little to no chance I'm ever going to play any of those games again but for those that would want to, this is gross.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:54 pm
by Max Peck
Apparently Space Junkies is online-only, so it seems like it will be completely gone when this goes into effect. They are still selling it.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:26 pm
by Blackhawk
Max Peck wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:54 pm Apparently Space Junkies is online-only, so it seems like it will be completely gone when this goes into effect. They are still selling it.
And it's three years old.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 3:29 pm
by Max Peck
I've seen it suggested that the phrase "the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable" may be referring to the ability to purchase/install DLC from within the game rather than losing all ability to use DLC that has been purchased/installed. If that's the case, I'd hope that Ubisoft gets ahead of the shit storm that is building up and clarifies exactly what is and is not going to stop working.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:29 pm
by Blackhawk
This also ends access to any and all unlocked rewards or bonuses for those games - skins, weapons, etc.

Other companies have shut down access to the servers that confirm DLC ownership. They did so by making it so that all of the DLC and unlockables were added to the base games for free. Ubi, though, decided to curb stomp them.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 11:53 pm
by JetFred
hitbyambulance wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 3:44 pm
jztemple2 wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 4:04 pm This made me smile :D
From PC Gamer, Finally, someone turned 'inventory tetris' into an entire videogame
...
Now available on Steam... Save Room - Organization Puzzle. On sale for 20% off ($1.59 USD) for the next couple of days.
currently in the new Fanatical bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/ful ... d-6-bundle
got it as it also had a few other promising titles included
Yep, just finished it. Forty levels, maybe two hours.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2022 3:15 am
by Max Peck
Blackhawk wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:29 pm This also ends access to any and all unlocked rewards or bonuses for those games - skins, weapons, etc.

Other companies have shut down access to the servers that confirm DLC ownership. They did so by making it so that all of the DLC and unlockables were added to the base games for free. Ubi, though, decided to curb stomp them.
IIRC, Ubisoft has been one of those "other companies" in the past, at least insofar as unlockables were concerned. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'd guess that Ubisoft dropped this bombshell on Friday, given that I started seeing discussion about it pop up on Saturday, and there will be some sort of clarification one way or the other once their CS/PR people get back to work this week, along with the game journalists who are going to be reporting on it.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 1:44 am
by Kasey Chang
I can't get into Elite Force II. I don't mind being given a puzzle and figure out what to do next, but I *hate* timed based puzzles, like "rescue Chang before he gets assimilated" or "Take down the forcefield before Thesia got overwhelmed by the Borg". I got "rescue Chang" as basically I have to dive into a conduit, frog walk until I see and destroy a green conduit, come back out, kill 2 Borg drones before they adapt, killed two more, and that rescues Chang. But I have to do them in sequence without any dawdling or mistakes.

But the next part gets ridiculous as I'm hemmed in on all sides by forcefields, and Borg drones are beaming in, and soon they have adapted to our phasers, so we pretty much have to run. So where's the darn conduit? Trying five times and I've pretty much had enough.

I've also hit a wall in Mini Motorways. I can't seem to break 2000 barrier on more than one map.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 3:59 pm
by Kasey Chang
Trying Strike Team Hydra. The devs to learn a bit from their previous efforts, as their next game, Strike Team Gladius, seems to be far more polished. Hydra is an XCOM type game with slightly different mechanic (it's on hex grid instead of square grids) and emphasizes counter-attack. But you need to level up your marines pretty high for them to be effective, as when they have low levels (like L3 or L4) they need a lot of shots to kill enemies on hard, and I don't want to know how they fare on "extreme". You can read my review on Steam.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 5:51 pm
by Rumpy
Kasey Chang wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 1:44 am I can't get into Elite Force II. I don't mind being given a puzzle and figure out what to do next, but I *hate* timed based puzzles, like "rescue Chang before he gets assimilated" or "Take down the forcefield before Thesia got overwhelmed by the Borg". I got "rescue Chang" as basically I have to dive into a conduit, frog walk until I see and destroy a green conduit, come back out, kill 2 Borg drones before they adapt, killed two more, and that rescues Chang. But I have to do them in sequence without any dawdling or mistakes.

And I'm sure they expect you to complete all of that all in one go, and if you fail, they probably expect you to start all over with the puzzles.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 7:09 pm
by Daehawk
I dont recall this. Its been a very long time since my last run through them though. I think Ive played both EF games about 4 times through to the end. I recall enjoying the setting of the first one more though. Think it was more diverse. But the multiplayer deathmatch of pt2 was pretty fun in those days.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:25 pm
by Blackhawk
I loved Elite Force. I remember an almost equal dislike of the sequel.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:20 pm
by Hipolito
Blackhawk wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:25 pm I loved Elite Force. I remember an almost equal dislike of the sequel.
Shooters aren't my genre of choice, but of the ones I've played, Elite Force is my fave. I even kind of enjoyed the expansion pack though it added little.

As for Elite Force II, I only played the demo, and that was enough. Oof.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:39 pm
by Blackhawk
As I recall, Elite Force 2 was just a bad shooter with a Star Trek skin - they didn't make any attempt to use the license at all the way the first game did.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 12:15 am
by Hipolito
One time I was at a movie theater and they had a Star Trek Voyager arcade game. It was even one of those where you sat inside. Intrigued, I tried it. Turned out to be just a bad rail shooter (light gun game). When you ran out of ammo, Tuvok said "remodulate your phaser," so you had to shoot away from the screen to reload (like in Lethal Enforcers).


Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 12:22 am
by jztemple2
Probably not worth starting a new thread for this, but I just thought I'd mention a game I've reinstalled and am playing. This is Field of Glory: Empires, which is a strategy game. It has a passing resemblance to Imperator: Rome but in my mind FoG:E is a significantly better game. It also has some similarities to Europa Universalis IV but again plays rather differently. It was developed by AGEod and released through Slitherine.

I put in some time on FoG:E when it was released, but it needed some more time in the oven so I've shelved it till now. What motivated me was that the one DLC that has been released for the game, Field of Glory: Empires - Persia 550 - 330 BCE, is on sale this week as well as the base game. Since I'm rusty on the FoG:E gameplay, instead of picking up with Persia I've instead gone with Saba, a state at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. I'll post some screenies from my current game and if folks are interested I'll answer questions.

Oh, and one selling point for me was that the battles you generate at the strategic level in FoG:E can be exported to and fought out in Field of Glory 2 and the results imported back into FoG:E. Pretty cool.

Enlarge Image

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Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:58 am
by Kasey Chang
Blackhawk wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:39 pm As I recall, Elite Force 2 was just a bad shooter with a Star Trek skin - they didn't make any attempt to use the license at all the way the first game did.
It actually wasn't that bad, as you do have to use the tricorder to scan and modulate some shields to break them, and the enemies do look appropriate Voyager-ish. But those time based section are stupid.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 9:24 am
by Blackhawk
Kasey Chang wrote: Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:58 am
Blackhawk wrote: Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:39 pm As I recall, Elite Force 2 was just a bad shooter with a Star Trek skin - they didn't make any attempt to use the license at all the way the first game did.
It actually wasn't that bad, as you do have to use the tricorder to scan and modulate some shields to break them, and the enemies do look appropriate Voyager-ish. But those time based section are stupid.
I meant the overall game - I don't recall the specific sequence in question. I do remember walking around the corridors listening to the angry, terrified Vulcans going on about how we should just "kill them all."

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:35 am
by Max Peck
A good thing about Elite Force 2 is that it resulted in some entertaining commentary.

Retrospective - Star Trek: Elite Force II
Jean-Luc Picard looks small and lonely. Older, somehow more statesmanlike than ever, still captain of the Starfleet's flagship, but weirdly tiny, as though he is slowly disappearing. Because he's alone. All of his officers have gone. There's just all these unfamiliar young people now. Young, quiet, anonymous. Oh, and a visiting Tuvok from Voyager, but he's no Data, is he?
Playing Elite Force II today was disorientating. I'd switch regularly between thinking 'Yes, this is Star Trek' and 'oh good lord no, this is the polar opposite of Star Trek.' It's a fascinating thing, half triumph and half failure, and so much of its time. It'd never get made today, and that makes me almost as sad as does the thought of Jean-Luc Picard still out there on that bridge after all these years, all his friends long-gone.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 1:26 pm
by JetFred
It's very odd that y'all are talking about not liking a shooter and yet I actually finished it back in the day and didn't like it any less than the first. If you happen to know how seldom I play the same game for more than five hours, you'd get why that's weird.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 2:49 pm
by hitbyambulance
just found out about Midnight Fight Express - this looks like it could be pretty fun (isometric-view, even)


Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 3:07 pm
by Smoove_B
Oh wow, that looks cool - thanks for the heads up!

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 5:16 pm
by jztemple2
Those crazy guys Chris and Mark from Introversion Software (Prison Architect, Darwinia, DEFCON and Uplink) have released their first update to The Last Starship, not yet in Early Release but coming to playtest soon. You can sign up through the Steam page. As with Prison Architect, they have released a video to demonstrate and talk about it.


Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 11:53 pm
by Daehawk
When I click a shortcut to start a game I see a little popup in the bottom right about allocating ram..sometimes 600 - 800 meg and other times a few gig. I have no idea what program is doing that. It didn't used to. It may be Windows 10 or something else. Kinda weird something is dispersing memory for my games when I start them.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 12:00 pm
by Skinypupy
Been having this thing lately where I get really excited to go back and play a game I hadn’t played in a while. So I’ll get it installed, patched, read up on builds and strategies, get all ready to jump in…then almost instantly lose interest. :D

It’s happened multiple times over the past three weeks. Tried Dragon’s Dogma, it lasted 2 days. Tried Diablo 2, it lasted a day. Final Fantasy IX was 2 days. ESO lasted a couple hours. Solasta was a couple nights. Spent one night with both Bioshock Infinite and Prey. Spritfarer was 2 days. Been playing SWTOR for a few days, but I can already feel my interest wandering.

I have such terrible gamer ADD.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 12:58 pm
by Daehawk
Happens to me a lot.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 2:08 pm
by Blackhawk
Yep, yep. I always make myself stop and try to figure out what it is I'm looking for when I do that - is it the game itself, or is the the game in the context of my memories of when I played it?

For example, I used to play World of Warcraft with a friend. He'd come down every weekend or two, set up his PC on the other side of my desk, and we'd go nuts in WoW for two or three days. We'd always take walks to keep from sitting for too long straight (with lots of chat), and we'd eat garbage - with the exception of a single planned meal that was always great. And I really, really loved the game. After he moved away, I went back to WoW four or five times. Each time I'd feel the burning desire to play, but it always left me empty. Then I'd realize - it was the whole experience I was pining for, not the game.

I could go down the list - Thief, System Shock 2, and Deus Ex were part of a brief period of low stress, low worry, and minimal responsibility for me, and sometimes when I get the desire to play one of those, it's really 'those days' that I'm missing.

Other games (Half-Life?) it was the novelty, the complete newness of the original experience that I'm trying to recapture.

And some games it was simply the state of my mind at the time. I used to be much less... skeptical. I loved to let myself 'believe' while I was playing a game, and it truly felt like I was there, like it was me doing that. But years as a parent conditioned me to not let myself get too drawn in (lest I lose track of time or missing a cue), while at the same time, natural aging has put a dent in my imagination (this one hurts!) Now I play those same games and I just see game mechanics and polygons instead of wonderful places to visit. And that interests me a lot less.

And hell, sometimes it isn't even a positive memory. Every once in a while I get extreme nostalgia for Everquest, which I played obsessively in '99 and 2000. But I honestly don't think I liked the game that much. When I was playing it, I was miserable. I was in a perpetual state of extreme stress that eventually led to my breakdown (and thus to disability.) Everquest wasn't something that I did because it was fun, it was something that I did to completely forget who and where I really was. It was my binge drinking (and I would sometimes down a pack of cigarettes every two or three hours while playing.) Now, when I get stressed and find myself nostalgic for EQ (and the two tend to coincide), I understand that it is the experience of having relief from the stress that I'm craving, not the actual game, and that tells me that it's time to take a breath and let myself unwind before I push myself too far.

Other hobbies are the same way. Sometimes I pine for hobbies of my past - like buckskinning, or fly tying, or fishing, or whatever. And most of the time, if I really think about it, I find that what I'm after is the places, people, and state of mind that I had at the time, not the activity itself.

And sometimes I really just do want to play the game, and enjoy myself. But when I keep bouncing off of old stuff, I have learned to figure out what I'm really after. And more often than not, I find that I'm trying to recreate a time, a place, or a state of being that simply doesn't exist anymore. Then I can find something that lets me take joy in who I am and where I am now, and usually find it much, much more satisfying.

One trick I've learned: Imagine the activity. What's the first thing that pops into my head? Is it the game itself, or is it me, sitting in my old living room playing the game? When I think about buckskinning, for instance, the first thing I think about is wandering the deserts around Reno and spending time with the friends I had in that hobby - not about the hobby itself. Most of those friends are 2000 miles away (or dead), and I can't wander around the desert, no matter how badly I want to. So rather than dumping time and money into that hobby again and finding it unsatisfying, I look for a new activity with new friends that gives me the same satisfaction.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 2:17 pm
by Blackhawk
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jul 09, 2022 2:08 pm Most of those friends are 2000 miles away (or dead), and I can't wander around the desert, no matter how badly I want to. So rather than dumping time and money into that hobby again and finding it unsatisfying, I look for a new activity with new friends that gives me the same satisfaction.
On that thought, there are some hobbies I miss that I could restart. Tabletop gaming is front and center. All of my friends are gone (moved away), or they are unwelcome in my games. I could find new people if I really put my mind to it... but COVID (and VTT wouldn't do the trick.) So I keep those hobbies on the back burner, despite actually being able to recreate the context of the memories. Hopefully things will reach a point at which I can resume before I find myself too old to really care.

And as far as the hanging out with friends go, I have one activity that brings me just as much joy these days - just check the OOer YouTube thread and you'll see what I mean. Brian, Bob, and Jen (and BD, wherever you are!) are great friends that I always look forward to talking too again. Even if I do grump about not pushing our challenge or changing games often enough. ;)

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 2:59 pm
by Skinypupy
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jul 09, 2022 2:08 pm Yep, yep. I always make myself stop and try to figure out what it is I'm looking for when I do that - is it the game itself, or is the the game in the context of my memories of when I played it?

For example, I used to play World of Warcraft with a friend. He'd come down every weekend or two, set up his PC on the other side of my desk, and we'd go nuts in WoW for two or three days. We'd always take walks to keep from sitting for too long straight (with lots of chat), and we'd eat garbage - with the exception of a single planned meal that was always great. And I really, really loved the game. After he moved away, I went back to WoW four or five times. Each time I'd feel the burning desire to play, but it always left me empty. Then I'd realize - it was the whole experience I was pining for, not the game.

I could go down the list - Thief, System Shock 2, and Deus Ex were part of a brief period of low stress, low worry, and minimal responsibility for me, and sometimes when I get the desire to play one of those, it's really 'those days' that I'm missing.

Other games (Half-Life?) it was the novelty, the complete newness of the original experience that I'm trying to recapture.

And some games it was simply the state of my mind at the time. I used to be much less... skeptical. I loved to let myself 'believe' while I was playing a game, and it truly felt like I was there, like it was me doing that. But years as a parent conditioned me to not let myself get too drawn in (lest I lose track of time or missing a cue), while at the same time, natural aging has put a dent in my imagination (this one hurts!) Now I play those same games and I just see game mechanics and polygons instead of wonderful places to visit. And that interests me a lot less.

And hell, sometimes it isn't even a positive memory. Every once in a while I get extreme nostalgia for Everquest, which I played obsessively in '99 and 2000. But I honestly don't think I liked the game that much. When I was playing it, I was miserable. I was in a perpetual state of extreme stress that eventually led to my breakdown (and thus to disability.) Everquest wasn't something that I did because it was fun, it was something that I did to completely forget who and where I really was. It was my binge drinking (and I would sometimes down a pack of cigarettes every two or three hours while playing.) Now, when I get stressed and find myself nostalgic for EQ (and the two tend to coincide), I understand that it is the experience of having relief from the stress that I'm craving, not the actual game, and that tells me that it's time to take a breath and let myself unwind before I push myself too far.

Other hobbies are the same way. Sometimes I pine for hobbies of my past - like buckskinning, or fly tying, or fishing, or whatever. And most of the time, if I really think about it, I find that what I'm after is the places, people, and state of mind that I had at the time, not the activity itself.

And sometimes I really just do want to play the game, and enjoy myself. But when I keep bouncing off of old stuff, I have learned to figure out what I'm really after. And more often than not, I find that I'm trying to recreate a time, a place, or a state of being that simply doesn't exist anymore. Then I can find something that lets me take joy in who I am and where I am now, and usually find it much, much more satisfying.

One trick I've learned: Imagine the activity. What's the first thing that pops into my head? Is it the game itself, or is it me, sitting in my old living room playing the game? When I think about buckskinning, for instance, the first thing I think about is wandering the deserts around Reno and spending time with the friends I had in that hobby - not about the hobby itself. Most of those friends are 2000 miles away (or dead), and I can't wander around the desert, no matter how badly I want to. So rather than dumping time and money into that hobby again and finding it unsatisfying, I look for a new activity with new friends that gives me the same satisfaction.
Incredibly well said, thanks BH.
And some games it was simply the state of my mind at the time. I used to be much less... skeptical. I loved to let myself 'believe' while I was playing a game, and it truly felt like I was there, like it was me doing that. But years as a parent conditioned me to not let myself get too drawn in (lest I lose track of time or missing a cue), while at the same time, natural aging has put a dent in my imagination (this one hurts!) Now I play those same games and I just see game mechanics and polygons instead of wonderful places to visit. And that interests me a lot less.
I think this is the most likely culprit over the past couple weeks. I realized when I was playing Diablo 2 last night that I was simply flying through the locales with the only consideration being "numbers go up". I wasn't bothering to explore every inch of the map, hang around a bit longer in certain areas because the Bauhaus-ish music was so good, examining all the small gory details in the walls and altars...all the little things that made it so awesome the first time through. I can't find a way to simply get immersed in a world like I used to. It still happens occasionally (I was 100% engaged during my recent playthroughs of Horizon Forbidden West and Witcher 3), but it's less and less often. And that kinda sucks.

To be fair, I've also simply been skimming around between games because I don't want to get deep into anything with XC3 coming out in a couple weeks. I'm sure the whole "this is just a temporary fix" affected my mindset while playing.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 3:09 pm
by Blackhawk
I find that 'immersed' (in the sense of 'feeling like being in the game') isn't something I really achieve easily anymore with regular games. It's part of the reason that I've been changing genres a lot into those where keeping track of mechanics is actually part of the gameplay with 'fun' taken into account. I've been hooked on Planet Zoo, for instance, where you're expected to mess with the numbers and take them into account, and the design takes that into account when making it entertaining. Ten years ago I'd have been bored senseless by it because I wouldn't have been able to find immersion. Before Planet Zoo it was Medieval Dynasty that really hooked me - again, the fun comes from the planning and strategizing rather than from 'being a _____'.

Now if I want actual game immersion, I go to VR. It's easier when you're interacting directly with objects almost as you would in real life, seeing them as if you were there (and turning your head to look around, etc), and all other sights and sounds from the 'real world' are completely blocked out.

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 3:40 pm
by Skinypupy
I'll post more in it's actual thread, but I grabbed Wildermyth on a whim this morning. It's brand of emergent storytelling is fascinating, and might be exactly what I'm looking for. I'll give it a bit more time to figure out the mechanics, but early impressions are wonderful.

Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 5:21 pm
by Zarathud
I really enjoyed Wildermyth. Good mixture of rogue-like and tactical battles with a hook to pull you in.

My current jam is Rimworld. Once you get a colony set up, it’s like watching an ant farm. So relaxing….

Re: Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 10:22 pm
by jztemple2
Blackhawk wrote: Sat Jul 09, 2022 2:08 pm Yep, yep. I always make myself stop and try to figure out what it is I'm looking for when I do that - is it the game itself, or is the the game in the context of my memories of when I played it?
One of my issues is that I don't like to play a game with a story a second time, for the same reason I never read a book twice. Sadly this is especially true in games like the Assassin's Creed series. I really, really enjoyed AC Origins, one of a few of these big open world games I've played all the way to completion. I've tried a couple of times to play through the campaign again, but I soon get the feeling, not so much of "been there, done that" as that it doesn't hold any surprises for me, and that's important. The first time I was able to go into a pyramid it was a "oh, wow" moment and I can't capture that again. I'm rather sad with the way Ubisoft has gone with the AC series, turning it more into a battle game. And I found that, ultimately, Watch Dogs Legion just didn't have the same "oh, wow" factor as Watch Dogs 2.

I'm now desperately waiting for the next Grand Theft Auto game, which I'm sure will be full of "oh, wow" moments. And the next Fall Out game. And the next Ghost Recon game. Not so much Far Cry, I think Far Cry 6 got just too silly.