Octopus Overlords

I noticed I owned Mafia 1 & 2 Enhanced Editions...what the hell...bout time I got back to the family. Replay time. But just 1 &2. I finished 3 recently.

I know how they treated me at the end of game one. Maybe they wont do that this time. Maybe.[Says Daehawk in TF2 Heavy Weapons guy voice]

So I had my Steam client open and started scrolling down the grid display of all games sorted by date last played. And I scrolled down and down and down... the below is the screenshot I took showing the first games listed with dates on them; I've had Steam since about a decade earlier but these are the oldest ones with an actual "last played" date. There are a bunch below them but they don't have dates. So this is the record of what I was playing (or rather last played) ten years ago.

Not so sure about some of the XCOM titles. Clearly you didn't get very far into them.

TheMix wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 9:42 am Not so sure about some of the XCOM titles. Clearly you didn't get very far into them.

Actually I had played them years before this as standalone retail versions. They got added to Steam and I fired them up to see how they still played. I seem to recall that Apocalypse would no longer run properly, but they others were.... OK. I tend to not really enjoy going back to old games with outdated graphics and controls for the sake of nostalgia.

A little what if.....

Caught my son playing this:



I admit it looks interesting. Not CDN$13 interesting, but I've started watching videos about it. I can always borrow it from my son if I decide I want to try it.

It's an ASCII based Kingdom Simulator. Looks pretty extensive, but I have no real knowledge of it yet.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:10 am

This image I understand. This image speaks volumes (although almost anything else could go in the last speech bubble and it would still be relevant.)

Thanks, Jeremiah.

I was in the mood for a LotR game so I installed Middle Earth: Shadow of War and gave it another shot today. There’s so much to like about it, but good lord is that whole nemesis/named big-bad system can be completely overwhelming.

I took on one big bad. As I was fighting him, another one spawned in. Managed to take them both out, and not 5 seconds later, another one spawned on the rooftop right next to me, as I was fighting him, yet another one showed up. I ended up taking in 4 “uniques” in the space of about 5 minutes.

After that, I ran up to the top of tower to let things calm down a bit. Opened the map and in just that little corner of the Minas Idril map (the opening area) there were EIGHT skull icons indicating new bosses.

It’s a cool system but they spawn SO often and with such close proximity, it eliminates all the novelty of it pretty quickly.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 1:04 pm A little what if.....

This was entertaining, thanks for posting it!

After playing both Dead Cells and Returnal over last weekend, I have decided that I really just don't care much for roguelites anymore. The whole idea of playing through mostly the same game over and over again with slight variations or improvements in order incrementally further only to start the cycle again mostly just bores me now.

Which kinda bums me out tbh, as that used to be a genre I enjoyed quite a bit.

I forgot I had put this on my wishlist until it went on sale and they emailed me.

If you want to run your own Stargate Command type game. Build your underground base, send teams through the gate, research new stuff. Looks like Stargate SG-1 to me. The only thing is I dont think you get to explore the places you go...just receive intel and reports on it or something. A full on ground team control option like RPG would be cool even if in small doses.

Exogate Initiative

Interesting article from PC Gamer, The most controversial PC games of all time

The world of PC gaming has been no stranger to controversy since its earliest days. Whether it's disastrous launches, community outrage, contentious politics, microtransactions gone wild, or yet another round of debate over whether or not videogames cause violence, a year never seems to pass without at least a few big blow-ups.

In fact, putting this list really put the sheer scale of things in perspective for me—there's 15 games here, but I could've easily included 50. For whatever reason, games and controversy go together like medpacks and healthbars.

But you don't have the time to read a list that long, and I don't have time to write it—so I've curated this list down to only the juiciest, most impactful, industry-shaking controversies in our fair hobby's chaotic history. Read on, and be outraged all over again.

Without reading the article I would say:

Daikatana
Duke Nukem Forever
Prey
Ultima Online
Ultima 9

Edit: I like mine better.

Postal didn’t make the list? Invalid.

I knew Doom would be in there..always is. And I forgot about Mortal Kombat. Usually I dont see any problems with games if its a content fiasco.

Atari Just Bought a Ton of Classic 80s and 90s Video Game IP

Atari has acquired the intellectual property rights to over 100 PC and console games from the 1980s and 1990s, including multiple titles from the platforming series Bubsy, the baseball series Hardball, and the vehicular combat series Demolition Racer.

With this acquisition, Atari plans to expand the distribution of existing titles, explore merchandising collaborations, and most notably, create new games based on these IP. Some classic games will also be ported to modern consoles, according to Atari CEO Wade Rosen.

As part of the deal, Atari also acquired the trademark to Accolade, the developer and publisher behind the aforementioned Bubsy and Hardball series

Hmmmm been wanting a new Hardball for ages. Me and my friend used to play it over modem.

Accolade was one of my favourite developers and publishers back in the day. Willing to bet Atari will publish the new Test Drive Unlimited under the Accolade label, which would be fitting.

There's a controversy surrounding in-development Unrecord re: police violence and bodycams. But that's not what I want to talk about.

When I first watched this trailer it was in a desktop browser Twitter embed. And I thought there's no way that's in-game footage, that's video! Are they high? But then I re-watched it this morning in 1080p full screen. And while amazing, I could totally tell it's a game.

But I feel like it's the first time I've really been fooled. Other than that "crash landing" flight sim video. Mind you, this was at low resolution. But it just blew my mind. The natural lighting and exposure effects are AMAZING. Mind you, I haven't played any graphics powerhouses of this generation I don't think, so maybe my eyes are just catching up. I'm assuming this is UE 5.

I'm betting the shaky bodycam event is what's causing me to be fooled.

I guess what's troubling me more is how you're controlling bodycam footage that's already been recorded. Or do those people really have pixely faces?

I found this a useful video for adding new games to my Steam wishlist

Yeah, you seem like someone who has trouble finding new niche games.

I *love* factory games but I have kind of avoided that video (the algorithm really wants me to watch it seemingly), I already have many early access factory games in my library and wishlist.

I've somehow developed a new bad habbit - actively moving my body in games. I've noticed it primarily in melee based games with elaborate combat mechanics (Vermintide, Mordhau, Kingdom Come, etc.) When making a blow or parrying, I'll lean as if it were actually my body - dodging, leaning in with a thrust, turning with a swing.

It's annoying, it throws off my game, and it's killing my back! I'm about ready to tie myself to my chair.

Kinky.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2023 4:20 pm I've somehow developed a new bad habbit - actively moving my body in games. I've noticed it primarily in melee based games with elaborate combat mechanics (Vermintide, Mordhau, Kingdom Come, etc.) When making a blow or parrying, I'll lean as if it were actually my body - dodging, leaning in with a thrust, turning with a swing.

It's annoying, it throws off my game, and it's killing my back! I'm about ready to tie myself to my chair.

I have actually knocked things off my desk leaning into a turn or jump.

I've noticed it more since got a VR set. Once it works for one game, it's hard to tell your mind it doesn't work for others.

Couple news stories I found on PC Gamer. Thanks PCG!

Over 2,400 Steam users had their accounts restricted for marking a negative review as helpful

Beneath every user review on Steam is a prompt that asks "Was this review helpful?" and lets you respond with a Yes, No, Funny, or Award option. While it makes sense that user reviews can be flagged as inappropriate and those who write them have their ability to post more restricted, it turns out that even clicking on that thumbs-up "Yes" can get you in trouble, as 2,439 people who labeled a negative review of Warlander (opens in new tab) helpful found out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And.....

After playing Half-Life with this new ray tracing mod, I need a cold shower in a dimly lit room

My plan was to load up ray tracing-enabled Half-Life, have a quick 10-minute blast to see how it looked, and then move on with my life. After all, I've got about eleventy billion new PC games that need playing right now in my pile.

My plan immediately fell through, though, as before I knew it I'd played the game for well over an hour and found myself hooked back into the world of Black Mesa like never before. The ray-traced lighting not only looked gorgeous but elevated the immersion of the game to previously unseen levels.

And, well, seriously, you have to see ray traced Half-Life to believe it.

I love seeing stuff like that. Though practically, I feel like I'd rather enjoy the original aesthetic if I went back to play it again. The video is a bit jarring because the textures haven't been upgraded (much?). But I presume there are additional mods for that.

Hrothgar wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2023 5:13 pm I've noticed it more since got a VR set. Once it works for one game, it's hard to tell your mind it doesn't work for others.

This is a distinct possibility. Overhead blow - block and physically move out of the way.

Now play DOS games on modern PCs natively. New SBEMU.

Whiterun from Skyrim built up using Unreal 5. Shame they cant do realistic mud in games like this. Spintires type or a lot better.

While looking for that old old clip on mic Ive lost I stumbled across one of my small boxes of old demo discs. These are all CD ones from the gaming mags I bought in the 90s. I have a large box of 3.5" ones too some place. And these are not near all I have of CD. Must be hundreds unless I threw them away...which ya never know.

Took a pic. Even found my original Ultima Online beta cd in the mailer they used to send it to me. Nice.



If anyone is interested in all the old demo disks that came with PC Gamer or Computer Gaming World then here are the archives of them and you can download the ISO for each one...around 200 mb or so.

Computer Gaming World

PC Gamer

Is there no way to log into EA Play without being a current member? I cant find a way and when I use my correct login info it says expired or incorrect. I used to have an account and just want to log in and see what games I played and when. I dont want to sub and pay for the privilege.

One of Epics free games today looks fun.....Poker Club.

Been playing AC Odyssey for the past several months, and nearing the end. But man, does this game ever have wild difficulty spikes. I'm really not sure what they were thinking with the Between Two Worlds storyline, but it's some of the most difficult that AC has ever been in a base game. I've never had any issues up until this. I'm even playing on easy and these fights have been so frustratingly imbalanced. I think I might end up setting the level scaling to the lowest, ie 5 levels below.

Yeah, I gave up at some point. Not only was it insanely difficult but it was also very much a grind (as I recall). I honestly felt like it was a letdown after beating the base game.