#general gaming
thorny loom
little badger
https://fxtwitter.com/callofduty/status/1725573988326482103? @untold laurel
thorny loom
I mean i like zombies
But they need to fix the actual game first. It’s unacceptable as it currently is
little badger
But they need to fix the actual game first. It’s unacceptable as it currently is
Today
thorny loom
Not tomorrow.
gaunt marten
Wait, today is today
thorny loom
TODAY
little badger
thorny loom
Is their a multiplayer patch list
little badger
Is their a multiplayer patch list
teal cliff
I GOT SENT ANOTHER REVIEW COPY OF A GAME
I love it when this happens, it makes me feel important.
quiet swift
https://fxtwitter.com/biowaregear/status/1725281859733774504?s=46&t=bVzXPIZvXYyJ...
https://www.dexerto.com/final-fantasy/ffxiv-community-breaks-social-team-with-sus-replies-to-wholesome-question-2384326/ I just recently saw this, reminds me of that
teal cliff
What game is it?
A dating sim called SlasherU
you date like, horror monsters in training at college, I think?
thorny loom
https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/ fixed but its free now
little badger
thorny loom
@wind stump free game
untold laurel
This is that old useless thing
little badger
Probably changed it a lot
untold laurel
No, still turning zombies, but now as alies
thorny loom
Yeah. It wasnt very good in call of the dead. Its cool i guess they brought it back though
little badger
No, still turning zombies, but now as alies
Yeah. But it will also work on the mercenaries which are very Overpowered at the moment.
teal cliff
I find it funny how despite most of my reviews being very positive or neutral, it's the negative reviews that have built my follower base. idk what to do about that
I would straight up not have a review following if not for shitting on bad wizard game 2023. That got me hundreds of followers when I had basically none when I posted it.
quiet swift
I find it funny how despite most of my reviews being very positive or neutral, i...
people love bandwagoning on negativity
teal cliff
people love bandwagoning on negativity
Yeah, but like, the point of my reviews is to give exposure to LGBTQ games and developers if I can? That's the onus of my entire page, so like
I really want to put more effort into elevating those games than trashing ones I don't like.
gaunt marten
The best thing you can do is review games honestly and fairly
teal cliff
I hope I can capture large amounts of views from my negative reviews and turn those eyes towards the smaller positive games they'd have not seen otherwise.
little badger
No, still turning zombies, but now as alies
Would you want the scavenger back?
mossy flume
ArtePiazza was the collaborating studio that developed Super Mario RPG Remake
But Nintendo was very pointedly refusing to say who the partner was
Which is…. Very weird
gaunt marten
Do you think it's because they wanted to avoid leaks?
mossy flume
In an unusual move, all the marketing explicitly omits any mention of the studio and the game’s logos also omit it. It’s only in the credits.
I don’t know how that would help
gaunt marten
Oh they also hid it after release
mossy flume
Yeah
It’s as if there would be a scandal if anyone knew, but like… there’s no scandal to be had with that studio
So it’s very ??????
thorny loom
Nintendo being Nintendo
One of the few times copyright trademark requirements are useful
mossy flume
Yeah, that appears to be the sole mention of it outside the game’s credits.
mossy flume
Yep
mossy flume
It’s a good engine to use, as it’s efficient on mobile/tablet/smartphone class hardware, which the Switch is.
teal cliff
I wonder if they could switch to Unreal.
static bluff
you mean the super switch
thorny loom
Sure
Honestly lets at least hope Nintendo is smart and let’s Switch games be backwards compatible with it
thorny loom
If a game is ported to it sure
Though if the ark switch port is any indication even it will struggle
mossy flume
Allegedly the Switch successor is capable of running ray tracing.
static bluff
Literally just 1 ray though
teal cliff
I'll believe it when I see it for the most part.
thorny loom
^
gaunt marten
It's harder to optimize games on PC due to the large variance of specs
mossy flume
But yeah I wouldn’t necessarily expect UE5 to be a popular option for the Switch successor
thorny loom
UE5 is very advanced but also demanding
mossy flume
It has a mobile-focused mode
thorny loom
Given nintendo is usually 3-5 years behind on hardware with its consoles
mossy flume
So it’s usable
But Unity is probably a better option since you’ll want to squeeze out every bit of performance and thus have minimal overhead
teal cliff
UE4 is still an option
mossy flume
Sure
teal cliff
When I make projects myself I just vastly prefer unreal.
Granted, I make PC games, but still.
mossy flume
They’re both pretty great engines
rancid herald
even one ray can look good
thorny loom
Did BG3 get a switch port
thorny loom
I dunno anything about a new switch btw i'm just goof'n
No one really does other than small bits and pieces
But their all obvious things like “more advanced hardware”
gaunt marten
Half Life 2?
static bluff
yes
gaunt marten
You could have gotten it on sale for like 30 cents
static bluff
oh actually only half-life one is free
gaunt marten
Yeah but Half Life 2 is basically free in the Valve ultimate pack
Oftentimes you get Half Life 2 at 95% off and the whole bundle at another 90% off
rancid herald
I do sort of wonder what the switch 2 will even be
I feel like there's both pressure on nintendo to do something innovative, and pressure to stick with what they've done with the switch rather than risking a wii u situation
I still think they'll call it Swiitch
light gate
https://youtu.be/TbZ3HzvFEto?si=wDbBQ-YQUiDYPBsW
Holy hell WHAT
slim thorn
hopefully they find a solid middle ground, like how the (3)DS can easily be used to play "normal" games that just completely ignore the gimmick
thorny loom
Half life 2 is also on sale btw
static bluff
what else is there?
sacred grove
I hope one day Valve does something even crazier like making new games
Half-Life Alyx was a nice surprise, and it showed that they can still make games. It would be nice if they did more!
thorny loom
I hope one day Valve does something even crazier ~~like making new games~~
I mean. Counter strike 2 happened
light gate
Guess I gotta boot up the gaming laptop now.
quiet swift
"The entire UI has been reworked to scale at larger screen sizes. We built most of this stuff for 640x480 CRTs and apparently some of you have upgraded since then"
fresh bane
Ooooh did they actually change stuff and added fixes and stuff to HL1 too? 
light gate
Yes
quiet swift
https://half-life.com/en/halflife25/
yup, scroll down on this link
thorny loom
Ooooh did they actually change stuff and added fixes and stuff to HL1 too? <:izz...
Most of it seems to make it more compatible with steam deck and for its 25th anniversary it got a documentary
sour hill
I've been meaning to play this after I finish clock tower 3
visual hill
Valve keeps on giving this year, that's at least the 3rd banger release this year
fresh bane
spoilers for Alan Wake 2 (sorta, it's the start of the game)
this is such an interesting and cool 'reverse stealth' mechanic
fresh bane
I've been meaning to play this after I finish clock tower 3
was clock tower 2 or 3 the really bad one?
visual hill
I'm playing some Half-Life deathmatch if anyone wants to join (on [FR] BaseQ | HLDM - Classic Deathmatch)
novel pine
roblox could 100% be sued for dozens of things and it should be
dense crypt
The biggest offender is how much money they make on trademarked IPs
thorny loom
Yeah surprised disney hasent done anything yet
river veldt
@static bluff this tadpole note puzzle is hard 
static bluff
engage frog mode
if you don't have a standard notebook page dedicated to this part of the game you're doing it wrong
river veldt
oh that would help
i wrote all the notes down the tadpole told me the do re mi and such
but having it properly visualised might help
sour hill
was clock tower 2 or 3 the really bad one? <:rdsnrk:587780329335422977>
Well so far I like 3 so it's probably not that one
mossy flume
That’s terrible
thorny loom
random steppe
https://vxtwitter.com/charlieINTEL/status/1725495779530338746
This looks hideous
gaunt marten
Yeah
river veldt
oh thank god I'm done with the water monster
fuck the water monster omg
random steppe
Horror games where you can't fight are definitely too much for me
slim thorn
even Haunting Ground lets you sic Hewie on most of the pursuers
random steppe
And the problem is not only that they are tense, it's more that for me they have 2 modes.
river veldt
my favourite horror games are the ones where you cant fight back
random steppe
Initially they are super tense, I have trouble dealing with it
After a few hours being scared I switch to mode 2 in which I just pull back, see the game for its mechanics, and they become boring to me
Or worse, annoying
Really happy they work well for you, I can only deal with them if they are relatively short
thorny loom
This looks hideous
The fact its $60 and hurts my eyes makes it worse
slim thorn
to be fair Haunting Ground has exactly the problem you describe in practice
I can 100% see why Amnesia is the one that set the world on fire
every time I "switch to mode 2" it throws a new thing at me that gets me back to being freaked out
random steppe
It's why the bit in RE Village in which you couldn't fight back worked for me, it was a bit in a whole game in which you normally could fight, so I never got to the "tired of this shit" part
river veldt
Dark Descent is really good, Machine for Pigs kind of sucks, i dont remmeber much about Rebirth, and The Bunker might be even better than Dark Descent i havent decided yet
slim thorn
Tale said Bunker's really good actually
gaunt marten
I've never been in mode 1
slim thorn
we'll see if I have any sanity left by the time I finish Dark Descent lol
thorny loom
I remember when amnesia was the huge game on yt
random steppe
I was kind of interested in the new one, mostly because WW1 bunker as a setting kind of slaps
river veldt
we'll see if I have any sanity left by the time I finish Dark Descent lol
yeah i was just saying in case you were interested in the others
i can barely remember anything about Rebirth
river veldt
this is so funny
fresh bane
Do you know who ate all the donuts?
STAHP!
quiet swift
Good god, what are you doing?!
river veldt
why must we all wear these ridiculous ties?
fresh bane
Are you insane?! Stop attacking, immediately!
fresh bane
Look at that huge upwards trend there
We're going back to deathmatch everyone
Get your crowbars get your berettas
river veldt
i might have to check out Half Life deathmatch ive never played it
quiet swift
weren't Unreal games earlier?
Hm, unreal tourney wasn't but unreal base game might've been 
gaunt marten
*why must we all wear these ridiculous ties?*
Actually me at every wedding
I hate formal attire
fresh bane
Uhhhh well Quake was 2 years before Half Life but you know
Both games are the genesis of the modern online shooter
Half Life works differently than Quake
light gate
So the Half-Life update broke the expansion packs.
Got Opposing Forces to work, but not Blue Shift.
Your mileage may vary.
It apparently also broke Counter Strike 1.6
So expect other GoldSrc releases to be broken.
What a mess.
little badger
gaunt marten
Do you follow this Wario 64 person?
green fulcrum
It's...it's BARELY 3 years old! What the absolute f`ck.
fresh bane
experience ellie's story again for full price with slightly higher res textures!
green fulcrum
This is absolutely stupid.
little badger
Do you follow this Wario 64 person?
Nope just the algorithm that keeps it coming up.
green fulcrum
experience ellie's story again for full price with slightly higher res textures!
It was already meh the first time. Not nearly as solid of a narrative as the first game.
fresh bane
I don't think I had a single good moment with that game
I wanted every character to just shut up all the time
thorny loom
Do you follow this Wario 64 person?
They are a high profile user
When scalpers were harvesting ps5 he was the go to find availability for non scalpers
gaunt marten
Yes I know what he does
light gate
Updates for both Half Life expansions and CS 1.6
Yes, and its busted.
visual hill
It apparently also broke Counter Strike 1.6
yep, can confirm CS:CZ doesn't launch on Linux because of the game DLL API breaking
light gate
Valve can’t even make games lmao.
visual hill
they will probably create a separate valve folder with the OG DLLs
otherwise, they'd have to recompile all the GoldSrc games and break mods in the process
(would be great to have those fixes like widescreen and HUD scaling in CS 1.6/CZ still)
light gate
I am surprised Alyx to this day came out.
light gate
I think you know what I meant.
visual hill
oh, I read "I am surprised Alyx to this day came out 3 (or 4?) years ago"
brain autocomplete is weird 
dense crypt
too real, TOO REAL
mossy flume
Yeah this has been a thing since the original Sims game
visual hill
software rendering was added to the Linux version of Half-Life, it runs super smooth here (just as smooth as OpenGL). It looks very close to OpenGL with texture filtering off. Text rendering sometimes gets garbled though
fresh bane
gaunt marten
river veldt
i wonder if the Lazy Shell is still op
river veldt
holy hell i didn't know MachineGames was doing the Indiana Jones game
i thought it was Bethesda themselves but they're just publishing it
fresh bane
that guy has been recommended to me so much in shorts lately
and then one of the shorts I saw of him is literally him explaining how to get ahead and get pushed by the algorithm so fair enough 
sour hill
so Tale talked me into playing Amnesia
Good job, Tale
teal cliff
https://youtube.com/shorts/44Do5x5abRY?si=hpRe_4SkIj5zS3c6
nobody tell companies this
they don't want to come to grips with the idea that people generally want to buy video games.
so, random blanket statement that's been on my mind.
I think that most video games are too hard.
random steppe
I don't know, I tend to disagree, for the vast majority of games nowdays at least, if someone is gonna bounce off a game is more likely to be tediousness than difficulty IMO
I think the farther back you go the truer that statement is tho
But like, none is bouncing off most AAA games because they are too difficult, they are problably more likely to drop them because you are clearing the 55th open world activity of the same kind and the story didn't move since 4 hours ago
I guess it also depends what you mean with difficulty tho
peak mesa
https://fxtwitter.com/wario64/status/1725643846401560576?
It’s giving GTA V Expanded and Enhanced vibes
rugged flax
https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/
If any of y'all ain't own HalfLife, it's free to keep on Steam right now
teal cliff
I guess it also depends what you mean with difficulty tho
I would count unnecessary tedium in my statement about difficulty
it's just stuff that gets in the way for the sake of getting in the way. Requiring the player to gather for 30m for consumables before a boss fight or just giving that boss 3x the hp it reasonably should have are both just kind of annoying ways to make a game and I think a lot of games fall into this trap.
Most singleplayer games give me the ability to change the difficulty, or I can just cheat, but in multiplayer games there's not much I can do about it
gaunt marten
Aside from unnecessary tedium I like it when the level of difficulty in a game is just a tad above what I'm comfortable with.
In that sense most AAA games fail to be interesting
slim thorn
part of the problem is that "difficulty" means a lot of very different things and we've somehow never developed better vocabulary for separating out different kinds of it, since there's more to it than just "good/real difficulty/challenge" and "fake difficulty/tedium"; often one person's tedium is another's challenge
probably the biggest challenge here is how do you make a game difficult enough to be interesting without being too difficult to be fun for other players
IME in most games the traditional single "difficulty setting", while much better than nothing, still frequently fails to accomplish this; either you have no way of knowing what the right setting is before you've played the entire game, or it's only certain parts that are too hard or too easy and you can't separately customize those
in the stuff I play, what's most consistently effective is giving the player enough choices that they can simply say "I'm not ready for that yet", do something else, and come back with a few more upgrades that make it feasible, but that relies on your game having the kind of difficulty where "a few more upgrades" is a thing that exists and a thing that's sufficient
and since I was playing Amnesia yesterday: another surprisingly effective option is making the game seem much harder than it really is, so players who are less skilled or just got unlucky will probably still figure something out well before they get into a tedious death loop situation
gaunt marten
The No Man's Sky highly granular difficulty settings are pretty good, but in general my complaints about difficult games tend to boil to resolvable issues like how much time you get between retries or how long do I have to keep doing the same thing
slim thorn
yep, that is by far the one that kills my enjoyment the most: redoing easy stuff to get back to the hard thing
Celeste is probably the best example of a game where dying literally hundreds of times is still fun because they made the die and retry loop so tight
also literally every game would benefit from quick saves/save states, it is far too common for save/checkpoints to not be at the thing that kills me
basically any game that wants some challenges to take more than 1-3 tries needs to make that retry loop extremely fast (at least optionally so, death animations are fine if skippable), or it will stop being fun after 1-3 tries
visual hill
I wonder what a game like GTA would look like with difficulty settings
visual hill
yep, that is by far the one that kills my enjoyment the most: redoing easy stuff...
I have that issue in Trackmania, ironically it would make sense that tracks feature their hardest section at the beginning of the track, rather than the end
so you don't have to drive as much after giving up on a run
visual hill
basically any game that wants some challenges to take more than 1-3 tries needs ...
every game needs a "speedrun mode". 🙂
rotund forge
every game needs a "speedrun mode". 🙂
Like solitaire
teal cliff
I wonder what a game like GTA would look like with difficulty settings
I think GTA would be one of those games where the difficulty setting should be entirely based on like, AI intelligence
rather than number adjustment
The game's combat, imo, is fairly rooted in nobody being able to take more than a handful of hits
It would feel just, wrong, to point blank unload bullets into someone in GTA and they not react.
but I can see an "easy" mode being enemies taking longer to punish you for being out of cover and a "hard" mode being enemies flanking you, using grenades, etc
as examples.
slim thorn
yes, more games where difficulty is about enemy behavior please
that's half the reason Halo is fun on Legendary even with all some of the fights being hilariously unbalanced for it
random steppe
Other than actual skill required and tedium, there is a third dimension to difficulty which is complexity
Most games in the past years added a few layers of that, with almost all genre adapting some sort of RPG elements like talent trees or gear you have to equip, or more complex stats systems
slim thorn
Help me here, Stanley, help me elucidate these strange and unknowable desires of yours. What would have made this game better? What did you want to see? Vehicles? Skill trees?
random steppe
With MMOs perhaps being the worst example with several types of currency that gate different kinds of progression, in ways that to understand it you had to be there from the beginning or take several university courses on the subject
slim thorn
for me at least, the skill tree model and the equippable passive buffs model (HK's charms, Blasphemous' rosary beads, Ori 2's spirit shards) seem to strike the best balance of more complex customization that's easy to dig into and makes a real difference if you're interested but also easy to ignore if you just want to keep playing (which is not just for "lazy" or "novice" players; I bounce between both states during a playthrough)
IME anything that escalates to needing "stats" either quickly fails at making meaningful and comprehensible differences or quickly becomes mandatory even if you don't want it
random steppe
Just for fun, let me take you on a journey on Warframe about this, since I know that game well.
I'll post my build for Wisp Prime and explain how many things you need to know about the game to actually put this together if you were to start the game today, just to illustrate the level of absurdity a game that is going for now 10 years can get to
Let me put numbers on the pics so it makes sense, 1 sec
Ok so
1 - This is the mod system, the main progression for weapons and warframes (classes) in the game.
You get this at the start of the game, nothing fancy
2 - These are arcanes, a secondary progression system, to have one max arcane you need to combined 21 of them.
Mind that those two arcanes come from two completely different parts of the game, so knowing where to get one doesn't get you the other
3 - The Umbral mods from here come from the story progression, you'll get them eventually but still, they are not something you get just by starting, you have to progress.
4 - This is an augment mod, you get by ranking up certain reputations in the game, worth mentioning that not all reps all have augment mods so you might have to trade with players to get the one you need if you picked the wrong rep, or spend time to farm the other ones (lowerings the ones you are on, since they are mutually exclusive)
5 - This is a corrupted mod, it comes from another whole thing where you use keys to open hidden vaults in certain missions
6 - This is another special mod that you can get with another separate game mode after you complete a certain point in the story
7 - This is a prime mod, there is another whole system you have to engage with to get those, and are not always on offer but rotate some every week.
There are two more progressions systems I didn't mention because they didn't fit in this screen but :
8 - I have an ability susbsumed that replaces Wisp 4, this is something you get from a specific reputation that is separate from all we talked about so far
9 - I have 2 archon shards that you get from another thing you kinda unlock at the same time as 6
This is kind of absurd
Gathering some of this was a bit difficult, most of it there was some level of grinding involved, but largely the biggest barrier in this game is knowing that the thing you might want is there in the first place
The hard part is that I understand how this happens, I even enjoy by being inside it and being up to date with the game, but I do realise how this is essentially poison to new players that try to start the game.
It's why I can't really get into POE despite my several attempts or other long running games I would probably enjoy if I were to get to the stage I'm at with WF
visual hill
yes, more games where difficulty is about enemy behavior please
or number of objectives 
(Thief, GoldenEye/Perfect Dark, etc)
the AI does improve at higher levels in those games (you also have less health and less generous autoaim), but the different/stricter objectives are what makes these games really harder. It also increases replay value for those starting on easier skill levels, and gives you incentive for playing harder skill levels (you need them to fully experience the game)
slim thorn
optional objectives are also a pretty great system
I haven't played Thief/PD/etc so dunno if they could've been optional there
visual hill
Killing is the mark of an amateur. Don't kill anyone.
dense crypt
That sounds like something out of Hitman
minor plover
Today marks 12 years since the launch of Minecraft "full version"
river veldt
whoa !
median cedar
I got a 95.6% accuracy in the opening as the white pieces (Played like an 800 while i was 300) I won the match tho
static bluff
Hi
static bluff
I got a 95.6% accuracy in the opening as the white pieces (Played like an 800 wh...
When we gonna play
visual hill
That sounds like something out of Hitman
it's from Thief
random steppe
fresh bane
man the entire Suicide Squad thing is so disappointing
This game could've been so promising if they just went for a linear story driven experience but it just had to be another open world live service looter game
visual hill
it's the battle royale rush all over again 
fresh bane
execs being deathly afraid of approving any game that isn't the current popular genre
random steppe
Not even the popular thing, the monetary successful thing
quiet swift
And not even that popular now. It was popular when they greenlit it 3-4+ years ago
Now, less so
random steppe
That said, if they want to do more big budget cRPG after BG3, I wont be complaining
fresh bane
Of course it's about the money, but that's part of the ''current popular genre'' thing, it's where the money is at, it's popular for a reason and the reason is it's successful
quiet swift
random steppe
They will tank because they don't have studious that know how to do them, but maybe some will be decent
random steppe
Of course it's about the money, but that's part of the ''current popular genre''...
It's why I specified where the money is rather than popular
BG3 sold a lot, but sadly it wont ever make quite as much money as a MTX ridden AC game, or a successful game as a service title.
I wish they tried to copy BG3 but i feel like not that many publishers will because the reward isn't quite as compelling as Fortnite/Apex legends money
quiet swift
The winning formula is clearly Bear hanky panky
random steppe
Same reason as to why you don't see that many huge AAA companies trying to copy souls.
it's usually mid tier developers that do it because they genuinely would like to do something in that genre.
Hard genere to emulate + comparatively smaller bag you get if you nail it.
fresh bane
BG3 is something born out of pure passion and love for a genre it's not something others can just copy, problem here isn't really the thing being copied like a live service open world game or BG3, even if these execs tried to copy BG3 it'd still be shitty because it'd be a project born purely out of wanting money and nothing else and my point is more so that they insert these things into games that don't need them like how Suicide Squad could've just been a simple effective excellent linear experience but we can't do those games anymore
Because open world is the way to go now
Before they were practically forced into making Suicide Squad they were working on a Superman project and that got shut down completely
Which is a shame because if the devs showed this one project they were working on you know it's something they wanted to do
Could've been good but we will never see that project
light gate
BG3 is still an anomaly though, its not something that can be easily replicated.
bleak lintel
BG3 is similar to Elden Ring, it was built upon their previous works.
light gate
That too.
random steppe
BG3 is something born out of pure passion and love for a genre it's not somethin...
even if these execs tried to copy BG3 it'd still be shitty because it'd be a project born purely out of wanting money and nothing else
I feel like it's more complicated than that, in every one of those big companies there is a large group of extremely talented devs that would love nothing more to actually try to do something that isn't a paint by number, designed by committee commercial product.
When I say that I wish they'd copy BG3 I mean that I wish they'd let their devs try to copy BG3 because I'm pretty sure there would be passion for that within each of those companies.
As I'm sure there was passion for the first AC, a thing that probably died down a lot by the time the 7th game in the genre was cynically belched out by the team.
You are right tho, most of those project would be garbage because money would get in the way, but maybe one of them would actually have something new to say, if by a miracle they let someone with actual ideas cook.
It sometimes do happen even in big projects
wind stump
https://vxtwitter.com/ryuunart/status/1725930967498363134
p funni but who's the blonde in the second panel 
visual hill
first AC is a cult classic, not unlike the OG Call of Duty
dense crypt
Bubby dog
quiet swift
p funni but who's the blonde in the second panel <:ConfusedFrogge:74665232053567...
Keep playing and find out 😛
fresh bane
> even if these execs tried to copy BG3 it'd still be shitty because it'd be a p...
When people say money gets in the way it's not just about the vision of a project, the money part includes the budget the game receives, the number of staff working on the game and how they are treated, the deadlines
That's why I say the thing that's being copied isn't the problem, it doesn't matter if they wanted to copy BG3 because the problem is a much more deep rooted different one
I'm sure the suicide squad devs would be more than happy to ask for more time to make the game the best it could ever be and make it an excellent experience, probably having known that this project was going to be received poorly, but that's never gonna happen because game has to release now and there's no more money and who knows what the conditions are behind the scenes
The other day I was watching a video about a similar situation that happened to a latin american dev working on MK1, I'd share it here but it's all on spanish, but it's pretty telling of how shitty being a dev on one of these games can be like
dense crypt
Triple A game development is brutal
quiet swift
The (return on investment) Line God must always Go Up!
random steppe
When people say money gets in the way it's not just about the vision of a projec...
When you say this, it sounds like no good game can be made for profit tho.
Good games come out from this admittedly very shitty process, largely because sometimes people doing them have a lot of passion in making games.
quiet swift
🛐
fresh bane
Doesn't sound like I said that to me, I'm not talking in general I'm specifically talking about the execs that push for a game to be a specific thing because they want to maximize profits or chase trends, it's what this whole convo is about
They're always going to do that, it's their job, but I'm not talking every time
random steppe
Yeah but execs will greeenlight and give money only to what they think will make a lot of money, but that doesn't tell us if that specific team has any passion in making that specific game or not.
Which is IMO one of the most important factors
Well that and how much the higher ups will fuck with it along the way
Like, if you take a team that want to make a COD and make them do BG3, it probably will not work out.
I 100% agree with that
Redfall
quiet swift
I am vaguely reminded of a recent release... tactical game, perhaps? Whcih was completely written off as a loss by the publisher despite the $25 million cost to make
fresh bane
I mean that's not untrue but I'm just pointing out this specific situation with the suicide squad game where it's not like the devs aren't passionate about this franchise or aren't skilled but they're still "forced" to do this game in probably not so great conditions and the actual devs probably know it's gonna be a flop
I'm sure they are doing all they possibly can to make the best with their circumstances but unfortunately the core of the project is already doomed
That's the sort of thing I was referring to when saying the execs were chasing a trend, because I feel like so many open world games makes them afraid that anything that doesn't include open world or looting will make the game worse
All the other stuff you said is true but I'm just highlighting suicide squads situation specifically
Whether or not the game actually is successful money wise I guess we'll see but I don't think it will
random steppe
Yeah about Suicide Squad I think it's pretty obvious that's a situation where the devs aren't making the game they want to make in the first place
fresh bane
Like I said earlier they were working on a Supes project before but it got shut down and they were asked to do S.Q instead
So unfortunately that Superman project will not see the light of day I think
random steppe
Here I have a quick question.
I know BRs happened and quite a few of them were successful, but exactly how many of these 4 PVE co op games came out and actually made bank?
Maybe it's Destiny they are trying to chase?
I am a bit confused because there aren't that many huge co-op shooters that actually made infinite money, I get why chasing the BR tend makes sense, but this one makes a lot less sense in my mind
quiet swift
That depends on what you're talking about. Are we talking "looter shooter" games, which is what Suicide Squad was aiming to be? I guess the recent avengers game is kinda that style too?
random steppe
Yeah but that flopped and is now closed
quiet swift
Because there's also the 4 player coop games like say, left 4 dead, or others like the recent rise of those games with 4+ players escaping from 1 player monster
And I at least don't quite see L4D being the same genre as Suicide Squad
random steppe
Yeah but those weren't really live services and made a normal amount of money
I am trying to think what's the successful archetype for suicide squad the execs are trying to chase and I'm coming up blank
quiet swift
Destiny, I think is actually it
I mean, wasn't Anthem also chasing it? ANd failed miserably?
random steppe
Destiny is the only one that comes to mind to me
fresh bane
Yeeeeah but L4D isn't looter shooter at all its more arcadey and it's a completely different thing, I can't really think of any game of this sort that actually was very successful which is why it baffles me a little bit that they'd go for this thinking it's the type of game that will make them more money
Hell, Back 4 Blood implemented some of this live service-y type elements into their game and people hated it
I know I hated it, didn't vibe with me in the slightest during the demo
quiet swift
Some overlap with other kinds that aren't really what we're looking for, but...
quiet swift
Warframe, maybe? That's Live service isn't it?
random steppe
It's kind of funny because I don't think Destiny is actually doing that well..
I mean probably it's profitable but it's not a money printing machine like Fortnite is
fresh bane
Warframe is f2p though
random steppe
Technically so kinda is Destiny now
quiet swift
That doesn't exclude it being live service 
random steppe
Even tho it's more "free 2 demo"
fresh bane
It doesn't but I think by now people just assume it's normal for a f2p game to be designed this way because of the nature of... Well being free
.... To play
random steppe
I don't think Warframe is making quite enough money to cause this pie in the sky effect, Destiny is more likely to be the archetype
quiet swift
Ah, reddit being useful for once. Someone else said Warframe too, but the other big name would be The Division
fresh bane
But yeah I can't think of any game like S.S off the top of my head that were successful and any that are close to it you've already mentioned and they all sorta flopped
random steppe
Good point, is The Division a live service? As in did content for it come out regularly?
quiet swift
I believe so
random steppe
That makes sense then, it'd definitely be another big example
fresh bane
The one game I wish Suicide Squad was designed to be like is Marvel's Guardians but that's a different discussion
quiet swift
There's a few non LS ones like borderlands, vermintide, Deep rock galactic, etc, but I think Destiny, Division and Avengers were the three "big" LS and the third kinda didn't succeed well enough
fresh bane
It didn't have the 4 player coop but it kinda did
random steppe
It's kind of funny tho that we see flop after flop from these games trying to be reinvented as live services, and their role models are games that didn't even make that much money.
fresh bane
That's why I said popular earlier instead of the types of games that are successful 
You'd think by now they'd realize these games don't really make that much money at least not anymore
quiet swift
I do feel like that a fair number of live service games have established themselves and no one is really going to try to establish a new one, unless they have near endless pockets to make it actually good
random steppe
I definitely understand the BRs, if you make it as a BR, it's like winning the lottery.
So it makes sense they'd keep buying tickets
quiet swift
There's an equilibrium, kinda
quiet swift
I definitely understand the BRs, if you make it as a BR, it's like winning the l...
Fortnite and Apex, pretty much
random steppe
With these co-op games they are keeping buying tickets, but the prize is like, a moderately big plush so I am perplexed
quiet swift
Can't say I've heard of it. Or I have but barely ever seen it so i've forgotten
quiet swift
AH yeah, looking online i think i have seen the name mentioned but it's nigh nonexistant outside of latin american regions
random steppe
The COD BR is also pretty huge
fresh bane
It's purely a latin america thing
random steppe
And believe it or not PUBG is still a wildly succesful game
quiet swift
The COD BR is also pretty huge
Oh right. Forgot those two
fresh bane
Ye
Still a big name
Fortnite has taken most of the popularity now but PUBG is still there
teal cliff
Isn't pubg mobile rather popular in specific markets like China or India?
which the steam charts would not show?
random steppe
Yeah the mobile version it's its own thing and extremely popular too
These are Steam Charts numbers tho
gaunt marten
Problem is you can't make a convincing Superman that's enjoyable to play
He can overcome pretty much any challenge
river veldt
as can most video game characters
gaunt marten
Then again, Goku is basically the same and a lot of games involving him are fun
No, Superman is like sixteen tiers above most videogame characters
river veldt
idk i just wanna fly around Metropolis and save cats out of trees
river veldt
i dont want to be Spider-Man i want to be Superman
teal cliff
yeah I think you could make a good superman game it'd just be a little complicated.
The healthbar should be the city or civilians
not supes himself
It would be really interesting if especially you were super strong but you genuinely wanted to fight without collateral when you could.
gaunt marten
I just want to turn people into dinosaurs
fresh bane
Superman has enemies that can go toe to toe with him physically speaking, and there's always the option of using kryptonite, but it's still difficult to design a game around him, but you never know
Batman only ever had beat em up style games until... Pretty recently, maybe Rocksteady will have the chance to pick up the Superman project one day
random steppe
Yeah the problem isn't that you can't do it, is that it require people to make something new and not just slap a new character in Spiderman 2020
Which tends to be a high bar for the industry
Only a few companies venture into unexplored territory
river veldt
Batman on the NES is a good platforming game
you can do a cool wall jump and Batman has a cool sprite too
and you also fight Firefly or whatever his name is for some reason despite being based on Batman '89
gaunt marten
Arma, Machinarium, Samorost, Space Engineers. Lots of okay sales if you're interested in the genres
uneven epoch
graceful bridge
And good news for existing owners of The Last of Us Part II on PlayStation 4! You will be able to upgrade to a digital version of The Last of Us Part II Remastered for $10 USD at launch. You’ll also be able to import your saves from the original game to Part II Remastered.
green fulcrum
Pay $10 extra dollars for a game you've already paid like $80 for to get almost nothing new in return save for sliiiiightly improved graphics and potentially worse framerates because of said improved graphics! WHAT A DEAL!
/s 
This is such shit.
graceful bridge
river veldt
<:ponklurk:585577895712522260>
i was going to ping you but i thought it would be rude
graceful bridge
From what I've read the TLoU 1 remake was a much better version of the original. $10 (optionally) for that with the sequal seems reasonable.
(I've never played the games, though I own them. My backlog is atrocious.)
quiet swift
💸
green fulcrum
From what I've read the TLoU 1 remake was a much better version of the original....
That's because it was a genuinely big upgrade. TLoU2 was from 2020. It's a waste of time, money, and resources to remaster it now, barely three years after release.
They could easily spend all of that on making a third game, or an Uncharted spin off, or even a completely new IP.
graceful bridge
Hm, fair. I think since I got TLoU2 for dirt cheap at some point, it doesn't bother me as much to toss $10 at it for a visual upgrade. But people who paid full price back in the day... yeah, that's not as cool.
river veldt
just got a dinner invitation in Skyrim right after hearing about vampire attacks lol
bitter stream
Gathering some of this was a bit difficult, most of it there was some level of g...
Just wanted to say this was a very good example, I know it was a few hours ago, but I saw it as I opened up the channel.
random steppe
Warframe is defnitely impenetrable to new players without an uncommon commitment
bitter stream
yeah... I do like some of the number changes so that 100% damage actually = 100% more damage
then the weird complicated base n umber system it was before
random steppe
Yeah the last year has been generally really good for new players, still, there is only so much they can do
Another thing they did is that Duviri offers alternative paths to get a lot of the frames blueprint and arcanes (which are otherwise locked behind a very difficult grind)
And some rare mods too
river veldt
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NKoQkKiqag0
lolll
random steppe
They did some good stuff but it's like, they chiseled at a mountain with a spoon for a bit
bitter stream
yeah indeed!
they've added this mountain of gear
arcanes
items
etc
and there's a lot of like... not traps per se but certainly pain points.
random steppe
The saving grace is that you don't actually need most of the stuff for 99% of the game.
fresh bane
As someone who has.... 85 hours (jesus) in Warframe and played it mostly around 2017, I can confidently say in all those hours I had absolutely no fucking idea what was going on or what I was even doing
random steppe
yeah, that's very fair
bitter stream
hmm yeah, you're right Genryu. It's decent in slow progression of enemy difficulty, if not neccesarily complexity
rose rose
That's because it was a genuinely big upgrade. TLoU2 was from 2020. It's a waste...
Alternatively: TLoU2 is technologically from 2016, because a console generation has happened since it was released.
I don't really see the problem there.
random steppe
It's also the fact that you can make pretty busted builds relatively early, that serve well for the whole starchart
And when it starts to fall behind is largely in Steel Path which is where you start getting the really big power increases
bitter stream
As someone who has.... 85 hours (jesus) in Warframe and played it mostly around ...
It's funny you mention this, I had so much fun in my early hours in warframe, because I didn't know that there was so much hidden behind later quests and missions. Then again, I started before the major quests came out, so I had time to adapt to the base systems of the game.
random steppe
Warframe real hook is the first real cinematic quest at around 35 hours, assuming you know what you are doing, so more likely double that.
bitter stream
True, and I wish they hadn't put rewards on steel path. Like, you don't need to do steel path content practically speaking, but the game pushes you towards it with the rewards.
random steppe
Also since 2017 they completely remade the intro to the game so it's not like they aren't doing stuff
This is the new intro, which is pretty banger, and they remade the initial quest to fit with it
fresh bane
I suppose I should also clarify when I was playing Warframe I was also much younger, not toddler age obviously lol but I definitely wasn't paying attention to whatever the game was let alone any semblance of story, I never ever quite figured out how the game worked and for most of those hours I was just kind of absent mindedly playing because admittedly it felt very smooth to play and the missions with other players were fun so I just.. had fun
random steppe
fresh bane
But to this day I still have no idea how Warframe's mechanics work or what is even going on in that world
If I started playing it now I probably could figure it out but I don't have much interest in dumping hours into that game now
bitter stream
yeah fair fair Nire.
Oh btw Genryu, if you ever feel like giving PoE a go again, feel free to shoot me any questions, or ask for resources, because I had to go through a bunch to sort of understand how to get a build going in that game.
random steppe
I have friends that are really deep into it helping me but it never really clicked, at this point I think my strat is to wait for PoE2
bitter stream
I'd recommend going with a pre-built build if you find one that looks cool, but like, it's hard to know what's viable or even how it works before you know the systems.
ah yeah
PoE 2 looks amazing
random steppe
Clean slate, not several years of mechanics already into the game, should be a way more gentler intro
gaunt marten
AI, draw me a Path of Exile progression and skill tree flowchart in the style of an endocrinology diagram
bitter stream
hahahah oh dear
yeah true Genryu
the different gem system looks nice
actually incentivising multi gem use too
not just weapon swap totem barrage EA nonsense
The druid gameplay showcase in particular, from gamescom I think was quite nice
random steppe
Yeah the game is looking pretty good, I'm looking forward to it
And they have several years in making the first one to draw in making this one, which is exciting, to see a successful company have a chance of doing a "what would you change if you did it again from scratch" to their game
bitter stream
yeah true! gosh I'm excited for the melee animation and combat changes
PoE 1's "melee" is sooo clunky compared to all the other playstyles
random steppe
I think those games always struggle at making melee balanced and fun
It's not unique to POE at least
bitter stream
ah yeah, though I can't say I've played much other ARPGs. D2 way back in the day, but apart from that I haven't tried any of like, Last Epoch or others like Grim Dawn which got an update recently I hear.
random steppe
Last epoch I will probably try at some point
bitter stream
the crafting system in it seems very cool, but PoE kinda eats most of my ARPG time.
Hopefully you enjoy it when you play it in the future.
thorny loom
random steppe
PoE is really good but if my attempt at PoE2 also fails I'm ready to accept that I need less complex ARPG and Last Epoch seems like a good middle ground between POE and Diablo
bitter stream
sounds like a plan 
green fulcrum
I tried playing Paths of Exile once. Idk why, but I remember feeling very bored and unimpressed by it.
visual hill
so I just checked GTA IV modding and it advanced a ton in the space of 6 months (since I last touched the game in May)
if only I could start it because RGL broke in Proton and is stuck on its loading screen 😦
visual hill
I read "deflecting bullshit"
fresh bane
First time I even hear of a wonder woman game
rancid herald
I kind of feel like it's more likely that everyone under him explained that they didn't have the resources to do live service games
river veldt
Skyrim dungeons make me feel like Indiana Jones
slim thorn
right, I keep forgetting to do this Haunting Ground breakdown, let's do it while I have nothing else ongoing
First, the reputation is accurate: Hewie the dog is the best part of the game both mechanically and for the emotional connection. You get four commands: attack/search, follow/return, "good boy"/pet and "bad dog"/scold. Hewie can disobey or ignore you, and how you use "good boy" and "bad dog" affects the chances of that. Several items and puzzles require Hewie's help. The way it plays in practice feels a lot like The Last Guardian's Trico (11 years later!), and I mean that in the best way possible. There's even a bad ending if you completely fail to bond with Hewie somehow.
Second: Like I said the other day, it feels like the Resident Evil team were trying to make Amnesia 5 years early.
Belli Castle and its adjoining Mansion are a great example of RE1 / Spencer Mansion-y level design, with lots of criss-crossing passages and implausible puzzle locks and reasons to return to familiar areas later from new directions that reward you for learning the area (here's one of the maps to demonstrate). Solving all the puzzles to fully unlock these areas is mostly fun. My first major complaint is that, especially in later areas, unfortunately some of the puzzles are just laughably obtuse; you will need a walkthrough.
But this is also an early attempt at the run-and-hide subtype of survival horror that Amnesia later popularized. You have health, stamina and "panic" levels. Stamina is mostly spent on running. Higher panic causes visual distortions, and max panic makes you lose control of Fiona for a while, which often gets you killed. Stamina and panic "heal" over time, or with consumable items. Your pursuers are invincible until you make it to certain scripted events; Hewie and the consumable weapons you find can only be used to stun them briefly. But because this plays more like a Resident Evil game, "hide in a dark corner" mostly isn't a thing. The only way to escape a chase is to enter one of the designated hiding spots for a while, or simply run very far away.
Sometimes this system is actually pretty fun, but it's not consistent. My complaints about it fall into two categories:
- In practice, at any given time, you have access to 0-2 viable hiding spots. That's just not enough, especially when some pursuers can learn your hiding spots.
- While you're being pursued, you cannot interact with almost anything other than doors, which means you can't make any progress on the puzzles. Thus, the non-scripted chases often lose all tension and feel like the game is just wasting your time.
So tl;dr Haunting Ground's a very mixed bag overall, but a particularly fascinating one to analyze because it anticipates so many things in later games.
oh, and the dog you rescue in RE4 apparently uses Hewie's model (in the original of course)
dense crypt
started playing Faster Than Light again, but witht he Multiverse mod
remarkable game, but it definitely needed the mod to be bearable
slim thorn
wouldn’t surprise me, I’ve never watched or played a Clock Tower
fresh bane
river veldt
it's ok
fresh bane
Well it's basically exactly like what you're describing in Haunting Grounds, in fact the whole 'panic' mechanic is basically the exact same
river veldt
for a Super Famicom game it's pretty neat but imo it's not worth playing today
fresh bane
Also it's one of the grandfathers of survival horror!
fresh bane
Nitro Rad has a whole series of videos on Clock Tower games if you ever feel in the mood to check those out, most important one is probably the first one just so you can kinda see just how much H.G takes from Clock Tower but some of the other games get so wacky I can't not recommend them
river veldt
Scissorman is pretty funny
fresh bane
Watch the videos don't play them, I don't think I could recommend the games to anybody in good faith but still it's fun to know about it
fresh bane
Also on a slightly unrelated note Alan Wake 2 is fantastic so far and it's the closest thing we have currently to a new Silent Hill game (it's still not the same, goes without saying)
It has a few small bugs and rough edges still but design wise so far it's a fantastic horror experience
white phoenix
thank you lord gaben for your wise words https://fxtwitter.com/pcgamer/status/1725654979115901082
"suck is forever" 🔥
mossy flume
This is literally just a dumbed down version of what Mr. Miyamoto said decades ago.
The quote being approximately “A delayed game is eventually good but a rushed game is bad forever”
fresh bane
I do like how people seem to point that out almost angrily in the comments as if Gabe is somehow in the wrong for just quoting something funny
fresh bane
To be fair Miyamoto said that when games had at most like 2 year development cycles maybe 3, you can't make games at the same speed nowadays and there was no way to patch or update games at the time other than cartridge expansions or an updated whole new version of the game
fresh bane
Oh wow the streamer I was watching play Alan Wake 2 had the game crash because the Epic store had a server problem and he couldn't launch the game again because it's online only apparently, requires you to sign in to the store or have it be online to play 
that sucks, that really sucks
hushed onyx
On the other hand, if a game is too late it often means major problems with the development process that mean it sucks also.
graceful bridge
little badger
@untold laurel one of the best maps in the game 
visual hill
"suck is forever" 🔥
Trent Reznor approves.
untold laurel
<@444929166065008662> one of the best maps in the game <:lyrahype:68183874754091...
There is wasn't bad maps, at least
visual hill
but yeah, this is the best paraphrase of "A good game is eventually delayed, and a bad game is forever rushed."
little badger
There is wasn't bad maps, at least
What did you think of firebase?
visual hill
Oh wow the streamer I was watching play Alan Wake 2 had the game crash because t...
there is a DRM-free workaround available: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Alan_Wake_II
DRM-free when launched using the
-EpicPortalcommand line argument.
Using this argument will prevent controllers and skipping cutscenes from working, and will use a \Default-Epic-User\ save folder instead.[1][2]
-EpicPortal is today's -iamapirate. 🙂
robust spear
New pony game coming to Steam next year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DomKY4CLCbI
gaunt marten
Is that a Twilight Sparkle?
arctic fern
i love the sideways up/down movement animations lol
robust spear
Is that a Twilight Sparkle?
No, it's obviously Eventide Spark.
arctic fern
(i actually cant tel if thats sarcasm)
robust spear
At least they hope thats what Hasbro will say
robust spear
Yeah, it wouldn't hold up in court if you just change the name and nothing else
quiet swift
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/11/18/the-walking-dead-just-released-a-shocking-hilariously-bad-game/ 2023 has been an amazing year! Gollum, Kong Island, and now this 
sage iris
New pony game coming to Steam next year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DomKY4...
oh my GOD why does that look so friggin good?
also weird hearing one of replacer's songs as the theme here
arctic fern
New pony game coming to Steam next year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DomKY4...
this looks really good tho, hope they release a finished product
sage iris
hopefully they got permission for it
definitely have my eye on that one
thanks for sharing!
untold laurel
What did you think of firebase?
Good stuff
sage iris
I would appreciate it if anyone who finds new pony games pinged me for them
visual hill
yeah, they should really change the character designs to not get in trouble
wind stump
YEAHHHH FLAMING BIKER SKELETON GANG
uneven epoch
little badger
Good stuff
little badger
random steppe
Oh cool, I'll actually play when that happens
little badger
@mossy flume my Phantom liberty save file just got corrupted 
thorny loom
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/11/18/the-walking-dead-just-released...
best of gaming and the worst lol
quiet swift
Oh cool, I'll actually play when that happens
I believe there's also a demo version currently active
random steppe
Yeah I probably wont bother with the demo, I'll wait for game pass
Realistically I will give it one session to impress me, and see if I go back to it
visual hill
the demo is a way to test FSR3 for free
it got some player numbers purely thanks to that 😛
gaunt marten
Pretty good
river veldt
i was gonna ping you but i thought it would be rude
gaunt marten
I don't think I'd mind
little badger
@mossy flume turns out it wasn’t corrupted I launched the PS4 version instead of the 5 I forgot I deleted my save file back in the day when it was very buggy.
So that’s good that I still have my PS5 file
thorny loom
fresh bane
this guy's cool
90% of a detective's job is talking, let's ask questions first and leave the threats for later?
And the other 10%? What's that?
Writing reports.
Ah yes, paperwork
fresh bane
💥🔥 
💥 🔥
I love it people are going back to HL1 deathmatch
I thought that would be dead forever
green fulcrum
Ah, the good ol' days of multiplayer FPS servers.
Before all this monetized skins and pay-to-win crap.
little badger
I love it people are going back to HL1 deathmatch
The servers are still live on there?
fresh bane
I don't think they ever were offline
little badger
It’s good seeing old games still up
bronze abyss
its kinda funny how mediocre this game is that the best thing to say about it is how nice the floor looks
green fulcrum
lmao
Cue all the YouTubers going absolutely insane and raging all over the Internet.
fresh bane
personal space, lady!
man this entire questline is such a mindfuck
I'd happily take the edis, especially with my corpo background I can get more edis, but I'm already a millionaire in-game so I don't exactly need them
fuck it, I wanna see what this insane quest is like til the end
river veldt
what do i do woth this Shiny Stone
i bought fireworks and then traded them with a little mole girl and got it but idk what it does
river veldt
!
fresh bane
I wonder what rank I'm gonna get when I finish
Also I just found out you can't romance Panam in Cyberpunk with fem V
bummer
My V was getting along with Panam so well and got shut down completely 
sorry V
visual hill
fresh bane
there she goes 
quiet swift
[New Bike Get!]
fresh bane
But at what cost... 
I actually reloaded that and didn't make an advance towards her just because it was so awkward
I guess there's no point in doing that since she's straight
quiet swift
Indeed 
novel pine
I finished MGS2, rank: Elephant
now beat the twin snakes :P
fresh bane
Also, you finished the game now Calinou but maybe it's still interesting for you, found this third person mod the other day and thought it was pretty interesting, might even try it out but I don't know exactly how the mod works yet, not for the master collection though
https://youtu.be/pPsGTdWGZLc?si=whCoX5lX62v6uozv
bird acquired 🦜
god I still love this shot
so fucking cool
yeah! 
bromance all the way
Hal... I miss you. I miss you
thorny loom
I remember him vaguely from mgs5
Didnt he get exiled cause he experimented on his wife or something
fresh bane
lol that's Hal's father, Huey
thorny loom
OH
fresh bane
this is Hal Emmeric (Otacon)
fresh bane
Huey didn't experiment on Strangelove he just got mad and trapped her inside of an AI pod and left her to die like the rat he is
thorny loom
Oh
fresh bane
He's a piece of shit
In that same cutscene Otacon reveals that Huey, who's paraplegic, drowned himself in a pool after finding out his wife was having an affair with Otacon (step-mom to Otacon, don't worry. .... at least I think) which is probably the best most satisfying ending to an awful character like Huey
Drafting small children, sending them to war... it's not allowed under international conventions
ICC rules don't mean a lot in war. Someone told me that there are over three thousand children in combat right now.
I love when Kojima drops those facts straight up in the middle of a conversation between characters
wintry canopy
I finally did enough duels to get the sheep mate from the duel pass.
random steppe
Ok so, someone sent me a definition of "Indie game" I kinda agree with.
Since half our time is spent trying to define genres in here, I thought I'd paste it in case we want to fight over it for fun
A game that is both developed to completion without any publisher or license interference, and is created by a single developer or small team.
gray flower
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/11/valve-celebrates-25-years-of-half-life-wi...
this update is so good, i hope the expansions, CS, and any other GoldSrc games get the same HUD treatment they gave Half-Life.
so good being able to actually fucking see the weapon wheel thing close up
also, really fun seeing more people play deathmatch, i've kinda been getting back into it as of recently, used to play it back in 2015 when i was like 11 lmfao
chilly mural
https://www.pcgamer.com/for-fun-and-challenge-the-team-that-ported-jak-and-daxte...
Yooooooooooo, we are so back, Jak 1 is fun is fun and all but Jak 2 is my shit
fresh bane
I finished MGS2, rank: Elephant
I got elephant too 
Sword sections gave me a bit of trouble, I'm playing on keyboard so the whole right analog stick thing got lost on me, for me it was the directional keys, the stick press was K and the lock on was V, so it was a bit awkward to control overall and the inputs aren't easily re-bindable unfortunately
The RAY fight took me like 2 tries but then I got the hang of it and knew the strat and I did a super clean run mowing through the RAYs
I appreciate the detail of the menu screen changing to Raiden only after you finish the game, it looks pretty damn good too
fresh bane
Check it out installed the S.O.S. mod that adds the third person camera from MGS3 Subsistence and it works great, fully reversable too with a combination of inputs if you wanna go back to the OG fixed camera angle
Definitely glad I didn't play with this the first time, the added camera control on top of the regular stuff I have to do would've driven me insane and I feel like the fixed camera works perfectly for the game, but it's still really really cool and I could've used this in some less demanding areas for sure
thorny loom
bronze abyss
https://youtu.be/b_rFW7dRg1I?si=wUrw4ImGbbJWTWyB
i watched that before sleep,good vid
have been watching his series since the beggining and they are all great
feral tulip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7YC8AH34hM
fun vid to a: remind people that the same and max games are awesome and b: show gay people
spiral kraken
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/11/18/the-walking-dead-just-released...
The worst part is, Gollum's the better one of the three mentioned lol
dense crypt
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/11/18/the-walking-dead-just-released...
this game reminds me of ride to hell retribution
proud warren
I'm starting to hate playing this game on a controller
bronze abyss
I'm starting to hate playing this game on a controller
dont forget that dpad is generally the part of the control you play with,not the stick
quiet swift
Huh. They're adding a permadeath mode to AC: Mirage
visual hill
bird acquired 🦜
Time for a treat! 
🍰
visual hill
I love when Kojima drops those facts straight up in the middle of a conversation...
Deus Ex did it before. 😛
(stats about self-employment in 1900 vs 2000)
visual hill
this update is so good, i hope the expansions, CS, and any other GoldSrc games g...
I would be surprised if other GoldSrc games get the same treatment, unfortunately… They're not as instrumental to Valve (Half-Life is literally Valve's debut game).
What I'd hope for personally is the community moving over to Xash3D FWGS, but it may make Valve angry
(its legal status is questionable, Xash3D is often accused of using leaked Valve code)
Nuclide doesn't have this problem as it's a 100% clean-room reimplementation based on FTEQW (a QuakeWorld source port), but it's less compatible. It can't fully play the singleplayer Half-Life campaign, only deathmatch
visual hill
Check it out <:twilight:399725087592284160> installed the S.O.S. mod that adds t...
also yeah, this is the largest upside of the OG PC version. I've considered it but it was said to make the game too easy
quiet swift
steady skiff
fresh bane
also yeah, this is the largest upside of the OG PC version. I've considered it b...
Eeeehhh... Mgs2 already has first person so I don't know about that exactly
The game is already designed with it in mind so there's not a lot of complete and utter game breaking elements like in Twin Snakes
I don't think this would have much of any difficulty changes to the game, especially if you play on harder difficulties, nothing that the first person mode can't already allow you to
fresh bane
Deus Ex did it before. 😛
Wrong!
Deus Ex came out in 2000
But it also does that, although MGS is full of that stuff even in loading screens and such
river veldt
happy 10th anniversary to Super Mario 3D World, my favourite Mario game
bitter stream
oh i see
rancid herald
now I just feel old
teal sonnet
rotund forge
WOOOO!!!
visual hill
I won a 32-player deathmatch
bitter stream
yo nice work Calinou
visual hill
I like how Half-Life became by far the largest arena FPS comeback
Quake Champions' peak was 17k players, this was 33k
despite Quake Champions being multiplayer-only , and Half-Life deathmatch feeling much more shoehorned than Quake deathmatch ever was
fresh bane
Can't run around in Quake as the G-Man with a SPAS-12 or as a silly little skeleton with an MP7 so I guess the superior deathmatch game is clear there
visual hill
one more… look at that score!!1
I ended up enabling texture smoothing because there was a lot of aliasing that I mistook for players otherwise
cl_bob 0 also makes it easier to click heads, so I switched to it
fresh bane
I installed it just to mess around and wow this plays and looks better than I remember lol
This part of the update?
visual hill
yep
well, the option to disable texture smoothing (previously accessible via console commands) and cl_bob isn't new
the update brings HUD scaling, automatic widescreen FOV, 4 new deathmatch maps, multiplayer balance changes, and more
fresh bane
Ah no I just meant in general, the main menu is completely different
visual hill
yeah, menu now follows the original WON aesthetic
(i.e. pre-Steam)
CS 1.5 and prior also used that menu style
chilly mural
chilly mural
I'm starting to hate playing this game on a controller
Yooooo Bullet’s combo trials
There is a reason “Turn that buttah” is a real quote in the fgc
wind stump
cries in forever delayed
fresh bane
Jesus christ I'm getting shot at by 15 clones of Gordon, 1 G-Man and there's a fucking green skeleton running behind me trying to crowbar me to death
wind stump
average HLDM moment
fresh bane
pretty much
fresh bane
*cries in forever delayed*
is this a sequel to that other bartending game?
wind stump
yes
slim thorn
I'm not sure if "sequel" is the right term but it's definitely same universe
wind stump
sequel, spinoff, alternate timeline
slim thorn
someone in VA-11 Hall-A mentioned N1RV Ann-A, right?
wind stump
Did you know that Jill is canon in YIIK
slim thorn
I don't know what YIIK is 
wind stump
Did you also know that that's the only redeeming quality about that pile of shit
slim thorn
maybe that's why
wind stump
I don't know what YIIK is <:izzynothoughtsheadempty:910198222255972382>
A very, VERY uhhh what do you call it
Pretentious game
slim thorn
like, more so than The Witness?
wind stump
probably, yes
fresh bane
what's vallhalla about again?
wind stump
ending barts
river veldt
like, more so than The Witness?
my mind was blown when i learned The Witness and Braid were made by the same person and then i thought about it for more than 3 seconds and it made a ton of sense
wind stump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR1SibNH-lA here's a nice long video essay on YIIK if you're interested
slim thorn
the serious answer is VA-11 Hall-A is a visual novel set in a cyberpunk dystopia where you play a bartender doing her day job; most of the game is a steady stream of patrons chatting with you about themselves and their lives, alongside slowly learning more about the protagonist's own life, friends and problems as stuff happens
river veldt
fuck yeah 2 and a half hour video essay
gaunt marten
I don't see anything interesting about YIIK, let alone warranting a video essay
Steam now has a category for PS4 and PS5 controllers (in addition to their own compatibility layer that allows you to use these controllers)
fresh bane
Just asking so I can see if it's a game that would interest me or not
quiet swift
https://www.twitch.tv/jeenz_acker/clip/CogentSmellyArugulaPlanking-RociIS8kJXOgSGBt in this clip: my fiancée's character recreating a serious sam AAAAA suicide bomber moment
wind stump
Cirno is FUCKING DEAD
fresh bane
oh god we're all in the same team
little badger
thorny loom
light gate
The Witcher 1 and 2 have been updated to support Apple Silicon. https://steamcommunity.com/games/20920/announcements/detail/6161548922959215977?snr=2_9_100015_
sour hill
https://www.pcgamer.com/co-op-horror-game-lethal-company-costs-dollar10-and-is-o...
My friends are telling me to buy this
green fulcrum
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2688410/Tales_From_the_Herd/
Unfortunately, while this looks really cute, it's gonna get absolutely slammed by Hasbro. "Eventide Spark" is very clearly Twilight Sparkle (down to the exact same mark and colors), that's clearly Ponyville, and that's very clearly an MLP manticore.
The developer(s) is gonna have to redo the art, or else the project will be dead in the water before 2023 is even up.
thorny loom
“Totally original character “
Yeah hasbro is gonna be sending him a cease and desist once they find out about it
quiet swift
chilly mural
Did you know that Jill is canon in YIIK
I’m yiiking out
light gate
Yeah hasbro is gonna be sending him a cease and desist once they find out about ...
Yeah, I have no idea what they were thinking.
wind stump
"It's not Twilight Sparkle, this is totally legal!"
fresh bane
I'm actually surprised Filly Astray didn't run into issues
light gate
That's because the character is technically 'original'.
You can't copyright an actual art style per say.
The problem with this game is that its actually using the exact color scheme, the exact type of mane look, and the exact star-shaped bag.
It's excessively close looking to the IP.
slim thorn
if it requires the not twilight sparkle tag on a booru, it's not legally distinct
light gate
“Totally original character “
MLP App game
Yeah, its pretty much her with a different name.
Maybe if the cutie mark was different from the bag, or the color had a different shade of purple...
fresh bane
I wonder how far one could theoretically push it without it actually being Twilight
light gate
I mean its possible but you have to be cautious.
Like lets start with the tail, it fucking matches 1 to 1.
thorny loom
I wonder how far one could theoretically push it without it actually being Twili...
Same as most recolored ocs lol
Though given the assets for the gen 4 show were leaked awhile back that wouldn’t exactly be hard to do
fresh bane
Sure, but the colors are such a big part of Twilight's design
Would a recolor of Twilight give off the same vibe? And if you change her design shape what do you change without just making an entirely different character?
slim thorn
fresh bane
The only things that come to mind right now to me are Velvet, Arizona, Pom, Oleander but they're entirely different characters that to me give off the same vibes as Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, Twilight
So it's not the same as making a legally distinct version of a character
gaunt marten
I played Final Fantasy one through four. Recolors make a huge difference even if recognizably the same
Cloud Giants have way higher stats than hill giants
arctic fern
Stfu
gaunt marten
Should not have harassed people
thorny loom
Usually that would just result in a chat ban
Locking him out of his account seems a bit excessive
fresh bane
I hate chat auto moderation
gaunt marten
Yeah. The punishment is a bit severe for the crime
thorny loom
He apparently only had one prior ban for a similar reason.
slim thorn
"only" lol
fresh bane
Is the 'similar reason' also just saying stfu to someone on chat or worse? That's kind of an important detail
gaunt marten
He only posted the perma ban message.
this is why no one believes headlines any more
thorny loom
```Just so everyone knows, this guy that got banned has been temp banned multipl...
Did you read the reply to it
gaunt marten
Looks like they have a three strikes and you're banned system
slim thorn
any good action can look bad simply by cherry picking one action and maliciously implying there is no other relevant context, and vice versa
thorny loom
Yeah. This would be something only EA moderators could clear up
slim thorn
unless you have some way of personally knowing what really happened, and aren't relying on what anyone else said happened, it's just a rumor with zero credibility like any other
(except for aspects that no one disputes, such as: this person is currently banned)
thorny loom
Im wondering if it was a manual ban or an automated system
Cod recently switched over to an ai monitored voice chat system so it has me curious
slim thorn
is any practical moderation system fully manual or fully automated?
even we aren't fully manual
fresh bane
Regardless of this specific situation that doesn't seem to have an actual honest clear answer I generally don't like these chat moderation things
slim thorn
yeah, the sheer scale of the problem highly encourages over-automation with semi-working solutions
quiet swift
Technically speaking I could look at that dude's account >.>
But if it's making waves in reddit, i'd best not
slim thorn
but I don't have a solution for that; even if we pretend money isn't a thing, there's only so many humans willing to do a full-time job of judging which flagged comments are actually rule-breaking
quiet swift
But yeah, SWTOR at least (and I think EA) have a scaling level of bans. Usually several warnings, then increasing lengths of bans
gaunt marten
I'd do it for money but not if pretending money isn't a thing
quiet swift
A permaban means he's been an exceedingly naughty boy
slim thorn
I'd consider it for money if I didn't have the option of programming work
but it's a coin toss whether I'd actually be able to handle it
gaunt marten
I'd be fine if the criteria they check can be objectively assessed
gaunt marten
If not then they'd better give me so much leeway
green fulcrum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtekOaZmaBc
Can game companies please please please please PLEASE come up with more interesting space game names like "No Man's Sky", instead of just sticking "Star" to the front of everything and calling it a day? We have like 10+ of these already, not to mention all the Star Trek and Star Wars games.
Laziness. Pure and simple.
gaunt marten
Manechat doesn't have objective criteria but a server a thousand times the size needs to make the process doable within polynomial time
fresh bane
but I don't have a solution for that; even if we pretend money isn't a thing, th...
Don't gotta pretend, League had the Tribunal back in the day where players could basically act as a jury when it came to reports players made and decide whether the person being reported was guilty or innocent, it's a bit of a simplification of the system and it hasn't been included in the game for nearly 10 years now so a lot of people don't even remember it being a thing, it wasn't particularly the best way to go about it, but it was somewhat effective at curbing the types of behavior that right now aren't being dealt with in the game
bitter stream
I remember the Tribunal
It was fun
But er... still needed people to review the results
fresh bane
and having been a League addict for nearly a decade I kinda developed a bit of an indifferent view towards these chat moderation things because a lot of the times I really honestly just think there's way more important things and a lot of times players get either banned from chat or temporary bans or whatever for just being sweaty without really saying anything awful or whatever
bitter stream
I don't recall why they took it down exactly
fresh bane
They removed the tribunal because it was slow as hell at getting these reports figured out even though a lot of the reports were handled by the staff members (League staff was a lot more involved in the game and community back then) and also because... well... imagine having the league playerbase decide whether a player is guilty or not of a report
Not exactly the most fool proof system
It worked in some instances, but it wasn't a very sustainable system, so now it's completely and utterly automated and it's absolutely useless! 
Literally useless! Does absolutely nothing so I hope you enjoy the toxicity and griefers
Getting SoloQ ranked PTSD here talking about this
bitter stream
I wonder if something akin to how valve handles cheaters would be useful here
but for toxic chat
the VAC-review system in CSGO and presumably implemented in CS2
random steppe
Don't gotta pretend, League had the Tribunal back in the day where players could...
Wasn't the tribunal known as basically a terrible and very skewed system, wildly inconsistent and all that?
Every person that went there and voted had their own reasons as to why they would vote for what they wanted to happen to the person
Also slow as fuck
fresh bane
I actually don't really know how that works so I couldn't say
random steppe
I actually did vote on quite a few cases when it was still up
fresh bane
That's a part of it but not the whole story, like I said it wasn't a particularly great system especially long term but hey a lot of times some shitty players got their comeuppance so in some instances it worked
But mostly it was really slow
slim thorn
I haven't heard any stories about the Tribunal myself but I'd certainly expect a system like that to have more selection bias going on than fair judgements
fresh bane
It absolutely did but like I said sometimes it worked because some shitty players did get punished
random steppe
But yeah the guidelines were ignored pretty often, the judgments would take weeks if not months because it was forever backlogged.
fresh bane
Which funnily enough I think works better than the current system in the game lol
This particular event comes to mind
random steppe
Your system can't take 1 month to ban a toxic user that in the meantime would ruin the time of hundres if not thousands of players
fresh bane
Just so you know how insanely fucked the system is in League
And it's part of why I hate the chat moderation thing I feel like it really just solves nothing at all and there's bigger things to worry about in a game but I understand it may be an unpopular opinion to not care about chat moderation
random steppe
Especially when the game is free to play and the user can just go and make a new account, if they get banned once every month it's not even a huge timesink.
bitter stream
it used to be there was some friction to new accounts
random steppe
It was the system that created probably one of the worst communities online
bitter stream
but runes don't exist anymore, everything is open, a few dollars to buy X champions the banned person wants and you're prospective toxic person is back in.
slim thorn
since I don't play these games, the strongest opinion I can have is that if chat moderation is genuinely not a big deal, then in-game chat is not important enough to bother implementing; that they did implement it strongly implies the contrapositive
green fulcrum
https://youtube.com/shorts/2-H2YUMCNT8?si=ipTkKdl_frnCZBrc
Why couldn't she just quit the game? Like, disconnect? Would that have also resulted in a ban because she did it mid-game? Being held hostage like that would've broken my drive for playing the game at all.
gaunt marten
Oops my internet went out
fresh bane
Absolutely it would've resulted in a punishment for leaving a ranked game
heady bridge
I mean when you have apps and clients like Discord here is there even a need for in-game chats? Just feels like a lot of work for a dev with a lot of pitfalls and scant reward.
gaunt marten
Any reasonable system would have at least a little leeway for disconnects
slim thorn
I mean when you have apps and clients like Discord here is there even a need for...
that's pretty much exactly what I'm getting at
green fulcrum
I can understand that leaving a ranked game should have some punishment, but--yeah, what Flitter said.
fresh bane
and she got banned because they all reported her and because the game kind of automatically detected she was maybe intentionally dying and such, rather than the actual stream snipers/griefers getting banned
random steppe
She could have left the game for sure, but until the game doesn't end you can't start another one is the problem
slim thorn
but since I don't play these games myself, I can't make that argument
bitter stream
hey agent, can you wait?
fresh bane
Hold on too many messages at once
thorny loom
Hi cd yeah ill wait
slim thorn
removes embed
thorny loom
Didnt realize we were having a discussion
random steppe
and ***she*** got banned because they all reported her and because the game kind...
The system is fine.
This is an absurd edgecase and it's normal it'd break in that specific case.
As long as there is someone to catch these through tickets it's probably fine.
Like you create the automation to work 99% of the times, and use your actual humans to catch the 1%
The problem happens when you don't have the humans to catch the 1%, which I don't know if they have them at Riot nowdays
fresh bane
since I don't play these games, the strongest opinion I can have is that if chat...
Well I don't know if disabling the entire chat is a reasonable thing to do for me just because of the moderation thing, actually Riot disabled all chat removing the ability to talk to the other team during matches, and funnily enough it actually ended up backfiring because most of the times people didn't use all chat to shit on the other team, but instead to plead with the other team to report a troll or to please remake the match but Riot thought that all chat was a toxicity problem and they removed it 
it's that kind of stuff that makes me not care about moderation and punishments in chat but these types of things also happened constantly when I was playing League, with Riot making changes to things we didn't want or weren't important
slim thorn
not implementing in-game chat is completely different from implementing it and then disabling it after the game's release, let's not quibble
bitter stream
Well I don't know if disabling the entire chat is a reasonable thing to do for m...
are you sure about this? I saw constant anti-enemy team toxicity back in the day.
random steppe
With the scale of games like LoL you either automate some of it, or you don't moderate it at all, which is obviously not okay.
There are I would guess millions of games player per day, it's just not realistic to moderate them by humans
Even if you only count the ones that get reported
fresh bane
are you sure about this? I saw constant anti-enemy team toxicity back in the day...
Well I didn't say there wasn't any at all just that most of the times the toxicity came from within your own team and that disabling the all chat didn't have much of an effect really, if anything it took away your ability to reason with the other team if you had some trouble players in your team
bitter stream
I guess, for me personally the disabling of all chat saved me the shortcut i had to disable it
It was like, 7/10 games that i ran into it in ranked
fresh bane
mute all is your friend, it's basically a requirement for SoloQ
bitter stream
so.. chat is important to moderate then?
slim thorn
I'm also confused
fresh bane
Well now I'm also confused
bitter stream
let me clarify. It's seemed through this that you think chat moderation isn't important, or worth it the way RIOT does it Nire. is that the case?
random steppe
I mean if chat is so bad that you are basically require to mute chat every game, disabling it seems like the logical thing to do to me.
I will back the claim that most toxicity was from your team tho, that said, it's like a 20/80% split
And it's a harder sell to ban the chat from your team because coordinating is important
But not a bad idea to remove the 20%, still an improvment
fresh bane
Oh, no no, I know why chats are moderated or why people want chats to be moderated, I just don't really like the extreme auto-moderation and I brought up League specifically because the chat mostly didn't really help curb the toxic behavior it really just made people shut up which I don't care about, I can just mute those people so nothing changes for me
But I wasn't trying to say chat moderation or moderation isn't important, no, it's all purely just my preference here
random steppe
Oh, no no, I know why chats are moderated or why people want chats to be moderat...
You do assume that the "STFU" was an automated action, I wouldn't 100% be so sure about that.
bitter stream
Yeah fair enough Nire. Whatever is in place, it doesn't seem to be enough or doing it's job.
random steppe
Also as other people pointed out, the dude might be lying as to the circumstances of their ban.
This I can draw personal experience to say that the vast majority of people that get banned do that.
bitter stream
yeah, the ammount of "I only did X" when they've done Y Z and the whole alphabet
random steppe
Well the majority of people that get banned and then we hear about after
For a while it was basically the standard to go to EQD to see what someone we banned would say as to why they were booted
Some of those stories even resembled reality
fresh bane
I wasn't talking about that specific guy anymore but in that specific situation it depends entirely on what the previous history is, if the guy is just generally being an ass I think a simple chat timeout is sufficient to make these sweaty players chill out a bit especially in Apex where you have a bunch of communication options that aren't chat (and people also use those to be annoying as well like in League), but if the guy was legitimately harassing other players or saying bad stuff repeatedly then yeah of course, but since we straight up don't know what the situation with that guy is I'm talking more in general rather than his specific case
random steppe
Thing is, why would they do that?
By making the other players having a worse time, this guy is essentially making the game lose money by chasing away players.
If they were an ass enough times, it's perfectly possible that the calculation is to boot his ass forever.
Even if it was minor
quiet swift
It does also depend on the agent actioning the ticket, if it's not automated. I for example feel like "fuck" is part of the english language at this point and when it's used as an adjective, shrug. "fuck you" though is an insult and that gets actioned
But some other agents who aren't first language english may be harsher
random steppe
We do that calculation with 1c here, even tho it's not about money, someone being rude enough times can definitely be enough of a reason to boot their ass
slim thorn
and even on Manechat we're constantly getting told English doesn't work the way we think it does
took us like a month to realize that 💀 was the new "lol"
gaunt marten
I remember muting a guy on IRC because he said bollocks and I looked it up on Wikipedia before looking it up on the dictionary
Thirteen year old me was so bad at moderation
arctic fern
To be fair bollocks is a bad word
quiet swift
took us like a month to realize that 💀 was the new "lol"
That's a thing?
bitter stream
why?
random steppe
I think it's something like "died from laughter" or something like that
arctic fern
Wait what
slim thorn
hell if I know, the only people using it unironically tend to be hyperactive or causing some other problems
quiet swift
Getting moderated for 'bollocks' is, well, bollocks