Tom's Hardware Gaming Community Screenshot Contest!

[Titillating]

My apologies for my brief absence! Things have been busy and I have been sick. Lovin' all the new submissions!

In regards to those who want to post more than 2 per week, that's totally fine! I will, however, only consider the first 2 as 'valid submissions', per the stated rules. Anything past that will simply be extra eye candy, and if it happens to be better than the valid submissions? Well, you're SOL, folks!

 

[Peanutbutteronpickles]

My apologies for my brief absence! Things have been busy and I have been sick. Lovin' all the new submissions!

In regards to those who want to post more than 2 per week, that's totally fine! I will, however, only consider the first 2 as 'valid submissions', per the stated rules. Anything past that will simply be extra eye candy, and if it happens to be better than the valid submissions? Well, you're SOL, folks!

I'll give this a try. Can you add my last two screens as submissions, Titillating?

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (All in-game at 30hz, no pre-renders)

Spoiler

 

[chimera201]

^ Use spoiler tag

@Titillating: Are cutscene shots considered as valid submissions?

 

[Titillating]

That's a good question, chimera201. Hadn't considered that until now. Since the overarching theme for this is 'a character that you control, doing awesome things', by definition, cutscenes would not qualify since you aren't in control of them. They're predefined sequences and anybody can find a high quality rip of the scene and capture a frame. So no, cutscene shots will not be considered as valid submissions.

That being said, are those cutscene shots? I don't play CoD but I suppose it's not entirely impossible that it's an in-game shot. Graphics are impressive these days.

 

[chimera201]

1 and 6 looks like cutscene shots. There are in-game cutscenes nowadays not CGIs. And last two are probably quick time events and a spoiler. And CoD is an FPS, you probably never get to look at yourself.

 

[Peanutbutteronpickles]

That being said, are those cutscene shots? I don't play CoD but I suppose it's not entirely impossible that it's an in-game shot. Graphics are impressive these days.

Hey, Titillating. None of those shots are cutscenes. In COD AW there are pre-render cutscenes though.

 

[JeckeL]

Titillating, are the first couple screenshots you posted from guild wars 2? Is it fun? I've been looking for a new MMO (preferably RPG) to play and was thinking about trying GW2

 

[Onus]

GW2 is a beautiful, detailed world. Other than names though, it has very little in common with GW1. It is not instanced. This means you cannot meticulously fight your way to an objective; what you killed will respawn without warning, such as if other players enter the area. If you're in a group, you should have little difficulty, but if you're not, solo play is almost impossible. I understand that some changes have been made, but since I'm mostly solo, I have not played for months; I really need to check it out again. I like the crafting system, and the shared storage.

 

[Titillating]

Group and solo play are both pretty viable imo. The game is designed to reward players for jumping into others' fights; there is no penalty to you, and everybody gets experience and loot. Despite the fact that it isn't instanced, there is no need to fight over anything, from mobs to resources.

Most things in the game are now account-bound. The vast majority of vanity items, outfits, mini-pets, and top-tier gear (Ascended and Legendary quality items) can be moved around with little trouble. Like Onus said, the storage is shared, which is a freakin' relief. The crafting system is also solid and has been improved upon greatly since it first debuted. It's able to use mats that you have in your material storage (a whole separate storage from your usual bank) without you having you withdraw them. Insanely convenient.

My biggest thing with it though is the lack of a gear treadmill. I love it. New items that get released are always cosmetic. Exotic is the de facto "end game tier", with Ascended items being marginally more powerful but requiring lots of effort to obtain. Legendary weapons are equal in power to Exotic-tier weapons, just with added visual goodness. It lets you walk away from the game for weeks, months, even years, and come back on more or less equal standing with everybody else. Many players just play casually, coming back for all the various events and story releases and then taking a break until the next one. It's nice not having to devote 10+ hours to raiding every week just to keep up.

 

[Onus]

GW was always like that, which is great. "Best-stat" gear is not that hard to get; it's your skill with it that matters. I still enjoy GW1 for that reason. There always seem to be plenty of Stone Summit in need of killing...

 

[HowlHMS]

I now have an excuse to show off all the awesome screenshots I've taken for the years... God I'm so alone.

Let's start with a classic staple of awesomeness... Cool guys don't look at explosions. Note that everyone is looking at the conflagration behind me, but I'm checking my watch like a bored boob.

This may not look like much, but I am a surfer bro chilling in GTA V multiplayer with nothing but a pair of board shorts and a bicycle. You get shot at for that shit.

This is me hanging off a gyrocopter...

Find an explosion at the end of the rainbow...

Getting ran over by a car... Which in retrospect isn't that awesome.

Tripping balls in Payday 2...

And ripping a demon a new one. Dwarfs can be awesome too man, I support The Right to Equal Heights.

 

[EvilFlash]

Not much here to show..... just some soldiers hanged to poles in Spec Ops The Line ....

And another zombie from BH6 bearing down on me

 

[ykki]

How to post pictures? Nevermind.
Me in bf2 (offline) - just takin' a dive.

image upload

 

[Titillating]

I love when rules are followed so ardently

Won't lie though, some of those look great! I'll pick a winner for this round in a few days, probably around the start of May. I think I just like to drag it to create suspense haha.

Also, participants, please note the change in prizes. Steam gift card is strictly digital fulfillment now; no cash or currency will change hands, due to logistical issues. The current prize value is also a limited time offer that may increase or decrease in the future depending on the amount of interest and activity we get with this!

 

[GreatMaster]

till when we can participate?

 

[Titillating]

Round 2 goes to chimera201 for finding Claptrap in Torchlight II! Both franchises are favorites of mine and that's a great little easter egg! He is an annoying automaton indeed! I'll need to go find him myself now.

Feel free to contact me to work out prize fulfillment, or you can wait until I find time to reach out to you myself!

LET ROUND 3 BEGIN

 

[GreatMaster]

what each round means?

 

[ykki]

Well here is captain Titus in space marines ripping the Orcs a new one=


Here is another=

 

[mizifih]

Subnautica

Spoiler

​

Arma 3

Spoiler

​

DayZ Standalone

Spoiler

​

Rust Legacy

Spoiler

​

 

[JeckeL]

A day at the pier and some selfies during a police shootout

 

[chimera201]

Check out JC Denton in Deus Ex with his awesome sunglasses. Can you count the polygons?

Isaac in Advanced Suit in Dead Space 2

 

[Titillating]

Due to lack of new blood and budget constraints, this contest is being put on a temporary hiatus in favor of our weekly Steam giveaways! Check out the latest one here!


Second thought, probably not the greatest example. Think of this is a bye week. Check back on the 19th.