Discussion What's your favourite video game you've been playing?

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seems COVID-19 has delayed some game's release dates. have been anticipating trying out Wasteland 3 soon, but it has been set for later in August now. seeing more and more extensions every week or so.

since January i've been replaying Fallout 4. with so many mod options and so much Creation Club content available now it is a MUCH larger game with much more options even than the last time(s) I had played. i'm near to 70hrs in and still have quite a bit of the main storyline to go. as always, i am really enjoying the experience.
definitely will have to look into what kinds of more modern "improvements" have been made via mods for Fallout 3 & New Vegas. it's been a long time since playing those.

can't really think of anything else new to try. the RPG genre hasn't had much to offer over the last year+.
will have to reinstall Disco Elysium and create a custom key/button control layout via 3rd party software or something. just could not stand the default keyboard configuration and the lack of ingame customization really pissed me off.
 
got back into Pillars of Eternity last night, which i started again months ago in preparation for playing Pillars of Eternity II. it is a fun game.
always looking for something new to play but seem to go back to the old games more often. still need to pick up Red Dead Redemption 2 and Jedi: Fallen order.
I've spent a bunch of time with Battletech ( also has some amazing mods ), Mechwarrior 5, Metro Exodus and The Outer Worlds recently. I'd recommend all of them.
yeah, just finished The Outer Worlds in December. i really did enjoy it and have seen some talk of an expansion coming later this year, can't wait for that.
i have Metro Exodus but the few times i started it up it didn't hold my attention very long. i have never really enjoyed simple shooters much, always looking for something with more personalized character development and more combat options(weapon types, armor types, customizations, etc). usually stick to more RPG style games.
may give some of the Mech-style games a shot. i remember playing Mechwarrior 3 many years ago and really enjoying it.
 

JeckeL

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i have Metro Exodus but the few times i started it up it didn't hold my attention very long. i have never really enjoyed simple shooters much, always looking for something with more personalized character development and more combat options(weapon types, armor types, customizations, etc). usually stick to more RPG style games.

I know what you mean about exodus, it's more of an atmospheric thriller than a fallout 4, RPG shooter. I tried the previous metro games and gave up fairly quickly... TONS. OF. EXPOSITION... I mean seriously, 75% of the game is dialogue, and the other characters talking SO much that they essentially say nothing at all. It's like every time you come across a new NPC or reunite with existing NPCs they have some gigantic, long, heroic speech about oppression and new beginnings, waiting to rattle the whole thing off in front of you while you're helplessly locked in place in front of them listening to it all. But every once in a while I like throwing on a headset, shutting off the lights and playing that sort of thing, just not too frequently... and exodus looks nice enough that I can honestly say I'm enjoying it

can't really think of anything else new to try. the RPG genre hasn't had much to offer over the last year+.

If you're in to fallout 4 type stuff, what about borderlands 3?

I'm pumped for the RE3 remake 💃
 
...what about borderlands 3?
i played through the main campaign when it first released. i really enjoyed it, as i have every Borderlands game. i was totally addicted for the couple months it took to get through, ended up being quite a bit longer than i had anticipated.
there's been some additional content released and i figure more will be coming throughout this year at least. my plan is to wait til the end of 2020 and see if i can get any really good deals on a DLC/expansion bundle and then play through again.
 
Well, finally finished Doom Eternal. Was quite a tough battle even just on Hurt Me Plenty, the 2nd of 4 difficulty levels. They make you do the last 4 missions without being able to return to the fortress. There are some tough platforming jumps and very tough battles in those last 4 missions, and the final boss fight takes a fair bit of time to get through.

Overall the graphics, level design and gameplay are fantastic. My main nit pick is the crashing, which I thought was gone after some fixes I tried that many said worked for them, but it kept coming back. Lately I'm playing it on Ultra, the middle graphics setting, as one crash was accompanied by an out of VRAM error. Hopefully that will fix it.

Unfortunately though, the game does not play well with 3rd party overlays, so I could not use MSI Afterburner to verify VRAM usage. The game does show estimated VRAM usage for the settings you select though, and I was at just over 6600 of my available 8000 before the crash. So I don't know if I was really short on VRAM, since at idle my PC uses only .2GB Dedicted VRAM, and 0GB Shared.

After getting a few things I missed in 2 of the last 4 levels, it's on to Ultra Violence, the next difficulty level. The game is addicting. The night I beat it I stayed up so late I only ended up getting 3 hours sleep, so I slept 9 hours last night to try and catch up a bit.
 

JeckeL

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Well, finally finished Doom Eternal.

Does anyone else absolutely hate the Marauder enemy? It feels like SUCH a break in the action, you have to square up with it, not get too close or too far away, wait for the eyes to turn green etc.... One minute running and gunning, blasting my way through the game, the next a marauder shows up and i'm forced to play Sekiro all over again (i.e. baiting enemies in to attacks, counter attacking, etc) reaaaallllly annoying. I'm not saying they're hard, there's a bunch of sure fire ways to kill them, it just takes time and breaks the pace of the game, I think it's the only enemy in the game apart from bosses that you can only attack at certain times (when its eyes turn green)
 
Does anyone else absolutely hate the Marauder enemy? It feels like SUCH a break in the action, you have to square up with it, not get too close or too far away, wait for the eyes to turn green etc.... One minute running and gunning, blasting my way through the game, the next a marauder shows up and i'm forced to play Sekiro all over again (i.e. baiting enemies in to attacks, counter attacking, etc) reaaaallllly annoying. I'm not saying they're hard, there's a bunch of sure fire ways to kill them, it just takes time and breaks the pace of the game, I think it's the only enemy in the game apart from bosses that you can only attack at certain times (when its eyes turn green)
I don't mind Marauders so much. Most of the time they show up in the mix of others during a battle you're in a big enough space to go on the move, use fodders for health and ammo, then stand your ground and let him come. One exception was a small dark area in Nekroval where a Whiplash accompanies him, it was hard to evade him there. Even one of the bigger areas near the end of the game was tough due to not many obstacles to duck behind while evading.

Believe it or not, what I find hardest about Marauders is not their attack itself, but their ability to very quickly side dodge, which often makes it hard to aim at them when their eyes flash. That said, I think I have to crank my look sensitivity back up, because I find it laborious to turn quickly enough to track him sometimes.
 
I'm more and more into casinos and more gambling, like slots or roulette.
i hate to think of those as "video games" but if Solitaire fits, they must also i guess.

i worked at an "Internet Cafe" for a couple years where all they offered was casino style games. you would purchase a company card, put money onto it through an ATM type machine or directly through our cash register/computer and then login and play an assortment of gambling games.

i watched many older retirees blowing hundreds of dollars a week. some would even bring their food-stamp debit cards in and offer a couple hundred dollars worth of food for ~$20 on their gambling card.

it ended with federal officers coming in and confiscating all of the PCs, cash registers, safe, and all documents.


oh yeah, Happy Easter everyone!
 

mkaafy

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I have always been a huge fan of indie games. These days I am playing two new light games of this type in my free time.

"LUNA: The Shadow Dust"
"Never Alone"

Both have soothing soundtracks. The artworks of these game are outstanding. I just heart them.

Hope there was a version 2 of the "Machinarium" game with new story and unexplored areas of the city.
 
I finished the Witcher 2 last week. That didn't take long at all especially since it's lockdown and all. Hope all you guys are safe.

I played Iorveth's path this time around in Witcher 2 and I thought it was amazing just how well they implemented the branching in this game. I also used a lot of mods that ultimately resulted in Geralt being way too strong by Chapter 2 so I had to up the difficulty because everything was getting ridiculously easy.

In Doom Eternal, I'm now at Taras Nabad which is more than half way through the game. I met the Marauder about two times now and yeah, I hate that guy. You have to be stupidly fast to land a shot on him. I'm really enjoying the challenge overall and having a great time with it.

I am also nearing the end of Death Stranding. I absolutely love this game. It has been quite a journey.
 

JeckeL

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Finished Metro: Exodus which was amazing, really liked it

Started a 2nd playthrough of Code Vein which is one of my favs, and switching back & forth between that and trying to finish up RDR2

Anyone get the Halo collection on steam? I have some gripes with it (I've been playing Reach, haven't tried the other one, MCC?).... There are two framerate options, 60, and unlimited. The problem is, from what I understand through brief research, that no matter how much above 60 you go, the animations are still locked to 60. So if you stand still and look around the world with your mouse, it's fine and looks to be 144, 120, whatever, but when you start moving and strafe past a fence, or watching an enemy or teammate walk around it appears to be 60, so you end up with this weird mix of smooth mouse/look sensitivity, but everything else seems to be moving at a slow pace. I dunno, I could be wrong, the point is it looks crap if you're a picky, >60 fps person
 
That didn't take long at all especially since it's lockdown and all. Hope all you guys are safe.
Yeah needless to say we all spend WAY more time at home lately. I tried The Witcher 2, and was so put off by the complex, awkward inventory system lacking categorical sorting, as well as clunky aiming on turrets and such that I gave up on it. Really enjoyed the much improved TW3 though.

I've been playing only Doom Eternal lately and just beat it on Hurt Me Plenty about a week ago. I've taken time off from the stress of it since then, but am currently enjoying a 2 week free trial of YouTube TV, which is by far the best streaming TV service I've tried thus far, and I've tried most of them.

I managed to get 100% of collectibles on all but the Nekroval II mission in Doom Eternal. It's hard to even figure out how to get to the area you see off to the left at the start of the mission where you're on a bridge.

On a side note, just grocery shopping is like a mission and adventure these days not knowing what's going to be in stock or what strange make shift masks you'll see people wearing. I myself took an old ear warmer headband I used to use for cycling and turned it around and put the wider part over my nose and mouth.

I saw a gal in a local grocery store a couple days ago with the cutest little pup that looked like it could have been a German Shepard/Belgian Malinois mix. He was stumbling and falling on the slick floor and looked almost embarrassed by it. I couldn't help wonder if he was just back from being neutered and feeling the effects of pain meds.

He looked like a smaller version of this one. I call him Mando.
2EEIffB.jpg
 
Have finally got Jedi: Fallen Order and started playing yesterday on my day off. Ended up putting about 6hrs in throughout the day "trapped" at home. Is definitely a great looking game with some fun gameplay and a great storyline(so far).
I think it's the first time in ~a year that I've used my One S gamepad for anything. Definitely took a little bit to get my hands used to a gamepad again. Having it running to my 40.5" TV on the other side of the room from the desktop is nice kicking my feet up with a wireless controller.

Really, the only gripe I have about the game so far(that I really hate) is how all the gear & construction items you find are merely aesthetic. They missed a huge opportunity with this game by going in that direction. All the different lightsaber pieces could very easily modify the saber's attributes with things like blade length, parry/block ability, damage vs speed, etc.
And the gear for Cal could modify your own attributes like damage reduction, jump height, movement speed, etc based on the type of gear.

Currently playing this & Pillars of Eternity should give me a good mix of RGB & action to last for a little while.
 
They missed a huge opportunity with this game by going in that direction. All the different lightsaber pieces could very easily modify the saber's attributes with things like blade length, parry/block ability, damage vs speed, etc.
And the gear for Cal could modify your own attributes like damage reduction, jump height, movement speed, etc based on the type of gear.
I disagree completely. No SW game I know of has ever gone to the extent of steering away from SW cannon to the extent of applying different attributes to the saber itself. The Jedi's attributes have always been skills the Jedi himself learns, which they fleshed out more than adequately IMO with the skill tree.

I mean think about what you're saying. You're basically proposing ANYONE can develop mad Jedi skills just by finding or learning how to build certain saber parts. The very concept destroys the whole mystique surrounding Jedi training and development. I like the segments in the game where they show Cal as a kid struggling to learn some of the skills to emphasize this. If you could develop Jedi saber skills merely by going on a saber parts scavenger hunt, the game would suddenly feel cheap and arcade.

Curious as to how the performance is for you though? The game tends to hitch a fair bit in certain spots. That and outfits were my only nit picks. I avoided literally ALL of the ponchos except one that reminded me of the serape Clint Eastwood wore in the spaghetti westerns. Gameplay and story wise the game was very good though.
 
I disagree completely. No SW game I know of has ever gone to the extent of steering away from SW cannon to the extent of applying different attributes to the saber itself. The Jedi's attributes have always been skills the Jedi himself learns, which they fleshed out more than adequately IMO with the skill tree.

I mean think about what you're saying. You're basically proposing ANYONE can develop mad Jedi skills just by finding or learning how to build certain saber parts. The very concept destroys the whole mystique surrounding Jedi training and development. I like the segments in the game where they show Cal as a kid struggling to learn some of the skills to emphasize this. If you could develop Jedi saber skills merely by going on a saber parts scavenger hunt, the game would suddenly feel cheap and arcade.
this sounds like you just don't understand how weapons work or what I mean.

the length of a blade will have an effect on how accurate/inaccurate you are, how quickly you can swing a blade, and how far you have to be distanced from an opponent. the shape of the handle and the grip and/or the material it is made out of could effect this or how well you can parry & block and possibly how fast you could maneuver it....etc
the strength of the beam focuser could determine the damage the saber inflicts, or something similar.
also, of course to help keep the difficulty ranges the higher powered items would have to only be accessible at later game destinations or after learning more difficult force skills.

how would this mean that any idiot could pickup a lightsaber or it's pieces and just automatically know how to handle it or what stances to take?
All the different lightsaber pieces could very easily modify the saber's attributes with things like blade length, parry/block ability, damage vs speed, etc.
no where did i even mention that saber skills or any other Jedi skills would be "auto-learned" by using these different pieces.
 
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Curious as to how the performance is for you though? The game tends to hitch a fair bit in certain spots. That and outfits were my only nit picks. I avoided literally ALL of the ponchos except one that reminded me of the serape Clint Eastwood wore in the spaghetti westerns. Gameplay and story wise the game was very good though.
i have all of the ingame settings on "Epic".
with Unreal editor mods turning up post processing, texture LOD, item LOD, draw distances, and sharpening. and completely disabling all of the blur, vignette, chromatic-crap.
@ 1440p with the frame rate capped at 90, it stays right on point the majority of the time maybe dropping to ~85 every so often.

yeah, most of the outfits are pretty bad. i got one white poncho that looks okay but just leave him with his beginning outfit. most of the color choices don't look to good for any of the options. i've set the ship & robot to white/blue sets that seem the best looking so far.
i do love the story so far and the gameplay has been very smooth and actually has a pretty good default gamepad button setup, unlike most games i try with one.
 
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this sounds like you just don't understand how weapons work or what I mean.

the length of a blade will have an effect on how accurate/inaccurate you are, how quickly you can swing a blade, and how far you have to be distanced from an opponent. the shape of the handle and the grip and/or the material it is made out of could effect this or how well you can parry & block and possibly how fast you could maneuver it....etc
the strength of the beam focuser could determine the damage the saber inflicts, or something similar.
also, of course to help keep the difficulty ranges the higher powered items would have to only be accessible at later game destinations or after learning more difficult force skills.

how would this mean that any idiot could pickup a lightsaber or it's pieces and just automatically know how to handle it or what stances to take?
no where did i even mention that saber skills or any other Jedi skills would be "auto-learned" by using these different pieces.
Yet you DO say the saber parts would affect how well you parrying and block, as well as your speed. News flash, those ARE part of saber skills. As well you want saber parts to even affect damage level.

I maintain everything I said, this is FAR out of any SW canon we've seen, and makes becoming a honed Jedi too easy. I don't mind a few RPG elements thrown into my SW games, as long as they stay true to Jedi canon and make sense. This makes zero sense.
no where did i even mention that saber skills or any other Jedi skills would be "auto-learned" by using these different pieces.
You literally just did above...

"the length of a blade will have an effect on how accurate/inaccurate you are, how quickly you can swing a blade, and how far you have to be distanced from an opponent. the shape of the handle and the grip and/or the material it is made out of could effect this or how well you can parry & block and possibly how fast you could maneuver it....etc
 
Yet you DO say the saber parts would affect how well you parrying and block, as well as your speed. News flash, those ARE part of saber skills. As well you want saber parts to even affect damage level.

I maintain everything I said, this is FAR out of any SW canon we've seen, and makes becoming a honed Jedi too easy. I don't mind a few RPG elements thrown into my SW games, as long as they stay true to Jedi canon and make sense. This makes zero sense.

You literally just did above...

"the length of a blade will have an effect on how accurate/inaccurate you are, how quickly you can swing a blade, and how far you have to be distanced from an opponent. the shape of the handle and the grip and/or the material it is made out of could effect this or how well you can parry & block and possibly how fast you could maneuver it....etc
if you swing a sword, lightsaber, or any melee damage weapon; the weight, length, durability/strength, and shape of the item is going to affect that swing and the damage it produces. these are not Jedi lightsaber skills, these are the laws of basic melee combat and all that i have mentioned.

the fact that the handle is a certain shape so your wrist can maneuver it easier, the crystal or beam generator produces a more refined laser so may inflict more damage, or that the beam being a different length would affect the distance needed from your enemy would have nothing to do with knowledge of the force or using any specific force training.

in that universe you would still need to be force sensitive and train in force arts for the special attacks they produce and the abilities it takes to perform their special maneuvers.
i believe you are just having issues distinguishing the difference between basic combat and actual force skills.

and like i stated for this game in particular;
also, of course to help keep the difficulty ranges the higher powered items would have to only be accessible at later game destinations or after learning more difficult force skills.
so an argument about making combat too "easy" for a padawan or any other character would not apply.
 
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if you swing a sword, lightsaber, or any melee damage weapon; the weight, length, durability/strength, and shape of the item is going to affect that swing and the damage it produces. these are not Jedi lightsaber skills, these are the laws of basic melee combat and all that i have mentioned.

the fact that the handle is a certain shape so your wrist can maneuver it easier, the crystal or beam generator produces a more refined laser so may inflict more damage, or that the beam being a different length would affect the distance needed from your enemy would have nothing to do with knowledge of the force or using any specific force training.

in that universe you would still need to be force sensitive and train in force arts for the special attacks they produce and the abilities it takes to perform their special maneuvers.
i believe you are just having issues distinguishing the difference between basic combat and actual force skills.

and like i stated for this game in particular;
so an argument about making combat too "easy" for a padawan or any other character would not apply.
I could see how different materials on a standard sword would affect how it's swung, but light sabers are mostly just a shaft of light. I also think you're missing the point that it's more putting skill attributes in the device itself that bothers me. I seriously doubt this will ever happen, and for the good of the franchise.
 
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2 years back I quite gaming but recently in COVID19 lock down I started again but this time through phone and but I'm enjoying it a lot. Any Pubg player here?