Video Games: Fantasy's Final '16

[The Anti-Targ]

6 hours ago, Ded As Ned said:

I'm going to tinker around with it some more when I get the time... I think maybe if I log off the previous user (if that is possible) it might solve the problem.  

That will definitely do it. Logging off the first user will for sure prevent any unexpected account swaps.

On 17/01/2017 at 4:18 AM, matt b said:

Weird, I'm doing a replay of Origins myself. For me, they never improved on the gameplay from this first game, I just love it. DA2 and DA:I often had me losing track of some of my party during fights, leading to sudden deaths. Never an issue with DA:O. Also, I really miss the spell combos. Storm of the Century FTMFW.

 

1 hour ago, Jasta11 said:

Oh no, it was a chore because I had done all that three weeks ago before my computer went belly-up and I had to reinstall windows. 

I do agree the combat was best in Origins. The ruleset in DA2 was actually pretty good too, but the encounter design was so atrocious, with those enemy waves, that it dragged down the whole thing. And Inquisition's could indeed bog down in a confusing mess at times.

Having played all 3 on console DA:I is the best for combat mechanics because you have "action view (TPS view)" and tactical view, whereas with the previous 2 you only had the action view. Tactical view was absolutely vital for battlefield management for some fights and DA:O and 2 would have benefited greatly from it. I also played DA2 on PC and the prologue of DA:O on PC and I do agree that DA:O on PC has the better combat controls than DA2.

[Jasta11]

23 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

That will definitely do it. Logging off the first user will for sure prevent any unexpected account swaps.

 

Having played all 3 on console DA:I is the best for combat mechanics because you have "action view (TPS view)" and tactical view, whereas with the previous 2 you only had the action view. Tactical view was absolutely vital for battlefield management for some fights and DA:O and 2 would have benefited greatly from it. I also played DA2 on PC and the prologue of DA:O on PC and I do agree that DA:O on PC has the better combat controls than DA2.

Yeah, the thing is, I only ever play on PC myself. And I know DA:O didn't play that well on consoles, so they changed the combat system to be more console-friendly as the series went on. Which is fair, but does detract from the gameplay experience on PC a bit. 

[The Anti-Targ]

26 minutes ago, Jasta11 said:

Yeah, the thing is, I only ever play on PC myself. And I know DA:O didn't play that well on consoles, so they changed the combat system to be more console-friendly as the series went on. Which is fair, but does detract from the gameplay experience on PC a bit. 

Console and PC perspectives with DA:O are completely different and the console controls were acceptable for DA:O. They could have retained the differences refining both formats rather than converging them. But that would have taken more work. So ultimately I think the convergence of controls was an EA decision to reduce costs, as well as the fact that DA2 was a rush job, so they probably wouldn't have had the time to keep the PC and console perspectives and control mechanisms separate even if they had the budget to do it. I am thankful that EA snapped up Bioware because without that I doubt Dragon Age or Mass effect would have made it to PS consoles, which remains my preferred gaming platform even with a decent gaming PC now. But it did lead to some compromises with the PC version of Dragon Age at least and I can feel the pain of those who play on PC because I think the entire DA series on PC would have been better if it had improved on the DA:O controls independent of console development.

I wonder if Dragon Age may have been a PC only game if its development hadn't come under the sway of EA. Mass Effect was Bioware's PC and console (Xbox) game. I seem to recall that Bioware only initially developed DA for PC, but I may be making that up in my head. I would have actually quite fancied the idea of Dragon Age doing kinda the same thing as the Baldur's Gate series. The main RPGs being on PC only, and then spin off console+PC games that are the action RPG equivalents of the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance games. I loved the Dark Alliance 1 and 2 on PS2. I think Dragon Age equivalent spin offs would be tons of fun. Those games even had local co-op options which were a lot of fun.

 

[Jon AS]

11 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I wonder if Dragon Age may have been a PC only game if its development hadn't come under the sway of EA.

That was the idea, yeah. The game was finished, then EA took over and mandated that after all the time and money sunk into the development of Origins it'd be ported to consoles, too. IIRC the resulting delay was also the reason why there was enough time for them to finish two DLCs before the game was finally released.

[Werthead]

Quote

I wonder if Dragon Age may have been a PC only game if its development hadn't come under the sway of EA. Mass Effect was Bioware's PC and console (Xbox) game. I seem to recall that Bioware only initially developed DA for PC, but I may be making that up in my head. I would have actually quite fancied the idea of Dragon Age doing kinda the same thing as the Baldur's Gate series. The main RPGs being on PC only, and then spin off console+PC games that are the action RPG equivalents of the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance games. I loved the Dark Alliance 1 and 2 on PS2. I think Dragon Age equivalent spin offs would be tons of fun. Those games even had local co-op options which were a lot of fun.

Yes. They started development of Dragon Age in 2004 as their PC-only exclusive big RPG series, meant to be the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, whilst the Mass Effect series was aimed at consoles with a PC port.

They got to 2009 and were preparing to release DA:O when the EA deal went though. EA took one look at the money sunk into DA:O and told BioWare it was flatly impossible for it to be a PC exclusive (remember that circa 2009 the PC was in the doldrums sales-wise, whilst today it'd be a lot easier to sell that idea) and ordered PS3 and XB360 ports, as well as a quickie sequel to help ameliorate the costs of DA:O in retrospect.

When the project lead for DA:O, who'd be preparing a proper DA2 which would be as big as DA:O if not bigger with a more epic storyline, was told that he had nine months to do the sequel with a (comparatively) tiny budget using the Mass Effect 2 engine rather than the custom engine they were talking about, he told them to fuck themselves and quit the company. And here we are today.

[Werthead]

Details of the Long War 2 mod for XCOM 2.

There's a new class, the Technical, who can specialise either in long-range rockets or short-range flamethrowers which can drain enemy actions for their next round.

Far more impressive is the much more involved strategic layer. You can now send rebels on missions to decrease Avatar progress and increase resources for the resistance. You can also use your recruitable soldiers as advisors to different rebel cells. You have to be careful otherwise the aliens will invade your territories and try to retake them. Basically, it turns XCOM 2 into a full-one strategy game.

[Fez]

I hit max mastery of the Italian map in HITMAN, so I picked up the Morocco map and I don't think I like it nearly as much as Paris or Italy. I've only played it a couple times, but it feels off in multiple ways. I think the biggest issue is that you can move around the vast majority of the map with no restrictions and the two targets basically stay put in their small, separate, isolated compounds. And for each compound, once you've found a disguise that lets you in there, you can pretty much freely move around inside. Its not nearly as fun as having a massive palace or villa to progressively get through.

Also, it doesn't feel as unified an area as Paris or Italy. In those maps, everything felt connected (and there actually were a huge number of hidden ways to get from area to area), in Morocco there are four distinct areas that don't feel like they are all next to each. I haven't fully explored the map yet, but it also seems like there aren't nearly as many ways to get around the map either. Bit disappointing really.

In XCOM 2, I think I've hit the point in the game where I pretty much have things under control; though maybe the game will throw a curveball at some point. Intel is still in short supply, but my ship is finally well-built, I've got 8 Majors or Captains in my squad, tons of supplies, and more upgrades than I think the game expects me to have at this point (Predator armor; Gauss and Magnetic weapons; several experimental weapons, armor, grenades, and ammo; and all the GTS squad upgrades) so the missions are mostly cakewalks.

And because the JRPG itch struck once again, I picked up Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. Interesting game, but holy hell does the story move slowly. I do like that it really feels like a "slice of life" game instead of a "gotta save the world" game (though I assume that'll change at some point). 

 

Since storage space has been a consistent struggle for months now. I bought a second internal hard drive to install in my PC. If I can successfully do that (and it seems like that's pretty easy to do), I'll move on to getting a new graphics card.

[Sci-2]

Trying to learn Dominions 4...slow going.

Enjoying Gonner, Enter the Gungeon, and Cave Blazers on the platformer side of things.

[karaddin]

On 13/01/2017 at 8:11 AM, Rhom said:

Finished up my ME1 FemShep playthrough last night.  I'm no good at playing the "bad guy."  At the end, I couldn't make the decision that was definitely more pro-humanity/screw everyone else.   

After taking an hour or so to install and download the ME2 game and DLCs on the new PS3, I played through to the end of the first planet.  Forgot just how much better the gameplay is.  My first time as a Vanguard.  Can't quite figure out the Charge biotic.  I hit it... but she doesn't seem to do anything other than just turn blue for a second.   

I've always been annoyed that that was a Paragon/Renagade choice, at least in the way it plays out. In character at the time if you've played as a "getting the job done comes before everything else" type then letting the council die to ensure you can destroy this ship that is on the verge of sentencing everyone in the galaxy to death isn't even a choice. Its just being pragmatic. But the game treats it like the only reason to have done it is for a human supremacist perspective, and thats not at all what I meant and the human supremacists in the game piss me off. It should include whether you try set up a human only council or just a new council with humans on it to determine whether it takes the choice that way or not.

[briantw]

Just an FYI to anyone who doesn't already have it, X-Com 2 is currently available for twelve bucks via Humble Bundle's monthly service.

https://www.humblebundle.com/monthly

[Werthead]

Erm, so Long War 2 is already out for XCOM 2. That was completely unexpected, it sounded earlier in the week like it was still months away.

Long War massively improved almost every element of XCOM 1,although also making it harder. This version sounds more balanced, and strategic. I likely won't get to it for months though. Sigh.

[Corvinus85]

36 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Erm, so Long War 2 is already out for XCOM 2. That was completely unexpected, it sounded earlier in the week like it was still months away.

Long War massively improved almost every element of XCOM 1,although also making it harder. This version sounds more balanced, and strategic. I likely won't get to it for months though. Sigh.

So are you telling me that I have to re-start my XCOM2 campaign?  I was already playing with long war leader pack and weapons pack.

[Werthead]

Just now, Corvinus said:

So are you telling me that I have to re-start my XCOM2 campaign?  I was already playing with long war leader pack and weapons pack.

Er, yes. This is a total modification which changes the underlying basis on which the game is based, it's not compatible with pre-existing saves. Also remember to switch off the leader and weapons packs, as they're already active in Long War 2 and having them switched on twice can cause the game to go mental.

[Corvinus85]

4 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Er, yes. This is a total modification which changes the underlying basis on which the game is based, it's not compatible with pre-existing saves. Also remember to switch off the leader and weapons packs, as they're already active in Long War 2 and having them switched on twice can cause the game to go mental.

Thanks. I've not played Long War 1, so I'm, all of a sudden, feeling excited about this.

[Jasta11]

20 hours ago, Werthead said:

Erm, so Long War 2 is already out for XCOM 2. That was completely unexpected, it sounded earlier in the week like it was still months away.

Long War massively improved almost every element of XCOM 1,although also making it harder. This version sounds more balanced, and strategic. I likely won't get to it for months though. Sigh.

Well that was unexpected. I thought it was weeks if not months away. Damn, now I have to decide if I want to finish my campaign or dive into LW2. Which, if the name is any indication, will take a ridiculous amount of my time. 

Plus, I'm playing WoW again now that the Nighthold raid is out. My guild cleared Normal in 3 days, and it's a really good raid so I'm gonna continue playing as we progress into Heroic, and perhaps eventually Mythic.

Think I'm going to test Long War 2 and see where things go. Worst case scenario, I can just unsubscribe and go back to my earlier vanilla save.

[Corvinus85]

I think Long War 2 is a bit too hard to call it enjoyable. I don't like how great cover is now, no matter from what angle you attack an enemy, and I'm not fond of the increased number of both your squad and enemy soldiers. I might go back to playing the vanilla game with just small mods.

[DunderMifflin]

OMmmmmmGggg

Weapon crafting is mass effect: A

And different from the crafting in Dragon Age: I

 

And melee weapons in campaign  OOOO

[KiDisaster]

I picked up The Order: 1886 & Knack in the PSN flash sale. Haven't heard anything particularly good about either of them, but I figured for $5 each I might as well try them. 

Currently working my way through the new Deus Ex. Pretty alright so far. Some of the voice acting is laughably bad though, along with some of the animations (especially during dialogue). The level design and the number of ways to approach each mission are really fantastic though. 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I just love the Zelda trailer: Zelda

[The Anti-Targ]

So mad right now. I got This War of Mine on PS4 as one of the "free" PSN+ monthly games and I quite enjoyed playing it. On my first play through, day 12 hits and the game crashes, multiple times, when I go scavenging on the evening of day 12. So I delete the save file, uninstall and reinstall the game, and the day 12 crash happens again. So that's it for me, no more This War of Mine.