Videogames: All Valves on Deck

[Derfel Cadarn]

1 hour ago, IlyaP said:

I can't help but think that the city of Baldur's Gate in BG3 looks somewhat different from BG1, which, given the hundreds of hours I've put into BG1, is...jarring.

There’s over a century between BG1 and 3, lus numerous big events (Sundering etc) during thet time.

[Werthead]

They did retcon some stuff about the city between, but yeah, Baldur's Gate 1 takes place in the year 1369 Dalereckoning and Baldur's Gate 3 takes place in 1492, so 123 years later. In the meantime Toril smash-merged with its parallel shadow world from another dimension and then unmerged, a whole bunch of nations collapsed and others rose, and whole bunch of cities got significantly larger, including Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep.

Did the BG3 thread get locked? I know we started off talking about comparisons with other games, but now we've wandered into talking purely about BG3 stuff it should probably go over there (although this thread should be locked soon anyway).

[Werthead]

Good stuff here on making STALKER 2 whilst your country is at war.

[IlyaP]

4 hours ago, Werthead said:

They did retcon some stuff about the city between, but yeah, Baldur's Gate 1 takes place in the year 1369 Dalereckoning and Baldur's Gate 3 takes place in 1492, so 123 years later.

I know 4Ed happened in that time, but as far as I understand it, among D&D fans, whenever discussions come up about different versions, the common response is "Fourth edition? Never heard of it" like it's some kind of R.O.U.S.

[Werthead]

 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Quick question guys, im 20 hours into bg3 and really loving it and i also wanna check out some other Larian studio games and the one closest to bg3 seems to be dos2. Is dos2 equally as compelling and friendly to crpg noobs like me ?  And how do the story ,world and characters compare to bg3? 

Edited February 6 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

[IlyaP]

42 minutes ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Quick question guys, im 20 hours into bg3 and really loving it and i also wanna check out some other Larian studio games and the one closest to bg3 seems to be dos2. Is dos2 equally as compelling and friendly to crpg noobs like me ?  And how do the story ,world and characters compare to bg3? 

The world is weirder, but still very much high fantasy (your party can include a skeleton and a bipedal red lizard - the game, uh, goes places), and the designers have a borderline unhealthy love of fire, causing fires, setting things *on* fire, and generally blowing shit up. 

The first section of the game is also not great in terms of guiding players along, and famously has lost a lot of players by not being great at making it clear what they need to do. Also, the UI has proven to be vexing for some players (myself included) and totally fine for others, which doesn't help matters. 

The score, courtesy of Borislav Slavov, who scored BG3, is absolutely gorgeous and lush, and never leaves my computer, as there is some marvellous guitar work and some melodies that leitmotifs that - no surprise - show up in BG3 in slightly tweaked forms. To give an example of what I mean: 

I am gobsmacked by how utterly excellent Slavov's music is in this game. It's awesome.

There are, like in BG3, origin characters, who you can play, and develop those characters and arcs, or just create a whole new character if you like as well. And like BG3, it's goddamn turn-based during action sequences, which - le sigh. Not my thing, I hate it with a burning passion, but whatever, I struggled through the game because there's other fun stuff to enjoy in the game. 

The story is, like BG3, quite epic, and by game's end, there's lots of AoE spells and buckets of blood flowing everywhere. It...goes places. 

The party characters available aren't written or acted to the depths or degree of BG 3, but they're still sufficiently interesting enough in their own rights. One can clearly see a definite exploration of ideas in DOS2 that reaches full actualisation in BG3. 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

52 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

The world is weirder, but still very much high fantasy (your party can include a skeleton and a bipedal red lizard - the game, uh, goes places), and the designers have a borderline unhealthy love of fire, causing fires, setting things *on* fire, and generally blowing shit up. 

The first section of the game is also not great in terms of guiding players along, and famously has lost a lot of players by not being great at making it clear what they need to do. Also, the UI has proven to be vexing for some players (myself included) and totally fine for others, which doesn't help matters. 

The score, courtesy of Borislav Slavov, who scored BG3, is absolutely gorgeous and lush, and never leaves my computer, as there is some marvellous guitar work and some melodies that leitmotifs that - no surprise - show up in BG3 in slightly tweaked forms. To give an example of what I mean: 

I am gobsmacked by how utterly excellent Slavov's music is in this game. It's awesome.

There are, like in BG3, origin characters, who you can play, and develop those characters and arcs, or just create a whole new character if you like as well. And like BG3, it's goddamn turn-based during action sequences, which - le sigh. Not my thing, I hate it with a burning passion, but whatever, I struggled through the game because there's other fun stuff to enjoy in the game. 

The story is, like BG3, quite epic, and by game's end, there's lots of AoE spells and buckets of blood flowing everywhere. It...goes places. 

The party characters available aren't written or acted to the depths or degree of BG 3, but they're still sufficiently interesting enough in their own rights. One can clearly see a definite exploration of ideas in DOS2 that reaches full actualisation in BG3. 

Thanks for the detailed help! Would you say that having the knowledge of the UI and the systems from BG3 will solve the lack of a tutorial problem in DOS2 for me ?im just worried about that issue, the rest is about what I expected. I know BG3 is held to be the superior game in terms of characters and cinematics. 

[IlyaP]

37 minutes ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Would you say that having the knowledge of the UI and the systems from BG3 will solve the lack of a tutorial problem in DOS2 for me ?

Probably, yes. They'll have, if nothing else, taught you to be patient. Also, much like Act 1 of BG3 functions as a tutorial for the game's systems and mechanics, so to does the Fort Joy opening sequence in DOS2.

Also, there's no jumping feature in DOS2. Just stating that outright in advance. There are spells that give jump-like features, but jump as a mechanic is not there. And I wish it was. 

37 minutes ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

I'm just worried about that issue, the rest is about what I expected. I know BG3 is held to be the superior game in terms of characters and cinematics. 

Think of DOS2 as a rougher, less polished version of BG3, and go in expecting the interface to be overwhelming and over the top. If you can do that, and allow yourself to be patient and learn how the interface works, how the mechanics and systems work, and accept that you have to explore everywhere and look at everything because there's *zero* hand-holding, then chances are you'll enjoy it. 

[Caligula_K3]

There are a lot of rumours going around about X Box getting out of the hardware business and making all their exclusives multi-platform. The X-Box team has announced a press conference about their business direction next week. Who knows what's true or not, but this may have been a very bad year for me to buy an X-Box for the first time in my life...

On the Switch side of things, I finished and 100%ed Mario Wonder. It's a completely delightful game, and I'm so appreciative of the creativity bursting out the seams. The wonder effects are generally amazing, but they're usually the cherry on top of fantastic level design, so that the game doesn't feel just like a series of gimmicks. And there are also some difficult platforming challenges in here: the Special World levels and the final marathon levels were very tough, as usual, but even many of the main game levels had their challenges. And I deeply love the multiplayer implementation.

Definitely my favourite 2D Mario since Super Mario World. I highly recommend.

[Slurktan]

19 minutes ago, Caligula_K3 said:

There are a lot of rumours going around about X Box getting out of the hardware business and making all their exclusives multi-platform. The X-Box team has announced a press conference about their business direction next week. Who knows what's true or not, but this may have been a very bad year for me to buy an X-Box for the first time in my life...

On the Switch side of things, I finished and 100%ed Mario Wonder. It's a completely delightful game, and I'm so appreciative of the creativity bursting out the seams. The wonder effects are generally amazing, but they're usually the cherry on top of fantastic level design, so that the game doesn't feel just like a series of gimmicks. And there are also some difficult platforming challenges in here: the Special World levels and the final marathon levels were very tough, as usual, but even many of the main game levels had their challenges. And I deeply love the multiplayer implementation.

Definitely my favourite 2D Mario since Super Mario World. I highly recommend.

This was going to happen as soon as they announced Gamepass.  That literally means there is zero reason to ever buy an Xbox.

[Ran]

1 hour ago, Caligula_K3 said:

On the Switch side of things, I finished and 100%ed Mario Wonder. It's a completely delightful game, and I'm so appreciative of the creativity bursting out the seams.

I have such a nostalgic feeling for Super Mario back in the day (by back in the day, we're talking NES and SNES), that the only time I ever feel a pang of regret over not having a console is basically not going for a Switch to play games like Mario Wonder. It does look really fun, and just gorgeous artistically and musically, from videos I've seen.

[Corvinus85]

There is a demo available on Steam for Homeworld 3, called War Games. It's available until February 12. Here is the write up:

Quote

War Games mode fuses Homeworld’s RTS gameplay with roguelike inspiration, charging commanders to take on a randomized series of fleet combat challenges. Claim powerful Artifacts that augment your ships with more power, speed, and, of course, weapons. Based on your results, you’ll unlock new fleets to shake up your strategy.

This demo, available to all Steam players starting February 5 at 10am PT until February 12 at 10am PT, supports up to three players as they engage waves of hostiles in a series of increasingly challenging encounters. Players can find teammates through Quick Match or create a lobby to team up with friends online. 

It’s important to note that any Fleets or Artifacts you unlock in the War Games demo will carry over when Homeworld 3 launches. For players not using Steam Cloud Saves, make sure you don't delete your demo files as we'll be sharing info on the exact transfer process later.

Each level presents a greater challenge and new modifiers to your next War Games run. This demo will feature four different maps and a slew of things to unlock as you continue to play, including different starting fleets (maybe even an extra special one!) plus new Artifacts and more.

 

[Kalbear]

7 hours ago, Slurktan said:

This was going to happen as soon as they announced Gamepass.  That literally means there is zero reason to ever buy an Xbox.

...other than playing the games on Xbox that are only available there?

I don't understand this at all - there are a ton of xbox-only gamepass games (especially all the 360 ones) and there are games only on PC gamepass that aren't on Xbox.

Add to this that a whole lot of people don't have a computer to game on or don't want to game on a computer and...wha?

 

[Ser Not Appearing]

Abandon Xbox consoles? I doubt it but that would be fine enough. Just don't make me use a flipping PlayStation controller. I can't go back to that layout.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

36 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

...other than playing the games on Xbox that are only available there?

I don't understand this at all - there are a ton of xbox-only gamepass games (especially all the 360 ones) and there are games only on PC gamepass that aren't on Xbox.

Add to this that a whole lot of people don't have a computer to game on or don't want to game on a computer and...wha?

 

But if the rumours are true and they stop making Xbox/PC exclusive titles and start releasing them on the PS5, why will anyone continue buying Xbox ? Seems like a weird move from MS(if true)

[Argonath Diver]

8 hours ago, Ran said:

I have such a nostalgic feeling for Super Mario back in the day (by back in the day, we're talking NES and SNES), that the only time I ever feel a pang of regret over not having a console is basically not going for a Switch to play games like Mario Wonder. It does look really fun, and just gorgeous artistically and musically, from videos I've seen.

I am right with you as a PC gamer. I literally can hardly use my thumbs to navigate first person games on consoles. I do use a controller for Hades and a couple other isometric style games, though.

Anyway, Mario Wonder looks so amazing that I've also considered the Switch simply for that and Zelda games. I have managed to quell my drive to burn money I don't have by intermittently watching a full playthrough of Wonder on youtube. I watch enough Twitch on my second monitor that it's not vastly different since I'm not a chatter regardless.

[Rhom]

10 hours ago, Ser Not Appearing said:

Abandon Xbox consoles? I doubt it but that would be fine enough. Just don't make me use a flipping PlayStation controller. I can't go back to that layout.

Have you seen the Dual Sense?  Its practically the same as a XBox or Switch Pro controller.

[Ser Not Appearing]

5 hours ago, Rhom said:

Have you seen the Dual Sense?  Its practically the same as a XBox or Switch Pro controller.

 

The stick layout is what breaks my brain.

[Werthead]

Excellent article and interview with Jeff Vogel, the one-man (with some spousal help) operation behind Spiderweb Software, which has been releasing intricate CRPGs for a quarter of a century.

19 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

There is a demo available on Steam for Homeworld 3, called War Games. It's available until February 12. Here is the write up:

I've refused to check it out, I want my first experience of HW3 to be the single-player story mode, as it was 25 years ago. Also, this is really the NG+ mode (the idea is you use the SP campaign to learn the units and tactics and then play War Games afterwards), so releasing this first seems like a dumb idea, as the reviews seem to be confirming.