The Video Games Thread

[kungtotte]

The past couple of days I've been brute-forcing my way into understanding Dwarf Fortress, and I think I've gotten to the point where I could manage it without a graphics set, but I'd really rather not try. So far I've run two fortresses into the ground but haven't ran afoul of any of the more interesting catastrophes that this game is famous for.

So the search continues for The Fun That Was Promised.

[WhiteHaven]

The past couple of days I've been brute-forcing my way into understanding Dwarf Fortress, and I think I've gotten to the point where I could manage it without a graphics set, but I'd really rather not try. So far I've run two fortresses into the ground but haven't ran afoul of any of the more interesting catastrophes that this game is famous for.

So the search continues for The Fun That Was Promised.

Tell me, when you manage to understand that game. I failed, last year, badly.

[kungtotte]

I don't even see code any more, I just see blonde, redhead, brunette...

Using the Lazy Newb Pack it gets a lot easier, the graphics set makes the information make sense, Dwarf Therapist makes it possible for a mere mortal to deal with assigning tasks and professions to dwarfs.

Also there's this tutorial. It's for the older version of DF, but most of the concepts transfer right over. And it includes its own world so that you can follow along with the screenshots showing how to do things. That's where I started to grok how the game worked, how it all fit together. Do that tutorial, then get the Lazy Newb Pack and start experimenting on your own.

The first thing one needs to learn with DF is perseverance. You will fail horribly. Your dwarves will starve, they will die from thirst, they will get slaughtered by goblins, you will unleash the unspeakable horror of the deep or you will plain embark on a journey without any picks and you won't be able to do shit. As long as you keep restarting after every such incident, you'll make it through to the other side.

You can never win Dwarf Fortress. You can only hope to achieve Fun.

[Inigima]

Turns out Toki Tori supports Steam Cloud. Awesome.

[jurble]

Well Red Dead Redemption is done and

Edgar Ross is probably the most hate-able dude I have ever met in a video game. Like holy shit, the newspaper where it mentions how he saved New Elizabeth from Van der Linde and his gang - including John Marston pissed me off so much. God damn. I wouldn't a sequel where you play Jack as a 30's Outlaw robbing banks. Maybe some mob shit too.

[Relic]

Who else is excited about RB3? I'm loving that I can finally learn some real songs on a real guitar.

Check out the video for pro mode with the real guitar.

yeah Pro Mode looks sick. i wonder how much that Fender will cost.

Playin a lil bit of Red Dead here and there and it's pretty sweet.

[Raskolnikov]

I started playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 and now I don't get enough sleep. But I still can't beat the chimp D:

[Sad King Billy]

Thief fans may appreciate this playthrough of a newbie through the dark project and failing horribly. Usually it's entertaining but at times it's unbearable to see him stumble about.

So grab some popcorn and grab a seat.

(NSFW: massive amounts of "shit" or "fuck").

edit: as an example of his genius, in the latest video he is following some hitmen (Ramirez' thugs), his thoughts go like this: Hmmm, they're walking on the metal ramp... I don't want to walk on metal ramp. What can I do? I know, I can walk on the high ground... and then JUMP ON THE METAL RAMP.

[Muttering Bill]

Fuck me, 4-1 of Demon's Souls is rough. Slip up and those guys will dice you faster than you can blink. So far I've identified the following options, all of which involve careful blocking and rolling, and all of which mean if I pull more than one at a time by mistake I'm fucked:

4-1 and 4-2 are probably the hardest levels. The skeletons at the beginning are rough, and they just get stonger as you go on. But once you gt to 4-2, you've got one of the best soul farming spots in the game (as long as you have a good bow) with the first reaper. So it's worth the trouble.

And my favorite farming spot is the Manta's in 4-3.

2. Use a blunt weapon. This works, but the only blunt weapon I have that I have the stats to use as a royal is the Iron Knuckles, and it takes a bit to kill them, allowing more chances for me to slip up.

You're going to waste a lot of magic doing anything else.

Go pick up the Morning Star in 5-1 - it's on a platform early in the level - pretty sure it's before the first fog gate. You'll only need 11 strength to use it. It will give you 75 dmg (slighly better than your Iron Knuckles) and a little more distance. It won't scale to your magic stat (though you can upgrade it with Moonstone, it only gives a C bonus), but a few basic upgrades will get it strong enough to take out the skeletons in 2 or 3 hits.

The flying things can also fuck you up if you don't notice one is there.

Use the Thiefs Ring and they won't bother you. You could try taking them out with arrows, but they're a pain in the ass to hit. Expecially in 4-2.

I did manage to kill the katana guy and get the Adjudicator's Shield, which I can't currently use for stats reasons;

I'd recomment getting your stats up so you can use it. As a shield it's only average, but it will regenerate health when you're holding it, and can be upgraded (with Colorless Demon's Souls) to regen faster. Black Leather armor, the Regenerator's Ring and Adjudicator's Shield are going to be essential to get through the poison swamp in 5-2. Unless you want to waste a lot of grasses or spices.

Lots of people seem to suggest that Fragrant Ring will keep me in mana more or less constantly, but for me it regens really slowly even with the ring equipped. Wonder if I'm missing something.

It works is you don't mind a lot of waiting around. Personally, I find a couple of minutes of soul farming and a trip to the merchant in 3-1 (best price on spices) to be easier.

[Daeric]

Just two more freaking cities left to take, just two cities. I got held up on the front lines of the last rival warlord in Rotk11 for awhile, mostly due to the fact that I needed my secondary forces to make their way through a different route so I had a major numerical advantage pincering. Once I got through there most of the other cities fell quickly as they didn't have the troops left.

[Inigima]

Thanks Bill, I will do all that. Sounds like great advice.

[Raskolnikov]

Steam has a summer sale! My hands are shaking and I ca'nt typ e wel. Games for as low as ~$1. The entire CoD (except MW2) pack for $29. I...

GOODBYE MONEY!

[Slurktan]

So I rented War for Cybertron... and it is surprisingly really good. They actually nail the transforming mechanic very well. It's really awesome(and intuitive) to drive up to a group of decepticons jump in truck mode, transform, cut a decepticon in half with your axe, jump and transform back in to truck and speed around a corner before the others get a good shot at you.

Unfortunately the single player is fairly short, although very very fun (I'd say 4-5 hours for both campaigns) but I hear the multiplayer is where the game is even better.

Plus Stan Bush basically makes a new Transformers theme song for the end credits and it is awesome.

http://kotaku.com/5570343/transformers-credits-are-a-joy-for-old+timers

[Inigima]

I beat Uncharted this week. Awesome, awesome stuff. I have horrible gaming ADD. I can't remember the last game I played to completion, and I didn't even use GameFAQs, another rare feat for me. Not once.

[kungtotte]

Fuck Valve.

I was up 10 games before 9 am D:

[AIP]

I beat Uncharted this week. Awesome, awesome stuff. I have horrible gaming ADD. I can't remember the last game I played to completion, and I didn't even use GameFAQs, another rare feat for me. Not once.

you and me man, I can't tell you how many games I have collecting dust that I have yet to beat b/c the next one comes out and I forget about it.

off the top of my head

uncharted 2

assisins creed 1

and 2

ridick

beat borderlands but not the add ons

fallout 3

mass effect 1

god of war 3

a ton of ps2 games ill never play

I am sure there is more

[Solmyr]

Really? Nobody plays any "old games" (last century's)? As a person who grew up with them I have to say my favourite games will always be from the 90s. Starting from classics like Starcraft, Diablo and Heroes and moving on to niche genres like quests (Broken Sword 1-2, The Longest Journey, Monkey Island) or even puzzle games (I've recently finished Gruntz ... finally).

New games just don't appeal to me in the way old ones did. Maybe it's a sign I am growing too old for games (tho I do not believe it :D), maybe it's because the industry is trying to serve the new generation and not me. The only game that was released in the last 5 years and I played was Dragon Age and only because I had no (stable) internet connection for nearly 4 months and had nothing better to do.

I'd much rather replay the old classics. Any other old school gamers around?

[kungtotte]

I was playing some X-Com a couple of hours ago.

[Muttering Bill]

you and me man, I can't tell you how many games I have collecting dust that I have yet to beat b/c the next one comes out and I forget about it.

I used to be like that too. It was especially bad during the PS2/XBox days. I'd pick up a new game practically every week, and generally only make it about halfway through. Then I'd get bored.

It changed when I started renting instead of buying. Now I focus on finishing games so I can send it back and get another. It generally takes about a week. Which makes it ever more confusing that I couldn't do it in the same timeframe before, when I had more to time to spend gaming. :dunno:

Anyway, Inigma made me want to play Demon's Souls again, so I've been doing that. Nearly finished, I just have the Valley of Defilement left. After that I was planning to try farming for my last couple of pure stones, and to try to raise my character tendency (although I think that I probably won't get the Heroes Ring until my next playthrough) before finishing with 1-4.

I'm expecting Heavy Rain to come in the mail today, so, unless it's really short, the rest of my Demon's Souls work will have to wait a bit.

[AIP]

I used to be like that too. It was especially bad during the PS2/XBox days. I'd pick up a new game practically every week, and generally only make it about halfway through. Then I'd get bored.

It changed when I started renting instead of buying. Now I focus on finishing games so I can send it back and get another. It generally takes about a week. Which makes it ever more confusing that I couldn't do it in the same timeframe before, when I had more to time to spend gaming. :dunno:

Anyway, Inigma made me want to play Demon's Souls again, so I've been doing that. Nearly finished, I just have the Valley of Defilement left. After that I was planning to try farming for my last couple of pure stones, and to try to raise my character tendency (although I think that I probably won't get the Heroes Ring until my next playthrough) before finishing with 1-4.

I'm expecting Heavy Rain to come in the mail today, so, unless it's really short, the rest of my Demon's Souls work will have to wait a bit.

thats really what I should do, I can't tell you how many games I have traded back in left 1/2 done. But thats just kinda who I am as a person. kinda like the crown molding that I still need to cut and put up in the dinning room (it's been sitting for 2 years now)