General Discussion [ Page 29 ]

Steam Breaks 12 Million Concurrent User Record Proving Once And For All PC Gaming Is Dead

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fKnxEpU8BQs/hqdefault.jpg

Yesterday Steam had 12,332,504 users online at the same time breaking it an all new Steam concurrent user record. In the "post PC era" Steam is doing pretty well and with the advent of living room machines, the Steam controller and Steams new VR this number should keep growing. The top most played Steam games are not too surprising with Dota 2 in the lead followed by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fallout 4, Team Fortress 2 and Sid Meier's Civilization V.

I imagine the Steam sale and holiday had much to do with these numbers but as with the last couple sales, I didn't buy anything as I have enough to play as is.

http://store.steampowered.com/stats

My Year in Gaming 2015

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/t/new-year-blue-render-white-clipping-path-46640694.jpg

2015 was an interesting year in gaming. I had fun with friends and I spent about half the year playing a single game. I didn't watch many movies, but I liked what I saw.

Early in the year, I went back to Diablo III, where I completed campaign mode with every class of character for both genders. There is still much for me to do in the game, outside of campaign mode, but this is a game I've really enjoyed playing.

Spring brought the release of GTAV for the PC, which I pre-ordered and got to enjoy once again. I had a couple of video issues, but I managed to resolve them with a simple configuration setting. This was the game that made me realize how ignorant I was about... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/06/2016 at 03:21am

Originally I saw Jurassic World in the theater with my partner and friends. It was a fun movie and I enjoyed it but not as much as watching a second time. After the second viewing I was really hooked, it's a really nice follow up and sort of does the "Force Awakens" thing which is to say it takes just enough from the original and does enough on it's own to be very enjoyable. Since it made a ton of money I expect sequels and if they are as good as World, I am in.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/06/2016 at 04:09am

I kind of had a similar feeling. I mean, I enjoyed it the first time, but I was really into it the second time. Maybe that's because I watched the previous ones before watching it. Good point about "Force Awakens," I agree. It was basically a Jurassic Park reboot, but different. The story was essentially the same, yet it wasn't. I liked the characters and the dinos that were in it.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/08/2016 at 04:41pm

One thing I guess I never realized about Ark: Survival Evolved is that it has a PVE mode! I figured it was just like the swarms of other multiplayer survival games, only with dinosaurs. Very cool :)

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/08/2016 at 11:19pm

Well yeah, it's primarily PVP, but I only play in single player mode (PVE). I have made an Ark friend and have been invited to play on an official PVP server. However, I'm doing some things on my own and not sure I'm ready to join. I'm not of fan of PVP, but apparently this server has neutral tribes and thus they don't do a lot of PVP.

Not only dinos, but other similar creatures as well. like the ape, Gigantopithecus, and the monkey, Mesopithecus. But, there's also tech stuff and weapons such as various firearms including small guns, rifles, grenades, and rocket launchers. Some things in the game seem to be more effective against dinos than humans and vice versa. One of the creatures, Dimorphodon, specifically targets humans, even when they're riding a dino. Usually when you attack a dino, it targets your dino, but not you.

I've played nearly 600 hours and I'm still playing and enjoying this game. Updates are frequent, including new items, creatures, bug fixes, and optimizations. I've also become a part of the community on Steam and the official forums at www.survivetheark.com. I believe the game is still in the alpha (pre-beta) stage, but it's really good for an alpha. One thing I like about the community is that I also feel like a beta tester, reporting bugs or issues I find.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/08/2016 at 11:29pm

It does sound fun. I'll try to check it out when it comes to PS4, which is supposed to be sometime early this year. My big anticipation right now, though, is The Division, which is due out March 8th. Epicness awaits (hopefully they don't muck it up)!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/09/2016 at 12:38am

It is very fun, I think. I'm afraid playing on a PVP server won't be as fun because people will try to kill you and your creatures. Although, I also think it would be fun to play co-op with other people. On default settings it takes a very long time to tame some dinos. My new Ark friend recently said she found a level 120 (which is currently the max level for wild creatures) Spinosaurus and that it was going to take 4 hours to tame. Server admins can change a wide variety of settings to increase taming speed, harvesting amounts, XP earned, difficulty, etc. You can do that for single player mode, too. I've changed some settings, making it a little bit easier. I'm still playing on default difficulty, which seems to mean that I won't see a wild dino above level 40 and I probably won't see supply drops with higher levels of gear. Gear has different levels such as Primitive (the most basic), Apprentice, Journeyman, and Mastercrafted (the highest). Depending on the level of the gear, it's stats can be higher along with crafting costs. So, an Apprentice Pike will have a higher damage stat than a Primitive one. Saddles will have more armor.

I am aware that the game is supposed to be coming to the PS4. I think the ETA is this summer. XBox One already has it in it's Early Access-like program. So, XBox players are testing out the game now, just like us PC gamers. However, the versions are not cross-platform compatible. So, a PC gamer isn't going to be on the same server as an XBox gamer. The PC version is a expected graduate from Early Access this summer, too.

I'll also mention that I've started a fresh new game/character/map a few times now. I've been backing up my local files and reverting to them when something goes wrong (like death). I have made an error with that which made me decide to start over again a few months ago.

I'll be happy to continue talking to you about Ark. You can hit me up some time if you want to talk about it. I also recommend the link I provided in my last comment. I've also been watching Paul Soares, Jr., Zueljin, and Sl1pg8r on YouTube. Paul plays in single player mode while Zueljin and Sl1pg8r play together on a private server along with other really cool people.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/09/2016 at 02:55pm

The more I hear about ARK the less I'm interested. It just seems like the big thing these days is survival games, and this is just another one but this time with prehistoric creatures.

Then you read that the level of grind required to accomplish anything is so high as to be prohibitive, and to breed some of the high level dinos you have to spend a few actual real-life days incubating an egg, making sure the temperature is right, and... wait there are air conditioners?

The other main criticism is that you can get basically invincible creatures with no skill beyond reading the wiki and obsessing over getting the conditions right.

Then there's the "gotta catch 'em all" aspect that requires more obsessing over.

Now you're telling me there are dinosaurs that, by default, take 4 hours to tame? And that unless you do save file swapping when you die, you're permadead?

It seems like if you want to sink hundreds of hours into obsessing over things it's great, and there are plenty of people who like that kind of game.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/09/2016 at 09:34pm

Yeah, survival games seem to be pretty popular. I like them, though. Minecraft and Terraria have given me a strong desire to play similar games. This game, to me, is much like them. There's survival, crafting, pets, exploration, etc. It seems to me, still, that FPS games are extremely popular, especially FPS or survival games that feature zombies. I really don't understand the great appeal for that.

Yeah, the amount of grinding sucks. It does seem to (by default) take a long time to incubate an egg. I haven't messed with breeding yet, so I have no personal experience to speak of. Yes, there are air conditioners (along with various other high tech items). Air conditioners actually help by increasing hypothermal and hyperthermal insulation. With the right amount of them (4 or more), you can incubate an egg no matter the environmental temperature, apparently.

Yeah, you can get some pretty OP creatures. However, they recently did a huge rebalance of stats, which has upset a huge amount of people as many tamed creatures received a larger nerf. Some creatures, such as Giganotosaurus are sill quite OP.

I enjoy the Pokemon-like "gotta catch 'em all" aspect.

Yes, some creatures take a very long time to tame. There are also other challenges such as an increase in the speed of how long it will take them to wake up from being knocked out. There is a hardcore option for permadeath, but it is not on by default. When you die, you can spawn in certain general areas or on a bed you've made. You can then go back to where you died and retrieve the items you lost.

The game is still in Early Access and there's plenty of criticism about it. One of the main things is that it's not yet very optimized, so it runs poorly for most people. Even with my GTX 690, I'm only getting about 50 FPS and I have to force the game to use DirectX 10 instead of 11 just to get that. I also use other command line launch options such as removing sky details. I have also created a special shortcut for it that makes it run as a high priority process. I have also "unparked" my CPUs and told the game to "use all available cores." The game looks great in DirectX 11 mode and without all of my special options, but I lose 10-30 FPS by running it that way.

Thanks for the reply! =)

Travis Admin wrote on 01/10/2016 at 02:44am

I don't even consider Minecraft and Terraria to be survival games, though. Not in the sense of what the genre has become anyway. "Surviving" in Terraria is just a matter of walling in a 3x4 rectangle. But the idea of gathering, crafting, etc. I'd imagine are similar throughout. Rust, for instance, has a crafting interface very reminiscent of Minecraft.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/10/2016 at 02:47am

Also WRT the hardcore option-- the way you mentioned swapping saves when you died made me think you just died entirely, but I guess based on your reply here you do that just so you don't have to go searching for items. It sounds like the Minecraft way, or the Medium-core Terraria mode.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/10/2016 at 02:50am

(apparently I just want to make notifications tick up for you guys, and it has nothing to do that I don't have my thoughts in order to make one comment and have it done :D)

Your reply actually alleviates some of the issues I thought I had with the idea of the game. But then that's the problem-- all I have is the idea. I wish games still had demos.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/10/2016 at 03:08am

I've heard of Rust, but don't know anything about it.
What does "WRT" mean? Well, yeah, I don't like dying and I don't like losing items upon death. When I play Minecraft I use the command that lets you keep your inventory upon death. But, yeah, it's very dangerous in Ark to die and then have to go try to retrieve what you lost. Your body may be there, or eaten. Even if it is eaten, you'll have a pack that sits there for a certain amount of time, giving you time to retrieve it. However, that pack does despawn (along w/ your body) after that time is up. Retrieving your pack from some places can be near impossible, like if you fell into lava in a cave or died in the deep sea. But, yeah, I use a back up system for death and when other things go wrong, like losing a dino.

Some games still have demos, but not all of them.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/10/2016 at 04:33am

WRT = With regard to

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Hark! The New Year Approaches, What Say You?

http://cdn3-www.craveonline.com/assets/uploads/2011/12/file_180391_0_new-years-resolutions-video-games-header.jpg

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! As we are all hanging out online and in person I am wondering what games people are playing by themselves or with friends to ring in the new year? Fallout 4 counts just as much as drinking games so don't feel too shy here. Also curious what people want to see happen in gaming in 2016?

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/31/2015 at 09:27pm

New Year's Eve game playing: Ark, single player mode

Gaming in 2016: Terraria Otherworld, Terraria 2, Terraria 1.3.1, Minecraft 1.9, and more Ark!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/31/2015 at 09:31pm

I'll be playing craps tonight! My wife's boss throws a big New Years party every year and this year he's renting gambling tables and dealers.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 12/31/2015 at 10:32pm

I might try out the Disney Infinity Star Wars Rise Against The Empire play set if I have time.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/31/2015 at 11:23pm

Hearthstone and Fallout 4!

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/01/2016 at 03:19am

Cheerful Ghost doodles, then Battlefront, then probably tequila, which will be followed shortly, I'm sure, by slumber.

In 2016, I'm looking forward to VR, and how that plays out. No Man's Sky and ABZU are my most anticipated non-VR titles. Beyond that, I'm determined to make my 2016 conclusively more positive and productive than 2015. I'm so done with 2015.

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Steam Controller Review - It's neat.

You may have seen from the Christmas loot thread that I got a Steam Controller this Christmas. I'd been wanting to try one for a long time, and I'm happy to say it was worth the wait.

The Hardware
I'm sure you've all seen the specs so I won't go into detail, but here's a quick breakdown of the new features-- The left d-pad and right thumb stick present on most controllers have been replaced by clickable touchpads. The left one has an indented plus so your fingers can easily find the direction you need if you're using it for movement. In addition to the left and right shoulder and trigger buttons, there are also grip buttons that you press with your ring/pinky fingers.... Read All

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/31/2015 at 06:46pm

Edited to add Guild Wars 2, a game I forgot the first time through.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/31/2015 at 08:46pm

This is a great review. I'm glad to hear that you like it! The controller sounds like it'll fit in really well with PC gamers, as they seem to like customization :)

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/31/2015 at 08:52pm

Thanks, Adam! I think old school PC gamers will feel right at home, but since PC gaming needs far less customization these days than it used to, some people might have gotten used to not tweaking anything.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 12/31/2015 at 10:21pm

Glad you liked Civ 5! Funny, too, because that's the one game (genre could be lumped in) that I would love to play in a living room/couch/controller environment. Civilization Revolution just didn't cut it. I really appreciate these reviews from you and Jon. They are going a long way into pushing me toward picking up one of these magical controllers.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/31/2015 at 11:22pm

Also one note: Night Dive Studios is the current company that owns System Shock 2 so they setup the official controller config. Which makes sense they made a great controller malping because theyve had the Steam controller since the early Steam developer days beta controller release.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/01/2016 at 06:25am

Thanks for the info, Jon. Updated!

scrypt, yeah I didn't hear many good things a bout Civ Revolution. I'm happy to report that the full experience works great!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/12/2020 at 12:25am

Four years later, do you have any additional thoughts you want to share? Are you still using it? I wonder why they've been discontinued, or in that they don't seem available on the Steam Store. I can get one from Amazon. I'm using to using an XBox 360 controller for PC gaming. I currently have two different brands of controllers. I just returned a third controller to Amazon, because it's been plagued w/ issues since day one. I'm thinking of getting a new one it it's place or just playing with one of the two I still have.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/13/2020 at 04:39pm

> Four years later, do you have any additional thoughts you want to share?

The Steam Controller is still one of the most innovative and open controllers i've ever used. It's so configurable and is extremely well considered for PC games on the couch.

> Are you still using it?

This controller has a pretty rabid audience of those that use it and i'm not one of those people. I respect what it is a lot more than I actually use it.

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Vote in The Cheerful Ghost GoTY Awards!

After taking nominations for our 2015 Cheerful Ghost Game of the Year awards here are polls to vote in. Please only vote once for each category and have fun!

We will tally the results on January 1st!

Triple A Game of the Year (Witcher 3, Bloodbourne, Fallout 4, Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, Mario Maker):

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=56801fade4b0d27fbad14f9c

Indie Game of the Year (Undertale, Ark: Survival Evolved, Rocket League, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Broken Age, Nuclear Throne, Talos Principle):

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5680203de4b0d27fbad14f9d

Update of the Year (Terraria 1.3, Hearthstone Tournament of Champions /... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 12/27/2015 at 08:14pm

I opted out of the Indie poll. I haven't done much indie gaming this year apparently.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/27/2015 at 09:39pm

Decisions, decisions, decision. Dang it. I'm having trouble deciding on Triple A Game of the Year. I thought this was an easy win for one of those games, but another got included. I'm thinking I just may vote for the one I have more gaming hours logged.

I'm skipping out on Mobile Game of the Year. I don't know if Fallout Shelter has come to the Kindle yet, but I'm definitely unfamiliar with the others.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 12/28/2015 at 01:35am

I just deleted a post where I had cast my votes in the comments, rather than going to the polls linked above. I'm a little slow today. Still recovering from the flu. Hope that didn't mess anything up!

One thing that was in that post was a vote to update the GotY system for next year. Triple-A vs Indie seems to be less relevant as the years go by. Maybe categories of technical execution, artistic impression, or even genre would be more evocative in presenting our tallies for quality experiences. Update of the Year was a nice addition this year. Something more like that. Anyway, just my $.02 .

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/28/2015 at 07:07am

@scrypt I hope you feel better soon, bro!!! I also like your categories ideas!!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/28/2015 at 09:04pm

I've voted! I didn't vote for a mobile game, as I only played Fallout Shelter of the options, and wasn't thrilled by it.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2016 at 06:46am

It's the 2nd! As of this moment, Fallout 4 and Bloodborne tied for AAA, Rocket League kicked ass in indie (I still need to play that), Terraria 1.3 unsurprisingly won the update category, and Monument Valley won on mobile.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/02/2016 at 03:41pm

I still need to vote but I'll do that and tally the results today!

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Merry Christmas everyone!

Here's hoping everyone had an amazing Christmas with lots of great family, friends, and food.

And, of course, swag. What was your gaming/geeky haul this year?

I'm not quite done (second family Christmas tomorrow) but on the category of things this crowd would be interested in, I got this badass Fallout Vault Dweller's Orientation Kit https://www.thinkgeek.com/product/irmp/

And this shirt, which is my first Star Wars wearable. http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/mens-star-wars-x-wing-strike-t-shirt-by-jem?ID=2500713

Also I got some gift cards, and I'm going to buy a Steam Controller with some of the money from them.

I hope it was fun for everyone, and I hope the last few... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/26/2015 at 04:27am

Awesome loot! The only thing I got worth mentioning (other than a nice check from my grandmother) was a $25 Amazon gift card, which is what I wanted because I'm thinking about buying some e-books for my Kindle. I'm getting all kinds of great loot in Ark though because Raptor Claus drops presents every game day at midnight, which has been pretty cool!

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/26/2015 at 04:32am

Greg: "Raptor Claus drops presents every game day at midnight"

That's like one of the coolest holiday gaming additions i've heard of outside the amazing holiday drops in Terraria. Which reminds me, I need to head into my game to get!

Travis: I dig that new Star Wars shirt. Also, that Fallout kit is really great. I was seriously considering picking it up. How is the quality of it all? Is it a well put together hoodie and backpack?

So nerd swag I got this year was a couple Star Wars items for our (yet to be released) kid. A really fun Star Wars playset for the little Jedi and a Yoda blanket for a kid. Also the new Mad Max+Old Trilogy Set on Bluray as well as Jurassic World. I also got the latest Walking Dead Compendium vol 3 as well as the score for Interstellar and The Force Awakens.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/26/2015 at 04:33am

OH and there is a Steam sale rolling so if anyone picks up anything from that let me know.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/26/2015 at 04:46am

Yeah, it's freaking awesome! There's a raptor flying around on a sleigh carried by 3 reindeer. You hear Christmas music and "Ho Ho Ho!!!" He drops packages, which fall slowly to the ground. So, at midnight, you find out where he is and hurry to get the packages to see what you've got. There's Mistletoe for crafting various holiday themed items like costumes for you and dinos. There's also Coal, which lets you summon DodoRex for 15 minutes, if you collect 100. Other random items can be contained in those packages too like dino saddles or even blueprints for stuff. It's fantastic! The entire map is snowy and cold. Some of the creatures that are bound to the snow biome are now roaming around the entire island, like prehistoric penguins and deer. Check out some of my screen shots: http://steamcommunity.com/id/gawoodruff/screenshots/

Ark has done a few holiday events so far and I've enjoyed the three I've experienced, although Halloween and Christmas are my favorites so far.

Congratulations on the child news!

But yeah, I enjoy holiday themed events in games like Ark and Terraria. It makes me want to play them more during those times to see what's new. I've skipped the last few Terraria events, but Vinny's been playing lately.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/26/2015 at 06:02am

Jon: "yet to be released" is the best description of a baby in utero.

The survival kit is great.

The backpack is good enough but it isn't super. I'd never use it to actually carry things. But it makes for great storage for the rest of the stuff.

The hoodie is very nice, though I suspect some eventual screenprint wear. That'll just make it more authentic right?

The bobblehead is solid, like you could bludgeon someone with it. And it's the Intelligence bobblehead, my favorite stat.

The shot glass is also weapon-worthy. Very thick glass. Perfect for a Dirty Wastelander http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Dirty_Wastelander

The keychain is... well it's a keychain.

The flag is a basic flag, but it's nice. I need some wall space for it

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/27/2015 at 05:09am

Minor update: No need for gift cards, I got a Steam controller! We also got a Darth Vader toaster that prints the Star Wars logo on the bread which is awesome, if odd. :D

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New Retro Console Coleco Chameleon To Launch In 2016

https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/c1FGYbaPUBjvOTP-bvNHcW-XHVc=/0x0:2551x1701/1280x854/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48281395/COLECO_CHAM1.0.0.jpg

"The Coleco Chameleon is the new name for the Retro VGS, a hardware project which failed to raise sufficient backing during its crowdfunding campaign earlier this year. According to the latest press release, the Chameleon “is a versatile new video-game system that serves as a modern day take on the classic game console and will accurately play classic games from the past. The COLECO Chameleon also has the ability play brand-new games in the 8-, 16- and 32-bit styles, a growing and popular genre in today’s game scape.”"

After moving to the near majority of my gaming on PC I am not in the market for the latest Playstation or XBox. With that the Coleco Chameleon does... Read All

Cheerful Ghost GoTY Awards Nomination Thread

We are going to do this years Cheerful Ghost GoTY Awards similarly to last year with a fun new addtion. Please submit your nominations in the comments along with the category they should go in. On December 24th i'll take all the nominations and put out a 3 polls where we can all vote for the winners. Like last year we will have the "2015 Triple A Game of the Year", "2015 Indie Game of the Year" and the all new "2015 Update of the Year". Games that quality for the "Update of the Year" are games that received a significant update or were ported to a new platform in 2015. Games such as Hearthstone(The Grant Tournament, The League of Explorers) & Terraria (1.3 update)... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/19/2015 at 01:43am

Update of the Year: Terraria 1.3
Early Access GotY: Ark: Survival Evolved
GotY Noms: Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3 I'd kinda like to nom. Legacy of the Void, but I've hardly played it, which will probably change soon.

I think it'd be cool if some of us made a post on the site talking about our favorite games that we've played this year. This includes games that are new or ages old.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/19/2015 at 01:56am

Thanks Greg. I do plan on doing my own list.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 12/19/2015 at 04:09am

Are we submitting single nominations for each category? If so, my nominations are:

Indie: Rocket League

AAA: Psych! I'm nominating The Talos Principle. Fallout 4 is epic, but it's practically the only AAA game I played this year, besides Destiny, which makes me feel kind of ashamed. I feel like I would nominate Bloodborne, if I had only played it :(. Maybe I'll go rent it tomorrow...

Update: Terraria, especially since it was my first time playing.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/19/2015 at 05:04am

Triple A: Fallout 4
Indie: I was lacking in indie games this year.
Update: Terraria, Hearthstone
Mobile: Fallout Shelter, Hearthstone

Travis Admin wrote on 12/19/2015 at 05:09am

Another Mobile nom: Crashy Road. No, not Crossy Road. That one got all the acclaim last year. :D

Travis Admin wrote on 12/19/2015 at 06:53pm

Oh! A nod for Mobile and Update: Monument Valley. It was released last year, but got DLC this year. Monument Valley is a masterpiece.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/21/2015 at 06:57pm

AAA:

Witcher 3
SC2: Legacy of the Void
Fo4
Fallout Shelter
Mario Maker

Updates:

Grim Fandango: Remastered
BioShock Infinite (Linux port)
Hearthstone

Indie:

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
Crypt of the Necrodancer
Broken Age
Undertale
Nuclear Throne

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/21/2015 at 08:03pm

Every year GameFAQ's polls become a competition between games, people vote on which is better. Final Fantasy VII usually wins, or at least makes it to the end. This year it was defeated by Undertale. I downloaded the demo and briefly played it.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/23/2015 at 04:38am

I've heard nothing but good things about Undertale.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/23/2015 at 04:39am

Also I don't really pay attention to gamefaqs polls, because they're usually gamed heavily by whichever forum is more popular at the time.

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An Inside Look At Hardware Manufacturing At Valve - Take a Peek at Valve's Robot Factory

"When we first started designing hardware at Valve, we decided we wanted to try and do the manufacturing as well. To achieve our goal of a flexible controller, we felt it was important to have a similar amount of flexibility in our manufacturing process, and that meant looking into automated assembly lines. It turns out that most consumer hardware of this kind still has humans involved in stages throughout manufacturing, but we kind of went overboard, and built one of the largest fully automated assembly lines in the US. Our film crew recently put together a video of that assembly line, showcasing exactly why robots are awesome."

As more manufacturing comes back to the... Read All

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/241930/header.jpg?t=1447180561

http://store.steampowered.com/app/241930/?snr=1_7_15__13

I picked it up since it's on sale for $17 for the GotY edition and it's been one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. I played 4 hours last night and I'm so eager to play more tonight.

Pick it up if you don't have it!

It's similar to assassin's creed or batman where you can sneak and stealth around and the combat is really interactive, so that's fun. But to me so far, what's really cool are the enemy captains you come across. The orcs have all their normal grunts, but then they have a pile of captains, veteran captains, elite captains out there. Each with their own personality and traits.

I came... Read All http://store.steampowered.com/app/241930/?snr=1_7_15__13

I picked it up since it's on sale for $17 for the GotY edition and it's been one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. I played 4 hours last night and I'm so eager to play more tonight.

Pick it up if you don't have it!

It's similar to assassin's creed or batman where you can sneak and stealth around and the combat is really interactive, so that's fun. But to me so far, what's really cool are the enemy captains you come across. The orcs have all their normal grunts, but then they have a pile of captains, veteran captains, elite captains out there. Each with their own personality and traits.

I came across this guy that was a veteran captain, and I was a little new to be facing him, so I ran and hid. I'm hiding and hiding, but unlike in other games where you are generally safe after hiding for a while, not so here. This captain was a tracker! He and his posse followed me around this cliff, through some other areas, up a ladder, down a ledge.... I mean, I didn't know where to go lol. I used all my bow power shots on him but he was still only half dead (and he was supposed to be weak to bow shots).

I eventually lead them to a big rock wall and and they went around to the left and I circled behind them and picked off some of the guys at the end with a bow. Then was able to finish the captain with 4 more powered up shots. (I only get 4 at a time, then have to recharge them elsewhere). He died and was crossed off the captains list.

I thought sweet. I picked up a power-up from him and went on my day.

Well, I came across him again, except he was wearing like a bandage on his head. He said, you thought you killed me?! And we fought again. This time, I ran away and he lead the chase. I turned and attacked him while his posse was a little lagged behind. I dropped him to half health pretty quick, and he said he was retreating and tried running. He ran behind his orcs and dropped off a ledge. Well, I sprinted past his group, dove off the ledge and clipped him with my sword, then turned and did a wicked finishing move on him!

This game is uber fun. Grunts get promoted to captain when there's room and enough time passes (or you die). There's tons of side missions and power struggles between the captains... I haven't been so excited for a game in ages!

PS: Jon, I couldn't find this game on the game list to talk about.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/30/2015 at 06:00pm

I added it so you can now add it to your list: http://cheerfulghost.com/game/28042/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/30/2015 at 09:39pm

The game sounds great and it's FAR up my list of games to play. What with Fallout 4 and Legacy of the Void I have quite a bit of game for the time being. That said the Steam Holiday sale is coming too and I might pick this up then(if it's on sale).

This game keeps getting recommended to me by friends, I will pick this up it's just a matter of when I can play it

JaBo Post Author wrote on 11/30/2015 at 11:42pm

Hopefully it is, it's 66% off right now for the full package. maybe it'll be same or cheaper for Christmas. It is worth every penny. I'm just dying to get off work and go play!

And I hear ya, far too often I pick up a game because it's on sale, but then never make time to play it. Or I buy it full price and never play it lol. I'm pretty bad about it, honestly. I was nervous I'd do the same here, but watching the 8.5 minute video on steam sold me so hard. (Watch that if you haven't, it talks about some of the aspects of gameplay and you'll be drooling after).

It's definitely an action game, not an RPG game, but that's totally fine by me, I don't have much time for RPGs anymore... I can't dedicate enough time to them.

JaBo Post Author wrote on 12/01/2015 at 05:28pm

I played another 5 hours last night..... I'm starting to get into the power struggles of the orcs with each other. I had a quest which basically is a lead in to me flexing my influence. The quest involved a scrawny whiny orc working with me. I basically killed a captain and this little guy cut his ear off and took credit for the kill so he'd be captain. Then I killed an elite captain for him and finally a Warchief. I had not previously faced a warchief. I had to infiltrate his fortress first (not interior) and kill a bunch of guys to get his attention. So now, this scrawny orc is the new warchief, but he supposedly will follow my commands... I know at some point (probably now that I did this little intro into it) I can mindmeld with orcs to dominate their mind and make them my puppet. Then I think I can manipulate the power struggles to get them to rise to higher ranks as my puppet. We'll see!

My combat skills are definitely on the rise, I can face down a hundred melee grunts. I still die to javelin throwers (pesky bastards) and captains are still hard, especially with a swarm of enemies or other captains. This one captain was particularly hard to kill, he had loaded armor on, huge shield and unblockable spear attacks. He slashed me and threw me around for half my health... lot of dodging. But he was also a learner. The same tactic didn't work more than once on him. He was immune to ranged attacks. I couldn't jump/dodge over the top of him to get him from behind easier.. He called reinforcements often. The only way I finally won after running away ragged was to keep sprinting away, climbing this platform and then sneak kill his allies to get him alone before more showed up. Even 1v1 he was super hard to fight since he blocked any head on attack.

(cutting post due to 3000 characters)

JaBo Post Author wrote on 12/01/2015 at 05:28pm

I finally killed this other bastard that rose all way up the ranks and kept surviving encounters with me which earned him promotions. He killed me as a grunt a long time ago which promoted him to captain. Then every time I faced him he was with 3 other captains and I couldn't win. He finally got to a high power that he was strong 1v1, he had this bloody wicked long knife that dug into me. But I got him last night! He was doing a recruitment mission to get orcs to join him. I snuck in to disrupt him. Well, I shot down a nest of angry hornet things and he happened to be afraid of them, so he ran for it and the recruits were like, I'm not going to follow that guy! So success there, plus I left the outpost he was in and chased him as he fled. I caught up to him and since he was in a fleeing state, I was able to land a 1 hit KO on him.

The little personality quirks are really cool. Some guys are scared of beasts, some get enraged by you hurting their guards, each captain has different strengths and weaknesses. Also, the dialogue is fun. One captain I kept facing was a cannibal and he kept making eating jokes. I'm excited to start getting more into the power struggles and trying to get a foothold against these warchiefs.

Game is so fun! A solid 9+ hours played now and I'm still so ready to play more!

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