General Discussion [ Page 30 ]

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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My Review Of Valves Steam Controller - A Great Couch PC Experience

Valve is making a big push into the living room and the new Steam Controller is a large part of that. As reviews pour in what I've read hasn't left me with a good impression. Based on some reviews you might think Valve is insane and the new controller is an abysmal failure but i'd like to offer a different perspective.

Valves new Steam controller is amazing at some things and meh at others. Overall though, it provides a great middle ground that doesn't prefer one PC game type to another, which I think gives people a skewed impression.

So let's talk about what the Steam Controller doesn't do well to get that out of the way. In my opinion the Steam Controller isn't great... Read All

Wick wrote on 11/21/2015 at 09:39pm

Ooooo! I'd love to take a look at it sometime. Thanks for sharing!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/21/2015 at 09:58pm

No problem! One hitch is that I am borrowing it and need to return it next Tuesday so my time with it is limited.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/31/2015 at 07:13am

I'm going to chime in with a full review, but my experience with FPS games is the opposite of yours. It's not quite as good as M/KB but it's better than a 360 or PS3 controller. I was amazed after 5 minutes of Portal 2 just how much easier it was to control than a 360 controller.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 12/31/2015 at 05:14pm

The Portal games aren't really considered FPSs, due to a large absence of the S part of that acronym. Anyone use the Steam controller in a CS:GO or TF2-type environment? I've heard that the gyroscope is the secret feature that shines in FPSs, making the Steam controller even somewhat competitive(?).

Travis Admin wrote on 12/31/2015 at 05:16pm

Yeah Portal isn't an FPS, but it's great to get used to first person gameplay. (just mentioned that in my own review actually)

And I've heard that too, that the gyro's fine-tuned aiming can give people an edge. I still haven't gotten used to that, but it is neat.

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Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day Is Coming

Mystery Science Theater 3000 recently achieved it's crowdfunding goal on Kickstarter for three new episodes. It's a little under halfway to it's further goal to full fund a full 12 episode season if the nerd crowd so desires. Either way we will be getting new episodes which is an awesome thing. If you were alive in the 90's you may have caught this show on Comedy Central and later on the SciFi Network. One yearly staple was MST3K Turkey Day where Joel and Bots would select 6 episodes to show over the course of Thanksgiving and record a new video segment to kickoff each episode. In the last couple years Turkey Day has been something they've continued through streaming... Read All

Jack & Rich Review The Steam Controller. "It's A Spork"

In the latest episode of Previously Recorded Jack and Rich don't paint a very good picture of the Steam controller. After watching a couple hours of Rich playing games he doesn't look like an easy person to please but I do respect his opinion. Both seem to think the Steam Controller was a good idea that hasn't quite hit it's stride yet. I've read some reviews that speak well of it but I haven't heard anyone say it's a slam dunk win and something they love using.

I plan on getting a Steam Machine soon but am a bit nervous of the prospect as the Steam Controller is a large part of what makes the Steam in the Living Room work.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/14/2015 at 11:10pm

Yeah, I've been watching these 2 attempt to use the controller, and they've not seemed very happy. I was hoping that as they spent more time with it they'd enjoy it better. But that doesn't seem to be the case. I think their review is pretty even-handed and informative.

Hopefully in the future, 1) the controller gets refined, and 2) games get designed with the controller in mind, so as to make it a more useful controller.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/14/2015 at 11:18pm

And the spork analogy is on fleek

Travis Admin wrote on 11/15/2015 at 07:27am

What on earth is a "fleek?"

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/15/2015 at 12:49pm

Yeah. Feel like I am missing some important

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/15/2015 at 03:35pm

You guys obviously need more Nikki Minaj twitter feed in your life ;)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/15/2015 at 05:53pm

Fleek: "On point."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fleek

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Help Bring Back Mystery Science Theater 3000 - One Of The Greatest Shows Of All Time

Back this on Kickstarter!

Joel Hodgson has been talking about bringing back Mystery Science Theater 3000 and today he launched a Kickstarter to fund new episodes. MST3K holds a special place in my addled 90's heart and to this day remains one of my most beloved shows of all time. I am currently making my way through the whole show and I just finished season 6's Village of The Giants featuring Timmy Kirk, Beau Bridges and Ron Howard. It's a strange go-go dancing film where Ron Howard invents a growth putty that causes the town bullies to grow to giant size and they use their new power to rule the town. It features one of the strangest movie intros I've seen with a car crash and immediate mud... Read All

Blizzard is restoring their classic games to glory

Blizzard is hiring a new Senior Software Engineer for classic games. Starcraft, Warcraft III, and Diablo II will be optimized for new operating systems! Unfortunately, the even older titles aren't included in the list, but these three are amazing to see.

http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/careers/posting.html?id=15000XZ

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/04/2015 at 09:28pm

Sweet!

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/05/2015 at 02:20am

Yeah, this is really nice to see. They've also mentioned this in an interview somewhere that they wanted to go back and make their classic titles more available. You can get many of the old SNES games now and hopefully they bring back Warcraft: Orcs and Humans as well as Warcraft 2.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 11/05/2015 at 03:53am

And Diablo I and Hellfire (though Hellfire might be difficult since it wasn't made by Blizzard). I'd love to be able to play that one. I played the hell out of D2, but skipped D1 and it's near impossible now.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/05/2015 at 04:56pm

Impossible to run or to play because it's so hard? If the latter, you are correct, Diablo is really hard.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 11/05/2015 at 10:56pm

The former, actually. You can kinda get it running but the graphics break often making things unplayable because you can't see what's going on.

JaBo wrote on 11/05/2015 at 11:36pm

"Combat hacking to improve multiplayer."

lol - this can be read with two inflections that mean different things.

We need to be able to hack people up in combat for better multiplayer OR we need to protect against hackers so multiplayer is better.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/06/2015 at 02:45am

Hahaha yeah. I think the latter

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 11/06/2015 at 03:46am

To put it into context, like transitioning zones. It messes it up. I've tried like three times and I've never even gotten to the actual gameplay because the graphics screw up.

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3 Died On Halloween - The Seven Stages Of Console Grief

I was at the PIGSquad Halloween Horror Game Marathon when my wife texted me the news. My PlayStation 3 finally passed and it is a sad time around our house. It's been doing strange things for the past month so we kind of saw this one coming. Rebooting spontaneously and constantly needing to check itself for errors,it wasn't too happy in it's last days. Every time we'd boot it the "jet engine cooling system" would rev up and loudly proclaim it was in pain. It's nice to see it finally be at peace.

Over the last few years we've used the PlayStation 3 to play DVDs and Bluray films. I imagine that hurt 3 and deep down, 3 couldn't find a way forward knowing I had moved on to... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 10/31/2015 at 06:58pm

You gonna replace it? I still found it to be the most affordable, capable Blu Ray player so even though I don't game on it as much as I used to, I replaced mine.

But gone are the saves. The games I played since cloud saving came around are fine, but 100% completion of LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2, I will miss you. My various Rock Band and Guitar Hero careers (which took a damn long time, mind) are at an end. GTA IV, Niko's life in New York has been erased from time. Red Dead Redemption, God of War 3, one set of Fallout 3 and Oblivion saves (but I have plenty of others on other platforms)... the list goes on.

Rest in peace, progress. You're still in my memory, but I can never revisit you again. Not the way you were.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/31/2015 at 07:00pm

3D-capable Blu Ray player, that is. You can get some cheap ones, but it seems the 3D ones are above $100, and I replaced my PS3 for $112

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 10/31/2015 at 07:04pm

It's in a better place.

My fondest memories of 3 definitely include watching RedLetterMedia movies.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 10/31/2015 at 10:05pm

My PS3 started acting up years ago.. It would shut itself off, even after only being on for a minute or so. Then it would have to check for errors. That was years ago, I can't say how many though. I thought it would die soon. However, it's still alive and seems to be doing fine now. I haven't really been using it, especially since I got my new PC. I was using it with the PS3 media player. Vinny's used it for various games including, but not limited to, Minecraft and Terraria.

Some of my best memories of it are especially of playing Fallout New Vegas, Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim, Oblivion, GTA IV, GTA V, and Batman Arkham City.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 11/01/2015 at 05:27pm

Rest in peace PS3.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 11/01/2015 at 06:49pm

Alas, poor Jon's PS3. I knew him well.

I'll always remember that one time we played Borderlands. And that other time we played RAGE and Unreal Tournament. Those were the days.

Farewell old friend, may you find peace in that big games room in the sky.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/01/2015 at 10:23pm

> You gonna replace it? I still found it to be the most affordable, capable Blu Ray player so even though I don't game on it as much as I used to, I replaced mine.

That's a really great question. I am not sure right this minute. I am going to try and see if I can open it up and see anything obvious. If I can't fix it and I really don't think I'll be able to, I am edging to just buying a nice Sony wifi Bluray player. As much as I'd like to get another PS3 or PS4 I really don't play console games anymore.

I set aside all my PS3 games the majority are on the PC. In fact, the games I enjoyed most like Borderlands, Fallout 3, The Orange Box, Borderlands 2, Rage and UT3 would be the only ones I'd want to play again and I own many of those on PC already.

Looking at a brand new PS3 they seem to start around $250 and might dip less depending. That's more than i'd want to spend for a device I only use to watch DVD and Bluray. If I go used that would be fine but it would just break again. I only know one person (well now with Greg 2) that still have their original PS3, they usually all break. So a used one isn't a great option, it's just a ticking clock till death.

So right now a fancy Bluray player but I could go another direction.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/01/2015 at 11:26pm

$250? Damn! Anyway, when I researched the issue with my PS3, I came to the conclusion that the issue has to do with the thermal paste on the processor. I also had mine standing vertically, which isn't recommended, so I set it down horizontally. I did find some solutions to that issue, but none of them seemed simple. Those solutions also said that they could only extend the life of the PS3 for a little bit more until it happened again.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/02/2015 at 03:54am

Start around $250? The most expensive I can find is $219 at Best Buy.

Since you already have a hard drive you can just get a 12gb for cheap and pop in the old drive. The key is finding one now, I think I lucked out. If you're ok with refurbs you can still get them way cheap.

But yeah, if 3D isn't a factor, you can get a Blu-Ray player for like $60

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/02/2015 at 06:07pm

I just checked the 12gb has no HD mounting tray, so that option is out. I didn't check Best Buy I checked Amazon and for the new quieter PS3, they start at $250 if I want to put in my old HD. Refurb and used are not an option i'd do.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/03/2015 at 04:23am

"I just checked the 12gb has no HD mounting tray, so that option is out."

You can buy a mounting tray for $6, but you don't even need the tray.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/03/2015 at 04:25am

More detail: The mounting tray just means the piece of metal the drive sits into so that you can easily slide it in and out of the PS3. The 12gb PS3 has the ports for the hard drive, just no mounting tray. But the tray itself is super cheap.

However, all you need is a piece of something non-conductive to make a wedge, or even a piece of electrical tape to hold the drive in securely. But if you don't want to live dangerously you can just buy the cheap one.

Proof: I have a 12gb PS3 and my hard drive is living there quite happily.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/03/2015 at 04:27am

This dude goes super high-tech :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWrI6U7fMvI

Travis Admin wrote on 11/03/2015 at 04:59am

And yeah, oddly, Amazon is about the most expensive option in this case. That's very odd.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/03/2015 at 05:15pm

That's all really good to know, thanks Travis. That does make the whole prospect cheaper. Still wondering what the chances i'll ever play a game on it again are?

Good thing Portal 2 came with a free Steam copy

Travis Admin wrote on 11/03/2015 at 07:41pm

Eh, if Portal 2 hadn't come with a free Steam copy, you definitely would have gotten it one of the few times they gave it away for free. Gotta love Valve :D

JaBo wrote on 11/05/2015 at 11:46pm

I have a backwards compatible (PS1 and PS2) 60GB HD original PS3 still working fine. My cousin took great care of it and I bought it off him a year and half or two years ago. There's hope!

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Happy 30th Birthday NES - One Of The Best Gaming Systems Of All Time

On October 17th the Nintendo Entertainment System turned 30 and to ring in the occasion CygnusDestroyer made a video showcasing the original 17 games in original NES launch lineup. Funny to consider it's been that long that I obsessed over getting one. I remember the Christmas morning opening it up and being able to finally play Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt whenever I wanted.

Stream Steam Games To Your PC or Android With Moonlight

http://moonlight-stream.com/images/steam_framed.png

I just found an awesome open source project that allows you to stream Steam games to any PC, Amazon or Android device called Moonlight. If you have an NVidia card setup with the NVidia experience for streaming, Moonlight is an open source client that can connect to it. Want to stream your PC library to your Android phone or tablet? You now can.

One cool thing about Moonlight is I was able to get my Steam games to stream to my television through my existing Nexus Player. After installing Moonlight on my Nexus Player I paired it with my PC and could start streaming games. It detected the games on my PC and after that was able to near seamlessly stream Borderlands 2 to my... Read All