jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Click Your Way To Happiness In Tap Adventure Time Travel

jdodson gives this a "Meh" on the Ghost Scale

It’s not amazing, it’s not bad. This is ok but you may want to choose another title.

jdodson gives this a "Meh" on the Ghost Scale

It’s not amazing, it’s not bad. This is ok but you may want to choose another title.

Clicker games are a genre that I might always have a few minutes for. I don't play clicker games very long but for a brief couple of days they are something I can't stop playing. It all started with Cookie Clicker, the absolute best Clicker game i've ever played. Then came the Steam Summer Sale with the Steam Adventure which was a crazy robot friend adventure that was something I played for entirety of that sale period. I tried my hand at AdVenture Capitalist and enjoyed that for a brief stint and my most recent clicker story is of a game brand new to Steam called Tap Adventure: Time Travel. Is it as good as Cookie Clicker? Nope. But it's a pretty fun free to play clicker that you might find enjoyable enough to sink some time into.

Like all clicker games the goal of Tap Adventure is to start out clicking on bad guys long enough to buy a hero to attack and collect gold for you. From that point on you are min maxing your way to collect more gold and experience to hit level 100 so you can "Time Travel" back to the start of the game keeping some of your previous progress in treasure chest keys and some magic stones that act as a form on in game currency or you can optionally choose to continue on to achieve ever crazier gold collection heights. The art style, music and interface of Tap Adventure is quite good which helps when you basically live in the same clicker UI for your game duration. So far in Tap Adventure i've Time Traveled once and found the second iteration through the grind cycle to be easier as I have an understanding when to save gold for the next big upgrade VS saving to buy a new hero.

Tap Adventure: Time Travel is available for free on iPhone, Android, Steam, PC and Mac. If you are looking for a new clicker game to play that isn't too hard and has some fun moments, you might want to check it out.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2017 at 03:29am

OK I had no clue you liked this genre, and that you were the person I needed to ask this question: why are these games a thing?

I'm being incredibly careful in this comment not to be a negative Norman, so I'm sorry if it feels like I'm over-defending myself.

Please note that I am not disparaging the clicker/tapper games at all. I just don't get them. I've tried Cookie Clicker and two iOS games. I adore the Katamari games and one came out for iOS called Tap My Katamari so I had to try it.

But I just don't get it. I get about 30 minutes in at most, and that's just to give it a chance to grab me, because a few seconds in and it already doesn't feel like a game. That's fine, not all genres are for everyone and this one definitely isn't for me but I'm legitimately curious about what the appeal is for those who like it.

Again, this comes off like I'm dropping a deuce on the genre but that's not what it's about. Some people can't get into RTS games, some people can't get into RPGs, and that's fine. I'm not trying to be negative and infect everything with my negativity. I'm legitimately curious.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2017 at 04:33am

> why are these games a thing?

In brief chunks they are like a distilled version of unmitigated progression. It feels like, for a day or so, you can quickly just level up quickly and such and it's fun to see where that goes. THEY GET OLD WAY FAST THOUGH but again, for that brief period it's all fun grind.

Really though for a day or so it's like the craziest slot machine high and I can't stop. Then when it hits me what's happening i'm like "what am I doing" and then I stop. But for a time, it's a crazy fun time.

Hope that helps.

> Tap My Katamari

Someone should win an award for that name.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/14/2017 at 05:29am

I tapped to end that video. Even the music made me sleepy. Zzzz

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2017 at 01:39pm

Jon, yeah that's kinda the answer I expected. I guess I'm just missing the drive necessary for them! I've always disliked games where I feel like progression exists for the sake of progressing and nothing else.

There was a guy from the Diablo 3 dev team defending why they nerfed the amount of gold you get from busting pottery. He referenced playtesting research where if you take a game that has been well received and then put a big button somewhere that says "click me for gold/points/xp/whatever," people will click it a few times and then go on to play the rest of the game and find it less rewarding, so they keep clicking the button and come out with the impression that the game is boring.

It's interesting because these games just take the gameplay out entirely and give you that button and the progression around clicking it more efficiently, and made something that beats that research the Blizzard dev cited.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2017 at 03:13pm

Huh. Yeah. Can't disagree there because I don't really stay interested for long with clickers.

hardeyez wrote on 03/14/2017 at 11:20pm

I get into clickers for short bursts. It's the reverse engineering the progression curve that catches my fancy. I.e. that's the gameplay for me, figuring out how to min/max. Once that's done, I'm bored. There is also some attraction to seeing all the various units in the game also (if there are fun animations/sfx)

hardeyez wrote on 03/14/2017 at 11:21pm

But I do that with a lot of genres -- it's the game dev in me. I did it with several early facebook games (yes, I had spreadsheets for Farmville and for Vampire Wars) and still do it in a lot of other games. I just like separating out the mechanics and see how they balanced the set :)

hardeyez wrote on 03/14/2017 at 11:24pm

I also find more abstract games fun. For example Parameters is a lot of fun to play at least once (it's an abstract rpg) http://nekogames.jp/g.html?gid=PRM

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Footage From Borderlands 3 Surfaces From This Years GDC

After Gearbox announced that it was in development on Borderlands 3 I've been interested in hearing about how it's shaping up. At this years GDC some footage was shown of Borderlands 3 using the latest Unreal Tournament 4 engine and how it's effecting the look of the game. They wanted to stress that they weren't showing a game but an engine but I imagine this is what they will be eventually rolling with when the game launches... when it launches. The video shows off how they make the art style for Borderlands, the new lighting system and some production art assets.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/13/2017 at 05:01am

Looks nice!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2017 at 02:05pm

Its a stretch yet to call it footage from Borderlands 3 since it's just tech demos but yeah this is shaping up nicely.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2017 at 05:05pm

> Its a stretch yet to call it footage from Borderlands 3 since it's just tech demos but yeah this is shaping up nicely.

I'd actually say it's a stretch to say otherwise. Will some of the art change? Yeah sure, but the core engine will be used for sure. Companies don't spend a zillion dollars making this stuff to be scuttled. Even if the code changes, this is the foundation and i'd bet money it will be the foundation for Borderlands 3. The reason he is saying "this isn't a game" is so fans don't get locked into a set of features and then go crazy when they are different in the game or don't show up the way they think. It's more damage control than "yeah man this is what we're gonna do for sure" which again, i'd bet money it will be.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2017 at 05:43pm

Ehhh well, I think I agree with almost everything you said there, so we're probably talking semantics about what is meant by "game footage."

What I mean is that it's a room or two, some random objects, and a character model. There's no game yet to have footage of. For sure this stuff is being worked on FOR Borderlands 3, no question. But they're taking very basic pieces of it to figure out their lighting tech for Unreal 4, essentially.

So what I meant was, taking some assets people have built for BL3 and dropping them into a tech demo to show off lighting isn't game footage.

But again, that's semantics.

However...
> "Companies don't spend a zillion dollars making this stuff to be scuttled."

A lot of them do. Remember the PS3's Final Fantasy VII tech demo? And Valve reportedly did this a lot with games when Source 2 came out, re-creating an entire Left 4 Dead 2 level just to test the engine (and that thing looked amazing). Bethesda may have as well; they claimed at one time that the first step in developing Fallout 4 was to port Skyrim to new consoles and that they had no plans for a Skyrim port... but their plans obviously changed.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2017 at 07:51pm

Art assets change, for sure. The base engine? It evolves for sure but i'd be surprised if the game doesn't look a lot like that when it launches. Companies change things but my main point really is in this instance I bet Borderlands 3 will look very much like that and use that tech.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2017 at 07:57pm

I think there's some miscommunication here because as I said, I totally agree with what you're saying there.

I'm just saying that this is light effects. Yes, they'll probably use those, along with the assets. But it's *just* art and lights now. It's too early to say "footage of Borderlands 3" because it isn't even a game yet.

A video of a wheel and a door isn't footage of a new car.

That's what I mean when I say we're talking semantics.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2017 at 07:58pm

Heh, right.

Games are composed of elements like lighting to make a final product. This is as much Borderlands 3 as my arm is me. That said, detached from my body it's just an arm... That came from me.

But you're right.

PS BORDERLANDS 3 FOOTAGE CONFIRMED! THE GAME CONFIRMED TO HAVE LIGHTS AND SIGNS!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2017 at 08:02pm

So when I said "It's a stretch to..." what I meant was just a simple "wow this is early days so we're a long way off just yet" but here we are talking about "what even is a game?" :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2017 at 08:15pm

BORDERLANDS 3 FOOTAGE CONFIRMED! lol

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2017 at 08:16pm

That's really all I have to say now. I think I'm gonna put that in my email signature.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2017 at 08:18pm

My guess is that they actually have a playable game built. I bet they've more than started that and are integrating all the parts, creating art and doing level design. I've seen what a smaller team can do with UE4(System Shock) in a short amount of time. I bet they are much further along than that demo would suggest.

ALL SPECULATION but they have teams of a zillion so I bet they are pretty far along. MY GUESS is we will see gameplay by years end. That might be really optimistic and wrong though.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2017 at 08:23pm

They probably have the team chunked into smaller ones working on all the parts right now and lighting was the one they were ready to show off. From what I've read about UE dev, it makes things really easy to integrate like that.

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Quake Champions Will Be Free To Play!

Being able to play an old school deathmatch shooter you can play on modern systems that can be played easily with friends is harder than it might sound. Everyone having the same game on Steam is often a problem and if you are having a few friends over as finding a shooter you all have in Steam can be a problem. I recently heard that Quake Champions will be free to play at launch, which makes me very happy. Not only does this mean that anyone with a reasonably powerful PC can play it but it also means that it's available to anyone. Like some modern arena shooters Quake Champions will allow everyone access to Ranger, the default Champion and if you want to play the other Champs you will have to pay. According to Tim Willits you will be able to grind for in game currency to temporarily play as other Champs but if you want to own them, you will have to buy them. In other F2P MOBAs you can grind in game currency to unlock Champs but since different Champions in Quake are simply cosmetic, paying to unlock them makes sense.

Hopefully Quake Champions can be played on reasonable hardware so literally anyone with a PC could play it but if it requires a powerhouse anyone with a newish PC would be OK. The system specs or final release date haven't been announced yet but when they do i'll let you know.

What do you think about Quake Champions going free to play, is this a good idea or do you think this might be bad for the game?

http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/10/14877004/quake-champions-free-to-play-full-price-favor-currency

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2017 at 02:14pm

If the purchases are purely cosmetic, and if they can make enough money from those purchases to keep up the servers, then yeah I like the idea and I think it'll be great for getting new players in and keeping it alive.

If you can pay for anything that gives you any edge in combat, then I don't like the move and it's going to be dominated by people willing to pay more.

It looks like champion skills will be the only thing non-cosmetic but if they're balanced well, then it's not an issue. And it looks like microtransactions aren't factoring into it either-- you just buy the champions pack or you don't-- so this seems to be a good fit.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2017 at 03:23am

> and if they can make enough money from those purchases to keep up the servers

They did that with Quake Zero or Quake something or other and it didn't seem to work out as well. I hope they can strike a great model here because, like Hearthstone, i'd love a free to play game I play often that has a large enough community to fund it.

> It looks like champion skills will be the only thing non-cosmetic but if they're balanced well, then it's not an issue.

So different Champs have different abilities? I guess I missed that. I figured it would be a sort of retelling of Quake 3 where everyone is the same.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2017 at 03:55am

They said in that article that the champ skills were different, but you could select any of them (which seems to be conflicting) and in another article I read earlier it said that they would be different but balanced.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2017 at 04:35am

Huh. Well having more than a cosmetic difference between Champs makes sense. That said, balancing them and only having access to one does seem odd BUT we'll see how it turns out. If it's not great we will still have Unreal Tournament which is shaping up to be great but moving a bit slower than i'd have thought.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2017 at 01:40pm

And maybe the powers are only different in a cosmetic sense? I dunno, we don't have enough info yet, but there are plenty of ways they could do it right.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2017 at 02:35pm

Also yeah, I had kinda forgotten there was a new UT coming. I need to pop in and see how it's progressing.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2017 at 03:11pm

It's coming along really well. Feels very UT/UT3 ish.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2017 at 03:50pm

Neat, that's basically all I wanted from it honestly! The user-created content is icing o n the cake. I haven't played it since around when it was first available to test and it felt close to complete at that time. I guess some things have changed!

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Get Syberia 2 Free On EA Origin!

"She left on a search for a crazy man, it took her all the way across Europe through all of it's ruins and failed Utopias. A strange journey that changed her life forever."

Syberia 2 is the latest game on EA Origins they are giving away for free you might want to look into. It's a point and click adventure game released in 2004 that looks like it blends in campy 90's action movies with ... campy 80's adventure movies? It's free so you know, no harm in trying it.

https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/free-games/on-the-house

Bethesda's New Digital Card Game Elder Scrolls Legends Get Full PC Launch

The Elder Scrolls: Legends is Bethesda's latest digital card game that has finally received a full PC launch. If you are a fan of free to play digital card games 2017 will be a crazy year as Elder Scrolls Legends, Faeria, Hearthstone, Gwent, Magic The Gathering Online, Shadowverse and Duelyst all compete for attention. It's a crazy amount of free content to play but how much grinding can one person actually do in a day? That said, Elder Scrolls Legends does offer a different experience and if you love the world of Tamriel you need to check this out.

I've played The Elder Scrolls Legends in very early alpha and whereas I wasn't too happy with what I played, I am very interested to try the game now that it has reached 1.0. If you have played Elder Scrolls Legends recently let me know what you think of it in the comments.

"It’s been almost a year since we revealed The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and in that time we have built the game into a strong, fun experience for Elder Scrolls and strategy card game fans alike. The feedback we’ve received from the player community has been invaluable and we are endlessly grateful. We wouldn’t be where we are today without our amazing fans and we want to thank them for helping us grow during our closed beta.

And where are we today, exactly? We’re officially launching The Elder Scrolls: Legends! We’re pleased to announce that the PC version of Legends is now out of beta. Start the game today, play with friends, grow your collection, and begin your adventures across Tamriel. If you’ve already been playing Legends, nothing changes. As we said previously, you keep all your cards and the rewards you’ve earned.

But that’s just what’s happening on PC. We’ve run surveys throughout the last year and we heard players loud and clear: You want to play on your tablets and phones. With that in mind, we’re pleased to announce The Elder Scrolls: Legends will soon be available on the following platforms:

iPad – March 23

Android Tablets – April

Mac OS – May

Mobile Phones – Early Summer

https://legends.bethesda.net/articles/legends-full-pc-launch?locale=en

This 16 Minutes Of New Gameplay Footage For Middle-earth: Shadow of War Looks Insane!

Shadow Of Mordor launched in 2014 and i've heard it's one of the best open world Lord of the Rings games ever made. Game creator Monolith Productions just launched a 16 minute gameplay trailer to Shadow of Mordor's followup Shadow of War. Building on the dynamic story and quest system Shadow of War seems to kick things into overdrive and allow you an even more unique game experience. The options they allow in how you defeat strongholds are pretty incredible involving your soldiers, mind control and dragons.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War will be launching on PS4, XBox One and PC on August 22nd but if you can't wait to get your Lord of the Rings on and haven't played the original Shadow of Mordor you can get the game of the year edition right now on Steam for $20.

How Are You Going To Buy Star Wars Rogue One?

Rogue One A Star Wars Story blew up the box office pulling in over a billion dollars! Because Disney didn't make quite as much as they should and also because I can't stop buying Star Wars movies I am going to pickup Rogue One when it hits video. There are a couple options on the table for how you can pick it up and I felt it was worth a bit of time to discuss our options.

If you want to get the new movie but can't stand buying physical copies you might want to pickup Rogue One March 24th. I still don't quite get why people do this as nearly all Bluray releases contain a digital copy, but if you don't want to add to the landfill going digital is the best way to go.

If you're like me and still enjoy opening the actual movie, putting the disc in the tray and realizing you could be saving your time by just streaming it you will be getting it on Bluray on April 4th. You can't go wrong with any of the versions available at stores but the special ultra-cool collectors edition is at Target you might want to look into. When Target got the special version with extra behind the scenes extras for Force Awakens that content was digital only and not available on a packin disc. This really sucked and many people complained so it seems Disney has listened and Target is getting an exclusive 5-disc set includes collectible packaging with interchangeable character covers and exclusive bonus content.

http://www.starwars.com/news/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-arrives-soon-digital-hd-blu-ray

Are you going to get Rogue One and if so how?

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/08/2017 at 04:54am

Blu-ray: Amazon because I am lazy.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/08/2017 at 05:00am

I haven't seen it, so I might try to rent it via Amazon Video. I already have a few other movies on my list to rent such as "Arrival" and "Doctor Strange."

Also, I saw a trailer today for Star Wars VIII and the movie is coming out in December.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/08/2017 at 05:39am

Star Wars VIII trailer was dope.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/08/2017 at 02:36pm

I hate to tell you guys, you didn't really see an episode 8 trailer

http://ktar.com/story/1483276/fan-made-last-jedi-trailer-fakes-star-wars-fans-online/

I'm definitely getting Rogue One at Target. Gotta get those extra special features!

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/08/2017 at 03:59pm

Oh, I was trolling. I thought GregoPeck was too. Did not know about the fake trailer.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/08/2017 at 04:10pm

My guess is a full blown episode VIII teaser trailer will be out at Star Wars Celebration and they will announce The original Mew Hope film cut on 4K release details.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/08/2017 at 07:23pm

Wow, I had no idea.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/08/2017 at 07:42pm

In my defense, I found the trailer on Facebook, a friend posted it in a private group. Although, I could have checked YouTube or other links to verify it.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/08/2017 at 07:43pm

Yeah it's well done!

You're right though, it's coming out in December.

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You Can Signup For iD's New Quake Closed Beta Right Now!

Quake was one of the first staples at the early LAN parties I had with my friends. Since I didn't have enough money to afford the full game we were limited to four player multiplayer with the demo. Later on when I had a bit more money I found Quake III on sale and played the heck out of that. Quake, Quake II and Quake III had excellent multiplayer which is something that iD hasn't really seemed to master lately. I really enjoyed the packin co-op that Rage came with and the car deathmatch was really fun too. That said, Quake Champions is iD's upcoming arena based multiplayer shooter and it looks like a incredible retelling of Quake III.

If you're like me then you might be really interested in joining the closed beta and if you are you should head over to the Quake site and join. I'm not sure how many people they will let in, but if it's like most betas they will slowly trickle folks in to test the game and servers and then open the flood gates a bit before launch.

https://quake.bethesda.net/en/

Cygnus Destroyer Looks Back At The Wii U

"The Nintendo Switch is currently flying off store shelves across the globe, but the Switch wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the Wii U. Released in November 2012, the commercially failed successor to the massively popular Wii may have produced less than 200 games during its brief run, but there was a lot of gold to be found among that paltry library. Join me on a journey to pay tribute to the severely underrated black sheep of the eighth console generation!"

If I was pressed to buy a console from the PS4, XBox One and Wii U generation I would have picked up the Wii U. As a PC gamer I feel the games we get fill in the gaps that console exclusives often leave open except with Nintendo games. There is nothing like Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8 and Zelda being made by other companies right now and I honestly believe that Nintendo offers a different game experience than most companies. That said, I didn't get a Wii U but really respect it even if it didn't have the largest game library or a very long lifespan. As the Nintendo Switch is now launched Cygnus Destroyer takes a look at the Wii U and some of his most favorite games on the console. As Nintendo launches it's last game on the Wii U in Breath of the Wild I see the Wii U maintaining a long lifespan well beyond it's years in the retro and collector communities.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/07/2017 at 05:11pm

Mario Kart was the most played game on my Wii U. My problem with the Wii U was the second screen did not live up to expectations. If I wanted to play my game just on the controller screen, I had to be in the same room as the Wii U. As soon as I left the room, the connection would be dropped.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/07/2017 at 05:26pm

The Wii U was the Switch prototype and it seems the Switch does the mobile thing way better.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/07/2017 at 05:28pm

^ I just ran into this same problem. I was playing Zelda and wanted to move the bathroom, but couldn't. Poor me had to switch to a game on my phone! #ItsAHardKnockLife

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/07/2017 at 05:36pm

Yeah, it feels like the Switch is what the Wii U should have been.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/07/2017 at 05:38pm

Adam: your solution is in your sentence. "Poor me had to SWITCH to a game on my phone!" Switch is where it's at.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/07/2017 at 05:42pm

LOL, seriously. I just don't want to buy a new system yet. Also, Zelda looks AMAZING on the Wii U still :)

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/07/2017 at 05:47pm

You just can't play it on the toilet.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/07/2017 at 06:00pm

Eventually I'll move it in there ;)

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Metal Jesus & Kelsey Break Down The VirtualBoy and All Of It's Nintendo Fueled Greatness

Some people cite the short lifespan of Nintendo's recent Wii U as proof it's biggest failure Nintendo has ever had. As popular as that meme is right now the shortest lifespan of a Nintendo console was a year and it was for the VirtualBoy. The VirtualBoy is a Nintendo console that was launched in 1995 with VR that only allowed games two use colors in red and black. The tech was pretty cool and I remember being impressed with it playing it in the stores but none of the games seemed so great I just had to have one and then it was off the market. The VirtualBoy is the perfect system for collectors as it can live on and be a unique footnote in gaming history.

jdodson1

2757 Posts

Click Your Way To Happiness In Tap Adventure Time Travel

Footage From Borderlands 3 Surfaces From This Years GDC

Quake Champions Will Be Free To Play!

Get Syberia 2 Free On EA Origin!

Bethesda's New Digital Card Game Elder Scrolls Legends Get Full PC Launch

This 16 Minutes Of New Gameplay Footage For Middle-earth: Shadow of War Looks Insane!

How Are You Going To Buy Star Wars Rogue One?

You Can Signup For iD's New Quake Closed Beta Right Now!

Cygnus Destroyer Looks Back At The Wii U

Metal Jesus & Kelsey Break Down The VirtualBoy and All Of It's Nintendo Fueled Greatness