If you are looking for a spartan way to play music, Steam Music is it. That said, over the years I have been spoiled by certain features like playlists and the ability to look at your collection by album cover art(This mode is available in Big Picture but not Desktop, yet). I imagine Valve will work on adding some of these features but if you are looking for a simple...
If you are looking for a spartan way to play music, Steam Music is it. That said, over the years I have been spoiled by certain features like playlists and the ability to look at your collection by album cover art(This mode is available in Big Picture but not Desktop, yet). I imagine Valve will work on adding some of these features but if you are looking for a simple...
Mario hit blocks with his clenched fist, not his head. Seriously. I mean, here.
http://global3.memecdn.com/when-you-realize-that-mario-hits-the-block-with-his-hand_fb_1381489.jpg
Box cover proof.
http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1033208935-00.jpg
Same in Mario 3.
http://www.significant-bits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Super_Mario_All_Stars_3_1.png
Super Mario World.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-2010k0wfSOw/UYqFEudIcXI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/8PqBcJ-j4sc/s9000/SuperMarioWorld.jpg
That... Read All If you are looking for some daily LOL's this Pete Holmes video will foot the bill. That said, I want everyone to read the next few sentences with the nerdiest fanboy stereotypical vibe imaginable.
Mario hit blocks with his clenched fist, not his head. Seriously. I mean, here.
http://global3.memecdn.com/when-you-realize-that-mario-hits-the-block-with-his-hand_fb_1381489.jpg
Box cover proof.
http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1033208935-00.jpg
Same in Mario 3.
http://www.significant-bits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Super_Mario_All_Stars_3_1.png
Super Mario World.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-2010k0wfSOw/UYqFEudIcXI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/8PqBcJ-j4sc/s9000/SuperMarioWorld.jpg
That said, it's still a funny video even after initially laughing I go into full comic book guy mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzyd91NFx-Y
You're very right, but still. That was funny :)
Also, dammit, I now need to play Super Mario World again.
Yeah, you should. I've been having a great time reliving some SNES classics.
Since I don't have the "warm fuzzies" of Earthbound nostalgia love, I think my perspective is interesting. Many times i've tried to head back into older titles and haven't loved the result. Some games from the NES or SNES era don't hold up as well as others and that's... Read All For years, Earthbound has been a huge blemish on my "gaming wall of shame." As I have been playing Far Cry 3 I have wanted to play something with a less serious tone so I started Earthbound. Earthbound is a retro RPG that has a pretty interesting history and fan community. This post isn't a primer on that history or community, but a few thoughts on the game itself and how well it holds up today.
Since I don't have the "warm fuzzies" of Earthbound nostalgia love, I think my perspective is interesting. Many times i've tried to head back into older titles and haven't loved the result. Some games from the NES or SNES era don't hold up as well as others and that's disappointing to experience. That said, Earthbound moves beyond all that as it holds up really well now.
From the initial screen, to the first parts discovering your mission, Earthbound weaves interesting story telling with superb art and music. Since Earthbound came out after the Super Nintendo was established the game reflects this by providing a really polished experience.
If you haven't played the game and are looking to check it out, I recommend you do. You can pick it up on the Wii, Wii U, Gameboy Advance or Super Nintendo. Each version is basically the same, but some alterations were made from the initial Super Nintendo version to accommodate the platform.
Oh and by an awesome set of circumstances, Nintendo has decided to post the entire Nintendo Power Earthbound guide online, for free.
http://earthbound.nintendo.com/playersguide/
Oh and checkout STARMEN.NET, an awesome community of Earthbound and Mother fans.
http://starmen.net/
Someday I need to get around to playing this as well.
Yeah, it's been fun as I've been playing it for the last few weeks.
It's a nice change of pace from more "serious games."
Linux is becoming more of a first class game platform and this news from GOG seems to... Read All "The first 50+ titles we've have in store for you come from all the corners of our DRM-Free catalog. Note that we've got many classic titles coming officially to Linux for the very first time, thanks to the custom builds prepared by our dedicated team of penguin tamers. That's over twenty fan-favorite GOG.com classics, like FlatOut&Flatout 2, , Darklands, or Realms of the Haunting we've personally ushered one by one into the welcoming embrace of Linux gamers. That's already quite a nice chunk of our back-catalog, and you can expect more from our dedicated Linux team soon!"
Linux is becoming more of a first class game platform and this news from GOG seems to solidify that. The list of titles they brought to the platform is very unique and I can't wait to see what else they add to the list over time.
Coupled with the news of GOG Galaxy this puts GOG in a really unique position.
http://www.gog.com/news/gogcom_now_supports_linux
Next up: Origin! :)
I say that jokingly, but I wouldn't be surprised if Origin has Linux support in a year or two.
Hmmm, it's really possible but I wonder what EA would have to gain there. Unless they want to get into their own console business which would be interesting.
Well, the same thing anyone has to gain I suppose. Steam Machines are happening and people are reacting, albeit slowly. EA does have some indie titles they publish. I won't say it's a great fit for EA but I think the extra funds to develop Linux versions of their games would be made up by profits. Origin is out for Mac already so they're branching out.
I think it's less about having their own console, and more about getting out from under Windows, which is more or less where everything is going.
I hope EA gets behind "something other than windows" and the answer to that is Linux. That would be great.
Portrait of a Plumber features 21 tracks arranged by 16 artists that re-envision the original compositions of Koji Kondo in a variety of styles."
Like all OCRemix albums, Portrait of a Plumber is available for free. You can download the full 250M MP3 Album+Art OR get the 1.02G FLAC+MP3+Art+Trailer bundle. Portrait of a Plumber is OCRemix 48th community album collaboration and both discs clock in at 1 hour and 24 minutes or Mario 64 jams.
... Read All "OCR does Mario!! Super Mario 64: Portrait of a Plumber is the 48th FREE community arrangement album published by OverClocked ReMix and arranges music from the legendary Nintendo 64 launch title Super Mario 64.
Portrait of a Plumber features 21 tracks arranged by 16 artists that re-envision the original compositions of Koji Kondo in a variety of styles."
Like all OCRemix albums, Portrait of a Plumber is available for free. You can download the full 250M MP3 Album+Art OR get the 1.02G FLAC+MP3+Art+Trailer bundle. Portrait of a Plumber is OCRemix 48th community album collaboration and both discs clock in at 1 hour and 24 minutes or Mario 64 jams.
http://plumber.ocremix.org/
Are you going to pick this up? Might be a good time to get back into The Sims. EA is giving away The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection free on Origin until July 31st It's simple to redeem your copy, just open up Origin and choose "Redeem Product Code" from the Games tab with the code "I-LOVE-THE-SIMS". According to EA The Ultimate Collection includes The Sims 2, as well as every single The Sims 2 expansion pack and stuff pack.
Are you going to pick this up? Might be a good time to get back into The Sims.
For a sec I thought this was The Sims 3 ultimate and was excited. I'll still snag this because, hey... free game. But the Sims 3 DLC is like $400 :)
While we're talking Origin, what's everyone's username? I'm panickedthumb, as I bet you could guess. I have no Origin friends, it would be nice to add a couple.
My username is the same as my Steam one.
When I search for your Steam username all I get is your steam username with a C at the beginning.
Do you have a link? I'm assuming Origin is like Steam, I've never heard of it.
If you want to get EA Origin you can do that here: https://www.origin.com
Following the link, I see that The Sims 4 is read for pre-order. Thanks for posting the video, I think it's funny.
Ok, I'm downloading. I found Travis on there, but not you, Jon.
yeah Jon, get with the program.
;)
<= you
Some bastard out there took the name whiteboyslim already, so I had to use my alternate handle: taion333.
I downloaded the Sims 2 yesterday and played it for a little bit last night. By a little bit I mean I completely lost track of time and didn't realize it was 2am when I finally went to sleep. Oops!
LOL, Tim. I downloaded mine last night, but it wasn't finished by 2am.
I found news about this, I just think it's cool that I found out about it here first and days before finding this article in my email: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2457728/free-game-alert-eas-giving-away-the-sims-2-after-ending-support-for-the-game.html#tk.nl_game
Peggle is another free game that's mentioned in the article I shared in my last comment. It's kind of fun, I've spent 7 hours playing it. It's kind of like pinball.
As for The Sims 2, I've spent 11 hours playing. I had a very long game play run with it a few days ago. It was fun, cool, and I wasn't really ready for it to be over, but I needed to go to bed. I've gone through the game's tutorials. I selected Belladonna Cove and installed every additional thing in that neighborhood, which means there's much more there to discover. I selected Chester Gieke and moved him into an apartment. I gave him a nice bonus of money with a cheat.
I eventually bought him a phone and a huge screen TV. I've been enjoying the Aspiration system and getting my Sim to do what he wants to accomplish during the day. I've also enjoyed the Aspiration rewards. I bought the very expensive Elixir of Life. Actually, I've bought two of them, which you can only buy with Aspiration points. I've had Chester finish one (you can drink it a few times) and started on another. So right now, he's a fresh adult, since the EoL takes age off of your Sim, age that accumulates with time.
I completed one of his original Aspirations by getting a job as a detective, but recently his Aspirations were to quit his job, so I did that. I'm still trying to accomplish those Aspirations, but I'm finding that it's not always easy as my Sim is often now in a bad mood and doesn't want to study. I hate when he gets whiny and annoying. Hahaha.
I don't think I've had any issues with the game at all. I'm actually surprised that I've gotten into it and have been enjoying it. That's always a great reward when getting a game free, especially one like The Sims which has a large collection of add-ons.
Anyone else still playing? If you want to connect with me on Origin, you should be able to find me easily as GregoPeck.
I haven't actually installed it yet, but I nabbed it on Origin.
Have you edited the game to run it in full HD resolution? I guess by default the game doesn't run in a high res on modern systems.
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=734940
No, I'm going to look into that, thanks! Time is running out, Jon, "get with the program!" LOL
SO MANY GAMES GREG!
But the reason I haven't installed Sims 2 is that I am still playing Earthbound. So much fun.
I wish I had that problem. Just keep in mind that the offer expires soon. I thought it was funny that I was playing Starbound and you were playing Earthbound.
Oh, I followed your link. I edited one file, copied it, and then pasted it into each other folder that contained the resolution configuration. There are a lot of folders in The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection because of all the add-ons. I was then able to set my resolution in the game to the max 1920X1200. I didn't notice any black bars on the side as the link mentioned. The game has looked good in every resolution I've played it in.
The offer expires soon, but that doesn't mean you can't keep playing after the offer expires.
While playing today, my Sim, Chester, met a lady named Gina. They some how hit it off, went on a "dream date," got married, moved into a house, and are now expecting a baby.
Congratulations, you are playing SOAP OPERA SIMULATOR.
Unfortunately, Gina died before or during giving birth to the baby, neither survived. Her ghost was seen by "the player" (not the Sim), her ghost was still pregnant. While disappointed, Chester continues to live on spending a lot of his time jogging and loving his black kitten named Bonkers.
Geez, she has to live the whole afterlife carrying around a reminder of the child she could never have? That seems cruel. That's some straight-up creepy CaptCurry-Norn-Story disturbing.
Yeah.
Well, Chester started bringing a female friend home from work. Eventually, they flirted enough and became lovers. They got married, she moved in, and now they're expecting a baby. She is at the same stage of pregnancy as Chester's first wife, so I'm hoping she survives. It was weird, with the first wife, she was playing pool and just disappeared. I'm not sure why she died, but I think she was hungry at the time and might have starved to death.
Oh and Chester did finally see her ghost. I then decided to move the grave to another plot in the community where they had their honeymoon.
T"hat's some straight-up creepy CaptCurry-Norn-Story disturbing." :feelsgood:
> I then decided to move the grave to another plot in the community where they had their honeymoon.
I read that as "the cemetery where they had their honeymoon" and thought this was way more screwed up than it already is.
Ha! That's how I read it too!
Hahahaha. I was able to click on the urn and select "move grave." When doing that, you can decide to move it to a community lot, so I chose the place where they went on vacation after they married, which is not a cemetery.
Having a character named Chester (game created), I thought of Linkin Park's lead singer. So, i named the new baby boy, Linkin. He's a toddler now.
I found out that I could try to resurrect Chester's first wife, but that requires one of the career rewards in the Paranormal career field. Apparently with the Resurrect-O-Nomitron, there's a chance that the dead person may come back ill, as a zombie, or not at all. Chester got over that first loss rather gracefully, so I probably won't explore the resurrection option. His life aspiration is to be a criminal mastermind, so he's working in the Criminal career path.
My friend had a Sims 2 character on that career path. He was working as a thief. He got sick for a few days and had to call in sick, so he got fired. From being a thief.
I've never been interested in trying out a Sims game, but you guys are making it intriguing. Especially for free!
Linkin is now a teen! Oh and the nanny died, Chester watched her die. She was seated on a couch and wouldn't move and I couldn't get my character to interact with her. I figured out that the huge-screen TV was in the way. Once I moved it, she passed out and died on the floor, Chester watched the Grim Reaper take her away, and then he moved her grave to Central Park.
I'm thinking of sending Linkin off to college, although he's been a horrible student.
Dang, there are a lot of people dying around Chester. Maybe his son should go off to college. It might be safer for him there.
Not much to update on my own Sims' progress. I made 4 new Sims based (loosely) off of my wife, myself, and two of our friends (gotta have friends for my sims!) and took all four of them through college together. I'm going to try apartment life next and start working towards trying out all the vacation stuff since I've never played those expansions before.
Adam, if you want it, you better grab it now. The deal is about over.
Jeez, Greg. "Oh, and the nanny died, Chester watched her die." I think Chester is a murderer.
Everyone around Chester only knows pain.
Linkin went to college and has received a "D" for three semesters now. I'm going to have to research how to get a better grade. I've had him write term papers and do assignments often, but he still fails. Tim, perhaps you've mastered the college life. Apartment life is what Chester started out with.
Chester isn't guilty for the death of the nanny, that was "the player's fault." Haha. I also forgot to mention that once lightning struck a tree and it caught fire. There seems to be a never-ending flame in the tree now. I had Ratna, Chester's wife, call the fire department, but they were fined instead, apparently the large fire had already extinguished. They did have to call the exterminator as a couple of groups of roaches appeared outside near the trash can.
Also, Greg, I'm thoroughly enjoying this. I don't normally care about play-by-play gaming reconstructions, but I just can't wait to hear what Chester does next :)
Greg, you have the burning bush. I have changed my opinion of Chester, he isn't a murderer, he's Moses.
Well, I'm glad you guys are entertained. Linkin still struggles through college, he can't seem to earn a passing grade. Perhaps we sent him to college too soon.
Well, maybe. If he got a job he might have had a hard time too.
Actually, he got a job in the Musical career path, since his life-long aspiration includes being in the Entertainment business. He actually has fun at his job!
Bonkers, the first family cat, has died. His grave was moved to Central Park West. Alegra, a new kitten, and Jake, a puppy, were adopted. After getting expelled from college, Linkin temporarily moved in with his parents. He soon moved into his own place right next door.
Linkin got married, he and his wife had a baby boy, Vincenzo. Afterwards, Chester and Ratna had a baby boy, Toby. I named the boys after a character in the book series I'm currently reading. Ratna's life long aspiration is to marry off 6 children. She is now down to 5 left to marry off. I'm not sure if she'll accomplish this goal, but we shall see.
Meanwhile, Toby has grown into a kid and is now controllable. I didn't realize this when Linkin grew of the age. Perhaps that's why he did horribly in school. Hopefully, Toby will have a better childhood and do well in school.
My origin handle to connect with is "golok32"
I recently found a website that has scanned in all the old Valiant Nintendo... Read All When I was a wee lad in the 90's Nintendo ruled my world. Not only did they make the best console at the time, but they also had a foothold in many other areas. Nintendo trading cards, Nintendo Cereal & Nintendo Comics were all things I desperately needed. Even though my childlike yearning was real, I didn't have much money so I really only had Nintendo Games and some trading cards. My cousin, WhiteboySlim had the comics books and I loved reading them when I went over to his house. To this day "Pihrana-Round Sue" and "Money Changes Everything" are some of my most beloved comics of all time.
I recently found a website that has scanned in all the old Valiant Nintendo Comics System issues and made them available to read online. Since there is no modern incarnation of these comics through the normal digital channels, it's good people are making them available so they don't lost to time.
http://catfish.it.cx/trsrockin/trsrockin.com/ncs.html
Get hype.
You need to be a pretty big nerd to read Mario comic books...
http://i.imgur.com/aHVlAUw.jpg
A word of advice though. Comics are kind of hard to read as a bed time story for kids. There's usually a lot of onomatopoeia and trying to read it all out loud gets kind of awkward after awhile.
I still remember the day when this showed up at my house so long ago....I thought it was pretty cool. I later bought Donkey Kong Country from my older brother's friend for $12 or something, mostly in quarters...in fact my girlfriend and I just played through half the game last week! Oh Nintendo the memories continue, thank you.
http://youtu.be/2GlVqnmBz_E
@WhiteboySlim, that's the issue. I hope someone is selling it at PRGE as i'd love to add it to my collection.
@lokani Donkey Kong Country is a really great game. I'd put it up there on a top games of the SNES for sure.
"So I guess this is happening..."
Hot on the heels of news of a Mac port and achievements this next Terraria update may very well be the biggest updates to hit the game.
https://twitter.com/Cennxx/status/491691425592279040
http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/2110/mac-version-achievements-coming-to-terraria Today one of the developers of Terraria tweeted the above image and the following text:
"So I guess this is happening..."
Hot on the heels of news of a Mac port and achievements this next Terraria update may very well be the biggest updates to hit the game.
https://twitter.com/Cennxx/status/491691425592279040
http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/2110/mac-version-achievements-coming-to-terraria
Love it. Now we just need some time estimates. Yes, I'm aware that I was just complaining about the Starbound time estimates yesterday.
AND this is where Terraria shines. They promise little and talk very rarely about timelines.
I also found out that the developers were going to be releasing "nightly builds." This gives us access to what they have done each day. In order to access them you have to opt-in to get them (http://playstarbound.com/nightly-builds-are-live/). It is... Read All I've been waiting for some updated news about Starbound. I've remained out of the loop for a while, so after seeing Travis mention something about an update, I thought it was time to look into it. One of the developers posted some great thoughts about the game's development, which give great insight into Starbound and Early Access gaming (http://playstarbound.com/some-thoughts-on-early-access-release-dates-the-big-1-0/).
I also found out that the developers were going to be releasing "nightly builds." This gives us access to what they have done each day. In order to access them you have to opt-in to get them (http://playstarbound.com/nightly-builds-are-live/). It is recommended to back up your game files, if you want to save anything. I did not create a back up because I wasn't too concerned about saving my current characters. After Starbound updated with the "nightly builds," I was given an error. After some brief troubleshooting, I found that I had to delete my universe and player folders along with starbound.config. This got the game running.
I also realized that all schematics seemed to be unlocked and I was invincible. Luckily, I found a post about it that said you need to turn off administrator privileges. Typing "/ruinthefun" in the game took care of all of that. While I've only spent a couple of hours with the new build, I thought I'd share some of the issues I ran into along with how to resolve them.
I'm looking forward to exploring the game again to see what's changed since the last main update. I think just even after playing it for a couple of hours has shown me some of those changes, which are so far welcome.
From Ty's post:
"1.0 used to be the version at which the game was released and sold. Finished was the point at which a game went on sale. By this old definition Starbound is technically finished. However we’ve obviously decided not to label the game 1.0 or finished. Yet the game is available to buy. So what does 1.0 mean now?"
Uhhhh, no.
http://playstarbound.com/roadmap/
The Quest stuff isn't done, server stuff isn't done, etc. I mean, I guess they could say 1.0 is what they have now but it's not what they promised to I don't entirely understand why they are saying the game is technically 1.0.
That said, interested to see you thoughts on how it plays.
I think you're misinterpreting what Tiy is saying there. He's saying that, *if* we go by the definition of finished = when you sell it, then since they're selling it, the game is technically finished by that definition. By the old rules, you sell a game when it's finished, so since they're selling it, by the old rules, it's finished.
He's basically saying, with the next sentence, "However we’ve obviously decided not to label the game 1.0 or finished. Yet the game is available to buy. So what does 1.0 mean now," that the old rules don't apply. So how do we define finished and 1.0 now in this new paradigm?
I may have misunderstood that bit but that may be the point entirely.
"I feel 1.0 is an arbitrary release number and it’s down to us to decide what 1.0 means in the context of our game. If anything, 1.0 exists as a guide for the people that want to wait and play the game when it’s in a state that we are entirely happy with it."
Wouldn't 1.0 be the game they promised? So a full game with quests, server support and all the bells and whistles they said they'd include and in a reasonably bug-free state? The game might be a lot of fun at points along the way, but it's not arbitrary when you describe what Starbound will consist of and they very much did describe it.
"We’ve chosen to keep upping the ante for 1.0, but that absolutely doesn’t mean that what’s available and playable right now is any less a game, any less enjoyable or any less worth the £9 we ask for it."
If I had known the game I was getting into the "beta"(as in Alpha) for was going to go like this, I would have skipped out on buying it until later. I agree the game is playable and is really enjoyable for some, but I didn't really want what I got. I mean, I knew there would be some breakage but I didn't expect it would have developed like this.
I think the communities reaction and the fact they make these statements often are proof many other people fell the same way. Said another way, they didn't write that blog post just for me, tons of people are sour on the state of the game.
That said, I later bought Curtis's Starbound score on it's own and it's great. So that part I enjoy immensely.
Sure. I don't really like what Tiy is saying in that blog post for the most part. I agree with your interpretation of 1.0, and I think they do too, with additions. I was just clarifying that one piece.
Honestly, they never should have promised anything. No release date targets, anyway. Late 2013 became early 2014 became some time in 2014 became some time in 2015. That's a big jump. I do get the issues they're going through, and I certainly want them to do it right, but... that's a big jump.
Right. Software is complicated and don't fault them for taking as long as it takes.
I do sort of fault them for playing clean up in the way that they do, it generally always sits ill with my gamer soul.
Thanks for sharing the "roadmap," Jon, I nearly forgot about it. That helps show that there is still work to be done with the game. It's been a long time since I looked at it the first time, so I'm not sure how much has changed since then. Many areas do seem to be nearly complete.
I've apparently spent 170 hours into the game and I enjoyed it the first time around. At one point, I lost reason to keep going and playing, but knowing that the game's progression would change. So far, despite the issues I posted above, I really haven't had much trouble playing the game. Those issues were easily resolved. As for it's development, I think of it as a beta and a pretty good one.
That's kinda the problem though. I'd call it beta right now, I suppose, and probably since you started playing. But what we got in the early days of the "beta" was definitely alpha quality.
At 170 hours you have gotten your moneys worth for sure! What's your game play/progression looked like?
Yes, I've gotten my money's worth! It cost me a whole $0. As for game play/progression, I'm not sure what you mean exactly. But, I usually do the tutorial stuff and then craft what I can or want, especially weapon and armor upgrades. Eventually this process requires exploration of more difficult areas (planets in other sectors). It didn't seem to take very long to finally gain the highest gear and therefore diminished my desire to continue further exploration.
So far, my biggest pet peeve with Starbound is the new death penalty. When you die, you lose an amount of pixels and drop all the ore you were holding. Supposedly, you can go back to the spot and pick it back up, but it also, supposedly, despawns rather quickly. This is something I wish I could turn off.
I've recreated my character and world a few times for numerous reasons. The new death penalty alone is something that takes some time to get used to and therefore alter your strategy. So far, I haven't found very much copper, iron, or higher grade ore. I think most of the time, I end up finding bars in a chest.
Recently, I noticed that stairs were invisible and then I noticed that they became visible again with the new "nightly build." I thought that was a bit of a quick fix, but I also keep in mind the purpose of the "nightly builds" and what developers are doing with them. Still, so far, the game seems pretty stable as it has since I first started playing it.
Really, all this talk about Starbound just makes me want to play another game of terraria. I vote with the next major patch, or the linux and Mac versions releasing, whichever comes first, we do a server.
I recently created a new character and world in Terraria. I got so far as having platinum armor. I've fought the Eye a couple of times, but it always ran away as night was ending. It's interesting to see the little changes since the last time I played it for a long time. I'm interested in new content and also wishing all versions could have the same content, or at least let us on the PC have the console content, too. =)
Travis: A new Terraria server would be great. Is your Internet connection good enough to host it?
If we do it again we should just pay to host. I know it tanked when you were watching Netflix and I imagine the same would happen if I hosted. There are some really cheap options like .99 per month per player.
Sounds good.
Ugh, this game has gotten brutal! Today I have been completely unable to find any vines at all! These are needed to create bandages. I can't tell you how many times today I've deleted my character (which is now an in-game option) and recreated a new one. Still, I find the planets to seem to have no open caves near the surface. I thought that maybe I would find some on another planet, but to get my ship repaired I need Core Fragments, which are supposedly very far down beneath the planet's surface. I haven't found any yet, but I haven't gotten very deep yet as I'm finding that I have to mine my own way down looking for caves. This is probably one of those "nightly build" issues where bugs and issues are to be expected.
Another issue I've found is that the manual doesn't work right. You can click to read something, but you'll only see the very bottom of the text, not the full text. I've already said it, but I have to say it again, I hate the new death penalty, particularly that you drop the ore you were holding. It is the reason I have begun to back up my character and universe folders. Kind of like how I did with Minecraft, where I constantly backed up and reverted to backups upon death.
I'm thinking about posting in the forums about these issues, although they may already be known. When I first tried to play it today, it crashed. It would not load my character. Although I searched for a resolution to the particular error I was having, I found that deleting my character resolved the issue.
Still, I keep playing. I want to see how the game has changed. I like the feeling I have now that I'm participating in the beta version of the game now that updates are much more frequent with the "nightly builds." This has peaked my interest in the game and given me more reason to play it.
Yeah, like I said earlier, nightly builds are GOING to break and things aren't going to work the way you want them to.
Yeah, I mean at least they came out right and said that. I do expect some things may be broken. Some times it seems minor and doesn't really matter and sometimes it just bites. I've found an underground cave system connected to the usual underground "base" that I've been finding. While exploring one section of the cave, I noticed there were no vines hanging from the cave ceilings like usual. Near-surface caves seem to have pretty much vanished. Originally, they weren't so hard to find as there were multiple cave openings on the surface. Now, I can't even find one. Maybe it's a world-generation issue that will be resolved soon.
It's official. I have spent only 1 hour more playing Terraria than Starbound. Steam says I've spent 203 hours in Starbound now. It's kind of hard to believe, but then I think the counter starts when the launcher is opened, not when you click to finally get in the game.
I've spent a lot of time lately playing Starbound with the nightly builds. I've been following some messages on the forums about them as well, particularly regarding issues I'm having. Yesterday, I finally was able to get some fiber from thorny bushes deep underground where I also finally found some core fragments (needed to repair ship). With my ship repaired, it was time to move on to another planet, hopefully one that contained vines for fiber farming.
Unfortunately, that's about as far as I got. I traveled to one planet, some how completely ignoring the danger level and was killed quickly by aliens. After repairing the ship, the computer tells you to check out a gate. It seems it was referring to an outpost, there are currently two of these in my system. Unfortunately, beaming to the surface is basically a death wish as it is made up almost entirely of lava with no safe place to land and no room to move. The player can then die or beam back to the ship. Sometimes, beaming to the surface of an outpost also crashes the games. Sometimes, also, it will be completely void except for stars in the background. So, while outposts have been created or added, they are currently broken.
Outposts are now important for game progression. Also, in order to exit the current system, the player must repair the ship's FTL drive with moonstone. I tried to fly to another planet, but the ship kept moving or "jumping." It made the sound that it makes when it finally arrives to the planet, but it didn't stop or land.
It seems to me that the nightly builds are released at 2am EST, so I look forward to new updates. In fact, I think I now have more reason to look forward to them in hopes that the major issues I've found are fixed. Also, I'd like to note that I'm not trying to use this space to complain about the game, more of that I'm reporting the progress of the game regarding the new nightly builds. =)
While I've complained about the lack of near-surface caves and vines, I finally found some vines growing in a cave. They just aren't as common as they were. It also dawned on me to farm for plant fiber. This has been successful and cool because I hadn't really bothered with farming much until I needed plant fiber.
I read that the infinite FTL jump bug was fixed, so I'm hoping to be able to visit another planet. I already know where some Core Fragments are, I just created a silver pickaxe to mine them. I believe outposts and asteroid belts are still death traps, from continued reading of posts in the forums. Gates have apparently appeared, too.
While much of the information about each planet seems to be missing, outposts are no longer death traps. On some of them, there appears to be a gate, but nothing of use. Others looked like what you'd expect in a space-age outpost with a fuel station and NPCs. Other than storing items, I'm not sure that anything is useful in them yet, but it's cool to see some progress.
I seem to have unlocked some other necessary items, like a Metal Working Station, which help in crafting better gear and using better materials. So, today's nightly build seems to be showing some improvements.
In this video I go over a very large issue that has to do with early access games. Basically, a large majority feel that these games do not deserve any criticism. You can't complain about something that's not done. The fact is, depending on how the game is labeled (alpha or beta) there are certain objections you can make. "
We have talked about problem Early Access games before and this video seems to add to that conversation. Do you think that certain people let certain elements slide because the game is... Read All "Is it always a valid excuse for a game to be poor? Well it just may depend on how you the game is labeled. Like and subscribe for more content on early access games!
In this video I go over a very large issue that has to do with early access games. Basically, a large majority feel that these games do not deserve any criticism. You can't complain about something that's not done. The fact is, depending on how the game is labeled (alpha or beta) there are certain objections you can make. "
We have talked about problem Early Access games before and this video seems to add to that conversation. Do you think that certain people let certain elements slide because the game is early access?
This is a great breakdown of the development process for us laypeople. I've always thought of Alpha releases as a combination of the Integration and System Testings, so that's what' I've expected. I generally don't buy games at the Alpha stage, as I'm not very interested in playing partial games, so I'm not familiar with how developers introduce Alpha stages to players, but communication sounds like it's the main issue that is causing problems. Consumers of Alpha builds need to better understand what exactly to expect from a game when they're playing it. Just because something is labelled as "alpha," it shouldn't be assumed what that exactly means for the specific game. If I were a developer, I think I would take the time to inform customers as to exactly what is currently in the build, what is being worked on, and what is coming in the future. And I would avoid the phrase "It's not done yet."
But perhaps developers are doing that and customers just aren't informing themselves.
It's a catch 22. Starbound shows this quite a bit. People expect constant updates even when they're working on back end stuff, so Chucklefish started doing purely optional nightly builds to show off what's going on with the dev process. To clarify, you have to intentionally go download these, they aren't included in Steam updates.
They included the caveat that things will definitely be horribly broken in these, since they're snapshotting it every night regardless of the condition it's in, and yet people are still complaining at how every nightly update seems to break something.
I think finishing the complete game with all features complete tomorrow is the only way people will stop complaining, but then they'd find something else to complain about :)
Travis, thanks for that Starbound update! I've apparently been out of the loop.
Adam: I agree, the difference between Alpha and Beta is HUGE and i'd rather catch something in the final throws of development than an early Alpha.
Travis: I could say a bunch about Starbound, but the main point is that they said the game was Beta when it was clearly in the "We are going to change huge aspects of the game, including progressing, leveling and just about everything." Had the devs said Alpha OR tech demo or whatever then I think things would be a bit better. That said, I don't really think people are wrong in what they are upset about, I just don't choose to rage about it.
Sure, I agree that this shouldn't be called beta yet, but complaining about nightly builds breaking things is ludicrous. Nightly builds on software that's far past release are going to have major showstopper bugs, so alpha/beta should be expected to be far worse.
Yup. I agree.
OK this may be a dumb question. I'm in the Steam beta channel, I pretty much live there. I've made Steam check for beta updates, and I'm up to date. Where is the music?
Never mind, I found it. You have to trim down your library to show music in the filter. That's an awkward way of getting there.
No support for network locations yet. You have to map a network drive. That's fine on Windows, and Linux mounts stuff in the filesystem by default. It's a bit trickier on Mac.
I was messing around with this a few months ago, and found it to be functional, but lacking. I'm sure they've made some improvements since then. Too comfortable in my bed to check it out right now, though...
A few months ago? Wow, where have I been?
You've been working hard! There was an option to join the Steam Music user group early on, and they were granting early beta access that way. I was hoping it would be a viable solution to iTunes, which I usually love, but seems to be lacking in support on "the bastard platform" (i.e. Windows). WinAmp would be my next choice, but it's in corporate-buyout limbo. It still works, but man is it in need of a good designer.
Has Valve said that they would integrate music purchasing through a third party service?
I'm glad they're adding this since this will help flesh out the Steam OS a bit more. However I can't really see myself using this much. I primarily listen to music through Spotify (laptop or iPod) or I use my iPod plugged into a speaker to listen to the music I own.
I have iTunes but I only ever load it up when I need to sync my iPod to it.
scrypt: No music purchasing yet SAVE the soundtracks you can already get through Steam. Interesting you mention WinAmp because the bare bones aspect of the Steam Music beta reminds me heavily of WinAmp.