What game are you playing now?

[jaybee83]

6 hours ago, cucubits said:

Hei guys, finally getting back online!

 

Today I fired up my personal laptop for the first time in about a month. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with it, it feels it's been so long 🙂

We made the move from TX to WA and slowly getting settled in. Been thinking about what to start playing now that the dust started settling and the pile of moving boxes is somewhat smaller.

 

The 2k mile long drive was very interesting and ...surprisingly empty. There were long stretches of highway with nothing which reminded me so clearly of Death Stranding.

 

So yeah, I may or may not post in off topic some more details and impressions about all this moving experience but for now, looking for ideas what to play next.

 

- obviously high on the list is Death Stranding

- I miss Cyberpunk

- the long drive also reminded me in some parts of Fallout 4, which I loved but never ended up finishing.

- The Witcher 3 is always on my radar, I just never get motivated enough to actually resume it. It's been so long, I might as well start from the beginning. 

 

 

 

 

 

congratz on the long-distance move, i know how u feel! same goes for the significant climate change, getting used to the cold yet? i think ill still need a while... 😅

[cucubits]

6 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

 

congratz on the long-distance move, i know how u feel! same goes for the significant climate change, getting used to the cold yet? i think ill still need a while... 😅

 

Thanks! So far we love it here. It's so great to be able to open the windows in the morning and feel the cold, fresh air come in.

 

In a way we don't need to get used to the cold yet, it's been unexpectedly warm here since we arrived. Local friends keep telling us it's much warmer than what Seattle usually sees this time of the year. Also, there's no AC (yet) in our apt here so it did get pretty toasty on some days.

 

We still can't believe we can see mountains when we look outside... we've been in TX for almost 10 years. It's so good to be in a new place away from all the "flatness" and summer heat.

 

I also get way too excited when I think about how close we are to ski resorts and bike parks around here. Before, we'd have to drive almost 1000 miles to get to a decent ski resort or downhill bike park in the summer.

[jaybee83]

4 hours ago, cucubits said:

 

Thanks! So far we love it here. It's so great to be able to open the windows in the morning and feel the cold, fresh air come in.

 

In a way we don't need to get used to the cold yet, it's been unexpectedly warm here since we arrived. Local friends keep telling us it's much warmer than what Seattle usually sees this time of the year. Also, there's no AC (yet) in our apt here so it did get pretty toasty on some days.

 

We still can't believe we can see mountains when we look outside... we've been in TX for almost 10 years. It's so good to be in a new place away from all the "flatness" and summer heat.

 

I also get way too excited when I think about how close we are to ski resorts and bike parks around here. Before, we'd have to drive almost 1000 miles to get to a decent ski resort or downhill bike park in the summer.

sounds like u made the right decision 🙂 

[Hertzian56]

Was playing dishonored 2 again and like my last attempt a year or two ago the bugs just kill this great game. I remembered the last place where my save got corrupted and also the game just would not start,  at the clockwork mansion mission 4 I think. I can load up and get to that point but it still crashes transitioning inside again after saving sokolov, keep trying I guess but the 5 min wait time to load the whole thing up gets old the 3rd time. I only play at 1080p and I don't think high settings are too much for a 5 year old game but maybe try to turn it all down to get past this point. Pretty egregious that this mess was never totally fixed.

[cucubits]

With new found motivation since I figured out my laptop's problem, I picked up Far Cry 6 again. Turns out I had been pretty close to the end, just a few main story missions.

 

I've been enjoying it a lot over the past couple days and now I just completed the final mission. Finishing games 90% of the time is quite a sad moment, especially if it's a game I enjoy a lot and then it suddenly ends. Usually after the main story is done, I don't keep playing just to finish side stuff. Sometimes I try but most of the times I just start something else.

 

With said that, I'm having a hard time deciding how I feel about FC6. The setting was awesome even if it's the overused tropical island - crazy leader - guerilla army. The main character was great too. Dani fits so well in this whole story. As with almost all of Far Cry games, the main bad guy's character ends up being very... what word to use... interesting. At first you clearly just want to shoot them but eventually they almost sort of grow on you. I actually would've liked to hear more of Castillo's speeches. I wish they'd made more cut-scenes with him.

 

I'm trying to find something good to say about the ending but I can't. The last mission was too easy and apart from the final moments, predictable. There was so much room for huge twists or some other awesome turnout...

Even the post credits scene was kind of "meh" and also not unexpected. Thinking back, even the missions throughout the game were less diverse than FC5 for example.

 

One last complaint, I promise. Feels like they haven't done a great job with the balancing. I had the most fun on the starter island and probably something like the first 20% of the game following that. After that it became just too easy. I intentionally kept on only light armor but it was still not too challenging.

 

I know it sounds like lots of negatives but I don't regret a second of it. I honestly enjoyed it all. Loved the music, the cursing, the graphics, the headshots - the most satisfying headshots from any recent game.

 

 

Not sure what's next. Obviously now I want to go back and play FC5 again... but I did just install Metro Exodus so there's that too.

 

[Hertzian56]

Gave up again on Dishonored 2, I don't know what the problem is but I did play through it in 17 and don't remember having these problems, then couple years ago fired it up and same crashes, corrupted saves etc Got it working and saving a lot and it crashed my system and my mouse stopped working, doesn't show the pointer but it still is there, won't work on my mousepad but will on the table for some reason but is very in and out so had to get a new mouse. I'M DONE with DS2 for good.

 

Finally tried Dying Light 2 and it's pretty good, parkour is easier than 1, graphics are worse since I turn it down to medium to get 60. Don't like that there's no guns but in terms of time going by it makes sense, ammo would run out eventually. Too much dialogue though. If I play it for longer time periods I get a headache, almost motion sickness even with head bob turned off.  I like 1 better, the setting is better, the missions are better, funny side stories, nights are way scarier, zombies are not as scary in 2, don't get that eerie feeling of on your own as much in 2, 1 runs better, not as big etc But it's not too bad I'm in the city center now so I'm guessing about 12hrs in or so. It's a little weird they used the same voice actor as in the first one, they would have been better off having someone new since it's a different character.

[cucubits]

10 hours ago, Hertzian56 said:

I like 1 better, the setting is better, the missions are better, funny side stories, nights are way scarier

 

This was my main gripe with DL2. They had one job. The whole purpose of the game is that everything changes at night, yet in DL2 they turned the "scary-factor" way down. It doesn't get dark enough and the worst part is that volatiles don't free roam anymore. You actually need to trigger a chase event if you want to see them. I remember in DL1 if I was caught out at night, I just ran into a building and hid under a table scared and listening to the volatiles foot steps around... 

 

I still enjoyed it a lot, in general I'm a big fan of everything zombies, but after finishing the main story with some side stuff included, I moved on.

 

Oh yeah, I also found it weird how they completely removed guns. It does make sense with the setting being in Europe and guns not so widespread to begin with. It's not so full of nutcases hoarding brass and making their own ammo...  

[cucubits]

On another note, I decided to try Metro Exodus. I played it only one time right when it came out. Now with the enhanced edition, it does seem more polished and performance feels much better. It's been a long time and likely some parts will feel like new but I do remember the story and maps pretty well... let's see if it keeps me drawn it to play through it all again.

 

I need a good new singleplayer game already.

 

Oh, and as a "side quest" I finally got homebrew working on my Switch. I'm not too much into consoles but every single one I had, ended up being ...modified. I have to say the Switch gave me the most trouble but after a day of messing with it, it's working.

[Sandy Bridge]

Just finished (or likely finished) a Hearts of Iron IV campaign as Italy.  It's a great game for rewarding (or punishing) long-term planning.  In this case I made a couple strategic blunders in battlefield planning, such as failing to adequately protect Romanian oil fields, but in the end strategic successes in industrial planning, diplomacy, and timing were the deciding factors.

 

France became Italian, Germany was defeated, primarily by Italy and Belgium, Japan was convinced to stop expanding after taking over China, Bulgaria wound up at war with all its neighbors, and the British dueled the Soviets, most recently landing troops at Leningrad, all while the U.S. sat back and exported arms to the Soviets, destroyers to Britain, and oil to Italy.

 

I could play on and potentially intervene in Britain vs USSR, and test out that shiny new navy I've been building over the past five years, but fighting Britain would mean fighting Belgium and it feels wrong to fight a Belgium that successfully fended off Germany for the whole war.

 

So what game is next?  Eh, maybe it's time I pick up the Texas expansion to American Truck Simulator and drive a big rig from Texas to Seattle.

[Hertzian56]

On 10/13/2022 at 9:53 AM, cucubits said:

 

This was my main gripe with DL2. They had one job. The whole purpose of the game is that everything changes at night, yet in DL2 they turned the "scary-factor" way down. It doesn't get dark enough and the worst part is that volatiles don't free roam anymore. You actually need to trigger a chase event if you want to see them. I remember in DL1 if I was caught out at night, I just ran into a building and hid under a table scared and listening to the volatiles foot steps around... 

 

I still enjoyed it a lot, in general I'm a big fan of everything zombies, but after finishing the main story with some side stuff included, I moved on.

 

Oh yeah, I also found it weird how they completely removed guns. It does make sense with the setting being in Europe and guns not so widespread to begin with. It's not so full of nutcases hoarding brass and making their own ammo...  

As I play it more I think it's a really great game and they did a good job, it's very close to DL1 with just the missing guns and the not as scary/dark nights being the biggest gripes. The guns allowed kills without the extra camera bobbing which really gets to me after a while playing. I do have the bow at this point but that's longer range mostly. DL1 also had a large DLC in the countryside with a buggy which was cool. But the larger world of DL2 is great too and a lot more to do if desired. It does look better even at med/hi as I play it. With their extended support of DL1 afa online events I think we can expect it with 2 and some single player DLC also.

 

It's a bit crazy to think trees and grass can grow on rooftops just improvised though, especially trees. You'd have to have a certain contained depth of soil for that and even then the rain would swamp it drowning most of it. It's possible but only when specifically made for it rooftops as large pots with drainage etc But videogames are fantasy based so there you go.

 

The setting of the first one was middle eastern or around there, and a secret there is that Haran(in modern day iraq/eastern arabia) is where Abraham in the Bible set out from or moved to after his father died can't remember. Undercurrents everywhere. I guess I missed the region where 2 is supposed to be but with the architecture and accents it seems central europe.

[cucubits]

On 10/15/2022 at 11:26 AM, Hertzian56 said:

I guess I missed the region where 2 is supposed to be but with the architecture and accents it seems central europe

 

I don't believe they mentioned anywhere the location but yeah, that's my feeling too. Some places around the old town even remind me of home (small romanian towns) but the city center looks more like something from germany/austria maybe. Central europe is likely a pretty good approximation on the setting...

 

 

On another note, the next Plague Tale is about to be released in a few hours. I liked the first one a lot, even though I haven't quite finished it. I did what I do with many games, I played it a lot right until I felt I was close to the end. If my save is still good, I might do it before picking up this one, but I definitely want to play the new one:

 

[cucubits]

Any DayZ players around here? 

 

I was a big fan of DayZ way back when only the Arma2 mod was out. I think I have a few hundred hours with that. Lately I keep finding myself more and more watching random youtube clips of the standalone. It might be time to start messing with it.

 

There seems to be an overwhelming amount of "getting started" websites with tips and help. Mostly I'm looking for some info on how to choose a good server. One thing I do know is that I need to stay away from official servers as everyone says they're full of cheaters. Otherwise, with somewhat limited time to play, I'd look for a high loot PVE server but with no KOS restrictions. This is another thing I learned the hard way, never trust anyone. For every good interaction, another ten will shoot you on sight. Plus I like playing alone anyway.

[serpro69]

22 hours ago, cucubits said:

Any DayZ players around here? 

 

I was a big fan of DayZ way back when only the Arma2 mod was out. I think I have a few hundred hours with that. Lately I keep finding myself more and more watching random youtube clips of the standalone. It might be time to start messing with it.

 

There seems to be an overwhelming amount of "getting started" websites with tips and help. Mostly I'm looking for some info on how to choose a good server. One thing I do know is that I need to stay away from official servers as everyone says they're full of cheaters. Otherwise, with somewhat limited time to play, I'd look for a high loot PVE server but with no KOS restrictions. This is another thing I learned the hard way, never trust anyone. For every good interaction, another ten will shoot you on sight. Plus I like playing alone anyway.

 

Played it when it just got out initially (the Arma2 mod, not the standalone). It was lots of fun, probably one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've had.

Never tried the standalone, IIRC it was too unstable when it got out, even worse than the mod. 

I've actually stumbled upon it a few months ago and thought to give it a try. But then I started reading reviews and people are still complaining about crashes and whatnot, so I just passed on it. Very surprised that they haven't gotten a stable working game after all these years...

Cheaters is another issue of course. I wonder, do they still support hosting it on your own server, like you could with the mod? If so, that might be worth a try if you want PVE.

[cucubits]

22 hours ago, serpro69 said:

 

Played it when it just got out initially (the Arma2 mod, not the standalone). It was lots of fun, probably one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've had.

Never tried the standalone, IIRC it was too unstable when it got out, even worse than the mod. 

I've actually stumbled upon it a few months ago and thought to give it a try. But then I started reading reviews and people are still complaining about crashes and whatnot, so I just passed on it. Very surprised that they haven't gotten a stable working game after all these years...

Cheaters is another issue of course. I wonder, do they still support hosting it on your own server, like you could with the mod? If so, that might be worth a try if you want PVE.

 

I know this used to be the case and it's what kept me from buying the Standalone for a long time. Looks like it's different now. It was just recently updated and in 2-3 hours last night I didn't run into any weird bugs or crashes. I just kept dying because I'm bad, lol. 

 

The interface is still far from intuitive but it's usable and crafting/combining items is easy to pick up. Motion feels a bit better than the A2 mod and running is noticeably faster. Chernarus+ what they call it now is also better. Graphics look much better than what I remembered and it's more dense, more populated areas, more locations. It doesn't feel like a running simulator anymore. 

[serpro69]

That's interesting to hear, I might give it a shot if I convince some of my friends to join along.

The only thing I'm afraid of is it's probably going to take all of my free time again :D "Must eat brains play more dayz..."

[Hertzian56]

Fired up the Uncharted Collection and first thing it said was I need at least 500 drivers to even play, never had that before I was fine with 471 for months. I've heard newer drivers were causing problems for this game so settled on 512 drivers with NVCleanInstall of course, works fine.

 

The game is pretty fun if slow starting and has a lot of cutscenes so far, wasn't sure which one of the two to play first so picked 4. Looks pretty good similar to the GOW sony crossover nothing mind blowing like cp77 but it does look good. Have it at a mix of high and a couple of medium settings, dlss performance gives me 75-90fps usually with dips down to 52 now and then. I'll use NCP and limit it to 60fps though. Seems to be locked to native resolution as it's greyed out, wouldn't mind going 900p not a big difference but lower usage. I was worried about having only 8gb ram but it works fine, uses almost all of it though. It's a pretty qte button mashing heavy game too so just set it to hold rather than beating my controller button to death.

[ryan]

poolians like yahoo pool.

 

i'm suprised more people don't play...really fun and takes alot of brains and skill

[cucubits]

I'm working up the courage to start Elden Ring finally... installed it yesterday, haven't fired it up yet. 

 

I really should pick up all the souls series again. I only ever finished DS1, with 2 I got close to the end and 3 I stopped at one of the midgame bosses which at that point just seemed impossible.

[Hertzian56]

Kind of got bored of Uncharted, too cutscene heavy for my taste, haven't been back for a while. It's sometimes confusing as to what to do next and where to go next in the set piece free play part.

 

Another Sony port Sackboy appealed to me because I love the yoshis woolly world and yoshis crafted world aesthetic and games and this is similar, it's pretty fun not as good as the nintendo stuff but fun.

 

Doing just an exploration play of cp77, so amazing to look at and there is at least one side quest that you have to just stumble upon, the highwayman, which you wouldn't doing the stuff on the map and a lot of scenes of destruction that are text shard based stories with goodies and such. Lots of the map not used for the game that make good exploring and scavenger hunting. How disappointing no meaningful dlc until next year at the earliest.

[jaybee83]

6 hours ago, cucubits said:

I'm working up the courage to start Elden Ring finally... installed it yesterday, haven't fired it up yet. 

 

I really should pick up all the souls series again. I only ever finished DS1, with 2 I got close to the end and 3 I stopped at one of the midgame bosses which at that point just seemed impossible.

working up the courage? is it that intimidating? haha

[cucubits]

4 hours ago, jaybee83 said:

working up the courage? is it that intimidating? haha

 

Not sure, I tried to stay away from reviews and walkthroughs but I do know it's very much a souls game, more or less open world and it's huge.

[cucubits]

From no ideas what to play, now I'm jumping on the other end... to many options and I want to get in all of them. I just found out that finally there's a mod with flying cars in CP2077. This was probably my main biggest gripe with it... so far into a tech overrun future and no player controlled flying cars. It killed almost all the verticality from exploring the city.

 

Also there's that anime series everyone is talking about now, which I'm sure if I start watching, I'll want to jump back in CP even more.

[Hertzian56]

Yeah, I got a mod for cp77 to not have that combat music, might look for one that turns off those awful stereos that are on everywhere with that awful music. Good thing about huge games like this they usually have their own dedicated websites for mods, no nexus garbage to deal with no logins just download.

 

https://www.cyberpunk2077mod.com/

[ryan]

I have witcher 2 and 3 and cyberpunk. should I start with witcher 2 or 3 or just play cyberpunk..im more of a run and gun player.

[cucubits]

15 hours ago, cucubits said:

Also there's that anime series everyone is talking about now, which I'm sure if I start watching, I'll want to jump back in CP even more.

 

Quoting myself again but yeah, I was right. I watched Edgerunners today and now I'm both sad and wanna fire up Cyberpunk 2077 and smash...