More than I usually manage.
Then again, I'm pretty sure I spend more time sleeping
Blegh, I was replaying Shadow of War, and, as noted int he Tech crap thread - it's now continuously crashing. After manually re-installing graphics drivers from scratch, it still does. I've dug in some more and found it's one specific character that's causing the issue...but that orc is my bodyguard, and I'm at the "tell your bodyguard to go do something" step of the main mission, so every time I go do something he shows up and it crashes. If I call him, it crashes. If I go to the army screen, it crashes. I've tried setting all graphics options to low in the hope it was some weird effect (I dunno, fire arrow triple hunter blahblah combo) that was causing a glitch with multiple effects colliding but no luck.
I *could* restart the whole game, but that's 7-8 hours down the drain, and...No certainty it won't just crash again when I get a bodyguard (or another orc with the same combo of skills/attributes). Blegh.
Then again, I'm pretty sure I spend more time sleeping
Blegh, I was replaying Shadow of War, and, as noted int he Tech crap thread - it's now continuously crashing. After manually re-installing graphics drivers from scratch, it still does. I've dug in some more and found it's one specific character that's causing the issue...but that orc is my bodyguard, and I'm at the "tell your bodyguard to go do something" step of the main mission, so every time I go do something he shows up and it crashes. If I call him, it crashes. If I go to the army screen, it crashes. I've tried setting all graphics options to low in the hope it was some weird effect (I dunno, fire arrow triple hunter blahblah combo) that was causing a glitch with multiple effects colliding but no luck.
I *could* restart the whole game, but that's 7-8 hours down the drain, and...No certainty it won't just crash again when I get a bodyguard (or another orc with the same combo of skills/attributes). Blegh.
GasBandit
Staff member
It's something that's been an issue for literal decades in solo always online games.
D3 allowed pauzing in a single player session but not in multiplayer; since actual solo play isn't possible right now, I'm not at all surprised there's no pauzing.
But it IS yet another reason for me not to touch it 'till they've changed it...Or not, as the case may be.
D3 allowed pauzing in a single player session but not in multiplayer; since actual solo play isn't possible right now, I'm not at all surprised there's no pauzing.
But it IS yet another reason for me not to touch it 'till they've changed it...Or not, as the case may be.
D4 doesn't have a single player mode, to the best of my knowledge. you can play on your own, sure, but you can do that in WoW too.
There is no way to pause that I’m aware of. I have been afk and nearly gotten wrecked by wandering stuff. No issue for me, but if i were playing hardcore I would cry.
With our network, I just can’t.
With our network, I just can’t.
There's no safe zones in town or whatever where Evil doesn't come?
You’re safe in town
GasBandit
Staff member
Pulled something at random out of my backlog and started playing Warhammer 40k: Gladius. I think I got it for free last month during a steam event.
You know, it's not half bad. It's no Dawn of War - and by that I don't just mean it's a turn-based 4x Civ clone instead of an RTS, I also mean it doesn't quite have the depth and robustness of the DoW series - but I felt really engaged by the strategic and planning aspects of the game. Much moreso than, say, WH40k: Mechanicus, which was a little too small-scale and gimmicky to keep my attention. But it's nice to have a game that compels me to play more again, as opposed to one I feel like I need to push through to feed the sunk cost fallacy.
So, if you like Civ games, but wished Civ was a little more grimdark, and don't mind there only being 4 factions (two of which have no reason to fight other than "there wouldn't be a game otherwise"), this is definitely worth picking up on sale for 20 bucks or so.
You know, it's not half bad. It's no Dawn of War - and by that I don't just mean it's a turn-based 4x Civ clone instead of an RTS, I also mean it doesn't quite have the depth and robustness of the DoW series - but I felt really engaged by the strategic and planning aspects of the game. Much moreso than, say, WH40k: Mechanicus, which was a little too small-scale and gimmicky to keep my attention. But it's nice to have a game that compels me to play more again, as opposed to one I feel like I need to push through to feed the sunk cost fallacy.
So, if you like Civ games, but wished Civ was a little more grimdark, and don't mind there only being 4 factions (two of which have no reason to fight other than "there wouldn't be a game otherwise"), this is definitely worth picking up on sale for 20 bucks or so.
GasBandit
Staff member
Mechanicus just felt more like a puzzle game than a turn-based strategy game, I guess.
I am fucking pumped for the new Yakuza: Like a Dragon game. All the other games on the XBOX showcase were quite nice, but i am a Yakuza fan to the bone.
The new naming convention for the series outside of japan has me a little confused.
Are you excited for a new Like A Dragon Game, aka the series previously titled Yakuza? Or are you excited for another game specifically like Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the turn based rpg one?
To be a little clearer, i am exited for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. the one with Ichiban as the protagonist.
They rebranded after the Yakuza storyline of Kazuma Kiryuu was finished, and they started a new story.The Yakuza series is called "ryu ga gotoku" or like a dragon in japan and they wanted the english name to reflect this.
They rebranded after the Yakuza storyline of Kazuma Kiryuu was finished, and they started a new story.The Yakuza series is called "ryu ga gotoku" or like a dragon in japan and they wanted the english name to reflect this.
GasBandit
Staff member
Also Gladius is thick with references. Especially if you play IG. Your units chatter to each other as they wait for you to make your moves and scroll around the map. It warmed the cockles of my heart when one of my Commissars wondered out loud "What would Cain do in this situation..."
He'd probably scramble into Jurgen's chimera and peel out for the horizon while shitting himself, only to accidentally save the day. Then bang the hottest inquisitor he knew.
But I figured out why the reviews are only "mostly" positive - I thought it odd that there were only 4 factions... because all the other factions are $16 DLC, each. Aeldari? 16 bucks. Chaos Marines? 16 bucks. Adeptus Mechanicus? 16 bucks. Adeptus Scororitas? 16 bucks. Tau? 16 bucks.
No wonder they gave it away for free. It was really just a shareware version of a game they want to charge $100+ for.
But it's still pretty fun on its own. Like Shareware DOOM was.
He'd probably scramble into Jurgen's chimera and peel out for the horizon while shitting himself, only to accidentally save the day. Then bang the hottest inquisitor he knew.
But I figured out why the reviews are only "mostly" positive - I thought it odd that there were only 4 factions... because all the other factions are $16 DLC, each. Aeldari? 16 bucks. Chaos Marines? 16 bucks. Adeptus Mechanicus? 16 bucks. Adeptus Scororitas? 16 bucks. Tau? 16 bucks.
No wonder they gave it away for free. It was really just a shareware version of a game they want to charge $100+ for.
But it's still pretty fun on its own. Like Shareware DOOM was.
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Just tried playing the Final Fantasy XVI demo. The only thing it "tried" was my patience. Dull characters, endless cutscenes. I'd walk 10 feet and get a cutscene. Walk 10 feet, cutscene. Tiny bit of gameplay, cutscene.
I don't have patience for that crap anymore.
I thought maybe a return to a proper medieval setting for the series might pique my interest, but not if it's a dull slog. I got as far as the combat tutorial and gave up when I walked 10 feet into yet another cutscene.
(Reposted after accidentally posting in the Video Game News thread)
I don't have patience for that crap anymore.
I thought maybe a return to a proper medieval setting for the series might pique my interest, but not if it's a dull slog. I got as far as the combat tutorial and gave up when I walked 10 feet into yet another cutscene.
(Reposted after accidentally posting in the Video Game News thread)
Dave
Staff member
If I wanted to watch an anime movie I'd watch an anime movie.
GasBandit
Staff member
Editor's note: Dave doesn't want to watch an anime movie. Ever.
figmentPez
Staff member
I played the single-player campaign of Halo for the first time. The multi-player sure carried this game, didn't it? The single-player isn't terrible, but it sure isn't a stand-out experience. There's some good parts, but there's also a lot of really boring sections, and holy shit it just gets annoying dealing with the Flood after a while. There were times I was just standing in a doorway emptying and reloading my shotgun repeatedly, without even moving. Like, yeah, I get it, a flood of enemies, but this is not engaging gameplay.
Also, the writing is surprisingly bad. Cortana is obnoxious, the pacing of the story is stilted, and some of this stuff doesn't make sense. "No time to explain, just run and I'll make no effort to explain on the way there." I hope the later Halo games get better.
It was interesting to check out part of gaming history, though I wish I didn't have as much trouble with the game crashing as I did. I'm still not sure why, but if I used the enhanced graphics, I got random hard locks that would leave my system partially responsive, but freeze the game screen while keeping it always-on-top. So I could Alt-Tab / Win-Tab around, but no matter what else I switched to the frozen game would still be above any windows. At least I could log out and restart my PC that way, but I never could find a combination of settings that would stop the crashing, aside from reverting to the classic graphics.
Also, the writing is surprisingly bad. Cortana is obnoxious, the pacing of the story is stilted, and some of this stuff doesn't make sense. "No time to explain, just run and I'll make no effort to explain on the way there." I hope the later Halo games get better.
It was interesting to check out part of gaming history, though I wish I didn't have as much trouble with the game crashing as I did. I'm still not sure why, but if I used the enhanced graphics, I got random hard locks that would leave my system partially responsive, but freeze the game screen while keeping it always-on-top. So I could Alt-Tab / Win-Tab around, but no matter what else I switched to the frozen game would still be above any windows. At least I could log out and restart my PC that way, but I never could find a combination of settings that would stop the crashing, aside from reverting to the classic graphics.
The graphics "viewport" freezing is usually a GPU driver issue. Might want to try things like knocking down the GPU clock speeds a bit to see if it makes a difference.
--Patrick
You're playing it on PC, in the year 2023, with the experience of all shooters behind you. But in 2001, on console, with the only prior console shooting experiences being Goldeneye and Turok, and it became a groundbreaking moment for a lot of gamers that would end up copying the same mechanics (recharging shields and two weapon carry limit) for decades to come. At it's time, to its console audience, it was revolutionary.
Meanwhile PC players had already had better shooters for years prior and couldn't figure out what all the fuss was.
figmentPez
Staff member
The gunplay, sure, but not the cutscenes. There had been better told stories on console. There's no excuse for the shitty writing.
I'm left wondering if the story gets better in future Halo games, or if all the love for Cortana is like the love for Boba Fett, where the character's visual design and elevator-pitch concept have overridden their actual role in the fiction.
GasBandit
Staff member
I'm no Halo expert, but from what I've osmosed by proximity, Halo 4 Cortana is why all the nerds love her.
I love Diablo and destroying waves of demons and all, but tonight is tea and House Flipper. I made a pretty house and sold it for a tiny profit. No one appreciated my decorating.
I've fallen back into FFXIV hard with the newest patch content, and for the first time in like 20 years I'm actively doing end game raiding and enjoying it so much that after my raid lockouts are done for the week, I've been going back to do previous raid content that I previously skipped, and having a great time there.
I'm having such a great time that I'm going to put a video here, and ask you to do something I usually never do: I'm going to ask you to consider playing a game that doesn't get "good" until like 30 hours in.
I'm having such a great time that I'm going to put a video here, and ask you to do something I usually never do: I'm going to ask you to consider playing a game that doesn't get "good" until like 30 hours in.
I play on Starlink, which might technically be more stable but is owned by someone pretty dodgy