wolfshadowheart

wolfshadowheart, 1 month ago

Power, Domain Name (if using a standard paid one instead of the cheaper route), VPN are the 3 that I pay for that I feel are the bare minimum.

I pay for a domain that's $12, but you could easily get the $1 ones for the same purposes. I pay for a static and service VPN with Windscribe, which comes out to be like $35+$89 respectively. So that's already $136 a year excluding the cost of power. I could cut that cost easily, but I use them for more than just my selfhosting so I feel like it's a fair price for what I get out of it.

wolfshadowheart, 4 months ago

Some of them seem pretty bad. I feel like the example image with the eyes and the teeth is quite a damning stylistic choice, compared to some of their other monsters which look more like a palette swap and animal change with some model variations. Save for the few that straight up have the same attack, like the Deciduueye example, I think it's reasonable enough to use them for inspiration, although not necessarily the best option. It's a shame they felt the need to rely on something that is popular I think it hurt them a bit by not having as uniform a vision.

That said, even if I do think it's pretty obvious I don't want them to lose this if anything comes of it, Pokemon is just as bad and they have nothing to gain from ruining this persons work other than asserting dominance.

I do hope they use this as a learning opportunity for next time and maybe stop being so goddamn blatant in their "homage". I would have been much more inclined to the game if it felt like the monsters had some rationale behind them because the game is pretty solid overall. All I can say is that I hope the game continues to exist but maybe gets a more original in-world bestiary and not Pokemon Gen 15

wolfshadowheart, 5 months ago

To add to this, DD1 has quite a number of NPC's that travel between regions and you can come across them. As you progress through the game their patterns and locations change.

I actually am ambivalent on the latter mechanic as it really makes it a pain sometimes, but it still has lots of ways that it can work well.

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

I don't go as hard as other members of the community, I just want to have the parts in case of an issue. I have my key caps, switches, and tools all in the same Ziploc bag (not loose though, each are separate just consolidated).

I keep the bag with my PC parts box

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

I had 666 sessions this year lmao

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

That's why they decided to kill it, but people who were interested in it had some reason for hope.

On the PS3 it was basically a team death match with the mechanics of the game. That's all it needed to be and it was fun.

Now people get angry if the game doesn't have support with content updates for at least 3 years and if it's not monetized then there's no point for the publisher to do it (and the inclusion of it angers the players). It's rough.

However in the case of the PC version, I think it's for the best. If Sony wanted it to be profitable beyond the games price point, that means mtx. If there is development happening on mtx then it's budget not going into the development of the game, which considering the state of the game that did get released... Well...

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

I would disagree with your 50 hour Starfield assessment, only on the basis of Todd Howards own comment that the game was made to be played for a long time.

50 hours for a game meant to be played for a long time just isn't very long at all. Heck, I enjoyed my time in Starfield and I had more than 50 hours. However I could not continue with NG+, it was just godawful.

For a game meant to be played extensively it failed in most regards.

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

They definitely want that Roblox money

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

What I'm curious about is how is it a big open world MMO but also procedural? Isn't that by nature not easy to accomplish? For example, if there is a big city that exists (2, even). Is what's in between them what's procedural? So is there no consistency, landmark wise?

On top of the sheer size, where there's a lot of empty space between these cities. There's a lot of ways to travel which is always good, they even flashed 3 or 4 methods as they showed the sprawling landscape.

That aside, the game just kind of looks like Rust and RuneScape but with a "worldwide open world".

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

Great low-down, thank you.

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

That's Arizona Sunshine 1. Great game still, but not a discount on the new game lol

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

Haha no worries! Honestly it's still worth picking up that game for that price alone, I genuinely feel that Arizona Sunshine is one of the far better FPS VR games!

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

The 911 should have been, I remember doing the quest to get it and then hating the car lol.

The metros are exciting, I used a mod that put a system for it in the game and it was fun to use. Though, what I'm really looking for is the ability to ride as a passenger in cars any time!

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

The main thing I'm confused about is why they didn't include some of what they'd worked on for Payday 2. Like, it has a genuinely decent VR but it's just not present (I guess they've "hinted" at it).

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

I also enjoyed the game on release, I had very few bugs and the ones I did encounter I was able to work around in various ways. The most memorable one was a bug where killing the enemies would prevent the next objective from being scannable, preventing it from continuing and completion. Everything else was pretty minimal and I was able to 100% the game. Post game I spent modding which I also got a lot of enjoyment out of a little over 200 hours total in the game.

Haven't been able to get to Phantom Liberty yet, and I haven't started a new playthrough for the update be has I'm attached to my save (which is silly lol). I'll get to it.

I feel you on the lack of compelling FPS games these days though. Like Dishonored, but with guns!

wolfshadowheart, 6 months ago

It's a fun game. Part of its strength is the freedom it gives the players, I was playing with friends last night and we were having a blast. It's that mix of Phasmophobia fear and fun exploring.

I personally am not as big of fan of open random lobbies which is why I don't continue to play Phasma or likely this game, but they are great with friends. Excited for a VR version if they can make it work :)

wolfshadowheart, 7 months ago

Don't you remember that 2 weeks of astroturfing talking about how great New World was?

wolfshadowheart, 7 months ago

It definitely should not. Gamers use it because there are a range of genres of game. JRPG's ala Monster Hunter and Disgaea are pretty much a 300 hour minimum. There is no way GTA ever produces something worth 300 hours of gameplay, the closest they've gotten is their Online versions which frankly, would be horrible if they were priced per hour.

Racing games would have very little merit in price per hour. Sports games probably in between.

Then there's the whole fact that pacing can be implemented at the whims of the creators. It takes 4 hours to get energy so you can continue? Well, that 4 hours of paid playtime baybee, payyup!

How about games with little to no story? Should the new CoD only be $25 because it's campaign sucks? It's short after all. Or will they try and include multiplayer time, you know, something independent and timeless. Will they become arcades and start charging you per round?

Horrible, horrible idea. No matter hour you look at it, hours per game are only good for gamers with specific intentions, be it their limited time, their desire to 100%, or to see if it simply respects their time in the first place.

wolfshadowheart, 7 months ago

It's a bit dated by now I'm sure but I'm a fan of my Rakk Ang Lam Pro (or for me, the Falcon Elite TKL - same thing) that I got from Flashquark.

~$80 board with media scroll wheel and a Win lock. Hotswappable so your favorite switches likely work. It is just a plastic housing but it's sturdy and there's no major flex or wear after ~3 years.

Spilled a beer on it and washed the board, all still fully functional.

wolfshadowheart, 7 months ago

It was, definitely one of the better PC Gamer articles I've come across

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

Does Epic allow you to set your homepage to your library yet? Or does it still unnecessarily keep you to their store or some other useless page?

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

I've really felt that to be the testament whenever I see the SD in the top sellers list still. Like, the fact that it's just now dropping when how many desirable games released this year have been on the list at far cheaper prices

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

The list of games:

Recent Shutdowns (January 2023):

"DiRT 5" for Stadia

"F1® 2020" for Stadia

"FIFA 23" for Stadia

"FIFA 22" for Stadia

"FIFA 21" for Stadia

"Madden 22" for Stadia

"Madden 21" for Stadia

"Gatling Gears"

"NBA Jam On Fire Edition"

"Mirror's Edge"

"Shank 2"

Upcoming Shutdowns (February-June 2023):

"EA SPORTS™ UFC® 2"

Various "FIFA" titles for different platforms

Various "Medal of Honor" titles

"NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™" for mobile

"Madden 19" and "Madden 18" for various platforms

"F1® 2020" for EA Play members

"Half Life 2"

"Shadows of the Damned"

"Golf Clash" for Amazon and Facebook

"NHL 21" for EA Play members

"Apex Mobile" for iOS and Android

"Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning™" and "Warp 1"

"BioMutant" and "Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning" for EA Play members

"Syndicate (2012)"

"The Sinking City" for EA Play members

"Stardom: Hollywood"

"Tap Sports Baseball 2016," "Surviving High School," and various "MLB Tap Sports Baseball" titles for mobile

"Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14"

"Restaurant DASH: Gordon Ramsay"

Upcoming Shutdowns (November-December 2023):

Various "FIFA" titles for different platforms

"NHL 19"

"Battlefield 1943," "Battlefield Bad Company," and "Battlefield Bad Company 2"

"Crysis 3"

"Dante’s Inferno"

"Dead Space 2"

"Mirror's Edge Catalyst"

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

Thanks for sharing, a good demo is rare these days.

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

This could either be really good or horrifically awful. However unlike The Witcher show, I feel like it has better chances. Source material doesn't matter too much in that V's story can be pretty dynamic with how its told and The Witcher has a very linear story line and strongly solidified characters.

Adapting existing stories and changing them has to be done really well for people to appreciate it and The Witcher just didn't have this going for it. 2077 on the other hand has so many places it could go, characters that we've yet to meet. I mean really they have all the options as long as the dialogue and delivery is done well.

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

I've always felt like HB was 1 or 2 decently known games and the rest are pretty much indies. Metal Hellsinger is actually pretty dope, a bit more fun than BPM (similar genre game).

I know The Quarry's name but I don't know anything else about it. I don't think this one is particularly horrible, Hellsinger at least is a nice sale price at $12

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

Design philosophies, honestly.

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

I actually liked the lockpick minigame but it has a couple issues. First as others mentioned, the sheer usage of the digipicks is kind of ridiculous.

However the real issue comes down to the nature of the skill in the first place. Leveling up makes you able to access higher difficulty locks but I don't understand why your skill doesn't also make the action easier to do.

I feel like a modified version where lower skill makes the lock difficult and higher skill makes the lock easy. If I invested all the way into lockpicking then I'd be fine with blasting through the easy ones, but instead I invested just to waste more time trying to open something inevitably worth 500 credits. But then of course that's its own issue in itself I guess.

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

My preferred method is the highlight and deduce.

If there's 8 picks on a master lock and 5 highlight, look for the 1 inner ring that will match. Then you can just go through all the highlighted rings and align them freely without wasting lockpicks. Takes a sec longer, but I get them in one go this way,

That's all probably nonsensical, it's super late and I'm tired, haha!

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

Newegg is far worse than eBay

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

Get past stage 5 in the vanguard combat sim and you can see remnants of why.

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

It's not something you can force yourself through, unfortunately. The only way to get over VR motion sickness is to work up to it.

If you get motion sick after 5 minutes, spend 4 minutes every day doing basic things. After a couple weeks, you'll very likely be able to go about 10-15 minutes. So then spend 10 minutes every day.

The moment you get any sort of motion sickness, stop immediately. Nothing you can do will alleviate it and playing more isn't an option that day.

I do think most people are able to work up to and work through it, but most just try to brute force their way or expect that they'll immediately be able to do everything. VR is analogous to a craft, both vehicle and hobby. While you can just get right into a car or roller coaster and send it, chances are your body needs to adjust and learn a few things about it. And while you can just pick up painting right away, chances are you'll need to practice to learn techniques.

VR is very much a mix of both. Many people definitely can just get right on and pick it up pretty quickly, but that doesn't mean there isn't some amount of necessary adjustments.

wolfshadowheart, 8 months ago

I wonder if the original vision of DD is going to be attempted. It was a cool concept.

Excited regardless of what's to come!

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

Still not worth it

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

Does this include Valve? I imagine that Valve is a huge part of Unity's sales...

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

Nice, this actually gives me hope for Spider-Man 2 on PC by 2025

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

You can buy Gwenyth Paltrow's goop jade egg and you'll receive it, that doesn't mean it's not a scam.

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

I've been enjoying the game quite a bit, honestly. There are some shortcomings, namely the menu navigation can be cumbersome to learn since hotkeys bring you between some menus but not all. But after a couple days I've gotten most of them sorted - in space you can select the objective marker and fly to it in space, no menu required and it's not full fast travel.

Right now, my biggest persisting issue is simply that quests aren't categorized by planet and so it's a lot of menu swapping to get between them and plot out a the most efficient route between galaxies. However, technically that doesn't matter very much because grav-jumping has a lenient distance for the quests but it still feels nice and so I'd appreciate a better sorting system.

Quests are visible through the mission menu (hotkey L) and on the planetary map's (hotkey M) settlement/outpost locations in small subtext when you go to the planet in the map. For the mission menu, there's a key to show on map but it's a little time consuming, and for the planetary map it's nice to see there's a quest there but it's not optimal for planning out the order of your quests.

Aside from all that map/menu shenanigans though, which again by now (~4 days with 2d 10h in save time) I've honestly gotten mostly used to, the game feels pretty solid. With RayTracing on a 5800x3D and a 10GB 3080 with a variable refresh rate I've found the framerate to be acceptable, large areas will slow down the framerate but responsiveness is still fine. I've yet to come across a combat scenario where frames dip. Smaller to medium areas all run phenomenally.

In the total time I've played I've come across 1 quest with somewhat bugged logic. Without spoilers, there's a hidden-ish settlement that has a leader and residents who can turn against you. If you kill any of the residents, the rest of the friendly AI will eventually turn on you, making the quest on console likely to be completely bugged. However on PC this is solved with console command to turn that faction's bounty ID reset to 0. I believe in efforts to solve this I also caused some crashing, as a couple times the game crashed around the remedies. But, I completed the quest as I wanted to with overall less than 30 minutes of bug-troubleshooting. This could very well be fixed as part of the day 1 patch as well, we shall see.

Other than that instance of the quest bugging and the game crashing, the game entirely before then was bug free. An AI pathing issue here and there, one instance of an NPC I was talking to starting to float to the ceiling mid conversation. And since the completion of that semi-bugged quest there have been no lingering effects so far it seems, no crashing and the remaining people and area seems fine.

All in all, I've been pleasantly surprised with the game. The quests are interesting and pretty well varied, the faction interactions are abundant and not very limiting but lots of potential for alternative style playthoughs regardless of what you level into. Not sure if there's a level cap but theoretically you can fill out your perk skills quite far. However the traits and factions you align yourself with give you a lot of different options and could bring lots of replay value. (Brief example, there is a religious group that attacks non-sensically. You can start as one of these, and I'm assuming learn the sense of their attacks.) I am a space scoundrel who is wanted with parents, I'm a corporate espionage agent, undercover CIA agent who is tasked with taking down a space pirate faction, and I became a space ranger amidst all this. Honestly, it's sick.

There's a few varied actions that are locked behind perks, similarly you could go the entire game without building an outpost or using the ship builder. I'd suggest seeing which locked skills you may be interested in, but otherwise the outposts feels like a decent iteration of FO4 (which I wasn't huge on). So far, outposts are OK, I don't need them but I can see value in them. The idea of building a home is more fun which can also be done. Ship building is actually tons of fun, but that's something I'm also interested in. I found a ship that I love, I upgraded it and then expanded upon it and damn, it's rewarding. It did take some time to build, but it was time I enjoyed and on PC there were some quirks but they were minimal and I adapted to them quickly.

It's a fun game with some a few minor menu-flow that can add up to feel more annoying than they might actually be. I've gotten used to it by now though.

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

P.S. thoroughly inspect your first housing situation, you can't miss the residence at the Lodge but you can miss the infinite storage space safe tucked away in the far left corner. Anyone complaining about storage didn't quite look hard enough! I also am a collector but I've been adamantly avoiding the misc. items in this game, only going for everything else. Inventory management really isn't that bad. Plethora of 150kg followers who are affected by equipped items (say, +50kg -40% resource weight modifiers) plus ship cargo and upgrades and weapon/armor displays... Overencumberment also scales, so if you're +5 over it's almost nothing if you're +100 or more over your stamina drains quickly. As someone who was genuinely annoyed in FO4 and set inv weight often in Skyrim, I genuinely haven't felt the need to in Starfield. It gives you every opportunity to hoard so you can sell store and display to your hearts content. I should probably start leaving weapons behind, I have 300k credits...

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

The xWalks?

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

Well, I wonder what the toy entertainment company Nintendo would think about this evolution!

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

I've just found out you don't even need to build an outpost. Buy a home and you can decorate it with hundreds of storage crates (150 mass/crate)

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

I agree it's particularly dumb thing to complain about. You can land on Pluto. Well for posterity, I'm assuming they mean going to the planet and landing directly, which you can't do to any planet. You can land on Pluto, just not by flying directly to it. You can't really fly to any planet and land on it like that because when you're at the planet, selecting it has you bring up the planetary map to initiate landing/destinations.

Basically, if I'm anywhere in the galaxy I can select Pluto, plot a course, and land in it's orbit. Or, if I've landed on it before and visited a settlement, or made my own outpost, then I can select either of those.

You cannot fly from earth to Mars and then directly land on Mars. You can select a location near mars and then press a button to travel to it, likewise for any waypoints you can see.

At no point does the game or the marketing say that you can fly to planets without menus and land on the planet with a seamless transition, so I don't really understand what everyone is up in arms about. They told us long ago that cutscenes would be the transitions so frankly I'm just seeing people complain for making assumptions they were never promised. (unlike 2077 which actually did have some missed promises).

So yeah, "can't land" on Pluto without using the map menu... Just like literally everything else except waypoints in the game

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

I like Flashquark, decent prices and good support.

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

Kinda seems like people hating just to hate. It's a Bethesda game in space, albiet with slightly more menu travel.

It's a fine game. I wouldn't say it's a let down unless you're expecting fully fledged landing and docking systems. I've actually been pleasantly surprised.

wolfshadowheart, 9 months ago

There's a mod that adds a metro system. The on-rail trains present throughout the city.

I'd shift my version of that complaint more toward "post-game doesn't let me be a passenger". Delamain quests, side quests, main quest complete? Congratulations, you are officially the only driver left in Night City. Sitting and watching in the passenger seat is no more!

Well, not with the Metro mod :D