The Gaming Thread

[Seven Crowns]

All this Ultima IV talk really takes me back. I had that on an Atari 800XL. I remember staying up late, drinking coke and eating chips, and wandering around that amazing map, talking to townsfolk, mixing reagents and such. I had that Atari running on two screens at once. One was a black and white TV and the other was in color. No reason for that. It was just cool to have double screens.

Ultima IV has nothing but positive memories for me. I have it running on original Atari 800XL hardware even today. The disks run off a virtual drive, but all the gameplay is on original machinery. It's loads of fun. During the Satanic Panic, my parents threw out all my cool games. They even tossed my Ultima IV ankh. I bought it all back though off of ebay, even the ankh, haha. Luckily I did this before the prices really skyrocketed. I have most of the cool RPGs from back then.

 

[DLC]

Yeah, I must have thrown away the ankh when it became junk.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Ohh don't I know it. On a Discord I'm on, someone posted a screenshot of their EUIV game and I was like, "no, no, no, no, noooo RESIST!"

There is a free Star Trek mod you can add to Stellaris made by hardcore fans - it's called New Horizons. The amount of thought that went into it is truly impressive. Love those dorks who made it happen.

I knew there was a reason I never got into Europa Universalis. Especially the 4th entrant in the series ... the one with the hundred million billion gazillion DLCs. (Yes, I exaggerate. But not by much). =P

Then again, I am very much into Age of Empires 2 ... which also has loads of DLCs. Meh!

 

[DLC]

Yasuke Simulator on Steam

Step into 1579 as Yasuke, the African samurai, and join Oda Nobunaga in his quest to unite Japan! Master precise katana combat, uncover secret gear, and unleash your ancestral power in this historically inspired action-packed journey through feudal Japan.

store.steampowered.com

Historically accuracy
The Yasuke simulator team has done its research and went above and beyond to provide a totally historically accurate depiction of Feudal Japan with Yasuke the Samurai.


Can confirm. Very beautiful game like autumn snows of Mt Toyota.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

"Historically accuracy". Yes, I can tell by the fact that Oda Nobunaga is wearing glasses, calls Yasuke "Yaske", and doesn't even bother to sound Japanese ... and Yasuke can have such incredibly accurate weapons as sub-machine guns and assault rifles, and drives sports cars.

Then again, parody is parody. I'm not expecting much for that price.

 

[Stuart Dren]

Rimworld Odyssey DLC drops next month. 1.6 experimental branch is out now. It's a pretty big deal. They finally multithreaded pathfinding, for one, which was the main performance bottleneck.

 

[TrevorD]

pretty much ER and skyrim are my two favs. Have done complete playthroughs three times each. I also loved Baldur's Gate 3.

 

[DLC]

Has nobody else logged 500hrs of Red Dead Redemption 2?

 

[Night Herald]

I've really fallen in love with these Hazelight Studios games lately. A while back we played It Takes Two, and it was just a brilliant, beautiful, soulful experience. It's very rare that a video game can still give me the same feeling I got when I booted up my N64 in my family's living room for some Zelda or Banjo Kazooie or whatever the fuck the thing was at the time, but man, this one did it. I felt like a kid again, and simultaneously the wisest and most mature version of myself. Some special kind of digital magic, that was. The creativity, whimsy, and sheer fun, mmm. It hit just right.

Recently that same friend and I (these are obligate co-op games) started Split Fiction, the studio's next and newest game. Same basic effect, but somehow, broadly speaking, better. This one spoke directly to me. Don't wanna give too much away, but the two main characters you play as are writers, and you spend the game playing through a selection of their stories. It's so fuuuuuuuuun! It appeals maximally to the gamer and the writer in me. There are so many homages to and riffs on beloved video games, such a variety of genres and mechanics, and they're blended together as seamlessly as I think is possible. At the same time it's a simmering ode to storytelling and it resonates hard. There's even a good bit for the visual artist in me to enjoy, with the wide range of gorgeous art styles on display.

I love It Takes Two, it was fantastic, but Split Fiction struck a more person chord. I have nearly zero experience being a married couple or a parent, but I know a thing or two about being a struggling, unpublished writer. Both of these have been some of my top gaming experiences in a very, very long time, and they're prime example of what this medium can actually accomplish when passion, creativity, and fun are given priority.

 

[Night Herald]

And since I needed something to play when I'm on my lonesome, I got into Manor Lords. I played it a little bit when it came out, but it wasn't the right time for it. Dropped 5 hours into it over the last couple of days and having a blast! I used to dream of having a game like this when I was younger, and now it's real. The graphics are gorgeous and there are a lot of minutiae to get into. Still a bit wonky, being in early access, but the attention to detail is impressive.

So after a couple of false starts/self-imposed tutorials and much fiddling with the heraldry maker, I'm on my third village. Still in my first year of game time, and the place is booming. We recently got a church, and now working on a small tavern. Just now had my first taste of the battle part of the game, and was pretty nervous going into it. I rounded up the lads, all twenty of them, and went to sort out those bandits in the neighboring region (got fed up with them sneaking in and stealing my berries). The scoundrels came out to meet me, eighteen strong, and they looked like a pretty tough bunch with their big clubs and axes and general swagger; I got real worried about my spear militia, who looked kinda timid and flimsy by comparison, but in an impressive display of martial prowess they killed most of the bandits and chased off the rest. We only suffered one casualty in return, and now that household is in mourning - yes, that's an actual gameplay mechanic, which I thought was neat.

Incidentally, that militiaman lived in the first and only house I had upgraded to level two, which is kinda nice. Those who survive him deserve a little something for their loss. It's also the house I'd already designated as a bowyer, so that family will now be artisans, making bows and crossbows so that in future we can shoot bandits from afar and hopefully minimize deaths on our sides. Just a lovely little roleplaying touch, there.

There seems to be a burial mechanic as well, but I haven't figured it out yet, so for the moment poor, heroic what's-his-face, son of Jorg and Agnes, is rotting in the woods, on top of a pile of bandits that he helped create. I like to think it's what he'd have wanted.

Yeah, been great fun so far, and I can feel the semi-dormant history nerd in me stirring.

ETA: Turned out I was a bit hasty in dealing with the bandits. I thought defeating them in the field would be the end of it. Then I looked at the map again, saw their camp was still there, and rallied the troops once more to go look for stragglers. There weren't any, but I was able to demolish and loot the camp to great profit.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I've been looking at Manor Lords recently. (I originally wanted to try another Hooded Horse game called "Old World", but it seems very similar to games like "Rome: Total War", which I played and didn't enjoy).

Manor Lords seems similar to other games I've been looking at for a while. (Amusingly, since I've played both Age of Empires 4 and Civilization 6, Steam recommends me to play Humankind -- which I tried, and it didn't work -- Civilization 7, which is overpriced, and Ara: History Untold, which I'm ... cautious about, since I've been burned so many times). =\

 

[DLC]

I've been looking at Manor Lords recently

I've played it awhile. It's not really finished, and once you figure it out it gets a bit boring, there's a set way of doing things with not a lot of variation. It's got a weird bug where oxen and their handlers get stuck in the pond, the farming is kinda hard to get your head around at first. The combat's kinda cool, bandits are annoying, they'll burn your shit down if you forget about them. Maps are random so just reload til you get a good one with things close together or they spend the entire day moving a single plank etc.

 

[Pik]

I was trying to remember the name of the game I was suggested long time ago by a game enthusiast I met in a musical site (Last). The game is called SOMA, according to Google it's a survival horror happening in a remote underwater research facility. Could be that I was listening to the type of music at the time that resembled the atmosphere of this video game. Don't think I'll be playing it any time soon but I liked the storyline.

 

[Luxuria]

Rang Bell #2 in Dark Soul 1 NG+. Now, to Sen's Fortress and toward my favorite Dark Souls Boss of all time.

 

[Night Herald]

It's got a weird bug where oxen and their handlers get stuck in the pond

Yeah... Guess what exact thing happened to me shortly after my post? I think I might wanna wait until I sink any more into it. Guess I'll go looking for similar games that are in a more complete state. If anyone has recommendations I'd be happy to hear them.

 

[Luxuria]

I killed Orenstein and Smough first try on MG+. I was seriously expecting them to kick my ass for hours and be forced to summon Solaire like I did last time I tried NG+. But no. I... walked into the boss fog and walked out. I was so thrilled, but also so sad that my favorite boss had become a speedbump. But I am SO thrilled, because I couldn't believe it. I won first try. Wow.

 

[scrambler]

Any Xenoblade fans? I am currently (and slowly) playing my way through Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition.

I also have an embarrassing number of hours in Splatoon 3. The short matches are a great way to restart my brain when burnt out from work.