Thread View: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
23 messages
23 total messages
Started by Spalls Hurgenson
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 14:05
What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Spalls Hurgenson
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 14:05
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 14:05
257 lines
14792 bytes
14792 bytes
(Oh, fuck me; I did it again - it's Feb /2017/... reposting under the
correct subject...)
February is too damn short. It seems that just as soon as it's
started, it's already over; how am we supposed to get any game-playing
done in such a short time?
Well, no matter; I did what I could and played what I played. It's the
end of the month again, so let's all share our play-lists once again.
PCs, console, hand-held, hell, even tabletop if that's your thing;
tell everybody what games have occupied your attention for the past
thirty (erm, 28) days. And if you are really into it (or just bored
enough) share a few thoughts on the games too. Or not; your choice.
Me first!
--------------------
Short and Sweet
--------------------
* Grand Theft Auto 4
* Dead Space 2
* Line of Sight Vietnam
* The Bureau XCOM Declassified
* X-COM Enforcer
TL; DR
----------
* Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay)
Let me just start by saying that I replayed GTA4 using the ICE 3.0
graphics enhancement mod, and ohmigod, does it make the game look
gorgeous. It's not quite up to the standard set by the sequel, but it
comes pretty damn close (well, most of the time; some of the textures
and the shorter draw distance knock things down a notch). In some
areas - particularly the AI animations - the game is noticeably
superior. Not bad for a nine year old game.
The gameplay is pure GTA, with all its strength and weaknesses. The
huge open world is wonderfully detailed; more so, in my opinion, than
that of GTA5. The vehicles control as terribly as ever, and the combat
is middling. But it's the scale and variety of the world far more than
the gameplay that was always the draw of the franchise.
The satire and humor, on the other hand, are decidedly sub-par; too
biting and nasty to be enjoyable even for a Rockstar production (even
for the guys who made literal murder-simulators with the Manhunt
games). I did quite enjoy the early parts of the game which focused
more on Nico, the protagonist, and his relationship with needy cousin
Roman. Nico is a truly broken person and the developers managed some
surprisingly deep and satisfying characterization, making him equally
loathsome and pitiable at the same time. Unfortunately, the latter
half of the game degenerates into broad stereotypes with increasingly
fantastic adventures, and this early magic is sacrificed for cheap
jokes and over-the-top action cliches. I struggled to play the game to
the end.
Still, revisiting Liberty City in all its newly-found high-res glory
and following Nico's wounded journey through the city's dirty
underside - at least in the beginning - was a welcome return to one of
gaming's classic titles.
* Dead Space 2 (replay)
I constantly harp on how important I think it is for games to be
innovative; I forgive otherwise poor gameplay or world-building if
they show evidence of trying something new, and penalize triple-A
titles if they play it safe and just rehash tired cliches and genre.
So I'll be the first to admit my appreciation of Dead Space 2 might
seem a bit hypocritical. It's not just a sequel, the whole franchise
is little more than a re-skinning of the Resident Evil games with
better controls and more gore; innovative it is not.
But damned if it isn't a fun - if unadventurous - game. In part this
has to do with its excellent production values - the levels are
beautifully detailed (given that they are all blood-drenched
renderings of Futuristic Space City #437) and feel practical and
lived-in, which greatly helps to sell the horror. The characters and
story are fairly strong too, although I can't help but feel the
developers missed an opportunity to play up the idea that the
protagonist was truly insane and everything was just some
phantasmagoric hallucination. The gameplay was fairly solid; the
enemies were quick and deadly, if somewhat predictable, and the
weapons /just/ effective enough to keep from getting killed (the game
was a bit extravagant with ammunition, however, which lessened the
feeling of threat). But Dead Space 2's real strength was in its
pacing; it mixed its action sequences and quiet scenes in just the
right balance. I never felt bored and I never felt completely
overwhelmed, a balancing act of exceptional performance that few games
manage successfully.
So I'll be the first to admit Dead Space 2 doesn't expand the hobby in
any way, but it still was a great game to play.
* Line of Sight Vietnam (replay)
LoS: Vietnam's biggest fault is that it came out in 2003, the same
year as Pterdon Studio's far better game, "Vietcong", was released.
Had it been released three or four years earlier, it's failings would
have been much more forgivable, as it shows evidence of being a game
caught between in the transitory period of pure action shooters like
Doom and more story-focused titles like Half-Life or Call of Duty.
It didn't help that it was a budget shooter utilizing a game-engine
from a 2001 game ("Deadly Dozen") that itself was already dated when
it was new. Although LoS: Vietnam featured impressively large and open
levels with a good amount of foliage, the too-near fog sabotaged the
effort, leaving everything feeling as claustrophobic and linear as any
late-90s Doom-clone. Worse though was the AI. Not only could it draw a
bead on you from hundreds of feet away, it spawned in such numbers it
often felt more like playing Doom than the modern tactical shooter it
wanted to be. It was also -perhaps an unfair criticism, given its
release date - a difficult game to get into from a modern perspective,
given the lack of modern conveniences, most notably the lack of iron
sights for the weapons.
Still, it was obvious the developers were trying to create something
different; there was a rudimentary stealth feature that - although
poorly implemented - and creeping through the brush was satisfyingly
tense. The buddy AI was a useful assist, all the more so since you
could switch to the other player at any time (unfortunately, it too
often got stuck on the terrain and I had to manually take over just to
ensure he didn't get left behind). Better done - or a few years
earlier - and the game would have been a classic. Unfortunately, even
by 2003 the game felt dated and - when compared to Vietcong -
disappointingly sub par.
* The Bureau XCOM Declassified (replay)
The Bureau's biggest problem was that it was released after 2012's
"XCOM: Enemy Unknown"; that's a nearly impossible act to follow, even
if it wasn't a title that attempted to shift the beloved franchise
from tactical strategy to third-person shooter. Had it been released a
few years earlier, it probably would have received a much more
favorable reception.
This shouldn't be taken to imply that was the game's only failing,
however; even with a more advantageous release date, it still would
have received its fair share of criticism. One of its biggest issues,
I feel, is that it wasn't quite sure what sort of game it wanted to
be. Was it a pure shooter? A tactical strategy game? An action RPG? It
had elements of all of these, but implemented none of them fully or
satisfyingly, resulting in a half-hearted mixture of all of them.
Played as a pure shooter, it was adequate, at best. Too many of its
poorly-paced levels just dragged on, with overly long combat
interrupted by empty and pointless corridors stretching endlessly
between the combat arenas. Arguably, the combat was supposed to be
spiced up by the tactical strategy element where you would order your
allied AI to move about and use special abilities, but the dreadful
interface and even worse AI made your allies more of a hindrance than
advantage. I usually found it easier to just park them out of danger
and take out the bad guys myself. Then you get back to base and the
game switches into a sort of Mass Effect lite mode, except none of
your choices really have any effect on the storyline and all the
side-quests sort of dry up at the halfway point of the game anyway.
Plus, despite some obvious rehashes of familiar enemies and tropes, on
the whole the game didn't /feel/ like an XCom game, and instead seemed
more of somebody else's sci-fi adventure unhappily forced into an XCom
skin.
Ignoring all the things that made XCom unique, the game was
acceptable, if flawed and unexceptional, but burdened with the
expectations that came with the franchise it was no surprise the game
failed so miserably.
* X-COM Enforcer (replay)
Few people remember that the unfortunate X-Com spin-off, The Bureau,
wasn't the franchise's first FPS; that honor belonged to Enforcer.
Released in 2001, Enforcer was an even more ungainly fit to the
franchise, being little more than an action-shooter that owed almost
no similarity to the earlier titles of the series. But ignoring its
unfortunate connections with the franchise, the game could be
surprisingly fun.
Enforcer utilized the Unreal engine and - remembering this game is now
16 years old - quite good looking. It lacked any spectacular
set-pieces, featuring instead rather humdrum locations such as trailer
parks and city streets - but provided a good amount of detail and
variety. I particularly enjoyed the number of things - cars, propane
tanks, signs, garbage cans, doors, windows - that I could blow up with
my guns. Even more impressive was the sheer number of enemies
available to kill. While most games of its day struggled with five or
six enemies on-screen at once, Enforcer managed 20 to 30 at a time,
and by the time I reached the end of a level I usually had slaughtered
my way through four or five HUNDRED of the villains. In many ways, the
game was more akin to modern "horde shooters" than the scripted
adventures of its contemporaries. Similar to horde shooters, killing
enemies earned you resources ("research points") with which to upgrade
weapons and abilities. While this encouraged "grind", I didn't mind
that much; the weapons were suitably overpowered and a well-placed
shotgun blast could take out five or six enemies at a time. (The AI
wasn't too deadly on its own, but their numbers could quickly whittle
down my health if I wasn't careful).
The game's biggest flaw - aside from its XCom lineage - was that it
was played in third-person, and it had lousy targeting and camera
control. The latter was even more problematic when it came to the
occasional jumping puzzle or navigating narrow ledges. It also was
uneven in tone, never quite sure if it was an action-adventure, a
horror game or a tongue-in-cheek poke at the whole UFO genre.
Still, as a quick pick-me-up shooter it was enjoyable, if simplistic,
fun.
* Shadow Ops Red Mercury (replay)
The easiest description I can give of Shadow Ops is "Call of Duty
Modern Warfare", if done with a less talented team and worse
technology.
It's evident that Zombie Studios, the developers of Shadow Ops, wanted
to make exactly the same sort of game that Infinity Ward would produce
three years later; it's the same sort of spec-ops bullshit, scripted
and liner story-driven adventure as would dominate the genre for
nearly a decade, albeit released in 2004 instead of 2007, and not done
half as well.
In part, this was a failing of the technology; the graphics engine
just couldn't produce the necessary quality of visuals, still being
stuck with the "real is brown" graphics and blocky polygonal
characters that seemed just a step above Quake's monsters. Better
lighting and production values would have greatly improved the effect
and immersion of the game, but the aging Unreal engine just was not
able to provide these. But the game also suffered from poor level
design; not just in how the levels looked, but also in flow and
layout, in how it clued the player as to where to go next, and in
enemy placement. Gameplay was too frequently interrupted by video
cut-scenes (because in-engine graphics couldn't cut it), and the
inability to drop or pick up new weapons seems a baffling choice.
The story is the usual Modern Warfare awfulness, with a super-human
protagonist soldier-spy mowing down enemies in venues as varied as the
Congo, to a Russian research facility, to the streets of Paris itself
(none of them very convincingly rendered), all in pursuit of a madman
with the eponymous "red mercury" bomb. In this area, at least, the
game is on par with the more notable Call of Duty games, which are
equally nonsensical and stupid, but that's not much of an achievement.
As a historical footnote, the game is of marginal interest as it
evidences the direction the genre was moving, but as a game it is
forgettable and unenjoyable trash.
--------------------
And that's me, for February. Now that I look back at it, that's a
pretty good impressive number of games played to completion for just
four weeks. Imagine what I can do in a month that has 31 days ;-)
So what about you? What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2016?
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Xocyll
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 15:51
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 15:51
22 lines
2183 bytes
2183 bytes
Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
>(Oh, fuck me; I did it again - it's Feb /2017/... reposting under the
>correct subject...)
<big snip>
>So what about you? What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2016?
^
Oops -----------------------------------------------------------|
To be honest I didn't even notice the date you put in, I stopped reading
the title at February.
Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Rudi
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 17:45
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 17:45
14 lines
2036 bytes
2036 bytes
1.3.2017, 16.05, Spalls Hurgenson kirjoitti: > * Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay) > Let me just start by saying that I replayed GTA4 using the ICE 3.0 > graphics enhancement mod, May I be straightforward and ask you directly, where did U get this mod ? Thru basic google search, I found only one dl page, and not only was it lacking in information, it also contained links to huge ad popping pages... Declined to follow any of them, maybe with some patience and careful slushing thru them I might have gotten lucky.. but if their intention was just to shoo off accidental tourists, they sure did a remarkeful job :)
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: rms
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 20:20
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 20:20
7 lines
1899 bytes
1899 bytes
>So what about you? What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2016?
Still consumed by Fallout New Vegas, but I've just completed the 3rd
DLC, all but one of the 6 companion quests, and am in the last act of the
main campaign, so hay! I may finish it this month!
rms
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: rms
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 21:03
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 21:03
24 lines
2581 bytes
2581 bytes
Interesting lineup of games here!
>* Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay)
I'm maintaining my boycott of all things GTA: still no interest.
>* Dead Space 2 (replay)
Strong urge to replay this trilogy (or the first two at least), as plot
details have faded enough from memory to make it somewhat fresh. Think I
played 1&2 3 times each in a row to get to unlock the hardest difficulty.
>* Line of Sight Vietnam (replay)
Vietcong was so exceptional, the movement mechanics unequalled, the
combat so visceral and satisfying, that I have no desire to even attempt
another vietnam-based game, nor have I ever heard of a title that approaches
it.
>* The Bureau XCOM Declassified (replay)
>* X-COM Enforcer (replay)
I've had this strong feeling for a while now, that The Bureau would be
good introduction for me to the XCOM world, as I was pretty much lost and
clumsy in the hour or two I put into Enemy Unknown. And I've never even
heard of Enforcer, thanks for the overview!
rms
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Mr Rob
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 23:08
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2017 23:08
27 lines
2388 bytes
2388 bytes
On Wed, 01 Mar 2017 09:05:17 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote: >Well, no matter; I did what I could and played what I played. It's the >end of the month again, so let's all share our play-lists once again. >PCs, console, hand-held, hell, even tabletop if that's your thing; >tell everybody what games have occupied your attention for the past >thirty (erm, 28) days. And if you are really into it (or just bored >enough) share a few thoughts on the games too. Or not; your choice. I've had a penchant for strategy and survival games this month, which is quite unusual for me. Most of February for me was spent playing Astroneer and Oxygen Not Included. I also played a bit of Subsistence, The Wild Eight, Northgard, and very briefly, Stable Orbit as well. I really like Astroneer and Oxygen Not Included, they're pretty addictive. Time flies by when I'm playing them. I also bought RimWorld but only managed a couple of minutes of the tutorial last night. I was tired and the tutorial managed to irritate me with its vagueness so I shut the game off and went to bed instead. -- Rob
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Spalls Hurgenson
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:03
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:03
25 lines
2985 bytes
2985 bytes
On Wed, 1 Mar 2017 19:45:29 +0200, Rudi <ru...@iki.fi> wrote: >1.3.2017, 16.05, Spalls Hurgenson kirjoitti: > >> * Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay) >> Let me just start by saying that I replayed GTA4 using the ICE 3.0 >> graphics enhancement mod, > >May I be straightforward and ask you directly, where did U get this >mod ? Thru basic google search, I found only one dl page, and not >only was it lacking in information, it also contained links to >huge ad popping pages... Declined to follow any of them, maybe with >some patience and careful slushing thru them I might have gotten lucky.. > Well, according to the .txt file I wrote when I downloaded the files, it was "http://www.icelaglace.com/mods/gtaiv/ice30/" but going there now I just get a blank page. I downloaded the patch some months (erm, looking at the file dates, some YEARS) ago and only now have gotten around to using them. Always grab the files now, never assume they'll be around later when you actually want/need them; that's the lesson I've learned from 25 years of Internetting ;-) (This lesson brought to you by the hard-drive manufacturers of the world, because everybody should have their own personal archive of the Internet ;-)
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Anssi Saari
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:24
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:24
50 lines
3655 bytes
3655 bytes
Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> writes: > February is too damn short. It seems that just as soon as it's > started, it's already over; how am we supposed to get any game-playing > done in such a short time? I dunno. Upside is shorter time to payday :) > * Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay) > The satire and humor, on the other hand, are decidedly sub-par; too > biting and nasty to be enjoyable... Definitely. I liked the DLCs more, The Lost and the Damned was dark but perhaps in a more GTA-relatable way plus you got some pretty kickass weapons early on and the motorbike handling became decent. Then the Ballad of Gay Tony put some wacky older GTA-style fun back into it. > The vehicles control as terribly as ever... Yes, I think GTA4 was the worst in this. Only some of the better cars seemed to handle decently, the Porsche-like Comet and Impreza/Evo-like Sultan for example. > * X-COM Enforcer (replay) I have a vague memory of killing a truckload of Snakemen but I guess I never finished this. I don't think I ever got far enough to get any upgrades. > So what about you? What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2016? Just Shadow of Mordor, still. I think I'm finally near the end, I'm at the point where I'm supposed to turn five orc Warchiefs to my side and then attack some boss enemy. But it's not always as easy at that. Recently I was ready to brand this non-friendly orc captain but the game thought I wanted to grab someone else. And of course that someone else was another orc captain I had already branded and when I let go he fell off a ledge to his death. Oops. Something to be said for a targeting reticle. Then there was this another warchief who was so tough I could hardly make a dent in his health but he was vulnerable to stealth kills so I stealth killed him. Downside is, I had previously killed his bodyguard (possibly he was the guy who took a dive above) so there was no direct line of succession. Sigh. I think I'm going to have help some previously branded orc captain to rise in power so he'll be in my team when he makes warchief. Come to think of it, I might as well brand all the captains I haven't yet...
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Zaghadka
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:47
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:47
36 lines
2953 bytes
2953 bytes
On Thu, 02 Mar 2017 09:03:33 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, Spalls Hurgenson wrote: >On Wed, 1 Mar 2017 19:45:29 +0200, Rudi <ru...@iki.fi> wrote: > >>1.3.2017, 16.05, Spalls Hurgenson kirjoitti: >> >>> * Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay) >>> Let me just start by saying that I replayed GTA4 using the ICE 3.0 >>> graphics enhancement mod, >> >>May I be straightforward and ask you directly, where did U get this >>mod ? Thru basic google search, I found only one dl page, and not >>only was it lacking in information, it also contained links to >>huge ad popping pages... Declined to follow any of them, maybe with >>some patience and careful slushing thru them I might have gotten lucky.. >> >Well, according to the .txt file I wrote when I downloaded the files, >it was "http://www.icelaglace.com/mods/gtaiv/ice30/" but going there >now I just get a blank page. I downloaded the patch some months (erm, >looking at the file dates, some YEARS) ago and only now have gotten >around to using them. Always grab the files now, never assume they'll >be around later when you actually want/need them; that's the lesson >I've learned from 25 years of Internetting ;-) > >(This lesson brought to you by the hard-drive manufacturers of the >world, because everybody should have their own personal archive of the >Internet ;-) > Can you post the file to a binary group? It's something I'd like to have. -- Zag No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Toby Newman
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:26
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:26
8 lines
1650 bytes
1650 bytes
Finished Dishonored 2, thought it was amazing. Hope Prey comes close. I've bought Mankind Divided but didn't want to go from one sneak-em-up to another so have installed XCOM Enemy Unknown as a palate cleanser. -- -Toby Add the word afiduluminag to the subject to circumvent my email filters.
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Dimensional Traveler
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:46
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:46
15 lines
2031 bytes
2031 bytes
On 3/2/2017 6:24 AM, Anssi Saari wrote: > Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> writes: > >> February is too damn short. It seems that just as soon as it's >> started, it's already over; how am we supposed to get any game-playing >> done in such a short time? > > I dunno. Upside is shorter time to payday :) > Downside, being paid by the hour you have less income to cover rent and food. -- Running the rec.arts.TV Channels Watched Survey. Winter 2016 survey began Dec 01 and will end Feb 28
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Mike S.
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 17:13
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 17:13
15 lines
2086 bytes
2086 bytes
On Thu, 02 Mar 2017 09:03:33 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote: >Well, according to the .txt file I wrote when I downloaded the files, >it was "http://www.icelaglace.com/mods/gtaiv/ice30/" but going there >now I just get a blank page. I downloaded the patch some months (erm, >looking at the file dates, some YEARS) ago and only now have gotten >around to using them. Always grab the files now, never assume they'll >be around later when you actually want/need them; that's the lesson >I've learned from 25 years of Internetting ;-) That link seems to work fine for me in Firefox as of right now. No blank page at least. Download links seems to work. Just click 'skip ad' at top right if you get to adf.ly page. Rudi and Zag, you should try that page again if you want those files.
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: metalguru
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 18:20
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 18:20
25 lines
2867 bytes
2867 bytes
On 3/2/2017 12:13 PM, Mike S. wrote: > On Thu, 02 Mar 2017 09:03:33 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson > <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Well, according to the .txt file I wrote when I downloaded the files, >> it was "http://www.icelaglace.com/mods/gtaiv/ice30/" but going there >> now I just get a blank page. I downloaded the patch some months (erm, >> looking at the file dates, some YEARS) ago and only now have gotten >> around to using them. Always grab the files now, never assume they'll >> be around later when you actually want/need them; that's the lesson >> I've learned from 25 years of Internetting ;-) > > That link seems to work fine for me in Firefox as of right now. No > blank page at least. Download links seems to work. Just click 'skip > ad' at top right if you get to adf.ly page. Rudi and Zag, you should > try that page again if you want those files. It's working fine here as well (Chrome) but the site is quite confusing, lots of different packages with poor descriptions of what they actually do like "EFLC for ELFC only" - had to google that one, apparently it's "Episodes from Liberty City for Episodes from Liberty City". Yeah, that clears it up. I personally think GTA IV was the worst game in the series but even a not very good GTA is better than most open world games out there.
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Rudi
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 18:22
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 18:22
18 lines
1980 bytes
1980 bytes
On Thu, 02 Mar 2017 12:13:27 -0500, Mike S. <Mik...@nowhere.com> wrote: >That link seems to work fine for me in Firefox as of right now. No >blank page at least. Download links seems to work. Just click 'skip >ad' at top right if you get to adf.ly page. Rudi and Zag, you should >try that page again if you want those files. Thnx guys; landing page did work, ditto most of dl pages (just had to turn off adblock), except all mega.nz... perhaps a quota issue from their side ? Anyway did bookmark that page and will try again perhaps over the weekend. Cheers !! R.
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: rri... Ross Ridge
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 21:38
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2017 21:38
124 lines
8317 bytes
8317 bytes
Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote: >* Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay) Coincentally I was also playing Grand Theft Auto IV last month, though it was the first time for me and without any mods. >The gameplay is pure GTA, with all its strength and weaknesses. The >huge open world is wonderfully detailed; more so, in my opinion, than >that of GTA5. The vehicles control as terribly as ever, and the combat >is middling. But it's the scale and variety of the world far more than >the gameplay that was always the draw of the franchise. Controls are the worst thing about the Grand Theft Auto games, at least the ones I've played. It's always the reason why I can never play them to completion. Grand Theft Auto III I played on the PlatStation 2 with a PS2 controller and got stuck less than half way because I could never manage to shoot anything. I played GTA: San Andreas on the PC with keyboard and mouse and got stuck halfway trying complete the airplane tutorial mission. I thought was going to be able to finish GTA IV (PC with keyboard/mouse) but gave up after the final mission suddendly put me in the controls of a helicopter on a collision corse with a skyscraper. I don't know why Rockstar thinks they should include accurate flying simulations with accurate controls when the car driving simulation that makes up 99% of the game is so arcadey. GTA III:SA includes a controls for the landing gear and accounts for their drag if they're not retracted, while in GTA IV the only car stat that seems to matter is how easily the car skids out when making turns. Which for most cars, is ridiculously easily. >The satire and humor, on the other hand, are decidedly sub-par; too >biting and nasty to be enjoyable even for a Rockstar production (even >for the guys who made literal murder-simulators with the Manhunt >games). I did quite enjoy the early parts of the game which focused >more on Nico, the protagonist, and his relationship with needy cousin >Roman. Nico is a truly broken person and the developers managed some >surprisingly deep and satisfying characterization, making him equally >loathsome and pitiable at the same time. Unfortunately, the latter >half of the game degenerates into broad stereotypes with increasingly >fantastic adventures, and this early magic is sacrificed for cheap >jokes and over-the-top action cliches. I struggled to play the game to >the end. I found it hard to sympathize with Niko. It's hard to reconcile statements like him saying cops are just doing their jobs and trying to survive when he killed dozens of them in a bank heist. Real life hitman think their victims deserve to die, gangsters in movies usually only kill when they feel "forced" to. Most of the time Niko kills people for no other reason than they're standing between him and a paycheck. It's also kind of absurd when Niko considers sparing someone after killing a dozen of his friends. Otherwise the story isn't too bad. It might had made more sense if it was told in a form that didn't require massive body counts or like other games didn't spend much time considering Niko's motivations. I agree with you the best parts are with his cousin Roman. The last chunk of missions with the Italian mob are a mess. I thought Elizabeta was a missed oportunity but like the bits with Dwayne as he felt like one of the most real and likeable characters. The McReary clan was interesting but maybe could've used one less brother. I liked how big and detailed the city was, although in parts it did feel a bit rushed. Things like restuarants you couldn't visit except on dates, and resturants you could go inside but not buy food. The friendship/dating mechanic sounded like an interesting addition at first, but then soon became a pain in the ass as your friends keep calling you. You either spend most of the game trying to keep your friends happy or just ingore them and get on with the game. I really began to hate the overdone scripted car chases. Many missions include a car chase where the car being chased is completely invulnerable and impossible to catch up to. That's so you don't miss a single scripted event, mostly consisting of a truck losing its load or a bus suddenly moving to block most of the road (the only time you'll see a bus driving on the road). The chase either ends with a scripted car crash or the car becoming vulnerable but with no indication of that other than the fact that you stop seeing buses. One interesting thing about the game is depsite the fact the game is 9 years old how dated it appears a times. You have a mobile phone, but you can't access the Internet from it, instead you need to go to an Internet Cafe. There's pay phones everywhere and sometimes there are so many 50's and 60's style cars on the streets you'd think you were in Havana. On the other hand the game could be suprisingly prescient. One of the characters said "You can be whatever you like. It's the land of opportunity. Any fool can become President." I had to laugh at that. Overall I'd recommend playing this game, but I'd have a hard time naming an open world game I thought was worse than GTA IV. Come to think of it the "open world" parts of the game were pretty barren. I suppose FarCry 2 or 3 are worse as I stopped playing both halfway through as they got repetitive, but then I'd also have to say GTA III and GTA:SA are worse because I only got half way, despite them otherwise being better games. As better games, I'd recommend Saints Row III (you get to make your own character!), or one of the games where you're playing an obstentially good guy like Sabotuer or Sleeping Dogs. The protagonist's motivations and concerns about them were much better portrayed in Sleeping Dogs. And needless to say any open world game not named Grand Theft Auto has better controls. GTA IV took up most of my gaming time in February. I played Endless Legend at the start of month. It's a decent 4X turned based strategy game, that does a lot things differently. That made it hard to master, but once I did it's became clear that the AI is weak and doesn't do a good job of economy management. But poor AI pretty much par for the course for any 4X strategy game that isn't named Civilization. I started playing King's Bounty: Armored Princess after GTA IV, but I haven't gotten far enough into the game to say much about it. So far it appears to be pretty much the same game as King's Bounty: The Legend, just with a new campaign in a new world with a new hero that's female rather than male. But as I enjoyed playing the original, so I don't mind playing what amounts to an expansion. Ross Ridge -- l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU [oo][oo] rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca -()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rridge/ db //
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Spalls Hurgenson
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 00:54
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 00:54
30 lines
3018 bytes
3018 bytes
On Wed, 01 Mar 2017 10:51:04 -0500, Xocyll <Xoc...@gmx.com> wrote:
>Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
>entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
>say:
>>So what about you? What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2016?
^
>Oops -----------------------------------------------------------|
<sigh>
See, the thing that /really/ annoyed me is that - when I first posted
- I went back and double-checked to make sure I had the correct month,
so as not to repeat my mistake from last month. But I didn't check the
year.
I really need to start writing out these posts earlier; I always put
it off until the very last moment (e.g., 11:50pm on the last day of
the month) and then I'm in such a rush - not to mention tired - that
this stuff slips by.
> To be honest I didn't even notice the date you put in, I stopped reading
> the title at February.
It's not a real problem, but it annoys me that I keep repeating the
same mistake. Plus, if I reuse the same subject, the new post gets
appended to the old thread from a year ago, and some people might miss
it. It's why I started adding the year to the subject line in the
first place.
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Anssi Saari
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:03
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:03
24 lines
2950 bytes
2950 bytes
rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca (Ross Ridge) writes: > Controls are the worst thing about the Grand Theft Auto games, at least > the ones I've played. It's always the reason why I can never play them > to completion. Grand Theft Auto III I played on the PlatStation 2 with > a PS2 controller and got stuck less than half way because I could never > manage to shoot anything. Uhm. GTA3 has auto aim on PS2 (or auto targeting?) As I recall, it mostly never targeted the people actually shooting at you but switching targets was fast and easy. > I played GTA: San Andreas on the PC with keyboard and mouse and got > stuck halfway trying complete the airplane tutorial mission. I > thought was going to be able to finish GTA IV (PC with keyboard/mouse) > but gave up after the final mission suddendly put me in the controls > of a helicopter on a collision corse with a skyscraper. I got a controller when playing Vice City. Haven't looked back. Sure driving a car was fine but the fairly early mission with the model helicopter carrying bombs into a building under construction was really hard. And no fun. Controller made it fun, likewise motorbikes, boats, planes. IOW, using a controller for vehicles and a mouse + kb when on foot was and is the perfect combination for GTA games.
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: rri... Ross Ridge
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:31
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:31
31 lines
2643 bytes
2643 bytes
Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote: >Uhm. GTA3 has auto aim on PS2 (or auto targeting?) As I recall, it >mostly never targeted the people actually shooting at you but switching >targets was fast and easy. It wasn't fast and easy for me. I was never able to get the hang of it and could never reliably shoot anyone, and that was in two attempts to play the game. More generally I've never gotten the really hang of console controls in shooter games, but Grand Theft Auto 3 was the worst for me. >I got a controller when playing Vice City. Haven't looked back. Sure >driving a car was fine but the fairly early mission with the model >helicopter carrying bombs into a building under construction was really >hard. And no fun. Controller made it fun, likewise motorbikes, boats, >planes. IOW, using a controller for vehicles and a mouse + kb when on >foot was and is the perfect combination for GTA games. Yah, it would probably be better if I switched between a controller and keyboard and mouse, but if the controls didn't suck this shouldn't be necessary. I didn't have a problem using a keyboard and mouse for everything when playing Saints Row 3, Saboteur, FarCry 2/3 and Sleeping Dogs. Ross Ridge -- l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU [oo][oo] rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca -()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rridge/ db //
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Andrew McP
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 18:18
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 18:18
12 lines
2555 bytes
2555 bytes
On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 2:05:29 PM UTC, Spalls Hurgenson wrote: > (Oh, fuck me; I did it again - it's Feb /2017/ If it helps, my life is perpetually trapped in February 2016, so thanks for making me feel at home. ;-) Anyway, gaming... on the One Life Left podcast they have a category 'Going Around Games' to describe games which involve very little apart from, er... wandering around. This is life with my poor old demented mother. We go around a lot, we get nowhere because the places we're looking for no longer exists, and then we finish in a bad mood, wondering why we bothered. But at least we get plenty of exercise, unlike in Going Around Games. When we're not 'Going Around' I am still pissing my nuggets of free time away on Diablo3 and nothing else. I have no idea why! I don't even think I'm enjoying it any more. I start each new season with a fresh character, optimistic that this time I'll truly master the class and push to GR80+. But I always end up copying successful character builds and failing to get anywhere near as far as the best players get using the same kit. Story of my gaming life! Story of my life full stop. :) Andrew McP
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Justisaur
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 20:41
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 20:41
86 lines
5998 bytes
5998 bytes
On 3/1/2017 6:05 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote: > (Oh, fuck me; I did it again - it's Feb /2017/... reposting under the > correct subject...) > Well, F me, I wrote a huge reply 2 days ago and it doesn't seem to have gone through, far worse than messing up a date. :( This attempt will be much shorter. Oh well, brevity is the soul of wit, right? > * Grand Theft Auto 4 (replay) > Let me just start by saying that I replayed GTA4 using the ICE 3.0 > graphics enhancement mod, and ohmigod, does it make the game look > gorgeous. It's not quite up to the standard set by the sequel, but it > comes pretty damn close (well, most of the time; some of the textures > and the shorter draw distance knock things down a notch). In some > areas - particularly the AI animations - the game is noticeably > superior. Not bad for a nine year old game. Holy crap! This is 9 years old? I swear I was just playing it a couple years ago. I did have problems getting it working the first two attempts, computer not up to it, so could be I was. > The gameplay is pure GTA, with all its strength and weaknesses. The > huge open world is wonderfully detailed; more so, in my opinion, than > that of GTA5. The vehicles control as terribly as ever, and the combat > is middling. But it's the scale and variety of the world far more than > the gameplay that was always the draw of the franchise. Meh, missing Rampages, and my other favorites - taxi, firetruck, and police missions. > > The satire and humor, on the other hand, are decidedly sub-par; too > biting and nasty to be enjoyable even for a Rockstar production (even > for the guys who made literal murder-simulators with the Manhunt > games). I did quite enjoy the early parts of the game which focused > more on Nico, the protagonist, and his relationship with needy cousin > Roman. Nico is a truly broken person and the developers managed some > surprisingly deep and satisfying characterization, making him equally > loathsome and pitiable at the same time. Unfortunately, the latter > half of the game degenerates into broad stereotypes with increasingly > fantastic adventures, and this early magic is sacrificed for cheap > jokes and over-the-top action cliches. I struggled to play the game to > the end. > I did finish this last time, but it was a pain in the ass, and i hated having to switch back and forth between controller and mouse/kb, and by the end I just felt like it should've ended wiping everyone out as I hated all the characters. > * Dead Space 2 (replay) Added to my wishlist. Is Dead Space 1 worth playing too, should I play it first? Wow, they're both the same price at $20. > * X-COM Enforcer (replay) Sounds fun to me, added to my wishlist too. I ages ago tried picking up the original X-Com, but it was at least a decade after it had come out and I couldn't get into it. > So what about you? What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2016? > Dark Souls 2 (PC New) 2 months straight. I've got a lot of problems with it now, and have to say it's about a 75 vs. 95 for DS1. There don't seem to be enough people late game to complete most of the covenant lines. On top of that every couple weeks I've had a day or 3 I couldn't connect to game servers so no progress possible in the covenants. I'm also getting pretty tired of the grind in general. It's still good enough to scratch the DS itch though and at 2 months of play well worth the money. Buriedbornes (Android New) Japanese fremium turn based RPG. It's pretty rudimentary and reminds me of some very old games, a bit like Telengard. You can make progress easily if you've just got a few minutes. The fremium stuff is nearly non-intrusive too, one of the better fremium games in that regard. You can buy some currency that lets you do some stuff like reroll treasure a 3rd time if you don't like it (you get 1 free reroll with each hoard), but it doesn't seem to be necessary, and there's a small add banner at the bottom. The up/downside is it's constantly being updated and I don't like updating on the cell network, and never remember when I'm at home as I've got other stuff to do, so I end up not being able to play it most times.
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: rms
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 21:40
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 21:40
13 lines
2368 bytes
2368 bytes
>> * Dead Space 2 (replay)
>Added to my wishlist. Is Dead Space 1 worth playing too, should I play it
>first? Wow, they're both the same price at $20.
For sure play DS1 first, as DS2 is a straight sequel. And DS1 is $5
right now at the Origin store. Don't overpay!
>Dark Souls 2 (PC New) 2 months straight. I've got a lot of problems with
>it now, and have to say it's about a 75 vs. 95 for DS1.
I loved DS1 and hated DS2 passionately, bailing early on. Shrug.
rms
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Spalls Hurgenson
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2017 14:14
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2017 14:14
33 lines
3361 bytes
3361 bytes
On Fri, 3 Mar 2017 12:41:44 -0800, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com> wrote: >On 3/1/2017 6:05 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote: >> * Dead Space 2 (replay) >Added to my wishlist. Is Dead Space 1 worth playing too, should I play >it first? Wow, they're both the same price at $20. I think Dead Space 2 is the superior title - the first's mission structure was a bit too mechanical; the sequel is more organic - but a lot of my appreciation for the second is because I experienced the same horrors as the protagonist in DS1. So if you have the option, I'd say get them both. Dead Space 1 is still a pretty good game, even if a bit rough around the edges, and you'll get more appreciation of the second for playing it. >> * X-COM Enforcer (replay) >Sounds fun to me, added to my wishlist too. I ages ago tried picking up >the original X-Com, but it was at least a decade after it had come out >and I couldn't get into it. It's not just you. The original "X-Com: UFO Defense" is an undeniable classic, but its clunky interface (and to some degree, its graphics) keep me from getting returning (I played it a good amount when it was new, however). It's also far less forgiving in the early game, where you could wipe out in the first month if you weren't careful. The reboot - "XCOM Enemy Unknown" - had faults of its own but it's far more accessible (it's also is more forgiving in the early game, but any mistakes you make there will almost certainly bite you in the ass in the end game ;-).
Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2017?
Author: Zaghadka
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2017 00:12
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2017 00:12
26 lines
2612 bytes
2612 bytes
On Thu, 02 Mar 2017 12:13:27 -0500, Mike S. <Mik...@nowhere.com> wrote: >On Thu, 02 Mar 2017 09:03:33 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson ><spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>Well, according to the .txt file I wrote when I downloaded the files, >>it was "http://www.icelaglace.com/mods/gtaiv/ice30/" but going there >>now I just get a blank page. I downloaded the patch some months (erm, >>looking at the file dates, some YEARS) ago and only now have gotten >>around to using them. Always grab the files now, never assume they'll >>be around later when you actually want/need them; that's the lesson >>I've learned from 25 years of Internetting ;-) > >That link seems to work fine for me in Firefox as of right now. No >blank page at least. Download links seems to work. Just click 'skip >ad' at top right if you get to adf.ly page. Rudi and Zag, you should >try that page again if you want those files. Thanks for the update, I too was able to download the mods and all the textures, but that AdFly site is atrocious. (*eye roll*) -- Zag Sent from my slow-ass Toshiba Laptop
Thread Navigation
This is a paginated view of messages in the thread with full content displayed inline.
Messages are displayed in chronological order, with the original post highlighted in green.
Use pagination controls to navigate through all messages in large threads.
Back to All Threads