Kawa's recent activity
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Comment on Steam refund policy update - "Advanced Access" now counts towards refund window in ~games
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Comment on HowLongToBeat: The Game in ~games
Kawa LinkThere was one called guessthe.game that I moved on from after some dumb AI round they did for April Fool's and a bunch of weird stuff they did on the site to make it worse. This doesn't function...There was one called guessthe.game that I moved on from after some dumb AI round they did for April Fool's and a bunch of weird stuff they did on the site to make it worse. This doesn't function the same way but it's kinda fun and could replace that for me.
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Comment on Nintendo 64-style platformer Corn Kidz 64 releases for Switch on April 19 in ~games
Kawa Link ParentThere's nothing to remember, this isn't an old game. It's a new game in the style of old games.I honestly don't even remember this game whatsoever
There's nothing to remember, this isn't an old game. It's a new game in the style of old games.
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Comment on Yuzu, popular Nintendo Switch emulator, settles with Nintendo for $2.4m and halts development and distribution indefinitely in ~games
Kawa Link ParentThere are DRM-free releases on Steam. Of course, you haven't necessarily indicated against knowing this, but just in case you wanted to know:...and Steam
There are DRM-free releases on Steam. Of course, you haven't necessarily indicated against knowing this, but just in case you wanted to know:
https://tildes.net/~games/16ea/what_gaming_rumor_just_wont_die#comment-8gy9
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Comment on There has never been a better time to game on Linux in ~games
Kawa Link ParentMentioning only one thing does not mean I want to go back to Linux over only one thing.Mentioning only one thing does not mean I want to go back to Linux over only one thing.
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Comment on There has never been a better time to game on Linux in ~games
Kawa LinkI've been unhappy with changes Microsoft has been making with Windows since 8 obviously, with the new copilot shit being the newest thing I don't really want. I've been thinking for some time...I've been unhappy with changes Microsoft has been making with Windows since 8 obviously, with the new copilot shit being the newest thing I don't really want. I've been thinking for some time (post-steam deck acquisition really) about moving back to linux on the desktop after Win 10 (my current OS) support ends. I've done it before, I've even daily drove linux before, I can do it again and probably have a better experience than ever before.
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Comment on Via: Solving the 100 GB problem in ~games
Kawa (edited )LinkOh my god, this is actually so cool. I might give this a shot tbh. Edit: I'm literally just flipping through games in my steam library like a fucking magazine this is incredible. This is probably...Oh my god, this is actually so cool. I might give this a shot tbh.
Edit: I'm literally just flipping through games in my steam library like a fucking magazine this is incredible. This is probably the coolest tech I've seen in gaming in a long while.
Edit 2: I ran it on a M.2 SATA drive and got downloads of only like 4-6 mB/s, dark souls remastered, borderlands 2, path of exile, trials of mana, monster hunter rise, and basically any indie game all ran well.
To stress test, I didnt expect it to work, but GTA V was basically unplayable with hitching and unloaded assets plus unbearably long load times. Counter-Strike 2 took forever to load and had unloaded assets in the main menu and seemed like it was going to be unplayable.
So if its kind of like a AA, older AAA, or indie, and maybe not open world, you can run it on pretty modest drive and connection.
If your connection is amazing and you use like an NVMe or Optane like the developer maybe you can do just about anything with it.
So the use case is either amazing internet and storage constrained, or poor internet and don't want to wait for a download and only playing relatively modest titles in terms of what they might load at a time.
One amazing use case that comes to mind is trying Steam Next Fest demos without downloading them all. Another would be Steam Deck, if the developer gets this running on linux and Deck (currently Windows only) which is pretty storage constrained, during times when you're at home or have access to a fast connection.
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Comment on Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the most inventive 2D Mario in decades in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI don't think a 2D Mario would ever really compare to something like Odyssey in playtime, the 3D games are kind of a different thing altogether in my view. It seems like it will compare fairly to...I don't think a 2D Mario would ever really compare to something like Odyssey in playtime, the 3D games are kind of a different thing altogether in my view.
It seems like it will compare fairly to like, SMB3, SMW, NSMB U types of playtimes like you mentioned and I'm happy enough with that in terms of getting my fill of the game. As for relative to price, well... we all know how fruitless trying to compare playtime:price ratios can be when people have thousands of hours in free games. It is what it is.
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Comment on Analogue is working on a Nintendo 64 console in ~games
Kawa (edited )Link ParentFor sure, but probably not a matter of hours. It took Pocket a decent chunk of time to get anything, actually, and it was never even a jailbreak firmware like with Super NT and Mega SG, first it...For sure, but probably not a matter of hours. It took Pocket a decent chunk of time to get anything, actually, and it was never even a jailbreak firmware like with Super NT and Mega SG, first it was converting gb and gbc roms to the gb-studio format, and then it was just the openFPGA cores opening up and supporting all the platforms the cart slot supports, and more.
I kind of think in a post-analogue OS world (and all their future stuff is expected to use this platform) the jailbreak firmwares of old are gone in favor of openFPGA cores, which are great but was slower to release.
EDIT: "1. Analogue 3D does not support openFPGA " - interesting, guess it will have to be jailbreak firmware.
Also, the official reason for the SD card slot to exist is firmware updates, which is actually a pretty legitimate use case and something that every FPGA based Analogue device has received. openFPGA is also an official use case in terms of Pocket-onward, even if it carries with it the new age way of playing roms on Analogue's hardware.
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Comment on Palia’s fan base is split, and it makes the cozy farming sim complicated in ~games
Kawa Link ParentThis is only sort of tangentially related but I feel like it's kind of the idea of instrumental play that they reference and explain in this video alongside a fascinating look at gaming...I've always been interested in the disconnect between people who play video games "as they were intended" and those who attempt to "min-max" as much as possible.
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Comment on Unity: An open letter to our community in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI don't really expect them to concede further, I just hope that in time, they fall apart completely.I don't really expect them to concede further, I just hope that in time, they fall apart completely.
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Comment on Super Mario Bros. Any% Speedrun in 4:54.631 in ~games
Kawa (edited )Link ParentPeople in the video comments are saying 22 frames, where's 4 coming from? Edit: The runner himself also says 22 frames behind in the video description.only a mere 4 frames ahead
People in the video comments are saying 22 frames, where's 4 coming from?
Edit: The runner himself also says 22 frames behind in the video description.
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Comment on Japanese YouTuber sentenced to two years in prison for sharing gameplay and anime videos in ~games
Kawa LinkI can't help but feel like there's some context missing in this article. The charge is copyright infringement. What is a "spoiler" gameplay video - like the claim is the direct purpose of the...I can't help but feel like there's some context missing in this article.
The charge is copyright infringement.
What is a "spoiler" gameplay video - like the claim is the direct purpose of the video was to show endings in an effort to provide the narrative to viewers without purchase?
The prosecution argued that this was “a malicious act that trampled on the effort of content creation” by discouraging the purchase of the original products, while the defendant said at trial that he wanted someone to see what he created as part of his hobby.
I just wish this paragraph was less vague and had fuller details of what the arguments were on both sides and a little more description for what the video contained, was it the whole game? just alternate endings? was there commentary from the player?
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Comment on Starfield reviews in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI've been playing BG3 with a controller because I'm unhappy with the way they did the mouse and keyboard controls (no middle click panning, middle click is camera turning, must keyboard or edge...I've been playing BG3 with a controller because I'm unhappy with the way they did the mouse and keyboard controls (no middle click panning, middle click is camera turning, must keyboard or edge pan. F all that.)
Unless it's performance issues expected on PC then fair enough, but controller play is very much fine.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI, too, am playing a drow. I tried rolling a dwarf first but it didn't really feel like a dwarf between the voice acting and the written style of the dialogue options, kinda made me feel like I'd...I, too, am playing a drow. I tried rolling a dwarf first but it didn't really feel like a dwarf between the voice acting and the written style of the dialogue options, kinda made me feel like I'd made a dwarf-shaped human. Rerolling drow but going rogue + urchin background let me feel right about being a bit smug and superior in the first half of act 1 but with an arc of coming around to the plights of the surrounding world and transitioning into kind of an anti-hero as any good drow campaign probably goes if you're not gonna be dedicated to full on Llolthian evil the whole way through.
Was a good reroll and I'm happy I did it.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI googled it and found that Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game are not the same dev, they just share a publisher, and it's that publisher and not either dev who contributed to Playdate along with...I googled it and found that Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game are not the same dev, they just share a publisher, and it's that publisher and not either dev who contributed to Playdate along with Teenage Engineering... so I wouldn't say "by the folks who did" before either Firewatch or UGG to be honest... feels kind of irrelevant to me.
Not to be like a sad party pooper, I guess I'm just saying to me it doesn't feel like enough relation to qualify for "if you like X, then Y" for Playdate, which is neat and cute though.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Kawa Link ParentNot the original person you're replying to but I have like 0 experience with tabletop D&D yet find BG3 so much easier to understand than the BG1&2 realtime with pause for the appropriately inverse...Not the original person you're replying to but I have like 0 experience with tabletop D&D yet find BG3 so much easier to understand than the BG1&2 realtime with pause for the appropriately inverse reasons to why you like realtime. Even with auto pausing after rounds or turns, I just have a really vague sense of when the turns and rounds are happening and lack the confidence in the system that my characters aren't wasting time doing things I don't want them to between pauses. There's a vague sense that I don't have complete control if I'm not constantly pausing to input commands and trying to figure out if/when they happened so I can pause and issue the very specific next thing I want characters to do. I also feel like my party just drops dead in BG1 if I'm not trying to hard nitpick every single turn and action, but I've heard BG1 is just kinda brutal in the opening levels and I never got very far.
I don't know how to put it in precise words, so to speak in metaphor, the BG1 (I haven't touched 2 yet but I understand it's the same) gameplay style kind of feels like I've driven over ice, lost traction, but I have just enough control to sorta stay on the road. I prefer the feeling of exact precision of BG3. I get the full confidence that nobody does anything without me telling them exactly what to do.
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Comment on Baldur’s Gate 3 is causing some developers to panic in ~games
Kawa Link ParentYeah, the problem is perhaps that I just don't spend my time, in response to stories like this one, going and finding the original tweets and their replies and seeing what the enraged gamers are...Yeah, the problem is perhaps that I just don't spend my time, in response to stories like this one, going and finding the original tweets and their replies and seeing what the enraged gamers are actually saying so I might just be giving them too much benefit of the doubt in assuming that they're mad at corporate overlords and not at the studios' employees. I just know in my own social circles that usually we all understand that the pressures come from the top.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Kawa (edited )Link ParentBorderlands 1, while still brimming with zany and humorous writing, doesn't necessarily have a singular character who steals the show as significantly as Borderlands 2's villain does, and while I...Borderlands 1, while still brimming with zany and humorous writing, doesn't necessarily have a singular character who steals the show as significantly as Borderlands 2's villain does, and while I think that villain is a fantastic performance in BL2 that carries it's story campaign, a little something from BL1 was lost along the way. BL1's cast shares screen time more evenly, putting the focus on the plot's exciting central mystery instead, letting you take it a little more seriously than BL2's pretty much "villain-narrated" comedy tone. It would be sad to hear of someone playing BL2 first and then struggling to get into BL1 because it's more subtle all around. Also the aforementioned mystery would become less mysterious if you knew BL2's plot points in advance, while BL2's plot is better served by a bit of knowledge of the backstory learned in BL1.
In summary, yeah, definitely start with 1. In my opinion do them in release order. The "Pre-sequel" takes place between 1 & 2, but it's still probably better played after 2, since it was written and released afterward anyway so there's also a bit of built-in expectation that you know what is going to happen in 2 anyway. Release order is the way to go.
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Comment on Baldur’s Gate 3 is causing some developers to panic in ~games
Kawa (edited )Link ParentI feel the rest of that article is pretty correct and on point especially about the danger of inciting rage toward developers who talked about their perspectives and about how 3 years of early...In the abstract, here’s a big part of it: Games release in imperfect states because devs either run out of money or the shareholders of their parent company mandate that a game must come out in a certain window (which devs have no control over). They run out of money trying to make the best game possible in the least amount of time. Devs rarely control their own budget and they are trying to make as much cool stuff as they can with the time they are allotted.
In short, for one reason or another, they are often forced to start selling the game in order to pay for the completion of the game. This has been done through DLC, patches, early access, and yes, even microstransactions for ages, because of rising expectations of triple-A, and because big studios are beholden to financial year results and reporting to their investors. Devs burn through their life force trying to make this happen and it’s upsetting to see this brought up with absolute incuriosity.
I feel the rest of that article is pretty correct and on point especially about the danger of inciting rage toward developers who talked about their perspectives and about how 3 years of early access being ignored creates an illusion of a clean release, but I do take issue with the two quoted paragraphs above.
My question is, why are statements like the above always part of rebuttals against people expressing frustration and disappointment with the overall state of AAA releases?
I'm talking about pointing out that shareholders mandate a release window or that devs don't have control over their own budget, and because studios are beholden to financial year results for investors.
Why are these things always brought up as if it's a defence of the devs? It's not the devs that need defending, isn't it the shareholders, investors, and publishers that we're mad at anyway?
Like all pointing this out does is serve as an anger redirection towards those who fund the project and pull the strings. I think most reasonable people know that already. Somebody's to blame, and I think most people agree that's who.
Some people might say "devs" as a shorthand for the entire organization publisher and studio included, and it always feels like journalists and commentators (rightfully) define "devs" as literally programmers, artists, and designers and then feel the need to defend them as if we don't all already know that some programmer or designer is not really the root cause of problems. Like maybe the layman needs to just stop saying "devs" all-inclusively and consequently baiting this red herring rebuttal.
Anyway, I just want to see "the rising expectations of triple-A" being pulled back a little bit from the publisher's end. If the publisher doesn't want to fund and schedule according to what a AAA release should be like, they should not be asking developers to deliver one. Scale back, make something a little more AA if that's what the publisher/investors can afford. The people whose expectations developers should be asking to dial back are not the audience but the shareholders and publishers.
I think the spirit of the rule about not copying the entirety of an article is to prevent Tildes users from pretty much hosting copies of journalistic articles on pages here where the article gets no revenue or removing it from behind its paywall. This page on Steam is neither behind a paywall nor ad-supported so I think copying its text in full seems harmless in this case.