Spaz's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz Link ParentThe first link in your post loops back to this thread. Is this the one you meant to post?The first link in your post loops back to this thread. Is this the one you meant to post?
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Comment on Longevity of tech equipment in ~tech
Spaz LinkMy gaming/hobby PC is getting pretty long in the tooth these days. Originally built in 2011 using an Intel 2600k, two GTX 580s, a custom test-bench case (DangerDen if anyone remembers them) and...My gaming/hobby PC is getting pretty long in the tooth these days. Originally built in 2011 using an Intel 2600k, two GTX 580s, a custom test-bench case (DangerDen if anyone remembers them) and massive custom watercooling loop. Over the years I've upgraded the SSD/HDD's many times and in 2018 I swapped the GTX 580 SLi setup for an 8GB RTX 2070 when 1.5GB of VRAM was no longer viable.
Thanks to an aggressive overclock, gaming at 1080p and not playing the latest AAA titles I've not really had a huge reason to upgrade. Remembering how quickly computers were considered obsolete in the 90's and early 00's I wanted to see if I could make this machine last a decade. Now that we're a few years beyond that there are some sentimental reasons partially responsible for holding me back from an upgrade. This machine and I have done so much work together, crunched countless numbers, made lots of art and it has been the main game server hub for my friends that I am finding it difficult to power it down and say goodbye.
Also with the cost of building a new, fancy computer right now replacing it is not feasible, unfortunately.
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Comment on Follow up on the username thread: What Tildes users do you recognize when browsing and, without being rude or inflammatory, what is your impression of them? in ~tildes
Spaz LinkThe ones that usually stick out most for me are @cfabbro and @mycketforvirrad. Cfabbro often posts the helpful archive links which are much appreciated and Mycketforvirrad (which my brain always...The ones that usually stick out most for me are @cfabbro and @mycketforvirrad.
Cfabbro often posts the helpful archive links which are much appreciated and Mycketforvirrad (which my brain always wants to read as 'My ticket for rides') is the tag/title master. One day I hope to post a topic that gets all the tags and title right without needing corrections/additions.
Honorable mentions for @kfwyre and @chocobean because they are pretty regular, helpful posters that I see often.
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Comment on What are your favorite “chore” games? in ~games
Spaz LinkDiablo II somewhat fits the definition of a chore game. I play an old version (1.09) on a private server called Diablo09 with about a dozen other semi-active players. Most of my time playing the...Diablo II somewhat fits the definition of a chore game. I play an old version (1.09) on a private server called Diablo09 with about a dozen other semi-active players.
Most of my time playing the game is doing the same old cow runs, boss runs and gold farming over and over again when I have spare time, want to game and don't particularly want to use my brain. All for the goal of finding better equipment so that I can PVP with the other handful of players once a year...
The game is a nostalgic comfort-food slot machine of sorts to me. Though these days even when I do hit a jackpot the elation only lasts for a fleeting moment. I think part of that is the realization that our tiny community is fading away.
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of November 10 in ~games
Spaz LinkSteam is having another sale-fest and this time the theme is cooking. It's not really a genre I have a lot of experience with but would certainly recommend PlateUp! (66% off) if you're interested...Steam is having another sale-fest and this time the theme is cooking.
It's not really a genre I have a lot of experience with but would certainly recommend PlateUp! (66% off) if you're interested in doing some 2-4 player co-op where you have to manage and run all the aspects you would expect in a restaurant.
Your main goal of course is to cook, serve and ultimately make it through 15 days of ever increasing customer volume. Between each day you're given the opportunity to purchase new equipment and organize/redesign your kitchen and dining areas to better suit your needs.
In the group that I've played with a couple of us have worked in a kitchen in our youth and my friends wife Vicky was previously a server so we naturally sorted ourselves between front and back of house. Vic' runs the dining room with blazing efficiency, yelling out orders while us boys in the back are ever scrambling to keep up and not burn the place down. It can be great, hectic fun but there have been a few occasions where we've shelved the game for some time after a particularly tough run as it can really feel a bit too much like work if you've ever done this stuff in real life.
Definitely worth $10 if any of this sounds interesting to you. And a side note for Factorio players, you can do a decent amount of automation in the kitchen with conveyor belts and auto-assemblers if you're lucky enough to get the right item/equipment choices between each day.
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Comment on Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users in ~tech
Spaz LinkThey no doubt have a very large base of active accounts but I do wonder what percentage of that is bots. Over the last few years a significant portion the site has seemingly been overrun with...They no doubt have a very large base of active accounts but I do wonder what percentage of that is bots. Over the last few years a significant portion the site has seemingly been overrun with them, very few people take notice and the mods/admins don't appear to care. It's disappointing to see what the site has become but on the bright side that has helped me cut down my Reddit time significantly, to the point where I only really go there a few times a week to check up on a few game subs.
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Comment on Scientists and archivists worry Epic Games' control of the 3D model market will 'destroy' cultural heritage in ~games
Spaz Link ParentWith the posted article in mind it's worth mentioning that SketchFab was acquired by Epic Games in 2021. It was announced last week that the SketchFab store has now been moved to Epic's new Fab...With the posted article in mind it's worth mentioning that SketchFab was acquired by Epic Games in 2021. It was announced last week that the SketchFab store has now been moved to Epic's new Fab domain to unify it with their Unreal Marketplace. I believe it was mentioned previously that SketchFab will be phased out completely at some point.
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Comment on The Playstation 2 "Emotion Engine" was worthy of the hype in ~games
Spaz Link ParentWhat a fantastic link, thank you for posting it!What a fantastic link, thank you for posting it!
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Comment on Twelve years and $700 million later, what's going on with Star Citizen's development? in ~games
Spaz LinkAll I wanted was a successor to Wing Commander, and so when CIG launched their kickstarter I gave them 30-something dollars with the hope that Squadron 42 would be completed somewhere around 2018....All I wanted was a successor to Wing Commander, and so when CIG launched their kickstarter I gave them 30-something dollars with the hope that Squadron 42 would be completed somewhere around 2018. I loosely followed the development, checking on it every few months and trying out the builds once or twice a year. I think it was around 2017 when I stopped looking into it at all, fully accepting that Squadron 42 had no priority over The Verse and selling more ships.
Another release window for Sq.42 has now been set for approximately 2026 but I have no confidence that they will hit that mark. Judging by my play-time in the betas you could say I've gotten my $30 worth of entertainment, but that doesn't stop my disappointment in the whole saga that Star Citizen has become over the dozen years since that kickstarter.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz Link ParentIt really is. HDB may have some advice on how to erase your memory so you can experience it that way once more.It really is. HDB may have some advice on how to erase your memory so you can experience it that way once more.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz Link ParentBut I'm a copporooni and opening doors is what I do! I even got into the container with the... Spoiler mega rich light-bending guy. There must be a way in... there has to be!But I'm a copporooni and opening doors is what I do! I even got into the container with the...
Spoiler
mega rich light-bending guy.There must be a way in... there has to be!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz LinkStill plugging away at Disco Elysium. Finally found my badge and am now currently hunting for the elusive cryptids along the dreary coastline. I tried to open a door and failed but I'm having...Still plugging away at Disco Elysium. Finally found my badge and am now currently hunting for the elusive cryptids along the dreary coastline. I tried to open a door and failed but I'm having trouble accepting that. Another mistake was made, a big one, I called her. I should not have. I called her again... I really should not have.
This game makes me sad, but it also makes me laugh... Sometimes it makes me think about things I'd rather forget.
Thought gained: Repressing Depression
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Using winutil or MicroWin to disable Windows Recall is breaking File Explorer
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz LinkAfter reaching the 10th and final act of Path of Exile, at level 74, I've decided to take a bit of a break as progression has become a bit frustrating. Admittedly I've built my Dead-Eye Ranger as...After reaching the 10th and final act of Path of Exile, at level 74, I've decided to take a bit of a break as progression has become a bit frustrating. Admittedly I've built my Dead-Eye Ranger as a glass cannon but never had trouble with survivability until now where I seem to have hit a rather tall wall. Getting gear upgrades at this point has also been quite difficult as most stuff I find is trash and I'd rather spend my limited time playing the game instead of trying to trade for gear. I'll return to it in a few weeks to power through the rest of the campaign.
In its place I've gone back to continue Disco Elysium. I'm currently on the 4th day, playing as a highly logical, dramatic, physical instrument that believes he is a superstar art cop with political alignments that are all over the place (though predominantly a communistic ultra-liberal). The amount of dialogue choice in this game depending on the skills you have chosen is really quite staggering and I'm planning to do multiple play-throughs to see how differently things can play out. I also really love the writing and think the voice acting is top notch, without a doubt it's some of the best I've experienced in a game so far. I would certainly recommend this game to anyone that is interested in an RPG without combat. Well, mostly without combat as there are a few instances with violent solutions that you can choose, but these are still dialogue based skill-checks and there is no active combat in the game that I'm aware of.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz LinkAfter recently seeing that Path of Exile 2 is slated for an Early Access November release I decided it was time I went back to Path of Exile and finally play all the way through the campaign. I...After recently seeing that Path of Exile 2 is slated for an Early Access November release I decided it was time I went back to Path of Exile and finally play all the way through the campaign. I played the game casually from the early closed beta until act 4's release which was around 2015 if memory serves me well.
As of Last night I completed act 5 and have now leveled higher than any of my previous characters with a ranger at level 54. I would say that overall I'm very much enjoying the game but I do have a number of issues with it that really drag the experience down.
My first and largest issue is how terrible the performance is in towns due to all the ridiculous micro-transaction skin/effect users that stand around, AFK and crowd the stash boxes. Going through every town is a dreadful experience; I've tried spending as little time as possible in them due to the ever present swirling storm of over the top particle effects accompanied by a cacophony of jazz singing pets, multiple large fire-breathing dragons, some tornado beam whooshing around and what can only be described as someone trying to sound like the grim reaper talking through a tin can who constantly announces some inane quip. It's all too much and makes going to any town quite unpleasant on top of the severely degraded performance.
Unfortunately that issue will never be resolved as Grinding Gear Games wants to force you to see these things so the users that purchase them can show off their digital doodads and it helps GGG advertise the skins to new players. For me though, it very much sours the whole experience.
The other issue I have with the game is the boss design and how repetitive they can be. It feels like the lion's share of notable foes you face will have a multi-phase mechanic; when you hurt them enough they will pause and launch into the tired "Now I will show you my true power AH-HA, HA, HA..." trope. On top of that most of them also use invincibility phases where you're forced to run around for 30 seconds killing trash minion mobs to top up your potions and make the fight last longer than 1.5 minutes. Even by the end of act 5 these mechanics are wearing thin and I assume there will be many other instances of this happening through the rest of the campaign.
With regards to micro-transactions, stash tabs specifically, I've seen many people say that they are a requirement to play the game but I disagree with that statement to a point. If you're like me and are only playing the game to go through the campaign with maybe 1-3 characters then you won't need to buy stash tabs at all, you just have to be a bit more selective on what you're storing long term. If you really want to maximize your free storage you can also make a bunch of characters (25 characters per account) and use their personal backpack as expanded storage just like what we did in the Diablo II days.
But if you're a player looking to grind the "end game" with multiple characters then purchasing stash tabs is effectively required, though you'll have probably gotten a few hundred hours out of the game by that point making it easier to justify the (frankly overpriced, even on sale) storage expanding tabs. That said, I originally bought a supporter pack during the closed beta and only just now have I used any of the 500 ($50) coins to purchase some tabs, not because I needed them but because the coins have been sitting on my account for 13 years collecting dust.
One last thing worth mentioning, if you're someone that cares about how your character looks then there are only two options in this game. As a free player you're going to look like a hobo wearing an ill fitted soiled scrap of leather on your head with no pants or you're spending $50-$100 to be an 8 foot tall high fantasy laser light show with a talking disco ball pet. There is no in between as far as I've seen.
All in all, despite my few complaints I would recommend the game to anyone that enjoys ARPGs like Diablo II, if even just to play through the campaign either solo or with a few friends.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz Link ParentThanks for the detailed response! I saw that they opened up the beta for all over the weekend but unfortunately I wasn't able to get the time to try it. The one question I have is on...Thanks for the detailed response! I saw that they opened up the beta for all over the weekend but unfortunately I wasn't able to get the time to try it.
The one question I have is on customization, I've tried to find the answer but everything I looked up about customization is on the pilot character and not the mech itself for some reason. In Exteel all the mechs had interchangeable parts with their own stats (HP, armor, weight and so on) so you could mix and match the arms, legs, core, head, jetpack, etc, which allowed you to build a mech exactly to your play style. Is Mecha Break similar in that regard?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz Link ParentI'm jealous that you're in the beta. Being an old Exteel player I've been very much looking forward to the release of this game. Are you able to share any more information on how the game actually...I'm jealous that you're in the beta. Being an old Exteel player I've been very much looking forward to the release of this game. Are you able to share any more information on how the game actually plays?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz Link ParentWow, I didn't even realize it was native, I'm just so used to everything running with Proton that I automatically assumed it was using that. I'm going to try forcing it to use Proton tonight to...Wow, I didn't even realize it was native, I'm just so used to everything running with Proton that I automatically assumed it was using that. I'm going to try forcing it to use Proton tonight to see if it changes anything, though I'm not holding my breath because the vibration didn't work when I tested in Windows LTSC either. I think the game either doesn't like Playstation controllers or something about my hardware configuration.
I'm certainly enjoying it, and it definitely pulls me into the "just one more try" mentality then suddenly it's an hour past when I should have gone to bed.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Spaz (edited )LinkAfter winning Descenders from the raffle hosted by @kfwyre (thank you once again!) last month, I got around to giving it a whirl over the last week. Even though I've had this game on my wishlist...After winning Descenders from the raffle hosted by @kfwyre (thank you once again!) last month, I got around to giving it a whirl over the last week.
Even though I've had this game on my wishlist for some time I wasn't entirely sure what to expect beyond it being a bit of a more sim-oriented mountain biking game. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be a rogue-lite of sorts. Sounds a bit odd, right? But it actually works out pretty well.
The overall concept is very straight forward, ride down procedurally generated trails, do some tricks and/or complete a randomly chosen optional challenge (finish in 35s, do two tweaked 360's, don't use the brakes, etc) and make it to the finish line. On average each trail will run about 40 seconds if you're bombing it.
Each play through is a "tour" which can take you through 4 different biomes/tilesets provided you don't bail too often or too hard and survive the rides. Starting off you're given a handful of HP, and each time you crash you will lose at least one point, though if you hit something terribly hard you will start losing multiple HP in a single fall. You can gain more HP by doing certain tasks or finishing specific trails but if you run out then your tour is over and you'll have to start from the beginning on your next attempt.
When you start a tour you're presented a grid map of the first biome and each node on the grid will be a different trail. At first you'll start on the upper left corner of the map with a single node available and after completing that node it will unlock two more potential routes through the over-world map. Your ultimate goal in each biome is to "defeat the boss ramp" which is a trail node that will contain a big-air style mega ramp set piece at the end. Upon completing the "boss ramp" you'll then progress to the next biome where you'll essentially do the same thing again but in a different setting. Each of the biomes will have their own quirks with how the trails are generated, for instance in the first one the trails are generally very fast and have a lot of flow, while in the second things become much more technical and will actually require you to start using your brakes/sliding through turns.
As you progress through the tour you'll gain Reputation Points by doing tricks and so on, after earning enough of these points they will unlock a new crew member card for that tour. You're given the choice between 5 randomly selected crew member bonuses that effectively are mutators for that play through. These mutators can do a number of things such as adding more checkpoints, allow you to land harder without bailing or even drastically change things by increasing the overall trail steepness, straightening out turns or widening the trail and making the corner berms higher allowing you to carry much more speed through the trails.
The games soundtrack isn't bad and fits the sport, mostly consisting of drum & bass and techno/EDM tracks. The downside is that songs are specific to each biome and there is probably only 5 songs per so you will no doubt be hearing the same 5 tracks very often since you'll spend much more time in the first two areas compared to the last two. I ended up turning off the game's music as it became very repetitive after my 4th hour.
All in all the game is pretty fun and manages to strike a nice balance between simulation and arcade, though the physics can be a bit wonky at times and movement/animations are a bit stiff. I only have a couple issues with the game and they are to do with the controller implementation. First the game has a ridiculous analog stick deadzone, probably somewhere around 40% from the centre point going left and right. I double checked my controller settings on Steam making sure deadzones were properly tuned and then even went on to try different controllers but the issue remained (checked DS3, DS4 and DS5, maybe Xbox controllers don't have this issue?). Second controller issue was that there was no vibration, even though the game says it was enabled, again maybe it works for Xbox controller users). For what it's worth I played the game via Linux and it worked great with Proton, beyond the relatively minor controller issues there were no other hangups. And just to be thorough I did install and test in Windows as well to check the deadzone/vibration issues which still remained there.
I would recommend the game if you're into mountain sports in general or like games such as Shredders, though I would suggest waiting for a sale to pick this one up.
I believe I'm within the last few hours of the game and like you I've tried to get as much done as possible in my first play-through, though I think I'm about 80 hours in... maybe I've spent a bit too much time looking for phasmids.
The world also really drew me in and with that I'm pretty disappointed there will not be a continuation of the story. The mystique of it all and the pale in particular really captivated me.