Wes's recent activity
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentHalf-Life 2: VR Mod I just submitted an entry for Portal, but here comes another classic Source engine game. This week is, apparently, the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2. The timing is a complete...Half-Life 2: VR Mod
I just submitted an entry for Portal, but here comes another classic Source engine game.
This week is, apparently, the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2. The timing is a complete coincidence, but it's fitting then that I played the excellent VR mod for it. There's no tinkering with mod files required for this one, since it has an official release on Steam.
To start with, the VR adaption is excellent. There's been a significant number of changes to the HUD, the controls, and the menus to make it play better in VR. They even included VR-specific weapon controls, such as pulling back on guns to reload, throwing grenades, and of course swinging your crowbar.
The dev team has taken some heavy inspiration from the mechanics in Half-Life: Alyx, so if you've played that it will feel familiar. You can interact with physical objects using either hand, and select from a variety of weapons with your dominant hand.
The mod also includes a number of locomotion options such as teleport and smooth movement, and the usual comfort options are included. The vehicle sections in particular have had a ton of comfort settings added, such as a rolling top-down camera camera, or fixed camera positions to reduce nausea. It's tough to adapt a pancake game to the VR form factor, but their team did an incredible job.
However, even with all the player considerations in the world, there is still a large difference between a game adapted to VR, and one designed for it.
Half-Life 2 is a shockingly frenetic game in VR. In the first chapter alone, you have combine descending on you in packs, dropping explosive barrels, and releasing manhacks. Zombies lurch out of the water at you, and a gunship tries to pin you down. It's exhausting in VR!
I recently played through Half-Life: Alyx with the commentary on, and Valve spoke a lot about the design decisions that went into the game. Pacing was a huge consideration, and they made sure to give the player long breaks after bouts of intense action to let them cool down, rest their arms, and generally take a breather. In HL2 however, outside of a few physics puzzles, there's far fewer breaks in the action.
Some parts of the original design did hold up extremely well though, and even shine brighter in VR. One example is the dynamic cutscene system. In Half-Life 2, they (almost) never lock your camera in place or prevent you from moving. Instead, the actors will adapt to you. They turn to face you when speaking with you, and maintain eye contact in an engaging way. This not only makes their characters feel more alive and dynamic, but it works perfectly in VR to create a comfortable and engaging experience. In comparison, if you've ever done the Skyrim intro in VR, you know just how unpleasant an "on rails" cutscene can be.
The game defaults to easy, and for good reason, I think. Compared to HL:Alyx, the enemies are often more distant and as a result your shots can actually be tough to make. Or maybe I'm just not very good at shooting guns. Either way, having to manually reload while pulling ammo from your backpack, all while under fire - well, you can imagine that this is a lot tougher compared to standard keyboard and mouse controls.
Despite all the comfort settings, I found I did start feeling motion sick after about an hour of play. I think that's on me, as I usually play with teleport locomotion but opted instead for smooth movement. However, it may be a title that requires a bit more of an iron stomach, if you've not developed your VR legs yet.
I still had a blast with the game though. Even twenty years later, Half-Life 2 is still a fantastic game that holds up today. Source's physics engine is still tough to beat, and the environmental storytelling in City 17 remains top tier. I also couldn't believe how good the music sounded as the combine swarmed my position, and as I batted away manhacks with my crowbar.
It's a solid game, and a solid VR port. The dev team also completed ports of Episodes One and Two, if you want even more VR action.
I'm sure they'll begin working on Episode Three any day now.
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Comment on Meta Quest 2 - For someone in a wheelchair in ~games
Wes LinkYou'll want a wireless headset to keep things simpler. Wires can get tangled and may be difficult with a wheelchair. External trackers such as from Valve's Lighthouse could also be more difficult...You'll want a wireless headset to keep things simpler. Wires can get tangled and may be difficult with a wheelchair. External trackers such as from Valve's Lighthouse could also be more difficult if the controllers are occluded, so that's not a good bet.
The Quest probably makes the most sense here, especially since they're heavily subsidized. The Quest 2 is a little bit older now, and are no longer sold by Meta so you'll need to find one second-hand. It's technically the lightest Quest headset, but the weight is frontloaded so it actually feels a little heavier on the face. The IPD slider[1] is stepped, so you need to find the nearest of the available option.
The Quest 3S is the most recent release, but is the next step up in terms of quality. It adds color passthrough cameras and a newer-gen Snapdragon chip for faster processing. Like the Q2 its IPD slider is notched, and it uses the same fresnel lenses. It's like an upgraded Quest 2.
The Quest 3 is a larger upgrade (and more expensive). It uses the newer pancake lenses which are much thinner, at the expensive of a small amount of field-of-view and brightness. Its IPD slider is granular, which improves comfort if you don't meet one of the slotted options from the other models. It also has color passthrough cameras and the newer Snapdragon chip. It's like a Quest 3S but with more premium features.
Personally I'm a big fan of pancake lenses over fresnel, but it's not an absolute requirement if cost is a concern.
There will likely be a discount available for Black Friday, so I'd wait around for that. If not a discount there may be a bundle of games. I'd also expect a holiday bundle closer to Christmas time, so if you need some time to decide there's no immediate rush.
You can start investing in the Meta ecosystem by buying games in their store. They run directly on the device (which is an Android device). Alternatively, you can stream games from a nearby PC running Steam instead. If streaming, you'll need a router that supports recent wifi standards for best results.
Many games support sitting modes, but not all do. Cockpit games especially should work well. In general though, you may need to read the reviews to learn more. In games designed for standing, they may still work fine but the character will just be very "short", since VR measures your head's distance from the ground. This could mess with the overall scale in some cases, but shouldn't be a dealbreaker.
Motion sickness is a concern for some, and it requires a little practice to get used to. While some are completely impervious to it, others are affected more strongly. Sitting may actually lessen the effect. While getting used to VR, I'd suggest taking frequent breaks and drinking water. Don't try to "push through". Having a fan blowing on you can be surprisingly helpful.
I think VR makes a lot of sense for those wheelchair-bound. It won't be a perfect experience as it's still a burgeoning technology, but I think your partner could still have fun.
[1] IPD refers to the distance between your pupils, in millimeters. The screens need to be separated by that amount to maintain the highest comfort. It's best to have this checked by an optometrist, but there are tests to find your own IPD. The options available in the Quest 2 and 3S are 58mm, 63mm, and 68mm. Worst case, you try all three and see which is most clear.
You may also wish to look into prescription lenses, if your partner wears glasses. Some companies sell lens inserts that slot right into the headset.
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Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech
Wes Link ParentI'll take a slightly orthogonal view. It isn't inherently anticompetitive to use a JS shim if you believe that an API spec is likely to be standardized in the near-future. Shims (also called...I'll take a slightly orthogonal view. It isn't inherently anticompetitive to use a JS shim if you believe that an API spec is likely to be standardized in the near-future. Shims (also called polyfills) used to be extremely common on the web, and are specifically meant to improve cross-browser support.
However, I do actually think that Google acted with impropriety. Not by using shadow DOM v0 in the first place, but by extending support for it in Chrome after it was learned that v0 would not be standardized. They kept it in until after YouTube was able to complete another redesign and move off the old API. That seems problematic to me. There should be a complete separation of interests in browser and website development. The Chrome team should never ask "Are any of our products relying on this?" when making those kinds of decisions.
It's a more nuanced complaint, but I feel that was the real faux pas committed during that incident.
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Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech
Wes Link ParentI feel this story is repeated a lot, but often misunderstood. Shadow DOM (the original spec) wasn't deprecated when they moved to it. It was considered an upcoming API. YouTube based their...Yes, they moved from a completely fine implementation to a deprecated API.
I feel this story is repeated a lot, but often misunderstood. Shadow DOM (the original spec) wasn't deprecated when they moved to it. It was considered an upcoming API. YouTube based their redesign on it, and they implemented a JS shim in unsupported browsers until it was more widely available. The shim ran slower than native code as you'd expect, but it was the result of them trying to support other browsers. It's not as if the move was made to spite them.
It was still a failure, but the lesson to be learned was not to bet on an API before they're fully standardized. That mistake likely cost Google a lot of money as they needed to rebuild the YouTube UI framework once again.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentOkay, so this has nothing to do with the game, but about flossing. Turns out, it is important! I used to be a terrible flosser, partly because I wasn't raised to do so, but mostly because I was...Okay, so this has nothing to do with the game, but about flossing. Turns out, it is important! I used to be a terrible flosser, partly because I wasn't raised to do so, but mostly because I was just stubborn. I also had braces for a few teenage years, and afterwards a retaining wire was lain behind the teeth to prevent them from reverting position. This made flossing even more difficult as I needed to thread underneath it. As a result, I basically never flossed, and my gums were no good and would bleed easily.
Eventually I had that wire removed (at my request), and I began using floss picks every night. Within one week, my gums stopped bleeding. Within two months, my oral health had improved tremendously. I kept this up for most of my adult life.
Just a couple years ago though, my dentist told me that regular dental floss was even better than picks. I hate using floss, but begrudgingly I gave it a try, and sure enough I did see further improvement. Now I get top marks at the dentist. It did get easier over time, and I was glad to reduce some of the plastic waste from picks, as well.
So yes, daily flossing is important! I still keep a pack of floss picks around for nights when I'm feeling really tired and just can't be bothered to do the full routine, but it's a bad habit I'm glad to have finally corrected. If you find it hard to get into the practice, picks are a nice middle step, and still way better than doing nothing. Don't be afraid to try a couple brands, either. I like the Oral-B Glide picks and floss since I have narrow gaps. Others prefer using waxed floss. Experiment a little, and find what works best for you.
That concludes this public service announcement. And now back to your regularly scheduled gaming.
So Cavity Busters seems pretty cool. I think the mouthy aesthetic is a bit of a turn off for me, but I do like the faux-3D. The bosses seem well designed, at least if you enjoy learning bullet hell attack patterns.
I also appreciate that there are item descriptions, albeit the first time an item is seen it says unknown.
I actually really like that approach. It adds a bit of excitement to play, and gives you something to work towards unlocking. Each time you find a new item, you can bravely pick it up at risk to your run, while ultimately improving your "meta progression" through knowledge acquisition. Some older roguelikes leaned into this by requiring things like "drink this potion to see what happens!", though I tend to prefer it as a permanent unlock.
I wasn't familiar with Project Warlock 1 or 2, but I dig the art style. Seems like a game that has a lot of potential, if they can work out some of the balance issues.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentI like using "Lost" to describe your reaction, rather than the game itself. Totally fair, and exactly how I feel when playing most of these grand strategy games. Simon Tatham's puzzle collection...I like using "Lost" to describe your reaction, rather than the game itself. Totally fair, and exactly how I feel when playing most of these grand strategy games.
Simon Tatham's puzzle collection is great. I spent over a year playing the nonograms (called "Pattern" in the collection) before bed, and now I get a sleepy Pavlovian response to them.
Despite having the collection installed on my phone for years now, I haven't actually bothered to learn most of the games. Slant was among those unplayed, so I just gave it a go. It seems fun! I wasn't expecting the "no loops" rule to matter so much, but even rectangular and larger loops still crop up with relative frequency.
On my first attempt, I thought I had a valid solution, but the game didn't recognize it. Clicking Solve showed a different solution. I'm not sure if I misunderstood a rule that made my approach invalid, or if I just missed a number, but it seems like there's a single intended solution anyway.
Simon seems like a clever duck. He's also the author of PuTTY, and a number of other popular system utilities.
Side note for Wes, just in case - if the card looks wonky, it's because I copied it from the previous card and manually edited it.
Thanks for the heads up! And you're completely right, I immediately double checked the markdown to see why "Slant" wasn't being bolded, etc. I wanted to add an import/export feature to the app, but didn't have the time/energy this go around. Hopefully I'll make it easier to move between devices in the future.
If you really wanted to, you could edit the local storage data with your browser's dev tools. It's a little technical, but I'd be happy to step you through it if you'd like.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentLove Cave Story! To me it was the game that really defined what "indie gaming" even was. I agree the platforming isn't all that much to write home about, but the characters, the secrets, and oh...Love Cave Story! To me it was the game that really defined what "indie gaming" even was. I agree the platforming isn't all that much to write home about, but the characters, the secrets, and oh man the soundtrack are all so good. Comfort food is a good description.
I also played through Celeste somewhat recently, and really enjoyed it. It definitely gets tough. I have a lot of history with precision platformers, but the last chapter took me as long as all the other chapters combined.
It's funny that you compare it to Super Meat Boy, because arguably that was inspired by the Celeste creator's earlier games, the Jumper series. Their title character, Ogmo, even appears in Super Meat Boy as an unlockable character. So in that sense it's come full circle.
Some great picks overall.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentPortal with RTX So I went into this one with zero intention of submitting this as a bingo entry. I was simply testing out a graphics card upgrade, and thought I'd see what this "ray tracing" stuff...Portal with RTX
So I went into this one with zero intention of submitting this as a bingo entry. I was simply testing out a graphics card upgrade, and thought I'd see what this "ray tracing" stuff was all about. But I started playing it, and then I kept playing it, and then I finished it. What can I say? I love Portal. I still might not have submitted this as an entry, except I had a category called "An updated version (remake, re-release) of an older game", which is basically a perfect fit. So, here are are!
This is definitely not my first playthrough of the game itself. Portal is a title I revisit every few years, just when the solutions have faded enough for me to rediscover them. It's not an especially hard game, though I still enjoy reliving those "Aha!" moments when they come. This time at least, I did go through the Advanced Chambers, and they took a little more noodling to figure out. In fact, I'm pretty sure I brute forced a couple solutions in unintended ways. But hey, it worked, and I love that my dumb solutions were just as valid as any other.
I don't have too much to say about the RTX (ray tracing) stuff. The lighting was fancier, the buttons were translucent, and everything was extremely reflective. I suspect it was somewhat over-the-top because it served as a demonstration, but I don't feel it actually added much to the game. It also kept crashing, but that's probably because I have a 30 series card and it's currently undervolted. I understand this release requires a pretty beefy card to play smoothly, and I was pushing my limits.
I'm reminded of an XKCD comic about playing games on a five-year lag. It makes a lot of sense, and I think it's just as valid now as it was then. There's no point in trying to play titles like Portal with RTX if you can only get 15fps. But in a few generations when RTX is a common feature and not considered so expensive to run, I think it'll make more sense.
No matter how it looks though, I think Portal will always have a place in my heart. It feels like an indie project that was given life. And in some ways, it was. Kim Swift was the lead designer on Portal after prototyping the idea with Narbacular Drop in her DigiPen days. Valve scooped their team up and made it into a proper game. Both titles play very similarly, except in Narbacular the portals could be shot through portals, which really added to the complexity.
Anyway, I know everyone is already familiar with Portal so I'll not go on garrulously. I'll just say that it remains a very comfortable and nostalgic title for me, and even the parts that can feel a little hokey today ("The cake is a lie!!") will still bring a smile to my face. Also, Jonathan Coulton is a musical genius, and I love the Companion Cube. There, I said it!
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentI was just tinkering around in Portal 1 when I ADHD'd my way onto Tildes and saw your comment. Serendipitous! Portal 2 is a great game. They made it a feature-length title, and managed to polish...I was just tinkering around in Portal 1 when I ADHD'd my way onto Tildes and saw your comment. Serendipitous!
Portal 2 is a great game. They made it a feature-length title, and managed to polish all the little quirks and bugs out of the first game. To be honest, I do miss some of those quirks. I liked that portal projectiles having travel time, and portals created small platforms you could stand in. However, they made the whole experience much smoother, prettier, and still just as charming as the first game. I hope you enjoy the story and characters!
If you ever get a chance, I recommend trying the co-op multiplayer mode, too. It's a completely separate campaign designed for two players. There's also quite a few workshop maps and standalone mods for even more content.
I hadn't heard of Lost in Blue before, but I do like how it formed a complete row in your bingo card.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes (edited )Link ParentGolf Club Nostalgia A golf game for my golf card So, this was an interesting little game. Ostensibly this is a sports game, but I'm not sure that's right. Certainly you do play golf, but I can't...Golf Club Nostalgia
A golf game for my golf card
So, this was an interesting little game. Ostensibly this is a sports game, but I'm not sure that's right. Certainly you do play golf, but I can't help but feel it's just the medium through which to tell a story.
The story being told is one of a destroyed Earth. I'll avoid giving direct spoilers, but that much is obvious from the game's screenshots and description. Throughout the game, a radio broadcast plays in the background. The broadcast is being streamed from the Martian surface, which humanity has migrated to after this disaster befell Earth.
Over time, we learn more about the calamity, the migration, and what life is now like for Martian denizens, entirely through the radio. Different guests are interviewed, songs are sung, and some of them are quite beautiful. During the talk radio sections, there's a fair bit of humour, such as the host trying to explain that because Martian days are slightly longer, the duration of a second was simply increased to maintain the 24 hour day.
I honestly think this experience could have worked almost as well in a podcast or audiobook format. We would miss out on seeing the remnants of Earth, but those interviews and stories being shared were the highlight of the game.
As for the golfing gameplay itself, it was okay. There were some interesting gimmicks along the way (shortcuts, interactable objects), and the physics felt smooth. I did find the power bar was a little hard to read, as the indicator changed depending on your zoom level. It was also occasionally unclear which objects were foreground (solid), or background (you'd pass through).
I chose to play on Challenge mode over Story mode, and in hindsight I think this was a mistake. Challenge mode requires you beat par to proceed through a level, and some levels were pretty frustrating. It sort of breaks the flow of the story when you need to restart a 16 par hole because you went one stroke over.
I think this is meant to be a ponderous game. One you play to relax and immersive yourself into the world. Maybe "cozy" is the word? To that end, the game does take things slow. There's long transitions between screens, and after each shot, you need to wait for your character to jetpack over to the ball. I do appreciate the deliberateness of this approach, but I will say that by the half-way point I was desperately wishing the "Reset hole" button didn't take long to activate. Another reason I'd recommend just playing in Story mode.
It should only take 2-3 hours to play through Golf Club Nostalgia. It does lend itself well to smaller sessions though, as I think the game may have been designed first for mobile phones. That's based mostly on the oversized UI elements, and the dragging controls being inverted of what I'd expect on desktop. There is thankfully a setting to change this.
Similar to Praey for the Gods, this game was also renamed due to a trademark dispute. The old name was Golf Club: Wasteland, but honestly, I think the new name fits better. It is very much about embracing nostalgia, even if it's a kind of nostalgia we can't recognize (yet).
If you're looking for a meditative experience and need to kill a few hours, I'd say it's worth taking a shot on Golf Club Nostalgia.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentPraey for the Gods I enjoyed this one a lot. Praey for the Gods is an open-world indie title created by just three people. It takes heavy inspiration from Team Ico's Shadow of the Colossus, which...- Exemplary
Praey for the Gods
I enjoyed this one a lot.
Praey for the Gods is an open-world indie title created by just three people. It takes heavy inspiration from Team Ico's Shadow of the Colossus, which will quickly become evident. The game revolves around you climbing on monsters, destroying weak spots, and trying your darndest not to get flung off.
I actually Kickstarted this game way back in 2016. I tested the first build in 2019, defeating the few available bosses at the time. It fully released in 2021, and here I am playing it in 2024. Note that originally it was titled "Prey for the Gods", but Bethesda's lawyers put a quick stop to that.
When I first tested the game years ago, I was surprised that it placed such an emphasis on its survival mechanics. The game takes place in a harsh tundra, and you need to manage your heat, sleep, and food bars to survive. I don't necessarily mind these kinds of mechanics, but I do think they can detract from a more focused experience, and I did find that to be the case here.
Thankfully, in the full release they've added more fine-grained controls over the realism features. They also turned them down by default. I stuck with the standard mode which basically grants more stamina and health recovery if you're topped up on all resistances, but only extreme cold can kill you.
The game features crafting and upgrading. Taking care of your gear is important, as everything has durability and it will break on you. This sounds annoying, however I found that durability only ever presented a problem at the very start, and soon I was swimming in excess gear and supplies. For this problem they added a deconstruct feature to break things down into constituent parts. For those who would rather opt-out completely though, this feature too can be disabled under settings.
Unlike Shadow of the Colossus (henceforth just Shadow), there is combat outside of the bosses. It's hack n' slashy, though clearly Souls-inspired with iframe rolling and stamina management. This style of combat doesn't play a major role in the game, but does add another gameplay activity between boss encounters. The included bow also allows for simple hunting, with animals providing a good source of materials and food.
The overworld is pretty sizable, and is covered in ice, snowy crags, and scattered ruins. It's also littered with caves and secrets to find. These often reward upgrade materials that let you improve your stamina or health. I suggest upgrading stamina every time, as climbing plays such a major role in the game.
The climbing will feel very familiar if you've played Shadow. While minding your stamina meter, you need to find platforms or stable slopes to rest on before venturing further. This can pose a challenge when the thing you're climbing is trying to shake you loose.
Essentially, each boss acts as a climbing puzzle. You need to figure out how to effectively navigate them. This is the main hook of the game, and remained my favourite part of playing. Most bosses offer a unique mechanic of some sort, and may need to be weakened before they can be mounted.
I think my favourite moment was shooting down a giant bird, it crash landing beside me, then having it take to the air while I was trying to find its weak spot. I could only hold on for dear life.
Sometimes the climbing could also be a source of frustration. It seems these monsters just do not want to behave. Why won't they let me kill them? Admittedly I felt some of those same frustrations when playing the original Shadow, and that's one of my favourite games of all time, so I'm willing to cut Praey some slack. I do think it's a game that requires a lot of patience, and that's by design. Rome wasn't climbed in a day, and neither are these creatures.
There's a few additional forms of locomotion in addition to climbing. Primarily, the grappling hook. A number of surface materials allow you to grapple directly to them. This not only saves a ton of time over manually climbing them, but it's very satisfying to do, too. Grappling is also great in a pinch when you fall, as you're granted some bullet time to choose your target whilst in the air.
In addition to the grapple is the hang glider. If you haven't already considered it, the comparison to Breath of the Wild is inevitable at this point. Yes it is common to climb to a high point then glide over to a distant one. Yes your tools degrade and break. The glider can be upgraded, and thankfully does not use durability. It can however veer off course during a snowstorm, so watch for that.
Praey took me about ten hours to finish. I know there's more to find in the open world, but I'm satisfied with the game and am ready to put it down now.
This is the second game that I've played as part of the Backlog Burner that I originally Kickstarted. The first was Blasphemous, which I played through back in May. I don't often Kickstart games these days, but I'm glad to have supported these titles and gladder still to finally play through them. It's also kind of cool to see my name in the credits after finishing.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes (edited )LinkI have a little less time this week, so I'm going to post my titles as separate comments and try to add more as I go. I'll also provide a quick update of my previous titles here. I'm now up to 60...I have a little less time this week, so I'm going to post my titles as separate comments and try to add more as I go. I'll also provide a quick update of my previous titles here.
I'm now up to 60 shines in Super Mario Eclipse. That'd be half of them in regular Sunshine, but I'm afraid I'm only a quarter of the way there in the romhack. I never intended on 100%ing it, but it's going better than expected. I even managed to get through the hidden pachinko and lily pad stages without losing all of my sanity, somehow.
I haven't played much further in Remnant 2, yet. Hopefully this coming week!
Bingo Card (Custom Golf/Flux) - 15/25 Filled
Mode: Custom Bingo! Finished 15/25 A modded game
✅ Half-Life 2: VR ModUses procedural generation
✅ Remnant IIFocuses on relationships An updated version (remake, re-release) of an older game
✅ Portal with RTXHas a moral choice system Focuses on exploration
✅ Remnant IIPart of a trilogy
✅ Mandragora, Otherskin, MH: WildsHas multiple playable characters Randomness determines your fate
✅ Remnant IIHas a skill tree It’s already installed
✅ Super Mario EclipseFeatures a mystery
✅ Praey for the GodsHas both combat and puzzles
✅ Remnant IIHas a top-down perspective Known for its difficulty You can complete it in only a few hours
✅ Golf Club NostalgiaFrom now-defunct dev studio You have to tinker to get it running
✅ Super Mario EclipseYou wanted it when you were younger Makes you think
✅ Golf Club NostalgiaHas a lives system A romhack or total conversion mod
✅ Super Mario EclipseHas a time limit
✅ Praey for the GodsFrom a studio you haven't heard of before
✅ Golf Club NostalgiaHas cards -
Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentThis one does look a little rough around the edges. Though honestly, I think I never quite got on with the FTL approach of "Keep inventing scenarios to try to kill the player". Between that, and...This one does look a little rough around the edges. Though honestly, I think I never quite got on with the FTL approach of "Keep inventing scenarios to try to kill the player". Between that, and as you pointed out the copious amount of reading, I think this one would be a miss for me, too.
Last week, @deathinactthree played Dark Future: Blood Red States and shared their thoughts on it. I feel like that title offers a similar kind of gameplay (issuing orders to vehicles, target priority, managing spacing), but in a more interesting and tactical way. There's no "overworld" map like Convoy has, but it feels like the moment-to-moment gameplay is better designed, and more fair, too.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentDespite authoring the bingo app, I've also chosen to deemphasize my card this time around. I think the visual display of it is very helpful, and for those of us with large libraries, the...Despite authoring the bingo app, I've also chosen to deemphasize my card this time around. I think the visual display of it is very helpful, and for those of us with large libraries, the categories can really help us narrow down the selection. However, I had a short list of titles going in, so I'm backfitting them a little bit this time around. Many of my submissions only fit a single category (on a golf card), and that's okay. The goal is still the backlog. Getting a bingo, should it happen, is just a nice bonus. :)
The Falconeer always struck me as a very nice looking title. Good to see a positive first impression. I'm actually quite interested in trying it in VR. I've always liked flying in games, but flying in VR is a completely different sensation.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentAnother fantastic writeup and critique. I've heard so many good things about Prey from those who have played it. It seems to take the best features from Immersive Sims that came before it, and put...Another fantastic writeup and critique.
I've heard so many good things about Prey from those who have played it. It seems to take the best features from Immersive Sims that came before it, and put them into a well-crafted world with a compelling hook. There's a mystery, interesting monsters, and the promise of new powers to string you along.
On the whole, I think immersive sims are one of the coolest genres. At their core, they feature a patchwork of different systems that come together in unique ways to create emergent gameplay. Then, bravely or foolishly, the developers grant the player the freedom to experiment with those systems. To find new approaches to defeat enemies, to get around the map, or sometimes to break the game in novel ways.
For example, let's say they add a stealth system. The premise is simple: if an enemy can see, they can attack you. This feature is added to every enemy so the entire game can be played in a stealth fashion. Next, they add a transformation system. In Dishonored for example it's possible to turn into a rat. So you shrink down the player's hitbox and noise radius and it ties into the stealth system beautifully.
However, what happens when you enter the boss arena in rat form? If nobody anticipated this during development, you might not activate the boss when you enter. In some cases, this may allow you to bypass the encounter completely. And so a speedrunner strategy was born.
In the case of Prey, another possibility is the player using the the glue gun to block off the boss's line of sight. If stealth works by raycasting, putting up a wall could be enough to interfere (see also: placing buckets on shopkeepers heads to steal in Elder Scrolls).
The chance of these kinds of unexpected interactions being introduced becomes greater for each new system the game supports. I think that's a big reason why immersive sims are difficult to get right. The systems need to interoperate, remain fun, and feel fair.
To do that, game developers often need to make concessions to ensure the game remains stable and somewhat balanced. So things like invisible walls or out-of-bounds regions will be added to ensure the player doesn't completely break out of the cage. Other limiters may involve things like caps on speed or damage numbers, blacklisting item combinations, or checking for prerequisites (eg. verifying the boss is dead before you can untie the princess). These kinds of checks are often needed to maintain sanity, but it can be frustrating for a player when they feel they've finally found a way around a problem using the game's provided systems. It can feel unfair.
So I have a lot of respect for games that offer freedom without needing to make many of these concessions. They're not all in the immersive sim genre, either. Roguelikes often feature unexpected synergies with devastating results. Noita allows complete customization of its wands, which can result in (often intended) ways of escaping the map for experienced players. In Oblivion, you could craft a spell to maximize an NPC's disposition so guards would instantly forgive your crimes. Morrowind allowed for even more shenanigans.
I think exploring the systems of a game can be just as fun as exploring the game world or story. That makes immersive sims one of my top genres. I don't have any real excuse for not playing Prey yet, but I hope with enough of these Backlog Burner events, it will get done eventually!
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentTaleSpire looks really good. I've never been able to fully get into tabletop gaming, since it requires a pretty dedicated group of like-minded individuals. I think these kinds of applications can...TaleSpire looks really good. I've never been able to fully get into tabletop gaming, since it requires a pretty dedicated group of like-minded individuals. I think these kinds of applications can really smooth out the process though, and make things more accessible. Booting up a "game" is definitely easier than reading a 30MB PDF and spending two hours on character creation, anyway.
Yeah, I'm not sure why Lethal Company wasn't too much of a buzz around here. I think the game can be fun, but also requires some commitment because you never know how long a run will go. I generally prefer games with a definitive ending, but I can understand the attraction of "get as far as you can". It's not so different from the high scores on arcade machines.
I recently tried the demo for KLETKA, and it provides a similar feel. Instead of exploring planets, you're descending floors of a strange structure using a curious elevator. Things continue to get stranger and more dangerous as you go.
It's early yet, but I expect fans of Lethal will like this one, too. Twice I blew up a friend by throwing a giblet onto a landmine. Once I was blown up by a rat scurrying across one.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentI see you've once again got the "AI companion" games list on lockdown! I love the "metroidvania cleanup" phase as well. It's even better when you've made notes all along, and can finally check off...I see you've once again got the "AI companion" games list on lockdown!
I love the "metroidvania cleanup" phase as well. It's even better when you've made notes all along, and can finally check off those items that you've been thinking about all game. Though I still like to do a once-over on the map after unlocking everything, just to make sure I've found as much as possible.
I don't know if the game has bad gunplay or if I'm just awful with FPS controls when it's not a mouse/keyboard
I was streaming my next game submission for some friends this weekend, and they laughed at me for my atrocious aim with a controller. Whatever skills I may have once had with a controller as a youth have since atrophied away. I'm fine with platforming or melee combat, but anything involving an aiming reticle will require a mouse from now on.
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Comment on I've added ~society for topics related to politics, law, policies, and similar societal-level subjects in ~tildes.official
Wes Link ParentThere's already a few checks that will prevent a topic from being bumped, such as if a parent comment has been negatively labelled, or if the chain gets too deep (>5). However, these are all...There's already a few checks that will prevent a topic from being bumped, such as if a parent comment has been negatively labelled, or if the chain gets too deep (>5). However, these are all binary checks, so there's no easy factor that can be modified to reduce the likelihood of a thread being bumped.
This is going a bit of a tangent, but it would be possible to create something like a "relevancy" measurement. It could look at comment lengths, exemplary tags, phrases like "update", or the rolling averaged amount of recent activity to try to determine if there's enough relevance to trigger a bump.
Some might not like the idea of adding "magic" to an algorithm like this, but I've spoken before about some of the potential use cases. For example, you could allow users to set the weighting of groups or tags that they're interested in, and wish to see more or less of. Extending these kinds of algorithmic controls removes a lot of the negatives associated with algorithmic ranking.
This approach also smooths out the activity sort so a topic doesn't drop like a stone the moment it's out of your chosen range. You could instead factor in the age of the topic to the algorithmic weighting, so older threads require more substantive updates to trigger once past your selected range. You may still wish to know of an important update or great comment, even the thread is past your threshold.
Having a relevancy factor also allows for other multipliers such as the negative politics modifier to be applied more easily on a global level. This could even be used on-demand as a softer moderation tool, before needing to fully lock a thread.
I expect these kinds of changes would require greater consideration, and would take more effort than Deimos has the time for right now, but I still thought I'd float the idea for later consideration.
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Comment on I've added ~society for topics related to politics, law, policies, and similar societal-level subjects in ~tildes.official
Wes LinkThe current state of ~misc definitely implies that discouraging political topics through grouping hasn't been working. I think it makes sense to accept that and try something else. Would it make...The current state of ~misc definitely implies that discouraging political topics through grouping hasn't been working. I think it makes sense to accept that and try something else.
The default topic sorting on Tildes being activity-based has also ended up making these types of topics feel too prominent ... there's a set of highly-active users ... that comment heavily and quickly in them, which keeps them being constantly bumped back up in the activity listings.
Would it make sense to borrow a page from Hacker News' playbook and introduce a bias into the "algorithm" to discourage bumping of these threads without a more substantive update? That might help counterbalance things, and stop the feedback cycle that seems to keep them near the top.
Hey, I played this one on mobile! I really enjoyed it until the boards got too large for me, and then my dumb fingers could no longer select the squares I wanted. So eventually I dropped it.
I think I also found the RPG mechanics to be a bit distracting from the core experience. I guess I just don't want to be making decisions about using potions or whatever when I'm trying to solve a row. I'd probably be okay with some sort of meta-gaming mechanics (earning XP, getting equipment, etc), but I don't want it to interfere too much with the actual puzzle solving. I'm here to uncover that picture of a banana, and by golly I won't have any interruptions!
So PictoQuest isn't quite it, but there's actually a few other nonogram games with a campaign or story to them. Murder by Numbers is one I got from a Fanatical bundle, and there's also Piczle Cross Adventure. Funny that they released within a month of each other, but rather than competing actually share a Steam bundle ("Narrative Nonograms").
And at risk of mentioning it for the thousandth time, there is of course also Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection which includes a nonogram game (Pattern). Those are randomly generated boards, so they play a little differently than the picture-based ones. On the plus side, this means they are infinite, and can be exactly the board size that is most comfortable for your device.