emnii's recent activity

  1. Comment on A note from the Rockstar Games team RE: Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition in ~games

    emnii
    Link
    "aw geeze, sorry guys. we really beefed it with this release. here, take these versions we pulled off of digital storefronts to force you to buy this busted one. free of charge. you could use mods...

    "aw geeze, sorry guys. we really beefed it with this release. here, take these versions we pulled off of digital storefronts to force you to buy this busted one. free of charge. you could use mods to make these look pretty good, except we DMCA'd and cease-and-desisted those."

    10 votes

  2. Comment on Activision CEO Bobby Kotick knew for years about sexual-misconduct allegations at videogame giant in ~games

  4. Comment on The entirety of Twitch has reportedly been leaked in ~tech

    emnii
    Link
    Update from Twitch: https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2021/10/06/updates-on-the-twitch-security-incident/

    Update from Twitch: https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2021/10/06/updates-on-the-twitch-security-incident/

    [10:30PM PT] We have learned that some data was exposed to the internet due to an error in a Twitch server configuration change that was subsequently accessed by a malicious third party. Our teams are working with urgency to investigate the incident.

    As the investigation is ongoing, we are still in the process of understanding the impact in detail. We understand that this situation raises concerns, and we want to address some of those here while our investigation continues.

    At this time, we have no indication that login credentials have been exposed. We are continuing to investigate.

    Additionally, full credit card numbers are not stored by Twitch, so full credit card numbers were not exposed.

    8 votes

  5. Comment on The entirety of Twitch has reportedly been leaked in ~tech

    emnii
    Link Parent
    I hope everyone making all these changes intends on doing it again once Twitch confirms they've identified the source of the breach and contained it. Otherwise you're risking having all these...

    I hope everyone making all these changes intends on doing it again once Twitch confirms they've identified the source of the breach and contained it. Otherwise you're risking having all these things leaked again, maybe without notice, because Twitch hasn't kicked out the attacker.

    8 votes

  7. Comment on Tildes Game Review Journal - September 2021 in ~games

    emnii
    Link
    Prey (2017) Prey has nothing to do with Prey. That is to say that the game named Prey released in 2017 is completely unrelated to the game named Prey released in 2006. The only connecting tissue...

    Prey (2017)

    Prey has nothing to do with Prey. That is to say that the game named Prey released in 2017 is completely unrelated to the game named Prey released in 2006. The only connecting tissue between these two games is their name, being played from a first-person perspective, and involving aliens. I don’t think I even noticed a single cheeky callback or reference to the previous Prey.

    Prey is excellent. As an immersive sim in the vein of System Shock, Deus Ex, and Bioshock, it’s a worthy addition to this genre. One of my favorite additions to the game is the recycler. Everything you pick up can be recycled, which breaks it down into material you can use to synthesize new things, like ammo and weapons. One of the weapons is a recycler grenade, which can be tossed into a group of enemies to suck them up and spit out materials. It’s awesome.

    So why did it take me four years to finish Prey? One reason is that I can be easily distracted by other games. If I don’t buckle down to play something, if it’s just occupying my time, then I’ll bounce off to the next thing that interests me.

    Prey also has bugs. Even four years later, I ran into bugs. In ~15 hours of play (since I picked it back up, that is), I hit two crash-to-desktop bugs. One of them forced my video driver to restart entirely. A side quest bugged on me by failing to give me the next step after I completed one. Another quest directed me to listen to something on my computer. The thing I was supposed to listen to wasn’t there. If I ran into bugs when I wasn’t committed to playing Prey, that would prompt me to drop it for something else.

    There were other things that were slightly annoying, but not significant detractors. Prey doesn’t have the sense of bodily movement that Arkane games usually do. The hacking minigame is slightly annoying, as most hacking minigames are. There’s no fast travel between levels, so some of the navigation is a bit of a pain.

    This is a game I should’ve finished the first time I played it. I love what it does and how it does it. The bugs and annoyances aren’t enough to cast a shadow on the gameplay and story of Prey.

    4 votes

  9. Comment on Tildes Game Review Journal - September 2021 in ~games

    emnii
    Link
    Ion Fury It's impossible for me to talk about Ion Fury without comparing it to Duke Nukem 3D. This isn't just because they're both Build engine games but because they're extremely similar Build...

    Ion Fury

    It's impossible for me to talk about Ion Fury without comparing it to Duke Nukem 3D. This isn't just because they're both Build engine games but because they're extremely similar Build engine games, more so than Blood or Shadow Warrior.

    Ion Fury is Duke Nukem 3D with weapon alt-fire and reload and minus all the space levels and most of the quips.

    This game checks a lot of boxes for a great neo-retro shooter. Enemy variety is a good mix of tough and easy, shooters, crawlers, flyers, and melee.

    Almost all of the weapons have a use and that extends to the alt-fire modes. The only weapon I didn't have much use for was the clusterpuck. It was the most limited weapon, which implies most powerful, but I never found it useful for more than a grenade, and the baseline grenade had better uses, like a seeking mode.

    Levels are varied and highly detailed. This is doing what a lot of Build games do well, which is that nearly everything can be interacted with.

    I played on the equivalent of medium difficulty and found that to be an appropriate challenge. Caught off guard, I got ripped apart. I came to expect enemies to show up where I'd already wiped them out after getting a new key item, but never because they teleport in from thin air. There was always a secret corridor opening up or trap sprung.

    I found it to be a bit long though. I started it in 2019, but ended up putting it down after finishing the first dozen levels.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on Tildes Game Review Journal - September 2021 in ~games

    emnii
    Link
    Dishonored 2 I've been playing this game off and on since it came out. Yesterday, I finally finished it. Dishonored 2 is a game that I want to play carefully and thoroughly but I don't have the...

    Dishonored 2

    I've been playing this game off and on since it came out. Yesterday, I finally finished it.

    Dishonored 2 is a game that I want to play carefully and thoroughly but I don't have the attention span to do that for long stretches of time. Every level is large and packed full of little details. I want to see them all, but there are baddies all over. I want to take them all out, but I'm playing non-lethal for the good ending.

    This makes Dishonored 2 an exercise in restraint for me. Instead of charging in, I'm going to scout enemy patterns and try to catch them off guard. Instead of quickly murdering them, I'm going to choke them out slowly and hide the body. Instead of going to the objective and doing the objective as quickly and efficiently as possible, I'm going to skirt the edges of the map and look for that alternative solution to murder.

    Over the course of five years, I can't say I remember every detail, nor can I say I love the game, but I can say I love what it does. It's got amazing level design, every option is viable, and it's fun to play. But it's also stressful and demanding, not something that should be played half awake.

    7 votes

  11. Comment on Quake renaissance: How to start playing original Quake today in ~games

    emnii
    Link
    This is the third part of a three part series. Part 1 Part 2

    This is the third part of a three part series.

    Part 1

    Part 2

    2 votes

  13. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    emnii
    Link
    I played through the first episode of Quake 64, thanks to the Quake re-release. Having watched the excellent DF Retro on Quake, I knew this port hacked up and simplified some of the level...

    I played through the first episode of Quake 64, thanks to the Quake re-release. Having watched the excellent DF Retro on Quake, I knew this port hacked up and simplified some of the level geometry, but woof. Some times they replace some good looking rooms with plain boxes. It's been a while since I played base Quake but it seems they've also sprinkled a lot more ogres into the maps too.

    What I really appreciate about this is the effort they put into making it look muddy and blocky, when the rest of this re-release looks so damned good. There's a visual filter over the picture, the textures are all low res, and there are splashes of colored lighting everywhere, in addition to using the N64 maps. They went for a faithful rendition of Quake 64 and (having not played Quake 64) it certainly looks the part.

    I'm playing this on Switch and I sort of love how they've integrated gyro controls into it. I can right stick aim broadly, and finely tune the aim with the gyro, and that works great.

    I'm also playing the (relatively) new Dimensions of the Past episode that was included in this re-release. It's got some fun maps but it sure is mean in some places. It's very Quake to sandwich me between a trap and a couple tough enemies.

    Finally, I reached the end of the playable campaign levels in Prodeus. I'm loving everything this game is doing. It's like a pretty, bloodier Doom with weapon reload and alt fire. It's working for me. Looking forward to the 1.0 release, hoping I don't lose my progress in the campaign but I won't be too terribly mad if I did.

    4 votes

  14. Comment on Quake renaissance: A short history of twenty-five years of Quake modding in ~games

    emnii
    Link
    Part 1 of this series posted here.

    Part 1 of this series posted here.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Quake renaissance: Where is Quake now, and how did it get here? in ~games

    emnii
    (edited )
    Link
    A well-timed feature on RPS thanks to the kickoff of Quakecon and the release of an updated Quake.

    A well-timed feature on RPS thanks to the kickoff of Quakecon and the release of an updated Quake.

    3 votes

  20. Comment on What useless information do you have memorized? in ~talk

    emnii
    Link
    White-orange, orange, white-green, blue, white-blue, green, white-brown, brown. Haven't put a RJ45 jack on an Ethernet cable in a decade plus. Might still have a crimping tool though. I guess this...

    White-orange, orange, white-green, blue, white-blue, green, white-brown, brown.

    Haven't put a RJ45 jack on an Ethernet cable in a decade plus. Might still have a crimping tool though. I guess this is not completely useless, but it's useless to me now.

    3 votes