infinitepeaks's recent activity
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Comment on Does anyone play Vintage Story? in ~games
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically (round 2) in ~games
infinitepeaks Link ParentKentucky Route Zero is my favorite narrative experience of all time - regardless of medium! It's a story about a delivery driver making his last run, in which he has to travel to a highway that...Kentucky Route Zero is my favorite narrative experience of all time - regardless of medium!
It's a story about a delivery driver making his last run, in which he has to travel to a highway that runs under Kentucky, and things are a little strange...
Without diving too much into plot, I'll say the atmosphere was the main draw for me- if you enjoy the juxtaposition of rural Americana, 80's retrofuturism, and magical realism, this game nails it, from the aesthetic to the music to the way people talk. That said, the plot itself I found very engrossing. The stakes are never high, but you really get to know the people you find along the way, and the plot is always moving in neat new directions.
One thing I like is how it approaches dialogue choices - the first part of the game was released in the era of the Telltale "x Will Remember That", of choices that were binary, black and white. In KRZ, your choices don't impact the plot as they do the characters themselves. Who they are and what they want is defined by the player, and these choices come back around in subtle, quiet ways.
The game is five episodes and five interludes (short side stories that expand on side characters in unique ways, and can be played to the end in 8-10 hours.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically (round 2) in ~games
infinitepeaks Link ParentThe recently released Solium Infernum Remake might be in her wheel house - though I'm not sure if the setting might be too fantasy. It's a deep political strategy game with lots of opportunities...The recently released Solium Infernum Remake might be in her wheel house - though I'm not sure if the setting might be too fantasy. It's a deep political strategy game with lots of opportunities for backstabbing, manipulation, and deceit.
Worth noting, though, that it's very much a multiplayer-focused game. It's designed for async play (my group normally does 2/3 days per turn), but if they prefer single player the AI isn't great (though they have said they're working on improving it.
(if you, your partner, or anyone else is interested in playing my group is always looking for more players!)
I'll also mention Terra Invicta, which, while it is a sci-fi game about an incoming alien invasion, is a rich, complex political simulator where you take charge not of a country, but of an ideology towards alien visitors. One might be in favor of extermination, or surrender, or building a relationship, or getting the hell off the planet. It's a lot of sending out spies, blackmailing, bribing, ect.
It's real time with pause, but like with Paradox games the pacing is very slow. There's no need to rush or micro anything.
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Comment on Which board games have you all been playing this week (to 2nd July)? in ~games.tabletop
infinitepeaks Link ParentYeah it's certainly got a lot going on - in all the games I've played I've only seen one person build a truck (and that's not even getting into the expansion!) But one of the great things about it...Yeah it's certainly got a lot going on - in all the games I've played I've only seen one person build a truck (and that's not even getting into the expansion!)
But one of the great things about it is that even the early game stuff is a fun puzzle - it doesn't suffer from the somewhat common issue of the early game just being a push to get to the fun midgame that some games have, so even if you never get to experience the high tier tech stuff it's still a great time. Long, though!
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Comment on Which board games have you all been playing this week (to 2nd July)? in ~games.tabletop
infinitepeaks LinkGot in a game of Roads & Boats this weekend, at two players. For those who don't know, R&B is a very wild and big game about moving around resources and building the infrastructure for said...Got in a game of Roads & Boats this weekend, at two players. For those who don't know, R&B is a very wild and big game about moving around resources and building the infrastructure for said movement, with one of the big twists being the only things that belong to you are what's on your own transporters. That means any buildings you make for converting goods to higher tiers, or producing base tier goods, can be used by anyone, and anything you leave behind can be stolen.
I had previously played at 4 and 5, and at those counts we found the game rather ruthless, whereas this two player game was a little more solitary, which was also fun but in a different way. Almost feels more like a factorio race!
It's very hard to track down a copy, but if you're a logistics puzzle enjoyer (especially if you're into factorio or openTTD), it's worth trying to play!
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Comment on What are some noteworthy games that aren't available through traditional/common means? in ~games
infinitepeaks LinkI'll put in a good word for Vintage Story - a very cool take on the Minecraft formula that is only available directly from the devs (at least right now). If you've ever played the TerraFirmaCraft...I'll put in a good word for Vintage Story - a very cool take on the Minecraft formula that is only available directly from the devs (at least right now).
If you've ever played the TerraFirmaCraft mod, you'll find familiarity - it's made by those devs. It takes the survival elements of MC and ramps them up. All the mechanics are deepened, but not to the point where they become un-gamelike. I find it hits a great balance in that respect. I especially enjoy how different materials use different crafting methods - for example, making stone tools requires "carving" out a shape in a sort of inverted picross, and this mechanic is also used to carving wooden statues. Farming, especially, hits a perfect mid point between fun and deep. I also like their approach to worldgen - using a Dwarf Fortress style world temperature system to figure out biome diversity, as opposed to just chunks. Makes the world feel more natural and fun to explore.
The game built in a fresh engine, allowing for the larger complexity and finer graphics of Minecraft modpacks without the framerate issues, crashes, and jankiness. VS implements a lot of the ideas from various modpacks, but in a way that feels more integrated with the game? This is a more personal thing, but I find MC mods to feel very disconnected from the base game, compared to mods from other games. I'm not sure why.
There's plenty of other very cool features (they just did an update adding underground adventure stuff I haven't dived into yet) - if you enjoy MC and want something fresh I highly recommend!
I'm a big fan of VS! It feels like what I would've wanted out of "the future of Minecraft" when I first played back in... 2014?
I've found that a lot of mods for Minecraft give me the feeling that high level university classes do: they assume that it's the only class/mod you're in/using, so they go all the way in terms of complexity. VS takes a lot of ideas from MC mods, buts tones them down just enough to make them feel accessible without sacrificing tough decisions. I especially like their approach to worldgen, taking inspiration from Dwarf Fortress, where biomes are based on the shape of the world rather than presets.
On top of that, the engine the game is built on is a lot more stable and smooth than MC, with excellent built in mod support and a lot of those fancy shader effects already there (if one wants them).
I feel like it still has a way to go to feel "complete" -- if you're a "Kill the Ender Dragon" kind of MC player it won't satisfy there yet (though it does have some excellent monster design!), but if you want to build, farm, design (the building design options are incredible!), I think VS far surpasses MC, and if you've never played or enjoyed MC I think VS does a lot of cool stuff that makes it worth checking out.