12
votes
What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
I bit the bullet and played my first MUD (multi-user dungeon). They're more complex than I imagined, and there are even a few for-profit MUDs that are doing fine. While it is possible to simply connect to a MUD from any given terminal, most people seem to rely on dedicated clients that make the experience smoother.
I installed the Mudlet client which seemed solid and beginner-friendly. I first tried the fantasy-themed Aardwolf. It's fine but felt too generic. It felt big, and the text-based map wasn't elucidating. Apparently, I should configure the client to render the map graphically, but I wasn't in the mood. I got the impression that Aardwolf was maybe too complex for my current energy levels. I may get back to it later on.
The Discworld MUD was next on the list, and, given the source material, it is brimming with personality. I never read Terry Pratchett, but I get the gist. The game is certainly amusing, and the non-generic descriptions give me a reason to read them. It has a long tutorial introducing several mechanics. It does everything right in terms of contemporary game design. The text-based map of Discworld is outstanding, it even lists points of interest. Every once in a while, Discworld's MUD will fire a semi-random line describing the scenery, or something happening in our location... it's great that they have such a preoccupation with atmosphere.
New characters have access to a global
newbyechat, and I chatted with some lovely people that helped me with the game.In order to make gameplay more dynamic, it seems that MUD players rely heavily on scripts, macros, aliases, etc, and I am no different. So I have keybindings to go in all directions, clear the screen (I hate clutter), summon the map, look around, etc. Learning MUDs is not unlike learning a new text editor or IDE, but Mudlet and Discworld made the process gentle enough. I was tempted to use something like tintin++ that works in the command line, which would probably be snappier and more configurable, but it would take longer for me to start having fun.
I am so intrigued by this. May have to give it a spin at some point. I love configuring things, so I may go the tintin++ route.
I found MUDs to be too involved. I also broke all my apps from Mudlet to MUSHClient, and just fell off. I started on Aardwolf and got lost on a surprisingly violent beach resort as my last act. The community was nice enough to a seriously lost newbie, however. I checked some others out but they were very RP focused, like WoTMUD (or I guess one of its servers) so I figured I wouldn't do well in them.
You seem to be doing fine, but I found it all too fiddly to adapt a client to my needs and build my setup as I understood MUDing better. I eventually got a multiwindow tintin++ setup on Aardwolf but also rapidly burned out on all the learning required between the MUD and the client.
Client-wise MUDs have a very Emacs vibe. Unfortunately, I didn't find a maintained client for Emacs. It would be kinda perfect :P
tintin++ is scary, and the documentation doesn't make it easy. Nowhere I found a tutorial, an easy-to-follow guide.
We'll see how long will I last. Discworld seems to be on the easygoing side.
I would love to find a seriously roleplay focus MUD with a Star Trek vibe. There's one called mtrek but the website is offline (or blocking my IP for some reason).
Some of these games have their own clients... maybe you could use one of those to reduce complexity? I imagine those clients are heavily adapted for its particular game.
I hate myself for asking this, but would you mind sharing your tintin dotfiles, or any insight on how to use it and configure it? The documentation is really dry, and I can't find anything about this program online. There's like two videos on YouTube of people installing it on Windows and that's it.
I found a file for tintin containing all maps for Discworld :D
I also wanna see if tintin's automap is any better than Mudlet... mapping is time intensive!
I'm sorry to disappoint, but this was over a decade ago and I don't have them anymore.
I had no idea it was that old! Oh well, let's see if Reddit can help. Thanks ;)
Update:
tintin++is bad. I mean, it's not bad, but the documentation is terrible -- a list of things with no explanation, a bag of puzzle pieces with no picture on the box. The advice I received was "ask everything on Discord", which I did. Granted, people were nice and helpful. But that is tiresome, and they might not be so nice after I made 100 questions a day.I'm not a programmer, just an intense computer nerd. Being an Emacs user made me think I could handle any program. However, Emacs may be complex, but the documentation is stellar and easily accessible. It took minutes to get Aardwolf's official customized MUSHclient running on Wine, and everything was ready for me to use. Discworld has one too. That is hard to beat. I'm not coming back.
Man I miss that game so much. Was there a remake of it or did you play it on ps3? I really wish there’d be a sequel for it. The fighting mechanics were so good, and the boss fights/soundtrack were fabulous.
I've been playing cyberpunk 2077 after watching Edgerunners. It's really good, you can see they put a lot of effort into building an internally consistent world top to bottom, I especially liked how they both got great music and had you meet some of the in-universe musicians on jobs. Artistic direction in both visual and audio style is phenomenal.
I think though that, like New Vegas, the scars of its rushed release are going to be with the game forever. While the game is decently polished now and not too buggy, the pacing is weird and inconsistent, and some of the side quest lines are grossly underdeveloped, especially the Mayor and Lizzy's, not to mention obviously dropped ones like the batman expy that's reduced to just finding his cool car, and it's jarring to have those contrast with Judy's or Panam's.
Still a solid 8, but it could've been genre defining if they'd let it develop as long as it needed to.
I just started playing Chivalry II with my SO and friend! Boy howdy, is it a fun game. I love the different classes you can fight as and the customization is pretty fun (blessed be that there are women options lol). The combat is very cool and you can definitely get into the role playing aspect of the game.
We've only been playing the beginner mode where it's some actual players and then bots to fill the rest. But the objectives are fun to play and the medieval weaponry is really cool. There are some very good players who know what the hell they're doing and it's just enat to see that skill difference. We'll be tackling the 40 vs. 40 mode next time we play. That'll be all actual players and part of me is worried it'll be a slog and the other part is worried about getting my ass kicked. But I'm also just excited to have a fun new game to play.
Red Dead Redemption 2:
I've been playing it off and on, sometimes moving the story along, sometimes just wandering the world. It's a most excellent game. But I'm starting to get depressed by it, for spoiler reasons.
Story spoilers ahead
My version of Arthur is really trying his best to be a good man, but he's trapped in a life that really isn't healthy for him or any of the people he cares about. They always talk about needing more money before they can move to the simple life, but I've been keeping track of how much money has been stashed away; there's plenty enough to buy some land out west and give up all this criminality. I personally have more than $3k in my pocket, equivalent to more than $100k in today's money. I personally could just run away with my lady love and be free of it all, but caring about my family keeps me trapped in the cycle of violence. It's hard and sad.
And I'm starting to feel bad playing it. If I didn't play anymore, this Arthur would cease to exist. He wouldn't suffer anymore, he wouldn't have to struggle, he'd just painlessly transition to non-existence aside from my memories. Given that no one would grieve for him, wouldn't that be the better choice? I dunno. I feel bad for him.
Aw, Snap! I've been playing Marvel Snap since it officially launched on PC and Mobileand I honestly think it scratches all the itches Hearthstone did and then some. Matches are quick, and the card unlock system is based on progression vs booster packs, and it's less of a collectable card game vs a board game with novel locations to control each with their own game changing effects in addition to the cards you and your opponent bring into battle.