Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

Rules:

• No grey market sales
• No affiliate links

If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

All previous Save Point topics

If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

There are certainly a few people here, who will be buying Steam Frame VR headset.

I enlisted myself a few days ago for the first wave lottery reservations. After a bit of thought, I also enlisted my daughter, to double my chances from almost 0% to double of that but still near zero in my eyes.

A few minutes ago I got e-mail. I'm on waiting list after first wave goes out... Well, maybe this year?

My daughter checked her e-mail as well. And what do you know? Doubling of the chances paid off and the chance was actually higher than near 0% - her account got picked by Valve! It seems we are getting the headset in upcoming days/weeks.

Now the question is: Should we get the head and handstraps also? I think we should. But I don't knowbif I should get also new foam/seal. I'm not spending 170€ on color camera, at least not for now.

Sorry for this kind of post, we are just so happy and I wanted to share the happiness. I hope some of you got on the list for first wave as well.

Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

Rules:

• No grey market sales
• No affiliate links

If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

All previous Save Point topics

If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

Introduction

It was a dark and stormy night...

Rain hammered the car roof with the ferocity of hail. The windshield wipers did little to help as sheets of water cascaded down the glass between every beat. The road itself was dark with no lights besides your headlights, the beams casting eerie shadows on the gnarled trees as you drove past.

Or they would, if the car was moving.

Because of course the car broke down, leaving you stranded on a remote country road far from the nearest town. You sat in the driver's seat looking at the MapQuest printout, determining it to be useless given the lack of signage on remote country roads.

You did, however, receive a surprisingly detailed novelty map of local landmarks from when you stopped at a diner an hour ago. Squinting out the window, the headlights just illuminated a large rock with a pointed tip near the base of a tree. A good match for the "Wytch Hat Stone" on the map.

According to the novelty map, there were three mansions nearby: the Edison Mansion, the Derceto Manor, and the DeFoe Manor. Perhaps one of them would have a phone you could use. Or at least be a quieter place to spend the night, the incessant hammering of the raindrops was really loud. The flashes of lightning every time you mumbled the names of any mansion would help illuminate your way.

And surely the "Beware And Avoid" heading on the map was just a marketing gimmick, right?

Welcome to the Spooky Mansion Arcade Special!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I shall be your hostess this delightfully dreary evening.

Now as your hostess, I must be upfront with you: I have no personal experience with any of these titles. I originally nominated Maniac Mansion since I have wanted to play it for some time, but then realized there are many old games set in spooky mansions. And I also had the thought: what better time to explore some creepy mansions than October, the month most associated with all things spooky and creepy?

So for this month's adventure, I have selected three potential mansions for us to tour: the classic LucasArts game Maniac Mansion, the classic survival horror game Alone in the Dark, and the freeware adventure game 5 Days A Stranger. All three provide glimpses into different periods and niches of gaming history.

Maniac Mansion (1987) helped redefine the adventure game genre, and established LucasArts as a powerhouse in gaming. It removed many frustrations of the genre such as guessing and typing text commands in favor of one of the first point-and-click interfaces, or super-linear puzzles with specific solutions. It placed more emphasis on cinematic storytelling, and added humor to a generally serious genre.

Alone in the Dark (1992) meanwhile is one of the games that defined the survival horror genre alongside Sweet Home. It was the first 3D survival horror game, with many of its mechanics such as limited inventory and a focus on survival over combat appearing to this day. Even the first Resident Evil game was influenced by it, nixing the original plan of first-person gameplay for similar fixed camera angles.

5 Days a Stranger (2003) is comparatively lesser known and influential than the other two. However, it's also CGA's first foray into the early indie dev scene! This is a freeware game about a cat burglar who becomes trapped in a house with four others, and is the first part of a series called the Chzo Mythos. Its developer is likely to be familiar: Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, famous for the Zero Punctuation review series for The Escapist.

Also: it's free. Of all the games we've played to date, this may be the most accessible because it's always been free, so no legal barriers.

Moving on.

You have your choice of up to three beautiful mansions to explore. I have hopefully given you enough information to decide which to visit first. They can't be worse than spending the night in a tiny, cramped, broken car. Feel free to chant the names of whichever mansion you most prefer as you begin the mad dash through the rain. The dramatic lightning flashes are so convenient, aren't they?

I hope you all have a terrific time.

GAME INFORMATION

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the games. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the games you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the games and their time periods:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

IMPORTANT: Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

IMPORTANT: Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

Enter if you dare...

> PRESS START

(Credit to @Boojum for the splash screen!)

October 2026's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games.

Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?

So I've heard that (at least some of) you have, trounced every park's leaderboard, cleared all goals (including the cash ones), and racked up 3 gold medals from the occasional competition stages.

If that's true, then congratulations! You're basically legend-level; Tony Hawk himself would be impressed.
But what if I told you there's more to do after a full Career Mode clean sweep? Shocker, I know. Here are two hints:

• Land a successful trick in every gap on every Career Mode park (ideally in Free Skate)
• Spend an absurd amount of time 100%-ing every skater's Career Mode

Sounds simple, right? But it's also... an absolutely herculean task. I won't blame you if you reach for the cheat codes hidden there to skip the grind. And for anyone on the N64 or GBC versions of Pro Skater 2: tough luck, as no such things are available there to my knowledge.

Now the real question: where are you going to rest after all that? Blow your remaining hard-earned cash on some old, shady place you found on your dinky desktop out of pure desperation? Don't worry, u/CannibalisticApple will walk you through those sketchy mansions and manors on the next CGA month.

Until then, drop your feats and thoughts about your journey to becoming one of skateboarding's champions.

Later, gators!

Schedule

I promised in another thread that I would share more about my first impressions about the Steam Frame soon, so here I am.

There's still not much I can say because, in my case, using glasses inside isn't an option. But whatever questions you have and couldn't find answers anywhere else, let me know and I can check for you (be it settings, small things no one thinks about, etc)

I'll be recycling a bit what I already said in the other comment (with a few corrections), but here goes my first impressions and some thoughts:

• I said in the other comment that the spacer for the glasses was disappointing, but that's actually not true. To be fair, they do their job. The glasses should be as close as possible to your face anyway, and you can't have too much space between your face and the lenses in the VR, so the spacer does give you a bit more space that should be enough for most/all people. I was able to confirm that both my new glasses and my old ones do not touch the lenses. That said, I still wouldn't play a VR game that needs me to move a lot, the risk of them coming loose and scratching the lenses isn't null.

• My problem with the glasses is different. My new glasses are too wide. They barely fit inside and put a lot of pressure on my face, I think it's the sides of the VR that push the glasses against my face.

• So yeah, if you use glasses, I highly recommend getting prescription lenses (this also applies to any VR headset, but still).

• I was able to run on the Frame: Ace Combat 7, Hades 2, Dragon Commander and Dispatch. All of them were playable (Ace Combat 7 was a pleasant surprise!). Dragon Commander technically ran well, but it didn't recognize the controllers.

• There's a tab for Steam Frame verified games, but you can download anything from your library. Cyberpunk 2077? Knock yourself out. Will it run well? Nope, but it does run.

• • Sidenote: the new proton for ARM processors make me hopeful that laptops with ARM processors could become a viable alternative to traditional ones (I mean besides macbooks)

• Speaking of controllers, they're MUCH better than Meta Quest 3's. The layout of a conventional controller means that they can be used as such. Furthermore, at any moment you can activate the "pointer", which turns the respective controller into a mouse (while the other remains a controller). Meaning if you have a game where sometimes you need a mouse, Steam Frame has you covered.

• I got the ergonomic kit because of the controller straps, but as for the headset itself, I'll be the contrarian against the rest of the internet and say that those extra pieces actually aren't necessary. Or at least, not as ABSOLUTELY necessary as people make it look like. The space between the headset and my nose is not sealed, true, but unless I get conscious about that "hole", I won't notice it. I also felt that the top strap isn't necessary, the headset feels firmly held against my head.

• • That said, let me admit a few things: I didn't play a VR game yet, so maybe "firmly held" could be a different story in that scenario. And for a 1k euro device, there's an argument to be made that these ergonomic accessories should've been included by default, which I wholeheartedly agree. The nose thing, might have to do with my head shape, might not, I don't know; I just felt that whenever I was looking at the "screen" inside, I didn't notice the "hole" down below.

• The battery is... Underwhelming. Be prepared to get a good powerbank if you plan to have mid-long sessions.

• I tried using the wireless adapter on my gaming desktop (running Fedora 44), and it looks like it worked! Pleasant surprise, as I was under the impression it didn't work on Linux yet.

• Streamed Red Dead Redemption 2 for a bit. Rockstar launcher popped up so I could validate my account.... Except this window didn't appear on the SF, only on my PC's monitor. On the SF, I wasn't able to change windows, I only got a black screen. Once I entered the game, I could hear the sounds of the intro playing but the screen was still black. After fiddling a bit inside the VR, I managed to make it show the game itself, then I was able to play it normally.

• • This is to say, "window management" inside a game is finicky. So games with their own launchers? Expect them be as annoying here as they are in general...
• • • Caveat: only tried one game in this condition (opening launchers/windows alongside the game), so it's possible it was just bad luck and not representative.

• (copy pasted from the other comment) the update process (that you're forced to do) was really slow - the download would top at 10mb/s, but on average it was on the kb/s.

• (copy pasted from the other comment) The environment is really polished - more than the Steam Deck it looks like. I like how from inside Steam "app" itself, I can open the desktop mode as if it was an application. I don't have bluetooth keyboards but I think it should be possible to use this as a normal PC, which is really cool.

• (copy pasted from the other comment) Just like the Steam Deck, you have control over almost everything. Hardware usage, screen framerates, etc.

Some basic comparisons against the Meta Quest 3:

• Unlike MQ 3, the SF works just fine in any kind of environment, even if it's pitch black. Side note: it's a bit mesmerizing checking out the LIDAR's and Face ID's lights from my iphone. This thing is unironically a really good device to spot hidden cameras.

• YMMV, but for me the lack of colors in the passthrough isn't a big deal. I spend most of the time "inside" the virtual world and barely used it on MQ3, only for when someone was calling for me - or my cats. But even then, 95% of the time I would just take the headset off if whatever was demanding my attention wasn't quick. Talking to people with it on your head is weird af (especially for the other person). What I'm trying to say is that there were never situations where I needed to see the world around me and it needed to be in colours; I would just take the headset off in those cases.

• • Caveat: 1k euros device, I get it. It's dumb that you still need to fork over another 100 euros just to get colours. And I guess it's not a good thing for AR games.

• The SF is a bit smaller, lighter, and it's more comfortable imo. The idea to move the battery to the back of the head was smart, I think long sessions with SF should be more comfortable.

• MQ 3 has hand gesture recognition while SF doesn't. But personally, I don't really care. On MQ 3 this feature is finicky, frustrating to use, it's annoying when I'm watching movies/videos, and more importantly, it makes me want to throw the headset against the wall (exaggeration for comedic effect). So for me it's not a huge loss.

• If you feel that after these impressions I'm biased against the MQ3, well.... You're not wrong, but I just realized that it feels like I'm defending SF too much and criticizing MQ3 too easily while writing this. I'm biased against it mainly for privacy reasons, but on a hardware level, MQ3 is a great headset in its own right. It's equivalent to SF and costs a lot less. If you don't care about privacy, you probably should go for it instead of the SF.

Feel free to ask me anything about the Steam Frame and if I can check it out for you, I will.

I've had plenty of fun conversations with friends about this topic and figure all you Tilders would have some interesting ideas/thoughts.

• Are there any games that you've always wished for?
• Has there been a game that captured your imagination but fell short in one or more areas?
• Have you ever wanted to smash elements from two or more games together?

Don't let budgetary/IP constraints ruin your dreams here!

Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

Rules:

• No grey market sales
• No affiliate links

If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

All previous Save Point topics

If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

Schedule

Discussion Topics

Each month will have two discussion topics:

• "Insert Cartridge" - 1st of the month
• "Remove Cartridge" - 28th of the month (25th for February)

Insert Cartridge topics are primarily for getting the game set up and running. Remove Cartridge topics are primarily for reflecting on the game once you've played it. However, the game itself and anything else related to it can be discussed in either one.

Hosting

Each month, the discussion topics will be posted by a different "host" who will act as the emcee for that month.

Hosting is not required, but it is encouraged that people host months for games that they are either already very familiar with or that they are strongly interested in playing.

People who nominated a game will be given preference for hosting, otherwise it will be given to whomever claims it first.

Check out old months to get a feel for what it's like.

If you would like to host a month, let me know which one and I will add you to the schedule.

Before your month begins, I will send you a "Hosting Package" featuring templates that you can edit to your liking.

If no one claims a month, I will host it as a fallback.

Voting Results

The top 6 games from the voting round were chosen to be played.

Of the remaining games:

• The top 50% will advance to the next round. They will start the next round with a base score of 30% of their vote totals.
• The bottom 50% will be removed from the list.

Removed games will be able to be re-nominated in future rounds if someone chooses to do so.

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