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    1. Too Many Bones

      I've recently gotten into Too Many Bones. I've been into tabletop for years and painted many minis, but now I find myself floored by hoplomachus and too many bones...and there's no minis to paint....

      I've recently gotten into Too Many Bones.
      I've been into tabletop for years and painted many minis, but now I find myself floored by hoplomachus and too many bones...and there's no minis to paint. But the gameplay is so so good I'm in love.
      I'm waiting on unbreakable to come in. All I've played is undertow but man is there a lot going on in such a small box.
      What's the best gearloc?

      6 votes
    2. Visual novel readers, what kinds of choices do you want to make in your games?

      Do you prefer kinetic VNs (where there are no choices, just story), choices that slightly alter the dialogue but don't impact the story much, or choices that result in new scenes/routes/endings?...

      Do you prefer kinetic VNs (where there are no choices, just story), choices that slightly alter the dialogue but don't impact the story much, or choices that result in new scenes/routes/endings?

      Personally, I'm a fan of having choices in the game and having them impact the narrative -- either by unlocking a new route, a special scene with a character, or getting an alternative ending. Stein's;Gate was a lot of fun for me.

      I do enjoy a good kinetic novel when I just want to listen to music and read, though. Queen Beast is a great recent example -- go check it out!

      14 votes
    3. With Map in hand : Finding maps for your VTT RPG

      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology,...

      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology, barbarian party learning that guns and space battles were a thing, aliens and robotic overloads.

      What's more my party tended to blow up stuff and wreck most maps in one session, so in the end I got into making maps or desperately looking for maps everywhere I could.

      So, I thought maybe people could use some of what I've found in their own searches (disclaimer, I don't sell any of my maps, free to all, and I have no connection with any of the pay-for ones, but I've subscribed to most of them at one time or another!)

      Map Tools

      The idea in VTT RPG is to make a map image and import that into your game tool (Such as Roll20 or Foundry) then overlay tiles, tokens, walls etc onto it. The single map image is most, if not all of what you need.

      This is just a short list of what I have tried, lots more than this out there.
      • Dungeondraft One of the best mapping programs and the one I use the most. Offline and stand alone, also encompasses a good default art style of the base assets
      • Inkarnate Online tool that requires a subscription, pretty good, I started out with it and sill occasionally use to make world maps rather than battle maps but can do both.
      • Wonderdraft Dungeondraft but for world maps. I do not make enough of these to have warranted buying it so never tried it
      • Dungeon Alchemist A "AI" driven map creator in Early Access. Can knock out stuff in seconds but I don't like the art style. Good if you need a dungeon in 5 minutes

      Map styles

      There are a couple of popular styles if you are picky about that sort of thing, though mostly important if you want to make your own maps and are looking for asset packs.

      The asset styles you find seem to fall in roughly two forms:

      • Dungeondraft default style. Flat. Line art, less detail
      • Forgotten Adventures (short form FA) Still hand drawn (not rendered) but more detailed computer art style

      Some people prefer the first style due to simplicity, others like the second but some may find it more gamey.

      There is also the "rendered" style that Dungeon Alchemist uses, but that's REALLY gamey to my eyes. I believe there are third party libraries for it but never really looked.

      Lastly, there is the unique art style of hard drawn art that lots of artist draw their battle maps in.

      When I chose a style I went Forgotten Adventures. You can't really mix the two main ones when making your own map, looks horrible. I also found that of the various styles, FA could be matched with many hand drawn styles.

      Maps

      Ok the meat, and what I meant to post before I got side tracked!

      Note most of the sites I am posting above can be used offline on a table top game by just printing the maps out, though I've never tried this.

      My own maps tend heavily towards space and the magic/tech mix due to the campaign. They are in the Forgotten Adventures style. Free to use, including the ones on my Patreon (DON'T SUBSCRIBE TO IT! I started working on making more maps but then got too involved in GMing the game and ran out of time)

      • My main free library ~35 maps, space, ground, some bunkers and others. All in WEBP for faster loading
      • My Patreon, no subscribe! Only take! Only a few maps and then the campaign finished, space ships mostly and then it gets weird if you go back further and find it was a MMORPG Kit tutorial Patreon :/

      Other peoples maps amazing I've found!

      Science Fiction or Modern

      These maps cover mostly futuristic themes such as cyberpunk, world war 2, space ships and so on
      • Hyperdrive Fleet An AMAZING selection of space ships, engine rooms, and space shipy related stuff.
      • Moonlight Maps Scifi A paired Patreon channel to the Moonlight below but for scifi maps. Building interiors, some assets (Vehicles for example), space forests, malls. Flatish style with few shadows?
      • de-Zigner Um, steam punk art? Really cool hand drawn art style, I guess has a mix between modern punk and undead fantasy things.
      • Cracked|Compass This is not the entire library for this mapper, but they do some AMAZING World War 2 maps and several are available on their Inkarnate page. More are available on Reddit in various posts

      Fantasy

      Basic fantasy maps, ruins, temples and the like. Useful for most games
      • Forgotten Adventures A medium size collection of Fantasy maps with some great maps, and has some integration with Foundry complete with walls and actions to switch out parts of some maps on the fly (if you are into that sort of thing)
      • Limithron Lots of pirate ships, islands, water and sea based maps, boats, whales.
      • Cze and Peku Fantasy stuff, hand drawn so may not fit with your campaign style but a LOT of art, A little closer to the Dungeondraft style than FA, LOTS of fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, some ships.
      • Moonlight Maps Again generic (good) fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, villages. Lot of art available, style is of the school of flat line art more than anything.
      • Tom Cartos Has a large asset library which pairs well with FA assets but the maps are what we are here for. Has been expanding recently into 3D scene pictures to accompany the maps recently. Lots of temples, dungeons, inns, villages etc.
      • Bearworks FA style? Lots of fantasy items, had a lot of desert maps which is what I was attracted to. Otherwise standard dungeons and ruins. They do come in very high PPI if required
      • Seafoot games Lots of maps here in a flat DD style. Got some audio mixs. I used their shipwreck maps for a while.
      • Stained Karbon Very stylistic cartoon hand drawn maps of the most bizarre stuff. I've grabbed a few of the free ones but never had the chance to use them. If you need a sword driven through 4 maps of various styles of terrain, then this is the map maker for you
      • Ataraxian Bear VERY clean lined cartoon maps, lots of water and islands. Slightly different style from most but still very nice art so unless you are fussy there are some nice maps here!
      • Borough Bound Some large scale project maps here, as in entire cities with all the moving parts, campaign information, stories, multiple parts of the city etc. You can grab a selection and have a entire city for your players to explore.

      Speciality environments

      These are specific mappers that may concentrate on one unique game theme
      • Gamers Cortex Lots of battle maps of flying wooden sailing ships, all with wings, above and below decks images. They are also beginning to include Foundry VTT files with walls and lights.

      Phased Battle Maps

      Ok this is a niche thing, most of these mappers make various map types, scifi, modern or fantasy, but what sets them aside is the maps come in variants, phases, so you can change the map over time, say every combat round, as the environment changes. Water flowing in and flooding a village, a fire burning down a town hall, bridges breaking etc.
      • Domille's Wondrous Works The main reason Phased battle maps exist! DWW has a lot of these but also has an addon for Foundry to help you use them. I've used a lot of their maps over the years and found the addon stable and works well. Drawn in their own hand drawn art style.
      • Balatro A good alternative to DWW above, lots of maps, Nice style similar to FA in the later maps, more like Dungeondraft in earlier. Boat battles, buildings struck my lightening. List goes on

      Asset Libraries

      Collections of assets to be used when MAKING maps
      • Forgotten Adventures the main alternative for most map makers to the default assets. This is an amazing selection of art,
      • White Fox Works basically just an asset library all matching the FA assets nicely. They started I believe to fill the gaps of FA assets and have done some REALLY well... ALong with FA this is the single most important asset library in my toolkit.
      • Tom Cartos Mentioned in maps but he has a asset library that pairs well with the FA style. Mostly Fantasy but a small section is scifi which I abused a lot in my maps.
      • Hellscape Assets Mostly scifi assets, does not fit the FA style all that well but has a lot of art so may be worth trying. May work with DD style? Some maps, some modern stuff
      • Captain Tom Asset Emporium Amazing Sci-Fi asset packs, many options but a little flatter than FA assets. Can be made to work with FA but more like the DD style

      Tokens

      Ok forgot about these, tokens for player and NPCS!
      • Forgotten Adventures Again FA! Lots of tokens, monsters etc. Lots are free and variants cost money
      • The League of Raconteur Explorers (LORE) A mixture of assets, scifi, maybe steampunk-ish. All really nice and varied. The assets are available FREE from their discord but the Patreon allows you to support the artist and download the assets in a better format and nicely catalogued
      • de-Zigner Some amazing tokens, very stylistic so may not match other token you are using unless you use these for the entire campaign, and honestly you could. Plague zombies, cyber warriors and cyborgs. Lots to unpack here.

      Animations

      Animated movies/gifs etc that can be overlaid on your maps to provide some bling. Fire, explosions etc
      • JB2A Animations If you want to animate spells etc in your game I've only tried JB2A. Free ones and endless updated every month! There may be others but I never needed to look!

      There is more than this of course, but I just wanted to put down what I'd found. Hope it helps someone!

      18 votes
    4. Anyone going to Gencon?

      We're at 59 days until Gencon and its one of my favorite events of the year. Wondering if anyone else is going and what you're excited for. It seems like Lorcana is set to the be the buzz of the...

      We're at 59 days until Gencon and its one of my favorite events of the year. Wondering if anyone else is going and what you're excited for.

      It seems like Lorcana is set to the be the buzz of the con this year around. While I'm interested in getting my hands on a deck or two to give it a go, I'm more looking forward to when BGG posts their games that will be releasing to sift through and try to find a hidden gem or two.

      12 votes
    5. What upcoming games or updates are you excited about?

      What recent announcements caught your interest? Video games or board games, indie or AAA, new release or expansion, fangames or mods, all are welcome! Please also include a link to the trailer or...

      What recent announcements caught your interest? Video games or board games, indie or AAA, new release or expansion, fangames or mods, all are welcome!

      Please also include a link to the trailer or blog post, press release, steam page, etc. so others can check them out as well.

      51 votes
    6. Norway Chess 2023 | GothamChess YouTube recaps

      Background The 2023 Norway Chess is an elite over-the-board tournament in Stavanger, Norway. The event starts on May 29 at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST with a blitz tournament, followed by a classical...

      Background

      The 2023 Norway Chess is an elite over-the-board tournament in Stavanger, Norway. The event starts on May 29 at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST with a blitz tournament, followed by a classical event beginning May 30 at 8 a.m. PT/17:00 CEST.

      This edition of Norway Chess features a kr$2,500,000 prize fund, roughly equivalent to $234,000 at the time of writing.


      Format

      The 2023 Norway Chess features a blitz tournament that precedes the classical event. The final standings of the blitz event determine players' seeds for the classical event.

      Blitz Event
      • 10-player single round-robin.
      • Players earn 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss.
      • The time control is 3+2.
      • In case there's a tie, the following tiebreakers apply:
      1. Direct Encounter
      2. Sonneborn-Berger
      3. Koya System
      4. The Koya System Extended
      5. Drawing of lots

      The winner of the blitz event picks their pairing number. The remaining players pick their pairing number, one by one, according to their final standings in the blitz tournament.

      Classical
      • 10-player single round-robin.
      • Players earn 3 points for a win, 1.5 for a draw and armageddon win, 1 for a draw and armageddon loss, and 0 for a loss.
      • Players can't draw by agreement before Black's 30th move, unless it's an armageddon game.
      • The time control is 120 minutes for the entire game, with a 10-second increment per move starting on move 41.
      • In case there's a tie, players contest an armageddon game where White has 10 minutes on their clock and Black has seven, with a one-second increment starting on move 41. Black has draw odds. The player who played White in the classical game plays White in the armageddon.
      Classical Tiebreaks

      If two players tie for first place, the following tiebreakers apply:

      • A two-game blitz Playoff match with a 3+2 time control.
      • If the tie persists, players contest another two-game blitz match.
      • If still drawn, players contest an armageddon game. White gets 10 minutes, and Black gets 7 minutes with draw odds. The armageddon game has a one-second increment per move, starting on move 41.

      If more than two players tie for first place, the following tiebreakers apply:

      • Drawn players contest a double round-robin with the same tiebreakers as the blitz tournament.

      Players

      Below is a list of the players confirmed to play in the 2023 Norway Chess tournament:

      • GM Magnus Carlsen
      • GM Alireza Firouzja
      • GM Anish Giri
      • GM Wesley So
      • GM Hikaru Nakamura
      • GM Fabiano Caruana
      • GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
      • GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov
      • GM Gukesh D
      • GM Aryan Tari

      Source: Chess.com

      16 votes
    7. World Chess Championship 2023 thread - Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Ding Liren

      Anyone else following the world chess championship? Background info (feel free to skip if you're already familiar with this): After reigning champion and world #1 Magnus Carlsen declined to defend...

      Anyone else following the world chess championship?

      Background info (feel free to skip if you're already familiar with this):

      After reigning champion and world #1 Magnus Carlsen declined to defend his title, the winner of the Candidates tournament 2022, Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi (world #2), faces the second place finisher in the Candidates, China's Ding Liren (world #3). The championship match takes place over 14 games from April 9-April 30 in Astana, Kazakhstan. As of today, April 13, the score is even at 2-2 after 4 games.

      Ian Nepomniachtchi (aka "Nepo") won the Candidates tournament in 2020-21, which was split in two due to covid. He proceeded to challenge Magnus Carlsen for the title in late 2021. Both players performed with computer-like precision for the first five games. Game six became the turning point, when Nepo made a serious blunder which allowed Carlsen to eventually convert the game to a win in what would turn out to be the longest game in world championship history, lasting more than 7 hours and 136 moves. After this grueling loss, Nepo's play seemingly collapsed, allowing Carlsen to take a comfortable win with games to spare.

      However, Nepomniachtchi would bounce back to win his second Candidates tournament in a row in 2022. When it became clear that Carlsen would not defend his title, the runner-up of that tournament, Ding Liren, became the second player to compete for the title.

      Ding has been a top 5 player for years, with 2018-2019 being his best period yet, when he reached world #2 with well over 2800 Elo, and was undefeated for 100 games of classical chess. This is his first appearance in a world championship final, and also a first for China as a nation.

      Russia, of course, has a long history of world champions, dominating the chess world for most of the 20th century. Nepomniachtchi, who is a critic of the invasion of Ukraine, competes under a neutral FIDE flag in this match.

      This is only the third time the reigning champion has not defended his title since the first world championship in 1886. Bobby Fischer famously disagreed with the match regulations proposed by FIDE, chess' international governing body, and refused to defend his title in 1975. He subsequently retired from competitive chess and didn't re-emerge until the 1990s. The other instance was Alekhine in 1948 -- he had died two years earlier. (There was also a time in the 1990s when the reigning champion, Garry Kasparov, broke with FIDE and organized his own world championship, but I won't get into that complicated story here.) This is the first time a world champion has continued to play competitive chess while refusing to defend their title.

      Nepomniachtchi comes into the match ranked as the world #2 (2795 Elo) while Ding is #3 (2788). The abdicated king of chess, Magnus Carlsen, remains #1 (2853).

      How to watch

      If you want to watch live, the time zone is a bit unfavorable to European and American viewers, as the games start at 3PM Astana time (11 AM Central European summer time, 2 AM Pacific). You can follow the games without commentary here: lichess chess24 chess.com. There's several streams with grandmaster commentary available. FIDE has an official broadcast, but my favorite is chess.com's coverage, which features commentary by GMs Anish Giri, Daniel Naroditsky and David Howell.

      For live computer analysis that's stronger than what you can (likely) get from running a local instance of Stockfish on your own computer, check out Sesse (which is just Stockfish running on a decently beefy server setup).

      If you want shorter after-the-fact recaps, there are several Youtube channels catering to differing levels of chess skill, including:

      And probably at least a half-dozen more.


      Who's your favorite to win it all? Does the fact that the clearly best player in the world refused to compete make the whole thing uninteresting to you? Will Nepo crumble again like he did against Carlsen, or will Ding's inexperience with world championship matches be his undoing?

      6 votes
    8. Tildes Pop-Up Game Event: Demo Disc Days

      Pop-Up Event: Demo Disc Days Today we are going to take a trip back to the 90s, when the best way to try out new games was to use a now-antiquated piece of magical circular plastic that you might...

      Pop-Up Event: Demo Disc Days

      Today we are going to take a trip back to the 90s, when the best way to try out new games was to use a now-antiquated piece of magical circular plastic that you might have gotten along with your subscription to something like PC Gamer, PlayStation Underground, or the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine.

      The demo disc offered gamers a small taste of a variety of different games, letting you try out the beginning levels of lots of different titles in hopes that you'd find ones you like and buy the full games.

      One of the most iconic demo discs actually came with the PlayStation console itself, and featured its games laid out in a grid. This is the format we'll be exploring in this pop-up: it's our taste of the 90s, but with the games of today or yesterday or ten years ago.


      Community Task: Together, we will create our own modern demo disc by filling in cells in the grid below. To fill in a cell, you must "demo" a game, which consists of:

      • playing the beginning of a game,
      • that you have never played before,
      • for at least 30 minutes.

      Choose an unfilled category below, find a game to demo that fits it, and report back here with your thoughts once you've done so! Once you successfully demo a game, it gets put into that slot.

      At the end of the pop-up, we will have what may very well be the first demo disc of the 2020s featuring a spread of 42 games across multiple styles and genres!

      Arcade RPG Strategy Puzzle Racing Platformer Simulation
      Casual (casual arcade) (casual rpg) 112 Operator Tricky Towers Tanuki Sunset Lunistice shapez
      Colorful Chippy (colorful rpg) (colorful strategy) Can of Wormholes You Suck at Parking (colorful platformer) Stacklands
      Story Rich (story rich arcade) (story rich rpg) (story rich strategy) Strange Horticulture (story rich racing) (Reserved) Lakeburg Legacies
      Retro Gunlocked (retro rpg) (retro strategy) Zombie Night Terror Vecter (retro platformer) (retro simulation)
      Dark (dark arcade) (dark rpg) Ring of Pain The Room Three (dark racing) (dark platformer) (dark simulation)
      Great Soundtrack (great soundtrack arcade) (great soundtrack rpg) (great soundtrack strategy) (great soundtrack puzzle) (great soundtrack racing) (great soundtrack platformer) X4: Foundations

      Additional Info: The styles and genres have been taken from among the list of Steam's most popular tags (with a slight preference for things that give a more 90s feel). You can use Steam's search tool or Steam's library filtering to find games that fit two tags simultaneously.

      If you don't use Steam, that's fine too! A game doesn't have to be "officially" tagged to fit its category. If you feel the game fits, then go for it -- no matter what platform you're playing it on. PC games are fine; console games are fine; emulated games are fine; web games are fine; phone games are fine. Any and all games are welcome on our demo disc!

      Also, the game does not have to be a modern game -- just new to you. If the game is playable today and can be demoed, then it works for our demo disc!

      Finally, it is fine to demo more than one game for the event. In fact, please do! We’ve got a lot of slots to fill!


      Uh, what is this exactly?

      It's a temporary event aimed at getting members of the Tildes community to individually participate in something built around a common theme or goal.

      Check out the previous Pop-Ups for other examples:

      Ludonostalgia! for ~games
      Feelin' 22 for ~music
      Twenty-Twenty Vision for ~movies

      13 votes
    9. Tildes Pop-Up Game Event: Ludonostalgia!

      Pop-Up Event: Ludonostalgia! Task: Replay an old, favorite game that you haven't played in a long, long time. Tell us about how your playthrough now compares to your memories of the game. Time...

      Pop-Up Event: Ludonostalgia!

      Task: Replay an old, favorite game that you haven't played in a long, long time. Tell us about how your playthrough now compares to your memories of the game.

      Time Period: This weekend! (November 10-14)
      Update: Ludonostalgia is extending its hours through November 21st!

      Uh, what is this exactly?

      Its me, kfwyre, trying out yet another post type on Tildes and seeing how it goes.

      In the past I've done a "Backlog Burner" event that was a full month. It was a lot to commit to, and it ended up feeling like it lost steam -- too long for its own good.

      I still like the root of that idea though -- people playing games with a specific purpose or focus. Something like a "Book Club" for games, but with a common theme instead of a common title, so people are free to choose what they personally like.

      Thus, a "Pop-Up": a quick, short event that identifies a common focus that people can participate in together and doesn't require too much commitment. Basically, something unexpectedly fun to do for a week or a weekend.

      If this kind of thing takes, I'd love to see it happen in other communities: ~movies, ~anime, ~music, etc. I'd also love it if other people did their own "pop-ups" on a whim, rather than it being seen as something that's "mine" to post.

      That's jumping the gun a bit though -- this one is a sort of test to see if this sort of thing even has any legs in the first place.

      Oh, and "Ludonostalgia" is a made up pretentious word -- because every good Pop-Up needs an iconic name.

      14 votes
    10. Did Real Time Strategy games die? Why?

      There were a few years when RTS was a popular genre with games like Total Annihilation, Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, and Starcraft being very popular examples. But these games have mostly...

      There were a few years when RTS was a popular genre with games like Total Annihilation, Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, and Starcraft being very popular examples.

      But these games have mostly died out, and I was wondering if maybe I'm just not aware of modern RTS variants, or if there are good reasons why these games died off.

      Like, are Tower Defence games a form of RTS?

      Are there any RTS games where teams play against each other, so 2v2 rather than 1v1?

      17 votes
    11. Steam Deck and Docking Station now in-stock and available!

      EDIT: It is official! We're happy to announce that with today’s batch of order emails, we have completed our reservation queue. We are now in-stock and Steam Deck is available for purchase! The...

      EDIT: It is official!

      We're happy to announce that with today’s batch of order emails, we have completed our reservation queue. We are now in-stock and Steam Deck is available for purchase!

      The Docking Station is available for purchase now! Learn more about it here, or order one here.


      Previous post:

      I wanted to give everyone here a heads' up that it seems like Valve is through most of its preorders for the Steam Deck, so the delay between reserving one and receiving a confirmation is essentially negligible at this point (unlike the months-long waits of the past).

      Anecdotally: my husband put in a reservation on Sunday and received confirmation on Monday, the next day (US 512GB model).

      Less anecdotally: /r/steamdeck is unofficially confirming this for all queues except the EU 64GB model.

      If you've been waiting out the wait time for a Steam Deck, it looks like your time has come! You should be able to get one almost ASAP moving forward.

      Also, if you're on the fence about it, I cannot recommend it enough. I absolutely love mine.

      17 votes
    12. Recommend chill/background games for my second monitor?

      Sometimes I like to multitask while I'm having a chill. Basically I'm looking for a game that doesn't require my full attention so that I can play while I'm watching youtube or a stream. Lately...

      Sometimes I like to multitask while I'm having a chill. Basically I'm looking for a game that doesn't require my full attention so that I can play while I'm watching youtube or a stream. Lately I've been playing Stellaris on easier difficulties to scratch this itch, but even on minimum time settings a Stellaris game takes multiple hours. Something with a 30-60 minute gameplay loop would be perfect.

      Thanks for your suggestions!

      14 votes
    13. What are some good ultra-low-spec computer games?

      So my TV is broken (so no Xbox) and my laptop is a potato. Well, not a total potato, it has an i54210 1.7ghz CPU with integrated Intel HD 4400 graphics. It's a Linux machine, but since Proton I...

      So my TV is broken (so no Xbox) and my laptop is a potato. Well, not a total potato, it has an i54210 1.7ghz CPU with integrated Intel HD 4400 graphics. It's a Linux machine, but since Proton I fully expect to be able to play many low spec games.

      I'm looking into some low spec games. I got Papers Please and liked it a lot. For something meatier I was thinking Baldurs Gate Enhanced, but I fear that I might have a hard time with the outdated mechanics. I had a hard with the original Fallout for that reason... I loved it back in the day, but it was just too clunky for my current tastes.

      21 votes
    14. Playdate handheld console release thread

      Playdate announced on Twitter that they are beginning shipping today: Oh! A new Playdate Update video is here! It recaps the great developer things we've released this year, like Pulp and the...

      Playdate announced on Twitter that they are beginning shipping today:

      Oh! A new Playdate Update video is here!

      It recaps the great developer things we've released this year, like Pulp and the Playdate SDK. Please enjoy it. https://youtu.be/BmrtkBmFSn4

      There's one extra important bit in the update. Playdates in Group One will begin shipping…

      …today.

      The embargo on reviews also lifted:

      Also, ArsTechnica released reviews of all of the Playdate games. SPOILERS ahead:

      20 votes
    15. Beat Saber thread

      I just wanted a pretext to share my first successful Expert+ song on 150% speed + Ghost Notes :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HQIvNCF9RA (two-part video, first half on Ghost Arrows, second...

      I just wanted a pretext to share my first successful Expert+ song on 150% speed + Ghost Notes :)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HQIvNCF9RA (two-part video, first half on Ghost Arrows, second half on Ghost Notes)

      I got back into Beat Saber a week ago after a 2 months hiatus. I like the new OST and mechanics and I love the new Fall Out Boy DLC. Highly recommend it!

      Has anyone else been playing it lately?

      I'm working on opening a VR arcade in Brussels and thinking of promoting Beat Saber quite a bit there :)

      11 votes
    16. Three weeks of Steam Deck game compatibility data

      I've been checking in each Friday since the release of the Steam Deck to see the number of games that have been added to the Deck's different compatibility categories. I felt like it was a bit...

      I've been checking in each Friday since the release of the Steam Deck to see the number of games that have been added to the Deck's different compatibility categories. I felt like it was a bit past time to keep bumping the release thread, so I went with a new topic.

      Here's where we're at currently:

      2022-02-25 2022-03-04 2022-03-11 2022-03-18 Week 1 Change Week 2 Change Week 3 Change
      Deck Verified 433 535 721 798 +102 +186 +77
      Deck Playable 398 471 580 678 +73 +109 +98
      Deck Unsupported 389 711 775 837 +313 +64 +62
      Steam Total Games N/A 67,165 67,399 67,627 N/A +234 +228
      15 votes
    17. Tildes' 2022 Backlog Burner: Final Thread

      The 2022 Backlog Burner Event has officially concluded! Use this thread to update on your games from the last week of the month, give overall thoughts, and provide feedback about the event itself....

      The 2022 Backlog Burner Event has officially concluded!

      Use this thread to update on your games from the last week of the month, give overall thoughts, and provide feedback about the event itself.

      You can view all threads for the event here

      13 votes
    18. Steam Deck launch day megathread

      The Steam Deck is launching today and the embargo on review units will be lifted. Use this thread to post any and all noteworthy coverage, information, or thoughts.

      34 votes
    19. Tildes' 2022 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion Thread

      Use this thread to post about the games that you play! Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games. It is...

      Use this thread to post about the games that you play!

      Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games. It is also fine to respond to yourself with updates if you're continuing a single game and want to talk more about it as you go!


      Previous threads:

      Announcement
      Beginning
      Week 1
      Week 2


      What is this?

      Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet! This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of experiences!

      How do I participate?

      Choose a game (or several) from your backlog and play it/them. Then tell us about your experiences in the discussion thread for the week! If you're not sure what you might write, take a look at a previous backlog post or our previous Backlog Burner event in 2020 to get an idea. Also if you want to keep track of statistics across the whole event or anything else like that, go for it!

      Do I need to finish the games I play?

      Nope! Not at all. There aren't really any requirements for the event so much as this is an incentive to get us to play games we've been avoiding starting up, for whatever reason. Play as much or as little as you like of a given game. Try out dozens for ten minutes each or dive into one for 40 hours. There's no wrong way to participate!

      What's the timeline?

      I will post an update thread weekly, each Tuesday, for the four weeks of February. At the end of the month, I think it would be neat to tally how many collective games we all removed from our backlogs, as well as what the best finds were from our collective digging into our libraries. I expect we'll turn up some good hidden gems, as well as interesting insights.

      Do I need to sign up?

      You don't have to do anything to officially join or participate in the event other than post in these threads! Participate in whatever way works for you. Also, because this is ongoing, it is okay to make more than one top-level post if you're updating the thread with new information.

      8 votes
    20. Tildes' 2022 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion Thread

      Use this thread to post about the games that you play! Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games. It is...

      Use this thread to post about the games that you play!

      Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games. It is also fine to respond to yourself with updates if you're continuing a single game and want to talk more about it as you go!


      Previous threads:

      Announcement
      Beginning
      Week 1


      What is this?

      Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet! This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of experiences!

      How do I participate?

      Choose a game (or several) from your backlog and play it/them. Then tell us about your experiences in the discussion thread for the week! If you're not sure what you might write, take a look at a previous backlog post or our previous Backlog Burner event in 2020 to get an idea. Also if you want to keep track of statistics across the whole event or anything else like that, go for it!

      Do I need to finish the games I play?

      Nope! Not at all. There aren't really any requirements for the event so much as this is an incentive to get us to play games we've been avoiding starting up, for whatever reason. Play as much or as little as you like of a given game. Try out dozens for ten minutes each or dive into one for 40 hours. There's no wrong way to participate!

      What's the timeline?

      I will post an update thread weekly, each Tuesday, for the four weeks of February. At the end of the month, I think it would be neat to tally how many collective games we all removed from our backlogs, as well as what the best finds were from our collective digging into our libraries. I expect we'll turn up some good hidden gems, as well as interesting insights.

      Do I need to sign up?

      You don't have to do anything to officially join or participate in the event other than post in these threads! Participate in whatever way works for you. Also, because this is ongoing, it is okay to make more than one top-level post if you're updating the thread with new information.

      10 votes
    21. Tildes' 2022 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion Thread

      Use this thread to post about the games that you play! Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games. It is...

      Use this thread to post about the games that you play!

      Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games. It is also fine to respond to yourself with updates if you're continuing a single game and want to talk more about it as you go!


      Previous threads:

      Announcement
      Beginning


      What is this?

      Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet! This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of experiences!

      How do I participate?

      Choose a game (or several) from your backlog and play it/them. Then tell us about your experiences in the discussion thread for the week! If you're not sure what you might write, take a look at a previous backlog post or our previous Backlog Burner event in 2020 to get an idea. Also if you want to keep track of statistics across the whole event or anything else like that, go for it!

      Do I need to finish the games I play?

      Nope! Not at all. There aren't really any requirements for the event so much as this is an incentive to get us to play games we've been avoiding starting up, for whatever reason. Play as much or as little as you like of a given game. Try out dozens for ten minutes each or dive into one for 40 hours. There's no wrong way to participate!

      What's the timeline?

      I will post an update thread weekly, each Tuesday, for the four weeks of February. At the end of the month, I think it would be neat to tally how many collective games we all removed from our backlogs, as well as what the best finds were from our collective digging into our libraries. I expect we'll turn up some good hidden gems, as well as interesting insights.

      Do I need to sign up?

      You don't have to do anything to officially join or participate in the event other than post in these threads! Participate in whatever way works for you. Also, because this is ongoing, it is okay to make more than one top-level post if you're updating the thread with new information.

      10 votes
    22. Tildes' 2022 Backlog Burner Event: It Begins!

      The event has officially started! Let's burn through these backlogs! Use this thread to post about the games that you play! Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple...

      The event has officially started! Let's burn through these backlogs!


      Use this thread to post about the games that you play!

      Also, a quick note about thread etiquette: It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games. It is also fine to respond to yourself with updates if you're continuing a single game and want to talk more about it as you go!


      What is this?

      Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet! This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of experiences!

      How do I participate?

      Choose a game (or several) from your backlog and play it/them. Then tell us about your experiences in the discussion thread for the week! If you're not sure what you might write, take a look at a previous backlog post or our previous Backlog Burner event in 2020 to get an idea. Also if you want to keep track of statistics across the whole event or anything else like that, go for it!

      Do I need to finish the games I play?

      Nope! Not at all. There aren't really any requirements for the event so much as this is an incentive to get us to play games we've been avoiding starting up, for whatever reason. Play as much or as little as you like of a given game. Try out dozens for ten minutes each or dive into one for 40 hours. There's no wrong way to participate!

      What's the timeline?

      I will post an update thread weekly, each Tuesday, for the four weeks of February. At the end of the month, I think it would be neat to tally how many collective games we all removed from our backlogs, as well as what the best finds were from our collective digging into our libraries. I expect we'll turn up some good hidden gems, as well as interesting insights.

      Do I need to sign up?

      You don't have to do anything to officially join or participate in the event other than post in these threads! Participate in whatever way works for you. Also, because this is ongoing, it is okay to make more than one top-level post if you're updating the thread with new information.

      19 votes
    23. Announcing the Tildes Backlog Burner event for 2022: Shrink your unplayed games list this February!

      What is this? Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet! This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of...

      What is this?

      Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet! This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of experiences!

      How do I participate?

      Choose a game (or several) from your backlog and play it/them. Then tell us about your experiences in the discussion thread for the week! If you're not sure what you might write, take a look at a previous backlog post or our previous Backlog Burner event in 2020 to get an idea. Also if you want to keep track of statistics across the whole event or anything else like that, go for it!

      Do I need to finish the games I play?

      Nope! Not at all. There aren't really any requirements for the event so much as this is an incentive to get us to play games we've been avoiding starting up, for whatever reason. Play as much or as little as you like of a given game. Try out dozens for ten minutes each or dive into one for 40 hours. There's no wrong way to participate!

      What's the timeline?

      I will post an update thread weekly, each Tuesday, for the four weeks of February. At the end of the month, I think it would be neat to tally how many collective games we all removed from our backlogs, as well as what the best finds were from our collective digging into our libraries. I expect we'll turn up some good hidden gems, as well as interesting insights.

      Do I need to sign up?

      You don't have to do anything to officially join or participate in the event other than post in these threads! Participate in whatever way works for you. Also, because this is ongoing, it is okay to make more than one top-level post if you're updating the thread with new information.

      Do I need to wait until February to get started?

      Nah. I figured people might want to begin over the weekend, which is why I'm posting the announcement now! The first official discussion thread will go up on Tuesday, but feel free to kick things off here if you're wanting to pre-game the month!

      Let's burn through these backlogs!

      18 votes
    24. I'm looking for a (fairly) accurate "caveman" game

      A cursory search found only comedic, light-hearted, fantastical options. I want something set in the late Pleistocene or early Holocene, roughly 50,000-8,000 years BCE. At least somewhat...

      A cursory search found only comedic, light-hearted, fantastical options.

      I want something set in the late Pleistocene or early Holocene, roughly 50,000-8,000 years BCE. At least somewhat (pre-)historically accurate (no dinosaurs or wizards, only 2001-esque aliens, at most), incorporating at least the basics of what we now know of that era.

      Either a single character or a small group (I'm envisioning something like Skyrim, or a Baldur's Gate style, or some kind of community-planner, like RimWorld or Dwarf Fortress).

      Alternately, if anyone still remembers the The Clan of the Cave Bear (novel or movie), I want that, in game form.

      Bonus points if it runs on Linux w/o Wine.

      Does anything like this exist, or should I just sit down and make it? Danke

      13 votes
    25. What are some engrossing self-contained iPhone games?

      In about 20 days I'll be taking a cruise and will effectively have no internet access. It's going to be a long trip with many sea days, so I'm looking for something that I can pick up on moments...

      In about 20 days I'll be taking a cruise and will effectively have no internet access. It's going to be a long trip with many sea days, so I'm looking for something that I can pick up on moments when I just want a bit more stimulation. The last time I took a trip like this I ended up playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

      I do have a preference for action-based titles since they tend to be easy to pick up and stop, but I also like games that require a bit of thought.

      I was considering subscribing to Apple Arcade again since it would let me access a number of games I would enjoy, but I'm not sure how often it would need to contact Apple to confirm the status of my subscription. Data will be extremely expensive on this trip, especially when out at sea.

      11 votes
    26. What's a good book to (re)learn chess fundamentals?

      Most people online seem to favor a practical approach to learning chess, but I tend to prefer something more structured, with a bit of theory, concepts, and explanations. I'd also rather use my...

      Most people online seem to favor a practical approach to learning chess, but I tend to prefer something more structured, with a bit of theory, concepts, and explanations. I'd also rather use my physical board instead of an app. I already know how to play chess, but I'd like to give it another good and see if I can achieve a higher level than before, starting from the beginning. Any suggestions?

      12 votes
    27. A practical take on Steam Deck performance (but really just general observations intended for Reddit hype)

      Edit: Formatting by the generous PetitPrince. Steam Deck AMD Ryzen 7 4800U 7nm TSMC process 7nm TSMC process AMD Zen 2 CPU AMD Zen 2 CPU 4 cores / 8 threads 8 cores / 16 threads 2.4GHz base clock...

      Edit: Formatting by the generous PetitPrince.

      Steam Deck AMD Ryzen 7 4800U
      7nm TSMC process 7nm TSMC process
      AMD Zen 2 CPU AMD Zen 2 CPU
      4 cores / 8 threads 8 cores / 16 threads
      2.4GHz base clock / 3.5GHz turbo 1.8GHz base clock / 4.2GHz turbo
      unspecified L3 cache (4~8 MB) 8 MB L3 cache
      AMD RDNA 2 GPU AMD Radeon RX Vega 8
      8 CUs 8 CUs
      1-1.6GHz up to 1.75GHz
      4-15 Watts 15 Watts (10-25W and up to ~48 total system in some laptop benchmarks)
      16GB LPDDR5 5500MHz LPDDR4 4266MHz
      128-bit memory bus width (32-bit quad channel) † 64-bit memory bus width (32-bit dual channel)
      40Whr battery (2-8 hrs gameplay) †† /

      † shared between CPU and GPU; exact memory access scheme unspecified
      †† ~2.5 hrs at rated 15W APU power draw; also consider SSD, screen, controls, WiFi, etc.

      7nm process

      This APU is probably on the exact same TSMC process node as the Ryzen 7 4800U.

      CPU cores

      Half the cores; worse multithreading performance. More power for the GPU†.

      † power management features probably do this in practice.

      Overall this shouldn't matter much. Maybe impacts people who compress game files or want to use the Steam Deck for things other than gaming.

      CPU clock speeds

      A somewhat low max boost. Probably from power and thermal considerations. Is it the sustained max boost? With just the CPU? How about max GPU? Can it clock higher when docked?

      A surprisingly high minimum clock. I hope it can clock lower than 2.4GHz.

      Overall, this is subject to power and thermal limitations and management. Needs to be tested by a trusted third party. I am hopeful that as a handheld PC, we can adjust clocks and boosting behavior. These behaviors may be different on Linux compared to Windows.

      CPU cache

      Unspecified, I expect 8MB from AMD but we could see 4-6 as a cost and power saving measure.

      GPU

      Docked performance will likely be held back by the 8 CUs.

      The clock speeds look good, about what was expected. Same goes for sustained boost as for the CPU boost.

      By implementing the Radeon RX Vega 8 on 7nm, the process improvement gains have already been realized. Additionally, I speculate that AMD has had ample opportunity for some under the hood improvements to the aging microarchitecture. Some benchmarks found it to be 30-40% faster than an RX Vega 10 (a larger GPU) on the older process node. However, the clock speeds were twice as high compared to the RX Vega 10. Consider also that the 15W laptop was pulling ~48 watts.

      Since it becomes difficult for me to speculate on GPU microarchitectural improvements, I will consider the APU's 8 CU RDNA 2 GPU to have comparable performance to the Ryzen 7 4800U's Radeon RX Vega 8.

      This is mostly for convenience. It may be realistic to expect somewhat lower performance because the handheld Steam Deck APU is unlikely to be allowed to pull more than 20~25 watts. More on this in the battery life section.

      By far the most significant improvements from the RDNA 2 GPU, in my mind, stem from the latest GPU features; modern video decoding, Vulkan features, mesh shading, and more. Also, being the same microarchitecture that console developers will be targeting.

      Feel free to substitute your own speculative performance, but please don't let hype bias your expectations, and be careful when seeking out benchmarks.

      APU power draw

      4 watts is pretty clearly the minimum idling draw seen in windows laptops with Zen 2 CPUs.

      Unfortunately this is high compared to ARM CPUs. It may also be subject to the level of optimizations done on the firmware and the custom Linux distribution. People willing to roll their own might be able to get this lower? It would require getting your hands dirty, and don't bank on it. I'll be happy if Valve actually gets idling consistently down to 4 watts.

      As for 15 watts, it is pretty clear that commonly shared expectations of the hardware are not tailored for this rated power draw. People are expecting performance that comes with 40-80 watts. I expect the APU to draw as high as 20~25 watts in certain circumstances, but this is speculation, and cannot be verified until Steam Decks are in the hands of trusted third party reviewers such as Gamer's Nexus.

      And make no mistake, drawing anything over 15 watts in the APU will have battery life implications, which I will cover later.

      RAM

      If there is anything I am allowing to build my expectations, it is probably this. To my knowledge, we haven't much seen LPDDR5 in devices yet, so there is some novelty and some unknowns.

      Compared to DDR4/LPDDR4, even this reduced speed (saving more power btw) LPDDR5 memory will be faster, finally reaching something similar to dedicated GDDR memory speeds on older budget discrete mobile graphics cards. It has plenty of new power saving features, and should generally draw less power anyway.

      But let me be clear on what it isn't; it is not GDDR5, and it is not GDDR6 as seen in the Xbox Series X or S. Please do not confuse these. I have seen people refer to it as all kinds of things. IT IS NOT GDDR, IT IS NOT LPDDR4, IT IS NOT LPDDR6.

      Okay. With that out of the way, the other half of this that has me tentatively hopeful is the listed 128-bit quad channel memory. I am not qualified to speak on the nature of memory accesses and on memory channels, but generally, this should be responsible for the memory bus bandwidth to approach that of budget discrete graphics cards.

      Hopefully this improves the GPU performance significantly.

      Also, while I initially assumed 16 GB of RAM was such overkill for the target resolutions that it could only be to pander to the PC gaming crowd which would identify the gratuitous RAM with a premium product, I speculate it was just a byproduct of having four memory packages for quad channel. I'm guessing the smallest packages LPDDR5 came in was 4 GB. Anyway, I might be wrong on this account, and it doesn't much matter; there is more than enough RAM, faster I believe than any older APU already on the market (we aren't counting the consoles okay), and it should save power all the while.

      Considering people would still be buying the Steam Deck regardless, I say well done Valve, even if it was required to hit performance targets or actually a financial boon behind the curtain.

      Storage

      At first I was upset the base model was eMMC rather than an NVMe SSD, given how cheap 64/128 GB SSDs are in bulk. On second consideration, it makes a lot of sense.

      I speculate that at best, the base model has an extremely narrow profit margin. Even a cheap SSD might eat into that. But even more, eMMC should be more than enough for anyone intending to use the Steam Deck primarily for 2D games and emulation, which is historically a staple segment of the handheld market. These are the games that will also be happy on a microSD.

      In this way, there is some product segmentation for the mid and high tier models, which are making money on the storage.

      I personally have placed a reservation for the base model, although I intend to upgrade the storage myself. However, it is difficult to obtain benchmarks of power draw for m.2 SSDs of this size beyond "less than bigger NVMe drives because fewer chips and no DDR4 cache probably", so it might not be an advisable tradeoff to anyone but the budget conscious and those seeking a full 1TB fast NVMe storage.

      Speaking of power, my limited findings are suggesting ~3.5W power draw from appropriate m.2 NVMe SSDs, meaning the eMMC model may also deliver the best battery life (even before accounting for less demanding titles). That is probably the listed 8 hours.

      Keep in mind I don't know much about the power draw of eMMC, and the power management differences between eMMC and NVMe.

      One last thing; Microsoft promised optimized games for the Series S that would have reduced asset sizes for the reduced storage. A promise it appears they haven't been able to deliver on. However, this is a very good idea and I would be THRILLED if Valve was able to wrangle a user selection of asset quality when downloading games. Some PC games have higher quality assets as DLC, and generally as a handheld PC we have some ability to do this manually. Compressing game files might also be an avenue?

      Battery life

      Everyone looks for different things in a product. So far I've tried to provide a relatively practical, unbiased take on the Steam Deck's listed specs, leaving it up to readers to decide what they care about.

      But if you saw the Steam Deck and a short battery life never once crossed your mind, it probably isn't a concern for you. I don't know what your usecase is; maybe permanently docked, perhaps just keeping it around the house. It doesn't really matter, and I think the Steam Deck is a particularly solid value for you in particular.

      It is pretty easy to do a battery life calculation. So everyone should do so with their own speculations on the total system power draw, when gaming, idling, etc. Things to account for are the APU, screen, WiFi, SSD, RAM, and so on.

      I figure something like 1.5 < x < 2.5 hours for full fat gaming. I probably should have watched the video (holy cow can you believe I'm going to post this whole essay without watching the video!?) but I believe 6 hours 30 fps was thrown around, so that should be the upper limit possible for general gaming and optimized titles. I'm pretty confident the 8 hours is a best case scenario only on the eMMC model running 2D or generally less demanding games.

      The math here is simple so make up your own mind!

      Lastly, with a PC we have some wiggle room to optimize settings and we can also destroy battery life I'm sure. So remember, frame limits are your friend on a 60 hz screen, and on mobile devices in general. Also, reducing settings possibly. It really goes against my nature as a PC gamer though, considering I play Skyrim with an ENB on a GTX 660M. At a stuttery 10~15 fps. Yeah, sometimes a stable 30 fps is the way to go, but I'm a hypocrite who just can't wait to run 1080p and downscale to remove jaggies!

      Weight

      I wasn't sure if I should include this, as I am skipping other things like the microSD card slot (other than that I genuinely would have preferred a regular SD card slot so I could emulate having game cartridges; actually, I need to look up splitting game files across onboard and removable storage).

      Still, it deserves a mention; I have no clue if it will be too heavy for me. I suspect going from the Switch to the Steck will be frustrating, although some have pointed out that the placement of buttons and joysticks will make it easier to rest it while playing. Also I'mma just call it the Steck from now on, my apologies.

      Overall, it looks bulky and heavy and might be a pain to tote around. But modding makes this worth it for me personally.

      Actual Performance Numbers Please, or APNP

      I am now realizing this is way too long, and I'm spiraling out of control; there's no way I can edit all this! How long has it been since I've slept? Did I eat yet today? I will be downvoted to Oblivion for posting something this unwieldy and unreadable!

      Oh well. Before I loose consciousness, I pretty much expect 1280x800 30fps on all titles. Doesn't that seem too low? But there are overheads that go into running unoptimized PC ports of games on Linux, and frankly while Proton does great things, I'm mostly familiar with it on a desktop. What is the experience with a power budget? The Radeon RX 8 struggles with 1080p on some titles; will the Steck be able to hit 1080p 30fps on all titles, let alone 60fps?

      Anyway, I've made my base expectations. I personally anticipate for 1280x800 60fps for all titles, albiet at a limited battery life, but I don't think we can take it for granted. Docked performance, remains to be seen. 1080p 30fps seems realistic. Basically my clunky 11lb gaming laptop from 2012 with the GTX 660M, but with waaay more RAM and a tenth of the power draw. In a handheld.

      Freesync

      I don't think the display supports freesync or, as I've seen some people say, Valve would advertise that. Seems strange given the market, and if expertly implemented could potentially let the display downclock way down when appropriate. To tired to check, but possibly could be implemented down the line? That means NOT a feature, unless it is on the box when you are paying BTW.

      Wow, I Can't Believe FlippantGod Won't Shut Up

      The price is right, folks, but please don't pretend that this will double as a serious VR rig. That isn't the sort of thing you speculate on before a console is even released and benchmarked by trusted third parties.

      What do y'all think of my expectations? Too low? Too high? Any interesting morsels I may have missed? And lastly, will Reddit eat me alive if I post this there? Willing to take any and all criticisms when I wake up! And hey, if someone high up on the Tildes social ladder wants to tag this "Steck", I will forever be in your debt. I am much too scared to do so myself.

      31 votes
    28. Emulate a CRT screen with ReShade for your pixel-based games

      Why? In recent years, there has been a bit of a nostalgia boom for older CRT displays, sort of in the same vein as vinyls over CDs and digital music, and people have been rediscovering the...

      Why?

      In recent years, there has been a bit of a nostalgia boom for older CRT displays, sort of in the same vein as vinyls over CDs and digital music, and people have been rediscovering the technology.

      But something else that people have been rediscovering is that many older titles, from the NES all the way up to the PS2 era, were designed for CRT screens specifically. So much so that the graphical artistry can change entirely! A Twitter account called CRT Pixels has been documenting the difference across many games and the differences can be dramatic. Where LCD screens show each pixel exactly, the nature of CRT displays meant colours shifted and blended into each other and game artists of the time knew, tested for, and took advantage of this to create some amazing visuals.

      Sometimes you get the proper colours.

      Sometimes you get proper texture detail out of the image.

      Sometimes the background details come together and you see what it really was supposed to look like.

      Sometimes you'll see the characters actually have expressions on their faces.

      Sometimes you get the proper image entirely.

      Even in early 3D games, you'll see some pretty significant differences.

      Of course, it's not always good but such is the tradeoff. CRTs were blurry by nature and smaller objects will always look less crisp and clear than clean pixel representation. Ultimately it's all a matter of preference. But that doesn't mean trying it out to see if you like it or not should be difficult.

      Many emulators come with CRT emulating shaders built-in and support additional ones. But what about native PC games? We've seen a plethora of 2D indie games over the last decade, many going after the older nostalgic styles. Why not try them through a CRT filter and see if they hit that nostalgia button even harder?

      I've noticed that a lot of pixel-like or "low-res" indie games look pretty sharp. Too sharp. I wondered what it would be like if they were displayed on CRTs and, through this emulation method, I've come to really prefer it for the majority of pixel graphic games out there. Even games that are going after this new trend of PS1/N64 era graphics like DUSK seem to benefit some from it!

      Tools

      There are only two things you need to get started on Windows:

      Linux

      Unfortunately I'm not able to offer much by way of help to Linux users but from what I gathered this is also possible. It will take a little more elbow grease to get Linux's equivalent of ReShade going.

      If you're on Linux, you can use vkBasalt instead of Reshade. It's a ground-up post-processing solution like Reshade made for Linux that is mostly compatible with Reshade shaders. I'm not able to test this myself so I can't offer any guidance on setting it up with this particular CRT filter directly. There are some guides involving this, MangoHUD, and GOverlay on reddit's r/linux_gaming that go into more detail on installing this solution.

      Setting it up

      It's pretty easy! The basic gist is that you will be adding a few files and folders to your game installation folder. I've gone into a lot of detail in these steps but once you go through them, you'll see it's pretty simple. You'll be able to apply it to a new game in less than a minute!

      ReShade is not a program you install on your computer! Instead that .exe file is an automated tool that will place the necessary .dll, .ini, and shader files into your game installation.

      1. Open ReShade and click on the big button that says "Click here to select a game and manage its Reshade installation"
      2. You will see a list of applications installed on your computer. Select your desired game and click "Use selected application", or use "Browse" and manually navigate to the game's .exe file. I recommend going for Browse immediately, this list can take forever to finish loading.
      3. On the next screen, it will ask you what rendering API the game uses between DirectX 9, 10/11/12, OpenGL, or Vulkan. Select the proper one. If you are unsure, check PCGamingWiki, you will find it near the end of any game's page under "Other information".
      4. The final screen will ask you which effect packages you'd like to install. ReShade supports all kinds of postprocessing effects but we won't worry about any of them. Install only the Standard effects so that we get some basic support. Once you hit OK, you're all done with ReShade.
      5. Navigate to your game's folder and you will see that ReShade has added a few files (dxgi.dll, dxgi.log, ReShade.ini) and a new folder (reshade-shaders).
      6. Open the .zip you downloaded from the CRT Royale GitHub page and drag the reshade-shaders folder inside that archive into your game installation folder. The files will move and nothing should be overwritten.
      7. When you launch the game, you should see a notice at the top that Reshade is running. Press Home to bring up the ReShade menu. You'll see a prompt to view a Tutorial to using it. Try it if you like! Otherwise, we can skip it for now. You will then see a list of installed effects (.fx files). Enable CRT_Royale, and it will load immediately.

      You're basically done now! The filter will load with its stock settings. Of course, depending on your hardware and personal preferences, you may need to adjust the settings that pop up in the lower portion of the ReShade panel there.

      One thing that you may need to address immediately is a severe shake to the screen. This is caused by the Interlacing setting running on a high resolution input on a modern LCD screen. Interlacing is a key part of what gives CRT screens the look they have so disabling it is not my recommendation. Instead, we offset the shake with its options. To stop the shake, increase the Scanline Blend Strength. On my monitor, the shake is quite severe so I set this to a maximum 1.0, and then adjust the Scanline Blend Gamma up to 0.95 to counter the slight darkening this introduces.

      Configuring the CRT filter

      These instructions are specific to CRT Royale. I chose to use CRT Royale as it is perhaps the most feature-filled CRT emulating shader out there, and is generally the most flexible. There are many other CRT shaders out there that may serve your particular purposes or desires better, especially if you want to recreate certain artifacts from NTSC or PAL signals.

      In that last screenshot, you'll see all of the main factors to configure.

      Generally, the stock configuration is pretty good! The vast majority of changes you can make are to your own personal preference or even memory of what CRTs were like. You can hover almost all the settings bars to get a good description of what part of the CRT technology the setting emulates.

      Here's a selection of the options that you may want to consider playing around with:

      • Mask Sample Mode: Choose between Lanczos or Point. This is entirely preferential and can change game by game!
      • Mask Size Param: This is effectively the resolution of the CRT display. You can choose between Triad Width or Number of Triads Across, corresponding to the following two settings. If you want a higher resolution screen, or are going after a specific look, try adjusting these settings.
      • CRT Gamma or LCD Gamma: Feel free to adjust these if you find the CRT filter makes the game too dark for your liking.
      • Halation: This adjusts the emulation how inaccurate the phosphors of a CRT could be! Trying to go after a cheap, busted display from your youth where colours were unsaturated as all heck? Here's the option to get that effect!
      • Diffusion: The refraction effect of the glass on CRT displays. Having none basically means you can see all the triads of the CRT technology, the refraction is part of what gives CRTs there "warm" look.
      • Geom mode: The screen shape! Was your CRT curved? Flat? Maybe you had the Trinitron cylinder style? This will adjust the display to emulate the effect of playing on differently shaped CRT screens. The next few options under it give you the ability to tweak this further, if desired.
      • Border size: The size of the black borders around the screen. I turn this off, this was always my least favourite thing about CRT screens but if you're trying to introduce and adjust that CRT style screen border, use this and the next few settings.

      That's it

      And that's all you need to try it out, really! I recommend giving it a shot to see if it works for you. It can take a few minutes but if you're like me and find some 2D games look a bit too sharp, the colours don't transition very well, or that the foreground objects stick out a little too obviously then the CRT filter might help it out.

      I made a quick album using another 2D pixel graphics game called Blasphemous using the CRT filter. It was the game that finally inspired me to try this out and I think it fits the aesthetic of the game so much better. Things look that much gloomier and contrasted, and the softness added to characters and environments help them seem a bit less "video gamey" to me. Keep in mind that the CRT emulation effect looks a bit odd in still images as it's an effect that is in a constant state of flux.

      16 votes
    29. Microsoft brought me back into their ecosystem with Game Pass

      I'm primarily a PC gamer with a library slowly approaching 1,000 games on Steam. While I have sometimes bought games through the other storefronts like Blizzard, GOG, Uplay, and EA Origins, I...

      I'm primarily a PC gamer with a library slowly approaching 1,000 games on Steam. While I have sometimes bought games through the other storefronts like Blizzard, GOG, Uplay, and EA Origins, I never really invested significant time in them to the point where I don't keep track of what is in those libraries. Suffice to say, I thought that I was so entrenched in Steam that I couldn't possibly play in another storefront for any meaningful amount of time.

      This has changed for the past year. I hopped on one of those deals that gave me access to Game Pass since Microsoft added all the Bethesda games and partnered with EA Play. And I gotta say, I'm invested now. Invested so much that I bought a Series X despite having zero interest when the new generation of systems was announced. Game Pass on Xbox is an even better deal than Game Pass on PC. The library is larger and for the games that are Play Anywhere, I can continue my save file on my PC when my living room TV is unavailable.

      I really think that Microsoft has a winning strategy with Game Pass this generation and it really surprised me how my attitude to the Xbox ecosystem changed this year. While I think both Sony and Nintendo have great exclusives, the value proposition for me of convenience and a rotating slate of quality games will likely keep me invested and subscribed, moreso than Xbox Gold or PS+ have in the past.

      14 votes
    30. Anybody fancy a round of the Board Games of Thrones?

      I've recently been playing a bunch of the Board Game of Thrones (the epic strategy/war/negotiation game) online over at thronemaster.net, and was wondering if any of you fine folks would like to...

      I've recently been playing a bunch of the Board Game of Thrones (the epic strategy/war/negotiation game) online over at thronemaster.net, and was wondering if any of you fine folks would like to join me in a game?

      7 votes
    31. Dungeon & Dragons favorite character sheets?

      I have started playing D&D basic with my family as a way to spend time together away from devices. I found the original character sheets:...

      I have started playing D&D basic with my family as a way to spend time together away from devices.

      I found the original character sheets:
      http://www.ultanya.com/2015/10/throwback-thursday-character-sheets.html

      Anyone else have favorite character sheets for D&D?

      6 votes
    32. BlizzCon 2021 announcements/trailers/etc

      Figured I'd start putting together a thread as the flood of announcements and articles start coming out from this year's BlizzCon. The site, where you can pick which streaming "channel" to watch:...

      Figured I'd start putting together a thread as the flood of announcements and articles start coming out from this year's BlizzCon.

      The site, where you can pick which streaming "channel" to watch: https://blizzcon.com/

      Full schedule: https://blizzcon.com/en-us/schedule

      Opening ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyApQc-ZmSA


      Diablo IV


      Diablo II: Resurrected


      World of Warcraft


      Overwatch 2

      18 votes
    33. First-person-shooters with great single player content on the Xbox

      Unlike the current tendency, unless I'm playing with my real-life friends, I don't care for multiplayer in shooters. I'm usually surrounded by highly skilled players that seemingly dedicate their...

      Unlike the current tendency, unless I'm playing with my real-life friends, I don't care for multiplayer in shooters. I'm usually surrounded by highly skilled players that seemingly dedicate their lives to becoming experts in that game. I don't wanna become actually skilled, I wanna play in my own way and feel I am skilled in face of limited AI. You know, fantasy!

      Most franchises are leaning towards multiplayer, and my playstyle is quickly becoming old fashioned. I recently purchased the Xbox Series S and would love suggestions of great shooters with a focus on offline missions. Especially historical shooters (like WWI and WWII), but not limited to it.

      Thanks!

      10 votes
    34. [SOLVED] Looking for the name of a specific board game, recommended on tildes

      As the title suggests, I am lookimg for the name of an existing boardgame. Some time ago (months), there was a discussion about boardgame recommendations. One person described a very interesting...

      As the title suggests, I am lookimg for the name of an existing boardgame.
      Some time ago (months), there was a discussion about boardgame recommendations. One person described a very interesting boardgame, which I wanted to gift my family for christmas, but I sadly closed the tab with it and I can't find the original post anymore.

      The game goes as follows:
      One player builds a construct with different shapes and colours according to certain guidelines. The other players now have to find the rules, which the presentated construct follows, by building their own construct and getting feedback from the gamemaster, if it fulfills their guidelines.

      According to the poster, this game was originally a game a group of friends played in college, it became so popular that they created a sellable version. Recently they revamped it.

      P.S. I am not really familiar with this kind of post, so if I did anything wrong, some feedback would be nice.

      P.P.S. Is there some kind of function (maybe through tags?) to mark this post as solved, if hopefully someone managed to recognise the game?

      8 votes
    35. Different types of 3D platformers

      Spurred by this (sub)thread on the topic of 3D Mario All Stars, I thought it would be interesting to discuss different types of 3D platformers, comparing them and perhaps even managing to group...

      Spurred by this (sub)thread on the topic of 3D Mario All Stars, I thought it would be interesting to discuss different types of 3D platformers, comparing them and perhaps even managing to group the similar ones together.

      I hope such a discussion might lead people to try some other games that they haven’t before based on what they have enjoyed before.

      Some example topics, to kick-start the discussion:

      • how the character feels/controls (e.g. their momentum, jump, move-set)
      • audio-visual package
      • story and general ambience/feeling
      • completionist goals
      • specific game mechanics
      • any other reason why one is a “must play” and how is it similar or different to others
      8 votes
    36. A comprehensive, deep dive into Tetris the Grandmaster (TGM) design, the hidden Japanese Tetris version you will never legally play

      'sup. As promised, here's a text discussing the minutae of Tetris the Grandmaster, its sequels, and the game mechanics of Tetris in general. If you want more, there's some market analysis, drama...

      'sup.

      As promised, here's a text discussing the minutae of Tetris the Grandmaster, its sequels, and the game mechanics of Tetris in general. If you want more, there's some market analysis, drama and politics in the comment.

      Tetris the Grand Master is probably the most beautifully designed game I know. I hope you will share my passion for this when your are finished with this post.

      Since Tetris is a "pure" videogame where pretty graphics and/or enticing plot is irrelevant to the game, this will focus a lot on the game mechanics.

      Also: this is based on a draft script for a video I wanted to make for a while now. Presumably this thing would flow better with some illustrations at the same time. I tried to include some, but of course it's not the same as someone narrative over image.

      Also: weird language ? Missing words ? Misplaced punctuation ? This probably comes from me, writing in English as a second language. Picture this article with a vaguely French accent if it helps (although I'm not actually French).

      I am aware of Tetris Effect. I am happy if people find TE a transformative transcendental synesthetic experience, but for this matter I much prefer Rez and particularly its Area X.

      So: make yourself comfortable, get a hot beverage of your choice, perhaps enable the reader mode in your browser and prepare for a 4k-ish words long read.


      Tetris, the arcade game

      Tetris. The little game from the Soviet Union, the killer app of the Gameboy, and until Minecraft happened the most sold computer game of all time.

      Despite its tremendous success, the general perception is that this title has not evolved since its initial release in 1984. We would effectively be playing the same game plus-or-minus some gimmicks and/or yearly graphical updates.

      This is of course false. The evolution of Tetris game mechanics is a story for another time, but the skinny version is that there's two main branch to the Tetris tree: Nintendo, and Sega. What I want to talk about now is a representative of the Sega branch.

      Did you know ? Sega means "Service Game". The company we know today as a publisher with a blue mascot originally sold arcade games. And even today, Sega has a strong presence in the arcade world.

      Tetris the Grandmaster is an arcade game, made by Arika, a company made by ex-Capcom employee whose more notable works at the time include Street Fighter Ex.
      Arcade game design is a delicate juggling act between two parties:

      • the game operator: wants money, and for single player game that could mean a short and/or difficult game.
      • the player: wants fun. If the game is too difficult and/or unfair and/or incomprehensible, he or she will move to the next game

      With this definition, vanilla Tetris is a pretty good arcade game:

      As you play the game, the game ramps up in speed and consequently its difficulty. But it never feels unfair: you may complain having bad luck and getting a crappy piece distribution (more on that later), you are still responsible for that terrible stack you just made.

      However, there's a finite limit to the speed of the game. Past a certain point, you end up in a kill-screen where it is impossible to play. The piece just falls and lock immediately, with you being powerless, unable to do anything.

      How lock delay extend the base game

      Video: Godlike high gravity NES Tetris game from JdMfX_, Godlike high TGM game from 777

      What is remarkable with Tetris the Grandmaster is not only it has found a way to extend the base game past this seemingly hardcoded limit, but it also focus nearly all of its design toward this idea of speed. Speed is the focus of the game, and if you don't believe this, there's a giant chronometer at the bottom of the screen acting as a constant reminder.

      So, how do you survive to the kill screen?

      You could try to make the piece move faster (which they did) but this is not enough. At some point, the piece will still spawn on the ground and immediately lock.

      Enter the Lock Delay.

      Illustration: lock delay

      Lock delay is the mechanic in which if a piece falls into the ground or the stack, it will not immediately lock but can react to play inputs and "slide" for a few frames before locking into the stack.

      This has deep, deep consequences.

      Obviously, you can make the game faster than anything we've seen before. All the while still have a viable game. At maximum speed, or "20G" as it is known in the jargon, the piece directly spawns on the stack without floating at any point in the air.

      for the pedant: historically, Sega Tetris was the one of the first game to feature lock delay; and the mechanics was already there in some other falling blocks game such as Puyo Puyo.

      At high speed, and especially at 20G speed, the piece movement becomes severely limited. Having the game viable at 20G completely re-contextualize the game, its moment-to-moment tactics and its general strategy. Not only you have to think about a given piece placement, but more than ever you have to take the next piece into account. Some sub-optimal piece placement or "bridges" have to be made in order to make the whole game continue.

      Illustrations: possible piece placement at 2G, at 20G, at 20G with a bridge

      And thus: while the core gameplay stays the same, the game becomes more demanding both physically and mentally. You have to react faster and input your command quickly and confidently; and at the same time you have to constantly think about your stack, the area where work is needed and how you can accommodate unwanted pieces. You can even manually control the pace of the game by cancelling the lock delay (done very naturally by pressing down.)

      Lock delay is probably the most important game element added to Tetris, but it's not the only thing in which TGM also innovates. Several other additional mechanics exists, and they have this common idea of a "speed enabler". Let's review them:

      "Speed enablers" game mechanics

      DAS

      I mentioned earlier that the way you move the pieces was faster. This seems like a straightforward thing to do at first sight but there's some subtleties hidden in it.

      So: when you hold left or right, the piece moves automatically (in the jargon it's called DAS - Delayed Auto-Shift). It's a nice and natural movement akin to letting a key down in your keyboard, but there's actually two parameters to take into account.
      First, how fast the auto movement is triggered, and second, then how fast the repeat itself is. In TGM, both happens at a brisk space (16 frames before auto-movement, and a movement of 1 case per frame). This is essential for 20G play. And, in the context of 20G, the DAS enable a family of movement techniques called autosynchrothat bring additional depth to the game.

      manual synchro also exists, but requires significantly more skill, as it requires a 1-frame combination. Yup, just like in fighting games and their 1-frame links!

      Wallkicks

      There is another mechanic that involve automatic movement, called wallkick. A wallkick happen when you try to rotate a piece near a blocked cell, such as the stack or a wall. Normally, if the rotation mask overlap a blocked cell, the rotation will fail. However with wallkicks, the piece can automatically move so that the rotation can still happen. In modern standard Tetris, the rule of how the piece move is quite complicated (to my eyes) but enable advanced placement such as the infamous T-Spin Triple. In TGM however, it's dead simple: try to move one case toe the right or one case to the left in that order, and if the piece fits, it gets moved.

      Illustration: wallkick

      So yes: at first sight those wallkicks are concessions given to player that make the game easier. However, some advanced movement techniques takes advantage of wallkicks. The goal of course is to move a piece faster, leading to tiny but compounding time saves.^†

      in the jargon, optimal piece movement is called finesse

      IRS

      Continuing on the theme of rotation, let's now talk about the Initial Rotation System or IRS. So in most game, when a piece is locked, the next one immediately enters the playfield.
      This is not the case with TGM: there's a tiny interval in which nothing happens (except perhaps a line clear animation). .

      of course there's a jargon term for this: it's called ARE††
      †† it's not an acronym, it literally means "that thing" in Japanese (あれ)

      This interval have a dual purpose (Mark Brown would be happy): first, it serves as a buffer to charge the DAS. But it is not limited to rotation: you can also charge a rotation.

      And that is what IRS exactly is: press a rotation button during this time and then the piece will spawn already rotated .

      IRS usefulness is not only limited to make the game smoother to play: it solves a problem inherent to Sega Tetris. All game in that lineage have most piece spawning with a pointy end toward the ground. This can be problematic in high gravity, and especially in 20G. If you IRS such pieces, you can then confidently slide them to the side without worry of them being stuck somewhere.

      Illustration: trapped without IRS, saved with IRS

      why not having them spawn flat-side down ? I think this is partly for historical reason (establish a clear lineage with Sega Tetris), but also because this this extra-difficulty is coherent with an arcade game design.

      And yes, of course, IRS is also a time saving measure, helping to shave some milliseconds here and there.

      TGM history-based randomizer

      Let's talk luck. Earlier on, I half-jokingly said that "luck" as a hallmark of a good game of Tetris. Well it is a bit more profound than that.
      Any competitive Smash player can tell you this: consistency is king in a competitive game. That's why random event affecting the core gameplay are frown upon, and that's why tripping in Smash Brawl was so negatively received.
      You can probably see where I'm getting at: there's one giant thing in Tetris that's by definition random: the way the piece sequence is generated. And yes, TGM has a optimized random generator, and in fact most Tetris game have one.

      An analysis of the history of the different random generator is a story for another time, but here's the gist of it:

      In a purely random sequence of pieces, a sufficiently long series of S and Z tetraminos is bound to appear. Such sequences is mathematically proven to lead in a game over. Of course, this doesn't happen in practice. Especially in TGM, there's a finite number of piece given and thus the change of that happening is infinitesimally small.
      However this does gives us insight about the piece distribution: flood (too much of a piece) and drought (not enough of a piece) is not fun. In other word, waiting for that g!%d!3mn long bar piece sucks.

      So how does TGM counteracts this ? It implements a history system that prevent recently given piece to be distributed again. This is a flood prevention measure and make the game much more consistent while still having an element of unpredictability. And being unpredictable is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly in an arcade context where you still want the player to finish the game eventually. Fun trivia: modern standard Tetris nowadays implement an extremely predictable randomizer, which is mathematically proven to be infinitely playable at low gravity††.

      historically TGM is not the first game to implement a history system, there was already a rudimentary one in NES Tetris
      †† this is less of a problem in recent years due to the focus on multiplayer, enabling stuff like openers, but this is a story for another time

      Consistency in randomness is not directly tied to the notion of speed, but being confident in that you will not screwed by the piece distribution definitely helps in the elaboration of reliable strategies.

      The graphics helps too

      Illustration: An actual screenshot of TGM

      So far I've describe how the game is mechanically inclined toward speed, but aesthetically there's also some elements that are helps during high speed games.

      First, look at what the stack and notice how the active piece contrasts with the rest of the stack. There's a clarity of graphics that comes not only by the fact that the locked pieces have a darker hue, but also because of the of this white border that surrounds the stack. The goal is to have an instantly readable playfield.

      Continuing on this trend, each piece type is color coded so you can instantly read what you're getting by using your peripheral vision, leaving the focus clear on the stack. You can then more easily confirm the placement of your current piece, which is further helped by a very noticeable flash.

      The next-piece window is also aligned so that the piece previewed is placed directly above where it will spawn. This unconsciously helps the tactical decision of where to put your piece. Speaking of unconscious effect, the whole series have this auditory gimmick in which each pieces have its own jingle. From what I know, nobody use this consciously, even the one that can tackle the invisible challenge (more on the invisible challenge later).

      Scoring, grading, and speedrunning

      So we've seen the mechanics and the aesthetics of speed within TGM.

      But what would would be an arcade game without a good I piece measuring contest ?

      TGM has three metrics exposed to the player: Score-grades, level and time.

      Time is a straightforward metric, and is the main point of comparison for players having reached the Gm grade. Finishing the game under 13 minutes is ok, under 12 min is pretty good, under 10min is exceptionally good, and approaching 9min is godlike.

      Score, as in most videogame is a measure of how "good" you are at the game, but takes here a subtly different meaning. The exact detail of the scoring system is not super interesting to see, but its implication is. Let me explain:

      here : Score = (roundUp((Level + Lines)/4) + Soft) × Lines × Combo × Bravo ; Combo = Previous Combo value + (2×Lines) -2

      The optimal strategy with this scoring system is to clear as much line as the same time as possible. In order words, Tetris, triples and even doublesmakes a lot of points, whereas Singles proportionally don't score as much points.

      Tetris: four line cleared at the same time; triple: three lines cleared at the same time; double: two lines cleared at the same ; single: one line cleared

      This has an interesting side effect, as it incentivize to have a clean stack. A clean stack is a stack without holes. If there's holes in your stack, and particularly in they are all over the place, you tend clean them by performing singles. Sidenote: in TGM1, grade is directly correlated with score, except for the titular last grade, which is gatekeeped by some time requirements.

      So in TGM, the score still describe how "well" you play, but you may have noticed that there's no notion of time at all. I would argue that scoring here doesn't reflect how "well" you play but rather how "clean" you play. Keep that in mind for later.

      To be perfectly pedant there's the level factor in the equation that would incentivise you to play fast to reach high-yielding level as fast as possible. But please don't ruin my narrative.

      I mentioned just before that the last grade had some time requirements. Now, this is a perfectly reasonable requirement for a game that is focused on speed but, and I guess you are used to me saying that, there's some subtleties to it.

      Let's say the only requirement to get the last grade would be to reach X amount of point in Y amount of time, and reaching the last level. A viable strategy would be then to play as clean as possible so that you reach the point threshold, and then you just have to survive. This would mean that in that last part can play as sloppy as you want, you will still reach the Gm grade. That's, of course, not ideal as it doesn't push the player to play at its maximum (you can cheese the last part).

      What TGM did is neat and two-fold: First, it takes the "level" metric, which was until then a measure of how fast the game is, and turned it into a progression gauge. So you know that at level 100 you are at the beginning of the game, 500 is midgame and 900 is the last push. The gravity is still tied to the level, so at level 0 it's quite slow and at 300 it's significantly faster. But the thing doesn't have to be linear or monotonic, in fact there's a speedbump at level 200 (people told me it's for dramatic effect), and maximum speed is reached at level 500 (to let the new 20G gameplay shine.)

      Now here's the catch: you can progress faster in the game by clearing lines. Indeed, the way you gain level is that you increase the counter by one each time you land a piece, but more interestingly you get a bonus level for each line cleared.

      This ties everything together: if you want to play fast you have to play well, and if you play well the game will get faster.

      This positive feedback loop is in fact a system with dynamic difficulty curve: as good players will be presented with a more appropriate challenge faster, as more novice player will get challenged at their pace.

      So there you have it: even the scoring system is meant to go fast. Isn't that beautiful ?

      The sequels

      There were two sequels to TGM.

      The first one, known as TAP within the community because of the subtitle of the final version of the game ("The Absolute Plus"), builds on the building block of the first. There's now a dedicated 20G mode with a brutal speedcurve to it (it is, after all, named "Death" mode). For the main game (now called "Master" mode), there's a much appreciated addition of an instant drop. This significantly speeds up the pre-20G game. The point system is now decoupled from the grade, and a secondary but hidden point system is used to calculate the player grade. The detail of which is complex, but the take-away effect is that consistency of play is now taken into account.

      Video: a a TAP Gm game recorded during a livestream

      The second sequel is known in the community as Ti (again with the subtitle: Terror instinct). It had implements some gameplay elements mandated by the Tetris Company: three pieces preview, a "hold" function, and floorkicks (i.e. piece can always rotate on the ground even if it collides with it). As a happy accident, this enabled TGM to go the even higher, borderline absurd, speed. I want you to look at the sheer insanity of the Death Mode's replacement: Shirase. And then look toward the end of the run where pieces turns into brackets (a nod to the real original Electronica60 version), nullifying the convenience of both color-coded pieces as well at the white-border. It's glorious.

      Video: Cleared Shirase game by KevinDDR, the best Western TGM player.

      Now, on the Master mode side, there's two major changes: there's a revamp of the progression/level system, where now the speedcurve itself becomes dynamic, and a further focus on consistency. You not only have to be consistent within a game, but also across games. Indeed, there's now an account system that is tied to an examination system. It inspects your performance and randomly challenges you with an special exam game in order to reach the grade it thinks you deserve.
      The last grade is of course locked behind an exam, and is only reachable through that mean.

      Additional challenges

      Sprinkled around the main game are some additional challenges that are a bit adjacent to the main game.

      Illustration: A secret grade pattern build by ohshisaure

      There's a ">" pattern you can built within the game. Doing so will award you a "secret grade" depending on how complete your chevron is. This is a nod to TGM predecessor (Sega Tetris), where bored players in the arcades invented this challenge and became popular. This is totally optional to the game, but really challenge your creativity, a bit like the golden and silver block in The New Tetris.

      Video: KevinDDR and crew performance at AGDQ2015

      And then there's the infamous "invisible" challenge first appearing in TAP. It is in fact a mandatory requirement to get the Gm grade. If, and only if, you played well enough in the main game, you are then presented with the invisible challenge during the credit roll, in which you have to survive during 60 grueling seconds.
      I don't know the whys of this challenge, but I assume this is an extrapolation coming from the following observation: when playing the game, most players are in fact not directly looking at the stack (to convince you, look at this eye-tracked demonstration).
      Looking at the stack only serves as some sort a placement confirmation, and so there's somewhere a mental model of the playfield. The invisible challenge thus forces the player to exclusively rely on this pre-existing mental model.
      Fun trivia: the credit order is randomized so that you can rely on the name to estimate how much time is left.

      Conclusion

      So that's it for this gameplay analysis.

      Hopefully you'll understand now why some people play one or several of those games 15, 20 or 22 years after their releases. All games are still played and there's no "superior version" as each version has slightly different priorities on the theme of "speedy Tetris": Ti has raw speed, TGM is careful and methodical, and TAP is a happy medium between the two.

      As a game designer, what general lessons can we learn from TGM ? I'm just a random dude on the internet, but let me suggest one:

      "Brevity". I keep thinking back to a textual Let's Play I've read about the second addons of Neverwinter Nights 2 (Mask of the Betrayer) . During a story recap just before the game climax, Lt. Danger offers an analysis of the expansion and writes (highlight from me):

      Instead let's focus in on what makes Mask good - and I think the answer ultimately boils down to 'brevity.'
      [...]
      Obsidian knew what they wanted to do with Mask and wrote it accordingly. Too often in games I find some puzzle, some encounter, that could have come from anywhere; the most egregious example is Bioware's reliance on the Towers of Hanoi puzzle (which thankfully has come to an end). There's too much that has barely anything to do with the premise or purpose of the story (if they bothered to have one at all). In Mask, though, I struggle to find wasted space. I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: there are no irrelevant sidequests. Every quest and every NPC ties back to the core themes in some way.

      If, looking back at your game, you can say "it's a game about X, hence Y", you may be on to something.

      That's why remakes and sequels that "go back to their roots" are generally perceived as positive. It's an change to remove cruft and focus on the core of the game. Take Zelda Breath of the Wild for instance. Zelda 1 was a game about adventure, exploration and mystery. Hence: very few handholding, an open world, and no limits to exploration.

      Of course, super-concise game shouldn't be the ultimate guiding principle of any given game. Case in point: I recently finished Yakuza 0. This is an excellent, excellent game, yet in terms of gameplay and pacing, it is all over the place: one moment you are in a crime drama, and five minutes later you're managing a cabaret club, and 10 minutes later you're in a karaoke booth singing baka mitai Judgement with a biker costume at the end.

      But brevity sure can sure made your game more elegant and enjoyable.

      20 votes
    37. Turning my tabletop game into a real video game

      So, I am a filmmaker by trade. I understand scripting, pacing, etc. I also have been doing a lot of tabletop design, running a campaign for years with continuity, recurring characters that I...

      So, I am a filmmaker by trade. I understand scripting, pacing, etc. I also have been doing a lot of tabletop design, running a campaign for years with continuity, recurring characters that I design from the ground-up (excluding the rule system, so just all the dungeons, NPCs, plot devices, etc).

      With covid, film production has really slowed down and I have some time on my hands, so I thought about trying my hand at video game making, something I have honestly toyed with for decades, but never did too much of. I did have a brief window in the 00s when I had RPG Maker and I made some demos that my friends enjoyed, but that's about it.

      So, given that my programing knowledge is super limited (I took a few Java classes over a decade ago and used to do HTML in the 90s), my graphics making abilities are near non-existent (I'm good at motion graphics, but not pixel design or 3D graphics), but I have what I think is a good plot, characters and game design, what should be my first steps in trying to make this a reality? What engine should I use? I have no problem buying, for a couple bucks here and there, other people's art and what not. Ideally, probably make a 16-bit esque RPG, like FFIV, Earthbound, etc. but perhaps with more of a BioWare, "choices matter" type dialog/questing system.

      I don't expect to set the world on fire, but I do want to make what would be considered a decent looking first effort from a one man novice that, if nothing else, would be a fun experience for me to make and something fun to give my players as a gift (as we are reaching the end of the story of our campaign). And maybe, why not, something I could release for the broader public if the core is good and it's worth me hiring a few more people to help me polish it. Maybe it won't. As a filmmaker, I know how bad first films are, and a lot of times they are just learning experiences that you keep on a hard drive locked away somewhere. So, trying to be realistic while excited.

      Appreciate advice.

      14 votes
    38. What are some beautiful/brilliant/inventive games that were panned by critics?

      In your opinion, what is a game/what are some games that were inventive/unique/original or just otherwise superb that you feel didn't receive the praise it deserved? Personally, I feel that the...

      In your opinion, what is a game/what are some games that were inventive/unique/original or just otherwise superb that you feel didn't receive the praise it deserved?

      Personally, I feel that the Scribblenauts series (Mainly the first two) are amazingly imaginative games that I don't hear talked about often. I feel that this is perhaps due to its being on the DS, a platform that was sort of mired in shovelware. I hadn't ever seen a game quite as painstakingly made as this one. The developers clearly had fun thinking of all the different ways to solve their puzzles. The soundtrack is also unexpectedly wonderful, and is very reminiscent (imo) of Katamari Damacy

      Edit: I suppose mediocre popular reception would have been a better way to say it instead if critical reception

      22 votes
    39. Xbox Games Showcase game trailers

      DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition | Xbox Announcement EXOMECHA - World Premiere Trailer Watch Dogs: Legion: Resistance Trailer | Ubisoft [NA] Echo Generation -...
      12 votes
    40. Board games with unique mechanics?

      Currently, I've been playing board games which always have the same kind of (standard) mechanics (worker placement, card drafting, etc), which after a while, starts to feel kind of the same but...

      Currently, I've been playing board games which always have the same kind of (standard) mechanics (worker placement, card drafting, etc), which after a while, starts to feel kind of the same but what changes is the theme.

      I'm looking for recommendations on board games which have unique mechanics. It could a completely new mechanic or simply a mechanic which already exists but then the game uses it with a twist.

      For example:

      • Trickerion use of worker placement but the workers have actually different values.

      • Tzolk'in and the use of gears.

      12 votes
    41. How do you feel board games have changed in the last twenty-five years?

      Everyone always refers to the coming of Eurogames a long time back, but I'm wondering about modern games. Where have they come? Where will they go? I'd say the art has gotten better, more...

      Everyone always refers to the coming of Eurogames a long time back, but I'm wondering about modern games. Where have they come? Where will they go? I'd say the art has gotten better, more eye-catching, but I'm more ambivalent about very recent (last five years) game mechanics.

      11 votes
    42. Large overview of game design/development information, tools and other things

      https://twitter.com/TychoBolt/status/1182541355337289728?s=20 Found this on twitter, user TychoBolt compiled this list. There's a lot of information on many topics, as well as a ton of links to...

      https://twitter.com/TychoBolt/status/1182541355337289728?s=20

      Found this on twitter, user TychoBolt compiled this list. There's a lot of information on many topics, as well as a ton of links to tools that aid in level design, narrative and more.

      He also compiled this 122-paged guide on level design; full of tips and tricks for designing levels. I've looked through it for a bit and found quite a lot of interesting information, so I'd reckon this is a valuable asset to anyone developing/designing games.
      https://twitter.com/TychoBolt/status/1272578494543904771?s=20

      PDF available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fAlf2MwEFTwePwzbP3try1H0aYa9kpVBHPBkyIq-caY/preview?pru=AAABcufoPRw*FOD948Ah7NzrIiGTixO_PQ

      7 votes
    43. Good, fun, easy and cheap co-op games for a gamecircle

      We're trying to start a Gamecircle (kind of like a Bookcircle) with friends and accuintances and I'm looking for some good Games to start. It is a daunting task to be honest, as there will be some...

      We're trying to start a Gamecircle (kind of like a Bookcircle) with friends and accuintances and I'm looking for some good Games to start. It is a daunting task to be honest, as there will be some first time gamers taking part. And for me as a singleplayer for year (mostly factorio and some round and grand strategy games) I dont even know where to start looking.
      I'm looking for something like mario kart, which is easy to understand and fun for everybody to play, for the first months. Not cost more than 10$, be aviable through steam or gog or itch.io, preferably cross-platform (steam play works fine too).

      On another note, has someboy tried something like this? how did/does it work out? What would be your Advice?

      11 votes
    44. Looking for hardware recommendations for Steam gaming on my TV

      Latest update here. Thanks to everyone who helped me out! I have an Nvidia Shield hooked up to my TV, and it's great for Android games and emulation. I'm looking for similar hardware that will...

      Latest update here. Thanks to everyone who helped me out!


      I have an Nvidia Shield hooked up to my TV, and it's great for Android games and emulation. I'm looking for similar hardware that will allow me to play my Steam library on the TV.1 It doesn't have to be as small as the Shield TV, but I'm not interested in having a giant tower hooked up in my living room. Basically, I want what those old Steam Machines promised before fizzling out.

      What I'm looking for:

      • Pre-configured
      • Able to support wireless controllers through Bluetooth
      • Able to play smaller, less demanding games flawlessly
      • Would be nice if it could play more demanding titles, but this is not a must
      • Has decent cooling (I'm worried that boxes not designed for gaming will get way too hot)
      • Price point: undetermined so far -- I'm willing to pay what I need to, but I want to see what's out there before committing to anything
      • Would like to be able to set it up to basically be a seamless "console" if possible, where I can boot right into Steam (or easily get there with a controller) and not have to use a keyboard and mouse (I do have a Steam controller but I would rather use an 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ as my primary input method)

      Searching around, here's what I've found so far:

      • The System 76 Meerkat is a mini PC that looks great (and I'm partial to the company), but I don't know how it would perform with gaming. Also, I haven't decided if I want the (small) amounts of friction that come with gaming on Linux on my TV or not.

      • Intel NUCs seems to be popular, and they have some gaming-focused models at higher price points.

      • The MSI Trident 3 is explicitly gaming-focused and has a dedicated cooling system. Might be overkill for what I need though?

      Here are my main questions:

      1. What other hardware options are out there that I don't know about?
      2. What hardware profile and price point should I be targeting for my needs? How little is too little, and how much is too much?
      3. Are there any pitfalls to this kind of setup that I'm not aware of?

      I'm open to any and all suggestions, as this kind of stuff is all a bit over my head so it's hard for me to even know what I'm looking for. I haven't even decided that this is definitely something I'm going to do yet, since there's such a wide range in price and performance. Instead what I'm trying to do is figure out what my needs are and then which models (if any) would fit them best.


      1: I do have a Steam Link and have tried the app, but the quality for me has been spotty enough that I would rather have native hardware playing them than trying to stream it from my laptop.

      7 votes
    45. How to start a DnD campaign with your friends?

      Times are tough and isolation is getting to everybody, we've been playing some easy jackbox games with my friends on Google Hangouts, when the idea came to me: Why not start a DnD campaign? I've...

      Times are tough and isolation is getting to everybody, we've been playing some easy jackbox games with my friends on Google Hangouts, when the idea came to me: Why not start a DnD campaign? I've never ever played one, just watched some Youtube (Geek and Sundry, Mathew Colville), and definitely never though about hosting one until now.

      After looking around, there are a lot of cool resources for running one, Roll20 seems to be the most popular and praised for ease of use. Rules are very well written into it and all the tools needed to deal with the mechanics are in. So technology-wise I think we're set.

      Now I have a lot of questions on how to get an adventure running. Do I just get an official DnD guide book, do I just rip off the White Orchard level from Witcher 3 to start off or do I come up with some generic fantasy land? I'd like to run a small adventure in one night, just to get a taste of it and maybe branch it off later if everyone is up for it.

      For characters I think it would be easier for me to come up with 8-10 pre-generated ones for a group of 4-5 people (with specific people in mind) to tailor it a little bit for my group, but still present some variety, while smoothing the learning curve and lowering the barrier to entry. Feels like a decent idea.

      I'm still not sure where to start with this expansive world and I'd love to hear for seasoned DMs an players here on Tildes. How did you start your first game, what was the setting? How do I gently introduce players to mechanics? How do I deal with unpredictable situations?

      And most importantly, how do I make sure everyone is having fun?

      18 votes